Vedantic way of life : Karma Yoga || Bhakti Yoga || Gyana Yoga || Dyana Yoga

We must remember that knowledge and its natural consequence, wisdom, is intrinsic to all Yogas. Any kind of practice has to base itself upon an understanding which flows from knowledge. In Jnana yoga however it is in complete devotion to knowledge (Jnana) itself either through listening or through reading that the devotee comes to the realistion of the self. The core of Jnana Yoga is enquiry (vichara)

The cause of all miseries that you experience is our own veil drawn over our intellect. This veil does not allow us the exercise of discrimination (Viveka.) When we improve our sense of discrimination we shall be able to understand the nature of dualities that we live in and catch a glimpse of our real non-dual nature.

For the Jnana Yogi two important instruments that help him along the path are his intellect and self-enquiry (vichara) and the sense of discrimination (viveka).

To know and to discriminate are mutually complementing. Vichara Sadhna or Jnana Yoga is the method /yoga of enquiry. This is an activity too but it is invisible, the consciousness does the work here. Self-knowledge and so liberation comes out of an enquiry into truth.

Truth is the unwavering knowledge of the presence of an unseen force within us and outside of us And this unseen force which lies dormant in most of us, begins to come awake when we realize the ultimate truth that this power is unaffected by all that we may do or say, it is also not the cause of our action. It is the Self that watches and our aim is to dissolve all of our manifest actions into the tranquility of the Self. Doership, results of acts and the bondage occurring thereafter - all these are makings of our own not of the Self. The Self is unveiled when you quieten your senses and your mind and unleash self-enquiry. The lines of enquiry to be followed are as simple as these---

What am I?

How has all this been born?

Who is the creator?

One or the other when pursued to the end reveals the truth.

Let seekers of knowledge take to the study of the Upanishads with all love and devotion . A few days or months depending upon your intensity of study is bound to convince you of the transitory nature of the world and the eternal nature of the consciousness (Chetna) that animates your body. The I that is unchanging.

Divine knowledge (jnana) can be summarized as follows------

1) The world by its very nature is changeable and hence is illusory, unreal, not the truth.

2) The real, the unwavering, the permanent, the truth is the Cetna animating all bodies.

3) If we are to have a fulfilling life we must aim at discovering the "I" or the cetna.

4) The discovery of the "I" within you, the revelation of this "I "will lead you to seek permanent union with it. This permanent union is bliss.

Truth or the Real or the I or the Cetna has been the name of God alike in Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. And the bliss of truth comes when the mind stops thinking. When the mind is empty, completely alone, there is freedom from all dependence, from all attachments.


Vedantic way of life : Karma Yoga || Bhakti Yoga || Gyana Yoga || Dyana Yoga