Gita for Joyful Living
Lesson 1: Why should we learn Gita?
The goal of all human beings is to live happily and peacefully. Our education in the universities do not equip us with the required knowledge to achieve this goal. We gain knowledge in various technical and commercial fields that will guarantee us a decent job. We can earn lots of money, acquire material wealth, travel around the globe and live comfortably with family and friends. We will have glimpse of happiness once in a while and will not be able to avoid suffering completely. To achieve our goal of living joyfully without any trace of suffering, we need to gain the knowledge that is revealed in our scriptures. Arjuna is an example of a man who has acquired the maximum benefit of conventional education. He was the top-notch warrior with perfect skills on archery. He earned enough wealth, visited all the places in the universe and possessed all material comforts. He had many wives and children. The world was admiring him and trying to emulate his towering personality as he was the perfect role model for the society. However, Arjuna was not exposed to the knowledge revealed in Gita. As a result, he broke down and cried when he had to face a difficult situation. Since the knowledge and skills that we gain is not sufficient, we remain vulnerable. When everything happens in the way we want, we are happy. When a tragedy strikes, we may not be able to deal with it. We should learn how to face problems in life and continue to live joyfully. Conventional education focuses on increasing the standard of life. Gita guides us to increase the quality of our life. It teaches us how to handle all our problems in life effectively so that life could be joyful. It provides us with an emotional insurance cover so that we are not affected by the problems of life. Physical exercise will ensure healthy living. After losing good health, it cannot help us much. Similarly, one has to learn how to handle tragic situations in life while one is reasonably happy. As we advance in age physical and mental problems keep accumulating and it may be too late to learn this knowledge. We cannot start digging a well for water when the house is already burning. We need to equip ourselves with the knowledge provided by Lord Krishna so that our mind is healthy and vibrant. In life, we may face various difficult situations. Once we gain the knowledge that is revealed in the Gita, our mind will see them merely as situations and not as a ‘problem’ or ‘crisis’. Life will be joyful. Conventional education may minimize or eliminate some of the difficult situations. But it cannot change the world. Life will continue to oscillate between the pairs of opposites such as victory and defeat, pleasure and pain, gain and loss, health and ill health. Although we see that life is constantly changing, we expect it to remain favorable to us all the time. When we hear the news about other’s premature death, loss of property or such mis-fortunate events, we secretly believe that it will not happen to us. Therefore, we remain unprepared. Learning Gita will not change the course of our life. We will continue to face the pairs of opposites. Gita teaches us how to handle such difficult experiences so that we can enjoy our material comforts and live joyfully. At the war field, Arjuna wanted to quit and get away from the world. After gaining the knowledge from Lord Krishna, he could use all his skills effectively and win the war.
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