Inner Conflict: The Battle of Mind and Spirit in Bhagavad-Gita

Arjuna represents the inner conflict between divine aspirations and worldly attachments.

### The Inner Battle: Understanding the Bhagavad-Gita's Teachings on Spiritual Conflict
* 🧘 The Bhagavad-Gita presents a profound exploration of the **inner conflict between the divine and carnal aspects of the self**, symbolized by the battle between the **Pandavas and Kauravas**.
* 👑 "Shri Krishna means **Christ the King**," highlighting the **interconnectedness of spiritual teachings across cultures** and emphasizing the **kingship of God within us**.
* ⚔ This war is not external but rather an **internal struggle** where the left carnal side of the mind clashes with the right divine side, representing our **conflicting desires and spiritual aspirations**.
* 🚪 Sanjaya, representing the instinct for good, narrates the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, who embodies our **higher self seeking guidance amidst confusion and chaos**.
* 💔 Arjuna's reluctance to fight against his own kin reflects the **deep emotional turmoil** experienced when faced with the need to **abandon cherished beliefs and desires** for spiritual growth.
* 🌌 The teachings urge us to **confront our fears and doubts**, as the rulers of the earth symbolize the **ingrained societal norms and traditions** that challenge our **divine calling**.
* 📜 The scripture parallels with biblical references, emphasizing that this **internal battle is universal**, where we must navigate the complexities of **faith, tradition, and personal transformation**.
* 🔍 Ultimately, the Gita teaches that true happiness and fulfillment arise not from **external validations** but from aligning with our **inner truth and divine purpose**, despite the turmoil it may bring.

### The Inner Battle: Overcoming Desires and Traditions for True Fulfillment
* 💭 "What happiness can come out of nothing?" is a critical question that reflects the **need for purpose and vision** in life.
* ⚔ The struggle against one's desires and dreams is likened to an inner battle, where **killing these aspirations leads to a loss of happiness and fulfillment**.
* 📜 The Bhagavad Gita provides insights into this conflict, emphasizing the **importance of not annihilating one's kin**, which symbolizes **personal dreams and hopes**.
* 👁 Many people are blinded by greed and tradition, leading them to make poor choices, such as **giving away money they cannot afford**, believing it will **bring them blessings**.
* 💔 Personal stories illustrate the **destructive cycle of addiction** and the struggle for change, highlighting the **difficulty of breaking free from harmful patterns**.
* 🚫 "Error does not become truth just because everybody says it," reinforces the idea that **societal beliefs can mislead individuals away from their true path**.
* 🌌 The call to action is clear: individuals must **confront their inner battles** and fight against the **negative influences that threaten their well-being and the well-being of their families**.
* 🛡 Ultimately, the message is to **embrace the fight within oneself**, seeking guidance from divine figures like **Krishna or Christ** to overcome the darkness and achieve **spiritual enlightenment**.

As we look at the Bhagavad-Gita, some of you probably are saying, Well, you know, I thought Krishna was Hari Krishna. What's the Shri Krishna stuff? Which is screaming. Sri means king. Okay, this is the same as Christ the King. It is the kingship of the Lord, the kingship of God. It is the kingdom of God. That's what Sri means. Shri Krishna means Christ the King. Actually, Krsna and Christ are the same word. It all comes out of the same root. Hearty Christian means Christ the Son. Shri Krishna means Christ the King. If you think it resembles what you're into, it does. It comes to the same place. So, you've had your looks at your prelude, and we realize now that this war that you're reading about, that is being set to begin between the sons of Pandu and the sons of the blind king, is an encounter that occurs within your mind. All of these things are simply aspects of your mind.

what goes on inside of your mind is outlined here in story form, and where we pick up the two armies, which is your left carnal side and your right divine side, are lined up ready to do battle with one another. If would you give one to Elise too if she has that okay okay she has one okay I guess Mark needs one now maybe Mark if you could keep him back there in case anybody comes in so both armies are ready to roll and this actually is a description of what goes on inside of you when there's confusion. You're getting a pull from the left side of the intellect and the carnal side, and you're getting a pull from the right side which is the divine side. Now the one who's speaking here is Sanjaya, which is excuse me a lower instinct but an instinct for good. Practically the entire Bhagavad-Gita is a reel of Sanjaya, which is this instinct for good relating what's going on between Krishna and Arjuna, our divine.

