I have yet to set a daily schedule for reading the Bhagavad Gita (let alone follow one after setting it ). I am finding the time each day according to what else in going in life. As such, getting into the spiritual state of mind that I mentioned in an earlier post before each Gita study session is even more critical. Recommendation from those who have done this before, including my mom, is to recite the Gita Dhyana Slokam before beginning the session. I find that this works very well. I open the text of the slokam, click on the recital by Swami Omkarananda and recite along. There are any number of recordings of the slokam on the net, including some that have set it to musical accompaniment. I find that this rendering particularly suits what I am trying to achieve. It is clear, loud and focussed, and gets me into thinking about the Gita. Now it helps that I have read a couple of translations of the slokam so that I know the meaning of what I am chanting. It is a short piece and at the pace of the recital just about 4 minutes. After this I am ready to dive into the reading. It has been only a few days, but so far this is working. Perhaps you can add some additional suggestions for me.
I had written earlier that I am trying to get as much of the material in ‘soft copy’ as possible so that I can have it in my reader (iPad and Kindle for now ). It turns out that this is not so easily done as even soft copy that is available is typically in pdf format, and not quite suited for small screen readers. The fonts used are not consistent, and often are rendered in ‘Hindi’-like Devanagiri rather than as in Sanskrit and make reading along difficult for me. For someone who did not study Sanskrit, it appears that I have enough familiarity with the script from reading along other slokams, that I stumble when the text is not quite right. So, part of my study time includes getting the material into reader friendly and web friendly form. I have made the Gita Dhyanam available this way on this site. If enough of you are interested, I will continue to do this as I progress in my studies.
