People of any and all faiths can read the Gita and appreciate its counsel because its appeal is universal. It is a poem situated in the sixth book of the Mahabharata, an ancient Indian epic. The Gita is a spiritual revelation in the life of Arjuna. When discord strikes Arjuna’s heart, he receives guidance from his guru, Krishna, who imparts celestial wisdom to aid his aching heart and conflicted mind. Although the Gita depicts an individual who struggles amidst a great battle, the story is purely subjective. Krishna, charioteer and guide, advises Arjuna in a battle between the propensities of the ego and the qualities of soul. Krishna offers Arjuna a message of renunciation of the fruits of action. He compels him, and us, to rise above the changing conditions of duality experienced by the sense-attached mind.

For the next few weeks our Sunday services will dive into the depth and breadth of the Bhagavad Gita — this blessed “Song of God” — and call forth its pearls of wisdom.