May 2008

Committee Area

Extract from Yoga Scotland Magazine May 2008

Gyana Yoga — The Path to the Known

‘Knowledge is a veil on the known’

By Michael McCann

We live in a world where, without precedent, knowledge is everywhere, carried by a Web the threads of which seek out, inexorably, the last citadels of untarnished consciousness. But what is the value of this knowledge? And is it the same as Wisdom, or indeed does it lead to Wisdom?

Sri Ramanana Maharshi, the sage of Aninachala⁽¹⁾, was once asked if he knew everything; although as the realised Self, it could he safely assumed he did in fact know everything, his telling reply was- “everything worth knowing”⁽²⁾. He could easily have been looking ahead into this age of information, with all too often nothingness at its centre. He was also making a distinction between knowledge and Wisdom. For Wisdom is “the one thing needful”, and has been traditionally known as the heart of knowledge, and the very light of which knowledge is but a reflection.

What is the distinction between knowledge and Wisdom? Knowledge is information received by the ordinary discursive mind. Wisdom is the higher knowledge which comes of intuition by the Intellect. The word “Intellect” is used here in the sense of the organ of direct knowing, intuition and illumination. In the language of gnosis, this is variously described as the “eye of the heart”, the “Wisdom faculty”,"the higher mind” ,“the third eye”, ”the Agya Chakra”⁽³⁾ or the “Buddhi”⁽⁴⁾.

We can of course grow wise with age, experience or through reading books by sages, but the ultimate Wisdom is direct knowledge of our residual, authentic identity- the higher Self. This is what is meant by Gyana, and with it comes self-realisation and liberation (moksha). “The substance of knowledge is knowledge of the Substance”.

Wisdom is of course an aspect of Brahman, whose nature is Sat- Chit -Ananda (Being- Knowledge - Bliss). The knowledge referred to here being Wisdom of the highest order- “the Truth that sets one free”. By virtue of Atman’s kinship with Brahman, it follows that the pearl of wisdom resides at the very depths of our being.
If the pearl of wisdom is within us, why is it so difficult to find? Why, in the manner of the musk deer in the fable, do we continue to search the world for a perfume that all the time wafts from within?

Various reasons are given for this innate blindness - including the effect of the Fall, Original Sin, primordial ignorance (avidya), the darkening effect of Kali Yuga⁽⁵⁾, the downward pull of matter, and Maya (the veil of illusion). Whatever the reason, all the spiritual traditions identify the ego as being at the root of the problem. While the ego has its undeniable role, it deludes us into thinking that it is a free agent, the “doer”, rather than an illusory extension, on the material plane, of the spiritual substratum that is the Self. Patanjali describes this condition as ”asmita” -the identification of the Purusha (Self) with its vehicle (the ego). In the words of Paramahamsa Satyananda,” it is as if a prince in the garb of a beggar is identifying himself with the role he is playing”.⁽⁶⁾ When this happens, we are gradually hypnotised into a denial of the very existence of the Self this is Maya in the real sense. It is as if to live in world of ice and yet to deny the existence of water.

The four main paths (marga) of Yoga- Raja, Karma, Bhakti and Gyana recognise that we need a turnaround in consciousness, but deal with it in different ways. For example, Bhakti Yoga will not seek to nullify the ego at root, but will sustain it to enjoy the love of the Divine (in a process that will inexorably lead to nullification in union eventually). In the words of Ramakrishna “I would rather taste honey than be honey”. Karma Yoga will use
the ego to act in the world, but will erode the sense of ”doership” in a spirit of sacrifice (Yajna). Raja Yoga will employ many methods to still the mind and lose the ego in union with the Self None of these methods are exclusive, and all awaken higher wisdom as a matter of course. What distinguishes Gyana Yoga is that direct knowledge of the Self is the path itself.

While it has its roots in philosophy, in Advaita Vedanta⁽⁷⁾ it comes as a surprise to learn that Gyana Yoga is not abstract philosophy. Rather than an intellectual game, it is the relentless path of self-enquiry as a means of self-realisation. Gyana Yoga is a process of “hunting the I”. We begin with that hubristic sense of “I”, so natural and ”real” to all of us, and then we begin to enquire into its nature and its very authenticity. We continue with this process until we realise that the ego is not “I”, but a superimposition on the Self.

