Jñāna—yoga is a wisdom that inspires us to inquire, to question ourselves about our essence.... This wisdom encourages us to question the very origin of our existence....
The jñāna—yogī makes use of his own intellect to explore, investigate and venture into the fascinating search for his true and authentic nature. This path of yoga is an invitation to remove the veil of ignorance and to discover that you are what you have been searching for...
Before delving into jñāna—yoga, it is important that a disciple grows and develops in service or karma—yoga, in devotion to God, or bhakti—yoga, and in meditation, or rāja—yoga because in studying this philosophy without preparation one risks transforming oneself into a "lip vedantist", a person who talks about that which he does not truly know.
An additional requisite for jñāna—yoga is a boundless curiosity for oneself, for life, existence, and Reality. It must be a fervent, not infantile, curiosity, one that can steal sleep from us, a real obsession to discover. Jñāna—yoga is not a belief or faith; it does not conform to dogmas or rules. Rather, it is a search for the authentic in ourselves.
Jñāna—yoga is not knowledge but wisdom.
Knowledge and wisdom are not the same....
Knowledge always comes from the other... wisdom blossoms from one's self....
Knowledge always arrives from the outside, the external.... Wisdom is born in the depths of our existence...
Knowledge originates in the mind and touches the mind... wisdom touches you....
Knowledge makes you change... wisdom transforms you....
Knowledge is of teachers... wisdom of the masters....
For knowledge is of those who know something... wisdom is of those who are something....
Knowledge is a matter of words... wisdom of association...
Knowledge can be passed on even if the teacher has never seen or experienced what he teaches; a blind man can easily give a lecture about painting. Wisdom is a symptom of God, of realization....
In other words, brahma—vidyā, or the wisdom of the Self, cannot be touched through mental effort or intellectual study alone. It is not derived from deductive logical knowledge, a theory, philosophy, or doctrine. Jñāna—yoga is of an existential character. It is not a matter of understanding or knowing something, but of being, and that is one of its most important messages.
Vedānta, which is synonymous with jñāna—yoga, means "the final conclusion of the Vedas." Significantly, in the Bhagavad—gītā (15.15), Lord Kṛṣṇa says:
sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
mattaḥ smṛtir jñānam apohanaṁ ca
vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyo
vedānta—kṛd veda—vid eva cāham
"I am situated in everyone's heart. I am the source of remembrance, wisdom, and forgetfulness. It is Me who is to be known by all the Vedas. In fact, I am the compiler of Vedānta and the knower of the Vedas."
Lord Kṛṣṇa is saying that it is Me — the Self — who is to be known through the Vedas. Jñāna—yoga consists of knowing our true and authentic I, the infinite Self. Realizing it is experiencing Divinity, realizing God....
As the student gradually situates himself in the intellect, there will emerge vicāraṇa, or self inquiry, which is to formulate the question of all questions — "who am I?"
More than faith, Vedānta requires doubt; it is the path of doubt because it searches and aims to discovery.... The arrow of investigation is aimed directly at the seeker himself, at his nature, his authenticity....
Who or What Am I?
"I" is perhaps the most frequently used word in daily life: I want; I don't want; I think; I believe; I am this or that and so on. Nevertheless, it is a difficult task to answer the question "who or what am I?" As early as the first attempts to answer, we start to realize that our knowledge about ourselves is extremely scarce, if not negligible, nonexistent. In other words, we soon arrive at the conclusion that we simply have no idea....
"I am Michael."
"I am Jhon."
"I am Mary."
"I am Jacqueline."
These answers give information only about our name but not about what we truly are.
"I am a teacher."
"I am a doctor."
"I am a secretary."
These answers refer to some activity or profession but not to what we really are.
"I am Hindu."
"I am Chilean."
"I am American."
"I am Chinese."
These answers relate to the geographical location where the physical body appeared, but say nothing about what we truly are....
Our name, nationality and body are ours, but they are not us....
