[teholbeddict]

In fairness to all religions and by request of others poster I will be reading and posting/discussing the Bhagavad Gita. The Gita for those of you who may not know is a Sanskrit Hindu scripture and is known as one of the most important religious classics of the world. This will be my first time reading it, so it should be interesting to see how it compares to the Bible which is afterall supposed to be the greatest strory ever told. We'll have to see how it stacks up to the block buster of all religious texts. Wish me luck!

[Aptorian]

Another classical fantasy book by unknown authors

[teholbeddict]

The swastika who knew....

So I'm casually flipping through my new copy of the Gita..... and what do I notice (much to my suprise/horror) keeps popping up as a decoration above and below all of the Sanskrit text but the swastika! I have to admit I was a little taken aback and wasn't sure what to make of it. So I did a little research into the swastika and was really quite surprised!

It turns out that the Sanskrit word svastika is a derivitive of svasti meaning well being. The symbol itself actually goes all the way back to the good ole days of the Stone Age. So it's been used for thousands of years by ancestors of the Hindus. Even in todays modern world the swastika is sacred to Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. That's over a billion people for anyone who's keeping count! In hinduism the swastika represents the sun and the sun god Surya. (quite the powerful symbol he has going for himself!) It also shows two forms of the creator god Brahama. Facing right it symbolizes outwardness and progess, facing left it symbolizes inwardness and stillness. Turns out it's actually considered holy and blessed and is therefore depicted in all Hindu ceremonies. Not to mention it also used as a decoration for good luck. It was only stolen and turned into something terrible by the Nazis in the 1920's. I guess this goes to show you should never dismiss anything out of hand. I have a whole new respect for the Swastika! Although I don't think I'm ready to hang it on my keychain and adopt it as my new good luck charm.

[Aptorian]

A little more popculture swastica history for you: If you look at many Carlsberg products before Germany invaded Denmark, you'll find lots of swastica adorning them. The two classic stoneelephants standing at the gate of the Carlsberg breweries in Copenhagen used to have swastica engraved in the stone along with other symbols up untill recently. They were added by the founded of the breweries J.C.Jacobsen who was a famous entrepenour and into all that cultural stuff.

[SiriusL]

teholbeddict, on Nov 20 2008, 10:25 AM, said:

The swastika who knew....

So I'm casually flipping through my new copy of the Gita..... and what do I notice (much to my suprise/horror) keeps popping up as a decoration above and below all of the Sanskrit text but the swastika! I have to admit I was a little taken aback and wasn't sure what to make of it. So I did a little research into the swastika and was really quite surprised!

It turns out that the Sanskrit word svastika is a derivitive of svasti meaning well being. The symbol itself actually goes all the way back to the good ole days of the Stone Age. So it's been used for thousands of years by ancestors of the Hindus. Even in todays modern world the swastika is sacred to Hindus, Buddhists and Jains. That's over a billion people for anyone who's keeping count! In hinduism the swastika represents the sun and the sun god Surya. (quite the powerful symbol he has going for himself!) It also shows two forms of the creator god Brahama. Facing right it symbolizes outwardness and progess, facing left it symbolizes inwardness and stillness. Turns out it's actually considered holy and blessed and is therefore depicted in all Hindu ceremonies. Not to mention it also used as a decoration for good luck. It was only stolen and turned into something terrible by the Nazis in the 1920's. I guess this goes to show you should never dismiss anything out of hand. I have a whole new respect for the Swastika! Although I don't think I'm ready to hang it on my keychain and adopt it as my new good luck charm.

Yes, I think the Nazis tried to turn it into their pseudo-Aryan version of the Swastika, because they thought all good people were descended from this mythical true Aryan Teutonic ideal. Just wiki-ing it I found that many pre-Christian cultures used variations on the swastika, pretty much everywhere in the world (Asia, native America, Europe) except Africa.

[Coco with marshmallows]

when you think about it, its not that surprising. its a very basic symbol that's relatively easy to draw for anyone, literate or otherwise, so its easy to see why it would gain acceptance as a symbol of faith, just as much as the basic cross for christians.

by the by tehol, when you finish the book, re-watch (or watch) the film legend of bagger vance with will smith.

[teholbeddict]

A bit of back story...

