The Essence of Yoga

Oxford Dictionary…” Wisdom – the capacity of judging rightly in matters relating to life and conduct; soundness of judgment in the choice of means and ends.”

Jnana Yoga represents the path of wisdom and the search of the human being to comprehend the truths of the universe and unite the knowledge of the heart (Bhakti) and the mind (Raja). The wealth of past knowledge and life experience of both the love nature and the intellect of past human beings of spiritual stature provides the nourishment and inspiration for those that follow.

Wisdom is therefore universal in essence and ‘belongs’ to no one or to one system devised by human culture and civilization. We have many great teachers whose wisdom has been encapsulated in the written word and in traditional teachings that survive the centuries and passing trends of thought. Wisdom is never changing. Its simplicity can be applied to our own nature and to the circumstances of life at all times.

We are fortunate in this age to have access to the records preserved so admirably by dedicated scholars. All we have to do is to make personal effort to partake of it. We generally become introduced to the long line of great teachers and Gurus according to our education and cultural background. To explore the wisdom of some of these great human beings is rewarding and expands our comprehension of the variety of applications of wisdom that offer ideas to enrich our lives.

Those of classical Indian origin are less known but amongst those revered in Yogic teachings are Patanjali, Shankara, (Shankaracharya) Vyasa, Vishnu, Krishna, Narayana, Vasishtha, Kapila and Govinda.

In the West we are more familiar with -

Aeschylus – ancient Greek dramatist of the 5th century B.C.

Apollonius of Tyana -1st century A.D. magi, philosopher Aristotle – classical Greek philosopher of 3rd century B.C.

Arnold, Sir Edwin – 19C poet Bacon, Francis – 15 -16 C English Lord Chancellor Blake, William – 19C English mystic poet

Buddha –500 BC founder of Buddhism

Burns, Robert – 18 C Scottish poet

Charlemagne, Charles the Great – 8 C the ruler of much of Europe

Cicero, Marcus Tullius – 2C B.C. Roman orator

Confucius – 5C B.C established classical Chinese philosophy

Dante – 13 C Italian poet

Democritus – 4C B.C. known as ‘the laughing philosopher’

Demosthenes- 4 C B.C. orator of excellence

Descartes – 17C French philosopher, scientist

Eddy, Mary Baker- 19c founder of Christian Science

Emerson, Ralph Waldo –19C American writer, philosopher

Erasmus, Desiderius – 15C scholar, translator of New Testament

Euripides – 5th century BC – classical philosopher

Francis of Assisi, Saint – 13th century spiritual sage

Franklin, Benjamin – 18C U.S. Statesman

Gandhi, Mohamdas Karamchand (Mahatma Gandhi) – in 20th Century

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang – German poet, philosopher

Goldsmith, Oliver – 18C Irish poet

Hermes Trismegistus –unknown origin but works attributed to him translated into Latin by Flemish mathematician and astronomer/astrologer Joannes Stadius 1556

Hippocrates – 4C B.C. ‘the Father of medicine’

Homer – 9C B.C. Greek poet – heroic epic tales

Horace – 1 C B.C. Roman poet Iamblichus – Neo Platonic philosopher, author of the life of Pythagoras

Jefferson, Thomas –18C American President

Jesus – teacher of the Essenes – founder of the Christian faith

Josephus , Flavius – 1 century A.D. Jewish historian

Kant, Immanuel – 18C philosopher, mathematician

Kipling, Rudyard – 19C English author

LaoTse – 600 B.C. Chinese sage

Lincoln, Abraham – 19 C American President

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth -19C American poet

Luther, Martin – 16C founder of Protestant faith

Marcus Aurelius – 2C last of the great Roman Emperors –author ‘Meditations’

Mencius – 372-289 B.C. Chinese philosopher following Confucius

Milton, John – 17C English poet

Mohammed – 5C founder of Islamic faith

Montaigne, Michael –16 C French essayist

More, Sir Thomas –15C English Lord Chancellor

Omar Khayyam – 12C Persian poet, astronomer, sage

Paracelsus – 15C Alchemist, philosopher

Patanjali – 250 B.C author of the classical ‘Aphorisms’ of Yoga

Pericles – 5C B.C.Greek statesman, hero

Plato – 5C B.C Athenian – philosopher

Plotinus – 2 C mystic, philosopher, teacher

Porphyry – 2 C from Tyre, philosopher

Proclus, Lycaeus- 4C A.D. Neoplatonis,sage

Pythagorus – 5C B.C.Greek philosopher, from Samos

Raleigh, Sir Walter – 16C English author- historian

Rhodes, Cecil John – 19C Sth African statesman

Shankaracharya- the revered Indian sage and teacher of the Vedas

Shakespeare -16C playwrite and believed nom- de- plume of Sir Francis Bacon

Socrates – 4C B.C. classical philosopher Solomon, King of Israel – the third King and famed for his wisdom

Solon – 600 B.C. Greek lawgiver- the wise Athenian

Spencer, Herbert – 19C English philosopher

Tagore, Rabindranath Sir – 19C Indian poet

Thompson, Francis – 19C English spiritual poet

Thoreau, Henry David –19C American essayist

Vaughan, Henry- 17C Welsh poet

Virgil, Roman poet- 1st century B.C. Roman poet

Voltaire, Francois –18C French philosopher

Wordsworth,William – 18-19C English Poet Laureate

Zoroaster (Zarathushtra)- 6C B.C. – Persian prophet,founder of Zoroastrianism

Jnana Yoga (sometimes written Gnana) is the traditional path of consciously seeking to acquire knowledge. This may of course be applied to the limitless avenues that exist, but beyond any material sense, is directly related to spiritual matters and the yogi’s desire to experience spiritual truths.

 We start on the path to wisdom by demonstrating and exercising our interest in life.

This leads us to forming opinions about things.

Experience teaches us whether these opinions are founded.

From experience we consolidate thoughts, feelings and possess certain knowledge.

From theoretical knowledge we advance to its employment in our own life experience.

Only then can we draw upon a distillation of our knowledge that exists as wisdom, by dictionary definition the word we use in English for “knowledge rightly applied”.

Beyond our own, our wisdom is capable of growing. We are free to gain inspiration, encouragement and strength from the recorded wisdom and teachings of those who have gone before us as well as continuing to grow by association with others of greater wisdom than our own.

Of course this principle applies to us all, whatever culture or country we happen to have been born on this globe. It is a universal, natural path prescribed by human intelligence.  Jnana Yoga is the defined path of gaining knowledge.

The Western Oxford Dictionary (Shorter) includes in definitions of the verb to know as“The fact of knowing; to recognise; to identify; to distinguish; to get to understand…” and definitions of knowledge as “acquaintance with a fact; state of being aware or informed; ..consciousness of…” It defines wisdom as“capacity of judging rightly in matters relating to life and conduct;” and also “Wisdom – is the second aspect of the Trinity and refers to the deeper or divine vision – spiritual insight or Gnosis.”

 This is the wider perception of knowledge as seen by the yogi Sri Krishna Prem - “Knowledge in all senses, from the purely worldly knowledge to Gnosis – intuitional knowledge of the Buddhi.”

Those who study a particular natural science and expand their knowledge of life can be seen to be living out the principles of Jnana Yoga and is fulfilled by the ultimate realization of truth experienced by the Raja Yogi.

Besides intellectual knowledge we are reminded that there is another centre of knowledge and wisdom resident in our heart. This confirms the natural inter-relationship that must continue to exist between the yogic pathways or Margas.