The Bhagavad Gita teaches us about human disillusion towards the Self. Arjuna is bound to confusion when questioning how his war-time actions will affect his future in this life and the future of his soul. His dependency on fear, concerns about judgment, and pre-disposal towards the future – rather than the now, shines through. Krishna, the all-knowing, silences his fears and disillusions through explaining the facets of dharma through the yogic lifestyle.
To me, the Bhagavad Gita reaffirmed the path and changes I've been making in life. It provided a deeper meaning into my intuitions about the physical me and my Self. Gita states, "The Self cannot be pierced or burned, made wet or dry. It is everlasting and infinite, standing on the motionless foundations of eternity. The Self is unmanifested, beyond all thought, beyond all change." My being absolutely can be pierced and burned. I am full of holes and scars - from my ears, to my back, to a 6 inch metal rod that pierces my sacrum, hips, and pelvis from a motorcycle accident. I've been burned - by the sun, by a friend, by a flat iron. I'm wet and dry every time I shower and dry myself, every time I am turned on or turned off by a lover. Obviously it's not this "self" that the Gita refers to, it's the Self. But how often do I look beyond that self? How often do I allow myself to get deeper, to be introspective, to be unmanifested in my true Self?
This journey I've began and will continue through life is my dharma. I embody elements of the three gunas of prakriti: sattva - the purity of selflessness, rajas - the danger of passion and selfishness, and tamas - ignorance. Through this journey, I will attempt to rearrange those gunas in my life. I will work to embody the sattva that Krishna embraces, to relinquish my dependency on the drama of rajas, and to understand and accept what is around me for what it is, and to smile at the end of each day, putting tamas aside.
No matter my body's scars, my state of physical mind and body - I am here. I am present. Over the course of this journey I will look in the mirror and see my Self, not my self.
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