In 1945 Aldous Huxley published "Perennial Philosophy", presenting the Highest Common Factor from multiple global theological approaches across time. Huxley studied the writings of saints and prophets who acquired spiritual knowledge from direct personal experiences. These he identified as thoughts that go beyond time. The 2500 year old Bhagavad Gita commanded pride of place in Huxley’s "Perennial Philosophy". The 'Gita' has attracted and captivated scholars, philosophers and Thinkers from around the world through centuries.
In recent times Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Leo Tolstoy, T. S, Eliot and Ralph Waldo Emerson were mesmerised. Henry David Thoreau took it to Walden Pond. Robert Oppenheimer quoted it in Sanskrit at the time of explosion of the first atom bomb created by his Manhattan Project.
The world has marched on in the 75 years since Huxley's book. Galileo and Newton's mechanistic worlds have made way for the Quantum. Does the Gita still stand its ground in the face of our modern day understanding of the cosmos ?
Gautam, the story teller takes the lay person on a journey in his own inimitable way, combining lessons from multiple streams of enquiry, including science and philosophy, for us to discern the patterns laid bare by the Gita. The setting, the players, the issues each offer a lesson. He draws parallels from recent scientific findings on Mindful Self Awareness, Holonographic Brain, Quantum Physics and Pure Consciousness, as we seek answers to:
"How Modern is the Bhagavad Gita ?"
and more adventurously,
“Is the Gita beyond Space and Time ?”
