It's Depth Is Endless!April 10, 2005 17 out of 20 found this review helpful
If you want to merely read poetry or high-sounding, philosophical books without a desire to realize what those books contain, then this book is not for you.
Never take anyone's word that something is true; investigate and research yourself to make that truth a part of your own experience - that is self-realization as it applies to even the most rudimentary knowledge. Belief that the world was flat did not make it so! That belief had to be investigated, and verified by proof that it was false and replaced by the truth that the world was actually spherical.
What is needed is deep concentration on these immortal truths, along with deep, devoted practice of spiritual exericises that will gradually bring to light the foundation of Divine Truth upon which this work is based. Please, by all means, purchase other author's translations like Eknath Easwaran's, if you so wish, if you are unwilling to truly assimilate and digest the true objective and purpose of the Gita itself - awareness of God.
Stones will always be thrown, especially at the truly humble in spirit, those devoted ones who strive to keep the torch of Truth alight amongst the thick marsh of darkness in this world's deluded minds. To those who do not understand and disagree with the work of SRF, they truly welcome your criticism; such negativity and opposition only reinforces their kindness and motivation to become better before the eyes of God alone, not man. But to those for whom it is meant will alone truly understand the Divine Message it was sent to impart to the world for ages to come.
Those who not just READ Paramahansa Yogananda's books, but actually PRACTICE what He gives us in His books and Teachings will know, experience and love the One True Living God within themselves and within all Nature - He will no longer be a MYTH and someone or something just to be BELIEVED IN, He will be known, seen and felt, just as surely as we know we exist!
I have read this book 3 or more times and with each perusal new and deeper realizations unfold and flower within my soul and mind. Each new reading is like I've gazed at its pages for the first time! So if you don't understand this book, read it anyways! Reread it until it becomes a part of you, because your concentration will eventually deepen with each reading! Trust me!!
I revere this workJanuary 20, 2005 22 out of 23 found this review helpful
Yogananda gave us so much in this offering. This is by far the greatest literature I have read, studied, meditated upon. I have now had this Gita set for 6 years.
Admittedly it is not for everyone but for those who are prepared to persevere to discover truth, then Yogananda's treatise here will keep you inspired for hours, days, months, years.. this will certainly stay with me for the rest of my life.
Not my cup of teaMarch 24, 2004 12 out of 42 found this review helpful
Judging by all the positive reviews, I wonder if I'm not getting it. I was first exposed to the gita when I was a teenager and it spoke to my heart. The best analogy I could use to describe these books would be if you took a butterfly and looked at it under a microscope. You get to close to see the beauty. Instead I would recommend the translation's by Swami Prabhavananda, Eknath Easwaran, or even Juan Mascaro.
Tremendous WisdomNovember 10, 2003 I'm only half way through the first book but find this to be one of the very best spiritual books I've read. I place it on par with Vernon Howard and J. Krishnamurti. Every paragraph rings with Truth. Yogananda is a crystal clear writer. You'll find yourself reading with delight. I almost did not purchase this book because of the price, but am so so glad I did. You will be too. If you're a serious student, get this book!
Far more than a translation - an illumined commentaryNovember 13, 2002 147 out of 149 found this review helpful
Just as Yogananda's Autobiography of a Yogi has established itself as peerless and eternal among the masses of spiritual biographies and surveys published each century, God Talks to Arjuna is becoming recognized as that singular presentation of the Bhagavad Gita which will be studied and restudied by sincere seekers and scholars for ages to come. The handsome and lavishly illustrated 1200-page, two-volume set is available in both a finely bound slipcased hardcover edition ... and a surprisingly inexpensive paperback printing ... For a volume that will likely be reconsulted, Bible-like, many times over the years, the hardcover edition is to be recommended if your budget can possibly permit.
Each of the 700 Bhagavad Gita verses is presented in both Sanskrit and English. More importantly, each verse is followed by commentary and expansion that integrates your study of the Gita with the entire spiritual science of Raja (meditative) Yoga. Hundreds of thoughtful commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita have been published over the centuries; some have been finely crafted by brilliant intellects; only a handful have come from realized sages; in this long-awaited Self-Realization Fellowship edition we have the insights of a soul who has experienced and mastered all the spiritual heights extoled by this dearest of Indian scriptures.
Yogananda dictated his commentaries to his most trusted students during retreats to the southern California desert during the late 1940s. Those disciples related how the yoga master would, from his state of samadhi (conscious communion with God), pour out this uninterrupted stream of spiritual erudition throughout the night, surpassing the endurance of his much younger scribes. One close disciple vividly recalls today how merely to enter the room during these divine dictations had the feel of being ''in the very presence of The Divine.'' In meditating lovingly upon his words in these volumes the modern reader may again dip into that Presence.
READING RECOMMENDATION: These volumes are highly distilled spiritual liquor - unsuitable for casual guzzling. The extensive introduction alone provides a spiritual-eye-opening background to the Himalayan heights of India's most venerated scripture. Yogananda therein explains how he applied the special intuitive approach to scripture taught him by his guru, the Puri sage Sri Sri Swami Yukteswarji. From his ability to sustain the highest spiritual state of Nirbikalpa Samadhi, Yogananda would derive his Gita commentary by uniting his consciousness with that of the Gita's author, Vyasa, and of its principles, Bhagavan Krishna and disciple Arjuna. Your intellectual analysis of Yogananda's resulting masterpiece will immediately impress your mind with his ability to reveal multiple levels of meaning from the complexities of the Sanskrit verses; but it will require a gradual digestion of these meanings and quiet reflection (ideally: interspersed with periods of meditation) to begin to assimilate their spiritual potency. As an example of 'gradual' I will mention the approach our local study groups took: reading one page per day, then meeting weekly to meditate and share insights and questions. At this rate the two groups I facilitated each took three years to complete the two volumes - but provided us with our richest spiritual rewards ever. However you pace yourself, first of all SAVOR. Then, best of all, PRACTICE... the guidance offered by Krishna, Vyasa, Arjuna, Yogananda: meditate on The Divinity within and around you.
