Why Jnana Yoga Does NOT Necessarily Have to Be Associated with Hindu Religion
Jnana Yoga - The Path of Philosophical Discrimination
Parikia, Paros Island, Greece, March 10th, 2020.
Salaroche


The following is a short explanation of one of the ways in which the discipline of Jnana Yoga can be pursued independently of any religious beliefs. This is the way I followed that discipline first, during an intensive, daily, three-year immersion I underwent from 1989 to 1992 and, second, with a milder intensity ever since.

The two main methods prescribed in Jnana Yoga are that of Shankaracharya and that of Ramana Maharshi, the two main exponents of that discipline. Shankaracharya’s method is “Neti, neti” (not this, not that) and Ramana’s is “Who am I?” Both those methods imply negating our present day-to-day identities so that, in so doing, our eternal identity may eventually reveal itself.

I wholly embraced Ramana’s method, but was also highly influenced and encouraged in my practice by the teachings of Shankaracharya as he exposed them in his masterpiece “Vivekachudamani”. In neither of those methods, however, is there a need for anyone pursuing them to profess any devotion to any particular saint, guru or deity.

The way I approached Ramana’s method was from a blend of simple philosophical and psychological perspectives, which I applied roughly in the following manner:

First, in reading Mouni Sadhu’s short book “Samadhi: The Super Consciousness of the Future”, I understood that the substance of the energy that flows through my body and mind, that which we all call life, is some sort of all-pervading living consciousness of a much subtler and intelligent nature than the one we may use even when our intellects are engaged in their finest possible functions.

Then, after reading several booklets and a few books clarifying the teachings of Ramana Maharshi, I understood that Ramana’s method was just a very simple but highly effective means to uncover precisely the identity, meaning the “I am”, of that ultra-subtle and ultra-intelligent consciousness-energy, which is the same energy-consciousness that gives life to any conceivable living being.

Finally, I came to the conclusion that in reducing down to zero the validity of everything I may have previously thought I was, that is, in continuously keeping my ego from projecting all those “I am this” or “I am that” images and thoughts onto my consciousness, my mind would eventually be divested of those blinding layers of false identity that had been gradually superimposed over it since the day I was born, and would be exposed, in all its raw nakedness, to the living source whence springs its existence, meaning the source of all life, the Energy-Consciousness whence emanates the existence of everything we may or may not ever perceive, meaning, the “I am” of it all.

In other words, I understood that, at the particular moment in which my mind would be divested of all its false identities, it would be able to regain awareness of its true essence, its true identity, its true “I am”. The wonderful thing is that, when that moment actually came, my mind actually did regain its undeniable identity.

No doubt this may sound like something utterly fantastic and otherworldly to some, but the thing is, once we have gone through that experience and once we have assimilated the impact that such overwhelming realization has had over our minds and lives, we also become clearly aware that such realization is really nothing out of this world, but actually the most natural thing that could ever happen to any of us.

In fact, in hindsight, what appears fantastic and unnatural is the act of living in total ignorance of our own true perpetual identity, ignorance that shrouds our consciousness in different levels of darkness. Once we remove those dark veils, however, we are able to see.

To elaborate a bit further, my practice of Jnana Yoga was basically founded on the following three simple philosophical-psychological premises: First, all life is an expression of the conscious living principle underlying it, but life is an extremely complex and diverse phenomenon, therefore, the living principle it emanates from has to be of a much finer and higher order than anything our intellects may ever be able to conceive.

Second, our egos are formed by all those spurious ideas and perceptions about ourselves that have been imposed across time over the original consciousness-energy that we were initially born with, false layers of identity that keep our conscious minds from being aware of our true essence.

Third, it follows that, in disabling the misleading influence that those false identities have over our day-to-day consciousness, our minds can tap directly onto the true source of our existence, meaning the Universal Principle underlying it, which, by necessity, has to be the same principle underlying the existence of anything in the known or unknown Universe.

That is what I call a purely philosophical and psychological approach to Jnana Yoga, where no devotional rituals are needed and where no adherence to any religious orthodoxy is required.

One question that may arise after reading the previous paragraphs is whether my realization is a unique achievement that can only be attained by a few, and the answer is: Not really.

In my view, anyone equipped with the right understanding of the subject in question and possessing the necessary resolve to engage in the transcendental discipline of their choice, can do it too. No doubt it takes time and determination to attain such realization, but it can certainly be done. If I was able to do it, why not everybody else?

Fortunately, the path I followed is not the only one either. There are a good number of methods to pursue this and it is all a matter of finding the one that most suits our own tendencies, abilities and temperament. In my case, however, Jnana Yoga was exactly what I needed.

In the meantime… the beat goes on…

Salaroche