28.02.2024
Swami Durgananda, Yoga-Acharya of the Sivananda Ashram in Orléans, France speaks about the four paths of yoga during the online evening satsang.
This should be a beautiful topic for tonight. It is a text from Swami Sivananda which is called „Synthesis of Yoga“. It is an excerpt from his book “All about Hinduism”. Let’s see what Swami Sivananda has to say:
„Some maintain the practice of Karma Yoga alone. It is the only mean for salvation.“
Karma Yoga, the path of selfless service.
„Some others hold that devotion to the divine is the only way to release, to liberation.“
Bhakti Yoga, the path of devotion to the Divine.
„Some believe that the path of wisdom, Jnana Yoga, is the sole way to attain liberation. And then there are still others who hold that all three paths are equally efficacious to bring about perfection and freedom.“
Actually wondering now why is he only talking about three when there are four paths? For this is because Raja Yoga has many elements of the other three in it. Total mind control basically is the state of absolute wisdom then also. But it is hidden within the various phases of Raja Yoga. And actually the first two parts of Raja Yoga are basically all about about ethical behavior. But what is this ethical behavior worth if it’s not put into action. There is an indirect advice for Karma Yoga hidden.
All three parts are equally efficient about to bring perfection. This is what the Yoga of Synthesis, sometimes also called „Integral Yoga“, means.
And it is basically also what the scripture of the Bhagavad Gita presents.One of the most classically and important scriptures of Yoga. 18 chapters, the first six are mainly dedicated to Karma Yoga, selfless service. The next 6 mainly to Bhakti Yoga, emotion and love. And the last six mainly to Jnana Yoga, the Yoga of Wisdom, Yoga of knowledge.
Swami Sivananda also himself was a great believer in the efficiency of following synthesis, using all parts.
But this does not mean that one path alone cannot lead to ultimate peace. Each path in itself is complete. Swami Sivananda will explain in a moment why it’s safer to practice Yoga of Synthesis, using the methods of all ways.
The example which is often given is this:
If you want to climb a mountain, then you might have various pathways. There might be one path which is more steep, but shorter. Then a path which is not so steep, but it’s very exposed to the burning sunlight. The third path might be neither so steep and also shaded by trees, but it’s much longer. So which means each path has its own characteristics. But finally they will all lead up to the same mountain top. Once we are on top, it doesn’t matter from which direction we came. Because the view is the same.
Someone who realized the Self by Karma Yoga will not have a different state after Self realization as someone who realized the Self through Bhakti Yoga or any other Yoga.
Which means all the methods, the practices, can be quite different. But once the goal is reached we realize our true nature as consciousness of pure love.
It is the same state for all paths. Like the view from the mountain top is the same no matter where we came from.
OK, now I continue reading why Swami Sivananda, the Bhagavad Gita and many others advice us to use all paths:
“This human being is a strange, complex mixture of will, feeling and thought.
He wills to possess the objects of his desires. He has emotion and so he feels. He has reason and so he thinks, and applies reason.
In some, the emotional element may prey upon the rate, while in some others the rational element may dominate. Just as well, feeling and thought are not distinct and separate, so also work – Karma Yoga – devotion – Bhakti Yoga – and knowledge -Jnana Yoga – are not exclusive of one another.“
Not in this text, but often in other texts Swami Sivananda called it “Develop equally the head the hand and the heart.”
The head, the intellect, Jnana Yoga. You could also put most of Raja Yoga in there. The heart, of course, Bhakti Yoga or devotion. And the hand: we want to do actions, so Karma Yoga.
We don’t want to have only one of these parts well developed. We don’t want a good head but a weak hand. Or a strong heart with a weak head. No, no. We want to have all of it.
“Continually practicing the Yoga of Synthesis is the most suitable and potent form of Sadhana.“
Sadhana is the spiritual practice.
„In the mind, there are three defects. And they are called mala or impurity. Vikshepa or tossing. And Avarana or veil.“
This is not an invention by Swami Sivananda. In the yogic philosophy and the yogic literature they are the so-called
„Impurities of the mind”.
Mala, the impurity of the mind. Vikshepa, the tossing of the mind. And Avarana, the veil.
Think of a lake. And now, if the water of the lake is dirty. This would be Mala. Impurity of the mind. In other words, when we have like negative thoughts. The water is dirty and we can’t see till the bottom of the lake.
Vikshepa, the tossing off the mind. This is when there are many waves. Someone is constantly throwing stones into it or the wind blows and there are many waves, many ripples.
So even if the water is not dirty, we still cannot see in the bottom of the lake if the water is very agitated. So this is Vikshepa.
And Avarana, veiling of the mind. Now visualize the water is OK, so it’s rather clean and also it’s quite steady. It’s quite calm. But some kind of moss or algues are growing on the surface of the lake and they form a covering, they form a veil. Same thing. We can’t see to the bottom of the lake.
