CHAPTER 8 : The 4 ways of a Yogic Life
Yoga calls for a life that encompasses 4 ways to live. A true Yogi spends his entire life in Union with the Divine. Because this is practically impossible, only a handful of people achieve this state of being in true Yoga.
The world in which we live and our mind that controls our thoughts, feelings and actions, together destroy every possible sign of Yoga in our Life. The moment we are in Yoga, either our mind will wander to another thought or our senses will be attracted to the world, destroying the Union with the Divine.
It is said that if somebody can be united with the Divine even for a short period of time, even for a few minutes without being distracted, they can experience the ecstasy of Liberation from all misery just as they feel a deep sense of Peace and Bliss.
There are 4 ways to live a Yogic Life. They are often referred to as Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Gyaana Yoga or Dhyaana Yoga. These terms mean that the 4 ways to live in Yoga are through action, devotion, education or meditation.
A true Yogi tries to live his life in the following way. He starts his day with Dhyaana Yoga or the Yoga of silence, concentration and contemplation. This inspires him to Karma Yoga, certain actions inspired by the Lord. He is relentless in Bhakti Yoga or in his devotion and prayers to God, in spending time with God. Any free time he gets thereafter is spent in Gyaana Yoga or education for the Realization of the truth. Yoga is all about living with this Yogic philosophy. Other than these 4 ways, there is no other way to Live for a true Yogi. Anything else other than this is a waste of his time and life. A true Yogi understands that his purpose of life is Liberation. He has realized the truth of who he is not and therefore, who he truly is. Having realized the truth, the only way for him to achieve his ultimate objective is to live in Yoga, following the 4 prescribed ways to live.
Yoga of meditation or Dhyaana is not about sleeping. It is about being awake while we seem asleep. It is about being conscious, awake and aware of our true reality. The Divine Soul in us, during spells of Dhyaana Yoga, gets connected with the Universal Cosmic Soul and there is transfer of superconscious energy.
These moments of silence or Dhyaana help in many ways. First it brings Peace of mind by slowing down the production of thoughts. As it reduces thoughts, toxic energy that comes from fear, regret, worry, anxiety and other negative thoughts cease to exist in that moment. At this point when one is in Dhyaana Yoga, silent and conscious, with their super consciousness united with the Cosmic consciousness, one receives Divine messages which become a command for their life.
A true Yogi spends a lot of time in Dhyaana Yoga. He starts his day in contemplation and every now and then, even though it may for a brief moment, be it a minute or two every hour, he slips into Dhyaana Yoga so as to recharge his spiritual battery. The moment a Yogi needs direction, he closes his eyes and goes within. Without Dhyaana Yoga, there can be no Yoga. Some Yogic masters refer to this Yoga as Raja Yoga or the King of Yoga.
Once a Yogi finishes his spell of meditation, contemplation or Dhyaan, then what? If he has a clear direction from the Divine that appears as an intuition, Realization or telepathic thought, he gets into action.
Once he has a clear mission, the Yogi starts his Karma Yoga or Yoga of action. Not for a moment does the Yogi think that he is doing anything. He realizes that he is nothing. He is not the Ego, mind or body. He is the Divine Life Energy, the Soul, the Chi, the Prana or the Atman that flows in each of the about 37 trillion cells that seem to form his physical body. As a human being embodied in this body-mind complex, the true Yogi remains in Union or Yoga through his actions. He is conscious of the fact that these are not his actions. He is just acting on behalf of the Divine. He is doing nothing; everything is being done by the Divine. So, at the end, whatever be the result of the action, he offers it back to the Divine as a humble offering from a Yogi who is performing Karma Yoga or the Yoga of action.
Normally, people who are not Yogis, act as the Ego, mind and body. Their actions invoke an equal reaction as per the Law of Karma. This universal law states that what you give is what you get or as you sow, so shall you reap. It is the law of the boomerang that works on the principle, what goes around comes around. Normal human beings are faced with their past Karma in every circumstance of Life, just as their present action causes the Karma for future circumstances. The cycle of Karma goes on and doesn’t stop at death. The body dies, but the mind and Ego are reborn to face the previous Karmas that have not been redeemed. However, a Yogi is free from Karma.
Because he is a Karma Yogi, none of his Karma are his Karma. Karma means action, but the Yogi doesn’t own any of his actions. Although he acts, he is acting on behalf of the Divine as the Divine instrument, and therefore, he is liberated from Karma. This Liberation from Karma not only liberates him from all suffering of the Ego, mind and body, but also liberates him from a possible future rebirth. Thus, Karma Yoga has a profound meaning in the overall philosophy of Yoga.
What does a Yogi do when he has no direction from the Divine, no work as a Divine instrument? A normal man gets caught in the world of pleasures and possessions, desires and cravings triggered by the Ego, mind and body. But a true Yogi is different. He stays above the world like a beautiful lotus that may seem routed in a dirty pond, but still shines with all its glory and colour, unaffected by the dirt around.
The moment the Yogi is free from Karma Yoga, he may go back into Dhyaana Yoga or may slip into the Yoga of devotion or Bhakti Yoga.