personality and he says here in 81 shanjaya. Now that remember, don't look at that as a person, look at it as part of you. That part of you, having listened to the request of Arjuna, Lord Sri Krishna drew up his bright chariot exactly in the midst between the two armies. Okay, so Arjuna, our divine personality, had asked Krishna, which is the Christ consciousness, to draw his chariot between the two armies. And if you remember last week in Exodus 25:22, we heard that God said to Moses, I will meet with you between the wings of the cherubim. And one face of the cherubim was of a man, which is the intellect. The other face of the cherubim was of a lion, which is of the divine aspect. So here in the very same thing, between the two warring armies of the intellect and the spirit, this is where God meets you, right there. That's the center. That's the tabernacle. That's the holy place. That's

the dwelling place of God. That's where God speaks with you, and here, that's where Arjuna, which represents your divine personality, has sought advice from God. What am I going to do? See, this is you. What this is actually about is you in a situation where you are feeling a tug to leave everything that you've always accepted as holy, and yet you are concerned about this, and your family is concerned, your friends are concerned. The entire makeup of your life is being split apart, and you're entering into things which people think are kooky or strange or cultish or whatever. You don't know what to do, and that's exactly what's being encountered here. And so here comes this bright chariot of Krishna's up between the two armies, and he will start to explain life and its meaning to Arjuna, which is your divine personality. Now, the lower mind right now as this is going on, because this is the point when you're in confusion, and when you're in confusion

your lower mind is going to start talking to you. This is the time when you're going to start trying to figure out things and trying to weigh all of that's going on here and look at eight two bishma. Now is the flesh, that's your physical desires. Bishma, okay, that's the flesh, the desires of the flesh, eight two bishma. And drona, whose drone, a drona is traditional religion. Drama is religion. Necessarily say it's bad, it's just the way it is. Drone is religion. Bhisma and drona led all the rulers of the earth and spoke thus, Oh Arjuna. In other words, here's the lower aspects of your mind speaking to the higher aspects. Here's your spiritual side now suddenly being plugged in to the left side, to the intellectual side, and being told things. Oh Arjuna, behold these members of the family of Peru which are assembled. Behold these members of the family of the carousel desires from the lower instinct. You know what's being assembled.

Do you know what you're being asked to fight against? Your dreams, your hopes, your desires, everything that you said about that you thought was important that you've got to live for. Look, they're all lined up here and somebody up some screwball up here is asking you to abandon all of this, abandon all of this, and yet you're now torn because why should you give up what you, why should you give up the desires that you have for your children, why should you give up the desires that you have for your business, why should you give up the desires you have for your family. What about the things you have, the plans that you've made for your family, what about the plans you've made for your life. You're supposed to give all this up. See, that's what's happening here. Druna, religion, Bhishma, the fla, no, they're saying you got to make plans. See, you've got to plan things out for yourself and now here all of a sudden your physical nature and religion is looking at you and saying wait a

minute here divine aspect of your look. What's all here that you're saying? You're going to throw down. You're going to give all of this up, and it tears inside of you. It rips inside of you because don't forget these things: your flesh, your religion, your the way you've been taught, what about all of your traditions? Look at where you've come from all of these years and all these things that you were taught. You were baptized, you reported, you were confirmed, you were given all Bible studies. I mean, all of these things were holy and precious to you, and now all of a sudden you're being asked to fight against the very things that raised you. I mean, you're being asked to fight against the flag and motherhood and all of this stuff. Yes, you might have to fight against motherhood because you might find yourself in a battle with your own mother about what's right to do. And so here, your fleshly desires and your religion are saying you don't want to do this, and right at this point, you're not

really sure whether you do want to do this. You're not really sure whether this is right to do. Now, let's stop for a minute. What do we have here? Traditional religion, your feelings suddenly saying, Look at everything that has been planned for you. Look at all the plans. Look at all the things you could have. Look at life itself, and you're gonna turn your back on all of this stuff. Go with me to page three in your little bibles, okay? Let's take a look at the book of Matthew, page three in the New Testament, not the Old Testament, I should clarify that. Page three, let's go to Matthew chapter four. Matthew chapter four with me, page three, Matthew chapter four. What's it say? And the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain. You know what that exceeding high mountain is? Ego, pride, the flesh. And the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. Everything that you have always thought was important. Look this

is it look what you can have allow allow allow your flesh to guide you, allow your mind to guide you, allow your hopes to guide you, allow your desires to guide you, allow your dreams to guide you. Okay, why Arjuna? And remember, Arjuna is your divine personality, that part of you that will one day go from being son of man and the son of God, and now your flesh and religion. Why fight this battle? Why give up everything? Why turn your back on everything that you have held holy? Why? And you know it's so reminiscent, I mean, after all we gave for you, we sacrificed for you, all of these things were given to you, you were taught all of this, now lie into all of this stuff. You've turned your back on your faith, you've turned your back on your family, you've turned your back on religion and tradition, and here is the desires within you saying to Arjuna, your divine personality, why fight this battle? Now notice something, the flesh and religion, who did they have assembled? Look at in

eight two who do they have assembled all of the rulers of the earth. They had them all assembled for you. Look at it all, the rulers of the earth, all of those things which control your mind are all lined up to do battle against that divine part of you that is going to make a decision. Shall I climb up into the upper room, or shall I stay here with my family? Shall I stay here with my traditional religion? Oh, after all, if I leave and I go into this meditation stuff, I want to bring my kids up in a traditional way so they'll have something, you know, Bible study, another half. They'll have a traditional thing. This is what I should do, all of these things. So the rulers of the earth go with me, this page 463 in the little Bibles and Psalms chapter 2. You're looking at a document, the Bhagavad-Gita, which is ages old, a thousand years before Jesus Christ. Let's go to Psalm in the book of Psalms, page 463.

