Hindu Philosophy and Dharma -11

Swami Vivekananda's Complete Works

Karma Yoga,  Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga

Bhakti Yoga

Prayer

“He is the Soul of the Universe; He is Immortal; His
is the Rulership; He is the All–knowing, the All–
pervading, the Protector of the Universe, the Eternal
Ruler. None else is there efficient to govern the world
eternally.
He who at the beginning of creation projected
Brahmâ (i.e. the universal consciousness), and who
delivered the Vedas unto him — seeking liberation I
go for refuge unto that effulgent One, whose light
turns the understanding towards the Âtman.”
Shvetâshvatara–Upanishad, VI. 17–18.

DEFINITION OF BHAKTI

 Bhakti–Yoga is a real, genuine search after the Lord,
a search beginning, continuing, and ending in love. One
single moment of the madness of extreme love to God
brings us eternal freedom. “Bhakti”, says Nârada in his
explanation of the Bhakti–aphorisms, “is intense love
to God”; “When a man gets it, he loves all, hates none;
he becomes satisfied for ever”; “This love cannot be
reduced to any earthly benefit”, because so long as
worldly desires last, that kind of love does not come;
“Bhakti is greater than karma, greater than Yoga,
because these are intended for an object in view, while
Bhakti is its own fruition, its own means and its own
end.”
Bhakti has been the one constant theme of our
sages. Apart from the special writers on Bhakti, such
as Shândilya or Narada, the great commentators on the
Vyâsa–Sutras, evidently advocates of knowledge
(Jnâna), have also something very suggestive to say
about love. Even when the commentator is anxious to
explain many, if not all, of the texts so as to make
them import a sort of dry knowledge, the Sutras, in
the chapter on worship especially, do not lend
themselves to be easily manipulated in that fashion.
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There is not really so much difference between
knowledge (Jnana) and love (Bhakti) as people
sometimes imagine. We shall see, as we go on, that in
the end they converge and meet at the same point. So
also is it with Râja–Yoga, which when pursued as a
means to attain liberation, and not (as unfortunately it
frequently becomes in the hands of charlatans and
mystery–mongers) as an instrument to hoodwink the
unwary, leads us also to the same goal.
The one great advantage of Bhakti is that it is the
easiest and the most natural way to reach the great
divine end in view; its great disadvantage is that in its
lower forms it oftentimes degenerates into hideous
fanaticism. The fanatical crew in Hinduism, or
Mohammedanism, or Christianity, have always been
almost exclusively recruited from these worshippers
on the lower planes of Bhakti. That singleness of
attachment (Nishthâ) to a loved object, without
which no genuine love can grow, is very often also the
cause of the denunciation of everything else. All the
weak and undeveloped minds in every religion or
country have only one way of loving their own ideal,
i.e. by hating every other ideal. Herein is the
explanation of why the same man who is so lovingly
attached to his own ideal of God, so devoted to his
own ideal of religion, becomes a howling fanatic as
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soon as he sees or hears anything of any other ideal.
This kind of love is somewhat like the canine instinct
of guarding the master’s property from intrusion; only,
the instinct of the dog is better than the reason of
man, for the dog never mistakes its master for an
enemy in whatever dress he may come before it.
Again, the fanatic loses all power of judgment.
Personal considerations are in his case of such
absorbing interest that to him it is no question at all
what a man says — whether it is right or wrong; but
the one thing he is always particularly careful to know
is who says it. The same man who is kind, good,
honest, and loving to people of his own opinion, will
not hesitate to do the vilest deeds when they are
directed against persons beyond the pale of his own
religious brotherhood.
But this danger exists only in that stage of Bhakti
which is called the preparatory (Gauni). When Bhakti
has become ripe and has passed into that form which
is called the supreme (Parâ), no more is there any fear
of these hideous manifestations of fanaticism; that soul
which is overpowered by this higher form of Bhakti is
too near the God of Love to become an instrument for
the diffusion of hatred.
It is not given to all of us to be harmonious in the
building up of our characters in this life: yet we know
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that that character is of the noblest type in which all
these three — knowledge and love and Yoga — are
harmoniously fused. Three things are necessary for a
bird to fly — the two wings and the tail as a rudder
for steering. Jnana (Knowledge) is the one wing,
Bhakti (Love) is the other, and Yoga is the tail that
keeps up the balance. For those who cannot pursue all
these three forms of worship together in harmony and
take up, therefore, Bhakti alone as their way, it is
necessary always to remember that forms and
ceremonials, though absolutely necessary for the
progressive soul, have no other value than taking us on
to that state in which we feel the most intense love to
God.
There is a little difference in opinion between the
teachers of knowledge and those of love, though both
admit the power of Bhakti. The Jnanis hold Bhakti to
be an instrument of liberation, the Bhaktas look upon
it both as the instrument and the thing to be attained.
To my mind this is a distinction without much
difference. In fact, Bhakti, when used as an instrument,
really means a lower form of worship, and the higher
form becomes inseparable from the lower form of
realisation at a later stage. Each seems to lay a great
stress upon his own peculiar method of worship,
forgetting that with perfect love true knowledge is
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bound to come even unsought, and that from perfect
knowledge true love is inseparable.
Bearing this in mind let us try to understand what
the great Vedantic commentators have to say on the
subject. In explaining the Sutra
Âvrittirasakridupadeshât (Meditation is necessary, that
having been often enjoined.), Bhagavân Shankara says,
“Thus people say, ‘He is devoted to the king, he is
devoted to the Guru’; they say this of him who
follows his Guru, and does so, having that following as
the one end in view. Similarly they say, ‘The loving
wife meditates on her loving husband’; here also a kind
of eager and continuous remembrance is meant.” This
is devotion according to Shankara.
“Meditation again is a constant remembrance (of the
thing meditated upon) flowing like an unbroken
stream of oil poured out from one vessel to another.
When this kind of remembering has been attained (in
relation to God) all bandages break. Thus it is spoken
of in the scriptures regarding constant remembering as
a means to liberation. This remembering again is of the
same form as seeing, because it is of the same meaning
as in the passage, ‘When He who is far and near is
seen, the bonds of the heart are broken, all doubts
vanish, and all effects of work disappear’ He who is
near can be seen, but he who is far can only be
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remembered. Nevertheless the scripture says that he
have to see Him who is near as well as Him who, is
far, thereby indicating to us that the above kind of
remembering is as good as seeing. This remembrance
when exalted assumes the same form as seeing. . . .
Worship is constant remembering as may be seen
from the essential texts of scriptures. Knowing, which
is the same as repeated worship, has been described as
constant remembering. . . . Thus the memory, which
has attained to the height of what is as good as direct
perception, is spoken of in the Shruti as a means of
liberation. ‘This Atman is not to be reached through
various sciences, nor by intellect, nor by much study
of the Vedas. Whomsoever this Atman desires, by
him is the Atman attained, unto him this Atman
discovers Himself.’ Here, after saying that mere
hearing, thinking and meditating are not the means of
attaining this Atman, it is said, ‘Whom this Atman
desires, by him the Atman is attained.’ The extremely
beloved is desired; by whomsoever this Atman is
extremely beloved, he becomes the most beloved of
the Atman. So that this beloved may attain the
Atman, the Lord Himself helps. For it has been said by
the Lord: ‘Those who are constantly attached to Me
and worship Me with love — I give that direction to
their will by which they come to Me.’ Therefore it is
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said that, to whomsoever this remembering, which is
of the same form as direct perception, is very dear,
because it is dear to the Object of such memory
perception, he is desired by the Supreme Atman, by
him the Supreme Atman is attained. This constant
remembrance is denoted by the word Bhakti.” So says
Bhagavân Râmânuja in his commentary on the Sutra
Athâto Brahma–jijnâsâ (Hence follows a dissertation
on Brahman.).
In commenting on the Sutra of Patanjali, Ishvara
pranidhânâdvâ, i.e. “Or by the worship of the Supreme
Lord” — Bhoja says, “Pranidhâna is that sort of Bhakti
in which, without seeking results, such as sense–
enjoyments etc., all works are dedicated to that
Teacher of teachers.” Bhagavan Vyâsa also, when
commenting on the same, defines Pranidhana as “the
form of Bhakti by which the mercy of the Supreme
Lord comes to the Yogi, and blesses him by granting
him his desires”. According to Shândilya, “Bhakti is
intense love to God.” The best definition is, however,
that given by the king of Bhaktas, Prahlâda:
“That deathless love which the ignorant have for the
fleeting objects of the senses — as I keep meditating
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on Thee — may not that love slip away from my
heart!” Love! For whom? For the Supreme Lord
Ishvara. Love for any other being, however great
cannot be Bhakti; for, as Ramanuja says in his Shri
Bhâshya, quoting an ancient Âchârya, i.e. a great
teacher:
“From Brahmâ to a clump of grass, all things that
live in the world are slaves of birth and death caused
by Karma; therefore they cannot be helpful as objects
of meditation, because they are all in ignorance and
subject to change.” In commenting on the word
Anurakti used by Shandilya, the commentator
Svapneshvara says that it means Anu, after, and Rakti,
attachment; i.e. the attachment which comes after the
knowledge of the nature and glory of God; else a blind
attachment to any one, e.g. to wife or children, would
be Bhakti. We plainly see, therefore, that Bhakti is a
series or succession of mental efforts at religious
realisation beginning with ordinary worship and
ending in a supreme intensity of love for Ishvara.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF ISHVARA

