How practical is even the best Theory?

As an Indian I have been imbued with the teachings of the Gita from a young age. In fact, every Indian has experienced the teachings of the Gita and is as such familiar with its central idea even without reading it. I chose however to let my interface with the book be a more ‘active’ one and picked up my own copy of the book while in college. The book, and the genre to which it belongs, never intended that the book be finished uninterrupted; in fact, the Bhagvad Gita, like all holy books, is best read piecemeal. I read it in generous instalments not because it didn’t grip me but because it “said” more than I would digest. I was often overwhelmed by the proverbial verses which were no less challenging than a riddle and was forced to stop and take stock of how far I had reached. The result was a completely different reading experience. I would sometimes read less and contemplate more and end up in a strangely introspective and philosophical mood. But then that is the power of the book; it has a strange propensity to force you to look within, to look around and to understand people, situations and the world in a different perspective. While reading the book you want to heed Krishna’s counsel, each word of it, and to thus entitle yourself to that peace and godliness Krishna vouches for.
The Gita’s appeal to achieve salvation by freeing oneself from material want is perhaps the fountainhead of inspiration for this strain of thought. All that we have, or want to have, is finally to be lost so it is not to be coveted beyond what it can give us temporarily. Nothing is ours and we are nothing no matter how magnificent and grand our material existence may be. The idea is that simplicity in our wants and life styles can bring beauty and intensity to life. Different thinkers at different phases of human progress have expressed the same philosophy in different terms. So be it. Whether we call it simplicity (Gita) or minimalism (Thoreau) or anti-clutter (Fromm), the truth is that every time mankind has been salvaged from a morass of his own making, the modus operandi has been the surrender of material obsession and the movement towards godliness through our pursuits.
The sad part however is that once you come out of the influence of the book or better put, once you are back in the midst of the real world, the teachings seem impractical, abstruse and virtually difficult to realize. Who of us has actually been able to put the teachings of the Gita to practice?

Few..............And those who have are truly fortunate and blessed.