Timeless Solutions to Conflict from the Bhagavad Gita

‘A person who is eager for war is blind. He never looks at the enemy. He only projects the enemy. When a battle is raging within, enemies appear on the outside.” Osho

One of the most famous of Hindu scriptures, The Bhagvad Gita is presented in the form of a dialog between the enlightened Krishna and the great archer and seasoned warrior, Arjuna. The dialog takes place on the eve of the Mahabharata, the climactic “Great War” of India that occurred some 5000 years ago.

The war grew out of a dispute about which of two branches of the royal family, the Pandavas or the Kauravas, should inherit the kingdom, the center of which was close to Delhi. Arjuna was on the Pandava’s side but on the eve of battle – as he saw many family members, friends and relatives gathering to fight on the opposing side – he was faced with the stark realization that to engage in the war would mean killing “his own people.”

Krishna, who was related to both sides of the royal family, played the role of Arjuna’s charioteer and “life coach.” And as he speaks to Arjuna he helps him to see, step by step, that the roots of his anguish lie in his identification with his mind and all its unconscious patterns and conditionings.

INNER WAR AND PEACE “Man is constantly moving like a pendulum between the animal and the divine. Arjuna is a symbol of man – particularly of today’s man. Modern man’s consciousness is exactly like Arjuna’s. That is why both things are simultaneously evident in the present world. On the one hand man is eager to raise his consciousness to samadhi, to superconsciousness, and on the other hand he is eager to take it to the animal level with the help of LSD, mescaline, marijuana, alcohol and sex. Often, the same person will appear to be doing both things. The person who comes to India on a spiritual quest will keep taking LSD in America. He is doing both simultaneously.

The Book Inner War and Peace is rarely available in the Bookshop. The Book sometimes is available at Amazon in every country. 

MAN IS A LIKE A PENDULUM “Man is constantly moving like a pendulum between the animal and the divine. Arjuna is a symbol of man – particularly of today’s man. Modern man’s consciousness is exactly like Arjuna’s. That is why both things are simultaneously evident in the present world. On the one hand man is eager to raise his consciousness to samadhi, to superconsciousness, and on the other hand he is eager to take it to the animal level with the help of LSD, mescaline, marijuana, alcohol and sex. Often, the same person will appear to be doing both things. The person who comes to India on a spiritual quest will keep taking LSD in America. He is doing both simultaneously.

Man can turn into an Animal

“In his unconscious state man can turn into an animal. However, it is not possible to remain unconscious for long – because even the pleasures of unconsciousness are experienced only in a conscious state. Even the pleasures of unconsciousness are not experienced in the unconscious state. The pleasure of a drink is not felt when a person is drunk; he comes to feel it only when he becomes sober. When you are asleep you do not know the pleasure of sleep; it is only after waking up in the morning that you recognize how beautiful and relaxing the sleep was. In order to feel the pleasure of unconsciousness it is necessary to return to the conscious state.

The Geeta portrays man’s Deeper State

“Arjuna represents human consciousness and this is why he is so special. And the Gita is so special because it portrays the basis of man’s deep inner state of mind: Krishna’s constant struggle with this state, which is represented in Arjuna; this dialogue, this debate that Krishna is having with Arjuna; Krishna’s monumental efforts to pull Arjuna back again and again toward the divine – and again and again Arjuna’s limbs giving way as he wants to fall back into the animal state…. This inner struggle is Arjuna’s lot, but not Duryodhana’s. Duryodhana has not a care in the world. If Arjuna were like Duryodhana, he too would not have a care in the world. But he is not like him.

Those of us who are like Arjuna are restless and troubled

“There are those amongst us who, like Duryodhana, have no cares. They are building houses, they are clambering onto the thrones of Delhi and other capitals, they are busy making money. But those of us who are like Arjuna are restless and troubled. Restless, because where they find themselves does not seem to be a place worth making into a home. They have evolved a long way from where they originally began, so it is not possible to fall back, but they have no idea whatsoever about the place that they have not yet reached. How do they get there, where is the shrine located? They have no idea at all about this.”

A man of religiousness will inevitably find himself in crisis

“A man of religiousness will inevitably find himself in crisis. An irreligious man is not in crisis. Compared with the man sitting in a prison, the man sitting in a temple seems to be more worried. The man sitting in a prison seems to be less anxious; he has not a care in the world. He is at one end, on the shore. He is not on the bridge. In a sense he may appear to be fortunate, worth envying. How carefree he is! But hiding inside this so-called good fortune of his is a very deep misfortune. He will remain on this shore. As yet, not even a spark of humanity has been born inside him. Trouble, anguish, begins with being human – because in this state of being human the doors to the possibility of attaining to godliness open up.

Arjuna does not want to become an animal

“Arjuna does not want to become an animal – and this situation could make him just that – but he has no idea how to attain to godliness. Yet deep down, unknowingly, the desire is there inside him to attain to godliness. That is why he is inquiring and raising questions; that is why this search is arising. Religiousness can be born in anyone in whose life there are questions, in whose life there is a search, a discontent. Religiousness has no possibility of entering the life of anyone whose life has no anxiety, no questions, no doubts, no inquiry and no discontent.

What will, or will not happen to the sprout

“The seed that is breaking open so that it can sprout will certainly feel anxiety. The seed is a tough thing, the sprout is very delicate; the seed is very carefree, the sprout faces great anxiety. Breaking through the rocks, cutting through the soil, such a delicate thing as a sprout comes out to an unknown and unfamiliar world, a world that it is completely unacquainted with. A child could snap it, an animal could eat it, anybody could trample over it. What will, or will not happen to the sprout…nothing is certain around this. On the other hand, if the seed remains enclosed within itself, then it will be completely secure and safe, carefree – no trampling over it by a child, no unknown dangers. It is closed within itself.

“Duryodhana is like a closed seed, having no cares. Arjuna is like a sprout, worried, restless. He is anxious to know what will happen next: will flowers blossom forth or not? He has dropped just remaining a seed, but will the flowers appear now? He is eager to grow, he is eager to blossom, and it is this eagerness that keeps him constantly asking Krishna questions.” Osho

Timeless Solutions to Conflict from the Bhagavad Gita  NEDERLANDS

Inner War and Peace: Nog niet zo lang geleden is er voor het Westen voor het eerst commentaar van Osho bij het meesterwerk over Krishna, de Bhagavad Gita, beschikbaar gekomen. Osho heeft ook in andere lezingen wel naar Krishna verwezen, maar de beschikbaarheid van zijn uitgebreide commentaar op de achttien bundels van de Gita komt pas in het jaar 2005. De Gita-lezingen heeft hij namelijk oorspronkelijk alleen in het Hindi gegeven.
En in 2005 is het eerste stukje van dit immense werk in het Engels gedrukt, onder de titel: Inner War and Peace.
Osho vertelt in dit boek over de achttien dagen durende Mahabharata, de bekende Indiase oorlog. Op het slagveld vindt een dialoog plaats tussen Arjuna en zijn vriend en begeleider, de Verlichte Krishna. Arjuna staat op het punt om de strijd aan te gaan, maar voorziet dat er veel slachtoffers gaan vallen, met name ook in zijn eigen familie. Hij aarzelt of hij de oorlog wel door zal zetten en of hij niet beter terug kan trekken.