Who is Ishvara? Janmâdyasya yatah — “From
whom is the birth, continuation, and dissolution of the
universe,” — He is Ishvara — “the Eternal, the Pure,
the Ever–Free, the Almighty, the All–Knowing, the
All–Merciful, the Teacher of all teachers”; and above
all, Sa Ishvarah anirvachaniya–premasvarupah — “He
the Lord is, of His own nature, inexpressible Love.”
These certainly are the definitions of a Personal God.
Are there then two Gods — the “Not this, not this,”
the Sat–chit–ânanda, the Existence–Knowledge–Bliss
of the philosopher, and this God of Love of the
Bhakta? No, it is the same Sat–chit–ananda who is also
the God of Love, the impersonal and personal in one.
It has always to be understood that the Personal God
worshipped by the Bhakta is not separate or different
from the Brahman. All is Brahman, the One without a
second; only the Brahman, as unity or absolute, is too
much of an abstraction to be loved and worshipped; so
the Bhakta chooses the relative aspect of Brahman,
that is, Ishvara, the Supreme Ruler. To use a simile:
Brahman is as the clay or substance out of which an
infinite variety of articles are fashioned. As clay, they
are all one; but form or manifestation differentiates
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them. Before every one of them was made, they all
existed potentially in the clay, and, of course, they are
identical substantially; but when formed, and so long
as the form remains, they are separate and different;
the clay–mouse can never become a clay–elephant,
because, as manifestations, form alone makes them
what they are, though as unformed clay they are all
one. Ishvara is the highest manifestation of the
Absolute Reality, or in other words, the highest
possible reading of the Absolute by the human mind.
Creation is eternal, and so also is Ishvara.
In the fourth Pâda of the fourth chapter of his
Sutras, after stating the almost infinite power and
knowledge which will come to the liberated soul after
the attainment of Moksha, Vyâsa makes the remark,
in an aphorism, that none, however, will get the
power of creating, ruling, and dissolving the universe,
because that belongs to God alone. In explaining the
Sutra it is easy for the dualistic commentators to show
how it is ever impossible for a subordinate soul, Jiva,
to have the infinite power and total independence of
God. The thorough dualistic commentator
Madhvâchârya deals with this passage in his usual
summary method by quoting a verse from the Varâha
Purâna.
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In explaining this aphorism the commentator
Râmânuja says, “This doubt being raised, whether
among the powers of the liberated souls is included
that unique power of the Supreme One, that is, of
creation etc. of the universe and even the Lordship of
all, or whether, without that, the glory of the liberated
consists only in the direct perception of the Supreme
One, we get as an argument the following: It is
reasonable that the liberated get the Lordship of the
universe, because the scriptures say, ‘He attains to
extreme sameness with the Supreme One and all his
desires are realised.’ Now extreme sameness and
realisation of all desires cannot be attained without the
unique power of the Supreme Lord, namely, that of
governing the universe. Therefore, to attain the
realisation of all desires and the extreme sameness
with the Supreme, we must all admit that the
liberated get the power of ruling the whole universe.
To this we reply, that the liberated get all the powers
except that of ruling the universe. Ruling the universe
is guiding the form and the life and the desires of all
the sentient and the non–sentient beings. The
liberated ones from whom all that veils His true
nature has been removed, only enjoy the unobstructed
perception of the Brahman, but do not possess the
power of ruling the universe. This is proved from the
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scriptural text, “From whom all these things are born,
by which all that are born live, unto whom they,
departing, return — ask about it. That is Brahman.’ If
this quality of ruling the universe be a quality
common even to the liberated then this text would
not apply as a definition of Brahman defining Him
through His rulership of the universe. The uncommon
attributes alone define a thing; therefore in texts like
— ‘My beloved boy, alone, in the beginning there
existed the One without a second. That saw and felt,
“I will give birth to the many.” That projected heat.’ —
‘Brahman indeed alone existed in the beginning. That
One evolved. That projected a blessed form, the
Kshatra. All these gods are Kshatras: Varuna, Soma,
Rudra, Parjanya, Yama, Mrityu, Ishâna.’ — ‘Atman
indeed existed alone in the beginning; nothing else
vibrated; He thought of projecting the world; He
projected the world after.’ — ‘Alone Nârâyana existed;
neither Brahmâ, nor Ishana, nor the Dyâvâ–Prithivi,
nor the stars, nor water, nor fire, nor Soma, nor the
sun. He did not take pleasure alone. He after His
meditation had one daughter, the ten organs, etc.’ —
and in others as, ‘Who living in the earth is separate
from the earth, who living in the Atman, etc.’ — the
Shrutis speak of the Supreme One as the subject of
the work of ruling the universe. . . . Nor in these
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descriptions of the ruling of the universe is there any
position for the liberated soul, by which such a soul
may have the ruling of the universe ascribed to it.”
In explaining the next Sutra, Ramanuja says, “If you
say it is not so, because there are direct texts in the
Vedas in evidence to the contrary, these texts refer to
the glory of the liberated in the spheres of the
subordinate deities.” This also is an easy solution of the
difficulty. Although the system of Ramanuja admits
the unity of the total, within that totality of existence
