To all my Melungeon brothers and sisters and to all other
readers of Melungeons.com, I say Namaste ("I bow to the divine
in you."). I am delighted and deeply appreciative that Helen
Campbell has offered me the opportunity to inform you of my
self-publishing effort entitled “Beyond Race: The Bhagavad-gita
in Black and White.”
First, allow me to tell you a
little about my background. I was born in 1952 in Abingdon,
Virginia and am of “black,” “white” and Cherokee heritage.
Currently I edit and publish Interracial Voice, an Internet
newsjournal serving the multiracial community in cyberspace at
http://interracialvoice.com.
Over the years, I’ve
appeared on nationally televised news programs such as Jim
Lehrer’s “NewsHour” and have written Op-Eds for both the San
Francisco Chronicle and New York Newsday. What excites me right
now, however, is being able to tell you why I decided to write
and publish my book.
A student of Vedic scriptures, I
believe that individuals of mixed racial backgrounds quickly
begin searching for a higher spiritual truth, something that
allows them to make sense of the madness behind lumping human
beings into separate and distinct “racial” groupings.
In
my experience, people who consider themselves of “mixed-race”
inevitably question not only the wisdom of racial identification
but also the very scientific and biological foundation of “race”
itself. To lend public _expression to these heretofore private
individual challenges to the “racial” paradigm was one of the
reasons I launched Interracial Voice in September 1995.
Furthermore, I believe that individuals of mixed racial
backgrounds quickly begin searching for a higher spiritual
truth, something that allows them to make sense of the madness
behind lumping human beings into separate and distinct “racial”
groupings.
The ability or desire to see “beyond the
body,” to see oneself as more than a mere aggregate of material
elements, is a blessing indeed. It is difficult to perceive more
than that which is clearly visible, for to do so, one must
transcend the norm, one must walk “a road less traveled.”
For the past twenty years or so, I’ve been walking -- albeit
haltingly at times -- down the path of self-realization. At this
point, however, I can honestly say that every discipline I’ve
ever studied to any degree-- be it Taoism, Rosicrucianism, the
New Age teachings of Deepak Chopra and James Redfield, L. Ron
Hubbard’s controversial Scientology system, or the 17th Century
impersonalistic philosophy of Baruch Spinoza -- coalesces rather
nicely with the message of one book: Bhagavad-gita.
Bhagavad-gita (incorrectly referred to by some Westerners as the
“Hindu Bible”) is the essence of India’s Vedic wisdom and one of
the great spiritual and philosophical classics of the world. It
comes to us in the form of a battlefield dialogue between Lord
Sri Krishna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and Arjuna, His
intimate friend and devotee, whom He instructs in the science of
self-realization.
The perennial philosophy of the Gita
has intrigued the philosophical mind of man, both Eastern and
Western, for millennia. Henry David Thoreau wrote that in
relation to Bhagavad-gita, “our modern world and its literature
seem puny and trivial.”
Most of us are familiar with former Beatle George Harrison’s
1970 hit “My Sweet Lord” in which he sings of longing to be with
and to see Lord Krishna. More recent proof of the growing
influence and popularity of the Bhagavad-gita’s message in the
West was the November 2000 movie release, “The Legend of Bagger
Vance.” Set in 1931 in the southern United States, “The Legend
of Bagger Vance,” based on the book of the same title by Steve
Pressfield, is a timeless tale of golf, friendship, and the
lessons of life. Rannulph Junuh, a World War I war hero, is
invited to play in a 36-hole golf tournament to celebrate the
opening of a new golf course. Feeling that his game is a bit
rusty, he turns to Bagger Vance for instruction and advice and
ends up learning a lot more than a few new strokes. Directed by
Robert Redford, the film is narrated by Jack Lemmon, who also
makes a brief appearance as a veteran golf champion.
