A small change in the trim tab attached to the rudder changes the course of a large ship. Similarly, a nudge to study the Gita can reorient our course in life. Time available due to the current COVID-19 situation can be utilised to dive into the Gita.
The Gita is an eternal text book from Kindergarten to Post Graduation, for internal realization and it is likely that in the first reading, very few concepts are understood. They can be easily understood if we approach from the view point of manifested, which is within the realm of our naked senses and un-manifested, which is beyond our senses. (including the scientific instruments built to extend these senses)
The story of the manifested goes from the Big Bang to the formation of stars. Then to the fusion of the atoms in these stars and spread of these atoms in the explosion of stars. This led to formation of planetary systems and finally to the appearance of intelligent life.
It is an accepted fact by the scientific community that these manifested life forms, planets, stars and even the universe, have a definite time frame of existence. Though the estimated time scales may vary.
Our understanding that we exist from birth to death, is correct from the manifested point of view. As per the Gita, from the un-manifested point of view, we exist before birth and after death.
With this clarity at the back of our minds, we can easily understand the relationship between them as explained in the Gita to attain the goal of realizing the un-manifested Which is Moksha
While the ahankaar is the obstacle, the amount of ananda (the joy) one gets filled with, irrespective of pleasure or pain outside, is an indicator of that distance traversed, to reach the un-manifested.