let's go to the book of psalms, and I want you again to look at chapter verse 8 of the bhagavad-gita and look at number two, Bhisma and Drona. Religion in the flesh had led all the rulers of the earth. Let us take a look at psalm 2. Okay, what's it say? Verse 2, the kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. Who did this? Who said this? The kings and the rulers of the earth. Who was assembled against Arjuna? Who did your flesh bring forward? Who does religion bring forward? All the kings and the rulers of the earth. Let's go to page 115 in the New Testament. Let's take a look at the books about the book of Acts. The book of Acts, and we'll go to chapter four, Acts chapter 4, page 115, Acts chapter 4 and verse 26.

who who has come against Arjuna, the kings, the rulers of the earth. Acts chapter 4, verse 26: The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ. Where was your Bible written from, knowing that the Bhagavad-Gita existed a thousand years before Jesus? God knows what. Where did stuff come from? You're beginning to understand where it came from, and you begin to understand now what are the rulers of the earth. It's not talking about people who run governments; it's talking about the government inside of your head, the government inside of your head. And so, well, here it is. How can you turn against all of this, my dear, all of these years of religion and training, and you got your little cross on in your necklace? And how could you possibly all of a sudden turn against everything that has been holy and precious to you? That's what the rulers of the earth say. Oh, don't look at, oh, don't look outside and see the mess out there. Don't look

outside and see the children dying. Don't look outside and see the poverty. Don't look outside and see the drugs. We don't want you to look outside. So what can we do to stop them from looking outside? We'll paint the glass with pretty pictures. We'll put pictures on the glass, and we'll have stained glass pictures, and they can't see outside. And so in here, we can all be together, and we'll sing our little songs, and we'll close the doors, and we'll shut out the outside, and we'll be convinced we're saved. Would that be good? And that's exactly what the flesh and that's what religion is saying. But now Arjuna, our divine personality, speaks to Krishna in if see see what says here. These look at eight three. Arjuna noticed fathers, grandfathers, uncles, cousins, sons, teachers, friends, fathers-in-laws, benefactors arrayed. Arjuna, all of these arrayed, that big fight's going to happen here. Big trouble is going to happen here, not only from inside of yourself but

inside of your home and inside of your family and your friends. They're going to say things about you, and then at 8:5, Arjuna says, Oh, his heart melted with pity, and said, Oh, my lord, when I see all of these my own people thirsting for battle. See, see within you there's this deep confusion. You're what we're. I've had people say that, Oh, I'm torn. You know, I know that I'd like to come down, but you know, I don't want to offend my mom. I don't want to offend the family. So, you know, I'm better off that I stay in here for a while, you know, and just. That's exactly what your personality is saying here. Look at 8:6. My limbs fail me. My throat is parched, and my body trembles. My hair stands on end. The bow and arrow slip from my hand, and my skin burns, and I can't keep quiet from my mind is a tumult. I mean, you know, your passions have to be

served your desires have to be served, and you know you've got to a point where you just don't know what to do, and yet all inside of you, something is speaking to you, and you're seeking God, and you're calling for God to come and line up right in the center and tell you what to do. And that's what the Bhagavad-Gita is about. Pretty soon, Krishna, Christ consciousness, is going to arrive on the scene and tell you what to do. Because you see what you're trying to do and what people are, you know, what religion tells you to do. Oh, don't fight this, change it, change it. Okay, after all, if you do this in church, you'll be a better person. If you don't obey your parents, if you do all of these things. In other words, stop being the way you are and be some other way. That's not what God said from the very first page of the Bible right up until the very end. God says there's only one thing to do: go into the town and kill.

everybody in there. You can't change it. You got to go in. You got to take the city, and you got to kill even the little children, which means those offspring, those new thoughts, those new ideas. If you kill them, anything that's your idea. In other words, you've got to kill the whole thing, and you've got to make it a wasteland. That city must be abandoned so that you're free then to create that eternal city within yourself. Now, here's what, again, we call the temptation in the desert by the devil. Confusion yet a constant negative mind. Look at Arjuna 8:8. The omens are adverse. What good can come from the slaughter of my people on this battlefield? You know how often have you asked yourself if you've come down here. What good can it do to come and sit on the floor and kick my shoes off and say, Oh, and listen to all the screwy stuff on the speakers behind balling? What good can come with that? I mean, what good is it for me to sit and

try to separate and what the heck am I doing here. Nothing's happening. What's the sense of this? What good can come from this? Why should I even involve myself in anything like this? This is ridiculous, and here I am fighting against myself. Wouldn't it be better to say some prayers? Wouldn't it be better to sing some songs? Wouldn't it be better to get together with people and try to work things out? Maybe I'll become a mission, and I'll go and change people and do all of these things. It'd be better to do that. Why? Why should I just sit here and try to come against myself and destroy the very things that maybe it looks like God's created? What's going on here? What's the sense of this? What's the purpose of it? What good can come from this? What a page nine in the Bhagavad-gita. Ah, my lord, he says in verse one, I crave not for victory, nor for kingdom, nor for any pleasure. What were a kingdom, or happiness, or life?