The bottom of the lake resembles our inner being, our inner and higher consciousness.
So any of the three will block us from seeing it.
Why does Swami Sivananda bring these three impurities in now in context with the four paths of Yoga? Because each path is sufficient for one of it.
Mala and Karma Yoga
Mala or impurity, or like the pollution of the water, should be removed by the practice of Karma Yoga, selfless service.
What pollutes our thoughts often is when we desperately want something out of our actions. And then also the ego is strongly connected to that. That’s ME doing that. This can very much move the mind, it can make it rather negative. Or it can make it just desire-driven and arrogant.
Not that we we are bad in that way, but it’s just a natural tendency of the mind. And Karma Yoga is a very efficient way to work against that. We accept something. We consider something our duty and we do it. Whether we like it or not. If we like the tasks that we have to do, it’s even better. If we don’t like it, well, we learn to like it because we see it as our duty.
In one of our Teacher Training Courses (TTC) once we had a participant and she was already very close with us so, which means she had already taken many courses. She had come to the centres many times, so she knew quite well how we function.
And then when finally she had the occasion to do the teachers training and she was very happy. So on the way of driving to the TTC, to the place where the teacher training was held, she was thinking on the long drive. „How will it be?“ And then she also knew there will be one hour of Karma Yoga every day in the TTC and it is pretty much like allocated at random.
Nowadays we basically let it be a choice to choose the Karma Yoga from the possibilities. For instance cooking, cleaning, vacuuming, gardening and so on.
But in the past actually most of the time we had a list of names and we had a list of tasks and then we pretty much randomly allocated them to our students.
So she was sitting in the car and she was thinking. What would be a nice Karma Yoga for her.
Then actually she thought she will be OK with pretty much everything. She thought: „The only thing I really don’t want to do is (because I have a big family and they always produce a lot of laundry) ironing. This is the only thing I really, really would not want to do.“
What do you think she got as Karma yoga? Yes. Ironing. And not that we knew her story and then we thought “OK, now let’s teach her a lesson.” No, no. It happened by “coincidence”.
Anyway, she really, really suffered. But at the same time also, she did not talk to the teachers. Most likely we would have relented and had given her something else, it would have been able to change it around.
But she took the challenge. So in the first two weeks, it was like the most horrible hour every day. It spoiled almost her whole course. And at some point, at some point, she made the jump. She just let go. She said from that moment onwards the ironing became not only bearable, it became very much OK. It was the same task. But the mind now accepted it as something that I have to do, but without a coloring of it, without expectations. One has to come out of it.
And then she discovered something else. When she was ironing, she could very nicely prop her course manual behind the ironing board. And it was a perfect time for her to learn. She got to learn the Ghajananam, the chant which every TTC student has to learn by heart. And she even started to like it very much, the occasion to practice.
Then at the very end of the course, when we gave the diplomas she shared that story with us. Because so far she hadn’t basically told anyone, no one knew that she had this hard time and how it changed. And he said “You know, actually, if I look now back on the whole four weeks of the TTC, I think this was the most important thing I learned.”
So more than any, any lecture, more than any other Asana class. “And also because now I know when I go home, there will be a huge mountain of laundry waiting for me. Doesn’t bother me anymore.“
She had overcame that. This is an example how Karma Yoga can remove negativity. We’re still talking about pollution of the mind, meaning from negative thoughts. Often we really create our negativity. Karma Yoga cleans up the negative mind and brings the ego into perspective.
Vikshepa and Bhakti Yoga
Then Vikshepa, the tossing of the mind. It should be removed by the methods of Bhakti Yoga. Why? Because in Bhakti Yoga we connect with the higher Self but in the form of like seeing the higher Self as, well, you can use the word God. But you can also put it much more abstract, like whatever for you is acceptable to form a relationship with which represents the higher Self.
Because the tossing of the mind is very much because we are restless. We don’t feel accepted. We don’t feel loved. But once we establish a connection with any form of the divine or cosmic consciousness, that’s our safe place. This is where we always will be loved. We will always be accepted. We will never be rejected.
You can also open up. One Bhakta once said that it’s only God to whom you can tell all the secrets of your heart. Otherwise we are reluctant. Or might think that a person will judge me or use it against me, not even someone we normally trust with our deepest secrets.
If you sit in front of your altar, which represents the divine, then there’s love and acceptance. Which means it removes the tossing of the mind. It gives us security, it gives us stability.
Avarana and Jnana Yoga
And then the last one, the veiling of the mind, the moss that is growing on the surface of the lake. The veil should be torn down by practice of Jnana Yoga, the Yoga of wisdom. Removing the wall of ignorance, which blocks us from seeing our true nature as consciousness. It means to push this moss aside, which means establishing our real identity and not allowing it to be veiled by our instruments – body, mind, emotions, and so on.
