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Bhagavad Gita for a Fish.

Let’s say you are a fish / Swimming in the sea. / Only you’re a very very smart fish, / Smart enough to realize / That being a fish swimming in the sea / Isn’t all there is.


Gita for a Fish

Let’s say you are a fish
Swimming in the sea.

Only you’re a very very smart fish,
Smart enough to realize
That being a fish swimming in the sea
Isn’t all there is.

You can see that you’re part of
A vast unknown ocean.

You can see there are many other creatures
And countless wondrous things
To learn about and enjoy
In this vast unknown ocean.

You can even imagine
That there may be a vast unknown world
Beyond even the vast unknown ocean.

You can also see
How wondrous and amazing it is
To be a fish,
To revel in all the unfathomable workings
Of your amazing fish body
And your amazing fish mind.
And how amazing it is
To simply be able to swim around
In this vast unfathomable ocean.

You can’t ever fully figure out
The vast reality
Beyond your little fish world,
The vast unknown ocean
And the vast unknown world
Beyond the vast unknown ocean.

You can’t ever really figure out
The incredible workings
Of your little fish body
And your billions of little fish cells
And your amazing fish mind.

But you can swim
In continual awe and wonder
At the vast unknown ocean
And the vast unknown world
Beyond the vast unknown ocean

And you can be in continual amazement
At the incredible workings
Of your little fish body
And your billions of little fish cells
And the wonders
Of all the other creatures and things
You see all around you as you swim.

You can think about it.
You can meditate on it.
You can love and celebrate it.

And meanwhile you can settle in
To simply being the best fish you can be.

24 replies on “Bhagavad Gita for a Fish.”

Oh, it makes me happy to hear that. It "felt" like you. I vote for more poetry on Elephant Journal. And I love hearing from the man who keeps Elephant Yoga running so well, please do keep sharing. 🙂

Thank you Bob. It's nice to hear/see/experience your voice. Your insight shines bright. Even though you are talking about swimming, which is fluid, your writing is strong—it illuminates. I hope you continue to share.

Thanks, Patricia. I love your new site, which I'm just seeing for the first time because I've been so busy with Elephant Yoga. As you can probably guess, I'm going to urge you to think about sharing selected writing from this new project on Elephant if you are so inclined. We are actively trying to broaden our content, and perhaps it would help publicize your project.

Thank you Bob. There are certainly aspects that would work well. The project is all about connecting and creating/finding community. It's been an amazing experience to edit an anthology of this sort. The experiences and stories are powerful and life changing. The opportunity fell into my lap. The woman I am working with is a journalist. I admire her voice and vision. I have finally found my place in the world. We both know how long that has taken!

"…Being a fish swimming in the sea isn't all there is" is now my #2 all time favorite Bob Weisenberg quote. The first is "What if every breath you took was like eating a bite of chocolate cake?" This is a great meditation topic! Thank You

Thanks, dr. Always nice to hear my eBook being quoted from memory. I like that!

Here's the blog drbinder is referring to (from YogaDemystified.com):

What If Every Breath You Took Was Like Eating a Bite of Chocolate Cake?

Don’t laugh! Think about it for a moment. Would it make you happier if every breath was like a bite of chocolate cake, even if nothing else in your life changed?

When I first started Yoga I was confused by all the emphasis on the breath. OK, I get it. Breathe deeply. What’s next?

The more I learned, the more it seemed like Yoga had a serious breath obsession. It’s the focus of meditation. You have to do it right when you do poses. It feeds the chakras (energy centers) in your body. There’s even a whole separate practice for advanced breathing called pranayama.

What for?, I asked myself. OK, we need to breathe deeply. So what?

Now I understand! It’s like this. Between a single breath or a bite of chocolate cake, which one is more amazing? (Any trouble answering that and you probably have bigger problems than I can help you with!)

The single breath is more amazing, of course, because it is the wondrous source of your very being – a precondition even to enjoying a bite of chocolate cake. You could say that the single breath is infinitely wondrous. Perhaps you might even say it is divine.

While I was writing this I started explaining to it my wife, and she said, “That makes sense, but you couldn’t get anything done if you were eating chocolate cake all day.”

I replied, “You’re right, but wouldn’t it be nice to be able to tap into that kind of “better than chocolate cake” divine amazement any time you wanted to, just by focusing on your breath? Wouldn’t that make your life a lot happier, no matter what else was going on?”

“Yes, of course,” she replied.

“Bingo. That’s what Yoga philosophy is all about.”

Bob this is brilliantly beautiful. I can't wait to share this with my students and my little nephew. He loves "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" and I just KNOW his innocence will understand your Gita Fish without explanation.

Wonderful! Now I know why I like scuba diving so much – such great wisdom to be found under the sea. Sharing on Yogainmyschool.com and using as inspiration for a day of Kids Yoga Camp. Bob, you're the best!

Very Nice – I think you have a real talent for this type of thing (i.e. DeMystifying Yoga – to borrow a phrase from your book). Keep up the good work, Bob.

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