Ok I ran into a bit of a conundrum here right off the bat as the Gita doesn't open with creation of the earth or mankind like the Bible. Man is already around and has established themselves quite well, they have kingdoms chariots and all sorts of neat things. In fact in chapter 1 they are about to embark on a big family war - the story of which is known as the Mahabharata. So I'm going to provide a brief backstory just so we all know what we're dealing with here.

Mahabharata

As I stated earlier the Mahabharata is the story of a great war fought in ancient India between princes (who also happen to be cousins). To start off with there are two factions:

The Pandavas - Five sons (Arjun, Yudishtir, Bhim, Nakul, and Sahadev) of king Pandu of Hastinapura. They were born in the forest because King Pandu was sick and left his throne, they also happen to be blessed by the gods and were born in a heavenly light. When king Pandu dies they return to the kingdom and their jealous cousin is now on the throne.

The Kauravas - A group of one hundred men led by Duryodhana (cousin of the Pandavas) son of blind King Dritarashtra. Duryodhana is the one sitting on the throne.

Duryodhana is jealous of his cousins the Pandavas and plots to kill them. Because the Pandavas are warriors trained in the arts of war and peace they manage to foil his plans. In one such plot they escape from a burning building and win themselves a princess named Draupadi who all five brothers share as a wife.

The brothers are given a small plot of land and being blessed and extremely industrious they make alot of money and become rich. They grow it into a whole kingdom and brother Yudishtir is chosen as king. Of course Duryodhana is jealous so he hatches a plan to fix a dice game and get his cousin to gamble (and lose) his whole kingdom, the freedom of himself, his brothers and their wife.

Yudishtir loses everything in the fixed dice game but his uncle (king Dristarashtra) feels bad and gives the brothers back their wife and freedom. Daryodhana convinces Yudishtir to gamble again and this time the loser has to go live in the forrest for 12 years and a thirteenth year in disguise. Well the losers are the Pandavas (because the dice are fixed) so they go off into exile.

Upon their return Duryodhana and the Kauravas refuse to give the Pandavas back their kingdom. So the two sides decide to go to war. A whole bunch of other kingdoms choose sides and join in. Both the Pandavas and the Kauravas ask for help from Lord Krishna. Being a fair guy Krishna says he'll give his entire army to one side and the other side will get him as their charioteer.

The Kauravas choose the army so the Pandavas get the Lord Krishna. They go off to war and the battle is narrated by Sanjay minister to blind King Dritarashtra, (because he's blind and can't see what's going on). Which -if you're still with me- is right where chapter one kicks off.

[frookenhauer]

I'm with you so far . How exciting! Hmm, we're missing something...Aaaaah!


*Drum roll*...*baited breath*

[teholbeddict]

Chapter 1 - Arjun's Sadness

Ok so here goes with chapter 1, narrated as I said before by Sanjaya the minister to blind king Dritarashtra.

Quote

1 King Dritarashtra asked Sanjay: Oh Sanjay, what did my sons, the Kauravas, and the sons of my brother Pandu, the Pandavas, do standing on the holy field of Kurukshetra all ready and anxious to fight each other? 2 Sanjay ansered: When the Pandavas' army was all ready, your son, Prince Duryodhana, saw them and said: The mighty army of the Pandavas is prepared! It is strong. But in our own army there are heroes just as brave as the Pandavas. Our own heroes are just as strong as Bhim and Arjun. Our army is unconquerable. 3 Then the glorious old uncle Bhishma roared like a lion and blew his conch to cheer Prince Duryodhana on. 4 Then conches drums and trumpets blared forth and there was great noise. 5 Then Arjun of the Pandavas blew on his heavenly conch in reply. Arjun sat in his glorious chariot pulled by white horses. Lord Krishna himself was Arjun's Charioteer. 6 Lord Krishna also blew a conch; Bhim did too. Yudishtir, Nakul, and Sahadev all blew thier conches as well. 7 And there was a terrible sound echoing through heaven and earth and it tore the hearts of Dritarashtra's sons the Kauravas and made them afraid. 8 At this moment, Arjun, Pandu's son, lifted up his bow and spoke to Lord Krishna, saying: 9 Lord Krishna, place my chariot between the two armies. Keep it there until I have seen all the warriors and decide against whom to fight. 10 Then Sanjay continued: Arjun saw both armies. He saw in both armies his uncles and teachers and cousins and brothers and sons and grandsons and friends. Seeing all his relations ready to fight against him, he felt very sorry and sad. 11 In his sadness Arjun said to Lord Krishna: Oh Krishna, I see my relations here ready to fight and my legs shake. My mouth is dry. My hair is standing on end. My bow is dropping out of my hand. My skin is burning. My mind is spinning. I cannot stand up. 12 And I cannot see any use in this war. What is the use of killing my relatives in battle? 13 Oh Krishna, I do not want victory, or a kingdom or pleasures. What use are these things? 14 Oh Krishna, I do not want to kill my realtives even though they may kill me. 15 Oh Krishna, what joy can there be in killing Dhritarashtra's sons? They are my family. Only sin can come to us for killing. It is wrong to kill Kauravas. They are our cousins. How can we ever be happy again after killing our own relations? 16 Even if they do not understand this, we do. We know that it is a sin to kill our own family. Our family will be ruined. Our women will become bad. Our caste will become mixed. our race will be destroyed. It would be better for me if I let Dhritarashta's sons kill me. 17 Sanjay said: Arjun spoke those words on the battlefield. His mind was full of sorrow. He put down his bow and arrows and sat down sadly on the back corner of his chariot.

