Debashish Benerji As He said. We all need to interpret the Gita for our self`s. At 17 years old I was Trained by the US Army in Boot Camp to Kill. Years after that I found The Bible and The Gita after I entered my Spiritual life. I applied that military knowledge and God`s Teachings to Destroy my lower nature enemies. The Gita has been my Fifth Gospel as a Christian. It has led me to the many places in the Bible Ephesians 6: 14-18 for one, where in Reality I must without mercy kill the lower nature thru Grace to Gain God Conscious. Just like The Bible and Gita Teaches. I don`t know what I would do without either one. I was so desperate to find God? So I`m Thankful to both teachings. So I Walk in Beauty. Good Commentary. Thank You!
@@TheWorldTeacher Yes I am a Theist. I Practice Mystical Christianity. I Do Not Follow Organized Christianity. I have had unnumbered experiences with Jesus Christ My Lord, Savior and Teacher. He has shown me The Heavenly Father and how to know him. I am not a teacher. I have thru God`s Grace, The Holy Spirit and Great Teachers been Guided into Self Realization and God Realization. I have been shown many things I can`t put in words. I respect all the major religions. I stay clear of people who don`t believe in God. I serve the Lord in a Prayer Ministry. With amazing results. Looking forward to Paradise and leaving this illusion. Yes it`s True! One in a Thousand will be a Yogi and one in a Thousand Yogi`s will know God. I am not special. We live in a wonderful time with Great knowledge freely given to anyone. God is close and anyone can have Him.
A certain sadness hovers over the Gita, over Arjuna, and Krisha's words are so warming, so uplifting, so spiritual, I was surprised Dr. Banerji never left a quote or two for the listeners. A very pleasant conversation. Thank you.
Very deep discussion. Everyday, we interact with people coming from different levels of Consciousness. Some people right now still have animalistic behaviors of cruelty; Some people have various experiences of Oneness & Love. So it take huge amounts of maturity to realize that Humanity as a whole, is evolving : wherein everyone is living based on their own perspectives. This is a harsh dimension in my opinion, but also a useful one since every moment, we are prompted to choose an action or a thought.
It is my understanding after reading several versions of the Gita and attending many lectures in an effort to fully understand what Krishna was trying to convey to Arjuna is that his dharma as a warrior prince was to surrender to the (facts) of the situation, that the Kauravas were intent on overtaking and enslaving the Pandavas, and it is more noble to fight in a righteous war than to surrender to evil. The Dalai Lama sought peaceful terms and reconciliation with the CCP as they entered Tibet, as a result thousands of his fellow monks were tortured and killed and he was forced to flee his own homeland. Sometimes war is justified, but we should always pray for peace
Absolutely! In the Mahabharata, there are deeds described leading up to this war. Every step was taken (by the Pandavas) to avert war. They even offered to surrender ALL the kingdoms to their evil cousins and were willing to accept a small village for each of the 5 brothers to rule. It was a "no-go". The "Cousins" were determined to kill the Pandavas, so in reality the Pandavas were fighting for their right to exist.
I will cal upon Dr Mishlove to invite Italian author Mauro Biglino to discuss the bibile ... he has a unique and refreshing take on the christian and hebrew scripture that very few have ever heard about in the US ... his books have titles like 'the bible does not speak of god', 'the alien god of the bible', or 'the bible never said it' ... Unfortunately Biglino does not speak English and will need an interpreter ...
it is significant that the Devas of the Bagavad Gita and the Elohim of the bible were all 'men of war" and that both books. other that spiritual or religious testaments, were mostly books about the concrete, down to earth and often cruel dealings between humans, or possibly humanoids, and their frequent battles for power, land and riches ...Unlike Dr Banerji`s, my reading of the Bagavad Gita is less mythical and metaphorical and more literal in the sense that I believe that the Devas were flesh and blood beings that harnessed advanced engineering and military technologies and that when in verse 11 it speaks of "“the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become Death, the Shatterer of Worlds.” it is actually referring to nuclear type weapon and not to spiritual imagery ... A similar reference to nuclear type conflagration is found in the Sumerian epic of Erra Nergal where it speaks of 'balls of fire and sulfur" and "winds of death" ...
