The Four Yogas

Swami Adiswarananda

Description

Choose the Yoga path that best suits you, and you choose the way to know God.

The philosophy of Yoga tells us that the root cause of our sorrows and suffering is loss of contact with our true Self. Our recovery is only possible by reestablishing contact with our innermost Self, the Reality of all realities, and by recognizing that knowledge of Self is our salvation.

In this comprehensive guide, Swami Adiswarananda introduces the four spiritual paths of Yoga—Karma-Yoga, Bhakti-Yoga, Raja-Yoga and Jnana-Yoga—and what you can expect as an aspirant on each path. Covering the message and practice of each of the Yogas as well as philosophy and psychology, preparatory practices, common obstacles and ways to overcome them, this accessible book will prove invaluable to anyone wishing to follow a Yoga practice in order to realize the goal of Self-knowledge.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Hinduism
• Religion
• Raja yoga
• Bhakti yoga

Informations

• Publié par: Turner Publishing Company
• Date de parution: 12 avril 2012
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781594734380
• Langue: English

Extrait

Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center Books Copublished with SkyLight Paths
The Four Yogas: A Guide to the Spiritual Paths of Action, Devotion, Meditation and Knowledge
Meditation and Its Practices: A Definitive Guide to Techniques and Traditions of Meditation in Yoga and Vedanta
The Spiritual Quest and the Way of Yoga: The Goal, the Journey and the Milestones
Sri Ramakrishna, the Face of Silence
Sri Sarada Devi, The Holy Mother: Her Teachings and Conversations
The Vedanta Way to Peace and Happiness
Vivekananda, World Teacher: His Teachings on the Spiritual Unity of Humankind
Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling nature: external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy-by one, or more, or all of these-and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms are but secondary details.
-S WAMI V IVEKANANDA
About the jacket photograph: This emblem of the Ramakrishna Order is carved in sandstone at the entrance to the Ramakrishna Temple at Belur Math, India, the headquarters of the Order. Swami Vivekananda designed this emblem and described it in the following words:

