Yoga Private Lessons

Verse 7.6 Vijnana Yoga (Prakriti)

etad-yonini bhutani sarvanity upadharaya 
aham krtsnasya jagatah prabhavah pralayas tatha

My higher and lower Prakriti are the source of birth of all beings. Know for certain that, I am the source and dissolution of the whole universe.

The lower and higher, dual nature of prakriti both arise from the Supreme Lord. All things moving and stationary have prakriti for their origin and are included in one of these two prakriti. Of these the inert lower nature evolves as a physical body.

The higher and lower natures of prakriti are constituted as the Lord’s dual nature in the material existence. This dual nature consists of chit or sentient and achit insentient categories. They are the basis and foundation for all existence, sentient and insentient. This is the divine power which designs and models manifested beings according to qualifications and needs, from the highest heavenly angel, to a blade of grass.

The sentient prakriti with an eternal spark from the Supreme Lord being the atma or soul enters into all sentient beings as the witness and experiencer. Both these two prakritis are manifested from the Supreme Lord, and all living entities are subject to them. He is the originating cause from which each and everything effectively comes into existence. He is the ultimate cause of all creation entirely and He is also the sovereign cause of the periodic dissolution of all creation as well.

(Source: holygita)

That man of action is free from karma who receives with contentment whatever befalls him, who is poised above the dualities, who is devoid of jealousy or envy or enmity, and who looks equally on gain and loss.

- Bhagavad Gita IV:22

“You are the first among the gods, the timeless spirit, the resting place of all beings. You are the knower and the thing which is known. You are the final home; with your infinite form you pervade the cosmos.”

Bhagavad Gita 11:38

(via rbalmoja)

Verse 5.5 Vairagya Yoga

yat sankhyaih prapyate sthanam tad yogair api gamyate 
ekam sankhyam ca yogam ca yah pasyati sa pasyati

One who knows what is achieved by Karma Yoga while renouncing its results, is the same as that by Jnana Yoga, knows the truth that transcendental knowledge and the performance of action (Karma Yoga) are one.

Both activities lead to the same result, atma tattva or realisation of the soul. This is achieved by both the follower of karma yoga or performing of activities without attachment to the rewards, as well as Jnana Yoga or seeking transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Lord: both attain the result of atma tattva. Thus, the one who sees by careful analysis, that because both paths yield the same fruit they are actually the same, is situated in true knowledge.

(Source: holygita)

Verse 4.36 Jnana Yoga (Ocean of Misery)

api ced asi papebhyah sarvebhyah papa-krttamah 
sarvam jnana-plavenaiva vrjinam santarisyasi

 Even if thou art the most sinful of all sinners, yet thou shalt verily cross all oceans of miseries by the raft of knowledge.

The material world is often times regarded as an ocean of miseries. However expert a swimmer one may be, the struggle for existence here is very severe. Transcendental knowledge of the Supreme Personality, is the path to liberation from this misery. The boat of God consciousness is very simple, but at the same time the most sublime.

To emphasise the power of spiritual knowledge Lord Krishna specifically states in this verse that even the most incorrigible sinner is redeemed if, after changing his ways, he acquires and applies spiritual knowledge in his consciousness.The words api ced mean even if, indicates the powerful potency of this spiritual knowledge which can save the most incorrigible sinner, provided he receives it from a Spiritual Master and becomes fixed in divine consciousness.

(Source: holygita)

Verse 4.35 Jnana Yoga (Constant Remembrance)

yaj jnatva na punar moham evam yasyasi pandava 
yena bhutany asesani draksyasy atmany atho mayi

Knowing that eternal knowledge, thou shalt not ever be deluded again, O Arjuna; thou shalt understand that all living beings are in the Supreme Soul, that is in Me.

All living entities, as separate parts of the Supreme, have come here with a purpose. Having forgotten that purpose, since time immemorial, they keep coming back as men, animals, demigods, etc.  But when one is engaged in transcendental service in God consciousness, one becomes at once liberated from this illusion. Such pure knowledge can only be acquired from a bona fide spiritual master. Perfect knowledge is that all living entities’ souls are part of the Supreme Soul. They are deluded by the material energy, imagining themselves to have a separate identity, thus becoming forgetful of of their true destination and Home. Such delusion gets lifted whence one comes into God Consciousness, and get on the path of liberation. This is confirmed in the Bhagavatam: muktir hitvanyatha-rupam svarupena vyavasthitih. Liberation means to be situated in eternal God Consciousness (constant remembrance), as His servant.

(Source: holygita)

Verse 4.29 Jnana Yoga (Pranayam)

apane juhvati pranam prane ‘panam tathapare 
pranapana-gati ruddhva pranayama-parayanah 
apare niyataharah pranan pranesu juhvati

 There are others who sacrifice the outgoing breath in the incoming, and the incoming in the outgoing, restraining the courses of the outgoing and the incoming breaths, and remain solely absorbed in the control of the breath.

The type of yoga for controlling the breathing process is known as pranayama, and is the fourth step of Patanjali’s system of Yoga. These breathing exercises are performed for controlling the senses in preparation for spiritual realization. The practice involves enabling simultaneous passage of air in opposite directions. As the apana air goes downward, the prana air goes up. The pranayama-yogi practices breathing the opposite way until the currents are neutralized into a puraka equilibrium. Similarly, when the exhaled breath is offered to the inhaled breath, it is called recaka. Stopping of both air currents is called kumbhaka-yoga. 

A God conscious person, however, being always situated in the transcendental remembrance and devotion of the Lord, automatically controls his senses. A God conscious person begins from the transcendental stage, and remains constantly in that consciousness. Therefore, there is no falling down, and ultimately he enters into the abode of the Lord, without having to take recourse to these complex breathing exercises, which can actually do bodily and mental harm if done without correct guidance.

(Source: holygita)