Riffin on the Gita Life During Wartime

“That knowledge of the field of activities and of the knower of the activities is described by various sages in various Vedic writings. It is especially presented in Vedanta-sutra with all reasoning as to cause and effect.” 13.5 Bhagavad Gita Nature, the Enjoyer and Consciousness

It should be known that the phenomena referenced here is not a deep exploration of both the field of activities in existence as well as the subjects in the midst of those activities, but an exploration as to how the Self can, in live time, effectively be seen as the source of those activities, and know not just how to posture themselves effectively with their consequences, but how to legitimately cease their substantiation, or alter it, as the best of human activity/sensibility/divine communion deems fit along utilitarian lines. Sorcery ultimately is not real beyond what is known to the masses (albeit rarely taken practically/seriously); prayer is paramount, especially in the midst of confusion. The social machine will lay tracks…quickly and fiercely…ever quicker than at any time in Man’s history, even, which is a point of both pride as well as hope as we are on the precipice of a ground invasion, in addition to the continuation of war in Ukraine; the game we are playing today is a fundamentally different one, a better one, one whose frameworks were laid by the social/global action of the societal leaders here domestically, in the United States, in the generations which preceded us. Their vision has rather automatically, rather crassly, and as profane material reality tends to, rather quietly amounted to entire lives preserved and beautified, as well as planted the seeds of a global vision of dignity that is crucial to helping overcome the shared struggles facing Man.

But, in actuality, we are not quickly bound for the golden cities of utopian bliss that effective government across time is walking us towards…we are probably not even close to the quarterly/semester goals we have established. Certainly, now, is not the time…

As a ground invasion is looming in Israel, certainly now is not the time to be that which substantiates each and every happening…to try with firm conviction, with pride in the cultural karmas accumulated across time, the wisdom and skillsets, to impress One’s will, in the name of peace/love paramount upon the field of activities that is somehow originating entirely from within them…from something or somewhere deep within them…

Now is not the time for eternity, manifest.

My humble advice is that as we face this one, that we don’t make it about our mental health or our safe spaces or our best judgements even. Somewhere deep inside of us is the very man who got drunk on bathtub whiskey and stole a bunch of tea from the draconian British who were taxing the fuck out of everything. There are people, probably more than a few, and of course I’m not being serious, or else I’d be cancelled as dangerous, but it’s ok to inject bleach, but there are probably more than a few people who drink gasoline annually at burning man… who spit it out in some red-faced Dionysian fit after not swallowing any, somehow all the richer for their experience even though that seems highly impractical…find that part of you…the irrational that isn’t out on a whim…but is actually indestructible….

Do not be fierce. But do not be a pushover.

Spirituality is real, and the things humans do matter. These ritualistic acts that are in our society- they work.

My request is that this isn’t about you, or us even. You do need to do you effectively…that’s mostly what you should do in life and it should be a joyous thing. But this…is about what’s right. Like a soldier, in spiritual garb, serve in the quiet hours of your practice. Ever quicker, ever fiercer.

Prayer has always interceded in war in clairvoyant ways. In the internet age, now more than ever do we have an opportunity to try to induce some people, even if only a few, into these sorts of frameworks. There's something already on the ground, gathering people, walking individuals home, and it's also in your household shrine.