Isaac Bentwich, MD: The Ageless Wisdom of The New Gita

OMTIMES: What are the main points of the Gita?

Isaac Bentwich, M.D: There are three main points:

– Our daily struggles in life are ‘battlefields,’ just like that of Gita’s prince, which provide us an opportunity to grow spiritually.

– Wisdom and happiness are within us and do not depend on any external guru, teacher, or religion.

– Gita’s dialogue between master and disciple is our dialogue with the inner voice of our soul.

OMTIMES: How has Gita influenced social & civil rights?

Isaac Bentwich, M.D: The Gita, while obscure to many, has had a profound effect on social and civil rights movements around the world. Gandhi considered the Gita the very center of his civil rights movement. “If we could change ourselves,” he said, “the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him.” Martin Luther King was inspired by its teaching of non-violence, and Nelson Mandela said its poetic verses of wisdom helped him survive prison.

Interestingly, Gandhi called his movement Satyagraha, ‘holding onto Truth,’ because connecting with your Inner-Self, as the Gita teaches — beyond your ego, your thoughts and your beliefs — is connecting with a unifying Truth which underlies diversity. Non-violence was the means of this powerful movement but connecting with one’s inner-Truth was its beating heart and ‘secret-fuel.’ The more you connect with this Truth, this Inner-Self — the more you can you see your aggressor, without aggressive-response arising un-invited in your heart. No longer merely suppressing your aggression, in response to wrongs done to you, but is firmly rooted in the unshakable Knowing of the brotherhood that unites us, aggressor and aggrieved alike. This inner Truth, the Gita tells us, is a light shining within, which not only dispels the darkness of our Ignorance but also lights up the world around us:

“But when Inner-Self’s light dispels Ignorance, Then from within, this Wisdom-light shines; Radiant sun, lighting all that surrounds us, And all around us, we behold the Divine.”

OMTIMES: How does the Gita relate to #MeToo revelations of sexual abuse by prominent yoga teachers?

Isaac Bentwich, M.D: Today, Gita’s wisdom seems more relevant than ever. Recent #MeToo revelations, yet again, of power and sexual abuse by prominent yoga teachers, are devastating. We turn to yoga seeking not only a relaxed, well-toned body but also a safe, uplifting environment, where we can grow spiritually. And so, such betrayal of trust, and of yogic values, tears at the very fabric of what yoga is for us.

Gita offers a firm foundation on which we can safely ‘build’ our yoga practice. As students, as seekers, it provides an unequivocal, crystal clear description of the conduct, and motivation of a teacher worthy of our trust. It also constantly reminds us that ultimately, our spiritual growth and our happiness are within and do not depend on any teacher, guru, or religion. As teachers, it keeps us humble, disciplined, and committed. In awe of the lofty yogini/yogi ideal that the Gita so beautifully describes, and working together, with our students and yoga community, as we pursue our spiritual journeys.

OMTIMES: What does the Gita have to offer about business ethics so lacking today?

Isaac Bentwich, M.D: The Gita offers powerful antidotes for the rampant materialism and flawed business ethics that are plaguing our society today. It teaches us to view our journey through life as a journey of spiritual growth. The ‘trick’ — says the Gita — is to be active in the world, while training ourselves to be firmly rooted in knowing that our happiness does not lay outside and does not depends on any external achievement or gain. Our real ‘battle,’ the Gita reminds us, is not with external challenges or foes, but an inner battle of the soul, between our higher divine nature, and our lower egotistical tendencies and desires, which we must learn to restrain.

As the Gita poetically puts it:

“Therefore, let your Divine-nature, Inner-Self, Restrain your mind, Prince, your lower human one; Then smite your elusive enemy, desire! Within, not without – the real battle is won.”

OMTIMES: What is your message to readers who have never heard of the Gita?

Isaac Bentwich M.D: The Gita is a powerful guide for happiness, meditation, and inner-growth, one that’s written specifically for ordinary people like you and me and you, who are living and working in this crazy, troubled, beautiful world of ours. If you are seeking happiness and fulfillment in your life through inner-growth — you are welcome to the Gita! It is a magical little book that captures the deepest truths of all spiritual paths and all religions and conveys them in a simple, practical way that we can all understand and relate to. As you read and meditate on its verses, their poetic form lets them pleasantly ‘roll around’ in your mind, ‘doing their thing.’ Gradually, they help bring about changes in the way you view and act in the world. Empowering you to do good in the world, and to be transformed in the process; to change the world around you, by first changing the world within.

OMTIMES: Do you have any stories of the battle that people can relate to?

Isaac Bentwich, M.D: Reading the Gita, I found it related to different battles my life had taken me through. It has taken me back to memories, still vivid, of battlefields I’ve experienced, as a young officer and tank-commander, witnessing the senseless horrors of war and the devastation of losing loved friends. It related to other more civil ‘battlefields’ I’ve experienced as a medical doctor, fighting death; the triumph of saving a life, and the bitter taste of defeat. And to yet more mundane ‘battles’ of daily life — those in parenting, in relationships, in boardrooms, and silent meditation retreats. We all live through these ‘daily battlefields of life’ and hence can easily relate to Gita’s ‘wisdom at the battlefield’ metaphor.

Connect with Isaac Bentwich, M.D.

Isaac Bentwich, M.D. is a medical doctor trained in Western and Ayurvedic medicine, a longtime teacher of yoga and meditation, and author of Gita: A Timeless Guide for Our Times (Harmonia, June 2019). Bentwich lives in Israel. For more information, visit: https://www.newgita.com/