According to Sri Ramana Maharshi, the “I thought” is the first thought to arise, but instead of it going outwards to embrace the world, it must be turned in upon itself to discover its source. ”By steady and continuous investigation into the nature of the mind, the mind is transformed into that to which the “I” refers; and that is in fact the Self". Interestingly the mind investigates itself, until “this self investigation annihilates it, just as the stick used to stir a funeral pyre is itself finally burnt.⁽⁸⁾

As Ramana Maharshi was a Gyana Yogi on an avataric scale⁽⁹⁾, it is important to mention his method of Self-enquiry (vichara).⁽¹⁰⁾. The sage advocated that we sit and fix our entire attention at a point just to the right of the heart centre (where he located the physical location of the Self) and to continually ask “Who am I?” As thoughts arise, one should not be drawn by them, but ask: “what is the source of this thought? To whom is it happening? To me- but who am I?” As each thought disappears when so scrutinised, it returns to the “I thought”. There is no ultimate answer to “Who am I”, as “it dissolves the subjective, ”l thought” which is the parent of all thoughts, and comes from an area where thought is not. Arthur Osborne comments “no answer the ego can give can be right. The Self transcends thought and words. The ego is seeking what is before its origin and beyond its source, and the answer will not be grasped by it but will grasp and devour it” As we practise this method of self enquiry, a current of primordial awareness awakens in the heart, “a feeling of the essential “I”in the heart, who is the universal Self, unaffected by good or ill fortune. The use of this vichara destroys the “I am the doer illusion”.⁽¹¹⁾

This is by no means an easy process, and the ways in which the ego can fool us are legion, but Ramana Maharshi maintained it was a direct path of Gyana Yoga for the seekers of this Age of Kith. Arthur Osborne makes the valid point that it requires no theoretical doctrine, no belief system, no powers, nor cosmology⁽¹²⁾
It is unadorned and existential, not unlike, one may conjecture, Zen, the methods of Krishnamurti ⁽¹³⁾,or the dharanas of Vijnana Bhairava Tantra.⁽¹⁴⁾

And yet, paradoxically after all the effort, comes the realisation that no effort was needed in the first place, because the Self is always present to us anyway! “Self-enquiry leads directly to self-realisation by removing the obstacles which make you think that the Self is not already realised” Thus, the way of Gyana Yoga may involve doing and/or not-doing, as the case may be. Twilight (sandhya) language⁽¹⁵⁾ is use to express this koanic enigma- “Yoga is not to be obtained by trying; neither is it to be attained by not trying”; or, ”The highest Wisdom consists in this, to know how that which is unattainable may be reached, or attained, unattainably.⁽¹⁶⁾

The method of Gyana Yoga is best summed up in the Taoist statement: “In the pursuit of learning every thy something is acquired. In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped⁽¹⁷⁾ In the words of Swami Paramahamsa Niranjananda
“this losing is possibly the most important aspect of Gyana, which is opposite to what the word Gyana implies⁽¹⁸⁾. Saint John of the Cross, ”the doctor of emptiness”, would have agreed- “to come to the knowledge of all, desire the knowledge of nothing”. ⁽¹⁹⁾

^Notes:
(1) Ramana Maharshi,(1879-1950).Supreme gyana yogi who taught the direct path of self-enquiry
⁽²⁾ Page 10. RamanaAninachala, by Arthur Osborne
⁽³⁾ Sixth spinal chakra, associated with wisdom
⁽⁴⁾ Another name for the wisdom faculty; etymologically, means “awakened” from ignorance or nescience.
⁽⁵⁾ The present age; the age of iron, of darkness, according to Hindu cosmological doctrine;
⁽⁶⁾ Page 99, Four Chapters on Freedom, by Paramahamsa Satyananda
⁽⁷⁾ Principal stream of Indian philosophy which teaches that everything is ultimately “one”, imbued by the light and consciousness of the Divine.
⁽⁸⁾ The Maharshi and the Path of Knowledge, by T.M.P Mahadevan; Vol. l, October W64,The Mountain Path
⁽⁹⁾ Avatar- “one who descends”, a Divine incarnation such as Krishna; other great souls descend to restore or revivify in modern context, ancient dharma- in this case, the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta.
⁽¹⁰⁾ Vichara means ”enquiry”- in this case “who am I?”. (11) page 40. Ramana Arunachala, by Arthur Osborne (12) page 35. Ramana Anmachala, byArthur Osborne
⁽¹³⁾ Indian sage who advocated pure awareness in the moment. stripped off the burden of theory, doctrine, or philosophy
⁽¹⁴⁾ Tantric Scripture of Kashmir, which contains 112 meditational techniques that feature everyday phenomena as their focus
⁽¹⁵⁾ Shadowy language clothed in paradox and cryptic allusion to conceal truths that are either too powerful or profound for common consumption.
⁽¹⁶⁾ page 105.’Sacred writings of Nicholas of Cusa”; Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464) was a Christian esoterist
⁽¹⁷⁾⁾ Verse 48,TaoTe Ching of LaoTsu
⁽¹⁸⁾ Page 76,Yoga Darshan, by Paramahamsa Niranjananada
⁽¹⁹⁾ Saint John of the Cross, Catholic mystic.

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