I agree that’s a possibility as to the historical aspect of it I don’t look at it either way but look at the world as a state of possibilities therefore I don’t read the Gita as historical or mythological but both because both ways are possibilities and both ways bear fruit
In ancient India the wars were fought by the soldiers, and did not involve violence against other citizens. It was first experienced during the Islamic invasions.
Debashish and Cremo are my two favorite recurring guests. The biggest difference in what they bring to the conversation is that Cremo has died, had a NDE/ White Light/ Kundalini Awakening. He began “digging deeper” into the nature of things thereafter. He takes the Gita literally, Debashish does not.
Beautiful, thank you so much!! I'm going to enjoy this! when it comes to these texts lots of scholars put emphasis on translations, things get so nuanced and confusing that it's difficult to even find a starting point.
Dr.Debashish mentioned that the first evidence for Mahabharata is 400 BC and that Bhagavad Gita was interpolated into Mahabharata in 200 BC. What are the supporting evidence for these claims?
22:22 ... yes and of course the Canadians have perfected it. All their violent warlike instincts are released and channeled into a game that makes scoring so difficult, ... anyway. What is this called in 1984? When they are have a moment of rage?
All communities can live peacefully following their respective dharma only in a stable and peaceful land. Stable and peaceful land is got and maintained by a range of violent acts. Pacifism can only be lived in such a land. Paradoxical?
@Just Another Commenter In an ideal world populated by realised souls, will there be egoless and unselfish people. However in the actual world, it is mitigated by laws put in by governments, which are in some measure violent. Further pacifism is a luxury when confronted by violent acts or violent ideologies, which unless met head-on could lead to greater violence. In Hindu time cycles only Satya Yuga was the period when the ideal world existed and human kind strived for higher states of being. So yes, what you say is true that regulated violence is good for the greatest number of people.
Does Jeffrey think that the Jewish God is the one true God/highest God? What does he think about Krishna for example? Would he see him as the same God but understood in a different way or is he a god that is below Yahweh in terms of hierarchy. I'm very interested to know what he thinks about this and his thoughts about people from different faiths or no faiths. Thanks anyone who can help.
The guy says that "truth is not fact". Well, this frightens me. If truth is not facts-based, then truth may be anything one might likes OR facts are not worthy to represent truth which makes them utterly useless. Am I wrong??
All the Vedas, Puranas, Santani traditions define truth as the one eternal unborn undying consciousness. Everything else is a play of that consciousness thru us. To be liberated in our traditions is to be firmly established in this eternal truth via yoga, devotion, actions etc.
@@kiddikbum As far as I know from my study of the Bhagavadgita there are - according to Krsna - 4 different paths of yoga that will all lead to the realization of the ultimate or absolute truth. One of these paths is Jñāna yoga, using intellectual inquiry for spiritual evolution, that is to say, using logical thought processes. Thus, truth MUST be facts-based per definition if the intellectual thought process is logical or scientific - and this is just what Krsna is telling us is true about the Jñāna path. But of course, I do agree with you that you do not necessarily need to arrive at the absolute truth by way of intellectual inquiry, you may arrive there using one of the other three paths of yoga as well. But I hope you see why I think Mr. Banerji's statement that "truth is not fact" is at best problematic.
It's bc there's two type of Truths. One is Absolute Truth & the other is relative. When you go to cinema hall, you see a movie screen (Truth), here you watch various types of movies & in many of those movies especially fantasy, the laws of Universe is different. This is relative truth. The screen is consciousness (Absolute Truth) & the movies are our lives (Relative truth)
Mahabharata is fact. It's the same as Clash of the Titans and refers to a time of planetary upheaval- see- "Symbols of an Alien Sky", here on youtube. Both are referring to planets
I'd be much more interested in what practical techniques Banerji has used and to what effect than this long series of X said Yadayadyada and I repeat the same yadayadayada.