to me see I don't know what I want. I don't enjoy anything, but yet my very ego looks like everything is ready to fight and to come against to stop me from doing this. So, in other words, what I'm saying to you, God, I don't think I want to do this. I really don't think I want to do this because I'm freaking out with this stuff here. This guy's saying, Come down here, sit on the floor and say 'ohm' and all of this stuff. And I got all of this stuff to do, and my mother's ticked off, and this lady told me, and I saw on television, the guy said, Stay away from this stuff because this is cult. And I don't know what the heck I'm doing. I don't know what to do. My mind is in an uproar. There's a war going on. Do you see? There's a war going on here, and this is a war that goes on inside of you. Take a

Look at page 148 in the New Testament. Go to the book of Romans. Go to Romans chapter 7. Romans chapter 7. And look what the Apostle Paul says in verse 21. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my memory. There it is. There's the whole group. There's the grandfathers and the grandmothers and the aunts and the uncles. They're all parts of your personality which have declared war on this movement that you're trying to take and bring a battle to destroy all of that which is the carnal flesh and bring the Christ terrain within you. There's a war going on, and the Apostle Paul says, I delight in it after my inward man. Inward, inward, because the kingdom is in you, but there is a war going on in my parts.

a war going on in my body, a war going on in my mind, trying to pull me back, and trying to stop me from doing this, and trying to destroy the spirit out of me. Look at when those verse 2 9 2, when those for whose sake I desire these things stand here about to sacrifice their property in their lives. In other words, you're supposed - what are you doing this for? What are you doing? Why are you taking no thoughts so you can fly up to the ceiling? You're supposed to be doing this for your welfare. You want to feel better. You want to get healed. You want your kids to be happy. You want to be able to have a job. You want to have nice things. And so all of the very reason that you're trying to get things improved is the reason that this spiritual thing is telling you to get rid of it. Because I can't figure it out. What the heck is going on? What am I doing? What's called me - teachers, fathers, grandfathers, sons.

grandsons, all these relatives, all this part of you. Then it says in 9:4, Arjuna says, I would not kill them. Now watch this very carefully. What's he say? I would not kill them even for the three worlds. Why then for this poor earth? I don't care if I die, not even for the three worlds. Three worlds. He's talking about the bottom world, which is earth, second world is water, which is truth, the third world is air. These are levels of consciousness, which is no thought, and the next world is fire, which is spirit. These are the three worlds he's talking about. Why should I all of a sudden take everything that I know and allow it to be flushed away from me for something that I know nothing about? And if I wouldn't do it for this because I don't know what the heck this is, see, then why are you asking me to sacrifice everything and give up everything just so I can make friends with who? Who am I gonna make friends? Buddhists? Where are they? Oh, so I'm teaching Buddha. Where's

the Buddhist. Where's my Buddhist friends? I don't, there's not a Buddhist in town. Where the heck am I gonna find one? Hari Krishna. I'm gonna make friends with the Christians. They come once a year on the park. So who are my friends gonna be? I'm going to lose all of my friends. All of my friends are up there. They don't believe in this. They don't want to get involved in this. And so what am I, what are you telling me to do this? But the three worlds. Take a look at the in the Old Testament page 296. And it's the book of First Kings. The book of First Kings. Been through this a million times. But anyhow, this is the construction of the temple. Okay. First Kings chapter six verse eight. The door for the middle chamber. That's the holy place. Was in the right side of the house. That's the right hemisphere of the brain. And they, meaning the stairs, went up with winding stairs. That's kundalini.

into the middle chamber, which is the right hemisphere of the brain, and out of the middle into the third. There you go, that's what they call the third heaven. That's air, that's where Jesus, you're rising me, Jesus in the air. Okay, that's a higher level of consciousness above thought. You see that? Okay, go with me to the New Testament, to page 173, and the little ones, the rest of you, Second Corinthians. Second Corinthians, chapter 12. 2 Corinthians, chapter 12. Verse 2. Paul's talking. I know a man in Christ above 14 years, whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell. Oh, is this a born-again Christian had an out-of-body experience? I thought that was evil. What happened here? I thought I was able to have what this guy had. Of course, a couple of pages later, you'll find Paul saying, To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. I guess the other side just crossed that.

out anyhow. I know a man in Christ about 14 years, whether in the body I cannot tell, whether out of the body I cannot tell, God knows. Such a one caught up to the third heaven exactly, and that's what Arjuna is talking about. That's what your mind is talking about. See, this is not a question of Arjuna, a man talking to another man. This is a question of the confusion in your mind. Your mind is trying to rationalize something that can't be rationalized. Your mind is trying to figure out something that will never be figured out. It has nothing to do with people talking about anything. Let's go to in 9 five, My lord, what happiness can come from the death of the sons of Nishrathra? That's the blind king. We shall sin if we kill these desperate men. What happiness if we shut out the very senses that make life enjoyable? I'm telling you to take no thought. I'm telling you to dwell on nothing. How can you be happy or nothing? I mean, what happiness can if you take

