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Jnāna Yoga
THE last is Jnāna Yoga, the path of wisdom. The word "Jnāna,"
being derived from the Sanskrit root Jnā," to know, means
knowledge; and the ideal which it holds up before its followers is
the realization of that Absolute Truth, which is the one common
source of all subjective and objective phenomena in the universe.
It teaches that there is one life, one Being, one Reality, and
that all notions of distinction and differentiation, that all
beliefs in the permanent duality or multiplicity of existence are
unreal and illusory.
Jnāna Yoga is based entirely upon the monistic principles of the
Advaita or non-dualistic system of Vedānta. Its purpose is to show
that subject and object are but the two expressions of one
Absolute Being or Substance; that God and man, the Creator and the
created, are only different aspects of one Universal Reality. Its
aim is to resolve the divers phenomena into one ultimate Being,
from which proceed all powers and all forces manifested in
external and internal nature, and which is the abode of infinite
intelligence and eternal happiness.
According to Jnāna Yoga, matter, mind, intellect, sense-powers,
names, and forms are but the apparent manifestations of that one
Substance which is called in Sanskrit Brahman. They may appear to
us as real, but they have in truth only relative reality. The
phenomena of the universe are like the waves in the ocean of
Brahman. As waves rise in the sea, and after playing for a while,
once more merge into it, so the waves of subject and object rise,
live, and dissolve in the ocean of that Absolute Substance
Brahman. Brahman is described in Vedānta as "That of which all
animate and inanimate objects are born, by which they live, and
into which they return after dissolution. It should be known and
realized by all." It is the essence of Divinity. It is like the
eternal canvas upon which the Creator or the Cosmic Ego and the
created or individual egos are painted by Maya, the inscrutable
creative power of the Infinite Being.
The chief object of Jnāna Yoga is to unify God and the individual
Soul and to show the absolute oneness that exists between them on
the highest spiritual plane. The individual ego; being the
reflection or image of Divinity or Brahman, in its true nature is
divine, and this true Self is known in Sanskrit as the Ātman. The
knowledge of this oneness of the Ātman or subjective reality with
Brahman, the Universal Truth, is described in Jnāna Yoga as the
only means of attaining to complete liberation from the bondage of
selfishness and from attachment to body and senses, which are the
causes of all worldliness, unhappiness, and misery. The light of
the knowledge of the Ātman and of its unity with Brahman alone
will dispel the darkness of ignorance which prevents us from
reaching the abode of Absolute Existence, Intelligence, and Bliss,
and which now deludes us into identifying the individual Self with
the body, senses, mind, and their modifications. This ignorance is
designated in Sanskrit Avidyā or ne-science, and is the source of
all false knowledge, egotism, attachment to the lower self and to
the world. Being deceived by the illusive power of Avidyā, we
mistake body for soul and soul for body, matter for spirit and
spirit for matter. In ignorance of our true Self, we work solely
to gratify selfish motives and to reap some result from our
actions. But Jnāna Yoga would waken us from this sleep of
ignorance, by showing us that the Ātman is immortal, unchangeable,
all-knowing, and free by its own nature from eternity to eternity;
that through the influence of Avidyā, the individual ego thinks of
itself as changeable and subject to birth and death, and
forgetting that the fountain-head of freedom, knowledge, and
everlasting happiness is abiding within, it seeks knowledge and
happiness from outside and becomes the slave of desires and
passions. It further reminds us that whatever we think or perform
mentally or physically is like a dream in the sleep of
self-delusion caused by the power of Avidyā; that these dreams of
the sleep of ignorance can be removed neither by work, nor by
devotion, nor by meditation, but by the light and power of Vidyā,
the knowledge of the Ātman or Self and of its relation to Brahman.
This knowledge cannot be obtained as the result of any virtuous
act or prayer, but comes to the soul when the intellect and heart
have been purified by unselfish and righteous works, and when the
individual ego begins to discriminate between the real and
unchangeable Ātman and apparent and changeable matter or force.
Jnāna Yoga teaches that right discrimination and proper analysis
are indispensable to the acquisition of knowledge of the true Self
and of the Reality which underlies phenomenal objects. It also
declares that knowledge of the Self will bring to the soul the
realization of Absolute Truth more quickly than the practice of
Rāja, Karma, or Bhakti Yoga.
The path of wisdom, therefore, is best fitted for those earnest
and sincere seekers after Truth who have no leaning towards active
life, who are not devotional in their nature, but who are
preeminently intellectual, and who, having realized the transitory
and ephemeral character of phenomenal objects, are no longer
contented with sense-pleasures. It is for those who wish to be
free from all fetters and attachments, and who care nothing for
earthly prosperity, success, social honor, fame, or the fulfilment
of personal ambitions; but whose sole desire is to know who they
are in reality, what is their true nature, and what relation
exists between their soul, God, and the universe.
A traveller along this path should be philosophical in tendency,
should have a sharp intellect and a keen power of analyzing the
true nature of things. He should also have a firm conviction that
the ultimate Truth or Reality of the universe is unchangeable.
Using the sword of right discrimination between the Self and the
non-self, he should sever all ties, and should never allow himself
to be overpowered by any external or internal influence. His mind
should be undisturbed by passions or desires, his senses well
controlled, and his body strong, healthy, and capable of bearing
all hardships as well as of overcoming all environmental
conditions. He should have dispassion; and be ever ready to
renounce anything that does not help him in his realization of
Truth. He must have absolute confidence in the teachings of Jnāna
Yogins, or those who have become Seers of Truth by following the
path of wisdom; and he must likewise have faith in the final
Truths expounded by the monistic system of Vedānta.
