RENAISSANCE OF HINDUISM - PART III - FOUR TYPES OF PEOPLE - 4 TYPES OF YOGAS

RENAISSANCE OF HINDUISM

PART  III

FOUR TYPES OF PEOPLE

4 TYPES OF YOGAS

There is a Utopian fallacy  in people’s minds that all people are born equal and must be looked at as equals till they are alive.

The actuality in creation is - All people are not born equal. Each individual is Unique and is incomparable to anyone else. This is the beauty of creation. If two people are equal – one becomes redundant. That is not the intention of creation.

Even our finger prints are extremely Unique. No one on earth can show finger prints of anyone else – which exactly looks like mine. Why is it so and why finger prints should not be the same for all, who can explain? That is the feature of creation. We must accept it whole heartedly. There is no other option for us.

Almost all other features are also unique, though human eyes fail to see the distinctiveness between one and another sometimes. I am not the same as any of you. Neither is any of you the same as anybody else.

Sameness is non-existent but broad similarities do exist.

Human beings vary in colour from pure white to pure dark. All colours of the universe are seen in human skin colour across the world – except perhaps the colour of pure water – which is said to be colourless, but, we may say, that colourlessness of pure water also is a colour. I have not seen people with the color of water – but all other colours can be seen in the skin colours of people all over the world.

People of each region are generally of one colour – but of different shades of that colour. If the skin shades vary too much, skin related complexes, superiority or inferiority, are seen among people. Fairness creams are therefore a big business. There are no creams which erase the complexes.

Many of our characteristics differ and differentiate people into various categories. Some people are more thoughtful, more reasoning and more analytical. Some people are more emotional. Some people are more workaholics. Some people use their inner energies much more and are more self centred.

We are not talking of selfish, arrogant, power-hungry, violent type of people in this classification but we are talking about people who want to be good, humane, peaceful, non-violent, compassionate, joyful and so on.

These types of people find the purpose of their life through different means. Lord Krishna gave four different ways, which are life-fulfilling for these four different of noble people.

Lord Krishna used these 4 different human traits commonly observable among human beings and prescribed 4 different methods for the 4 different types of persons - for experiencing the ultimate possibility in himself/herself – which fulfills their life immensely.

 

The 4 methods are (1) Jnana Yoga  (2) Dhyana Yoga (3) Bhakti Yoga and (4) Karma Yoga.

Jnana Yoga is suitable for people who are willing to seek the ultimate truths about (i) the Universe and (ii) about the Self – always unbiasedly, absolutely logically, with great, flawless reasoning and discarding illogical, superstitious beliefs, while accepting supra-logical, rational explanations of great cosmic and individual phenomena.

They are willing to listen to and learn from evolved or enlightened Jnanis or Gurus. Or they study and tread the path prescribed in the Bhagavad Geeta and the Upanishads for Jnana Yoga.

Jnana Yoga needs the ability to discern and accept certain higher logic in respect of the  unseen and un-understood phenomena of the Universe and the self

People who blindly discord higher logic in respect of universal phenomena are unsuitable for Jnana Yoga. People who accept blind superstitious beliefs are also absolutely unsuitable for Jnana Yoga.

These phenomena are not by any means ILLOGICAL phenomena but are SUPRA-LOGICAL phenomena, which need to be experienced by certain higher means. These are within the competence of Jnana Yogis.

Jnana Yogis search for the ultimate truths concerning the Universe and the self through the processes of Sravanam, Mananam and Nidhidhyasanam.

They are willing to go to a Great master, sit with him as his disciple, listen to him and seek clarifications - which process is called Sravanam.

Then, they recall, recite and imbibe all that they have heard and understood -  and this is called Mananam. During Mananam, they try to ensure that  they are able to understand all that the Guru has told (or what they have read in the Gita, the Upanishads and so on).

Then, they go into some sort of Meditation on what they have understood. This is called Nidhidhyasanam, in which, they search for the deeper meanings and hidden truths about the Universe and the self.

Here, they use a higher Logic (or supra-logic) which is beyond the means of ordinary logic which comes into play at some point in Nidhidhyasanam.  This logic is beyond the reach of the five senses and the ordinary logic of the mind. Universe itself is pleased with the sincere seeker at some point of time and it reveals to him the deeper truths on its own initiative.

A Great Guru can hasten this process. Various scriptures like Upanishads and the Geeta  also can hasten this process.

An ordinary scientist uses LOGIC with precision. But, sometimes, even he is aided by supra-logic and nature reveals to him also, its higher truths to the extent he is seeking.

The difference between him and the Jnana Yogi is that the Jnana Yogi is a seeker of the Ultimate or the Highest truths concerning the self and the Universe. He is not bothered about the individual physical objects, big or small. The latter are the subject matter for the scientist.

Karma Yoga - is suitable for most honest people and is practiced and preached in many world cultures/religions of today, with some variations. The basic tenet of Karma yoga is - Do your duty selflessly, towards – (i) yourself, (ii) the rest of humanity and (iii) the world. When you do this, at some point of time, you will realize some of the ultimate truths of the Universe, in course of your selfless  work itself.

Karma Yoga is different from ordinary Karma. Karma means action. Karma Yoga means selfless action. This important distinction must be clearly understood.

Karma involves you into various bondages, due to the various attachments that you develop while doing the Karma. Karma Yoga releases you from all such attachments and bondages.

Karma, which binds you, can be of 3 types : (i) positive or Good karma (called Punyam), (ii) Nagative or Bad Karma (called Paapam) and (iii) Neutral Karma, which is neither good nor bad.

All three types of Karma result in Karmaphalam or consequences/Results of karma.

Punyam and Paapam (Good and Bad Karma) are motivated by a desire to do good or bad to others. Such Karma results in 2 types of consequences.

