Dr Simon Reads...

Chapter Seventeen: Yog through Discerning the Three Divisions of Faith (Śhraddhā Traya Vibhāg Yog) Om, Tat, Sat, On The Mat. Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bhagavad Gita). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Bhagavad Gita, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2XAch2A For the online Bhagavad Gita that I use, see here https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/ And now: Śhraddhā Traya Vibhāg Yog “The faith of all humans conforms to the nature of their mind. All people possess faith, and whatever the nature of their faith, that is verily what they are.” Krishna explains that humans are born in one of three modes (it was two last time), that of sattva (goodness), rajas (passion) and tamas (ignorance). These are the three gunas from before, and Krishna goes on to explain how these natures express themselves in how pe

  Chapter Sixteen: Yog through Discerning the Divine and the Demoniac Natures (Daivāsura Sampad Vibhāg Yog) The Path To The Dark Side   Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bhagavad Gita). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Bhagavad Gita, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.   For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2XAch2A For the online Bhagavad Gita that I use, see here https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/   And now:   Daivāsura Sampad Vibhāg Yog “There are two kinds of beings in this world—those endowed with a divine nature and those possessing a demoniac nature. I have described the divine qualities in detail, O Arjun. Now hear from me about the demoniac nature.”   We now learn that people are born with one of two natures – saintly or demonic. Arjun is reassured by Krishna that he has a saintly nature, but later on we are warned that “ These crue

  Dr. Simon Reads Appendix N Part Nine: August Derleth   This is a sporadic feature, in which I explore classic fantasy and science fiction works. You will either know what I mean by “Appendix N”, or you will have no clue. If the former, skip the next paragraph. Otherwise, read on.   In the original Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide, Gary Gygax provided a large number of appendices, from random smells to reputed magical properties of herbs and gemstones. Appendix N was a bibliography of works that inspired him. Back in 1982 when I first got hold of this book, there were only a couple of items on there that I’d read, and only a few other authors that I’d even heard of. Many years later, after much reading, I returned to Appendix N expecting to have added greatly to the works on there that I’d read; but actually, there were still very few. Many of the authors were obscure or out of print authors of, for want of a better expression, golden age pulp; the kind that fea

  Chapter Fifteen: Yog of the Supreme Divine Personality ( Puruṣhottam Yog) Weird Trees and Moon Life Juice   Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bhagavad Gita). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Bhagavad Gita, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.   For more detail, see the introductory post https://bit.ly/2XAch2A For the online Bhagavad Gita that I use, see here https://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org/   And now:   Puruṣhottam Yog “The Supreme Divine Personality said: They speak of an eternal aśhvatth tree with its roots above and branches below. Its leaves are the Vedic hymns, and one who knows the secret of this tree is the knower of the Vedas.”   We now get a bit of symbolic cosmology, where the material world is likened to a very odd kind of (fig) tree, with roots at the top (which nevertheless hang down to bring the “ flow of karma ” to humans). The leaves are the h