The mind of a beginner in Jnāna Yoga must possess the power of
perfect concentration and meditation; and his soul must be filled
with the longing for absolute freedom from all relative conditions
and from the laws which govern phenomena. He must realize that
even the enjoyment of heavenly pleasures is a kind of bondage,
since it keeps the soul entangled in the meshes of phenomenal
relativity. Being well-armed with all these noble qualities as his
weapons, a Jnāna Yogi should fight against phenomenal appearances,
and with the ideal of the unity of the true Self and the Absolute
Brahman ever before his mind's eye, he should march onward toward
its realization, breaking down all names and forms with the hammer
of right analysis, and cleaving all ties of attachment with the
sword of proper discrimination. Nor should he stop until the goal
is reached. He who goes through the path of wisdom, burns the vast
forest of the trees of phenomenal names and forms by starting in
it the fire of right knowledge. All these names and forms are
produced by Maya, the inscrutable power of Brahman; and according
to Jnāna Yoga this power of Maya is inseparable from Brahman as
the power of heating is inseparable from fire. A Jnāna Yogi, in
his search after Brahman, should reject all names and forms by
saying "Not this," "Not this," until he realizes the one nameless,
formless, and absolute Being of the universe, where the subject
and the object, the knower, knowledge, and its object, losing
their relativity, merge into the infinite Ocean of Blissful
Existence and Supreme Intelligence.
A sincere seeker after Truth should hear over and over again that
the Ātman or true Self is one with Brahman or the Eternal Truth;
and should repeat such phrases as "I am Brahman," "I am one with
the Absolute Source of knowledge, existence, and bliss." He should
constantly think of the meaning of "Tat Twain asi"--"That thou
art," and should devote his time to meditating upon this oneness
until the light of Brahman illumines his soul, dispelling the
darkness of Avidyā and transforming his ego into the essence of
Divinity.
Instead of worshipping a personal God like a Bhakta, a Jnāna Yogi
should clearly understand the true significance of all His
attributes as given in the different Scriptures--such as Creator
or Governor of the universe, He is Spirit, infinite, omniscient,
all-powerful, unchangeable, true, and one; and rejecting the
worship of the personal God as an act proceeding from Avidyā or
ignorance of the divine nature of the Self or Ātman, he should
seek that which is above all attributes and beyond all
descriptions, which transcends the realm of thought and cannot be
revealed by human intellect or understanding. He should realize
that all conceptions of a personal God are more or less
anthropomorphic, and that the Creator himself must be phenomenal
since He can exist only in relation to the created object. A Jnāna
Yogi, consequently, does not pray to the personal God or to any
other Spirit or Being. To him prayers and devotions are useless
and unnecessary. He does not seek any supernatural help or Divine
mercy, for he is conscious of the omnipotent and omniscient nature
of the Ātman, and knows that his true Self is beyond good and
evil, above virtue and vice, unlimited by all laws, and that it
reigns over nature in its own glory. He feels that it is the same
in essence as the Creator or personal God. Instead of identifying
himself with body, mind, senses, or intellect, he always remembers
that he is the Ātman, which is birthless, deathless, sinless,
fearless, immutable, eternally peaceful, and ever undisturbed by
pleasant or unpleasant experiences, sensations, or mental and
physical changes.
A true Jnāna Yogi constantly tries to keep himself above all
phenomenal conditions, and incessantly repeats "I am Brahman," "Soham"--I
am He, I am He. He says within himself:
"I am neither mind, nor intellect, nor ego, nor senses; I am
neither earth, nor water, nor air, nor fire, nor ether, but my
true nature is absolute existence, knowledge, and bliss. I am He,
I am He."
"I am neither the organic activity nor am I the elements of the
body, neither the
sense of knowledge nor that of action, but I am absolute
existence, knowledge, and bliss. I am He, I am He."
"I have neither hatred nor love, neither greed nor delusion,
neither egotism nor pride nor vanity, neither creed nor faith, nor
aim nor desire for freedom. I am absolute existence, knowledge,
and bliss. I am He, I am He."
"I have neither virtue nor vice nor sin. neither pleasure nor
pain, neither Scriptures nor rituals nor ceremonies. I am neither
food nor am I the eater. I am absolute existence, knowledge, and
bliss. I am He, I am He."
"I have neither death nor fear of death, nor birth nor caste
distinction; neither father nor mother, neither friend nor foe,
neither master nor disciple. I am absolute existence, knowledge,
and bliss. I am He, I am He."
"I have neither doubt nor question. I am formless and
all-pervading. I am the eternal Lord of nature and the master of
the senses. I am neither bound nor free. I am one with Brahman. I
am the omnipresent Divinity, I am the immutable Lord of all. I am
absolute existence, knowledge, and bliss. I am He, I am He."
Thus constantly practicing discrimination and rising above all
relativity and phenomenal appearances, a Jnāna Yogi realizes the
Absolute, Unchangeable, Eternal Truth in this life and ultimately
becomes one with it; because Jnāna Yoga declares that he who knows
Brahman becomes Brahman, for the same reason that the knower of
God can be no other than God himself. A Jnāna Yogi never forgets
that his true Self is Brahman. Having attained to this supreme
God-consciousness, he lives in the world like an eternal witness
of all mental and physical changes. Ever happy and undisturbed, he
travels from place to place, pointing out to mankind the way to
absolute freedom and perfection. A perfect Jnāna Yogi, indeed,
lives as the embodiment of the Absolute Divinity on this earth.
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