Well, what to expect from two pacifists when they are supposed to interpret the Bhagavad Gita. They have understood little. They want to overcome the ego, only it should not hurt. The esoteric teaching of Holy War, as found in the BG or the Koran or Bushido or the Männerbund around Odin, is aimed, as they would say in India, at people with a lot of Rajas (fire, drive) as a personality trait. You have to pick people up where they are. That is why in traditional societies there was not only the path of asceticism, but also the path of Holy War as well as the Dionysian path. All of them are aimed at different types (monk, warrior, merchants or man of pleasure). And yet all paths lead to enlightenment. A Crusader and a Muslim slaying each other with a smile on their face understood that more than these two. This world means nothing, your ego means nothing, his ego means nothing, your pity fear, your pain, his fear, his pain means NOTHING. Fight warrior! This is what Krishna meant.
2:52 _"The whole text is about what is truth, what is good and bad, what is the right thing to do in a difficult situation"_ Why not just teach enlightenment and then people know what to do, rather than memorize what to do?
@doggo Of course we all have the capacity for rational thinking embedded in our dna and consciousness. The question is whether or not it is sufficiently developed. _"the BG wasn't an esoteric text intended to be limited to the top brahmins."_ Even the Shiva Sutra wasn't limited to "higher ups". Probably most of ancient texts were like that when they were originally written. But I'm just wondering why teaching people how to behave via books would be effective. Take the Bible for example... it teaches people how to behave, no? Then why is it, to take one example, that the British behaved so badly in India? (btw, im not from India).
@@TheWorldTeacher There is no "in my own words". It has already been defined in the texts as knowledge/awareness of ones true nature beyond the body-mind mechanism.
I strongly object to Jeffery Mishlove imposing his own personal Liberal morality on Hindu culture and society. Speaking about the historical context of the time of the writing of the Bhagavad Gita, at 42:18 Dr. Mishlove says: "... they came from an era in which the caste system was well established and was *oppressing* people,...". "oppressed" by liberal standards, not by the values and standards of the people of the subcontinent of India. Caste members did not try to compete to supersede one another; there are no recorded "Caste wars'' in Indian history. I challenge anyone to show by historical example such a case. There are none. Shudras did not aspire to become Vaishya no more than Vaishyas aspired to become Kshatriyas,... there is no systemic envy or resentment between Varnas in caste society. People accepted their social reality as part of cosmic order and the product of their personal Dharma from their previous life; a process that has been spanning countless yuga cycles propagating life through reincarnation. So a Shudra can become a Vaishya by following Dharma to be reincarnated higher in the next life. For a non-believer like Dr. Mishlove Caste is not a _lived_ experience and Reincarnation is not a clear and unambiguous reality that will happen as it is for a Hindu, this is why Jeffery erred and used the word "oppressed".
Many of the ideas in the interview don't have their basis in reality. The modern scholar should do independent research and analysis and reassess the colonial view and analysis of Hindu texts.
Debashish Benerji As He said. We all need to interpret the Gita for our self`s. At 17 years old I was Trained by the US Army in Boot Camp to Kill. Years after that I found The Bible and The Gita after I entered my Spiritual life. I applied that military knowledge and God`s Teachings to Destroy my lower nature enemies. The Gita has been my Fifth Gospel as a Christian. It has led me to the many places in the Bible Ephesians 6: 14-18 for one, where in Reality I must without mercy kill the lower nature thru Grace to Gain God Conscious. Just like The Bible and Gita Teaches. I don`t know what I would do without either one. I was so desperate to find God? So I`m Thankful to both teachings. So I Walk in Beauty. Good Commentary. Thank You!