Well so far this all seems pretty straight forward. Duryodhana and his fellow Kuravas seem to be all for this giant war, in fact everyone but Arjun seems ready to go to battle.
It seems a little weird that Sanjay can see and hear all of the various things going. I did a bit of research and supposedly he was given divine magic eyes by God. No mention of magic ears so it still doesn't explain how he can hear all of this conversation. The Mahabarata war is estimated to have taken place in 3102 B.C. Chariots were built by the Mesopotamians as early as 3000 B.C., the timing is close, so pressumably they could have been used during the time of this great battle. Plus the emergence of early Indian civilizations coincides with that of the Sumerian city states of ancient Mesopotamia. Conch shells were used as horns, althought he idea of them being heard in the heavens and all over earth is a bit of a stretch. It seems like it's a little late in the day though for Arjun to be getting an attack of the guilts!

[frookenhauer]

Yup lots of people blowing lots of conches! Where do they find these wonderful toys?

Oh and I missed that the five brothers are sharing one wife?!? what? Thats, erm...interesting.

And the choice between an army and a god? The Dondoys deserve to get their butts whipped..they win the coin toss and chose unwisely

And Arjun is no better, he's out the night before on the lash, celebrating the fact that he's got Krishna god on his side, he's obviously had far too many mango dacaries...And he's worried about his caste getting watered down with the blood of the untouchables...

[teholbeddict]

frookenhauer, on Nov 20 2008, 09:35 PM, said:

Yup lots of people blowing lots of conches! Where do they find these wonderful toys?

Oh and I missed that the five brothers are sharing one wife?!? what? Thats, erm...interesting.

And the choice between an army and a god? The Dondoys deserve to get their butts whipped..they win the coin toss and chose unwisely

Well it seems like daring escapes from burning buildings are the way to go if you want a good in with the ladies. You would have thought the brothers would be so famous after that stunt that they all could have had their own wife! I would have taken the god for sure, what's an army when compared to the mighty Krishna.

[SilentHunter]

The Bhagwad Gita is sort of an excerpt from the Mahabharata written by Ved Vyasa, supposedly the longest epic poem in the world....go for Mahabharata if you can

[teholbeddict]

Yes I did realize that about the Mahabarata once I started. I couldn't understand why the Gita kicked off where it did. I plan on reading it once I'm done with the Gita. For the moment though I'm going through this as it's supposed to be a comparison to Frookie's Bible thread. I'll prob use the Mahabarata for cross referencing though, as I did in the brief backstory.

[Epiph]

teholbeddict, on Nov 20 2008, 12:25 PM, said:

The swastika who knew....

So I'm casually flipping through my new copy of the Gita..... and what do I notice (much to my suprise/horror) keeps popping up as a decoration above and below all of the Sanskrit text but the swastika! I have to admit I was a little taken aback and wasn't sure what to make of it. So I did a little research into the swastika and was really quite surprised!

The swastika was called Bridget's cross by the Celts...or maybe the Britons. I don't remember exactly.

