The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita: Explained By Paramhansa Yogananda, As Remembered By His Disciple, Swami Kriyananda by Paramhansa Yogananda

Author:Paramhansa Yogananda
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 1565892267
Publisher: Crystal Clarity Publishers
Published: 2008-02-04T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Knowledge and Wisdom

(7:1) The Blessed Lord said: O Partha (Arjuna), hear how, by following the path of yoga and absorbing yourself in My consciousness, and taking shelter (wholly) in Me, you will realize Me wholly as I am (both in My Infinite, unmoving Self, and, outwardly, with all My attributes and powers). (Knowing Me thus,) you will transcend every possibility of doubt.

Paramhansa Yogananda was given a word of advice by Bhaduri Mahasaya when he was a boy. He related the episode in the chapter, “The Levitating Saint,” from his Autobiography of a Yogi:

“‘You go often into the silence, but have you developed anubhava [actual perception of God]?’ [The master] was reminding me to love God more than meditation. ‘Do not mistake the technique for the Goal.’”

In the above stanza, Krishna is implying the same truth as that contained in the well-known saying, “The flower falls off when the fruit appears.” Yoga implies more than a set of practices: The word itself means union, which is the end of all spiritual practices and the state of perfect realization.

(7:2) I am about to unfold truth to you in its entirety, both as theory and as intuitively realized experience. (Armed with this understanding,) there will be nothing left for you to know in all the world.

An amazing aspect of omniscience is that its perception truly encompasses everything. It is “center everywhere, circumference nowhere”—the knowledge of everything from within, and at the same time from without—in other words, in both its theoretical and experiential reality. As Jesus Christ put it, “The very hairs on your head are all numbered” (Matt. 10:30).

The Bhagavad Gita, amazingly also, includes all three completely: the theory as to why one should seek God; the methods—those which are best, those which are indirect, and those which are least praiseworthy—for finding Him; and also the nature of the goal itself.

All these things Krishna now promises to reveal.

(7:3) Among thousands of men, scarcely one strives for spiritual perfection; and among those blessed ones who seek Me, scarcely one (out of many thousands) perceives Me as I am.

These words might seem to sound a discouraging note for the earnest seeker, who doesn’t want to think his chances of success are all but non-existent! This passage should be understood also, however, in the larger context of the many planes of existence through which the soul must pass to reach absolute perfection. Few there are indeed who, from the earth’s low valley, make it directly to the top of the mountain. Most souls climb by degrees. Once they rise above the ordinary astral heavens, spurning its comparatively “gaudy” delights, they ascend to higher regions—Hiranyaloka, for example, on which Yogananda’s guru told him he had been born as a savior (see the chapter, “The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar,” in Autobiography of a Yogi).

We saw earlier that the path to God in no way resembles a barren desert, over which weary travelers trudge until at last they reach the oasis of God-vision. Most seekers—even those who are highly advanced—go from earth to higher regions for further enlightenment.

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