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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