According to Mr. Pressfield, the character of Bagger Vance
(played by actor Will Smith) and his story are indeed based on
the Bhagavad-gita in which Bhagavan (Krishna), the Supreme
Personality, teaches his follower, Arjuna (R. Junuh), about
life. The parallels between the ancient spiritual classic and
the novel (and movie) are elaborated upon by Bhagavad-gita
scholar Steven J. Rosen in his book Gita on the Green: The
Mystical Tradition Behind Bagger Vance (Continuum, 2000).
Far from proselytizing for a particular faith, I humbly submit
that everyone, not just “mixed” people, can use the Gita’s
message to rise above America’s oppressive race-consciousness --
which, itself, has evolved into a sort of proselytizing
religion. Consequently, I named and fashioned each section of my
book after the eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad-gita. Along
with two synopses of each Gita chapter (one taken directly from
Gita itself followed by my own take on how each section relates
to transcending race-consciousness) I included commentary --
culled nearly entirely from my 1995-2001 Interracial Voice
editorials. In addition, during or after each chapter’s “race”
commentary, you will find a specific Gita verse that expands on
that commentary from the Vedic perspective. As this limited
work cannot hope to approach the scope and depth of the
Bhagavad-gita’s seven-hundred verses, I recommend that the
reader obtain a copy of the Gita for his or her own personal
reading. I recommend Bhagavad-gita As It Is
(http://www.asitis.com), with translation and commentary by His
Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. It is this
version of the Gita that I quote throughout my book.
After the book’s conclusion, you will find the text of a speech
I delivered on July 20, 1996 in Washington, D.C. at the
Multiracial Solidarity March. Even then I viewed the discussion
of “mixed-race” as an intermediate point or way-station between
society’s current obsession with race and a future of
racelessness. I leave it up to the reader to determine whether
over the years following my Washington speech I’ve succeeded in
transcending race-consciousness and am on the track of spiritual
enlightenment. Whatever your conclusion, my love and best wishes
to you as you embark on your own personal journey.
On
the Battlefield of Kurukshetra, Arjuna eventually submits to
Lord Krishna as His disciple, and Krishna begins His teachings
to Arjuna by explaining the fundamental distinction between the
temporary material body and the eternal spiritual soul. The Lord
explains the process of transmigration, the nature of selfless
service to the Supreme, and the characteristics of a
self-realized person.
Arjuna realizes that everyone must
engage in some sort of activity in this material world, but
actions can either bind one to this world or liberate one from
it. By acting for the pleasure of the Supreme, without selfish
motives, one can be liberated from the law of karma (action and
reaction) and attain transcendental knowledge of the self and
the Supreme. Arjuna eventually realizes that it is his duty as a
ksatriya (literally, “one that protects others from harm”) -- a
warrior or administrator in the ancient Vedic social system (not
to be confused with the perverted and corrupt caste system in
present-day India) -- to fight, because God desires the battle.
Beyond Race does not seek to recreate the conditions of a
5,000-year-old Indian battlefield. It does, however, seek to
convey some of the same basic truths that were revealed on that
battlefield. If Arjuna, the hero of the Gita, was able to
understand that a wise man does not lament even in the face of
death, because he knows that the soul within the body never
dies, surely, in the 21st century, we can conquer the fear of
offending others while both expressing and exercising our honest
beliefs and personal “identity” preferences. By cultivating
transcendental knowledge as revealed in the Gita, we can
certainly learn to go beyond race.
You can access my
book online from Xlibris.com at www.xlibris.com/BeyondRace.html.
Additionally, “Beyond Race” is available for purchase on
Amazon.com where you can read five 5-star reviews, including one
by the premier Melungeon spokesman -- Brent Kennedy himself.
The Vedas state that we should consider every human activity a
failure unless the person inquires about the nature of the
Absolute, the nature of God. Accordingly, those who begin to
question why they are suffering or where they came from and
where they shall go after death are proper students for
understanding Bhagavad-gita. Avail yourself of the opportunity
to begin the search to finding the answer to these inquiries in
this lifetime by ordering a copy of “Beyond Race: The
Bhagavad-gita in Black and White” today. I promise you won’t be
sorry you did.
Thank you
Charles
Michael Byrd (Charukrishna)
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