The Bhagavad Gita: 3 Paths of Yoga

Posted on by Khushi Malhotra

The Truth is One, but the Paths are Many. The Bhagavad Gita extols three major margas or paths of Yoga which help the aspirant frame his personal nature with the highest goal, realization and union with Brahman, or the all-knowing and pervasive consciousness that governs the universe. Although each path is different, the destination is ultimately the same. One path is not higher than the other; rather the lessons of each contain its own unique wisdom that provides an integrated and balanced view of one's relationship to oneself and the higher reality. These three paths are: 1. Karma Yoga: the path of Selfless Action1. Bhakti Yoga: the path of Devotion2. Jnana Yoga: the path of Self Transcending Knowledge   KARMA YOGA Swami Rama of the Himalayas, an exemplary Karma Yogi brahmany adhaya karmanisangam tyaktva karoti yahlipyate na sa papenapadma-patram ivambhasa One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the Supreme God, is not affected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water. jneyah sa nitya-sannyasiyo na dvesti na kanksatinirdvandvo hi maha-bahosukham bandhat pramucyate One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of his activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, liberated from all dualities, easily overcomes material bondage and is completely liberated, O mighty-armed Arjuna. Karma Yoga is essentially Acting, or doing one's duties in life as per his/her dharma, or duty, without concern of results - a sort of constant sacrifice of action to the Supreme. It is action done without thought of gain. One cannot live in the world without performing actions, and thus a proper mindset should be established when doing these actions. Karma Yoga purifies the heart by teaching one to act selflessly, without thought of gain or reward. By detaching oneself from the fruits of one's actions and offering them up to God, one learns to sublimate the ego. This is the difference between simply performing actions for personal gains, and performing actions without attachment (vairagya) as a spiritual practice where all fruits are given to God. This is the most arduous of all paths as most of us are attached to the fruits of our actions. BHAKTI YOGA The Greatest Bhakta Hanumanji sri-bhagavan uvacamayy avesya mano ye mamnitya-yukta upasatesraddhaya parayopetaste me yuktatama matah The Blessed Lord said: He whose mind is fixed on My personal form, always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith, is considered by Me to be most perfect. ye tu dharmamrtam idamyathoktam paryupasatesraddadhana mat-paramabhaktas te 'tiva me priyah He who follows this imperishable path of devotional service and who completely engages himself with faith, making Me the supreme goal, is very, very dear to Me. Bhakti yoga is based on the doctrine "Love is God and God is Love". The Deity is the beloved and the devotee is the lover. In Bhakti yoga, everything is but a manifestation of the divine and all else is meaningless, including the Ego. When the Bhakta is blessed by divine grace he feels an undivided union and non-dual consciousness prevails. Bhakti Yoga is regarded as the most direct method to merge in cosmic consciousness. This path appeals particularly to those of an emotional nature. Through prayer, worship, chanting and ritual one surrenders himself to God or object of faith, channeling and transmuting his emotions into unconditional love and devotion. Continuous meditation of God or object of faith gradually decreases the ego of the practitioner. Suppressed emotions get released and the purification of the inner self takes place. Slowly the practitioner looses the self identity and becomes one with God or the object of faith, this is the state of self-realization. JNANA YOGA Swami Vivekananda and his master uddhared atmanatmanamnatmanam avasadayetatmaiva hy atmano bandhuratmaiva ripur atmanah A man must elevate himself by his own mind, not degrade himself. The mind is the friend of the conditioned soul, and his enemy as well. jnana-vijnana-trptatmakuta-stho vijitendriyahyukta ity ucyate yogisama-lostrasma-kancanah A person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogi when he is fully satisfied by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything--whether it be pebbles, stones or gold--as the same. Jnana Yoga is a process of learning to discriminate between what is real and what is not, what is eternal and what is not. Through a steady advancement in realization of the distinction between Real and the Unreal, the Eternal and the Temporal, one develops into a Jnani. This is essentially a path of knowledge and discrimination in regards to the difference between the immortal soul (atman) and the body. Jnana Yoga is the process of converting intellectual knowledge into practical wisdom. Jnana literally means 'knowledge', but in the context of yoga it means the process of meditative awareness which leads to illuminative wisdom. It is not a method by which we try to find rational answers to eternal questions, rather it is a part of meditation leading to self-enquiry and self-realisation. Before practicing Jnana Yoga, the aspirant needs to have integrated the lessons of the other yogic paths - for without selflessness and love of God, strength of body and mind, the search for self-realization can become mere idle speculation. Taking the philosophy of Vedanta the Jnana Yogi uses his mind to inquire into its own nature. We perceive the space inside and outside a glass as different, just as we see ourselves as separate from God. Jnana Yoga leads the devotee to experience his unity with God directly by breaking the glass, dissolving the veils of ignorance (maya). Brahma Satyam. Jagat Mithya. Jivo Brahmaiva Na Parah - Sri Shankaracharya God only is real. The world is unreal. The individual is none other than God.   As my Teacher, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, once said when asked which path He follows: In the world I am a Karma Yogi, performing my actions for others and the Lord. In the company of my friends, family, and students I am a … Continue reading The Bhagavad Gita: 3 Paths of Yoga

