wisdom of the gita

a deeper dive into the spiritual essence of the Bhagavad gita

Nine online sessions exploring the philosophical, spiritual and practical wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita.

About the Program

The Bhagavad Gita is both a deeply spiritual and very practical scripture. It reveals the essential united nature of our existence and explains the practices and attitudes we can adopt in our daily lives to help us live in alignment with that essence and know it for ourselves. 

This program is suitable for those who are already familiar with the Gita who wish to refresh and deepen their knowledge of it. (For those who are new to the Gita, the Bringing The Gita To Life course which will take place again in September 2023 will be more suitable.)

During the program, we will look at the most significant verses from each chapter in turn, covering 2 chapters per session. (There are 18 chapters in total.) 

Sometimes it’s only when we express what we understand in our own words, that we find clarity and come to own the knowledge for ourselves. Participants are encouraged to read and think about the verses before each session. We will then discuss them together.  This will also be good preparation for yoga teachers who would like to bring in some of the teachings into their own classes. 

To make this manageable, I will keep the group size small with a maximum of 6 participants. (If more than 6 sign up, I will open up an alternate day and time).  

  • The Sanskrit of the Gita — the power contained in the sound of the original Sanskrit. Each session you will learn to pronounce the original Sanskrit of one of the verses and come to understand the meaning of some of the most important Sanskrit words.
  • The Story of the Gita — what the characters really represent and how they relate to your own mind and existence. Inquiring into the real nature of the mind and ego as a means of deeply realising that you are not confined by them.
  • Samkhya Yoga — the philosophy behind the Gita. How does this relate to our own lived experience?
  • Karma Yoga — the yoga of action, what it means to be a “non-doer” and to surrender the results of your actions yet, crucially, continue to act for good in the world.
  • The Three Gunas —  looking carefully at how the gunas affect each of our day to day lives and how more sattwa can be introduced. And why the gunas must ultimately be transcended.
  • Bhakti Yoga — the yoga of devotion — what is it that you are actually devoted to in your life? How do you express that devotion? What does it mean to be devoted to Krishna, or to the Truth?
  • Dhyan Yoga — the yoga of meditation. The real purpose of meditation is not just to calm your mind (though that’s a great side-effect) but to realise the one unchanging Being that is your own source. We will be exploring what technique of meditation should be used for this and how you can establish a regular meditation practice that works for you in your life.
  • “The Field and the Knower of the Field” — exploring the knowledge of manifest existence (“the field”) and the one who witnesses this field (the Self) as described in chapter 13 of the Gita. True knowledge involves having knowledge of both of these aspects of existence.

2023 Days and Times

The online zoom meetings will last between 1.5 – 2 hours (exact length depends on the amount of discussion and questions). They start at 5pm UK time (UTC) on 5 March and take place at the same time twice a month, every 2 or 3 weeks, as follows: 

  1. March 5 
  2. March 19 
  3. April 2 
  4. April 16 
  5. May 7
  6. May 21
  7. June 4
  8. June 18
  9. July 2

Payment

The price is £175 in total. (You can choose to pay this as a one-off payment or in two instalments of £87.50).

Pay in Full
Pay 50% Deposit

ENQUIRIES

To register interest or if you have any questions about this course, please get in touch via my Contact page.

RECORDINGS

If you can’t attend any of the group meetings ‘live’, you can choose to get the zoom recordings instead.