@@TheWorldTeacher Yes I am a Theist. I Practice Mystical Christianity. I Do Not Follow Organized Christianity. I have had unnumbered experiences with Jesus Christ My Lord, Savior and Teacher. He has shown me The Heavenly Father and how to know him. I am not a teacher. I have thru God`s Grace, The Holy Spirit and Great Teachers been Guided into Self Realization and God Realization. I have been shown many things I can`t put in words. I respect all the major religions. I stay clear of people who don`t believe in God. I serve the Lord in a Prayer Ministry. With amazing results. Looking forward to Paradise and leaving this illusion. Yes it`s True! One in a Thousand will be a Yogi and one in a Thousand Yogi`s will know God. I am not special. We live in a wonderful time with Great knowledge freely given to anyone. God is close and anyone can have Him.
@@billtuckjr2834 Well spoken, Bill !
A certain sadness hovers over the Gita, over Arjuna, and Krisha's words are so warming, so uplifting, so spiritual, I was surprised Dr. Banerji never left a quote or two for the listeners. A very pleasant conversation. Thank you.
Ashtavakra Gita is also good.
Very deep discussion.
Everyday, we interact with people coming from different levels of Consciousness.
Some people right now still have animalistic behaviors of cruelty; Some people have various experiences of Oneness & Love.
So it take huge amounts of maturity to realize that Humanity as a whole, is evolving : wherein everyone is living based on their own perspectives.
This is a harsh dimension in my opinion, but also a useful one since every moment, we are prompted to choose an action or a thought.
It is my understanding after reading several versions of the Gita and attending many lectures in an effort to fully understand what Krishna was trying to convey to Arjuna is that his dharma as a warrior prince was to surrender to the (facts) of the situation, that the Kauravas were intent on overtaking and enslaving the Pandavas, and it is more noble to fight in a righteous war than to surrender to evil. The Dalai Lama sought peaceful terms and reconciliation with the CCP as they entered Tibet, as a result thousands of his fellow monks were tortured and killed and he was forced to flee his own homeland. Sometimes war is justified, but we should always pray for peace
Absolutely! In the Mahabharata, there are deeds described leading up to this war. Every step was taken (by the Pandavas) to avert war. They even offered to surrender ALL the kingdoms to their evil cousins and were willing to accept a small village for each of the 5 brothers to rule.
It was a "no-go". The "Cousins" were determined to kill the Pandavas, so in reality the Pandavas were fighting for their right to exist.
Tibet couldn't fight China.
What a treat, Debashish on the Bhagavad-Gita!
Captivating. The guest knows the subject very well with incredible background given. Great questions as well. Thanks for this.
I will cal upon Dr Mishlove to invite Italian author Mauro Biglino to discuss the bibile ... he has a unique and refreshing take on the christian and hebrew scripture that very few have ever heard about in the US ... his books have titles like 'the bible does not speak of god', 'the alien god of the bible', or 'the bible never said it' ... Unfortunately Biglino does not speak English and will need an interpreter ...
Translational losses is why I know so little about a lot of texts.
Sounds interesting!
it is significant that the Devas of the Bagavad Gita and the Elohim of the bible were all 'men of war" and that both books. other that spiritual or religious testaments, were mostly books about the concrete, down to earth and often cruel dealings between humans, or possibly humanoids, and their frequent battles for power, land and riches ...Unlike Dr Banerji`s, my reading of the Bagavad Gita is less mythical and metaphorical and more literal in the sense that I believe that the Devas were flesh and blood beings that harnessed advanced engineering and military technologies and that when in verse 11 it speaks of "“the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... I am become Death, the Shatterer of Worlds.” it is actually referring to nuclear type weapon and not to spiritual imagery ... A similar reference to nuclear type conflagration is found in the Sumerian epic of Erra Nergal where it speaks of 'balls of fire and sulfur" and "winds of death" ...