One is Drishtaphalam which you experience directly or evidently as your Karma’s direct consequence. Another is Adrishtaphalam which is the result chosen for you by a Universal Power which is usually called the Karma Phala Daatha.

While you as Individual can choose the Karma that you perform, the consequences of Good and Bad Karma and their timing, especially the Adrishtaphalam, cannot be chosen by you. These are chosen for you by certain invisible Natural laws, that is, by the superior Universal phenomenon called Karma Phala Daatha.

For example, you steal another person’s money. It is Bad karma. Assume, you are not detected and punished by People or Police. So, Drishta phalam is that – you get away with the stolen money.

But, Adrishtaphalam catches up with you in ways and times unknown to you. Someday, you may be badly beaten up by somebody, or suffer an accident or some such negative happening.

You cannot directly relate this to your earlier Bad Karma of stealing. Nobody tells you that this bad accident is due to that bad karma. But, it is.

Likewise, for past good karma, you will get some positive benefit which also cannot be related to a specific, earlier good karma. Life goes on with such unrelatable results, which are actually, your adrishtaphalams for earlier good and bad karmas.

Neutral karmas are like – eating food, dressing up, walking, running etc, which are neither good nor bad karmas. They too have consequences. But, they generally have only direct consequences.  There are again – (i) individual Karma (ii) group karma (iii) national karma and so on. An Individual in a group suffers/ enjoys his group karma’s results – unless, he clearly dissociates from the group karma and sometimes, even if he dissociates. Karma theory and karma yoga are a little complex to understand but are highly scientific in nature.

Bhakti yoga - involves total surrender to an unknown universal power (call it God or by any name). This is prevalent in most world religions, but in different ways.

Bhakti yoga is suitable to you only if you are willing to surrender yourself totally and unconditionally to the divine or even to a Guru or to a superior person.

Highly logical and reasoning persons can never surrender their EGOs and are not fit for Bhakti Yoga. They find Bhakti as some sort of Madness or weakness. For them, it is.

For those who can unconditionally surrender their EGOs to a Higher self, Bhakti, though an emotion, is extremely logical. Surrender can be to a divine being, or to a Guru or to a benefactor or even a spouse. The logic in Bhakti yoga is visible only to the Devotee but other onlookers may find no logic in their Bhakti or devotion.

Religions try to enforce Bhakti and prayer on all people including those whose minds cannot surrender to an unseen God. It doesn’t work at all. Questioning minds find surrender a foolish superstition. Likewise, minds pursuing money, power, sex etc cannot  involve in Bhakti and prayer but will pretend, when forced by religion.

Mass prayers look impressive for onlookers but they don’t work on the reasoning minds or on the unseen God. It is easier for them to go for war with people who don’t agree with your brand of Bhakti or God – than to really involve in selfless surrender and prayer. Killing others (so called non believers) proves their Bhakti to their God, because, real Bhakti to their God is otherwise unprovable.

Leaving this exhibitionist  Bhakti aside – real Bhakti is between the Devotee and the divine and they don’t care about who wants proof. For them, their divine exists and loves them and they want to be with their divine. Many Bhakts desert food, sleep etc and may look suicidal in their Bhakti – but that is how Bhakti really is.

Love is akin to Bhakti. For many mothers, their innocent child looks like the very God and their love towards their child is a sort of Bhakti. Many mothers do what are normally impossible things for their child. That is why, we say – God sits in the mother. Actually, God sits in the innocent child, and is prompting the mother. A Great Bhakt almost always becomes like such an ideal mother towards his God. Such Bhakti may look like madness, but is extremely life-fulfilling. A Great Jnani is no greater than a great mother or a great Bhakt. Life is more fulfilling to the latter than to the former – simply because selfless, positive emotion is always more fulfilling than the best of logic. There is of course a catch. When the cosmic truths are actually experienced within and not merely understood logically by the Jnani, the Jnani also becomes like a Bhakt.

Dhyana Yoga - is in essence, internal exploration for ultimate truths. All truths are within you. You can find them there, if you know how to explore there. Here also, a Guru can guide you to a certain extent.

Beyond that, you must go deeper and deeper inside and find the truths yourself. Patanjali’s Yoga sutras or Ashtanga Yoga is a great way for Dhyana Yoga or “Yoga”. You can find it in detail my book - “Comprehensive Treatise on Patanjali Yoga Sutras”, the electronic version of which is available on www.Amazon.in.

Let us see some slokas from the Bhagavad Gita propounded by Lord Krishna :

Dhyana Yoga Sl.30 :

Yo maam pasyathi sarvathra sarvam cha mayi pasyathi |

Tasyaaham na pranasyaami sa cha me na pranasyami   ||

Meaning :

He who experiences me in all and all in me, he never loses me nor will I ever lose him.

Sanyasa Yoga.Sl.18 :

Vidyaa vinaya sampanne brahmane gavi hastini |

Suni chaiva swapake cha panditaah samadarsinah  ||

Meaning :

Wise man endowed with Humility treats absolutely equally – a Brahmana, a Cow, an Elephant, a Dog, an Outcaste and a great learned man.

At this level, Dhyana Yoga, JnanaYoga, Dhyana Yoga and Karma Yoga all become the same. The paths are different. But, destination is same.

As we can see, these words have come straight from Lord Krishna himself. His life epitomizes these principles perfectly. Born a Kshatriya and brought up in Yadava household, he treated Kubja, Kuchela, Vidura and Sanjaya with great compassion and affection.

And Lord Krishna says emphatically that these truths he is revealing in the Gita are nothing new but have always been coming to us, from great sages, from the very beginning.

Many great sages have retold them to us at different times. Not one or two, but, hundreds of them or even thousands of them.  The Indian timeline is full of such great sages.

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