February 10 2017
In yesterday's class, we talked about different paths of yoga - particularly karma yoga, gynana yoga, bhakthi yoga and mantra yoga.
My teacher said that all paths of yoga will be practiced by an aspiring abhyasi, and one style will be more prevalent than others.
While I was growing up in Chennai, bhakthi and prapatti (saranagathi) were the central theme in and among our family and friends. Visiting temples and offering prayers were the most common excursion and road trips we did together. Family reunions happened around homams, Vedic rituals and birth celebrations of Acharyas and Bhagavat avatars.
To me today, bhakthi is following the path of saranagathi as shown by our fore fathers. Lord Krishna summarizes this in Bhagavad Gita as
सर्व धर्मान परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज
अहंत्व सर्व पापेप्यो मोक्ष ईच्यामि मा शु च:
Bhakti is the easiest, simplest, unassuming, compassionate form of yoga. This should not be confused with religion and religious practices.
Religion and religious practices are not as individualistic as the person that adheres to it.
The higher truth can be and when it is pursued upon, has to be realized by every individual for himself and there are as many means in this world as many people. Anyone and everyone can realize the highest potential irrespective of age, gender, geographical location on this planet, intellectual , mental and physical abilities.
Vedanta believes that we carry our sukshma shareera ( subtle body) through various cycles of birth and the knowledge, karma gained/ performed in the previous birth will determine the course of the soul's progression in the next birth. To me that explains why someone ( any life form) is born thus (form, place, circumstances etc). With Bhagavad anugrha and Acharya anugraha , one can be guided closer to their own truth, but cannot be done by following a religious mass/ group.
What unfolds naturally after prapatti is selfless service through our actions. While we have accepted that fruits of our actions are surrendered to a higher power, what is left in us is carrying out our actions without any motives. Whether we perform acts for meeting our needs of well being, or for our family , friends, neighbor, community, nation and strangers from around the world, how easier and happier will it be, when we surrender the fruits of our actions. Easier said than done!
Gynana Yoga - The most difficult path to tread on is the gynana path. This path appeals to the intellect - buddhi - the vastness of Vedas and all the scriptures out there to explain the knowledge in Vedas to the learned is in abundance. Be it through different philosophical schools or through the numerous branches of sciences which are individually complete by themselves. The gynana path is difficult because, without a sense of total surrender, gaining knowledge will feed our senses (ahankara) and illusions about one being a learned person takes over the actual learnings.
Raja Yoga of Sage Patanjali - This is the how to manual for achieving progression in each of the above paths of yoga. The eight limbs which start with bahiranga sadhana ( external practice) and slowly progress towards antaranga sadhana ( internal practice) take us towards the levels of clarity
and clears the various lenses through which we "see" and "understand" "us" and the "world" around
"us".
Mantra Yoga - My teacher said that mantra is taking a divine potential in a capsule and taking it over again and again .What a simple and profound thought! Just like the Raja Yoga of Patanjali ( 8 limbs), mantra japa is a tool towards gaining a citta free of vrittis.
In yesterday's class, we talked about different paths of yoga - particularly karma yoga, gynana yoga, bhakthi yoga and mantra yoga.
My teacher said that all paths of yoga will be practiced by an aspiring abhyasi, and one style will be more prevalent than others.
While I was growing up in Chennai, bhakthi and prapatti (saranagathi) were the central theme in and among our family and friends. Visiting temples and offering prayers were the most common excursion and road trips we did together. Family reunions happened around homams, Vedic rituals and birth celebrations of Acharyas and Bhagavat avatars.
To me today, bhakthi is following the path of saranagathi as shown by our fore fathers. Lord Krishna summarizes this in Bhagavad Gita as
सर्व धर्मान परित्यज्य मामेकं शरणं व्रज
अहंत्व सर्व पापेप्यो मोक्ष ईच्यामि मा शु च:
Bhakti is the easiest, simplest, unassuming, compassionate form of yoga. This should not be confused with religion and religious practices.
Religion and religious practices are not as individualistic as the person that adheres to it.
The higher truth can be and when it is pursued upon, has to be realized by every individual for himself and there are as many means in this world as many people. Anyone and everyone can realize the highest potential irrespective of age, gender, geographical location on this planet, intellectual , mental and physical abilities.
Vedanta believes that we carry our sukshma shareera ( subtle body) through various cycles of birth and the knowledge, karma gained/ performed in the previous birth will determine the course of the soul's progression in the next birth. To me that explains why someone ( any life form) is born thus (form, place, circumstances etc). With Bhagavad anugrha and Acharya anugraha , one can be guided closer to their own truth, but cannot be done by following a religious mass/ group.
What unfolds naturally after prapatti is selfless service through our actions. While we have accepted that fruits of our actions are surrendered to a higher power, what is left in us is carrying out our actions without any motives. Whether we perform acts for meeting our needs of well being, or for our family , friends, neighbor, community, nation and strangers from around the world, how easier and happier will it be, when we surrender the fruits of our actions. Easier said than done!
Gynana Yoga - The most difficult path to tread on is the gynana path. This path appeals to the intellect - buddhi - the vastness of Vedas and all the scriptures out there to explain the knowledge in Vedas to the learned is in abundance. Be it through different philosophical schools or through the numerous branches of sciences which are individually complete by themselves. The gynana path is difficult because, without a sense of total surrender, gaining knowledge will feed our senses (ahankara) and illusions about one being a learned person takes over the actual learnings.
Raja Yoga of Sage Patanjali - This is the how to manual for achieving progression in each of the above paths of yoga. The eight limbs which start with bahiranga sadhana ( external practice) and slowly progress towards antaranga sadhana ( internal practice) take us towards the levels of clarity
and clears the various lenses through which we "see" and "understand" "us" and the "world" around
"us".
Mantra Yoga - My teacher said that mantra is taking a divine potential in a capsule and taking it over again and again .What a simple and profound thought! Just like the Raja Yoga of Patanjali ( 8 limbs), mantra japa is a tool towards gaining a citta free of vrittis.
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