Practice of Jnana Yoga, results in everyday life

In Hindu philosophy, one of the types of yoga is called jnana yoga. It represents the path to the attainment of moksha, or the exit from the infinite wheel of samsara, the alternation of births and death, and liberation from the torment of the material body.

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In the teachings of jnana-yoga, one has to separate reality from illusions by the power of the mind and feel one’s union with the supreme entity – Brahman. Full awareness leads to the stage of moksha and enlightenment.

Jnana Yoga Objectives

The path of wisdom is jnana yoga. It is possible to achieve it, as well as to know the truth, not intellectually, but only through intuition or illumination. To achieve the goals of jnana-yoga, it is not enough to allocate some time for meditations, it is necessary to devote to this whole self, to dissolve in the striving for the Absolute.

In the process of cognition, the practitioner of jnana yoga realizes that there is no separate cognizant, cognition, cognized, and all this together is Brahman, unity in the multitude.

Jnana yoga is an unrefined philosophizing and not a way of self-improvement, since the yogi is completely alienated from his ego imprisoned in the shell of the mortal body. For the one who walks through jnana yoga, the goal is not in the search for truth, but in complete merging with it, dissolution in the ideal.

Practicing jnana-yoga is difficult, without preparation, not everyone can move towards real wisdom. Other types of yoga will help, which can prepare the body, mind and consciousness of the yogi to achieve the highest goal.

The way to achieve the goals of Jnana Yoga

In order to achieve the goals of jnana yoga through cognition, it is necessary to completely free oneself of the desires and passions peculiar to the body and the soul. Walking along the path of jnana yoga deliberately refuses from promiscuous sexual desires, the pursuit of success and wealth, the desire for popularity, fame and honor. This path is beyond the grasping power of the golden calf, neither thirsty for power nor bound by the dogmas of faith.

For the follower of jnana-yoga, the whole external world, including one’s own body, mind, mind, emotions and feelings, are variables, temporal creations that are subject to various influences from without and from within. They arise, experience vivid feelings, suffering and happiness, ups and downs, lose their freshness and wither, and then lose their lives in agony. All this is the personality, the peculiar shell of the bulb, within which the spiritual center must be contained, which has no beginning, no end, and is not subject to any changes.

The highest goal of the worshiper of jnana-yoga is to find this center within yourself, to immerse yourself in it and to contemplate the whole world and your own life from it. This center is the true reality, the union with Brahman, the Absolute, universal happiness and bliss, I am God, the essence of everything. Externally it may seem, that this sought after center can be compared with the soul in Christianity, but it is not so. The soul is selfish and very “personal,” it seeks protection and salvation from God, fully relying on it and not understanding its divine essence. For the jnana-yogin, the center is not a part of the personality, but a particle of the god, one with it and indivisible, eternal and omnipresent, all-knowing and all-knowing.

Two Methods of Jnana Yoga

There are several ways to meditate in the practice of jnana yoga and they all involve interrupting the identification of the yogi with his mind and his own body.One of the most popular and well-known methods is called “neti-neti,” in Sanskrit, sounding like “not that, not that.” In this method, a practitioner of jnana yoga asks himself questions, answering to which he realizes what he is not. These are fairly simple questions with a very deep and philosophical sound in a broad sense: “I am this body?”, “I am the mind?”, “I am feelings?” And so on. Consistently responding to these seemingly simple questions, the yogi realizes that he is much more than just the body, mind, emotions and so on. So, starting from what he is not, the practitioner of jnana approaches his self-awareness.

The second method is a detached observation in which a practitioner of jnana yoga observes himself as an extraneous witness inside. This method requires deep immersion and concentration.

Conditions for the successful pursuit of jnana yoga

In order to achieve the goals of jnana yoga through cognition, one should be completely free from the influence of feelings and passions, and to do this most easily in solitude, away from people and civilization. Jnana yoga is not easy meditation and physical exercises, it is a mode of existence in which there is no place either personal desires or selfish aspirations. For a person professing this kind of yoga, the world is unimportant, its goal is to connect with the Absolute and nothing should be distracting from this goal. 

This way is difficult and thorny, will require the strength not only of the spirit, but of the body. It must be strong, powerful and enduring. The one who has already practiced yoga practices will reach the jnana and has moved far enough to be able to renounce the external world for the sake of achieving higher goals.

Owning one’s own body must be organically supplemented by the control of consciousness, the ability to concentrate deeply and meditate for a long time. It is also difficult to comprehend quickly, so it may take a different time to be able to approach a level that will allow you to go to jnana.

Practicing jnana yoga, a person learns the ability to distinguish reality from illusions, the truth from lies, becomes higher than the fuss and conventionality of everyday life. This is a process of continuous learning and cognition, as a result of which comes the realization of one’s own essence and the approach to the Absolute. The highest stage is the understanding that in his quest for the Absolute he himself became it.

The first step in finding the truths of jnana yoga is to achieve the balance, peace and aspiration that are manifested in everyday life. A person must renounce all manifestations of evil and be completely free from all vices, selfishness and pride. In the process of “purification” impersonal, unselfish and undemanding true love is comprehended. This genuine feeling is combined with wise discrimination, asceticism and maturity of consciousness, the knowledge that our ultimate goal is liberation, in comparison with which everything else simply does not matter.

That for a modern man the words from the ancient writings acquired the true meaning, one must become internally independent and free, cleanse from the everyday life and his, which constitutes our “animal” essence. Everything that relates to the earthly, banal, distracting from the sublime, serves as an obstacle to the path of knowledge of Truth. As long as the body, mind and emotions predominate and control a person, he can not concentrate on self-awareness and progress along the path of yoga. Only a huge inner work aimed at deep cleansing of the mind and destroying oneself with its animal instincts can help a person to embark on the road of self-improvement, and later of self-consciousness and association with the Absolute.