The Bhagavad Gita—The Song of God—is one of the world’s most important spiritual documents in so far as it is the essence of the Upanishads, humanity’s most ancient extant texts on the science of life. The Gita was written about 300 years before the birth of Christ and provides a timeless solution to the existential crises that we all face at some point in our lives.

The Upanishads are revealed texts, not the philosophical contentions of individuals or groups of individuals or the visions of mystics, which are often the basis of various religions. They come to us, not from us, much as the knowledge of electricity was revealed to Ben Franklin or the knowledge of gravity was revealed to Sir Issac Newton. Along with worldly sciences, the science of consciousness was revealed by the merciful force that creates, sustains and destroys life to lead us out of the darkness of our material selves into the self-luminous light of our spiritual Self. It has been handed down in tact to this day.

This science is called Vedanta and sets us free of whatever doubts we may have about the nature of the material world, the nature of the human mind, and the Divine factor. It was passed on to me fifty years ago by my teacher and I passed it on to a dear friend, Rory McKay, the author of this wonderful book.

I have been teaching the Bhagavad Gita and other important Vedic texts to Western audiences in English worldwide for nearly fifty years. Unfortunately, my many duties have so far prevented me from giving a written commentary on the Bhagavad Gita the kind of loving attention it deserves. Fortunately, Rory’s brilliant commentaries on this amazing text shines the loving light that it rightly deserves. I heartily recommend it.

James Swartz
ShiningWorld.com