Carpe Diem #699, depression

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

A few days ago we started our discovery of the Bhagavad Gita and then there were a few other episodes, but today we will continue our discovery of the Bhagavad Gita. As we can recall .... Arjuna stood in the middle of the both armies and had a conversation with Krishna about life and death.
Arjuna becomes sad and depressed as he sees the enemy armies in which his friends, family-members and teachers are gathered. And he becomes anxious ... how can he fight against his best friends and family?

Having thus spoken in the midst of the battlefield, Arjuna, casting away his bow and arrow, sat down on the seat of the chariot with his mind overwhelmed with sorrow.

The Lord takes pity on him and proceeds to enlighten him by various means. He explains to Arjuna the imperishable nature of the Atman, for which there is no past, present and future. The Atman never dies, therefore Arjuna should not grieve. As It transcends the five elements, namely, earth, water, fire, air and ether, It cannot be cut, burnt or dried. It is unchanging and eternal. Everyone experiences conditions like pleasure and pain, heat and cold, due to contact of objects with the senses. The senses carry the sensations through the nerves to the mind. One should be able to withdraw the senses from objects, like the tortoise which withdraws all its limbs within.

eternal circle
lotuses blooming and decaying -
ancient wisdom grows

© Chèvrefeuille

Krishna asserts that only one who has the capacity to be balanced in pleasure and pain alike is fit for immortality. Krishna goes on to tell Arjuna that if he refuses to fight and flees from the battle, people will be justified in condemning such action as unworthy of a warrior.

Having taught Arjuna the immortal nature of the Atman, Lord Krishna turns to the performance of action without expectation of fruit. A man should not concern himself about the fruit of the action, like gain and loss, victory and defeat. These are in the hands of the Lord. He should perform all action with a balanced mind, calmly enduring the pairs of opposites like heat and cold, pleasure and pain, that inevitably manifest during action. Krishna advises Arjuna to fight, free from desire for acquisition of kingdom or preservation of it.

Arjuna is eager to know the characteristics of a man who has a stable mind. Such a person, Krishna tells him, will have no desires at all. Since he is content within, having realized the Self, he is entirely free from desires. The consciousness of the Atman and abandonment of desires are simultaneous experiences. The various qualities of a Sthitaprajna (a stable-minded person) are described by the Lord. He will not be affected by adversity and will have no fear or anger. He will take things as they come, and will not have any likes and dislikes. He will neither hug the world nor hate it. The man of stable mind will have perfect control of the senses. The senses are powerful and draw the mind outwards. One should therefore turn one’s gaze within and realize God who resides in the heart. The Yogi, having achieved a stable mind, remains steadfast even though all sense-objects come to him. He is unmoved and lives a life of eternal peace.

Krishna concludes that the eternal Brahmic state frees one from delusion forever. Even at the end of life, when one departs from this body, one does not lose consciousness of one’s identity with Brahman.

no more delusion
as the Painter finishes His painting -
it is ready

© Chèvrefeuille

As I re-read the above words a kind of joy overwhelms me ... what a joy to know that there will be a time in which we will be free from delusion even at the end of our life as we are leaving our conscious body and become eternal subconsciousness.

Isn't that what we explored during our Tarot month? This scene above could be easily placed in the Great Arcana's Tower card ... in which we have seen that we cannot become as God, but we are already God. Maybe you remember the Tower card ... in which the sky was filled with "yods" the only Hebrew sign that is placed in all words of the Holy Scripture .... therefore we can say God is everywhere around us, in us accompanying us through our whole life.

At the end of our life we may enter the Holy City, becoming Brahman ... and so there is a link between the great religions ... there is a common meaning in all the holy scriptures on Earth and beyond.

Arjuna overcomes his depression as he hears the words of Krishna and his transformation has started.

old pond
lotuses start blooming, growing to the light
water circles

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until April 7th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, Gandiva (the bow), later on. For now ... I hope this episode will inspire you to compose an all new haiku.

!! I have published our new Carpe Diem Haiku Kai prompt list already. You can find it in the menu !!