Harmony and the Bhagavad-gita: Lessons from a Life-Changing Move to the Wilderness (The Essence of the Bhagavad-gita) - Softcover

Dasi, Visakha

Softcover

ISBN 10: 150336478X ISBN 13: 9781503364783

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

The Gita says, “In this world there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge.” Decades ago, when first I read this phrase, I was allured. I connected it with Henry David Thoreau’s desire to “live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” Like Thoreau, I also want to touch life’s core, to live fully, and not to grow old having only dealt with the superficial. So, my family and I moved to a remote community in the pristine forests of British Columbia and there joined a community of joyful spiritual pioneers who were centered on applying the teachings of Bhagavad-gita in their lives and community. Harmony and the Bhagavad-gita is the tale of what transpired in that unique setting.

"A marvelous job ... an inspirational memoir and a pleasant reminder that there is a spiritual side to our existence." — Five-Star Review, Susan Sewell for Readers' Favorite

This is the true story of a daring family that joins a diverse community of individualists and, along with comic and cosmic challenges, harvests the Gita's soul-stirring life lessons suited for any time, place, or circumstance. Somehow, as they explore the robust attitudes that lead to harmony and its quiet gift of happiness, this family falls in love with the land, with those who call it home, and with the Bhagavad-gita's timely guidance.

“In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonical philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.”— Henry David Thoreau, American poet, philosopher, and naturalist

"Bhagavad-Gita is one of the most beautiful and profound texts of world literature." — Octavio Paz, Mexican poet and diplomat; Nobel Prize in Literature

"That the spiritual man need not be a recluse, that union with the divine Life may be achieved and maintained in the midst of worldly affairs, that the obstacles to that union lie not outside us but within us -- such is the central lesson of the Bhagavad-Gita." — Annie Besant, British socialist, theosophist, activist, writer, and orator

"Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day." — Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi

About this title

About the Author

Since her first trip to India in 1971 (when she was 21), Visakha's life has never been the same. She's tried to explain what happened to her -- and what's continuing to happen -- in numerous magazine articles as well as books, most recently a memoir, Five Years, Eleven Months and a lifetime of unexpected love.

Besides writing articles and books, Visakha also assists herhusband, John Griesser, in making documentary films. The couple recently released the 90-minute documentary, "Hare Krishna!, the Mantra, theMovement, and the Swami who started it all," which won the Jury Prizefor best picture at the 2017 Illuminate Film Festival in Sedona,Arizona, screened in theaters throughout the world, has been translatedinto 24 languages, and is now available on DVD and for streaming.

They have two beautiful daughters and are based in both British Columbia and Florida, but mostly Florida.

From the Back Cover

The expanse of open space, the unprecedented quiet, the freedom to be just who you are, the luxury of feeling earth instead of concrete beneath your feet -- these are some of the natural charms of country living. Here is the story of a family of city dwellers who take a plunge: they join a remote community of country-living individualists who are guided by Bhagavad-gita, one of the oldest spiritual teachings in existence.

Along with comic and cosmic challenges, this daring family harvests soul-stirring life lessons suited for any time, place, or circumstance. And they somehow fall in love with the land and the joyful pioneers who call it home.

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 150336478X
• ISBN 13: 9781503364783
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 200