there are, according to him, eternal differences.
Therefore, for all practical purposes, this system also
being dualistic, it was easy for Ramanuja to keep the
distinction between the personal soul and the Personal
God very clear.
We shall now try to understand what the great
representative of the Advaita School has to say on the
point. We shall see how the Advaita system maintains
all the hopes and aspirations of the dualist intact, and
at the same time propounds its own solution of the
problem in consonance with the high destiny of divine
humanity. Those who aspire to retain their individual
mind even after liberation and to remain distinct will
have ample opportunity of realising their aspirations
and enjoying the blessing of the qualified Brahman.
These are they who have been spoken of in the
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Bhâgavata Purâna thus: “O king, such are the, glorious
qualities of the Lord that the sages whose only
pleasure is in the Self, and from whom all fetters have
fallen off, even they love the Omnipresent with the
love that is for love’s sake.” These are they who are
spoken of by the Sânkhyas as getting merged in nature
in this cycle, so that, after attaining perfection, they
may come out in the next as lords of world–systems.
But none of these ever becomes equal to God
(Ishvara). Those who attain to that state where there
is neither creation, nor created, nor creator, where
there is neither knower, nor knowable, nor
knowledge, where there is neither I, nor thou, nor he,
where there is neither subject, nor object, nor relation,
“there, who is seen by whom?” — such persons have
gone beyond everything to “where words cannot go
nor mind”, gone to that which the Shrutis declare as
“Not this, not this”; but for those who cannot, or will
not reach this state, there will inevitably remain the
triune vision of the one undifferentiated Brahman as
nature, soul, and the interpenetrating sustainer of both
— Ishvara. So, when Prahlâda forgot himself, he found
neither the universe nor its cause; all was to him one
Infinite, undifferentiated by name and form; but as
soon as he remembered that he was Prahlada, there
was the universe before him and with it the Lord of
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the universe — “the Repository of an infinite number
of blessed qualities”. So it was with the blessed Gopis.
So long as they had lost sense of their own personal
identity and individuality, they were all Krishnas, and
when they began again to think of Him as the One to
be worshipped, then they were Gopis again, and
immediately:
(Bhagavata) — “Unto them appeared Krishna with
a smile on His lotus face, clad in yellow robes and
having garlands on, the embodied conqueror (in
beauty) of the god of love.”
Now to go back to our Acharya Shankara: “Those”,
he says, “who by worshipping the qualified Brahman
attain conjunction with the Supreme Ruler, preserving
their own mind — is their glory limited or unlimited?
This doubt arising, we get as an argument: Their glory
should be unlimited because of the scriptural texts,
‘They attain their own kingdom’, ‘To him all the gods
offer worship’, ‘Their desires are fulfilled in all the
worlds’. As an answer to this, Vyasa writes, ‘Without
the power of ruling the universe.’ Barring the power of
creation etc. of the universe, the other powers such as
Animâ etc. are acquired by the liberated. As to ruling
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the universe, that belongs to the eternally perfect
Ishvara. Why? Because He is the subject of all the
scriptural texts as regards creation etc., and the
liberated souls are not mentioned therein in any
connection whatsoever. The Supreme Lord indeed is
alone engaged in ruling the universe. The texts as to
creation etc. all point to Him. Besides, there is given
the adjective ‘ever–perfect’. Also the scriptures say
that the powers Anima etc. of the others are from the
search after and the worship of God. Therefore they
have no place in the ruling of the universe. Again, on
account of their possessing their own minds, it is
possible that their wills may differ, and that, whilst
one desires creation, another may desire destruction.
The only way of avoiding this conflict is to make all
wills subordinate to some one will. Therefore the
conclusion is that the wills of the liberated are
dependent on the will of the Supreme Ruler.”
Bhakti, then, can be directed towards Brahman, only
in His personal aspect. —
“The way is more difficult for those whose mind is
attached to the Absolute!” Bhakti has to float on
smoothly with the current of our nature. True it is
that we cannot have; any idea of the Brahman which is
not anthropomorphic, but is it not equally true of
everything we know? The greatest psychologist the
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world has ever known, Bhagavan Kapila, demonstrated
ages ago that human consciousness is one of the
elements in the make–up of all the objects of our
perception and conception, internal as well as external.
Beginning with our bodies and going up to Ishvara, we
may see that every object of our perception is this
consciousness plus something else, whatever that may
be; and this unavoidable mixture is what we ordinarily
think of as reality. Indeed it is, and ever will be, all of
the reality that is possible for the human mind to
know. Therefore to say that Ishvara is unreal, because
He is anthropomorphic, is sheer nonsense. It sounds
very much like the occidentals squabble on idealism
and realism, which fearful–looking quarrel has for its
foundation a mere play on the word “real”. The idea of
Ishvara covers all the ground ever denoted and
connoted by the word real, and Ishvara is as real as
anything else in the universe; and after all, the word
real means nothing more than what has now been
pointed out. Such is our philosophical conception of
Ishvara.

