Union via Wisdom ( Jnana Yoga )

Jnana means Wisdom & Jnana Yoga means Union with the Divine via Wisdom.

Wisdom has been defined as organised Life. Wisdom and knowledge are different. Wisdom is a special kind of knowledge. What is the use of knowing everything if one doesn't know the Self ? Knowledge of the Absolute Self alone is Wisdom. ( Sa Vidya Tan Mathir Yaya ).

The Quantum Field Theory

Quantum Mechanics postulate that the finest state of matter is the Vaccum State. The universal sea of matter exist in the Vaccum State. It is defined as the Field of all possibilities. This Vaccum State of the Quantum Field
corresponds to the Indestructible Being of transcendental philosophy.

How to overcome the Ego

All knowledge is threefold (" Thraigunya Vishaya Veda "). In Freudian Psycho-analysis we have three impulses, Id, Ego and Supergo. The Vedantic Satwa, Rajas and Thamas correspond to these impulses.
The mind is always gripped by these three impulses. Sometimes we are Rajasic ( worldly ) and go after wealth. When intense anger and other negative emotions grip us, we are Thamasic. When divine qualities like Love and Peace influence us, we are Satwic ( divine ).

The Ego with its ten heads ( symbolised as the ten-headed Ravana ) is the major block in attaining Self_Actualisation. The ten heads of the Ego are Lust,Anger,Pride, Avarice, Sloth, Covetousness, Attachment, Mind, Intellect, Conceit & Egoistic Mentality. Only when the ten heads of the Ego are removed can we hope to get Self-Realisation. ( Symbolically only when the Ravana in us is destroyed ).

When we do our yoga, we will be assailed by three type of Ego. Rajasic ( wordly ), Thamasic ( bestial ) and Satwic ( noble ). In order to overcome the three types of Ego, we are given certain commandments.

" Ma the Sanghostha karmani " - (Let there be not in you any attachment to inaction. ) This commandment is given so that we can overcome the Thamasic ( bestial ) ego.

 " Ma Karma Phala Heturbhoo " - ("Dont expect any reward") This commandment is given to protect us from the Rajasic ( wordly ) ego, which always expects rewards for work done.

"Ubhe Sukruta Dushkrute " ( "Be beyond good and evil " ) This commandment is given to us to overcome the Satwic Ego, for one should not hang on to Punya ( divine merit ).

In other words, during the process of Yoga we will be assailed by all sorts of negative thoughts. Our aim is to identify with the Source of all thought, the Self. We will find, as we progress on the path of yoga, that these negative thoughts leave us slowly and steadily. Conquering our negative aspect is not easy. The negative elements in man are the true villains. Alone, powerful, cruel are the dark and dreadful forces that profit from the reign of Night and Ignorance and they dont want any change in the body. We have to annihilate them one by one.

In tragic life, God wot
No villains need be, passions spin the plot
We are betrayed by what is false within !

The entire Vedic wisdom is contained in one word " Transcend ".
Transcend both pain & sorrow, transcend the triune attributes of Nature.
Transcend negativity !.

We are always confronted by the negative qualities. Perfection has to be worked out, harmony has to be established. Ignorance, limitation, sorrow, - these are the negative qulities as pitted against Knowledge, Infintiy & Bliss. These negative qualities are merely the first terms of the formula - unintelligible, till we have worked out the wider terms and reintepreted the formulary. They are merely the initial discords of the Musician's harmony. To rise from the Negative to the Positive, from Ignorace to Divine Knowledge, from limitation to the Illimitable, from sorrow to Bliss Infinite, from Matter to revealed Spirit, is Yoga. To achieve this end for ourselves and for our brethren is the aim of our Yogic practice.
- ( Aurobindo)

Wise men like Ramana Maharshi advises us to annihilate the Mind. For it is that which gives you pleasure that gives you pain. The root cause of all bondage and all sorrow is Mind ! Annihilate the mind by thinking on its real nature. The true Source of the Mind is the "I", the primal Thought. Because of the Primal Thought, the mind exists! He advises us to enquire into the nature of the Self. The thought " Who am I " will lead
us to the annihilation of the mind. This thought " Who am I " is like the the burning log which will burn all other logs!