you look. Don't you have dreams? Don't you have hopes? Don't you have desires? And we're saying, drug them out, drive them out, come to a point. And he said, what happiness can come out of nothing? How many times did somebody say, you said, come down on Tuesday night. You said, what do you do? Nothing. What do you say? Nothing. What do you think? Nothing. So what? What can? What good is that? What could possibly could? And do you know that's the most important question that other people outside will ask you? What? What could you possibly get out of nothing? I mean, you got to think of something. Nothing. Then what happens with nothing? Nothing. If you have a vision, if you have no, it's nothing. Nothing. What happiness can come from the death of the sons of the blind king? In other words, what can you get out of killing your desires and your dreams and your thoughts? All of these things are going to be answered for you, and in the Bhagavad Gita, they're going to be answered for you by the God, by the

Christ by the Lord by Krishna. Look what it says in 9:6. Oh, now your mind is really rationalizing, isn't it? You know we are worthy of a nobler feat than to slaughter our relatives for my Lord. How can we be happy if we kill our kinsmen? How can we come against the very things that God has created? Your plans for the future and all of your dreams and all of your hopes, how can you kill out the source of your feelings of life? But look what it says next here. Watch it. What does it say about what is your divine personality saying about the aspects of your carnal mind? Although these men take men out of there and put thoughts, although these men blinded by greed see no kin, see no guilt in destroying their kin or fighting against their friends, they see no guilt in destroying the spirit. Do you know that? Do you know? Do you know that's why those people come on television and tell you that if you put a thousand dollars on

your Mastercard that you'll get healed, that they honestly are blinded, that they see nothing wrong with that, that they are taking principles literally out of the Bible instead of spiritual values, and telling you that if you charge a thousand dollars on Mastercard, that will go for planting seeds, and God will reward them. They are blind as hell, and they absolutely believe this. And on top of it all, the blindness comes from their own greed. And you've seen it in history, in the last few years. You've seen it, and you can see it. You can turn on television. Wouldn't it be great, other than our program, to see a religious program come on, or some, not just sitting on a floor, or sitting against a plain wall, instead of looking at velvet jewels and crystal chandeliers, and people with 16 rings on each finger, and all of this stuff, blind greed. Do you know how much money I can, I could make doing this? I mean, I always believe me, I could go through the whole thing. I could get everybody on a guilt trip.

not you people. You'd be gone, but I could get a whole new crowd in here on a guild trip, and they'd pass out 10 of their money. I'd come in, I'd lay hairs on them, I convinced them that their armpit feels better than it did before, and everything will be hacky dory, and there's all miracles that happened down here, blind greed, and me and the blonde could go off the keywords, and we could say we're going on a mission field. They never know the difference, blind greed. You see what it said in there, even though that side is propelled by blind greed. And do you know what, you know what that's saying? Even though I know that's what it is, I still don't know whether I should break away from them. Do you know, do you know the people are sending money to these guys? You know, people are walking into these places and doling out money, and not, they're not buying cereal for their kids, they're not paying their rent because they're given

ten percent of the check. They don't have any money to pay rent. They're giving ten percent at a church. They don't have any money, but they're afraid. See, even though they know. And how do you know how many people out there know doggone well there is no hell anywhere, but they're scared to death to tell these boobs that there is none. So they'll go anyhow. Do you know that these people out there know doggone well that there is no god gonna sentence everybody to a flaming hell fire pit with demon stick and pigeon? You know all this garbage because you screwed up ones, but they go anyhow because they don't know what else to do. I mean, that's what everybody's saying. It must be true. Error does not become truth just because everybody says it. Error does not become truth just because everybody says it. And error does not become truth just because everybody teaches it. Whoa, where were we? Seven. So it's got eight. Look what it says here. Should not we spirit whose eyes are open.

enlightened. See, this is the end. Oh, I'm enlightened. I'm aware. Should not we, whose eyes are open, who consider it to be wrong to annihilate our house, turn away from so great a crime? Your divine personality say, should we not work to change the lower aspect? I can change you. You folks know they've been in drug rehabs or alcoholic rehabs. The one thing, the three words, the first three, I can change. I'll never do it again. I don't want any more of it. I'll have no part of it. I'm a new person. I had a father who was, um, he was a head interior decorator for Macy's and Bambergers. He designed the first Thanksgiving Day parade floats for Macy's department. Brilliant interior decorator. Brilliant. Well, he used to design windows in Macy's, and at Christmastime, people, they would jam the sidewalks in New York waiting for them to pull the curtains open on these windows back in the 30s and 40s to see these magnificent

win and all were animated, and things would move, and all of this stuff, and he was a terrible alcoholic. That's the reason I don't drink. I used to do pretty good, but I see, you know, our whole family is hit with that. Everybody in our family, I've had somebody else in my family that's. We had a card off to a hospital. Thank God, stop it. Have another. All of our families like that, and Joan saw that in me too, man. I two of them, boy, and that was it, and I was really nuts, say so we stopped. But my father, yeah, I told you the story, hung himself, and I walked in on it when I was 14 years old. Open the door, there was a guy hanging in the doorway. That was him. Come home from school, find your father hanging in the doorway. But do you know how many times in our family we were sure that he was never going to do it again, that he was going to change? Well, I mean, we had battles. I mean, you