Brahma—jñāna or wisdom of Brahman is the wisdom of the Self — only it can really liberate us from the misery and ignorance of illusion or māyā. The question about what we are is born in the intellect, but the answer is only found in existential wisdom and in the silence of meditation.
Requisites for Jñāna—Yoga
Nowadays there are many who believe that studying Vedānta means to organize gatherings where a smiling person seated in the center asks, "who are you? what are you?" Today, many of the so—called Western "masters" of Vedānta are nothing but charlatans, verbal jugglers without real direct experience of the Self. The only thing they demand of their disciples is money. However, according to Śrī Śaṅkarācārya and his famous book Viveka—cūḍāmaṇi, we understand that there are four essential requisites to seriously dedicate oneself to jñāna—yoga (Verse 19):
ādau nityānitya—vastu—
vivekaḥ parigaṇyate
ihāmutra—phala—bhoga—
virāgas tad—anantaram
śamādi—ṣaṭka—sampattiḥ
mumukṣtvam iti sphuṭam
"The first requisite is the ability of discrimination or viveka; the second is renunciation, or vairāgya, to the enjoyment of the fruits of our own actions, as much as here as in the beyond. The third is ṣaṭ sampat, or the treasure of the six virtues. And finally the sages clearly speak of a sincere aspiration to reach liberation, or mumukṣutā."
1. Viveka or Discrimination (Verse 20):
brahma satyaṁ jagan mithy e—
ty evaṁrūpo viniścayaḥ
so' yaṁ nityānitya—vastu—
vivekaḥ samudāhṛtaḥ
"Viveka means discriminating between the real and the unreal and is grounded in the firm conviction that only Brahman is reality and the phenomenal world is unreal."
Viveka means the power to discriminate between the real and the apparent, the temporal and eternal, which helps us to maintain our attention on what is really important in life.... Obviously all of this is firmly based on Advaita Vedānta, which states: brahma satyaṁ jagan mithyā, or "Brahman is reality; this relative phenomenal world of duality is false."
2. Vairāgya or Detachment (Verse 21):
tad vairāgyaṁ jugupsā yā
darśana—śravaṇādibhiḥ
dehādi—brahma paryante
hy anitye bhoga—vastuni
"Vairāgya or detachment is the ability to renounce any kind of temporal enjoyment from the corporal up to those related to the state of Brahman."
In jñāna—yoga, detachment is very important, especially when we discover truths that obligate us to renounce concepts, ideas, attitudes, beliefs, and ideologies that may have been comfortable or even useful in our past stages of development but which turn out to be inadequate or incoherent in our present state. It can be much easier to detach from objects, money, or physical possessions than from pleasurable and comfortable sentimental attitudes and intellectual beliefs.
3. Ṣaṭ Sampat or the Treasure of Six Virtues
a) Śama or Serenity (Verse 22):
virajya viṣaya—vrātād
doṣa—dṛṣṭyā muhur muhuḥ
svalakṣye niyatāvasthā
manasaḥ śama ucyate
"Serenity happens when the mind rests in a constant observation of its objective, Brahman, after having detached from the objects of the senses through a continuous observation of the unreality of these objects."
b) Dama or Control of Senses (Verse 23):
viṣayebhyaḥ parāvartya
sthāpanaṁ sva—sva—golake
ubhayeṣām indriyāṇām
sa damaḥ parikīrtitaḥ
"One has gone beyond the sense, or created dama, when the sensory organs detach from the sense objects and remain in their respective centers."
c) Uparati or Renunciation of Egoism (Verse 23):
bāhyān—ālambanaṁ vṛtter
eṣoparatir uttamā
"Uparati is the retreat, or withdrawal into oneself. It is considered perfect when the mind does not react to external stimuli."
