Bhagavad Gita Chapter 17

• Chapter 17, Text 02
• On the value of judgments and the judgment of values
• We are shaped not just by our ideological faith but also by our functional faith
• Chapter 17, Text 03
• The God of terrorists is not the God of transcendentalists
• We make our faith and then our faith makes us
• Our existence and our faith are related causally, constitutionally and consequentially
• Chapter 17, Text 04
• The modes are not monochrome, but are multi-level
• Chapter 17, Text 05
• Our body is not ours to abuse by arbitrary austerity
• Chapter 17, Text 06
• The body is meant for neither gratification nor mortification, but for utilization
• Chapter 17, Text 09
• Are we courting suffering with the tongue?
• Those who let the culture fill their brain with junk beliefs, fill their belly with junk food
• Eat food made of plants, not food made in plants
• Delusion makes eating a life-threatening activity
• Chapter 17, Text 14
• Differences that make a real difference – and differences that don’t
• Chapter 17, Text 15
• Careless words can cause cureless wounds
• Memorizing scripture doesn’t burden the head – it unburdens the heart
• Let our words be like windows, not walls
• When self-righteousness obscures rightness…
• Speak not “to reveal the truth about others,” but to realize the truth about yourself
• Choose words that make the heart soar, not sore
• Don’t just talk about the other – talk with the other
• Don’t just tell it like it is – tell it like it can be
• To use the truth for beating people on the head is to abuse the truth
• To learn to speak well, learn when not to speak
• Speak because you have something to say, not because you have to say something
• Focus not on the harsh truth, but on the gentle healing
• Speak to give people peace of mind, not a piece of your mind
• Watch what you talk when you talk to yourself
• Anesthesia is meant to help heal sickness, not hide it
• Unthinking words reflect an uncaring heart
• Speak not just correctly, but also appropriately
• Words are not just vehicles of thought, but also engines of thought
• Opening the mouth without opening the mind helps neither the mouth nor the mind
• Don't forget to compliment those who complement you
• Our tongue is like a loaded gun that we always carry within us
• To speak effectively, learn to let go of what you think you are speaking and hear what others are hearing
• Chapter 17, Text 16
• How long will we hide ourselves from ourselves?
• Satisfaction is not just a condition but also a choice
• Don’t crave the feast in others’ plates – savor the feast in yours
• To gain satisfaction, replace expectation with appreciation
• Just as food adds to our physical weight, thoughts add to our mental weight
• Mental silence is more defining than verbal silence
• Purity reverses our mental gravity
• Cultivation of satisfaction requires not the rejection of desire, but the selection of desire
• No matter how bad things are, we can always make them worse – we are never powerless
• To be happy is possible, to be happier than others is impossible
• The mind overvalues things it doesn’t have and undervalues things it does have
• Chapter 17, Text 19
• True austerity is supplicative not manipulative
• Chapter 17, Text 21
• Complete charity makes the receiver feel valued , not pitied
• Charity that expresses vanity ends in vanity