The Path of Yoga

Bhagavad-Gita Sixth Chapter

The Path of Yoga: 

 Meditation and Practice

by Michael Dolan/B.V. Mahayogi

At the beginning of the Sixth Chapter, Kṛṣṇa summarizes his thesis from the previous chapter: "One who is unattached to the fruits of his work and who works as he is obligated is in the renounced order of life, and he is the true mystic: not he who lights no fire and performs no work." True sannyāsa  or renunciation is realized through detachment from the material results of karma while dedicating one's self in devotion to God. This is enhanced by transcendental knowledge.

This chapter is sometimes called atma-jñāna  by some commentators. Bhaktivedānta Swāmi's edition has saṃkhya-yoga. We are following Baladeva Vidyābhushana and Śrīdhar Swāmi who have dhyāna-yoga,  meaning the "yoga" of meditation. 

Yoga itself has different meanings and connotations. It is generally said to mean "yoking" and taken to mean the way by which we are linked to a higher power. Yoking two oxen together leads to a journey, measured in Sanskrit by a unit of distance called the yojana. A "yoking" then refers not only to the physical link between oxen, but to a journey undertaken by setting up a process. In this sense, the word yoga  also means "The Path."

So, we talk about the path of karma, the path of knowledge, or the eight-fold yoga path. This may be confusing, in the sense that we seem to be talking about a number of different paths, while the goal is the same.  We have seen that when the atma is exposed to true transcendental knowledge of the relationship between the soul and the Supreme Soul, she becomes enlightened and will naturally tend to dedicate all actions in divine love or bhakti-yoga. A truly realized soul will come to the conclusion that action dedicated in love to divinity is the best form of knowledge. Therefore, both karma and jñāna culminate in bhakti. This is the purport of the first five Chapters of the Bhagavad-Gita.

Putting aside this synthesis of karma and jñāna as Kṛṣṇa is teaching, many truthseekers are attracted to the idea of realizing transcendental knowledge through meditation alone. Perhaps all the sacrifice is unnecessary, they reason. Why dedicate one's actions to God if we can realize divinity through meditation?  Perhaps the path of meditation alone will be easier and more successful than that of sacrifice and dedication.  Arjuna is curious about the path of meditation as a standalone effort. If what Kṛṣṇa is saying about the eternal soul is true, maybe it's time to sit down and meditate. He can leave the struggle of the fields of war behind, put duty aside, and meditate on the eternal self. What about meditative yoga as a means of salvation?

Kṛṣṇa has spoken of yoga in its various forms, Arjuna wants to know how to realize one's self through meditation in yoga. And since he has expressed an interest in understanding the nature of meditation,  Krishna expands on the understanding of mystic yoga in the sixth chapter,  called the yoga of meditation, dhyana-yoga.

 Krishna knows his friend's mind. He begins to explain, therefore the path of meditation or dhyāna-yoga and to show how yoga can lead to perfection. And yet, even meditation cannot be divorced from dedication. In the end, perfection depends not on knowing divinity, but on divine love.  But as Kṛṣṇa is going through all these ideas systematically, here he will treat with the eight-fold yogic path almost as a separate issue, since he has already explained how all these paths converge.

A sincere truth-seeker will find that karma-yoga, jñāna-yoga, and sannyāsa-yoga or renunciation will lead to dedication.  And so, Kṛṣṇa says, "There is no difference between renunciation as I have explained it to you and yoga." Kṛṣṇa has pointed out that renunciation is not a question of an outward show of self-abnegation, but the inward sincerity which accompanies true dedication to divinity. There is no possibility of truly practicing yoga unless one gives up selfish purpose. In this sense, the renunciation of self-interest is real yoga.

So, beginners on the path will see salvation through outward means: work, for example. Work or karma is tangible and concrete. When we can practically see work being done, we understand that progress is being made. So, especially for neophytes work will be the means to achieve yoga: we can see  the results. On a more subtle level, however, intention  and sincerity will lead to a higher realization. But this is more difficult to detect outwardly. One attains complete tranquility by abandoning attachment to work. But even one who has abandoned attachment  still works. So it's hard to see the difference between a self-realized soul who works without attachment and a materialist who works for profit and gain. Both are involved in the same work. The difference is internal.

This is why neophytes prefer rituals; they are more easily apparent. One's internal self-sacrifice is not always easy for others to see.

And yet, in the end self-realization is personal. There may be little external evidence of one's spiritual internal work. For this reason, Kṛṣṇa says, that for one the neophyte yogi, work is said to be the means; where for one who has already attained to yoga, complete nonattachment to karmic activities is said to be the means."

He continues, "when one is unattached to both senses and actions and even the will to action, , and is beyond the need for purposes, then one is said to have attained to yoga." Kṛṣṇa here explains the nature of the yogi's self-abnegation. Indifferent to personal likes and dislikes, by complete surrender to the will of God the yogi abandons the ego.  In this way it becomes possible to control the mind and senses, for once absorbed in the Supreme, the yogi becomes ecstatic and rejects the impulses of the senses. If the senses provide us with certain impulses, the mind accepts these impulses thinking, "I like this, I don't like that." When the mind runs after the temporary likes and dislikes of the senses it becomes uncontrolled. When the mind is not controlled we become lost in chasing the fugitive impulses of the senses. In this way we forget our spiritual nature and ego becomes involved in material life. Controlling the mind through yoga  will help one achieve fullness and spiritual satisfaction."

Mahayogi in Vedalife, Kyiv, Ukraine, Summer 2014

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