How I Started to Study the Bhagavad Gita

My Bhagavad Gita journal #1

If you haven’t read the posts “My Beloved Grandma…” and “How the Universe Nudged Me”, I invite you to begin there so that you’re able to follow the thread of the story to its conclusion here in part 3.

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Four days after G sent me the website link to the ashram, she followed up with me.

“Did you find time to visit the website?”

I’d had the time; I just hadn’t wanted to look it up.

A week later, I was scrolling through my phone messages when I chanced upon my text exchanges with G.

I stared at the web address of the ashram. Arsha Bodha Center, meaning The wisdom of the sages of ancient India.

Something in me moved my finger which landed on the URL. The link opened up a webpage. I saw a picture of Swami Tadatmananda. A white swami?

I glanced at the tabs. Several classes were on offer. Meditation, Vedanta, language lessons in Sanskrit…

And that’s when my eyes landed on it. Bhagavad Gita classes.

I clicked the link and found nearly 140 videos of Swamiji teaching the entire 18 chapters of the Bhagavad Gita.

Give it a try, my cells whispered. Obediently I clicked the link to the first video in the series, Class 1. When I exited YouTube an hour later, I was so lit up I couldn’t wait to watch Class 2.

That was September 6, 2023.

I’ve been studying the Bhagavad Gita for 6 months and it has taught me and expanded me in all ways.

What the Bhagavad Gita is

The first words I penned in my Bhagavad Gita journal are these: Gita = song; Bhagavad = of Bhagawan (or God). But we don’t translate this to mean The Song of God because the Gita is a collection of spiritual teachings. So, it is better known as Teachings from Bhagawan (or God), namely Lord Krishna.

The Bhagavad Gita is 700 verses and 18 chapters long. It is a sliver, albeit a profound sliver, excerpted from the great Indian epic, the Mahabharata (which contains 2000 chapters).

The Gita is a dialogue, between Lord Krishna and the mighty warrior Arjuna, which took place on the battlefield of Kurukshetra in Northeastern India.

What I Sought in A Guru And What I Found

Swami T, as he’s affectionately known, has an interesting background. He’s a white American who was raised in a religious Roman Catholic family. In his own words, “Those teachings didn’t work for me.” As a disillusioned young man, he lost his way for a few years before he found himself attending a Vedanta lecture by Swami Dayananda, the man who would eventually become his guru, .

(Side Note: A framed photo of Swami Dayananda Sarawati hung on a wall in my grandparents’ home in Southern India!)

Why I Enjoyed Swami T’s Teachings

Over the past thirty years, Swami T, an ordained Hindu monk, has devoted his life to sharing the wisdom of the rishis (sages) of ancient India. Here are a few reasons why I resonate with him and his teachings:

• He teaches Advaitha Vedanta (Hindu scriptures) but the breadth of his knowledge is truly impressive and spans a variety of fields that include cosmology, neuroscience, and quantum physics .
• He uses stories and anecdotes to simplify complex spiritual concepts, and often shares from his personal life.
• He’s the only swami I’ve known who acknowledges his humanity with humility and doesn’t take himself too seriously. He never gives the impression of an enlightened guru sitting on an elevated pedestal from where he is trying to save lesser humans.
• He brings a modern perspective and offers a contemporary slant to ancient teachings to make them relevant and meaningful to the times we live in.
• He has a terrific sense of humor. I’m yet to meet a guru with a hearty belly laugh and a twinkle in his eye.
• He is devoted to his community of seekers—local and online—and his affection for them is evident.

He lives modestly at the ashram. All his teachings are free. In fact, the ashram is run by donations from community members. It’s a beautiful act of giving-and-receiving.

The Universe Gives Us Exactly What We Need

Rewind back to the moment when K’s wife G had shared this guru’s information with me. I’d fantasized about a friendship with her and was disappointed when that didn’t come to be. However, I was again reminded through this experience that people come into our life for a specific reason and leave when that purpose has been served.

Her only purpose in our encounter was to deliver me to a guru who was meant to unlock the powerful truths of the Bhagavad Gita for me.

I’ve gained such deep respect for my spiritual heritage because of my guru. This wisdom was unavailable to me all these years—because I don’t know Sanskrit and because I grew up in India at a time when debate and discussion were not encouraged. Unquestioning obedience of elders was valued, but I, a rebel child, demanded and needed more.

I have to chuckle when I think of the universe’s genius plan in guiding me to the perfect American-born-converted-Hindu-monk who would answer all my questions. Mysterious are the ways of the universe. I couldn’t agree more.