when we had in our house, it was like in Tombstone or Dodge City. I mean, people get knocked over, chairs, tables come flying down, knives go flying. And then recall the Newark police had come, and a cop, big burly cops, had come through the door. They said, Where is he? We're all, you know, hanging out, and I said, Where is he? Did he hear? He come down the stairs, slacks, shirt on. What's wrong, officer? Were they making too much noise? I don't. I said, Now he's, yeah, cops invert. He's okay, but try to work this out, you know. Everything will be all right, okay, Mr. Daniel, you know. Off he got. I said, You know, a minute ago was hell in there and all the time. And so we'd throw, you know, he'd get thrown out of the house, and then he'd come back, say, You know, okay, come on, you can move back in because we're on the family together. I'd never do it again. He couldn't stop it. He could not stop it, and he finally got

to the point when he left that note when he killed himself. He got to the point, left that note, and he said, I can't stop it, and I'm just destroying everything that I love, so I'm going. I'm saying this. What's this? What's the saying here? We don't want to kill this. We don't want to annihilate our own. We're enlightened. We're renewed. See, this is your divine personality trying to justify. We're going to change everybody. But what God has taught you from the very beginning is that change will come when that bugger in there is killed. Kill it, kill it. That's the battle that's about to take place here. And you know the first thing you're going to see next week when Sri Krishna comes. The first thing he's going to say to Arjuna. Oh Lord, whoa Arjuna, why would you be willing to quit right on the eve of the battle? That's when it's always the time when you want to quit. Just always seems to be that way. You

know you're always prepared. I'm going to say this, and I'm going to do this, and I'm not going to take any more of this stuff. I'm going to move right in there, and then you get to the day before, or you get to the point, and you're not too sure whether maybe you better not. You know when you back down. That's what's going on here. Your personality, your divine personality, is about to back down. Go to page 10, 10-1. The destruction of our kindred means the destruction of the traditions of our ancient lineage, and when these are lost, irreligion will overall run our homes. Oh, look what it is. Look what it is. This is the Bhagavad-gita, folks. This is a thousand years old. I mean thousands of years. Look what it is that's causing the concern. My traditions. You know, if I turn my back on Christianity, if I turn my back on the church, what will happen? Irreligion will overrun everything. Our divine personality is concerned.

about the destruction of our traditions. Look at verse two. When irreligion spreads, the women of the house begin to stray. When they lose their purity, adulteration of the stock follows. Look at page 40 in the New Testament, Mark 7. Mark chapter 7. Look what it says, Mark chapter 7, verse 13. Making the word of God of no effect through your tradition, making the word of God of no effect by your tradition. Then it says, without religion, the women of the house begin to stray. You know, that means the spirit, the human spirit. And this was like, well, how are you going to possibly be right if you're not guided by the church? How are you possibly going to be right if you don't have religion, if you don't have a tradition to guide you? What's going to happen? What's going to happen to your spirit? That's what it means, the women, the human spirits. See, they lose their purity. Don't you see what it means spiritually? Oh, you're going to be all cluttered up. You're

going to have evil thoughts coming to you. Oh, watch out doing this stuff because you'll open your mind to the devil. Got to be very careful. He said you're going to open your mind to the devil. 10 2 when their religion spreads. The women of the house begin to stray. They lose their purity. We did that one. Adulteration of the stockpiles. The offspring are dirtied. What does that mean? My son was okay as long as he was going to church, but he stopped going to church. He got out with a bad crowd. He's all screwed up. Why? Why didn't he say go? Why did he stop going to church? Why didn't he stay in church? What was it that he said? I can't sit here. I'm not getting anything. I don't understand anything. What the heck? This isn't real to me. I'm gonna get out of here. I gotta find out something that's real. I gotta go so I can do something. Adulteration of the stockpiles. And now in verse three.

promiscuity ruins both the family and those who defile it while the souls of our ancestors droop through lack of funeral cakes and ablutions. Arjuna, now your divine spirit is thinking up all reasons. The inner battle is going to separate you from what. What's the first thing they throw at you? Most places that are in the new age don't have one of these. Or what about the Bible? Don't you believe the Bible? It says here in the Bible false teachers are going to come. Maybe I'm one, as it said. Said I can make it say what? Take any subject you want, I'll make the Bible say something. Anybody can do that. Anybody can make the Bible say whatever they wanted to make it say. Very simple to do. Scare the pants off you. Easy. Make you think you're going to heaven tomorrow. Easy. Get your heel today. Easy. Condem whoever you want to get condemned. We got it right here. It's all in the book. Anything, any page you want. Can twist it, can turn it, can do whatever.

