Prabhavananda, Swami, and Christopher Isherwood, trans. Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God. New York: Signet
Classic, 2002. Print.
Pretty interesting "summary" of the most important ideas taught in Gita.
Paraphrasing examples: 1) In "The Yoga of Knowledge" Krishna describes the seer by comparing him to a turtle. I know exactly where you are in the Gita. 2) Sattwa binds man to happiness, rajas to desire for action and tamas to delusion (107).
When you are writing about the Krishnamurti interviews, in the text you should write: Krishnamurti says...or Krishnamurti's view of freedom... BUT the citation should look like this: (Rajagopal 17).
PLEASE reread grading criteria: I am assessing you on what you learned from our study of Hinduism and the Gita. Please do not consult or use other sources.
12/2: Response. I have attached board notes below.
11/30: See "Notes about evidence for critique" attached below.
11/29: We looked at draft student paragraphs for the Gita projects - the grading criteria is attached below ("Gita assessment 2016"). MAKE SURE you are looking at the right block for due dates. Complete rough drafts due in both classes on Friday (no coupons).
HOMEWORK (F Block): Work on your drafts (due on Friday).
(G Block): For Thursday: Read the “Legend of Buddha’s life” (1-5) As you read, mark on the text symbols that you think might be important. On the front of the notecard: make a list of the symbols that you think might show up in Buddhist art and tell me why you think they might be significant enough to be there. On the Back: Choose two of the stories of the Buddha that really interest you, summarize the story, tell me what it teaches, what it reminds you of, connections, etc.
11/18: I posted the assessment below and we began work on it. F Block: finish the Gita this weekend (17+18) and start your brainstorming. G Block: read chapter 18 and continue to work on the assessments.
11/17: F Block: Tonight, read 13 and 14: Look at the title first. It tells you the central idea in each chapter. On a piece of paper you can turn in to me, take notes for each chapter (one chapter on each side) about what is most important in the chapter (do not ignore imagery). Then, write me a paragraph or so that makes connections between this chapter and what you already know, what you understand about Arjuna’s quest and his battle, about the nature of the world in Hinduism, about uniting with the divine, etc.
G Block: Meet in your groups of four this morning to talk through your main ideas for chapters 13 and 14. If you come to any new conclusions, or if you have any questions that you cannot solve but need to, write them at the top of your homework, then hand them in. Next, turn your attention to chapters 10 and 15, These two chapters focus specifically on the path of devotion (or the “way of love” which is the translation in one of my other versions of the Gita). As you will see, the love/devotion here is to the divine – and the divine in every thing. Together, decide what is most important, given the goals of the chapter, and take notes. Each chapter has poetic imagery (especially metaphor) that matter, so pay attention to those, write them down and unpack them. Finally, go back to Krishnamurti and look for ways to connect his ideas to these. For Friday., read chapter 17. Here’s what you need to pay attention to: Arjuna’s question asks Krishna to explain the difference between non-attachment and renunciation, so look for differences. The chapter is full of threes (three ways, three kinds, etc.) and fives (five partakers) – make sure you know what these are, what the differences are and why they matter, duty and action (dharma and karma) and how they interact.
11/15: F block: Tonight: we are skipping ahead in the Gita to chapters 8-11. These all deal in some way with the nature of the divine. Each of you read a chapter for tonight (so that all four chapters are covered. If there are five people in a group, two of you take chapter 11). Remember to be looking for poetry as well, and connections to Krishnamurti. Take notes - about man’s relationship to the divine, about the nature of the divine, about achieving union with the divine – so you can share these tomorrow with you group.
G Block: Tonight, read 13 and 14: Look at the title first. It tells you the central idea in each chapter. On a piece of paper you can turn in to me, take notes for each chapter (one chapter on each side) about what is most important in the chapter (do not ignore imagery). Then, write me a paragraph or so that makes connections between this chapter and what you already know, what you understand about Arjuna’s quest and his battle, about the nature of the world in Hinduism, about uniting with the divine, etc.
11/14: G Block: Please pair up with the person next to you to talk about the two Krishnamurti interviews (if everyone is there, you might need 2 groups of 3). Share your challenging ideas and the ideas you disagreed with. Also, help each other with ideas that confused you. Make sure each of you shares ideas from both interviews. After you’ve done this, join with another pair and do the same. At this point, write down (on a separate piece of paper that you can turn in) the most interesting ideas that come from your discussions (you should have at least 4 ideas). Then, choose at least two ideas from the interviews that remind you of teachings in the Gita. For each of these ideas, go back to the Gita and find specific connections (your goal here is to understand how ideas in the Gita might inform Krishnamurti’s answers). Write down the idea from Krishnamurti and the connections (at least two) to the Gita. Do not quote – instead, paraphrase the Gita and write down the page numbers.
