The Yoga of the Divine Glories

The tenth discourse of the Bhagavad Gita sees Krishna telling Arjuna that even those who are considered highly evolved fail to understand fully how he (Krishna) projects himself as all that is manifest. All qualities including wisdom, truth and contentment have their origins in Krishna. In giving themselves over  completely they are able to discern what is real from what is unreal. It is through knowledge gained through divine grace as opposed to study, that we gain the understanding needed to comprehend this concept.Arjuna acknowledges this as a truth, but still wants to know more. Krishna explains that it is the Lord that creates, sustains and destroys everything. That essentially means that the Lord has no beginning and no end. The Lord simply is. Krishna goes on to tell Arjuna all the shapes and manifestations that he takes from the trees, to mountains to other deities.

"Among the great sages I am Bhrigu; among words I am the monosyllable Om; among

sacrifices I am the sacrifice of silent repetition; among immovable things the Himalayas I am."

"I am the gambling of the fraudulent; I am the splendour of the splendid; I am victory; I

am determination (of those who are determined); I am the goodness of the good"

I sometimes have my yoga students repeat the mantra Aham Brahmasmi which means I am Brahman or I am the the Universe. We are all manifest and so are all the Lord. We are divine creatures who are one with all other creatures and all life. Where there is manifestation there is divine energy, or the Lord, or Krishna - however you'd like to put it. And that means even those people we find unpleasant, the experiences and behaviors we don't like: all of it. We can't really discriminate things as good or bad because everything just is. And everything leads us back to that one truth: we are the universe.