Consciousness | Ancient Wisdom of Spiritual India — 2Photo by Carl Barcelo on UnsplashYOGA: MEANING

Yoga means Union. Period.

The word ‘Yoga’ as it originated in Ancient India, always meant the union of the Soul (Atma) to the Supreme Soul (Paramatma).

It is also another word for God-Realization.

Yoga is pronounced as
YOG = YO + G (pr. G as used in “go”)

YOGA DOES NOT only refer to PHYSICAL EXERCISE.

‘Specific physical exercises’ were only one of the ways that were practiced in ancient India to achieve self-realization.

YOGA  AS TRENDING NOWADAYS

Nowadays, when somebody says ‘I am good at Yoga’, the meaning is
‘I am good at doing the physical exercises that we are calling Yoga’.

In truth, the one who achieves UNION doesn’t say that He/She is “good at Yoga(union)” as the union is achieved once and forever.

Today, we are going to learn Which Path of Yoga To Follow for Self-Realization?

THE 4 MAIN METHODS OF YOGA

In ancient India, there were different forms of yoga practices as taught by the Indian yogis and saints. Today, we are going to learn about the 4 main methods of Yoga that were also followed by most yogis in the past.

The following are the 4 forms of Yoga —

1. Raj Yoga
2. Karma Yoga
3. Jnana Yoga
4. Bhakti Yoga
5. Hatha Yoga (I will not mention this in the explanations below as this yoga is extremely difficult to follow but even so, it does not take a soul beyond the astral plane in consciousness).

1. RAJ YOGA

Also called ‘Raja Yog’ pronounced as ‘Raaj-Yog’.

RAJ YOG is a method of Yoga that is akin to the characteristic of a Raja (King).

Just like a King is fearless and courageous, Raj Yoga is a path for a very courageous person as it involves extreme self-discipline and a lot of self-work.

THE PRACTICE
This Yog focuses on two factors. First is non-attachment to worldly things and the second is the power of discrimination that helps us choose between right and wrong.

EXAMPLE
King Janak is an example of somebody who followed this path.

WHO SHOULD FOLLOW THIS PATH
Not everybody is able to reach the greatest levels of consciousness through his path. This is because this path does not lay any stress on love & devotion which are important for mystic experiences.

LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS
This practice by itself cannot take a soul beyond the first material-spiritual level of consciousness.
Many yogis in the past who followed the path of Raj Yoga, later adopted Jnana Yoga as Jnana Yoga is considered a much finer development of Raj Yoga.

2. KARMA YOGA

KARMA = CUR+ MAA
CUR (cur sounds like WOR in worse) + MAA
Also called, the ACTION

Karma simply means a conscious decision to do something.
ANY ACTION including eating, talking, sleeping, thinking.
All actions are our Karma.

It is important to note that Not doing anything is also Karma; when we make a conscious decision to not to do something, we have actually PERFORMED AN ACTION by taking that decision — CONSCIOUSLY!

Example: You decided to study for your exam. That’s your Karma’
OR ‘You decided to sleep and not study for your exam. That’s again,
your Karma’.

The Karma Yoga school advocates the performance of actions but without any desire for the result or reward. It is essentially a way of living based upon the idea of duty and renunciation of or indifference to the fruits of actions.

THE PRACTICE
Karma Yoga focuses on Nishkam Karma, which basically means performing one’s actions without any attachment to the action and without any expectation of the rewards of such actions. Although it sounds easy, it is much more difficult to practice. The Bhagavad Geeta focuses on Karma Yoga.

THE BHAGAVAD GEETA
In the Bhagavad Geeta, Sri Krishna says that we should not be inactive but perform the right Karma without bothering about its results.
The Bhagavad Geeta lays great emphasis on Karma and Karma Yoga.

WHO SHOULD FOLLOW THIS PATH
Karma Yoga is a path that is very simple to follow. In Kal Yuga (today’s age) this path combined with a few other specific meditation & yoga techniques can help a soul achieve spiritual goals easily in a few years.

LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS
The practice, if followed, SOLELY by itself cannot take the practitioner beyond the astral plane of consciousness.

3. JNANA YOGA

JNANA is pronounced as ‘G — YAAN’.

JNANA means KNOWLEDGE.
*Here ‘Knowledge’ refers to the ‘knowledge of the Soul or Atma’.

Jnana Yoga, therefore, means attaining yoga (union with God) by means of Jnana i.e. by way of satisfying one’s curiosity for answers to one’s questions on the spiritual path — this is THE PRACTICE too.

EXAMPLE
Swami Vivekananda was a great enquirer i.e. He followed the path of Jnana Yoga for a major part of his Spiritual Life.

WHO SHOULD FOLLOW THIS PATH
Intellectual people can attain some progress on their spiritual journey by following the path of Jnana Yoga. But if the practitioner does not have mystical experiences, then the practitioner is unable to have much spiritual progress as there is no substitute for experience.

One’s intellect can get the answers from the past Jnana yogis but until the mind gets the spiritual experience, the soul remains unsatisfied and keeps searching for more.

LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Jnana Yoga can take a soul only up to the level of Brahm or Om, i.e. the top of material spiritual creation but not beyond that.

4. BHAKTI YOGA

Bhakti Yoga is pronounced as BHU — K — TEE Yoga.
Bhakti means Devotion i.e. Devotion to the ONE formless God. Therefore,
Bhakti Yoga means ‘the means of attaining Yog ( Union with God ) through the path of Bhakti or devotion’.

Some people may devote themselves to God through the Love of an idol because it is impossible to Love the One that is Formless; one we have never seen. So one may devote oneself to an idol that one adores the most.

THE PRACTICE
Bhakti Yoga is considered one of the most effective of the 4 Yogas because this path leads one to experience and understand SURRENDER.

With surrender, the practitioner is able to devote himself completely to the spiritual practices and the path.

EXAMPLES
Saint Kabirdas expressed his Bhakti (devotion) through his songs.
Mirabai (an Indian Saint) is the Epitome of Bhakti yoga. She worshipped God in the form of Krishna.

WHO SHOULD FOLLOW THIS PATH
Anybody whose emotional sense is powerful, whose bent is more toward the heart than the mind, and in whose life LOVE plays the most important role, such a person should follow the path of Bhakti Yoga.

LEVEL OF CONSCIOUSNESS
This is one method of Yog that can take the soul to the highest planes in consciousness but the only obstacle is that the soul can go only up to the level of consciousness that his own Spiritual Teacher has reached as the teacher (the Perfect Spiritual master or the Purna Guru) stays with the soul inside in the inner realms of consciousness.

But if the teacher himself has reached only up to the astral plane in consciousness, then the soul of the disciple also reaches only up to that level.

Therefore, success on the path of Bhakti Yoga solely depends on the point of whether the disciple is able to find the Perfect Spiritual Master (PSM) or the Purna Guru, the rarest and the hardest to find in the world.

My Spiritual Master once taught us that it is easier to find the grain of rice in a city than to find a Purna Guru in the world. Well if you know my story, I was an atheist. It has taken me 25 years to understand these things and build faith that only came after personal mystical experiences.

Today, when I look back on my more than the 30-year-long spiritual journey, I can substantiate the same from my personal spiritual experiences.

I look around all over the Internet and I can see many pandits, sadhus, and yogis, but cannot find the Perfect Spiritual Master anywhere.

Today, I know how to find one because I spent more than 10 years of my life looking for one. But I can also see that if somebody is not aware of how to find the Purna Guru, then it is almost impossible for that person to find and meet one.

Also, most people do not even know that there is a difference between a sadhu/pandit/yogi and a perfect spiritual master.

If you wish to learn more about finding the Perfect Spiritual Master or even if you have thoughts regarding the Need for a Spiritual Guru, consider reading the following blog –