Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Alive Beyond Wisdom

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Continuing our look into the Bhagavad Gita’s description of the 4 paths of yoga.

Last time we noted that one of the traditional areas of concentration for the person traveling the path of jnana yoga is the seemingly-simple-yet-annoyingly-frustrating-yet-amazingly-productive practice of continuing to ask “Who am I?” This practice can lead past layer upon layer of character, identity and ego – and yay for that – but this is far from the only area where the jnana yogi seeks wisdom.

With the “Who am I?” question, we start with something seemingly solid – the self – and by degrees we realize how ephemeral our hold usually is on the truth of the matter. With another jnani question, we start with what seems ephemeral -  “Who is Brahman/God/Ultimate Reality/the All?” – and discover that we have hit the bedrock of all creation. Speaking of his own ultimate nature, Krishna says
“it supports the whole universe and is the source of life in all beings…The birth and dissolution of the cosmos itself take place in me. There is nothing that exists separate from me, Arjuna. The entire universe is suspended from me as my necklace of jewels.“
Chapter 7.6-7


Brahman is at the heart of everything, every single thing, but very few people realize this. Most of us simply see the surface, how this world is full of things and ideas that dazzle our eyes and set our pulses racing. All the bright shinys that keep us focusing on the outward. But look inside the fancy car you’ve been craving, under the hood, inside the engine, beyond the level of frame and metal and computer chip, and you find essence, energy – Brahman. Just as you find inside every leaf, and volcano, and brick and face and piece of plastic blowing in the wind.

Spend enough time thinking about that, truly realizing what it means, and you are faced with another jnani-level question: What is it that you truly want – the fancy car or Brahman? A created thing, whether natural or built, or the Uncreated, the Source?

If ever you decide that it is Brahman, then you begin to realize that you have your desire already:
Arjuna, I am the taste of pure water and the radiance of the sun and moon. I am the sacred word and the sound heard in air, and the courage of human beings. I am the sweet fragrance in the earth and the radiance of fire; I am the life in every creature…”
Chapter 7.8-9

Does this mean that the jnani doesn’t have to do anything, then? Well, let me ask you: when was the last time that you took a drink of water and realized that you were taking in the Source of the entire universe? Until you can give a full and unconditional yes to that, then you’ve got a ways to go. But if ever you get there, then you are alive in a way that most people never are, because you are alive within an all-consuming truth:
After many births the wise seek refuge in me, seeing me everywhere and in everything.
Chapter 7.19

It is this aliveness which goes even beyond wisdom, this living within Brahman, that the jnana yogi seeks.



Quotations taken from The Bhagavad Gita, trans. Eknath Easwaran

Image found athttp://www.virtualsynapses.com/2012/06/ramana-maharshi-all-is-brahman-but.html#.Ua615esj6ZI

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