SPIRITUAL REALISATION, THE AIM OF BHAKTI–YOGA

To the Bhakta these dry details are necessary only to
strengthen his will; beyond that they are of no use to
him. For he is treading on a path which is fitted very
soon to lead him beyond the hazy and turbulent
regions of reason, to lead him to the realm of
realisation. He, soon, through the mercy of the Lord,
reaches a plane where pedantic and powerless reason
is left far behind, and the mere intellectual groping
through the dark gives place to the daylight of direct
perception. He no more reasons and believes, he
almost perceives. He no more argues, he senses. And is
not this seeing God, and feeling God, and enjoying
God higher than everything else? Nay, Bhaktas have
not been wanting who have maintained that it is
higher than even Moksha — liberation. And is it not
also the highest utility? There are people — and a
good many of them too — in the world who are
convinced that only that is of use and utility which
brings to man creature–comforts. Even religion, God,
eternity, soul, none of these is of any use to them, as
they do not bring them money or physical comfort. To
such, all those things which do not go to gratify the
senses and appease the appetites are of no utility. In
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every mind, utility, however, is conditioned by its own
peculiar wants. To men, therefore, who never rise
higher than eating, drinking, begetting progeny, and
dying, the only gain is in sense enjoyments; and they
must wait and go through many more births and
reincarnations to learn to feel even the faintest
necessity for anything higher. But those to whom the
eternal interests of the soul are of much higher value
than the fleeting interests of this mundane life, to
whom the gratification of the senses is but like the
thoughtless play of the baby, to them God and the
love of God form the highest and the only utility of
human existence. Thank God there are some such still
living in this world of too much worldliness.
Bhakti–Yoga, as we have said, is divided into the
Gauni or the preparatory, and the Parâ or the supreme
forms. We shall find, as we go on, how in the
preparatory stage we unavoidably stand in need of
many concrete helps to enable us to get on; and indeed
the mythological and symbological parts of all religions
are natural growths which early environ the aspiring
soul and help it Godward. It is also a significant fact
that spiritual giants have been produced only in those
systems of religion where there is an exuberant growth
of rich mythology and ritualism. The dry fanatical
forms of religion which attempt to eradicate all that is
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poetical, all that is beautiful and sublime, all that gives
a firm grasp to the infant mind tottering in its
Godward way — the forms which attempt to break
down the very ridge–poles of the spiritual roof, and in
their ignorant and superstitious conceptions of truth
try to drive away all that is life–giving, all that
furnishes the formative material to the spiritual plant
growing in the human soul — such forms of religion
too soon find that all that is left to them is but an
empty shell, a contentless frame of words and
sophistry with perhaps a little flavour of a kind of
social scavengering or the so–called spirit of reform.
The vast mass of those whose religion is like this,
are conscious or unconscious materialists — the end
and aim of their lives here and hereafter being
enjoyment, which indeed is to them the alpha and the
omega of human life, and which is their Ishtâpurta;
work like street–cleaning and scavengering, intended
for the material comfort of man is, according to them,
the be–all and end–all of human existence; and the
sooner the followers of this curious mixture of
ignorance and fanaticism come out in their true
colours and join, as they well deserve to do, the ranks
of atheists and materialists, the better will it be for the
world. One ounce of the practice of righteousness and
of spiritual Self–realisation outweighs tons and tons of
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frothy talk and nonsensical sentiments. Show us one,
but one gigantic spiritual genius growing out of all this
dry dust of ignorance and fanaticism; and if you
cannot, close your mouths, open the windows of your
hearts to the clear light of truth, and sit like children at
the feet of those who know what they are talking
about — the sages of India. Let us then listen
attentively to what they say.