The first Diwali my Indian co-worker spent in the US, she was really excited and decorated her apartment vestibule with candles and colored sand in all sorts of Hindu designs. Then she noticed that her neighbors started giving her weird looks whenever they saw her. Because one of the designs she had made with the colored sand was a swastika. I've heard that Hitler had a thing for Eastern philosophy.

teholbeddict, on Nov 20 2008, 07:12 PM, said:

Ok I ran into a bit of a conundrum here right off the bat as the Gita doesn't open with creation of the earth or mankind like the Bible. Man is already around and has established themselves quite well, they have kingdoms chariots and all sorts of neat things. In fact in chapter 1 they are about to embark on a big family war - the story of which is known as the Mahabharata. So I'm going to provide a brief backstory just so we all know what we're dealing with here.

If you want the Hindu myths of creation, I think they're buried in the Vedas somewhere. I know the Rik Veda is supposed to be the first, but I don't know if the actual myth is there. In part, it involves Brahma pursuing his female half, who keeps turning into different animals, and they get it on and produce everything that exists. I know a version of the rest that is thrown around the Transcendental Meditation Movement, but I'm not sure how accurate it is.

[teholbeddict]

Epiph, on Nov 21 2008, 02:16 PM, said:

If you want the Hindu myths of creation, I think they're buried in the Vedas somewhere. I know the Rik Veda is supposed to be the first, but I don't know if the actual myth is there. In part, it involves Brahma pursuing his female half, who keeps turning into different animals, and they get it on and produce everything that exists. I know a version of the rest that is thrown around the Transcendental Meditation Movement, but I'm not sure how accurate it is.

Thank you very much for this info I will definitely be checking it out. It's starting to look like I'm going to have to pursue several sources in order to get the full picture here. Looks like I'm going to need to head off to the bookstore again.

[frookenhauer]

Don't get too distracted though...Its hard enough just interpreting the text properly, replying to all those who show interest and generally keeping the flow going. Saying that its always a good idea to learn more. So whats the big crying baby going to do next?

[teholbeddict]

frookenhauer, on Nov 22 2008, 06:59 PM, said:

Don't get too distracted though...Its hard enough just interpreting the text properly, replying to all those who show interest and generally keeping the flow going. Saying that its always a good idea to learn more. So whats the big crying baby going to do next?

Not to worry my dear frookie I'm getting to it! It's just a longer chapter and I'm working on it, I'll have it up tonight!

This post has been edited by teholbeddict: 23 November 2008 - 04:10 AM

[teholbeddict]

chapter 2 - God answer's Arjun

So... when last we left off, Arjun was crying like a baby in the corner of his chariot because he'd ridden out to war, then decided when he got there, that he didn't feel like killing his extended family. God (who also happens to be his charioteer) is about to tell him to suck it up and just do it...

