Carpe Diem #702, Immortality

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

I hope you did like our CD-Special in which I shared a haiku by Kala Ramesh that fits our theme for this month "Peace of Mind". Today we will go on further with our journey, our exploration of the Bhagavad Gita. Today's prompt is not exclusively for Hinduism, today's theme we see in almost every religion or life-philosophy around the globe. Today is about immortality.

During his conversation with Krishna, Arjuna learns that those who follow the one Lord will become immortal. In the Bhagavad Gita, in the yoga of Wisdom (Chapter 4) these is one of the leading themes and we will start with a quote from an explanation of the Bhagavad Gita:

[...] One who has true union with the Lord is not subject to rebirth. He attains immortality. Such a union can only be achieved when one is free from attachment, fear and anger, being thoroughly purified by right knowledge. The Lord accepts the devotion of all, whatever path they may use to approach  Him. [...]

In this quote the first thing which occurred is "rebirth". As you maybe know in Christianity the idea of rebirth isn't an issue. You can be reborn (as a Christian) during your life, because in Christianity the idea of "rebirth" has to do with choice .... you will be a reborn Christian if you surrender your life to God. That's very different with the idea of the Bhagavad Gita. In Hinduism reincarnation is a strong belief, but (as we can read in the above quote) if the believer has real union with the Lord there is no "rebirth" or "reincarnation" than the believer attains immortality.
"Immortality" is an important issue in the Bhagavad Gita and in several chapters this is be said by Krishna. We those words on immortality he tries to tell Arjuna that he will be immortal as he goes into this all deciding battle to bring peace to the world.

universal experience
walking on the path of wisdom
finding the truth

© Chèvrefeuille

Credits: Bhagavad Gita

The battle in the Bhagavad Gita is a kind of parable of the inner battle to come to enlightenment and that's the goal to reach for Arjuna.

Immortality ... in Christianity that's a theme too, because after dying we enter God's Heavenly Place, the New Jerusalem (as told in the book of Revelations) it's similar to Atman or the Buddhist Nirvana or entering Allah's realm.
As we die ... our soul will be free and immortal, but immortality can only be reached as we have become enlightened (and I think this "enlightenment"-idea can be used for every religious or spiritual path that humankind follows).

Immortality ... is that our goal? Is that what we are striving for?

In the Tarot there is a Great Arcana card titled Death and it's the turning point in the Great Arcana, because the cards before death are all connected to learning the right way to live, the Great Arcana cards after Death are all connected to the right path to grow spiritual ... Death is the gate to immortality.

RWS XIII Death

As we step aside of the Bhagavad Gita and look for a moment to the Tree of Life (Kabbalistic glyph) than we see that Death is in the middle of the glyph, there were Christ Consciousness, the sephiroth Tifareth, has been placed. Also a turning point. Is this what Krishna and Arjuna are having their conversation about? That turning point in life? I think that's what they are discussing ... in the middle of the both armies ... there they have that conversation ... from out of the middle Arjuna has to decide which path he will take ...

I think everyone of us has such points in life in which they had to make a decision which path to take. As I look at myself ... I had such a turning point right at the moment (more than ten (10) years ago) that I became ill because I had made the bad choice to go the path of the occult ... that illness brought me insight ... I had to turn my life in another direction, I let go of the occult and turned to the light to me that was a philosophy based on three things:

+ unconditional love
+ the idea of NaraNaraYana or "in everything and everyone there is God", that's also the reason why I use Namaste often as a greeting.
+ don't do to another one what you don't want to do to yourself

This is what made me who I am now ...

the final frontier
to become newly born -
conquering death

© Chèvrefeuille

This episode wasn't easy to create, but I think I have succeeded ...

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until April 12th at noon (CET). I will (try to) publish our new episode, karma, later on. For now ... be inspired and share your haiku with us all.