{"product_id":"the-bhagavad-gita-and-the-west","title":"The Bhagavad Gita and the West","description":"\u003ch1 class=\"a-spacing-none a-text-normal\"\u003e\u003cspan id=\"productTitle\" class=\"a-size-large celwidget\" data-csa-c-id=\"ifipps-8onbi4-eukbc6-unhzk9\" data-cel-widget=\"productTitle\"\u003eThe Esoteric Significance of the Bhagavad Gita and Its Relation to the Epistles of Paul\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/h1\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e5 lectures, Cologne, Dec. 28, 1912 - Jan. 1, 1913 (CW 142)\u003cbr\u003e9 lectures, Helsinki, May 28 - June 5, 1913 (CW 146)\u003cbr\u003e1 lecture, Basel, Sept. 19, 1912 (CW 139)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis combination of two volumes in Rudolf Steiner’s Collected Works presents Steiner’s profound engagement with Hindu thought and, above all, the Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita as they illuminate Western Christian esotericism. In his masterly introduction, Robert McDermott, a longtime student of Rudolf Steiner, as well as Hindu spirituality, explores the complex ways in which the “Song of the Lord,” or Bhagavad Gita, has been understood in East and West. He shows how Krishna’s revelation to Arjuna―a foundation of spirituality in India for more than two and a half millennia―assumed a similarly critical role in the Western spiritual revival of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the West, for instance, leading up to Steiner’s engagement, McDermott describes the various approaches manifested by Emerson, Thoreau, H.P. Blavatsky, and William James. In the East, he engages with interpretations of historical figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo, relating them to Steiner’s unique perspective. In addition, and most important, he illumines the various technical terms and assumptions implicit in the worldview expressed in the Bhagavad Gita.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe main body of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Bhagavad Gita and the West\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e consists of two lecture courses by Rudolf Steiner: “The Bhagavad Gita and the Epistles of Paul” and “The Esoteric Significance of the Bhagavad Gita.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the first course, his main purpose is to integrate the flower of Hindu spirituality into his view of the evolution of consciousness and the pivotal role played in it by the Mystery of Golgotha―the incarnation, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Steiner views Krishna as a great spiritual teacher and the Bhagavad Gita as a preparation, though still abstract, for the coming of Christ and the Christ impulse as the living embodiment of the World, Law, and Devotion, represented by the three Hindu streams of Veda, Sankhya, and Yoga.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor Steiner, the epic poem of the Bhagavad Gita represents the “fully ripened fruit” of Hinduism, whereas Paul is related but represents “the seed of something entirely new.” In the last lecture of part one, Steiner reveals Krishna as the sister soul of Adam, incarnated as Jesus, and claims Krisha’s Yoga teachings streamed from Christ into Paul.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn the second lecture course, five months later, Steiner engages the text of the Bhagavad Gita―on its own terms―as signaling the beginning of a new soul consciousness. To aid in understanding both of these important cycles, this book includes the complete text of the Bhagavad Gita in Eknath Easwaran’s luminous translation.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn our age, when East and West are growing closer and we live increasingly in a global, intercultural and religiously pluralistic world, this remarkable book is required reading.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Bhagavad Gita and the West\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is a translation of two volumes in German: \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eDie Bhagavad Gita und die Paulusbriefe\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (CW 142) and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eDie okkulten Grundlagen der Bhagavad Gita\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (CW 146). The lecture in the appendix is translated from Das Markus-Evangelium (CW 139) and was published in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Gospel of St. Mark\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (Anthroposophic Press, 1986).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong style=\"font-size: 0.875rem;\"\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv style=\"position: absolute; left: 86px; top: 619.031px;\" id=\"gtx-trans\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"gtx-trans-icon\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"RSA Bookstore","offers":[{"title":"Like New","offer_id":47549471293698,"sku":null,"price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Very Good","offer_id":47549471326466,"sku":null,"price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false},{"title":"Good","offer_id":47549471359234,"sku":null,"price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Acceptable","offer_id":47549471392002,"sku":null,"price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0675\/4766\/0546\/files\/BhagavadGita.png?v=1774392049","url":"https:\/\/shop.rsarchive.org\/products\/the-bhagavad-gita-and-the-west","provider":"Rudolf Steiner Archive Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}