Bhagavad Gita Reference Guide

Bhagavad Gita Reference Guide

Godsong

A fresh, strikingly immediate and elegant verse translation of the classic, with an introduction and helpful guides to each section, by the rising American poet. Born in the United States into a secularized Hindu family, Amit Majmudar puzzled over the many religious traditions on offer, and found that the Bhagavad Gita had much to teach him with its "song of multiplicities." Chief among them is that "its own assertions aren't as important as the relationships between its characters . . . The Gita imagined a relationship in which the soul and God are equals"; it is, he believes, "the greatest poem of friendship . . . in any language." His verse translation captures the many tones and strategies Krishna uses with Arjuna--strict and berating, detached and philosophical, tender and personable. "Listening guides" to each section follow the main text, and expand in accessible terms on the text and what is happening between the lines. Godsong is an instant classic in the field, from a poet of skill, fine intellect, and--perhaps most important--devotion.

Krishna in the Sky with Diamonds

A verse-by-verse examination of Arjuna’s soma experience and Krishna’s psychedelic guidance in the Bhagavad Gita • Explains how the Bhagavad Gita provides complete guidelines for the spiritual use of entheogens--from prior mental preparations to the integration of profound visionary insights into everyday consciousness • Examines Chapter XI of the Gita in detail to illuminate Arjuna’s hallucinogenic experience and expose Krishna as the ultimate psychedelic guide • Shows psychedelic experience to be an essential and ancient part of the path to spiritual transformation Known as a text of liberation and enlightenment and praised not only by Indians but also by prominent modern thinkers such as Aldous Huxley and Albert Einstein, the Bhagavad Gita is one of the most commented-upon books of all time, yet one aspect has never before been examined: Arjuna’s psychedelic soma experience with his guru Krishna. Drawing upon his many years as a student of Nitya Chaitanya Yati, whose teacher was Gita scholar Nataraja Guru, preeminent disciple of Narayana Guru, Scott Teitsworth explains how the Bhagavad Gita, through the story of the hero Arjuna and his guru Krishna, provides complete guidelines for the spiritual use of entheogens, from prior mental preparations to the integration of profound visionary insights into everyday consciousness. Examining Chapter XI of the Bhagavad Gita verse by verse, he illuminates Arjuna’s complex revelatory experience and exposes Krishna’s role as the ultimate spiritual guide--facets of the Gita evident to anyone with psychedelic experience yet long suppressed in favor of paths to enlightenment through service or meditation. He shows that psychedelics are indeed “gateway drugs” in that they stimulate open exploration of the mind and the meaning of life. Uncovering new depths to this revered manual of spiritual instruction, Teitsworth reveals psychedelic experience to be an essential and ancient path to ignite realization in the prepared student, turn theory into direct experience, and bring the written teachings to life.