Bhakti Yoga is Union with the Divine through any form of prayer or devotion. When we are born, as kids, we normally have faith in a personal God. Whatever be our religion and whoever is our God, we Love our God with heart and Soul. Our faith grows stronger into belief and trust, and causes our enthusiasm. We visit temples because of Bhakti or love for God. Normally, the emotion of Bhakti is very strong, born out of Love for the Divine. It grows into a deep passion and obsession, seeking God above everything else.
Bhakti is common, but Bhakti Yoga is not common. Billions around the world have Bhakti or devotion, but not a fraction of them are in Bhakti Yoga. Bhakti Yoga calls for Realization that we are the Divine Soul, not the body that we seem to be. We are none other than the Divine Consciousness that is everywhere. Realization of this when expressed in the form of Bhakti creates a spiritual ecstasy unknown to man. No doubt all this is Bhakti - performing prayers and rituals, reciting the name of God, singing Bhajans or hymns, but it is doing all this in Union with the Divine that makes us enjoy Bhakti Yoga, with the realization that we are a manifestation of the Divine.
Bhakti Yoga or the Yoga of devotion is magical because it creates that deep longing in an embodied Soul to be liberated and be united with the Divine. It is Bhakti Yoga that craves for the wave to become part of the ocean. Unfortunately, unlike the wave that naturally comes from the ocean and goes back into it, we human beings are prisoners in a body-mind complex, facing Karmas due to our past actions. To be liberated, one of the most effective Yoga’s taught by spiritual masters is Bhakti Yoga.
When we love the Divine so intensely and we pray, we even cry in entreaty. This passion for the Divine creates a union that helps us remain in Yoga and finally achieve our ultimate Goal of Liberation. Bhakti Yoga is also a very Joyous experience of a true Yogi. In this Yoga of devotion, a Yogi is so lost in his Union with the Divine, that he transcends the world and its allurements, remaining in a state of Divine Yoga. Some people spend their entire life in Bhakti Yoga. Unfortunately, sometimes, there is a very strong Bhakti, but no Union or Yoga. What is needed is Bhakti Yoga, being united with the Divine, in devotion, with the Realization of truth that the Lord is none other than the Divine Soul, that the Lord is no different from us, that we are nothing but a manifestation of the Divine. Sometimes, we need Bhakti Yoga to lead us into the final step of Yoga, Gyaana Yoga, the Yoga of Education which helps us realize the truth as we gain intuitive wisdom, when in our quest, we are united with the Divine.
The Yoga of education, wisdom or knowledge, Gyaana Yoga, is a Yoga which uses the intellect to discriminate and realize the truth. A true Yogi who wants to be ever united with the Divine, often spends hours, even days engrossed in the study of scripture. He reads theology and philosophy and tries to discriminate between reality and illusion to realize the truth about our existence, the creation of this universe and the Creator. A true Yogi spends time in Gyaana Yoga till he has the spiritual Aha moment – the Realization of the truth.
What is this Realization all about? Normally it starts with the simple Realization that we are not the body. For this, Gyaana Yoga is needed. Education to understand what the body is, how it is formed, how it deteriorates and dies. Gyaana Yoga is also needed to find the mind. Where is the mind? We can find our toes and our nose, we can find our heart and our brain, but where is the mind we cannot find. Without Gyaana Yoga or yoga of education, we will never realize that the mind is an illusion. Ultimately, Gyaana Yoga makes us realize that we are the Divine Soul. In fact, it is this Yoga that makes us realize that we are nothing, just energy, a manifestation of the Divine. Gyaana is one of the 4 yogas that keeps us constantly united with the Divine.
While there are 4 ways of living in Yoga, Dhyaana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Gyaana Yoga, some masters divide them into 4 separate Yogas, while others think of them as one Yoga, one Union manifesting in 4 different ways. My spiritual Master – Dada J.P. Vaswani, often told me that Yoga is Yoga. It is Union with the Divine. He explained that Bhakti Yoga is no different from Dhyaana Yoga, just as Dhyaana Yoga creates Gyaana yoga. While he spiritually inspired me to the Realization of the truth, he believed that contemplation, action, devotion and education appear as 4 different ways of Yoga or Union, but in reality, it was Yoga itself that was branching in 4 directions. Ultimately, my spiritual master who was himself a realized Soul and has now united with the Divine, after his earthly journey, not only advocated that our goal was Yoga, but himself remained in Union all the time.
Dada spent hours in silence and contemplation, just as he spent a lot of time in devotion and prayer. His entire life was dedicated towards fulfilling the mission of his master and the Divine. He was always in Yoga and if he had nothing to do, he would be seen reading a spiritual book, be it the Bhagwad Gita or scriptures from the east or west.
Yoga is Union with the Divine. Whatever be the Yogic path, if it is helping us build that Divine connection, an uninterrupted Union with the Divine, then that is Yoga. Whatever we do, if our actions do not connect us with our Lord, it is not Yoga. Yoga must make us move like a boat on the river of life. The river may be dirty, but that hardly matters. Our objective is not to sink in it. Staying above the worldly waters, we must flow towards our ultimate goal of Liberation through Yoga, being in union with the Divine.
We can only be in Yoga if we accept the Divine Will, just as we Surrender to it.
Whether it is Yoga of meditation or action,
or it is Yoga of devotion or education,
it is Yoga, if it leads us to Liberation.