Last Sunday in a pravachan (discourse/lecture) about the Gita, Dadaji stated how we promote and advertise good movies that we’ve seen, but we don’t do the same for the Gita. It’s true, how often have you seen a trailer on the tv or a giant sized poster marketing the benefits of the Gita? This was one of those recurring moments in pravachan where I felt like he was speaking directly to me. Who else besides a graphic designer was going to bother taking that statement at face value? That statement is what inspired this post and this:
I’m sure many people have seen the original Pass It On ad and this quote before. Have either of them moved you to take action in any sort of way? Apparently, this supposed quote from Einstein has:
I say “supposed” because there is an on-going debate about whether or not Einstein ever said this, and there don’t appear to be any sources for it. I found it ironic though that someone might have created a false advertisement for the Gita in the 1970’s by fabricating this quote AND that it actually works! This opens up a whole new can of worms though.
One of the most important lessons from the Gita is that the motive behind an action is paramount, not the actual action itself. With that idea alone the Gita explains how to turn every action – even the routine, mundane ones – into an offering to God. So the dilemma here is that we have a positive result occurring by the creation of false quote – more people are reading the Gita. Is that okay? Well, that depends…
- Scenario 1: Bookstore owner has an overstock of Gitas in his inventory, “How do I get rid of these and make some money off of them?!”
- Scenario 2: Gita devotee who genuinely wants to share its message, “How do I get the Western world to even know that this book exist, much less read it?!”
Would you feel better about the quote if the person in scenario 2 created it? In the end isn’t it the same result? Why should it matter?
Perhaps you’re curious about my motives as I write this post and ask you to share the ads below too. That’s fair. Here are my some of them:
- I saw a design/marketing challenge that related to my interests so I had to accept it
- I fully believe in the awesomeness of the Gita and want to try a creative approach of promoting it
- I want to grow my personal brand (that’s why my site is in the corner of each ad)
- I like messing around with social media
There may be more, but I guess that’s between me and HIM.
Now if those motives are alright by you and you share any sort of affection towards the Gita, please humor me and change your Facebook timeline background image to any of the following banners (or pick Einsteins from above).
In the comments below, please share a quote, lesson, verse or anything you want to about why you think it’s worth sharing the Gita!
Oh, btw here’s a link to the Gita, go explore!
It was impressive. Good art leaves an impression. It makes you feel something. That’s what these posters did for everyone in attendance, and I’m glad that 1) my friends came in from the suburbs and inspired us to attend, and 2) that so many people made an effort to essentially create marketing pieces that will help increase the longevity of this protest.