I am pure Being, by whom all things be !


The Negative Method in the Upanishads

In the Upanishads Reality is defined by a series of negatives because the Negative is less limiting than the Positive.

This is known as the Neti ( "Not this " ) method. We deny the Finite in order to affirm the Infinite.

We say this is my shirt. That means that I am not the shirt. Similarly we declare my hands, my legs etc which means I am not the hands or legs. Then who am I ? The body is mine, therefore " I " am not the body. Then who is this "I" ? We therefore apply Intuitive Logic and deny everything. All these are mine, but I am not they. A state will come, during this process of denial, that I cannot deny one thing. What is this thing which I cannot deny? That which I cannot deny is "I", the Self, the Consciousness !

The finite is negated to affirm the Infinite.

The Superconscient as the Base

The Superconscious Mind and not the subconscious is the base of all Life.

Let us analyse why the Superconscient is considered as the foundation.

Deep within the five sheaths which compose our being - the material, the the vital,the mental, the gnostic & the blissful - is the Absoulte Self , the divine component in us which Jesus referred to as the Kingdom of
Heaven ( " The Kingdom of Heaven is within you and whomsover shall know himself shall find it " ).

The dreadful forces or " hostile forces" as they are known - lust, greed, anger, jealousy, sloth & covetousness - lie in the dark caverns of the Subconscious mind. Wisdom declares that they are our inner enemies.

Man houses dangerous forces in his house
The Titan, the Fury and the Djinn
Lay in the subsconscient's cavern pit
And the Beast moved in his antre den

The Enemy means who ? Our inner enemies which lie in the Subconscient!

Socrates is poisoned. Jesus crucified. Bruno burnt alive. This phenomenon is known in Yogic Psychology as the downward pull of the mind, when the dark forces that lie in the subconscient triumph ( in the collective
subsconscient ). The reverse phenomenon, the upward pull of the mind is that which pulls us from death to immortality and realises in this body of earth the luminous Kingdom of Heaven ( Self-Actualisation ).

The four faculties of the Intuitive Reason - Revealation, Inspiration, Intuition and Illumination are all the properties of the Superconscious Mind and can be experienced if we make ourselves pure and make our mind still (" Be still and know that I am God " - Bible ).

The aim of Yoga is pull ourselves out of the darkness of the subconscient into the Light of the Superconscient and to receive the intuitions and the revealations of the Self and ultimately lead us to Self_Actualisation. The aim of Nature is to effect Super-Nature. The aim of Yoga is Self, is
Self-Actualisation.

The great battle between good and evil which was depicted by the poets ( Iliad, Odyssey, Ramayana,Mahabharata etc ) is actually the great war happening in the human bosom between the conflicting forces of good and evil, ever locked in eternal combat. Utlimately the positive elements - Truth, Dharma, Peace, Love & the Discriminative Intellect will win over the negative elements in us and we will be transmuted into the Divine Man. This is the ultimate formula of Wisdom - the divine transmutation of Man!

Yoga as Divine Alchemy

Alchemy is the science of transmuting baser metals into gold. Yoga is divine alchemy as it transmutes base metals ( our human nature ) into gold ( divine nature ).

Scientifically, Alchemy is possible. By proton bombardment, the atomic number of any element can be increased to form another element. So, theoretically, any element can be converted into Aurum ( gold ).

Alchemy is symbolic and no physical transmutation is meant here. Divine Alchemy is the ultimate formula wherein we are transmuted into the Divine Being-Knowledge-Bliss!

This is what the ancient Yogis meant by Transmutation, Transformation & Transfiguration !