THE NEED OF GURU

Every soul is destined to be perfect, and every
being, in the end, will attain the state of perfection.
Whatever we are now is the result of our acts and
thoughts in the past; and whatever we shall be in the
future will be the result of what we think end do now.
But this, the shaping of our own destinies, does not
preclude our receiving help from outside; nay, in the
vast majority of cases such help is absolutely necessary.
When it comes, the higher powers and possibilities of
the soul are quickened, spiritual life is awakened,
growth is animated, and man becomes holy and
perfect in the end.
This quickening impulse cannot be derived from
books. The soul can only receive impulses from
another soul, and from nothing else. We may study
books all our lives, we may become very intellectual,
but in the end we find that we have not developed at
all spiritually. It is not true that a high order of
intellectual development always goes hand in hand
with a proportionate development of the spiritual side
in Man. In studying books we are sometimes deluded
into thinking that thereby we are being spiritually
helped; but if we analyse the effect of the study of
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books on ourselves, we shall find that at the utmost it
is only our intellect that derives profit from such
studies, and not our inner spirit. This inadequacy of
books to quicken spiritual growth is the reason why,
although almost every one of us can speak most
wonderfully on spiritual matters, when it comes to
action and the living of a truly spiritual life, we find
ourselves so awfully deficient. To quicken the spirit,
the impulse must come from another soul.
The person from whose soul such impulse comes is
called the Guru — the teacher; and the person to
whose soul the impulse is conveyed is called the
Shishya — the student. To convey such an impulse to
any soul, in the first place, the soul from which it
proceeds must possess the power of transmitting it, as
it were, to another; and in the second place, the soul
to which it is transmitted must be fit to receive it. The
seed must be a living seed, and the field must be ready
ploughed; and when both these conditions are
fulfilled, a wonderful growth of genuine religion takes
place. “The true preacher of religion has to be of
wonderful capabilities, and clever shall his hearer be”
— ; and when both of these are
really wonderful and extraordinary, then will a
splendid spiritual awakening result, and not otherwise.
Such alone are the real teachers, and such alone are
Vivekananda – Bhakti Yoga
28 of 67
also the real students, the real aspirants. All others are
only playing with spirituality. They have just a little
curiosity awakened, just a little intellectual aspiration
kindled in them, but are merely standing on the
outward fringe of the horizon of religion. There is no
doubt some value even in that, as it may in course of
time result in the awakening of a real thirst for
religion; and it is a mysterious law of nature that as
soon as the field is ready, the seed must and does
come; as soon as the soul earnestly desires to have
religion, the transmitter of the religious force must and
does appear to help that soul. When the power that
attracts the light of religion in the receiving soul is full
and strong, the power which answers to that attraction
and sends in light does come as a matter of course.
There are, however, certain great dangers in the
way. There is, for instance, the danger to the receiving
soul of its mistaking momentary emotions for real
religious yearning. We may study that in ourselves.
Many a time in our lives, somebody dies whom we
loved; we receive a blow; we feel that the world is
slipping between our fingers, that we want something
surer and higher, and that we must become religious.
In a few days that wave of feeling has passed away,
and we are left stranded just where we were before.
We are all of us often mistaking such impulses for real
Vivekananda – Bhakti Yoga
29 of 67
thirst after religion; but as long as these momentary
emotions are thus mistaken, that continuous, real
craving of the soul for religion will not come, and we
shall not find the true transmitter of spirituality into
our nature. So whenever we are tempted to complain
of our search after the truth that we desire so much,
proving vain, instead of so complaining, our first duty
ought to be to look into our own souls and find
whether the craving in the heart is real. Then in the
vast majority of cases it would be discovered that we
were not fit for receiving the truth, that there was no
real thirst for spirituality.
There are still greater dangers in regard to the
transmitter, the Guru. There are many who, though
immersed in ignorance, yet, in the pride of their
hearts, fancy they know everything, and not only do
not stop there, but offer to take others on their
shoulders; and thus the blind leading the blind, both
fall into the ditch.
— “Fools dwelling in darkness, wise in their own
conceit, and puffed up with vain knowledge, go round
and round staggering to and fro, like blind men led by
the blind.” — (Katha Up., I. ii. 5). The world is full of
Vivekananda – Bhakti Yoga
30 of 67
these. Every one wants to be a teacher, every beggar
wants to make a gift of a million dollars! Just as these
beggars are ridiculous, so are these teachers.

Raja Yoga

PREFACE

SINCE the dawn of history, various extraordinary phenomena
have been recorded as happening amongst human beings.
Witnesses are not wanting in modern times to attest the fact
of such events, even in societies living under the full blaze of
modern science. The vast mass of such evidence is
unreliable, as coming from ignorant, superstitious, or
fraudulent persons. In many instances the so-called miracles
are imitations. But what do they imitate? It is not the sign
of a candid and scientific mind to throw overboard anything
without proper investigation. Surface scientists, unable to
explain the various extraordinary mental phenomena, strive
to ignore their very existence. They are, therefore, more
culpable than those who think that their prayers are answered
by a being, or beings, above the clouds, or than those who
believe that their petitions will make such beings change the
course of the universe. The latter have the excuse of
ignorance, or at least of a false system of education in their
childhood, which has taught them to depend upon such
beings for help, and this dependence has no become a part of
their degenerate nature. The former have no such excuse.
For thousands of years such phenomena have been
investigated, studied, and generalised, the whole ground of
the religious faculty of man has been analysed, and the
practical result is the science of Raja Yoga. Raja Yoga does
not, after the unpardonable manner of some modern
scientists, deny the existence of facts which are very difficult
to explain; on the other hand, it gently, yet in no uncertain
terms, tells the superstitious that miracles and answers to
prayers, and powers of faith, though true as facts, are not
RAJA YOGA vi
rendered comprehensible through the superstitious
explanation of attributing them to the agency of a being, or
beings, above the clouds. It declares to mankind that each
being is only a conduit for the infinite ocean of knowledge
and power that lies behind. It teaches that desires and wants
are in man, that the power of supply is also in man; and that
wherever and whenever a desire, a want, a prayer, has been
fulfilled, it was out of this infinite magazine that the supply
came, and not from any supernatural being. The idea of
supernatural beings may rouse to a certain extent the power
of action in man, but it also brings spiritual decay. It brings
dependence; it brings fear; it brings superstition. It
degenerates into a horrible belief in the natural weakness of
man. There is no supernatural, says the Yogi, but there are in
nature gross manifestations and subtle manifestations. The
subtle are the causes, the gross the effects. The gross can be
easily perceived by the senses; not so the subtle. The
practice of Raja Yoga will lead to the acquisition of the more
subtle perceptions.
All the orthodox systems of Indian philosophy have one
goal in view, the liberation of the soul through perfection.
The method is by Yoga. The word Yoga covers an immense
ground, but both the Sankhya and the Vedantist schools point
to Yoga in some form or other.
The subject of the first lectures in the present book is that
form of Yoga known as Raja Yoga. The aphorisms of
Patanjali are the highest authority and text book on Raja
Yoga. The other philosophers, though occasionally differing
from Patanjali in some philosophical aspect, have, as a rule,
acceded to his method of practice a decided consent. The
first part of this book is comprised of several lectures to
classes delivered by the present writer in New York. The
second part is a rather free translation of the aphorisms
AUTHOR’S PREFACE vii
(Sutras) of Patanjali, with a running commentary. Effort
has been made to avoid technicalities as far as possible, and
to keep the free and easy style of conversation. In the first
part some simple and specific directions are given for the
student who wants to practice, but all such are especially and
earnestly reminded that, with few exceptions, Yoga can only
be safely learned by direct contact with a teacher. If these
conversations succeed in awakening a desire for further
information on the subject, the teacher will not be wanting.
The system of Patanjali is based upon the system of the
Sankhyas, the points of difference being very few.
The two most important differences are, first that
Patanjali admits a Personal God in the form of a first
teacher, while the only God the Sankhyas admit is a nearly
perfected being, temporarily in charge of a cycle. Second,
the Yogis hold the mind to be equally all-pervading with the
soul, or Purusa, and the Sankhyas do not.

