Chapter 16 The greatest love one can show others is to help them reawaken their divine nature, bringing to their lives a vision of truth, hope and joy.

Chapter 15 So long as we are attached to the World Tree we will continue to wander from branch to branch, not knowing where it begins or ends. But if we give up our attachment, following Krishna’s repeated advice throughout the Gita—neither clinging to the tree nor pushing it away—it will cease to bind us and we will be able to cut down its illusory form.

Chapter 14 16: The fruit of work in goodness is purity and more goodness. The fruit of passion is unhappiness. The fruit of darkness is ignorance.

16 He exists within and outside all beings, moving and still. He is far away, beyond the perception of the senses, yet very near. I love this!

13 One who bears no hatred, who is a compassionate friend to all creatures, who is not possessive or selfish, equal in happiness and distress, and forgiving. Chapter12 as hard, beautiful but hard.

The spiritual seeker is sometimes blessed with a moment in which the veil is lifted, allowing a glimpse of what lies beyond the surface of normal life. These rare moments on the spiritual journey inspire faith and conviction. Yet they cannot be sustained. Each of us must find in our everyday life the presence of God. As Krishna has said in the sixth chapter, ‘One who sees me everywhere and sees everything in me, never loses me and is never lost to me.’

20 I am the Self, seated in the hearts of all beings. I am the beginning, middle and end of all.

18 I am the goal, sustainer, master, witness, abode, refuge and most dear friend. I am origin, dissolution and foundation, the resting place and the eternal seed.

Chapter 8 The best course is to live for God, and to love him in all we do and all we know. For he will never leave our side, and we will never lose his love—even when we lose this body.

THE SOULS IN THIS WORLD are said here to be deluded by desire and hatred. These opposite emotions are akin to love and fear. Driven by these we inhabit an imagined world of opposites, desiring success and fearing failure, craving love and fearing rejection.

40 The Blessed Lord said: A person of faith is not lost in this world or the next. One who does good, my friend, is never overcome by evil.

4 KRISHNA ENCOURAGES THOSE WHO CARRY on with their lives, doing as they are called to do, not drawing attention to themselves for the sake of recognition or profit, but working without attachment for the sake of goodness alone. These are the silent yogis who live in the midst of every community, whose relationship with God is more intimate than those who make a show of prayer or meditation, or of abandoning the world.

23 The first step to spiritual consciousness is to know oneself as spirit, different from the body. As we overcome the illusion of being the physical body we can cultivate a steady mind unaffected by hatred and attraction. A steady mind does not rejoice at gain or lament at loss.

24 A person absorbed in spiritual work sees the whole process of sacrifice—the giver and the gift, the offering and its acceptance—as pure spirit, and so enters the spiritual nature.

29 SO LONG AS WE REMAIN IN THE ILLUSION of material life, we attach ourselves to the material body and take it for granted that we are doing everything by ourselves. We are unaware that our actions are made possible by the Lord, and that on our own we can do nothing.

71 One who gives up selfish desires, who lives content, without ego or possessiveness, achieves peace. EGO = Edging God Out! I tried to remember this everyday remain humble to all and leave EGO at the door!

God does not interfere with our choices. He helps us fulfil them, accompanying each of us as impartial observer of all we do, honouring our freedom. Should our choices lead us into difficulty, God is there as our unseen friend to protect us if we fall. This hit home for me!