From the Vision of Eternity: 8 Life Lessons from the Bhagavad-Gita

We long for peace: peace in the world, peace in our community and peace in our family. We have often heard that "peace begins with me" but how do we embody the peace that we seek? In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna speaks directly about the need for peace, declaring that there is no happiness without peace. Furthermore, He lays out the path to attaining the supreme, spiritual peace that we long for.

We read about freedom, dream of freedom, hope for freedom, we may even fight for freedom but do we understand what freedom really is? Why is it that even when we free ourselves from one form of oppression, we simultaneously entrap ourselves in another layer of bondage? Can we ever actually be free? In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna examines the bonds that enslave the soul and shines a light on achieving ultimate freedom.

Everyone naturally desires happiness. To be happy is part of our intrinsic nature, yet it seems that we cannot have happiness without distress. We regularly experience that there is no pleasure without pain. Any happiness that comes our way also seems fleeting, dissolving like mist as we grasp it. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna offers a unique perspective on happiness, illuminating the path to living a life full of deep, transcendental joy.

Love. It is the topic of endless movies, poems, books and songs. It is our highest source of happiness and the cause of our deepest misery. We long for it, pursue it, hold it tightly and mourn its passing. It is our greatest need and it is at the very essence of who we are. The Bhagavad Gita speaks of a love that never withers with the passing of time, that endures beyond death itself. In the Bhagavad Gita we uncover the secret of the greatest love of all.

What is my destiny? Is it controlled by the stars? Is it divinely ordained? Or is it simply an arbitrary course of events? Furthermore, is destiny set in stone; a fixed series of events that are inevitable and unchangeable, or do we play a role in determining our future and can we change our destiny? In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna examines the natural laws that determine destiny and, furthermore, uncovers the keys that allow each person to break free from fate and set their personal course for freedom.

What are you afraid of? We have so many fears, large and small. Fear of the dark, fear of failure, fear of success, fear of loss, fear of death. The crippling shadow of fear follows us through life, sometimes lurking at the edge of our consciousness, sometimes completely overwhelming us. Fear holds us back from living a full and happy life. Is there a way to live fearlessly? Like a beacon shining in a dark night, the Bhagavad Gita illuminates the path to freedom from the most dangerous fear.

In the world today, many people have rejected religious dogma and organized belief systems. Yet we find ourselves with a God-shaped hole in our hearts and a longing for connection with something or someone greater than ourselves. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna speaks to this modern dilemma. Unlike religion, which involves belief in a particular faith, the process of yoga as taught in the Bhagavad Gita, requires a person to embark on a personal spiritual voyage of discovery and experience direct perception of the truth.

Most people have at least a passing understanding of the concept of karma. The idea that what you do to others will come back to you may have encouraged you to modify your behaviour with the idea of attracting more good karma than bad karma. But did you know that even "good karma" has a serious downside? If even good karma is not desirable, how can we live in this world without creating karma? In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches the yogic path of karma yoga, also known as the "art of all work", whereby you can achieve complete freedom from all karma.