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Bhagavad Gita - April 30, 2009 Chapter 3, Verses 23-25 Swami Yogatmananda Vedanta Society of Providence     Please click the 'Play' button to start. It may take a minute.   Launch in external player   To download the lecture, please right-click here and then click "Save Target As..."     VI.23: One should know that the severance of contact with sorrow to be what is called Yoga. That Yoga has to be practised with perseverance and with an undepressed heart. VI.24: By totally eschewing all desires which arise from thoughts, and restraining with the mind itself all organs from every side. VI.25: One should gradually withdraw with the intellect endowed with steadiness. Making the mind fixed in the Self, one should not think of anything whatsoever.   The above image is from Gita Darshan by courtesy of Sri Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad.   To Order Audio/ Video CDs : bookstore@vedantaprov.org   List of Audio/ Video CDs, DVDs

Summary of this lecture: When we are dealt blows in life, most of us feel depressed and shattered. The Yogi, however, is unaffected, even in the face of tremendous suffering as there is no identification with the body. Although etymologically Yoga means "to join," in these verses Lord Krishna emphasizes that it is really vi-yoga, or dis-joining ourselves from our attachment to the body. When you dissociate with the body and its trappings, you automatically associate with what is True/unchanging. Removing our attachments to friends and family members does not mean ceasing to love them. Just the opposite! In order to really love our near and dear ones, we need to let go of our attachment to them. Practicing Yoga requires great determination and an uncompromising commitment. We should not be impatient to reach our goal of God realization, but we should be eager and enthusiastic. Our mind may rebel against the discipline of spiritual practice, but if we give way to even one small desire, the rest will come pouring in. We must be firm and resolute!