I agree that’s a possibility as to the historical aspect of it I don’t look at it either way but look at the world as a state of possibilities therefore I don’t read the Gita as historical or mythological but both because both ways are possibilities and both ways bear fruit
Gold, thank you 🙏
Thnxs 🙏
In ancient India the wars were fought by the soldiers, and did not involve violence against other citizens. It was first experienced during the Islamic invasions.
Funny then that the Nalanda university was first attacked by a Hindu king. Same as the cutting of the Bodhi tree, by a Hindu. And it goes on.
@@ColtraneTaylor kind give the reference pls. Interested in knowing.
@@ColtraneTaylor read history before commenting
Debashish and Cremo are my two favorite recurring guests. The biggest difference in what they bring to the conversation is that Cremo has died, had a NDE/ White Light/ Kundalini Awakening. He began “digging deeper” into the nature of things thereafter. He takes the Gita literally, Debashish does not.
great stuff
Wonderful! What a nice gentleman.
Thank you!
Beautiful, thank you so much!!
I'm going to enjoy this! when it comes to these texts lots of scholars put emphasis on translations, things get so nuanced and confusing that it's difficult to even find a starting point.
@@TheWorldTeacher You're a slave
thank you 🙏🏾
Dr.Debashish mentioned that the first evidence for Mahabharata is 400 BC and that Bhagavad Gita was interpolated into Mahabharata in 200 BC. What are the supporting evidence for these claims?
Such an enlightening discussion
Ty
22:22 ... yes and of course the Canadians have perfected it. All their violent warlike instincts are released and channeled into a game that makes scoring so difficult, ... anyway. What is this called in 1984? When they are have a moment of rage?
All communities can live peacefully following their respective dharma only in a stable and peaceful land. Stable and peaceful land is got and maintained by a range of violent acts. Pacifism can only be lived in such a land. Paradoxical?
@Just Another Commenter In an ideal world populated by realised souls, will there be egoless and unselfish people. However in the actual world, it is mitigated by laws put in by governments, which are in some measure violent. Further pacifism is a luxury when confronted by violent acts or violent ideologies, which unless met head-on could lead to greater violence. In Hindu time cycles only Satya Yuga was the period when the ideal world existed and human kind strived for higher states of being. So yes, what you say is true that regulated violence is good for the greatest number of people.
"I never cared for Blue Gods, but He's a Blue God, that's my weakness now!"
Does Jeffrey think that the Jewish God is the one true God/highest God? What does he think about Krishna for example? Would he see him as the same God but understood in a different way or is he a god that is below Yahweh in terms of hierarchy. I'm very interested to know what he thinks about this and his thoughts about people from different faiths or no faiths. Thanks anyone who can help.
This interview might be a good starting point to answering your question: th-cam.com/video/KeEyUTCjEGY/w-d-xo.html
Wu!
Prabhupada would say to that Mental Spekulation
The guy says that "truth is not fact". Well, this frightens me. If truth is not facts-based, then truth may be anything one might likes OR facts are not worthy to represent truth which makes them utterly useless. Am I wrong??
All the Vedas, Puranas, Santani traditions define truth as the one eternal unborn undying consciousness. Everything else is a play of that consciousness thru us. To be liberated in our traditions is to be firmly established in this eternal truth via yoga, devotion, actions etc.
@@kiddikbum As far as I know from my study of the Bhagavadgita there are - according to Krsna - 4 different paths of yoga that will all lead to the realization of the ultimate or absolute truth. One of these paths is Jñāna yoga, using intellectual inquiry for spiritual evolution, that is to say, using logical thought processes. Thus, truth MUST be facts-based per definition if the intellectual thought process is logical or scientific - and this is just what Krsna is telling us is true about the Jñāna path. But of course, I do agree with you that you do not necessarily need to arrive at the absolute truth by way of intellectual inquiry, you may arrive there using one of the other three paths of yoga as well. But I hope you see why I think Mr. Banerji's statement that "truth is not fact" is at best problematic.
@@stefanmathys3272 I also don't completely subscribed to his views. He is a leftist.
