Holy scriptures… yeah right !! ??

FEAL | 10 Jun 2005

A friend has recently brought the content of a particular translation and interpretation of the famous Bhagavad-Gita to my attention. That, and also a relatively well known — although perhaps now dead — Indian Guru that taught the content of the Gita to his students (the modern Hare Krishna movement). I was reading through some of this edition of the Gita and also a book by this Guru on “Bhakti Yoga” (the path of devotional yoga — the attainment of enlightenment through devotion to a Guru).

As I read this book I was starkly aware of what to me come across as major limitations in this sort of Eastern doctrine. In my experience, a dominant slant in these two books (this version of the Gita and the Bhakti Yoga book) was towards the notion that the soul of he who is unenlightened is tainted, impure, unable to contain ANY light, and essentially condemned to living hell until such time as this person finds a true Guru/Teacher and devotes himself entirely to such a Guru. This Guru will then guide the poor fellow toward his salvation. Without such guidance he will get nowhere and will remain forever tainted as a soul, stuck in the perpetual cyclic illusion of life in the material world. A pretty grim view of things, I would say, and one that sounds awfully similar to the Fundamentalist Christian view that we are all born with original sin, condemned to an afterlife in hell (for ever) unless we surrender ourselves to this particular fundamentalist version of Jesus Christ out Saviour, amen.
According to this particular Guru, the “three gateways” to certain hell are Lust, Desire, and Ignorance (I think I’ve remembered that correctly). The aspirant must be sure to renounce all Lust and Desire (oh, it may have been Lust and Greed), and to purify himself. Only when he is completely pure will he be ready to meet his Guru. As soon as he is 100% pure his Guru will appear and help eliminate his ignorance, so that he might be “saved” from this hellish world of the material plane.

Gosh. What an interesting thing to invest ones belief, energy, and personal power into. Sounds rather horrific to me.

My friend pointed out that it reminded her of the Bible. Hmmm… not wrong there.

What is it about man and the ego, that can take the words of an Enlightened Being and mash those words up to the point where they so completely contradict what that Being was on about that we’re left with nothing but fear inducing and condeming tripe? No wonder so many people get one taste of religion and run… swearing to avoid anything remotely spiritual for ever and a day. I don’t blame them.

Well… I can only come back to the point and the Truth — as I experience it — that EVERY-THING has a perfect purpose and function in the grand scheme of things—that of Forever Expanding Awareness in Liberation. Everything (such as spiritualist views such as those I experience in this teachers work) also has its place in the world of each man and women who invests their attention into it.

Blessings…

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State of the world, Various Inspirations, Realisations and Explorations
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  • Andrew

    Interesting article and so was you article on time.

    If you are referring to A.C. Bhaktivedanta’s version of the Bhagavad Gita, then I have to agree with you. I take issue with a lot of what he says too. However, I have found with other transltions that the Gita is a very beautiful and divinely inspired text with a lot of depth.

    And there are a lot of other ‘Holy Scriptures’ that are wonderful and direct. I’ve spent many delightful hours reading them – it’s just a matter of finding the good ones. I’ll email one that you might appreciate. I hope you don’t mind me sending it to you, but it is one of my favourites and I’d like to share it. :-)

  • Andrew

    Interesting article and so was you article on time.

    If you are referring to A.C. Bhaktivedanta’s version of the Bhagavad Gita, then I have to agree with you. I take issue with a lot of what he says too. However, I have found with other transltions that the Gita is a very beautiful and divinely inspired text with a lot of depth.

    And there are a lot of other ‘Holy Scriptures’ that are wonderful and direct. I’ve spent many delightful hours reading them – it’s just a matter of finding the good ones. I’ll email one that you might appreciate. I hope you don’t mind me sending it to you, but it is one of my favourites and I’d like to share it. :-)

  • Jonathan

    Thanks Andrew. Got the email and I will be reading the document with interest.
    I should perhaps make it clear that I do not wish to imply that all “holy scriptures” are ego-distorted and manipulative, such as my experience of the two texts I have mentioned.

    The translation of the Gita that I was referring to is by an Indian dude that always strikes me as looking rather miserable (my judgement of his appearance, I know)… I don’t recall his name… but I understand he is the main guy behind the Hare Krishna movement. Most Hare Krishna establishments I have visited have his picture around the place.

    I suspect that in all instances where I have poked my nose into the B. Gita it has always been one of these Hare Krishna editions. If this guy I have mentioned is A.C. Bhaktivedanta then you were correct with that guess. I must say I did get the impression that what I was reading may have been very much slanted by the translator, and that other translations might be very different. I found it have to imagine that such a famous and influential text would — in its original language — be so distorted. Although, then again, the Bible is by far one of the most influential “holy texts” and it’s pretty distorted (in my experience) so popularity is no way to determine if such a text might be twisted or not.

    Without doubt I have experienced great enjoyment and consciousness expansion through reading and exploring various texts and scriptures. I am certainly not writing all such things off based on the one experience I have mentioned in this article.

    J

  • Jonathan

    Thanks Andrew. Got the email and I will be reading the document with interest.
    I should perhaps make it clear that I do not wish to imply that all “holy scriptures” are ego-distorted and manipulative, such as my experience of the two texts I have mentioned.

    The translation of the Gita that I was referring to is by an Indian dude that always strikes me as looking rather miserable (my judgement of his appearance, I know)… I don’t recall his name… but I understand he is the main guy behind the Hare Krishna movement. Most Hare Krishna establishments I have visited have his picture around the place.

    I suspect that in all instances where I have poked my nose into the B. Gita it has always been one of these Hare Krishna editions. If this guy I have mentioned is A.C. Bhaktivedanta then you were correct with that guess. I must say I did get the impression that what I was reading may have been very much slanted by the translator, and that other translations might be very different. I found it have to imagine that such a famous and influential text would — in its original language — be so distorted. Although, then again, the Bible is by far one of the most influential “holy texts” and it’s pretty distorted (in my experience) so popularity is no way to determine if such a text might be twisted or not.

    Without doubt I have experienced great enjoyment and consciousness expansion through reading and exploring various texts and scriptures. I am certainly not writing all such things off based on the one experience I have mentioned in this article.

    J

  • http://www.jonathanevatt.com Jonathan

    I have realised that there are many interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita and hence many versions of it in translated form. So my comments above are not directed at the Gita per say, in its original and uninterpreted state. Rather my comments and observations are directed toward this particular man’s interpretation of the text.

    I mentioned that I see parallels between this and the Bible. Again, the Bible and what people make of it is a matter of interpretation. It is the interpretation that I see as being limited and less than what the original text/words were conveying.

    I trust this is clear, and I have edited the above article to reflect this more accurately.

  • http://www.jonathanevatt.com Jonathan

    I have realised that there are many interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita and hence many versions of it in translated form. So my comments above are not directed at the Gita per say, in its original and uninterpreted state. Rather my comments and observations are directed toward this particular man’s interpretation of the text.

    I mentioned that I see parallels between this and the Bible. Again, the Bible and what people make of it is a matter of interpretation. It is the interpretation that I see as being limited and less than what the original text/words were conveying.

    I trust this is clear, and I have edited the above article to reflect this more accurately.

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