Manual for Living ~ by Cynthia Land, RYT

The Gita Deck

Almost as long as I've been teaching the physical postures of yoga, I've wanted to study the ancient yogic tome known as The Bhagavad-Gita.  It is a yogic philosophical manual for living.  

Some find solace in The Bible or The Koran or name your religious book of choice.  I have never strongly aligned with any organized religion, but I have found alignment with many of the moral and ethical discussions found in these holy books.  The Bhagavad Gita really pares life down to the basics.  It actually comes from a much larger book.  The Gita, as it's lovingly called, comes from the Mahabarata an epic tale from ancient India.  If you think the current TV show Succession is good, it's got nothing on this wide ranging novel of the struggle of two royal families.  

I won't put too fine a bead on it, but suffice to say; at one point in the story the families decided to have a battle to end all battles.  One of the princes, Arjuna, has such a case of the jitters that he can barely get himself to the battle grounds.  His best friend just happens to be the Hindu god Krishna.  They've known each other since childhood, but that's another story.  Anyway, Krishna agrees to drive Arjuna to the battle ground and the Bhagavad-Gita is the conversation that ensues between the two once they arrive.  

The Gita discusses the difficulty of doing the impossible.  How does one go forward knowing you must accomplish a task so heinous you can barely step one foot forward.  This is what Arjuna must do in this story.  He must get out of his chariot and begin to kill his cousins.  Krishna understands the weight of the task but tells Arjuna that it is his dharma, or his life's journey, to go into this battle, there is no other way.  What's important to take away here is that we all have very difficult situations in our lives that must be done.  Situations where everyone seems to lose.  We do these things because they simply must be done.  

The Gita Deck

The conversation between Krishna and Arjuna continues, ranging from lust to sacrifice to the importance of maintaining balance in life.  Each chapter of the Gita focuses on a form of Yoga.  There are many versions of the Gita, all translated from the original Sanskrit.  I'm currently using a version written by Stephen Mitchell.  However, I was recently turned on to a cool tool; The Gita Deck.  This is a deck of 68 inspirational cards, all taken from The Bhagavad-Gita.  You can just shuffle the deck, pick a card and be inspired by something from the book.  Reading them is a great way to learn the Gita if you don't want to sit down and read the book 

Life is hard enough to get through, Yoga with a capital "Y" has helped me understand my body, quiet my mind and relate to the world around me.  The Bhagavad Gita, especially studied with others, has had a profound and long lasting effect on me.