It's bc there's two type of Truths. One is Absolute Truth & the other is relative. When you go to cinema hall, you see a movie screen (Truth), here you watch various types of movies & in many of those movies especially fantasy, the laws of Universe is different. This is relative truth.
The screen is consciousness (Absolute Truth) & the movies are our lives (Relative truth)
Mahabharata is fact. It's the same as Clash of the Titans and refers to a time of planetary upheaval- see- "Symbols of an Alien Sky", here on youtube. Both are referring to planets
Only with krsna can we have eternal life, Hare krsna.
I'd be much more interested in what practical techniques Banerji has used and to what effect than this long series of X said Yadayadyada and I repeat the same yadayadayada.
Well, what to expect from two pacifists when they are supposed to interpret the Bhagavad Gita. They have understood little. They want to overcome the ego, only it should not hurt. The esoteric teaching of Holy War, as found in the BG or the Koran or Bushido or the Männerbund around Odin, is aimed, as they would say in India, at people with a lot of Rajas (fire, drive) as a personality trait. You have to pick people up where they are. That is why in traditional societies there was not only the path of asceticism, but also the path of Holy War as well as the Dionysian path. All of them are aimed at different types (monk, warrior, merchants or man of pleasure). And yet all paths lead to enlightenment. A Crusader and a Muslim slaying each other with a smile on their face understood that more than these two. This world means nothing, your ego means nothing, his ego means nothing, your pity fear, your pain, his fear, his pain means NOTHING. Fight warrior! This is what Krishna meant.
2:52 _"The whole text is about what is truth, what is good and bad, what is the right thing to do in a difficult situation"_
Why not just teach enlightenment and then people know what to do, rather than memorize what to do?
@doggo Of course we all have the capacity for rational thinking embedded in our dna and consciousness. The question is whether or not it is sufficiently developed.
_"the BG wasn't an esoteric text intended to be limited to the top brahmins."_
Even the Shiva Sutra wasn't limited to "higher ups". Probably most of ancient texts were like that when they were originally written. But I'm just wondering why teaching people how to behave via books would be effective. Take the Bible for example... it teaches people how to behave, no? Then why is it, to take one example, that the British behaved so badly in India? (btw, im not from India).
@@TheWorldTeacher There is no "in my own words". It has already been defined in the texts as knowledge/awareness of ones true nature beyond the body-mind mechanism.
I strongly object to Jeffery Mishlove imposing his own personal Liberal morality on Hindu culture and society.
Speaking about the historical context of the time of the writing of the Bhagavad Gita, at 42:18 Dr. Mishlove says: "... they came from an era in which the caste system was well established and was *oppressing* people,...". "oppressed" by liberal standards, not by the values and standards of the people of the subcontinent of India. Caste members did not try to compete to supersede one another; there are no recorded "Caste wars'' in Indian history. I challenge anyone to show by historical example such a case. There are none. Shudras did not aspire to become Vaishya no more than Vaishyas aspired to become Kshatriyas,... there is no systemic envy or resentment between Varnas in caste society. People accepted their social reality as part of cosmic order and the product of their personal Dharma from their previous life; a process that has been spanning countless yuga cycles propagating life through reincarnation. So a Shudra can become a Vaishya by following Dharma to be reincarnated higher in the next life. For a non-believer like Dr. Mishlove Caste is not a _lived_ experience and Reincarnation is not a clear and unambiguous reality that will happen as it is for a Hindu, this is why Jeffery erred and used the word "oppressed".
Time stamps please!
We get free programming better than pay TV; one of us should do it. :-)
Good Churchill did listen Ghandi...
Not.... sorry!!!!!!!
Churchill's name in India is low. Lower than the famous Soldier from Austria, who had an affection for Aryans.
Many of the ideas in the interview don't have their basis in reality. The modern scholar should do independent research and analysis and reassess the colonial view and analysis of Hindu texts.