Uparati consists in abstaining from those activities and actions that are not essential for the maintenance of our body or our spiritual life. For this reason, it is considered a renunciation of the ego, who is "the doer".
d) Titikṣā or Tolerance (Verse 24):
sahanaṁ sarva—duḥkhānām
apratīkāra—pūrvakam
cintā—vilāpa—rahitaṁ
sā titikṣā nigadyate
"Titikṣā, or tolerance, is considered the ability to withstand hardships with resignation and without rebellion."
e) Śraddhā or Confidence and Faith (Verse 25):
śāstrasya guruvākyasya
satya—buddhy—avadhāraṇam
sā śraddhā kathitā sadbhiḥ
yayā vastūpalabhyate
"The sages define śraddhā, or faith, as confidently accepting the Truth as espoused in the revealed scriptures and according to the guru's teachings. Such faith makes the realization of Reality possible."
f) Samādhāna or Mental Stability (Verse 26):
sarvadā sthāpanaṁ buddheḥ
śuddhe brahmaṇi sarvadā
tat samādhānam ity uktaṁ
na tu cittasya lālanam
"Mental stability or samādhāna is unwavering concentration without distraction from the unconditional Brahman."
4. Mumukṣutā or Spiritual Aspiration (Verse 27):
ahaṅkārādi—dehāntān
bandhān ajñāna—kalpitān
sva—svarūpāvabodhena
moktum icchā mumukṣutā
"Spiritual aspiration, or mumukṣutā, is the aspiration to be liberated from all ties superimposed by ignorance — from the sense of "I" to the bondages of the body — and realize our true and authentic nature."
Four Disciplines of Jñāna—yoga
Aspiration is a call from the heavens that pushes our soul toward the search for God. This aspiration of the soul is imperative to the spiritual path to such an extent that I would call it crucial. It consists of the spiritual master's grace... prasādena guroḥ seyaṁ pravṛddhā sūyate phalam....
After the development of the requisites or essential qualities to enter into the path of Vedānta, we learn of four important disciplines.
Śravaṇa or listening: This discipline includes the silencing of our own concepts and preconceived ideas.
Manana or reflection: What was heard will not be effective if we do not dedicate time to reflect upon it. This contemplation would mercenarily become the question: "Who am I?"
Nididhyāsana or Vedantic meditation: After reflection, the answer will come, which itself is the mediation. The question "Who am I?" originates in the intellectual mind but not so the answer.
Ātma sākṣātkāra or realization: Enlightenment.
The Truth is not Far Away
It is hard to see details, to observe when the distance surpasses our ability to see....
Too great of a distance is an obstacle; however, too great a proximity makes sight impossible. It is impossible to see our own eyelashes, our own eyelids....
Jñāna—yoga teaches that the obstacle to seeing God is of the second kind. With distance we can do such things as build airplanes, boats, and spaceships, but, in proximity, it becomes impossible.
Neither God nor the Truth are distant; the problem is us and our difficulty to capture the near, the intimate.
Between you and the Truth there is no distance. It is closer to you, than even you yourself....
Therefore, jñāna—yoga is not about overcoming the distance in order to see God but about overcoming the closeness, which can be a difficult obstacle to overcome because it hides the mystery, transforming it into the obviously obvious and painting it with the gray colors of the ordinary. It happens that we only become aware of the value of situations, places, and people when we are away from them, when they are distant from us.... It happens too with God, Truth, life and even — with ourselves....
The obvious is ignored; it loses value, and we lose interest. The ordinary is lost in the proximity of our horizons.... It tends to disappear....
Jñāna—yoga reminds us not to forget, not to forget that there is no distance, that you are what you intend to find.... because you forgot, you will start to look.... Far away, in some future or in some other place.... In other words, everywhere but where you are.
You will begin to make efforts, to have ambitions for something to happen, forgetting that God, Love, Truth, and the Self are obviously occurring, and that nothing else extraordinary can happen... and you abandon the here, the now, the Self, the Reality....
Jñāna—yoga is not for giving information or for teaching.... It only wishes to remind.... to remind you not to forget....