The wavy waters in the picture are symbolic of Karma; the lotus, of Bhakti; and the rising sun, of Jnana. The encircling serpent is indicative of Yoga and the awakened Kundalini Shakti, while the swan in the picture stands for the Paramatman (Supreme Self). Therefore the idea of the picture is that by the union of Karma, Jnana, Bhakti, and Yoga, the vision of the Paramatman is obtained.
Introduction
Part One: The Way of Karma-Yoga: The Path of Action
1 The Message of Karma-Yoga
2 The Philosophy and Psychology of Karma-Yoga
3 Karma-Yoga and True Renunciation
4 The Practice of Karma-Yoga
5 Karma-Yoga for Self-Knowledge
6 Obstacles in Karma-Yoga
Part Two: The Way of Bhakti-Yoga: The Path of Devotion
7 The Message of Bhakti-Yoga
8 The Philosophy and Psychology of Bhakti-Yoga
9 Preparatory Practices in Bhakti-Yoga
10 Characteristics of the Teacher and the Aspirant
11 Spiritual Disciplines in Bhakti-Yoga
12 Obstacles in Bhakti-Yoga
Part Three: The Way of Raja-Yoga: The Path of Meditation
13 The Message of Raja-Yoga
14 The Philosophy and Psychology of Raja-Yoga
15 Preparatory Practices in Raja-Yoga
16 The Eight-Limbed Practice
17 Obstacles in Raja-Yoga
Part Four: The Way of Jnana-Yoga: The Path of Knowledge
18 The Message of Jnana-Yoga
19 The Philosophy and Psychology of Jnana-Yoga
20 The Goal of Jnana-Yoga: Self-Knowledge
21 The Practice of Jnana-Yoga
22 Meditation for Self-Knowledge
23 Two Aspects of Liberation
24 Obstacles in Jnana-Yoga
Part Five: Conclusion
25 Harmony of the Yogas
Notes
Glossary
Credits
Index
About the Author
T he philosophy of yoga tells us that the root cause of all our sorrows and sufferings is loss of contact with our true Self. This Self is called by various names, such as Atman, Purusha, and God. Our loss of contact with the Self is due to our ignorance of the Self as the only reality. Ignorance creates spiritual blindness and subjects us to a world of delusion and desire. This world becomes governed by the seemingly unending rounds of birth and death, pain and pleasure, and happiness and suffering. No material or psychological solution can dispel this ignorance. Our recovery is possible only by reestablishing contact with our true, inmost Self. The message of yoga is that there is no escape from the Self and that knowledge of the Self is our only savior.
Yoga philosophy prescribes four spiritual paths to attain Self-knowledge: karma-yoga, the path of selfless action; bhakti-yoga, the path of devotion; raja-yoga, the path of concentration and meditation; and jnana-yoga, the path of knowledge and discrimination. The purpose of this guidebook is to introduce the reader to each one of these paths and to its corresponding message, philosophy, psychology, and practices, and also to the obstacles that may stand in the way.
Karma-yoga, or the yoga of selfless action, seeks to face the problem of ignorance by eradicating the ego. The ego, born of ignorance, binds us to this world through attachment. The ego creates a dreamland of separative existence that disclaims the rights of others. It wants to achieve the impossible, and it desires the undesirable. Karma-yoga says that our egotistic, selfish actions have created walls around us. These walls not only set us apart from others, but they cut us off from our true Self within. By performing actions in a selfless manner, we can break down the walls that separate us from the Self. The key message of this yoga is to beat the inexorable law of karma by karma-yoga: Release yourself from the chains of attachment by practicing nonattachment to the results of action.
Karma-yoga believes that the ego is the sole troublemaker. But when transformed through yoga, the same ego becomes a friend and troubleshooter. Followers of karma-yoga faithfully perform their actions and renounce the results by making an offering of them into the fire of Self-knowledge. Swami Vivekananda, the great teacher of yoga and Vedanta, teaches us two ways of practicing karma-yoga and nonattachment:
One way is for those who do not believe in God or in any outside help. They are left to their own devices; they have simply to work with their own will, with the powers of their mind and discrimination, thinking, I must be non-attached. For those who believe in God there is another way, which is much less difficult. They give up the fruits of work unto the Lord; they work but never feel attached to the results. Whatever they see, feel, hear, or do is for Him. Whatever good work we may do, let us not claim any praise or benefit for it. It is the Lord s; give up the fruits unto Him. 1
Bhakti-yoga is the process of inner purification. The message of bhakti-yoga is that love is the most basic human emotion. In its purest form, love is cosmocentric and divinely inspired. But because of the intervention of the ego, love becomes egocentric, obstructing the free flow of love toward the Divine. Lust, anger, jealousy, and greed are the negative emotions created by the impure ego. Bhakti-yoga asks us to purify and transform our egotistic self-love by pouring holy thoughts into our minds and transferring all our love and emotions to God, knowing that God is the only one who truly loves us. Pouring holy thoughts into the mind is accomplished through prayer, ceremonial worship, chanting of holy words, keeping holy company, and studying holy texts. When such holy thoughts are poured into the mind, all unholy and impure thoughts are naturally washed out. The follower of bhakti-yoga establishes a loving relationship with God and eventually realizes God everywhere and in everything. As Swami Vivekananda says:
We all have to begin as dualists in the religion of love. God is to us a separate Being, and we feel ourselves to be separate beings also. Love then comes between, and man begins to approach God; and God also comes nearer and nearer to man. Man takes up all the various relationships of life-such as father, mother, son, friend, master, lover-and projects them on his ideal of love, on his God. To him God exists as all these. And the last point of his progress is reached when he feels that he has becomes absolutely merged in the object of his worship. 2
Raja-yoga seeks to attain the Divine by igniting the flame of knowledge of the Self within. Only Self-knowledge can dispel the ignorance that binds the human soul to the world of dreams and desires. To attain Self-knowledge, raja-yoga asks the seeker to develop strong willpower by the relentless practices of concentration and meditation on the Self, with the support of pranayama , or control of breath; asana , or control of posture; and an uncompromising adherence to austerity and self-control.
Raja-yoga contends that eradication of the ego through karma-yoga is a long process, and most seekers do not have the patience to endure the sacrifice it calls for; bhakti-yoga requires abiding faith in the love of God, which is not always possible for an average seeker; and the mind is generally too weak and perverted to follow the path of reason, or jnana-yoga (see below). Impurities of the mind are too deeply embedded and cannot be uprooted simply by reason. Raja-yoga asks the seeker to confront the deep-rooted tendencies and restlessness of the mind by cultivating a single thought reminiscent of the Divine. Swami Vivekananda says:
When, by analyzing his own mind, a man comes face to face, as it were, with something which is never destroyed, something which is, by its own nature, eternally pure and perfect [the Self], he will no more be miserable, no more be unhappy. All misery comes from fear, from unsatisfied desire. When a man finds that he never dies, he will then have no more fear of death. When he knows he is perfect, he will have no more vain desires. And both these causes being absent, there will be no more misery; there will be perfect bliss, even in this body. 3
Jnana-yoga is the path of knowledge. Knowledge, according to jnana-yoga, has two aspects: fire and light. The fire of knowledge burns all the impurities of our mind, and simultaneously, knowledge enlightens our inner consciousness. But Self-knowledge does not come by itself. It calls for the practice of discrimination between the real and the unreal, renunciation of all desires-both earthly and heavenly, mastery over the mind and senses, and an intense longing for the goal.
The psychology of jnana-yoga tells us that we cannot generate spirituality by artificial means. The mind does not give up its attachment to worldly pleasures unless it has tasted something greater and higher. The Self is revealed in the mirror of the mind that has become purified through self-control and austerity. The method of