The Bhagavad Gita is regarded as the single most important text in the vast sacred literature of India. The whole of this book is an exchange between Arjuna, a very skillful warrior, and Krishna who reveals himself as an incarnation of the Highest Divinity.  All the serious readers of this text in India as well as outside have regarded this exchange between Arjuna and Krishna to be an exchange between our usual self and our deepest Self which according to all the sages in India is identically the same as Brahman, the Highest and Unknowable Divinity.  Arjuna has a crisis of dharma–his responsibility and obligation for maintaining order in the society–and he turns to Krishna for advice about the right action.  Essentially Krishna implies that no action can be right until the actor is right; and that in order to become the right actor Arjuna and any other searcher needs to undergo a radical transformation of his whole being.  Then Krishna teaches various aspects of Yoga, a science par excellence for transformation, especially emphasizing Buddhi Yoga, the Yoga of Awareness, with several aspects which are frequently separately identified as yoga of action, of sacred knowledge, of meditation and of worship and love.

In the proposed seminar consisting of seven gatherings on zoom under the aegis of the European School of Theosophy we will focus on most of the important segments of this great text.  The participants are encouraged to read any translation of the Bhagavad Gita and reflect upon the subtle teaching of Krishna. Of course, every translation is a trans-creation based on the understanding and intention of the translator.  I will naturally use my own translation and commentary in my book The Bhagavad Gita:  A Guide for Navigating the Battle of Life published by Shambhala Publications in 2017.  The participants in the gatherings will be encouraged to share their insights and questions.

Dr Ravi Ravindra obtained degrees of B.Sc. and M. Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, before going to Canada on a Commonwealth Scholarship to do an M.S. and Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Toronto. Later, he did an M.A. in Philosophy also, and at different times held Post-doctoral fellowships in Physics (University of Toronto), History and Philosophy of Science (Princeton University) and in Religion (Columbia University). He is now Professor Emeritus at Dalhousie University in Halifax (Canada) where he served for many years as a Professor in the departments of Comparative Religion, Philosophy, and of Physics.

He was a Member of the Institute of Advanced Study in Princeton, a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla, and the Founding Director of the Threshold Award for Integrative Knowledge. He was a member of the Board of Judges for the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. He is an Honorary Member of the Scientific and Medical Network and a Fellow of the Temenos Academy, England.

Ravi’s spiritual search has led him to the teachings of J. Krishnamurti, G. I. Gurdjieff, Zen, Yoga, and a deep immersion in the mystical teachings of the Indian and Christian classical traditions. He is the author of several books on religion, science, mysticism, and spirituality.

50.00 Euros

75.00 Euros

100.00 Euros

With the kind support of The Blavatsky Trust.