Summing Up

LET us now review the aims of the four yogas. According to jnana yoga, phenomena are only an appearance; the self is nothing but Brahman, the only Reality. The method of this path is to remove maya, the veil of ignorance, by discrimination, and thereby be free and illumined. It is the “royal road of reason.” Raja yoga states that individual consciousness is nothing but Pure Consciousness. Due to agitations within the ndividual consciousness, it appears separate and limited. The method is discipline, concentration, and meditation to calm these agitations which distort consciousness and prevent perfection from manifesting itself. Bhakti yoga holds that it is the apparent separation of the individual self, or soul, from its divine source that causes is present imperfection. Union with the divine source is attained by purifying the ego and directing our emotions solely to God. Karma yoga states man’s perfection is disturbed by his desires, by the setting in motion of the wheel of causation. Neutralization of karma is the method. When the thread of causality is burnt, perfection manifests itself.

Any one of these yogas prescribed for the different human psychological types, if followed to its logical conclusion, will lead to the highest spiritual realization. We rarely find, however, a person who is a pure type. The fact is that aspirants lean more towards one of the yogas than the others, due to certain natural, inborn tendencies, or samskaras. An dtoday, life is so complex that specialization in just one of the yoga is neither practical nor possible. For instance, where is the man who can be a real jnani? Where is he who can honestly say: “I will sit here and deny the existence of everything!”? Today, it is necessary to combine the yogas. The teachings of the yogas should be harmoniously blended in order to develop in us a well-balanced spiritual character. Swami Vivekananda said: “I want to preach a man-making religion.” And he compared the yogas to a bird. “Three things,” he said, “ are necessary for a bird to fly – the two wings and the tail as a rudder for steering. Jnana (Knowledge) is the one wing bhakti ( love) is the other, and (raja) yoga is the tail that keeps up the balance.”

My criticism of the four yogas, if they stand alone, is this: intellect alone is stony: psychic phenomena alone are spooky; emotions alone is sticky; action alone is shaky. We must beware of these four “Ss”! We must harmonize our intellect, intuition, emotion, and action. Now, how are we to combine the yogas? Begin the day with raja yoga. Prayer and meditation will give you an undercurrent of poise like the lingering sound of a bell. Strike the “bell” again throughout the day as often as possible, even at work. When ever you have time to yourself, be a raja yogi. The disciplines of raja yoga develop tenacity and strengthen the will; and they gradually bring consciousness to a state of tranquility. Close the day, again with raja yoga, with concentration and meditation, eradicating all undesirable concepts that have clung to your consciousness during the day’s activities.

Be a bhakta in your contact with others. See God in everything and offer worship to Him. You can worship God with flowers or with a broomstick. Establish Him in your home, in your life. Make Him your constant companion. Know that life is the expression of that Divinity. It is He who makes it lovable, makes it livable. With every breathe feel that it is HE. Nurture and cultivate bhakti in secret, in your heart. Weep for your God. Then dry your tears and “powder your nose” before you go out to face the world. Do not make a display of your devotion; that is cheap sentimentalism. Discipline in bhakti is very necessary. In the field of action be a karma yogi. Work for the sake of work. Let your work be your worship. Always remain unattached to your work and do not let any desire creep in. “Throw self overboard” is the slogan of karma yoga. In person be like a “colourless colour,” one that can take on any colour; be a personality as fluid, as colourless, as water which can fit into any environment.

Water takes upon itself the colour and dimensions of the vessels in which it is contained, but pour it out of the container and it is its natural self again, colourless and without shape. The mind should be like that – ready to attach and ready to detach. If you set a red rose in front of a crystal, the crystal will appear to be red, like the rose. The colour of the rose is superimposed upon the colourless crystal. If you remove the flower, the red colour vanishes from the crystal. We must be like a crystal that can reflect any colour, any impression that is set before it, yet all the while know that the colour is not our Self. Be ready to reflect any “colour”, any contact, but remain unattached to the contact. In fact, the more we are able to reflect the colour of any contact the more successful that contact will be. The more harmony there will be between you and your environment. A personality that is always clashing with others is a personality “in the making.” A crystal personality reflects every contact, but ever remains itself. It does not throw out any adverse vibrations. It is in complete harmony with all.   Read Next