The Ethical and Spiritual Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā

Satinder Dhiman

Chapter Chapter 2 in Leading Spiritually, 2014, pp 19-44 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract The fundamental seeking of all human beings is security, peace/happiness, and liberation. All human pursuits can be essentially reduced to these three basic endeavors. More often, we tend to search for these goals among external sources such as objects, people, and situations. However, we soon discover that no lasting peace and security can be found in external things because, in their ultimate bidding, they are unpredictable, unreliable, and subject to constant change. By gently pointing out that our whole problem is a misdirected search due to self-ignorance, the Gītā tells us that the only place where permanent and complete happiness and fulfillment can be found is within ourselves. The Gītā further explains that it is the self-ignorance that covers our intrinsic fullness of being, and only self-knowledge can lift the veil and lead us to the eternal fountain of abiding security, peace, and happiness that lies within us all. We finally make the pleasant discovery that searching for peace is like searching for one’s glasses everywhere when they have been perched on our nose all along. Interestingly, we even tend to forget that we have been searching for them while unknowingly looking through them!

Keywords: Spiritual Welfare; Indian Philosophy; Ultimate Reality; Sense Object; Lasting Peace (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-1-137-45563-5_2

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DOI: 10.1057/9781137455635_2

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