Tonight: we are skipping ahead in the Gita to chapters 8-11. These all deal in some way with the nature of the divine. Each of you read a chapter for tonight (so that all four chapters are covered. If there are five people in a group, two of you take chapter 11). Remember to be looking for poetry as well, and connections to Krishnamurti. Take notes - about man’s relationship to the divine, about the nature of the divine, about achieving union with the divine – so you can share these tomorrow with you group. Turn in today’s group notes to the sub (make sure all names are on them).
11/10: Today, more Krishnamurti interviews. This time, we’re reading “The Problem with Freedom” and “Freedom and Love.” “The Function of Education” As you read, underline ideas that match your ideas about education, circle ideas that you disagree with (they might anger you, provoke you, contradict what you believe) and put a square around ideas that challenge you to think differently (these do not anger or provoke, but rather strike you as ideas you have not yet thought of but would like to think about more).
Then, choose one idea that you disagree with and one idea that challenges you. Write down each idea (write for each essay on one side of the and then respond to the idea. You can tell me first why it angers/provokes, challenges, etc., but then, THINK about what if it were true? What would that mean for your life? What would your life look like if that were what you believed? What would change for the better? What for the worse and why? Write as much as you can for each.
This weekend (G Block): , read pages 49-51 (you can stop when the prose starts) AND 55-62. On a piece of paper you can turn in to me, write down the 4 most important ideas in these pages (given our purpose), 3 poetic lines that you think best illustrates an important concept, 2 new ideas about the state of this world OR about the nature of the divine and 1 idea in the Gita that you really connect with.
11/9: Exploring and examining the elements of the Gita's teaching: Atman (SELF), gunas, Maya, action and its causes, right action and duty, etc.
11/4: We worked our way through the first chapter of the Gita, talked about the struggle Arjuna is having (and about the idea that this poem is often read - and we will read it as - an internal struggle between worldly attachment and unity with the divine). THIS WEEKEND: read chapter 2 - make note of what you understand and especially what you don't and start writing down poetic lines that prove V.V. Raman's quote about what poetry is to the human condition and why. CORRECTION TO GITA CHARACTER NOTES (below): switch the descriptions of Drona and Bhisma. Sorry!
11/3: HOMEWORK: F BLOCK: Please read the Gita character board notes (attached below) and add what you need to your notes. Also read pages 30-34 in the Gita - keep in mind our discussion about Arjuna's struggle on the battlefield and internally. G BLOCK: Please read the Gita character board notes (attached below) and add what you need to your notes.Also, copy down the Gita poetry quotes + epic conventions (make a note of the ones you do not recognize, so we can talk about them in class).
11/2: We worked together in small groups today in an effort to understand how the "sacred histories" (the myth stories that serve as the underpinning for the Gita) demonstrate TRUTH /right action (remembering that action = action+ thought) and we were looking for possible symbols that we might need later. Tonight, Please spend some time tonight looking again at "Kindness" (attached below) Think about title, right action, surface + what's under
10/31:HOMEWORK (see "Bhagavad Gita intro" attached below).
10/28: G Block: For Tuesday (NO COUPONS): Go to the website and print out, read AND bring with you to class, the “Hinduism notes” that are attached below (the notes are TWO pages long - print both). Come to class with questions.
10/27: I pulled quotes from your classmates reactions to Krishnamurti's interview (attached below). Please choose two that challenge your thinking. Write each down on the notecard(one on each side) and then respond. First, try to understand the idea being expressed from the point of view of the writer. Then, reflect on the idea, on being through the lens of another's, on how this challenges your thinking, etc. Fill each side of the notecard.
10/24: Between now and Thursday, please listen to at least the first 16 minutes* of the conversation between physicist V.V. Raman and Krista Tippett (you can also search for it by typing “The Heart’s Reason” into Google). In this conversation, Raman and Tippett discuss science and religion and how they can live together, and Raman talks about his own experience and understanding as a practicing Hindi. As you listen, on the front of the notecard: take notes about what interests you about Raman’s ideas about the relationship between scientific and religious perspectives and how these can live together, and about Hinduism, its ideas and its practices (your notes should be bulleted, but should also fill the front of the card). On the back of the notecard: reflect about Raman’s perspective, his understanding of the intersection between religion and science and about Hinduism. Do not argue with him – instead try to understand his ideas. Fill the back of the notecard
*This conversation is really wonderful – I would recommend that you listen to the whole hour.