Gita Talks

The ninety-third and final in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 18:67, Swamiji concludes his commentary on the Gita. He discusses what Krishna says about who to share these teachings w...

The ninety-second in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 18:64, Swamiji discusses the love of God for us, and how we should respond with love for him, and what real divine love is. He re...

The ninety-first in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 18:59, Swamiji discusses the battle for higher consciousness. He shares stories about Mirabai and Yogananda. Context and Setup • K...

The ninetieth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 18:53, Swamiji discusses what is necessary to realize the Self, what renunciation is, and what devotion is. Main Theme: Realizing the...

The eighty-ninth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 18:45, Swamiji discusses about swakarma (a person’s own duty), and how it is better to do ones own duty, though flawed, than anoth...

The eighty-eighth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 18:40, Swamiji discusses what caste is according to the Gita, as opposed to the "caste system" or castism. He talks about the inh...

The eighty-seventh in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, beginning with Chapter 18:36, Swamiji discusses three types of happiness according to the gunas: sattwa, rajas, and tamas. Context of the Verse: The tal...

The eighty-sixth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, beginning with Chapter 18:29, Swamiji discusses three types of intellect according to the gunas: sattwa, rajas, and tamas, as well as three types of firmn...

The eighty-fifth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, beginning with Chapter 18:23, Swamiji discusses three types of action according to the gunas: sattwa, rajas, and tamas, as well as the three types of doer...

The eighty-fourth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, beginning with Chapter 18:12, Swamiji discusses what is meant by renunciation, and the difference between Sannyasa and Tyaga. Swamiji opens the 84th Gita...

The eighty-third in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, beginning with Chapter 18:01, Swamiji discusses what is meant by renunciation, and the difference between Sannyasa and Tyaga. Main Topics: • Arjuna asks K...

The eighty-second in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 17:20 to the end of the chapter, Swamiji discusses the threefold kinds of giving, according to the gunas, and the meaning of OM T...

The eighty-first in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 17:14, Swamiji discusses tapasya (austerity) of the body, speech and mind according to Krishna, and how to gain tranquility of min...

The eightieth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 17:11, Swamiji discusses what is sacrifice (yagna), and Observing the teachings of the scriptures. All spiritual practices—including...

The seventy-ninth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 17:05, Swamiji discusses externals in religion, and how they can affect us, and the food, sacrifice, tapasya and almsgiving liked...

The seventy-eighth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 16:20, Swamiji discusses the three qualities which cast us down: Kama, Krodha, and Lobha: Lust (intense desire in general), ange...

The seventy-seventh in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 16:18, Swamiji discusses the qualities of an evil mind, and the need to separate ourselves from such people. He also shares the...

The seventy-sixth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 16:12, Swamiji discusses the negative qualities such as greed, violence, vanity, desires, which lead to delusion. Topic: A detail...

The seventy-fifth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 16:07, Swamiji discusses what devas and asuras are, and what demonic men and women are like.  Swami Nirmalananda dives deep into...

The seventy-forth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 16:01, Swamiji discusses characteristics for capability of yoga, and how virya (vigor) is necessary for the aspiring yogi, and th...

The seventy-third in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 16:01, Swamiji discusses qualities for the successful yogi, personal sacrifice, and Swadhyaya as introspection. Swami Nirmalanand...

The seventy-second in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, continuing with Chapter 16:01, Swamiji defines Krishna's ideas on Divine and Demonic, and learning to discern between the helpful and harmful. He also s...

The seventy-first in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. This rich and personal talk by Swami Nirmalananda Giri, titled “God’s Power in Us”, based on Bhagavad Gita Chapter 12, beginning with verse 11, explores the layered pa...

The sixty-ninth in a series of talks by Swami Nirmalananda Giri (Abbot George Burke) on the Bhagavad Gita, India's most famous scripture: the unforgettable dialog between Sri Krishna and Arjuna about the essence of spiritual life. In this talk, starting with Chapter 15:06, Swami Nirmalananda reflects on the profound teaching that the liberated soul becomes swayam prakasha—self-illumined—requiring...