Quote

1 Sanjay said: Then Lord Krishna talked to Arjun, who was sad and full of pity. Arjun's eyes were filled with tears. 2 Bhagvan said: Arjun, how can you be so sill now? You will be laughed at by everyone. You will not go to heaven and you will not be famous. Do not be unmanly. It does not suit you. Do not be weak. Be brave. Rise and conquer your enemies. 3 Arjun said: How, Krishna, can I fight Bhishma and Drona with arrows on the battlefield? I respect them. It is better to live as a beggar, but without killing, because after killing them our hands will be stained with their red blood. 4 We do not know what to do. To fight or not to fight. We do not know if it would be better for us to win or to lose and be conquered. The sons of Dritarashtra, the Kauravas, are lined up against us and we do not want to stay alive by killing them. 5 I am confused. I do not know what to do. I pray to you, tell me clearly what is right and good for me. Sadness is drying up my mouth. 6 Sanjay spoke to Dritarashtra: Oh king, after saying this, Arjun told lord Krishna a second time, I will not fight and then he kept quiet. 7 So Lord Krishna, smiling spoke to sad Arjun who was still standing in the middle of two armies. 8 Bhagvan said: You pity those whom you should not pity. Wise men do not pity those who are dead nor those who are alive. The reason is simple. 9 I, God, have always lived. You and those Kings you pity have always lived too. And all of us will never stop living. 10 The soul of the little boy, the young man, and the old man does not change even though the body changes. And even if the soul moves on to another body after the body dies, the soul stays the same. 11 So you see, you do not have to feel sad at all. You cannot kill someone else's soul and someone else's soul cannot kill you. And the body doesn't matter. Do not worry about killing the body. 12 Oh Arjun, do not worry about the body at all. A wise person does not care about heat and cold or about the pleasure and pain. These things belong to the body. They come and go. The are not permanent and so they are not real. 13 Only the soul is real. And the soul can never be killed. A wise person understands this. For this reason Arjun, go and fight! 14 The soul is never born. It never dies. It does not have a beginning and so it has no end. It is everlasting and immovable. 15 As a man takes off old clothes and changes then for new ones, so the soul removes its old body and replaces it by a new one. 16 The soul cannot be cut by knives or burned by fire, or wet by water, or dried by the wind. 17 The soul cannot be seen not described nor imagined. The soul never changes. It has no form, but it is everywhere. So do not worry about the soul. 18 Oh Arjun, birth leads to death and death leads to birth, so do not grieve over something that can not be helped. Everyone died before he was born and was born before he died. So What is there to be sad about? 19 All creatures are formless before birth and formless after death. They only have form during life which is between birth and death. 20 Some see that the soul is wonderful; some people say that the soul is wonderful, and some people hear that the soul is wonderful. Yet some, even hearing do not know the soul. 21 The soul which lives in the body cannot be hurt or destroyed, so do not worry about it. 22 Besides, you have to think of your duty. You are a Kshatriya, a warrior, and to fight a war for a good reason is your duty. You are lucky to have the chance to fight in this war for your duty will take you to God. And if you do not fight, you will be giving up your duty. Giving up a duty is a sin. 23 People will laugh at you. You will be ashamed. The shame will be worse than death. People will think you were afraid to fight. Your enemies will say shameful things about you. 24 But it you fight, you will either go to heaven or win victory. So, Arjun, arise. Make up your mind to fight. Fight and do not worry about how the war turns out. Do not care if you win or lose. Do not care is your fighting brings pleasure or pain, victory or defeat. Just so your duty. In this you will be free. 25 If you are not worried about winning or losing, about killing or being killed, you will be able to do you duty very well because you will not be afraid. Your mind will be on your duty and not scattered here and there. 26 Oh Arjun, do not care about opposites like pleasure and pain. Just work. Do not care how your work turns out. Do your work well. This is being wise and being wise takes you to God. Being wise, you will not be confused. Your mind will concentrate on God. 27 Then Arjun asked: Oh Krishna, how can we recognize a wise man whose mind is concentrating steadily on God? How does a wise man speak and sit and walk? 28 Bhagavan answered: A wise man is he who is always satisfied because he wants nothing. He is happy by himself, inside himself within his soul. 29 Because he is always satisfied, the wise man neither feels joyful when he gets something good, nor sad when he gets something bad. He has no hate or envy. He is not afraid. He is not angry. His mind is always calm. 30 A wise man is he who tried to control his mind and senses. this means he tries to separate himself from outside objects, even though this is very difficult. Yet a wise man always controls his mind and concentrates on Me. 31 By thinking of objects, a person starts to want them. And a person who always wants things cannot have them all. Then she disappointed. Her disappointment makes her angry. Her anger confuses her. She loses her mind and is ruined. She has no peace. 32 But a person who stops wanting things is free from attachment. She is free from loving things and free from hate. Such a person is on the path that leads to peace. 33 How can a person without self control have peace? And without peace, how can she have happiness? 34 A person whose mind wanders is like a lost boat on the water carried here and there by the wind. 35 But a person who has self control is calm and happy. She is never sad. She goes right inside God. 36 The wise woman who is part of God sees beyond night and day. 37 Like the ocean stays calm when rivers flow into it, so a person with self control stays calm no matter what flows into her mind. 38 Oh Arjun you can easily recognize the wise man who is one with God. He is at peace. He understands truth. He is calm and he is forever happy.

Well God is certainly a little long winded here! It's hard to believe the two of them are sitting there in this chariot, in the middle of two armies and everyone is just willing to wait on this heart to heart. Clearly we're dealing with the concept of reincarnation here. This is appealing as far as not grieving for the flesh is concerned and knowing it's not the end, but another beginning. Of course if that doesn't convince you killing your family is ok, then God falls back on the fact that people will laugh at you! No one wants to be laughed at right, b/c that would be worse than dying! I'm not quite sure why Arjun is worrying right at this moment about what a wise man looks like. People are waitng to go to war for crying out loud! Oh, and I love how when we get onto the subject of material things the person in question now changes to a woman! Very tricksy! So no more shopping or wanting fancy clothes and shoes ladies it will only make you an unhappy and unwise person!!

