Turquoise, I am all for exploring outside the box. Though, of course, simple being outside the box, by it self, does not make something useful and valid. Perhaps nine of ten, or 99 out of 100 things outside the box are dross and dead-ends. But finding that one thing can I would hope, make the effort worthwhile.
The demarcations of what is inside the box and outside may vary. At large scale, Xeno had some wonderful replies to a set of Dev. posts. recently. One theme being the universality of (at least) many religions and paths towards unfolding that what is inside the "inner" box is the same as that which is outside (the inner) box. On a more focussed scale, some may be living within a quite small box and venturing outside is indeed may feel to be an escape from Plato's Cave. I realize that like Russian dolls, others may be living inside a larger box, already containing my little box and what to me are astonishing insights are child's play to them. And if not abusing the analogy, we may be living in different boxes pertaining to different spheres of our lives. For example, someone well grounded in physics is living in a far vaster box than me in that domain, though (well for the sake of argument) I may be living in a larger box in at least a few domains within which their box is comparatively smaller. And it appears sometimes, what appears to be a large box is simply filled with hot air, smoke and mirrors. That is, a concise simple view may actually be a huge box -- having cut through all the jungle clutter. Thus, my suggesting that you have viewed the Gita in simple terms is neither a dismissal or compliment of your ideas. Each view needs to stand on its own merits. Some thoughts: 1) Per the story, prior to the battlefield, Krishna was Arjuna's friend. Upon being asked, Krishna became Arjuna's servant, his charioteer -- a lowly position. Only at Arjuna's request, did Krishna take on a role of guidance and counsel. Not until quite late in the Gita did Krisha reveal his universal form -- again at Arjuna's request. That form was so overwhelming, Arjuna begged Krishna to return to his form as friend. Arjuna asked many questions. Having gained insight from Krishna's replies, Arjuna placed more weight on Krishna's value as an advisor. By the end, Arjuna had all his questions answered, felt from his own view, that Krishna was the real deal (for him, Arjuna) and had no qualms about taking the totality of Krishna's advice . 2) From your posts, I know you appreciate the role of metaphors. Many view the battlefield in the Gita as metaphor -- which does not validate -- but perhaps is worthy of consideration. (a quick cut and past from Wiki) Eknath Easwaran http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eknath_Easwaran writes that the Gita 's subject is "the war within, the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must wage if he or she is to emerge from life victorious",[53] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-84 and that "The language of battle is often found in the scriptures, for it conveys the strenuous, long, drawn-out campaign we must wage to free ourselves from the tyranny of the ego, the cause of all our suffering and sorrow."[54] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-85 Swami Nikhilananda http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Nikhilananda, takes Arjuna as an allegory of Ātman, Krishna as an allegory of Brahman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahman, Arjuna's chariot as the body, and Dhritarashtra as the ignorance filled mind.[note 7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-86 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi, in his commentary on the Gita,[55] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-87 interprets the battle as "an allegory in which the battlefield is the soul and Arjuna, man's higher impulses struggling against evil".[56] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-88 Swami Vivekananda http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Vivekananda also emphasised that the first discourse in the Gita related to the war could be taken allegorically.[57] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-89 Vivekananda further remarked, This Kurukshetra War is only an allegory. When we sum up its esoteric significance, it means the war which is constantly going on within man between the tendencies of good and evil.[58] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-SV-vol4-90 In Aurobindo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurobindo's view, Krishna was a historical figure, but his significance in the Gita is as a "symbol of the divine dealings with humanity",[59] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-91 while Arjuna typifies a "struggling human soul".[60] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-THD-92 However, Aurobindo rejected the interpretation that the Gita, and the Mahabharata by extension, is "an allegory of the inner life, and has nothing to do with our outward human life and actions":[60] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-THD-92 ...That is a view which the general character and the actual language of the epic does not justify and, if pressed, would turn the straightforward philosophical language of the Gita into a constant, laborious and somewhat puerile mystification....the Gita is written in plain terms and professes to solve the great ethical and spiritual difficulties which the life of man raises, and it will not do to go behind this plain language and thought and wrest them to the service of our fancy. But there is this much of truth in the view, that the setting of the doctrine though not symbolical, is certainly typical...[this quote needs a citation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Quotations] Swami Krishnananda http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Krishnananda regards the characters and the circumstances depicted in the Bhagavad Gita as symbolic of various moods, vicissitudes, and facets of human life.[61] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-93 He highlights the universal applicability of the Gita to human life by saying: It is not the story of some people that lived sometime ago but a characterisation of all people that may live at any time in the history of the world.[62] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-94 Swami Chinmayananda http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swami_Chinmayananda writes: Here in the Bhagavad Gita, we find a practical handbook of instruction on how best we can re-organise our inner ways of thinking, feeling, and acting in our everyday life and draw from ourselves a larger gush of productivity to enrich the life around us, and to emblazon the subjective life within us. Bhagavad Gita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-95 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-95 Bhagavad Gita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-95 Yajur vedic View on en.wikipedia.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhagavad_Gita#cite_note-95 Preview by Yahoo 3) The Gita is and has been seen quite distinctly by India and the world through the ages. It is not a one-view- fits-all type of book. I found the following book review useful in understanding that better. War and Peace in the Bhagavad Gita by Wendy Doniger http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/dec/04/war-and-peace-bhagavad-gita/ http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/dec/04/war-and-peace-bhagavad-gita/ War and Peace in the Bhagavad Gita by Wendy ... http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/dec/04/war-and-peace-bhagavad-gita/ How did Indian tradition transform the Bhagavad Gita into a bible for pacifism, when it began life as an epic argument persuading a warrior to engage in a battl... View on www.nybooks.com http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/dec/04/war-and-peace-bhagavad-gita/ Preview by Yahoo
