In this audio recording of an event held shortly after the recent election, Sitaram Dass invokes the central scene of the Bhagavad Gita as a meditation on collective grief to inspire deep feeling, compassion, and right action for this time.
He breaks up the discourse with 6-minutes of chanting that features: Jeanette Kangas (tabla) Clark Stacer (bass) and Hiromi Sieradski (vocals). Relevant links below.
Sitaram Dass writes about this lecture:
“In the Bhagavd Gita, Arjuna asks Krishna to drive him into the middle of the two opposing armies. Surrounded by millions of warriors on the eve of battle, Arjuna bears witness to the enormity of the ensuing devastation. He is overcome with grief, his legs tremble, his body quakes, and he cries out to Krishna for help.
The suffering is so unbearable that Arjuna desperately wants to leave the battlefield and live a life as a monk. However, Krishna emphatically instructs that this is a mistake. Arjuna’s wisdom was in allowing himself to see and feel the reality of the world’s suffering. His mistake was in trying to pull away. Krishna then instructs Arjuna on how we can all lean into the world’s collective grief by acting out our dharma — our relational duty to the world.
Some of these practices involve widening our heart: Can we remember that the Atman, our True Loving Nature, is larger, deeper, and more stable than our grief?
Other strategies involve how to act in a world rife with grief: How does one engage with an open heart in the midst of crises and conflict?”
The Sacred Community Podcast is an inter-spiritual hub of the universal teachings, “Love, Service, Remembrance, and Truth.” Home to Sacred Community Project interviews, live workshop recordings, dharma talks, and meditations, each episode is carefully curated to ensure its alignment with SCP values.
Related Links:
SCP Logo: Beverly Hsu
Music: Carl Golembeski
Jeanette Kangas: https://jkangasmusic.com and https://umpquavalleydrumlessons.com/
Clark Stacer: https://www.supraphonica.com
Hiromi Sieradski: https://heavenearthcircle.org and http://wondrousmoon.com
Geeta Updesh Photo used under Creative Commons License found here: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Geeta_Updesh.jpg
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