Jeffrey Armstrong

After reading the introductions I went straight for the Glossary before going to the first part of the text, and I have to say it’s worth reading. Although I disagree with him that his version is the Only English Version, and his choice of words the Only Choice of Words—he seems kinda over-classical, over-perfectionist—I feel like I am benefitting from his definitions. Although I disagree for example that every glossing of ‘devas’ as ‘gods’ is colonial— it can be and probably was intended to be colonial by most translators in the beginning. But then whether one worships the Christ of the Colonialists or Odin and Aine probably makes some difference whether ‘gods’ immediately conjures up ‘obsolete phase of civilization’, you know. But it is useful to have broad or thick or whatever definitions of broad or thick words—‘ink’ isn’t a very emotional word in any language, but people mean different things by a word like ‘god’, and words like that have many layers that don’t correspond exactly from one language to another, so saying ‘bhagavan means lord’ and leaving it at that is kinda lazy, because bhagavan means lord ~in a particular way~, which is also an Indian/Sanskrit way, you know. It’s at least possibly or semi-colonial to assume that Christian words like heaven and hell map easily onto Sanskrit concepts, you know, and at the very least it’s lazy to assume that. People mean different things by words like ‘god’, and that’s the includes different nations and such, and to the extent that there really is some ‘objective’ truth to experience in this life and the lives to come, I think it is to some extent conditioned by our beliefs and expectations, such that we might not all experience the same thing in the same way, not all go to the Christian’s or the lazy thinker’s heaven or hell, you know. (shrugs) Although it’s possible to overstate the point.

…. 1. You have a task, but you don’t want to do it. All you can see are the negative consequences of doing your duty.

…. 2. You must do your duty; “none of us will ever cease to be”; dance of manifest and unmanifest; honor; equanimity.

…. 3. Action is necessary, not just knowledge; giving back to the holy devas; teaching by example.

…. 4. Secrets of the transmission of knowledge, ages of the world, past lives, society, and more.

…. 5. Yoga of discernment/yoga of action compared; non-attachment; transcendental joy.

…. 6. Let go of ‘control’ over results but do not pretend you can sit idly on a cloud in this life; you’re your own best friend or worst enemy; equanimity; moderation; seeing yourself in others; future lives.

…. 7, 8. Nature of God; theory; definitions.

…. 9. ‘I am’ statements; ‘if you offer to the others, you go to the others; if you offer to me, you come to me.’

…. 10. ‘I am unborn and without beginning…. I am the source of everything….’ (Krishna is the ultimate boss, yo.)

…. 11. More Krishna devotion/Krishna’s ‘ghastly universal form’.

…. 12. Which kind of yoga is the best?

…. 13. The knower and the known; the individual soul and the supreme soul; definitions.

…. 14, 15. the gunas; cosmic tree and other metaphors & more teachings on the nature of Krishna.

…. 16. Qualities of devas and asuras. IMO, very good-witch-bad-witch, you know. “And the bad witches are ~~bad~~!!”, right. But that’s one kind of Hinduism, which is I guess the kind that everyone has to pretend to be when they talk to their parents, lol.

…. 17. Three forms of various things or activities, one for each of the gunas.

…. 18. Monastics & non-monastics; more teachings on the gunas; dharma and occupation; attaining Brahman; offering everything to Krishna.

…. “And when your play is all the rage, Remember all the world is a stage.” (from translator’s concluding original poem)

…. Perhaps I’ll note here that, although I wasn’t raised in a dharmic religion, I’ve never viewed the ultimate/best goal as totally non-embodied or totally impersonal. However, from the Indian or whatever point of view, if you like the personal life, you’ll probably just spend more time on the epics as a whole—which are very long—rather than ‘just’ the Gita excerpted from one of them. Despite the fact that the “best opinions/best books”, “the Gita is one of the best books” hierarchy did exist there, they didn’t quite force anybody’s hand, exactly.

…. The gunas are basically ‘levels of functioning’; they’re not like Enneagram numbers, ie. sattva is not 1, rajas is not 4, etc. Each number/personality has all three types of character within it…. The first time I read it, I understood so little of it, but then I had been exposed to so little in the way of psychology, typing systems, just churches that believed in thwacking, such that even an absolute/character-centric typing system was both a serious revelation and seriously beyond me….

…. Anyway, I don’t think it’s the One Best Translation of the One Best Book, you know, and given what some segments of the population invest in the Gita, maybe the odd comment or two comes off as a little snarky. (Ie that there are parents in India, as well as the West, and sometimes it works out rather similarly.) But although Krishna’s not my favorite god, I see the value in letting him have his say. He’s not the god-of-gods for me, but I can kinda see how any sufficiently developed god can be like the One Everything, the One Key, for some people.… (lisätietoja)

Combining the ancient wisdom of the Vedic tradition and the point of view of the modern spiritual seeker, Karma illustrates how to find meaning and purpose in a life that can at times feel random and out of control.

In this compelling and in-depth introduction to the ancient Hindu concept of karma, spiritual teacher and award-winning author Jeffrey Armstrong explores reincarnation, the deeper mysteries of the soul, the laws of nature, and the ways in which cause and effect influence our lives.

Moving beyond Western perceptions of science and luck, Armstrong explores the mystical balance of the universe. These long-secret laws of karma, excavated from the ancient wisdom of India, offer a means to deepen one’s spiritual vision and reveal the profoundly interconnected nature of all that exists.

The Mandala Wisdom Series is an introductory collection on Eastern wisdom and spirituality, providing readers with the tools to enhance their health and well-being… (lisätietoja)