THE AUTHOR.

INTRODUCTORY

ALL our knowledge is based upon experience. What we call
inferential knowledge, in which we go from the less general
to the more general, or from the general to the particular, has
experience as its basis. In what are called the exact sciences,
people easily find the truth, because it appeals to the
particular experience of every human being. The scientist
does not tell you to believe in anything, but he has certain
results which come from his own experiences, and reasoning
on those experiences, when he asks us to believe in his
conclusions, he appeals to some universal experience of
humanity. In every exact science there is a universal basis
which is common to all humanity, so that we can at once see
the truth of the fallacy of the conclusions drawn therefrom.
Now, the question is, has religion any such basis or not? I
shall have to answer the question both in the affirmative and
in the negative. Religion, as it is generally taught all over
the world, is said to be based on faith and belief, and, in
most cases, consists only of different sets of theories, and
that is the reason why we find all these various religions
quarrelling with each other. These theories, again, are based
on belief. One man says there is a great Being sitting above
the clouds and governing the whole universe, and he askes
me to believe that, solely on the authority of his assertion. In
the same way I may have my own ideas, which I am asking
others to believe, and if they ask a reason, I cannot supply
them with any. This is why religion and metaphysical
philosophy have a bad name nowadays. Every educated
man seems to say: “Oh, these religions are only bundles of
 
theories without any standard to judge them by, each man
preaching his own pet ideas.” At the same time I must tell
you that there is a basis of universal belief in religion,
governing all these different theories, and all the varying
ideas of different sects of men in different countries. Going
to the basis of them we find that they also are based upon
universal experiences.
In the first place I will ask you to analyse all the various
religions of the world. You will find that these are divided
into two classes, those with a book, and those without a
book. Those with a book are the strongest, and have the
largest number of followers. Those without books have
mostly died out, and the few new ones have very small
followings. Yet, in all of them we find one consensus of
opinion, that the truths they teach are the results of the
experiences of particular persons. The Christian asks you to
believe in his religion, to believe in Christ, and to believe in
Him as the incarnation of God, to believe in a God, in a soul,
and in a better state of that soul. If I ask him for reasons he
says, “No, it is my belief.” But if you go to the fountain
head of Christianity you will find that it is based upon
experience. Christ said He saw God; the disciples said they
felt God; and so forth. Similarly, in Buddhism, it is
Buddha’s experience—He experienced certain truths, saw
them, came in contact with them, and preached them to the
world. So with the Hindus—in their book the writers, who
are called Rishis, or sages, declare that they have
experienced certain truths, and these they preach. Thus it is
clear that all the religions of the world have been built upon
that one universal and adamantine foundation of all our
knowledge—direct experience. The teachers all saw God;
they all saw their own souls, they saw their eternity, they
saw their future, and they saw what they preached. Only
 there is this difference, that in most of these religions,
especially in modern times, a peculiar claim is put before us,
and that claim is that these experiences are impossible at the
present day; they were only possible with a few men, who
were the first founders of the religions that subsequently
bore their names. At the present time these experiences have
become obsolete, and therefore whe have now to take
religion on belief. This I entirely deny. If there has been
one case of experience in this world in any particular branch
of knowledge it absolutely follows that this experience has
been possible millions of times before, and will be repeated
eternally. Uniformity is the rigorous law of nature; what
once happened can happen always.
The teachers of the science of Yoga, therefore, declare
that religion is not only based upon the experiences of
ancient times, but that no man can be religious until he has
had the same perceptions himself. Yoga is the science which
teaches us to get these perceptions. It is useless to talk about
religion until one has felt it. Why is there so much
disturbance, so much fighting and quarrelling in the name of
God? There has been more bloodshed in the name of God
than for any other cause, and the reason is that people never
went to the fountain head; they were content only to give a
mental assent to the customs of their forefathers, and wanted
others to do the same. What right has a man to say he has a
soul if he does not feel it, or that there is a God if he does not
see Him? If there is a God we must see Him, if there is a
soul we must perceive it; otherwise it is better not to believe.
It is better to be an outspoke atheist than a hypocrite. The
modern idea, on the one hand, with the “learned,” is that
religion and metaphysics, and all search after a Supreme
Being, is futile; on the other hand, with the semi-educated,
the idea seems to be that these things really have no basis,
 