you want with it. There's 3,000 editions of this thing, and none of them say the same thing, yet it's supposedly the word of God. The word of God cannot be messed with. This is being messed with. So, Arjuna is taking it up into 10:5. It says, The wise say, 'My Lord, that they are forever lost whose ancient traditions are lost.' Don't you see what's happening? You're looking for any excuse you can find. Why not change everything? Romans 8:7. You know what Romans 8:7 says. Your mind can't be changed. You know what Romans 8:7 says. The carnal mind is not subject to the law of God, neither can it be. You can't change it. You can't change yourself. Try to stop yourself from thinking of the stuff you're thinking. You can. You come into this church and say, 'I'm not gonna think that anymore. I'm gonna think nice thoughts.' And as soon as you get out, you're gonna go right back into the zoo. There's nothing you can do about

it nothing you can do about it. You can listen to kataro. You can listen to a preacher. You can turn on Christian television. And even while you're watching the preacher, you're going to start thinking that stuff, and you're going to say, Oh my God, I wonder if anybody else thinks this time. I'm the only one that thinks this stuff. What did I say? Nobody will ever say anything here. Do they ever say to you, Oh, you know your mind is just... Does that? No, nobody ever says that. Oh, just you gotta stop. You gotta change. You gotta bend your ways. Can't mend your ways. Can't do anything about it. It's got to be killed out. Turn your back on your traditions. Come on, once again, I'm almost done. I promise you, Paige. You know you're at Mark, right? Mark chapter seven, page forty. Mark chapter seven. You were there a minute ago. Go to verse eight. Jesus is talking again. Mark chapter seven, verse eight. This is how important this is. Jesus Christ said, For laying aside the

commandment of God. You hold the tradition of men. You hold the tradition of men. That's the concern that all have to deal with, and that's why many people are prevented from coming because they're so concerned about violating the traditions. My daddy, my granddaddy, and my grandmommy, my great-grandmommy, they were all screwed up, and I got to be screwed up just like they were screwed up. What's going to happen to the family if we're not all screwed up together? And I've got little kids, and they got to be screwed up. I mean, after all, they've got to be able to have a psychiatrist just like I have. We've got to get involved. I'm on drugs. They got to be on drugs. Everybody's got to be this way. Jeez. But remember something as we close up. This is a deliberate act of the flesh, a deliberate act on the part of your lower mind to get you not to fight. You know, it's very easy. You could be

home watching TV, watching a ball game, watching somebody. You could be doing something else very easy. You'll be sitting with them, mesmerized. What the hell? They mesmerized out there, haven't any idea what's going on. You know what they're doing out there? They are just like a guy in jail, waiting to get executed, eating little sex, sleeping, blow your nose, go to the bathroom, read a book, wait to die, eating little sex, sleeping, go to the bathroom, wait to die. Every day just that. What? What are you doing all this for? I don't know. And you go to church, and you listen to some guy. You're going to hell because you're a sinner. I know, I know. God's going to drop a bomb. I know Armageddon's coming. Oh great, I can't wait. People are going to get out of the graves. Oh, that's to be nice. Oh, everybody's gonna get out of there, all that screwy stuff. God's gonna drop a bomb, Armageddon, everyone's gonna get out of the graves. You want to be around for

that oh I'm gonna be raptured. Yeah, you're gonna be wrapped. We're gonna go. As soon as you get 50 feet off the ground, you can't breathe. Where are you going to go? Nobody ever thought of that. That's God's rule. He's going to bodily. You're going to fly up in the sky 50 feet off the ground. You can't breathe. Is somebody trying to tell you something? Jeep great. Well, you know something that's I'm not. This is the main line. This is the truth. This is the traditional religion. God's gonna blow up the world and everybody's gonna get out of the graves. And who wants to be around, you know, for this? This is our traditions. But see, it is strange when you have to abandon all of your traditions. But that's what you've got to do to find the kingdom. You got to kill out the self. And as we wrap this up, it says in 10 7, Arjuna says, if on the contrary, the sons of the blind king with weapons in their

hands should slay me unarmed and unresisting. Surely that would be better for my welfare. Why would it be better? Wow, what the heck. At least I'll be with everybody I know. I mean, what the heck. I'll go down with everybody. Hold on, at least I'm with the crowd, you know. Do you want to see a bunch of penguins when I jump off a cliff? They all come down, and thousands of them jump off the... But there's always one penguin. This is me. That's the kind of penguin you... I'm going the other way. I'm not going to jump in that ocean with you. And then verse 8, it says that having spoken thus in the midst of the armies, Arjuna sank on the seat of the chariot, casting away his bow and arrow, heartbroken with grief. So here we had the struggle. Did you see everything inside of your head struggling back and forth to try to justify what the heck is this all about? Sit down with a bunch of meditators.

