Edward's Diary Entry 6 - The Gita?

Yes, I mentioned Chapter XVI of the Gita. How very confusing it was. So short and concise. I didn’t really know what to make of it. My classic book version by Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood said:

“A man who is born with tendencies toward the Divine is fearless (1) and pure in heart (2). He perseveres (3) in that path to union with Brahman which the scriptures and his teacher have taught him. He is charitable (4). He can control his passions (5). He studies the scriptures regularly (7), and obeys their directions (6). He practises spiritual disciplines (8). He is straightforward (9), truthful (11), and of an even temper (12). He harms no one (10). He renounces the things of this world (13). He has a tranquil mind (14) and an unmalicious tongue (15). He is compassionate toward all (16). He is not greedy (17). He is gentle (18) and modest (19). He abstains from useless activity (20). He has faith in the strength of his higher nature (20-21). He can forgive (22) and endure (23). He is clean in thought and act (24). He is free from hatred (25) and from pride (26). Such qualities are his birthright.”

Here I have numbered the “virtues” I was supposed to study and practise – although that took me a few weeks to do. I had met with “virtues” back in the Enneagram Personality Test studies… There were 9, or were there maybe 7 cardinal virtues and vices? No, maybe 144, one for each question on the Riso-Hudson personality test. Benjamin Franklin wrote down 13 in his diaries, and kept a daily list of his “faults”, stating in his autobiography that “Tho’ I never arrived at the perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, a better and a happier man than I otherwise should have been if I had not attempted it.”  Another list gave 120. I looked them all up, made my own lists, tried to make some sense of it all and then – finally – I gave up, waiting for some better time, perhaps. It must have been easier in the Dark Ages, without Internet and books. Well, that better time was at the same time as my charity decision: it was the determination to be inspired by and struggle to understand something made quite clear by my old friend the Indian sage I already mentioned in Entry 5...  You have to focus on the essentials, and bring some order into your life. More on Monday, after some weekend disorder please!