that their only value consists in the fact that they are strong
motive powers for doing good to the world. If men believe
in a God, they may become good, and moral, and so make
good citizens. We cannot blame them for holding such
ideas, seeing that all the teaching these men get is simply to
believe in an eternal rigmarole of words, without any
substance behind them. They are asked to live upon words;
can they do it? If they could, I should not have the least
regard for human nature. Man wants truth, wants to
experience truth for himself, to grasp it, to realise it, to feel it
wihtin his heart of hearts; then alone, declare the Vedas, will
all doubts vanish, all darkness be scattered, and all
crookedness be made straight. “Ye children of immortality,
even those who live in the highest sphere, the way is found;
there is a way out of all this darkness, and that is by
perceiving Him Who is beyond all darkness, and there is no
other way.”
The science of Raja Yoga proposes to put before
humanity a practical and scientifically worked-out method of
reaching this truth. In the first place, every science must
have its own method of investigation. If you want to
become an astronomer, and sit down and cry “Astronmoy,
Astronmoy!” it will never come to you. The same with
chemistry. A certain method must be followed. You must
go to the laboratory, take the different substance, mix them
up, compound them, experiment with them, and out of that
will come a knowledge of chemistry. If you want to be an
astronomer you must go to the observatory, take a telescope,
study the stars and planets, and then you will become an
astronomer. Each science must have its own methods. I
could preach you thousands of sermons, but they would not
make you religious, until you first practiced the method.
These are the truths of the sages of all countries, of all ages,
 men pure and unselfish, who had no motive but to do good
to the world. They all declare that they have found some
truth higher than that the senses can bring to us, and they
challenge verification. They say to you, take up the method
and practise honestly, and then, if you do not find this higher
truth, you will have the right to say that there is no truth in
the claim, but before you have done that, you are not rational
in denying the truth of these assertions. So we must work
faithfully, using the prescribed methods, and light will come.
In acquiring knowledge we make use of generalisation,
and generalisation is based upon observation. We first
observe facts, and then we generalise, and then we draw our
conclusions or principles. The knowledge of the mind, of
the internal nature of man, of though, can never be had until
we have the power of first observing the facts that are going
on within. It is very easy to observe facts in the external
world, and many thousand instruments have been invented to
observe every point of nature, but in the internal world we
find no instrument to help us. Yet we know we must
observe in order to have a real science. Without a proper
analysis, any science will be hoepless, mere theorising, and
that is why all the psychologists have been quarrelling
among themselves since the beginning of time, except those
few who found out the means of observation.
The science of Raya Yoga, in the first place, proposes to
give men such a means of observing the internal states, and
the instrument is the mind itself. The power of attention of
mind, when properly guided, and directed towards the
internal world, will analyse the mind, and illumine facts for
us. The powers of mind are like rays of light being
dissipated; when they are concentrated they illumine
everything. This is the only source of knowledge that we
have. Everyone is using it, both in the external and the
 internal world, but, for the psychologist, this minute
observation which the scientific man can throw upon the
external world, will have to be thrown on the internal world,
and this requires a great deal of practice. From our
childhood upwards we have been taught only to pay
attention to things external, never to pay attention to things
internal, and most of us have nearly lost the faculty of
observing the internal mechanism. To turn the mind, as it
were, inside, stop it from going outside, and thenm to
concentrate all its powers, and throw them upon the mind
itself, in order that it may know its own nature, analyse
itself, is very hard work. Yet theat is the only way to
anything which will be a scientific approach to the subject.
What is the use of such knowledge? In the first place,
knowledge itself is the highest reward of knowledge, and, in
the second place, there is also utility in it. It will take away
our misery. When, by analysing his own mind, man comes
face to face, as it were, with something which is never
destroyed, something which is, by its own nature, eternally
pure and perfect, he will no more be miserable, no more
unhappy. All misery comes from fear, from unsatisfied
desire. Man will find that he never dies, and then he will
have no more fear of death. When he knows that he is
perfect, he will have no more vain desires, and both these
causes being absent, there will be no more misery—there
will be perfect bliss, even while in this body.
There is only one method by which to attain this
knowledge, that which is called concentration. The chemist
in his laboratory concentrates all the energies of his mind
into one focus, and htrows them out upon the materials he is
analysing, and so finds out their secret. The astronmoer
concentrates all the energies of his mind and projects them
through his telescope upon the skies; and the stars, the sun,
 
 
and the moon, give up their secrets to him. The more I can
concentrate my thoughts on the matter on which I am talking
to you, the more light I can throw upon it. You are listening
to me, and the more you concentrate your thoughts the more
clearly you will grasp what I have to say.
How has all this knowledge in the world been gain but by
the concentration of the powers of the mind? Nature is ready
to give up her secrets if we only know how to knock, to give
her the necessary blow, and the strength and force of the
blow will come through concentration. There is no limit to
the power of the human mind. The more concentrated it
is,the more power is brought to bear on one point, and that is
the secret.
It is easier to concentrate the mind on external things, the
mind naturally goes outwards; but, in the case of religion, or
psychology, or metaphysics, the subject and object are one.
The object is internal, the mind itself is the object, and it is
necessary to study the mind itself, mind studying mind. We
know there is the power of the mind called reflective. I am
talking to you; at the same time I am standing outside, as it
were, a second person, and knowing and hearing what I am
talking. You work and think at the same time, another
portion of your mind stands by and sees what you are
thinking. The powers of the mind should be concentrated
and turned back upon itself, and as the darkest places reveal
their secrets before the pentrating rays of the sun, so will this
concentrated mind penetrate its own innermost secrets. Thus
will we come to the basis of belief, the real genuine religion.
We will perceive for ourselves whether we have souls,
whether life is of five minutes, or of eternity, whether there
is a God in the universe or none. It will all be revealed to us.
This is what Raja Yoga proposes to teach. The goal of all its
teaching is how to concentrate the mind, then how to
 
discover the facts in our own minds, then how to generalise
those facts, and form our own conclusions from them. It
therefore never asks the question what our religion is,
whether we are Deists, or Atheists, whether Christians, Jews,
or Buddhists. We are human beings; that is sufficient.
Every human being has the right and power to seek for
religion; every human being has the right to ask the reason
why, and to have his question answered by himself, if he
only takes the trouble.
So far, then, we see that in the study of this Raja Yoga no
faith or belief is necessary. Believe nothing, until you find it
out for yourself; that is what it teaches us. Truth requires no
prop to make it stand. Do you mean to say that the facts of
our awakened state require any dreams or imaginings to
prove them? Certainly not. This study of Raja Yoga takes a
long time and constant practice. A part of this practice is
physical, but the main part of it is mental. As we go along
we shall find how intimately the mind is connected with the
body. If we believe that the mind is simply a finer part of
the body, and that mind acts upon the body, in the saw way
the body must act upon the mind. If the body is sick, the
mind becomes sick also. If the body is healthy, the mind
remains healthy and strong. When one is angry, the mind
becomes disturbed; at the same time, when the mind is
disturbed, the body also becomes disturbed. With the
majority of mankind the mind is entirely under the control of
the body; the mind is very little developed. The vast
majority of humanity, if you will kindly excuse me, is very
little removed from the animals. Not only that, but, in many
instances, the power of control is very little higher than that
of the lower animals. We have very little command of our
minds. Therefore to bring that command about, to get that
control over body and mind, we must take certain physical
 helps, and when the body is sufficiently controlled, we can
attempt the manipulation of the mind. By manipulation of
the mind, we shall be able to bring it under our control, make
it work as we like, and compel it to concentrate its powers as
we desire.
According to the Raja Yogi, all this external world is but
the gross form of the internal, or subtle. The finer is always
the cause, and the grosser the effect. So the external world is
the effect, and the internal the cause. In the same way
external forces are simply the grosser parts, of which the
internal forces are the finer. One who has discovered and
learned how to manipulate the internal forces will get the
whole of nature under his control. The Yogi proposes to
himself no less a task than to master the whole universe, to
control the whole of nature. He wants to arrive at the pont
where what we call “nature’s laws” will have no influence
over him, where he will be able to get beyond them all. He
will be master of the whole of nature, internal and external.
The progress and civilisation of the human race is simnply
controlling this nature.
Various races differ in their processes. Just as in the
same society some individuals want to control external
nature, and others want to control internal nature, so, among
races, some want to control the external nature, and some the
internal. Some say that by controlling internal nature we
control everything; some that by controlling external nature
we control everything. Carried to the extreme both are right,
because there is neither internal nor external. It is a fictitious
limitation that never exists. Both are destined to meet at the
same point, the externalists and the internalists, when both
reach the extreme of their knowledge. Just as the physician,
when he pushes his knowledge to its limits, finds it melting
away into metaphysics, so the metaphysician will find that
 
