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The Bhagavagita is the great Indian
epic that appears at the end of the Mahabhrata. It is like
the Indian version of the Book of Revelations we see
exhibited in the New Testament of the West. Within the
Bhagavagita there are three kinds of yoga expressed:
Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, and Jnana Yoga.
The term Yoga itself means union. The root of the English
word religion means to reconnect. Rather than the term
religion being a mere noun, its truer meaning is more like a
verb. Thus, the true purpose of religion is to reconnect to
our divine source. How do we do this? We do this through
authentic religion or yoga.
Bhakti yoga is based on unconditional love for God and all
sentient beings. This is like the Christian love of the
Western traditions. We must choose to love our enemies. It
is not the desire of the ego to love its enemies. This kind
of Christian-Bhakti love neutralizes the ego or lower-self
and allows us to step into that creative moment where
destiny is made. You are then a vessel of universal love and
unity. This is the purpose of all yoga/religion: to bypass
the ego and unite with the absolute consciousness.
Karma yoga is action yoga. It could be summed up as doing
unto others as you would have others do unto you. This is
sometimes known as the universal “Golden Rule.” Mother
Teresa would be a great example of Karma yoga. Ultimately,
Karma yoga will allow you to bypass the ego’s attachment in
seeking reward or results from your actions. When the ego is
neutralized, you become the servant to all, and at that
point you are living in that creative now. You are in union
with your divine self. The divine is then acting through you
for the benefit of all others.
Jnana yoga is knowledge yoga. You see this type of yoga in
the Zen Buddhist Koans. A Zen question might be, “What is
the sound of one hand clapping?” Another Zen question might
be, “If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is around to
see it, does it still make a sound?” Our ego’s natural
tendency is to try and answer this question. But the
question is really designed to neutralize the ego through
paradoxes. These questions are not intended to be answered.
When the ego admits it does not know, it is silenced. It is
then that we can remember the true knowledge that comes from
divine revelation.
The Higher Self or Atman is formless. It lives in the
quantum world of potential unified waves. The Higher Self
chooses what wave will become the form or particle. When the
lower self is neutralized, consciousness no longer
identifies with its own ego reflection and is able to
remember its true self. There is only ONE consciousness.
Like diffracted light, it can become split into the illusion
of subject and object. Only when your consciousness is free,
can it choose to create something new. Krishnamurti had it
right when he said, “There is no path, only awareness.”
All the forms of yoga discussed here work together. If you
want to change your life you must become aware of whom you
really are. Whatever method you choose will get you to the
point where you can make a quantum leap into true awareness.
It is at that point that you can consciously choose to love
and not hate, to choose to serve and not dominate, to
receive all knowledge by remembering and revelation.
Every time you choose to not follow your memory but to
choose a new direction, you enter the realm of quantum
creativeness. This is where the ONE consciousness chooses
what it will create. Will it be something new or will it be
the prison of our conditioned memory? Through awareness the
choice is yours.
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