There are five kinds of mental states: Murha, Khipta, Bikhipta, Ekāgra, and Samādhi. The Murha, ruled by predominant Tama, is generally attracted to evil objects owing to lack of discrimination. Khipta flits from one object to another in search of pleasure. It is ruled by predominant Rāja, so is ever active and never satisfied. The Bikhipta mental state, ruled by the equal combination of the three attributes, is generally like Khipta, but at times fixes its attention inwards though for a short time only. When the Bikhipta is helped by the practice of concentration into the Ekāgra (one-pointed) state, then it is that harmony is brought about. When, by constant practice, the one-pointed mind becomes unwaveringly fixed on the Deity or the Idea of the Deity gained through the increasing illumination of the Sattwa, it enters into the Samādhi (Trance) state, the state of Absolute absorption into the Deity.
The practice of the Rāja Yoga has been forbidden in the Shāstras in the Kali Yuga (Iron Age) because, in this age, excepting in rare cases, the human body is too weak and delicate to stand the hardships, psychic exertions and physical privations of its practices, and because an adept Yogi-Gooroo, without whose constant help in every detail of it no student can attain the highest result, is very hard to be found. Many who now practice it under inexperienced Gooroos in India meet early death or develop incurable diseases or even turn insane. A moderate amount of simple breathing exercises may not be so injurious or fatal, but too much of it or the practice of the advanced rules ought never to be attempted, especially in the West, where a proper Gooroo can never be found and where most people's nerves are generally shaky.
Gnāna Yoga is an entirely mental process of Yoga, a process of discriminating between the Unsubstantial and the Substantial in Nature and concentrating upon the only Substantial Essence of things and gradually getting absolutely absorbed by it. The keeping up of this process of thought in an unbroken stream requires living a life of simplicity, solitude and renunciation. The life in which this thought-current becomes unbroken is the last life, last incarnation of that soul. It escapes rebirth for good for which it has worked for many incarnations. Its separate Ego is merged in the universal Ego and finally is lost in and becomes one with the One-without-a-Second.
Gnāna Yoga belongs to the school of the Vedānta philosophy. Vedānta is "Veda" and "Anta" which means "End," so that Vedānta means End of the Veda—the Aim or Goal of the Veda; and the word Veda is the original of the English word "Wisdom" (Swedish, Visdom) from Sanscrit, "Vida," to know. Veda means knowledge of the Reality, the Truth. The Vedānta Aphorisms of Vedavyasa are but Indices to the Principles of the Upanishads—the Wisdom part of the Veda. There are two Schools of Vedānta, the Old and the New. The Old possesses the true interpretation of the Aphorisms, the New is deluded by their false interpretations, is only about two thousand years old and has a comparatively small number of adherents. The Old school is founded on Parināmbād, the new is founded on Vivartabād, The Old school holds that the universe is composed of the ever changeful manifestations of the Will (Energy) of the One Changeless Deity (Parināmbād), the New calls the whole universe, in fact, all that is visible and perceptible, Māyā (Illusion), in the sense that it never existed, does not exist now and will never exist. All that exists is Brahm, the Divine Essence, and we are That. All else is illusion wrought in our mind through ignorance, just as the mistaking a piece of rope lying in some dark place for a snake is due to the illusion of the darkness. This theory with its plausible analogy is all wrong. The universe is not all illusion though it is the changeful force-materialization of the Unchangeful One Substance. The force or energy or light or reflection of a substance is inseparable from it and is pervaded by it and partakes of its spirit. This materialized force-reflection of Brahm not only possesses its substance at bottom but must be called a part of it as the light of a flame or reflection of a light is undeniably its part. The analogy of the snake and rope is, therefore, not true of God and the Universe: The snake is merely the conjuration of the darkness and not born of the rope; but the universe is born of Brahm (the rope). The theory that it is born of the illusion of our ignorance, is absurd in that it involves accepting that "ignorance" to be something self-existent, that it has an independent existence, separate from the All-in-All, the One-without-a-Second. If not, whence is this "ignorance" which has such power of illusion over our mind and senses? What is it? Whence does it come? The Neo-Vedāntist answers, it is something inexplicable, His Māyā is inexplicable—the argument of one in darkness himself. This New Vedāntic thought has done and is doing more harm to the world than any other religious theory. It is a worse delusion than the delusion of Māyā.
SECTION XXII. BHAKTI YOGA.
Bhakti Yoga is concentration on the Deity through Devotion, the best and highest form of Yoga, higher than all the other forms, as Krishna Himself has said in the Bhagavat Gita Devotion is the full fruition of spiritual concentration. A true devotee is the highest Yogi, for he is filled with humility, and sincere, abject humility is the expression of the sublimest spiritual nature; it is "the softened shadow" as the Lord says, "that is cast by My Love." Sincere humility springs from the clear realization of the Presence of God in everything, that the whole universe is formed of the many forms of the One Form and its Radiance. And with that never fading vision before the mind's eye, the devote forgets himself and stoops low at the feet of every one and at everything he sees, for he sees in them all his Deity.
Bhakti is of two kinds, Gnān-Bhakti and Prem-Bhakti. Gnān-Bhakti is devotion aided by culture of wisdom, its Deity is some incarnation of Vishnoo and its goal is the Abode of Vishnoo or the Essence of Vishnoo. Prem Bhakti is devotion through Love—Causeless, Disinterested Love, love for love's sake, and its Deity and Goal is Krishna—Absolute Love. The Path of Prem Bhakti lies within the Path of Gnān Bhakti, but this Path within the Path is hedged in high to shut out the view and sound of the main path. The devotee of Prem Bhakti dedicates all his knowledge, wisdom and actions to Krishna, the spring of all Wisdom and Actions, and prays Krishna for His love, the luxury of loving Him for His dear sake.
The Prem Bhakta wants nothing from his Lord, no boon, no blessing, material or celestial, not even Salvation or Mukti, nothing, nothing, save—the blessing of being filled with love for Him. He prays to his Lord: "O my Krishna! It matters not what betides my body, my life or my earthly circumstances, or in what form of life I am reborn, even if it be that of a worm, let my faith and love be fixed in Thee, my Beloved. Whatever is there in all existence compared with the luxury of loving Thee? Thou art the sum-total of the realization of all desires, of all happiness, Thou, the Secret and Object of all our longings!"
Such, in truth, is Krishna's attraction and more. He is the embodiment of the concentrated Beauty and Sweetness of all the Universes, His Eyes and Face the focus of the Love that fills all that is. Hence this Prem Bhakti Path, which means the Path of Love's Devotion, is called the Path of Beauty and Sweetness. Beauty and Sweetness are Coexistent, are one and the same thing. Beauty is the expression of Sweetness, Sweetness is the Essence of Beauty, and Love is the Parent of both. Krishna's Form and Symmetry are all Ideals' unapproachable, inconceivable, unimaginable Ideal. The newest rain-cloud [1] color of His complexion is the color of the condensed Ether of Ether—Love. His crown and crest of peacock-feathers, His raiment of molten gold—the color of attraction—His long garland and ornaments of wild flowers, His jewel Kaustubha on His Breast and His bamboo flute were all proud contributions of Nature to Her Supreme Lord. If we can imagine the essence of the purest of pure love condensed into a substance as thick as flesh and moulded into form, we can then have some idea of the material of Krishna's Body, whether in Glory or on earth. It is a Form which, the moment you produce some likeness of it in imagination thrills you with ecstasy, for it is Ecstasy condensed.
| [1] | The color of the newest rain-cloud of India, color of the sapphire or marine blue, are vain attempts to indicate Krishna's color and complexion. |