Narada and Bhakti Yoga

Posted on by Khushi Malhotra

"He who hates none, who is the friend of all, who is merciful to all, who has nothing of his own, who is free from egoism, who is even-minded in pain and pleasure, who is forbearing, who is always satisfied, who works always in Yoga, whose self has become controlled, whose will is firm, whose mind and intellect are given up unto Me, such a one is My beloved Bhakta. From whom comes no disturbance, who cannot be disturbed by others, who is free from joy, anger, fear, and anxiety, such a one is My beloved. He who does not depend on anything, who is pure and active, who does not care whether good comes or evil, and never becomes miserable, who has given up all efforts for himself ; who is the same in praise or in blame, with a silent, thoughtful mind, blessed with what little comes in his way, homeless, for the whole world is his home, and who is steady in his ideas, such a one is My beloved Bhakta." - Swami Vivekananda on Krishna's teachings The following is a beautiful story about the nature of devotion and Bhakti that one must give in their practice. Krishna, in the Bhagavad Gita, extols the importance of following the path of devotion in the Kali Yuga as the most direct way to reach your own Divine potential. As a Bhakti, one must offer all the fruits gained from the external world and practice to that inner light, and learn to trustfully surrender, expecting nothing in return...only then does the flame within ignite. There was a great god-sage called Narada. Just as there are sages among mankind, great Yogis, so there are great Yogis among the gods. Narada was a good Yogi, and very great. He travelled everywhere. One day he was passing through a forest, and saw a man who had been meditating until the white ants had built a huge mound round his body - so long had he been sitting in that position. He said to Narada, "Where are you going?" Narada replied, "I am going to heaven." "Then ask God when He will be merciful to me; when I shall attain freedom?." Further on Narada saw another man. He was jumping about, singing, dancing, and said, "Oh, Narada, where are you going?" His voice and his gestures were wild. Narada said, "I am going to heaven." "Then ask God when I shall be free." Narada went on. In the course of time he came again by the same road, and there was the man who had been meditating with the ant-hill round him. He said, "Oh, Narada, did you ask the Lord about me?" "Oh, yes." "What did He say?" "The Lord told me that you would attain freedom in four more births." Then the man, enraged, began to weep and wail, and said, "I have meditated until an ant-hill has grown around me, and I have four more births yet!" Narada went to the other man. "Did you ask my question ?" "Oh, yes. Do you see this tamarind tree? I have to tell you that as many leaves as there are on that tree, so many times, you shall be born, and then you shall attain freedom." The man began to dance for joy, and said, "Oh thank you Lord! Thank you that it isn't all the leaves of all the trees in the world! I shall have freedom after such a short time!" A voice came, "My child, you will have freedom this minute." That was the reward for his perseverance. He was ready to work through all those births, nothing discouraged him. But the first man felt that even four more births were too long. Only perseverance and patience, like that of the man who was willing to wait aeons brings about the highest result.

The Teacher is in All

Posted on by Khushi Malhotra

This is an excerpt of a story taken from Krishna's final teachings in the Uddhava Gita about a young avadhuta ('pure one') who enlightens a Yadu King on the nature of the Teacher: And the young avadhuta said to the Yadu King: 'Hear me well, O king, as I tell you what I have learned from these my teachers. From the earth I learned to remain undisturbed even while being oppressed by those under the sway of their own destiny. The earth taught me not to deviate from the course I set for myself ~ just as it does not deviate from its path around the sun. As a disciple of this earth I learned from its lofty mountains that my movements should be guided by the service and care of others. As a disciple of this earth I learned from its upright trees that my life should be spent in sweet dedication to the welfare of others. From the air I learned what it means to be an ascetic: to take only what is needed to keep body healthy and mind balanced, and that more than that causes mind and body to waste away. From the air I learned what it means to be a Yogi: to move about freely in contact with all things but attached to no thing; to be the breath that comes and goes unconcerned with reward and punishment. From the air that moves I learned that the Yogi comes and goes through many bodies, yet remains in untouched stillness ~ just ike the gentle breeze that carries fragrances from place to place. From the vast space spread out as the air all around us I learned of my true identity. I learned that though clothed in a body of one form or another, all things, moving and unmoving, are without boundaries: for the unlimited Self is present everywhere in everything, just as air is present everywhere and in everything. From space I learned that the Self remains untouched by the form it takes on, whatever that form may be ~ fire, earth, or wind ~ just as the space remains untouched by the clouds blown by the winds. From the water I learned that the sage must be transparent and like the water we must be sweet, always offering purity so that others through our company may be cleansed and purified. From the fire I learned how to burn brightly through the power of practice. From fire I learned we need only the food that the belly can burn now. From fire I learned to accept what is given to me, and to let the fire of my practice transform what is impure and make it pure. From the fire I learned that in order to teach the sage must sometimes be hidden and sometimes be visible. In this way, like fire, the sage can grant blessings, in which all transgressions are burned. I learned that just like fire that has no shape of its own, but to reveal itself takes the shape of the log being burned, so are we. Whatever our form, whatever our history, the Self reveals itself in all forms over and over again. Time and its passage belong to the body ~ not to the Self of all bodies. I learned this by watching the moon, which remains the same even while it appears to change with the passage of time. Through the power of time death follows birth and birth follows death. Yet the Self does not observe these changes ~ just as the observer does not see each flame of the fire being born, taking shape and dying, to be born again. From the sun I learned non-attachment. The sun draws water up into the atmosphere and then returns it as the gentle rain. This is surely what it means to live as a Yogi ~ accepting the experiences that are freely offered, and letting them go when they are withdrawn. Like the sun the Self is one. But like the sun reflected on moving water the Self appears to be broken into many forms. But I learned from the sun not to mistake the image for the reality...'