A common space for harmonic peacemakers

II: 55

Chapter 2, Verse 55

Krishna says,

“They know joy in the Self

And want nothing else.

Selfish cravings torment the heart.

They have left them behind;

I call them illumined.”

Father Bede Griffiths:

“It is important not to be preoccupied by pleasure seeking. This does not mean that we despise pleasure. Every pleasure is taken as it comes, but we do not grasp it and we do not pursue it. The first instinct of a baby is the instinct for pleasure, for the warmth, comfort, and nourishment of the mother’s breast. When it feels deprived of these things, it gets angry. The crying of the baby is an expression of its anger. We all know about this. We have sought pleasure and become upset or angry when deprived of it. Together with desire and anger there is fear, because as long as we are seeking pleasure and getting upset when we are deprived of it, we are always afraid that our pleasure will be taken away, putting us in a state of disturbance. The one with steady wisdom is beyond these disturbances.”

Sri Aurobindo:

“The sign of the one in Samadhi is not the loss of consciousness of surroundings, the ordinary picture of the matter. Trance is a particular intensity and not the essential sign. The test of Samadhi is the expulsion of desires and their inability to get at the mind. It is the inner state from which this freedom arises, the delight of the soul gathered within itself with the mind equal and still and high-poised about the attractions and repulsions, the alternations of sunshine and storm and stress of the external life. It is drawn inward even when acting outwardly. It is concentrated on the Self even when gazing out upon things. It is directed wholly to the divine even when to the outward vision of others busy and preoccupited with the affairs of the world.”