[frookenhauer]

:Surprise: That was a bit of a killer! Anyway...That Arjun geezer really needs to man the fuck up. Maybe they're trying to show how loving a man Arjun is, but he comes off as weepy. So anyway Krishna does the whole motivating thing, but he's no Mr Motivator and like tehol says works from the reincarntion angle, then tries shaming him into action and then finally gets all esoteric on his ass...

[teholbeddict]

Chapter 3 - God Explains Right Action

So you would think that after all that pep talking from God, Arjun would get out there and start the war, but no he still has more questions so here we go...

Quote

1 Arjun asked Bhagavan: Oh Krishna, if the wisdom of knowing truth is even better than good action, then why are you telling me to do this awful thing? Why are you telling me to fight and kill? 2 You are mixing me up. Oh God, please tell me clearly the one way I can reach You. 3 Bhagavan answered: Arjun, earlier I told of two ways to reach God, the way of knowledge which is wisdom and the way of action which is doing your duty. 4 A person cannot ever really give up action because a person cannot stop doing things, not completely, not even for a minute. Our body forces us to do things. A person who pretends not to care about the body, but who really keeps on wishing for enjoyable things is called a hypocrite. Such a person is a fool. 5 But a person who really and truly does not care about her body is good. She still takes care of her body and uses it to do good things for God's sake because she is good. This is why I tell you action is best. It is best to do your duty well. Do it for God's sake and not for your own sake and you will reach God. 6 People grow from food. Food comes from rain. Rain comes from prayers and prayers are actions. Action comes from the Vedas and the Vedas come from God. So action comes from God. 7 Arjun, life must follow this wheel which turns and causes being born, growing and dying. Otherwise life has no meaning. 8 A man who cares only about himself doesn't do his duty. So always do your duty. Do it as well as you can, and don't worry about how things will turn out. 9 Wise men like Janak have become perfect in this way and set an example for other people to follow. 10 Oh Arjun there is nothing I, God, want but even I work. If I stop working, great trouble would come to the world, for people would follow my example. If I, God, give up actions, if I stop doing good things, the world would come to an end and I would b the cause of confusion, trouble and destruction. 11 Arjun, a fool does things for himself. A wise woman does things for the world. A wise woman knows she does things only through God. 12 So go ahead. Do everything you should for My sake. Do not wonder. Fight! 13 Those who trust God are on the road to Me. Those who do not trust Me are lost. 14 People need self control to stop them from doing things just because they feel like it. people must do things which are their duty whether they feel like doing them or not. Your own duty is greater than any one else's even if your duty is to die. 15 Then Arjun asked: Why do some people sin? Some people cannot help sinning they cannot help doing wrong things. 16 Bhagavan answered: Wanting things, desire makes people sin. Wanting is bad. It is greedy and evil and cases anger. Getting what you want makes you greedy for more, and not getting it makes you angry. you must stop forever wanting things for your body. 17 Desire covers the truth like dust covers a mirror or like smoke covers fire. Control yourself, stop desire and you will see the truth and you will not sin. 18 Keep away from liking and hating. two enemies who separate you from God. 19 Remember your mind is greater than your body. And reason is even greater than you mind. But your spirit, deep inside you, is even greater than reason. 20 The mind controls the body and tells it what to do. Reason tells the mind what is good and what is bad. With reason you can control yourself. With reason you can reach your spirit which is God. 21 Oh Arjun, control yourself. Stop wanting one thing after another. It is very hard to stop this, but your reason will help you. Control yourself and throw away sin.

So God works! I'd never thought of that before! I just assumed he had created everything and now was kicking back and enjoying creation! It seems Bhagavan is getting a little pissed off with Arjun and all of his questions. Arjun does not strike me as the sharpest tool in the shed! How many times do you have to be told it's ok, go kill your family before you do it! It's coming straight from God after all! Oh and lets not forget the armies are still waiting! I would have just run Arjun over with my chariot by now if I were them!

This post has been edited by teholbeddict: 23 November 2008 - 06:40 AM