Right Now Is The Goal – In Gita Verse 1.28 Arjuna said: My dear Kṛṣṇa, seeing my friends and relatives present before me in such a fighting spirit, I feel the limbs of my body quivering and my mouth drying up.
Arjuna, upon realising that the warriors on the battlefield were his own relatives, friends, and family, experienced profound remorse and fear about fulfilling his duty to fight. This emotional turmoil stemmed from his attachment to his bodily relatives, causing him to forget his spiritual identity. He was overwhelmed by the materialistic concept of self, which is closely tied to bodily attachments. These attachments, rooted in ignorance, bring with them the burdens of pain, sorrow, grief, and death. It is only through the death of the physical body that such materialistic attachments can be severed. However, our existence transcends the physical; our eternal souls are beyond the cycles of life and death. Entangled in the material world, we often forget that the Supreme Lord is our only permanent relative, serving as the Father, Mother, Friend, Master, and Beloved of our soul.
Arjuna’s instinctive turn to Krishna, even in his unconscious state, is noteworthy. He did not seek Krishna for personal desires but recognised his own unconsciousness. When he expressed that seeing his friends and relatives ready to fight caused his body to quiver and his mouth to dry up, he acknowledged his disconnection from his spiritual self. This turning towards Krishna symbolised a move towards light and spiritual awareness.
In moments of unconsciousness, we rarely turn to God or seek spiritual enlightenment. Typically, we approach God and visit temples to fulfil our material desires, seldom questioning how we can re-establish our spiritual connection. Arjuna, however, was aware of his fear and physical sensations, indicating his desire to address these issues. His body quivering and mouth drying up were signs of his disconnection from his spiritual subjectivity, and he sought Krishna’s support to reconnect with it.
Arjuna did not view his symptoms as negative or positive but sought to understand how, with Krishna’s support, he could reconnect with his spiritual self. In this context, there is no absolute negative or positive; self-awareness at any given moment plays a crucial role in our lives.
The core message of the Bhagavad Gita emphasises that the present moment is the ultimate goal, focusing on action rather than future outcomes. Right Now Is The Goal. Buddha repeatedly advised his monks, “I don’t say not to be angry. I say, while you are angry, be alert.” This principle is fundamental for transformation. When anger arises, one should be alert, observe it, and be conscious of it. The more alert one is, the less anger persists. In moments of true alertness, anger dissipates, and the same energy transforms into awareness.
Energy itself is neutral and can manifest as anger, hate, love, or compassion. The expression of energy depends on one’s state of alertness. Unalert energy can become anger, violence, or other negative emotions. In contrast, alert energy transforms into consciousness and awareness, moving along a different plane.
Buddha emphasised mindfulness in all actions: walking, eating, sitting, and so on. One should perform every action with full consciousness and mindfulness. An anecdote illustrates this: Buddha was once talking to some monks when a fly landed on his forehead. Without conscious thought, he waved the fly away. Realising he had acted unconsciously, he paused, closed his eyes, and repeated the hand movement consciously. The monks, puzzled, asked him why he did this. Buddha explained that he needed to perform the action with full awareness, as it was previously done unconsciously, like a robot.
Such alertness precludes the possibility of anger or hatred. In Bhagavad Gita Verse 1.27, it is mentioned that Arjuna became overwhelmed with compassion. This indicates that even in his unconscious state, the essence of his consciousness and subjectivity remained.
Arjuna expressed that his fear manifested through body sensations, such as body quivering and mouth drying up, which he wished to address. These symptoms were driving him towards a state of unconsciousness and disconnection from the universe. Recognising this, Arjuna sought Krishna’s support to regain his connection with his inner self.
This act of seeking Krishna’s guidance in the face of fear resonates with Buddha’s teaching: “I don’t say not to be angry. I say, while you are angry, be alert.” Arjuna’s decision to turn to Krishna underscores his commitment to reconnecting with his spiritual subjectivity through mindful awareness of his bodily sensations.
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