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The philosopher Nietzsche once asked the question, "Man
is a something to be transcended. What have you done to transcend
him?"
The path of the hero is the journey of transcendence.
The Dru Bhagavad Gita by Mansukh Patel, Savitri MacCuish, Chris
Barrington and John Jones, tells the story of an invincible warrior
prince, Arjuna, whom destiny has placed against people he doesn’t
want to fight. For the first time in his life he experiences
fear and weakness. Like every other hero, Arjuna’s task
is to overcome the weakness in his mind and his experience is
actually an allegory for the inner battle we all have to fight.
Mansukh Patel points out very clearly that in this sense our
human predicament has not changed over millennia.
We all want overcome limitations and to identify with the higher,
transcendent part of ourselves. In the Bhagavad Gita this is
achieved through the guidance of Arjuna’s wise friend and
mentor, Krishna. As Arjuna stands on the battlefield unable to
fight. Krishna reveals the profound knowledge that allows Arjuna
to rise to the very pinnacle of his human potential and to be
victorious against impossible odds. Ancient and mystical secrets
are the fascinating ingredients of the Gita’s message.
This knowledge gives people the power and strength to resolve
any of life’s challenges and thereby make their lives successful
at every level, both personal and professional.
In The Dru Bhagavad Gita Mansukh Patel’s interpretation
of the relationship between Arjuna and Krishna is poignantly
portrayed in a hitherto unknown form. He weaves a story around
the dialogue between the two heroes in such a way that we
are all drawn intimately into their minds and deepest feelings.
Mansukh has a profound understanding of this relationship and
how it relates to each one of us. The lofty teachings of the
Gita become simplified into language we can all relate to. Suddenly
the Gita is no longer a dusty volume containing 700 incomprehensible
verses. Mansukh Patel makes the relationship three dimensional
and so real, we cannot help but feel what Arjuna feels. At the
same time Mansukh makes the god-man Krishna’s highest wisdom
accessible to us. We can understand for ourselves that what he
describes is actually how we are all meant to be. Mansukh’s
poetic and vibrant re-telling of the story helps us all to see
that we have each come here for a much higher purpose than we
ever previously imagined.
Mansukh Patel distils the most ancient teachings into a form
we can all relate to, understand and apply to our lives on a
daily basis. In the commentary which follows the story just described,
the Dru Bhagavad Gita according to Mansukh and his colleagues
John Jones, Savitri MacCuish and Chris Barrington, offers practical
ways to make wise choices, with a quiet assurance that we will
get where we want to go and become who we want to be. Each verse
is followed by a simple, practical application –something
we can do or think that will alter the way we are approaching
our life and all the difficulties that each day presents.
Savitri MacCuish runs Life Foundation International
in the Netherlands and runs many courses on the Bhagavad Gita.
Savitri’s knowledge of the Gita is vast and penetrating
and extremely refreshing, coming as it does from a ‘Scottish’point
of view. Savitri most definitely sees things from the High-lands
of life and her wisdom is based firmly in experience.
Chris Barrington has created a perfect blend between
science and spirituality, seeing life from both ends as it were.
Chris spent many years teaching mathematics and exploring quantum
physics while delving into the Gita’s secrets at the same
time. The result is Chris Barrington’s no-nonsense approach
to profound spirituality that helps us all to see that we can
be and do everything we want to be and do while taking the highest
wisdom into our activities. Every great entrepreneur has used
the wisdom of the ages in a modern form.
John Jones was introduced to the Gita as a student
by Mansukh Patel’s father, a man whose mastery of the
yogic principles led him to encourage Mansukh to apply Dru Yoga
to the West in many different ways. Mansukh’s production
of the Dru Bhagavad Gita is only one of those ways. John is a
forester by training and again, a man fascinated by the esoteric
while keeping his feet firmly rooted, just like the trees he
has studied in so much depth. There is nothing airy-fairy about
the Dru Bhagavad Gita. It has been written by westerners for
the west and Mansukh will be the first to tell you that it is
a book that can change the way we feel and also the way we act
in the world.
The Dru Bhagavad Gita by Mansukh Patel, Savitri MacCuish,
Chris Barrington and John Jones and The Dru Bhagavad Gita
Correspondence Course by Yamuna Loyal and Chris Barrington
is available from:
UK: the Dru UK, Nant Ffrancon Valley, Bethesda,
Gwynedd, North Wales, LL57 3LX, tel: 01248 602900 and Maristowe
House, Dover
Street, Wolverhampton WV14 6AL tel: 01902 409164;
gita@druworldwide.com, www.drugita.org
Australia: Dru Australia, 4 Pandanus St,
Fisher, ACT 2611,
Tel 02 6161 1462, sales@druyoga.com.au; www.druyoga.com.au
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