Jnana yoga And My Experience

Jnana yoga – the path of knowledge or wisdom, Among the four paths of yoga, is a very essential path it helps you to understand the true nature of self, it is the path that leads to moksha (liberation from birth & death)

This is not an easy path, it is indeed life long process in my view one birth is not enough, sadhana can only help you to walk on the path of jnana yoga.

Before reaching here we need to work on Raja yoga, Bhakti yoga and Karma yoga. On this path, we need to discover the deeper aspects of the mind. Simply reading the scriptures and listening to the discourses from a Guru will not help one needs to contemplate and experience it. A yoga sadhaka needs to seek experiential knowledge to seek divine consciousness.

The path of jnana yoga is based on Advaita Vedanta philosophy (the non-dualistic tradition).

Bhagwan Shri Adisankaracharya was the founder of this path he was an Indian Vedic scholar and a Guru in the 8th century.

 

 

My Experience

Though I had a very little experience on this path, I am not able to express it in words. I can say my journey after bhakti yoga started with jnana yoga. It was by listening to the Satsang (spiritual discourses) of Anandmurti Gurumaa. Since it is a very long process I am still in the learning phase. The path of jnana yoga is the path which helps to remove the veil of ignorance and darkness. I have experienced and learnt a few things which I would like to share below.

 

• • The urge of learning know who am I and what is the purpose of my life

• • Dispassion towards worldly possession arose but not completely

• • I developed complete faith and trust in my Guru and the divine consciousness.

• • learned to bare Pain and suffering and face problems with courage as jnana yoga taught me that everything is temporary and the only truth is the Ataman ( pure soul)

• • I started seeing this in every living being, no one is different we are all one it’s just a different body & state of mind. All these learnings helped me to grow further and then the journey began with the practice of Raja yoga, karma yoga, Bhakti yoga along with jnana yoga.

In my view, one needs to walk on all four paths of yoga simultaneously to obtain self-realisation, and liberation ( freedom from birth & death ).

“Swami Vivekananda” asserted that each soul is potentially divine with omnipotence and omniscience, awaiting manifestation. We can realise the same through selfless service, assimilation of wisdom through deeper introspection, devotion to the Almighty or some special psychophysical practice.

There are four steps of jnana yoga called sadhana chatustaya. These four practices are the outline of Vedanta teachings. They are:

Viveka – Discernment, discrimination i.e to learn what is real &unreal

Vairagya- Dispassion, Detachment- Here it’s often mistaken as renouncing completely from family but for a family person it means cultivating non-attachment towards worldly possessions (being materialistic). leaving the ego.

Shat sampati– six treasures to be practised by a sadhaka for the stability of mind and emotions they are (Sama dama, titiksa, shraddha, uparati).

Mumuksshutva – longing, yearning – an intense and passionate desire for achieving liberation from suffering.

After the practice of these four steps sadhaka is ready for three core steps they are:

Shravanam- Hearing, listening to the vendantic philosophy from a Guru, And achieving the concept of the ataman, & brahman.

Mananam– After achieving the concept of the Ataman& Brahman, analysing and experimenting on the self & discussing with the Guru getting logically convinced and proceeding further if needed.

Nidhidhyasan-(contemplation) start dwelling on the truth which has been enunciated & logically accepted- The sadhana or deep meditation towards the absolute truth of The Atman or the Brahman.

The above are the major pillars of jnana yoga I am still working on them as it is not as easy as I said but total faith, devotion, Ishvara pranidhana (surrender to god), & our sadhana can only help us with this path.

Conclusion :

In today’s modern-day yoga, it is very essential to understand that yoga is not just limited to Asana practice it is a journey towards self-transformation, it is to discover the inner self and live in peace & harmony within and to the outer world.

Take Away:

Practice All the paths of yoga to attain self-realisation and all the path work hand in hand.

Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga , Karma Yoga & Jnana Yog