I've had people walk out here because they don't sit with a bunch of meditation. I don't want to sit with a bunch of meditators. I want to sit with people. Don't you want to be with people? I'm just sick of being with born-again people or unborn-again people or meditators or new-age people. You want to be with people, human beings, all screwed up together, not pretending they're anything, totally screwed up. Sit here and all now. That's what it's about. That's what Jesus... what Jesus is not with the meditators, he's not with the border, he's with the people. That's where... that's why he was always in a bar. Did you see them, the high priest, looking through the window at the local, you know, Jerusalem, or go... go there he is. Who's that? That's Jesus. This is the only begotten Son of God. He should be in church. What is he doing in Jerusalem? What... what is this world coming to, the Son of God?

little vo and sub what but what does it mean what is it saying it's simply saying he wants to be with people don't want to go find us a meditating group somewhere and get involved and everybody's got the same thing you get nowhere with that come where the broken hurt people are sit right in the middle with the poor people and the broken people and everybody go up to heaven together inside of yourself and see things change nobody's different colored air nobody's hotsy-totsy there nobody's down and out everybody is nothing you don't have any names isn't that great if nobody had any names don't look like nothing don't sound like nothing nothing to fight about because it does nothing i got plenty of nothing that's right but this is one interesting thing is next week when i when krishna comes and speaks for the first time and then he takes over from the restaurant he starts explaining to you why and the next week and he says when you are summoned to the battlefield

and you're ready to fight. Don't quit. Don't fight right when you're ready. Don't let anybody talk you into putting you go to it because you're fighting against the things that are going to kill you and hurt you. What are you fighting against? What are you fighting against? You're fighting against the things that could one day put your children in a bondage to drugs. You're fighting against the very things that could one day cause you to have cancer. You're fighting against the very things that could one day put you in a hospital, in an insane asylum. You're fighting against the very things that could put somebody in your family in jail. You're fighting against the very things that cause bombs to fall. You're fighting against the very things that cause people to torture animals. You're fighting against the very things that cause people to pollute and hurt nature. You're fighting against the very things that cause little black babies in Africa to have flies on their face and not have any food and starve to death while

they're all singing Amazing Grace and celebrating Thanksgiving in these places. That's what you're fighting against. And Krishna says, Fight on, fight on. You're fighting against fear, you're fighting against guilt, you're fighting against the anger that is the part of the sons of the blind king. And you must join with Arjuna and the sons of the Pandu, go to the battlefield which is your mind, call on Krishna, call on Christ to come and lift your chariot wise with a flaming chariot up into the heavens. Put on that armor and fight the battle within yourself. Put down all of those evil thoughts that have made this world a religious cesspool. Thank you.

98  Krishna   War

William Donahue

The Inner Battle: Lessons from the Bhagavad-Gita

The term "Shri" in Shri Krishna signifies kingship, similar to "Christ the King.

" The war between the Pandus and the blind king's sons represents the internal conflict within one's mind.

Krishna's chariot, drawn up between the two armies, symbolizes the meeting point of the divine and intellectual aspects of oneself, where guidance and advice are sought during times of confusion.

The Inner Conflict of Arjuna: A Divine Struggle

Arjuna faces a profound inner conflict, torn between his traditional upbringing, religious teachings, and the divine calling to fight against them.

The devil tempts him with power and glory, representing the fleshly desires and ego.

The rulers of the earth, symbolizing the internal struggles and societal pressures, are assembled against Arjuna, challenging his divine purpose and making him question his path.

The Inner Conflict and Divine Guidance in the Bhagavad-Gita

Arjuna is overwhelmed by the sight of his loved ones on the battlefield, causing him deep confusion and inner turmoil.

He questions the purpose of the conflict and struggles with his desires and responsibilities.

The Bhagavad-Gita presents Krishna's divine guidance as a solution to Arjuna's inner war, emphasizing the need to confront and abandon old thoughts and ideas to create inner peace.

The Inner Conflict and Spiritual Struggle

The Apostle Paul describes a war within himself, with conflicting desires between doing good and succumbing to sin.

This internal battle is mirrored in the various parts of one's personality, creating confusion and resistance to spiritual growth.

The struggle for higher consciousness and the search for meaning are universal themes, as illustrated by both Paul's experiences and Arjuna's dilemma in the quest for spiritual understanding.

The speaker questions the value of having dreams and desires, emphasizing the futility of "nothing.

" They highlight the moral dilemma of harming one's kin for personal gain and criticize those blinded by greed.

The speaker calls for a change in perspective and action, urging individuals to break away from destructive patterns and prioritize their true needs.

The Impact of Alcoholism and Family Struggles

The speaker's family has a history of alcoholism, leading to personal struggles and a decision to stop drinking.

They recount traumatic experiences, including finding their father hanging and the chaos that ensued in the household.

The speaker emphasizes the importance of traditions and religion in guiding one's life, expressing concern about the negative impact of losing these values.

The Struggle Against Tradition and Inner Conflict

Promiscuity and the loss of ancestral traditions are portrayed as detrimental to families and individuals.

The speaker emphasizes the ease of manipulating religious texts, questioning their true authority and consistency.

The inner battle to change one's mind and break free from harmful traditions is highlighted as a challenging and necessary struggle for personal growth and finding the kingdom.

The speaker reflects on the desire for connection with others, expressing frustration with exclusive groups and the need to be with "screwed up" human beings.

They emphasize the importance of fighting against the negative forces in life that can cause harm to oneself and others.

The speaker encourages joining the struggle for inner change and calling on a higher power for guidance and strength in the battle within oneself.