Jnana Yoga
: The Path of Knowledge
Remove the veil of maya; know the
truth regarding your self, the universe, and Brahman, and be
free.
THAT is the method, the endeavour, and the goal according to
jnana yoga. The veil of maya covers the truth of these three
entities, it has to be removed.
What is Brahman? It is One, Changeless, Infinite Existence, it
is Divinity; it is God. The
connotation of the word Brahman, however, conveys much more than
that of the word God, as understood in dualistic philosophy. The
word Brahman literally means “the mighty,” that beyond which
there can be nothing else. It is the eternal “unknowable”
Subject. Yet it can be realized.
Hindu philosophy describes Brahman in negative language as “not
this, not this” ( neti neti). It is “not this” because the
Infinite cannot be an object of the mind. Everything we know is
cognized by the mind. Brahman can never be circumscribed by the
mind or senses. Elimination ( or confirming that Brahman is “not
this, not this” with reference to objects of the mind and
senses) is the process of realizing what Brahman is. The
infinite, formless Brahman cannot be an object because it cannot
be bound by the limitations of space, time, and causation if you
think of a form you have to put it in space. Then it would be
bound by the limitation of space. As soon as you admit the
limitation of space you also admit the limitations of time and
causation. Those three are interdependent; they hag or fall
together. So, Brahman the formless and infinite One is described
as “ not this, not this.”
In more positive language, Brahman has been described as
perfection existence – knowledge – Bliss Absolute. The Hindu
scriptures, reliable authorities, have declared it to be so.
Inference and reasoning have also proved it, and Brahman has
been realized as such by great seers and God – men throughout
the ages in the supersensuous state of consciousness, the
highest samadhi. And they have told us it is possible for us to
verify this truth for ourselves.
What is Maya? Maya is the inscrutable power that obstructs our
understanding of the reality. We are deluded by nescience, or
ignorance of Brahman, through the influence of maya. The word
maya literally means a device, an artifice of Brahman or the
mode of its seeming manifestation. The word is also often
translated as simply “ illusion.” By the device of maya,
Brahman, the One, Changeless Existence, appears to us as the
universe with its manifold manifestations. It is something like
an actor playing a role on the stage. When he plays a part he
appears to be that character, but he is not. Maya is neither
existence nor non-existence. This is a statement of fact.
Brahman is the Immutable Entity out of which phenomena ( by the
subtle influence of maya) appear to us to have been projected,
although no change has every taken place in the absolute nature
of Brahman. This “ appearance” of Brahman as manifestation, as
the many, is also known as maya.
We find a simple illustration of this in moving pictures. The
figures projected on the screen have no reality except that
produced by the light which is behind them. The modulations of
the vibrations of light produce the figures on the screen. Other
than that, they have no real existence. Their reality is light ,
nothing but light. In a similar manner the reality of all
manifested things in Brahman. They may appear to be real but
they depend entirely upon the steady ”light principle” behind
the universe. When you understand this profound game of “ light”
you can enjoy the cosmic “ movie”. But when you do not know its
secret you feel yourself as its mercy. You are then no better
than a poor soccer ball, one moment at the feet and the next on
the heads of the players.
The real Self of man has all the attributes of divinity. It is
divine. This was discussed, to some extent, in the introduction
and it will be the subject of further discussion as we proceed.
The authority reasoning and inference, and direct perception.
The student in jnana yoga is particularly concerned with these
processes.
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