The Synthesis
Swami Sivananda says that only when these three are applied, self realisation is possible. Now he gives another example for that:
“If you want to see your face clearly in a mirror, you must remove the dirt in the mirror. And then keep it steady. And remove the covering also.
You can see your face clearly in the bottom of the lake only if the turbidity is removed. If the water that is agitated by the wind is rendered still. And if the moss that is lying on the surface is removed. So too is the case with self realisation.
The Yoga of Synthesis alone will bring about integral development. It will develop the head, heart and hand…
Here we have it.
and lead one to perfection. To become harmoniously balanced in all directions is the ideal of any religion or spiritual tradition. This can be achieved by the practice of the Yoga of Synthesis.”
How does this work practically? Basically yes, you choose the practice methods of all paths. But then once you know which one is your favorite – which can actually take a while, it can actually take years. I mean, I don’t want to condition anyone. For some people it’s clear right from the beginning, but we’re also very much conditioned by our upbringing. By like, how society sees things. So it can take a while to, you know, really detect what is our favorite path.
Once this is clear, we do more of that. One more practice of our favorite. And we also practice the other ones but a bit less. We can give a bit priority one, but still keep the basics of the other.
So if someone discovers “Ohh Bhakti Yoga is my path. I like to sit in front of the altar. I like to chant, the spiritual chants, I like to do the Arati light ceremony and so on…“
Then that person does that more. But at the same time also serves a bit. (Karma Yoga) And also develops its power of reason and discrimination as well also (Jnana Yoga). And so then also methods of Raja Yoga: Asanas and Pranayama.
If someone is very active and likes serving and doing, it’s okay to just do it but at the same time it is good to bear in mind „I serve the divine“ – for example – „out of devotion. And also I just don’t become a hyperactive person. I see that as a higher action and I go behind the services to see the cosmic consciousness, the unity and everything. So I am being very active, I like serving, but also I apply the benefits of the others. I also do Pranayama a bit. There’s a bit of devotional practices, studies, a bit spiritual texts as well to have it balanced out.“
So this is how you practically would apply the Yoga of Synthesis.
And in a very beautiful way Swami Sivananda concludes that text by explaining how one connects with the other different methods. They go so well together.
“To behold the one universal self in all beings is Jnana, wisdom. To love this Self is Bhakti , devotion. And to serve the Self, is Karma, action.”
Beautifully said that it is always about the Self, which means our higher Self.
So I read that sentence one more time and it is very inspiring to behold.
“To behold the one universal self in all beings is Jnana, wisdom. To love this Self is Bhakti, devotion. And to serve this Self, is Karma, action.
When the Jnana Yogi attains wisdom he is endowed with devotion and selfless activity.
Karma Yoga, then, is for him a spontaneous expression of his spiritual nature as he sees oneself in all.”
And Swami Sivananda does not make this up. We see that in many examples, in many great Yogis who realized through one path that which got then expressed naturally in the other paths as well.
OK, then this is about someone who is practicing bhakti yoga:
“When the devotee attains perfection and devotion he is possessed of wisdom and activity. For him also Karma Yoga is a spontaneous expression of his divine nature as he beholds the one divine everywhere.”
How does love express itself in service? We love someone and we want to contribute to the well-being of the person. And the highest form of love is basically to love everyone.
It is the same experience as the Jnana Yogi who sees the Self everywhere. And the devotee, the Bhakta who sees the Divine everywhere.
Now what about the Karma Yogi? The Karma Yogi attains wisdom about the devotion when his actions are wholly selfless. Yes, he does every action with love, but he also does not get attached to an action. He feels as an instrument for the universal wills.
Swami Sivananda concludes and says
“The three parts are one in which the three different temperaments emphasize one or the other of its inseparable constituents. They then supply the method by which the self can be seen, loved and served.”
Swami Durgananda concludes with the Om tryambakam, the universal prayer and the Arati, the light ceremony. After that everyone gets a Prasad and the Online Satsang is over.
If you are interested in taking part in one of the (COMPLETELY FREE!) Online Satsangs you can sign up here:
Sivananda Yoga – Online Meditation
The morning Satsang takes place everyday at 06:30 am and lasts until about 07:15 am.
The evening Satsang takes place everyday from 08:00 pm to 09:30 pm.
It is a live transmission from different Sivananda Centres, mostly from Reith bei Kitzbühel in Tyrol, Austria or from the Ashram in Orleans in France.
In the morning we start with chanting spiritual songs, which are meant to envoke devotion. Then the Swamis talk about different topics concerning Yoga, the philosophy and psychology behind it, the anatomy, the effects of Asanas, Pranayama, how to reach Self realisation and so on. Mostly they read from the books written by Swami Sivananda and Swami Vishnudevananda or other Swamis. After the short speech we conclude with the Om Tryambakam and the universal prayer and Arati, the light ceremony.
It is a very joyful, peaceful atmosphere there and even when you’re sitting at home you get sucked into the light and wisdom of the Swamis.
Energielisl 