what he calls mind and matter are but apparent distinctions,
which will have to vanish for ever.
The end and aim of all science is to find a unit, that One
out of which all this manifold is being manufactured, that
One existing as many. Raja Yoga proposes to start from the
internal world, to study internal nature, and, through that,
control the whole—both internal and external. It is a very
old attempt. India has been its special stronghold but it was
also attempted by other nations. In Western countries it is
thought to be mysticism. People who wanted to practice it
were either burned or killed as witches and sorcerers, and in
India, for various reasons, it fell into the hands of persons
who destroyed 90 per cent. of the knowledge, and of that
portion which remained tried to make a great secret. In
modern times many so-called teachers have arisen worse
than those of India, because the latter knew something, while
these modern exponets do not.
Anything that is secret or mysterious in these systems of
Yoga should be at once rejected. The best guide in life is
strength. In religion, as in everything else, discard
everything that weakens you, have nothing to do with it. All
mystery-mongering weakens the human brain. Through it
this science of Yoga has been well nigh destroyed, but it is
really one of the grandest of sciences. From the time that it
was discovered, more than 4000 years ago, it was perfectly
delineated and formulated and preached in India, and it is a
striking fact, that the more modern the commentator, the
greater the mistakes he makes. The more ancient the writer
on it the more rational he is. Thus it fell into the hands of a
few persons who made it a secret, instead of letting the full
blaze of daylight and reason fall upon it, and they did so that
they might have the powers to themselves.
 In the first place there is no mystery in what I preach.
What little I know I will tell you. So far as I can reason it
out I will do so, but what I do not know I will simply tell you
that it is what the books say. It is wrong to blindly believe.
You must exercise your own reason and judgement; you
must practice, and see whether things happen or not. Just as
you would take up any other science of a material nature,
exactly in the same manner you should take up this science
for study. There is neither mystery nor danger in it. So far
as it is true it ought to be preached in the public streets, in
the broad daylight. Any attempt to mystify these things is
productive of great danger.
Before proceeding further, I will state to you a little of
the Sankhya Philosophy, on which the whole of Raja Yoga is
based. According to this philosophy perception comes
through instruments, e.g., the eyes; the eyes carry it to the
organs, the organs to the mind, the mind to the determinative
faculty, from this the Purusa (the soul) receives it, and gives
the order back, as it were, and so on through all these stages.
In this way sensations are received. With the exception of
the Purusa all of these are material, but the mind is of much
finer material than the external instruments. That material of
which the mind is composed becomes grosser, and becomes
what is called the Tanmatras. It becomes still grosser and
forms the external material. That is the psychology of the
Sankhya. So that, between the intellect and the grosser
matter outside, there is only a difference in degree. The
Purusa is the only thing which is immaterial. Mind is an
instrument in the hands of the soul, as it were, through which
the soul catches external objects. This mind is constantly
changing and vacillating, and it can either atttach itself to
several organs, or to one, or to none. For instance, if I hear
the clock with great attention I will not, perhaps, see
 
anything, although my eyes may be open, showing that the
mind was not attached to the seeing organ, although it was to
the hearing organ. And the mind, in the same way, can be
attached to all the organs simultaneously. This mind has the
reflexive power of looking back into its own depths. This
reflexive power is what the Yogi wants to attain; by
concentrating the powers of the mind, and turning them
inward, he seeks to know what is happening inside. There is
in this no question of mere belief; it is the analysis of certain
philosophers. Modern physiologists tell you that the eyes
are not the organs of vision, but that the organs are in the
nerve centre in the brain, and so with all the senses; and they
also tell you that these centres are formed of the same
material as the brain itself. So the Sankhyas will also tell
you, but one is a statement on the physical side, and the
other on the psychological side; yet both are the same.
Beyond this we have to demonstrate.
The Yogi proproses to himself to attain to that fine state
of perception in which he can perceive all these things.
There must be mental perception of all the different states.
We shall perceive how the sensation is travelling, and how
the mind is receiving it, how it is going to the determinative
faculty, and how this gives it to the Puruca. As each science
requires certain preparations, as each science has its own
method, until we follow that method we can never
understand that science; so in Raja Yoga.
Certain regulations as to food are necessary; we must use
that food which brings the purest mind. If you go into a
menagerie you will find this demonstrated at once. You see
the elephants, huge animals, but calm and gentle; and if you
go toward the cages of the lions and tigers you will find
them restless, showing how much difference has been
produced by food. All the forces that are working in this
 body have bene produced out of food; we see that every day.
If you begin to fast, first your body will get weak, the
physical force will suffer; then, after a few days, the mental
force will suffer also. First, memory will fail. Then comes a
point, when you are not able to think, much less to pursue
any course of reasoning. We have, therefore, to take care
what sort of food we eat at the beginning, and when we have
got strength enough, when our practice is well advanced, we
need not be so careful in this respect. While the plant is
growing it must be hedged round, lest it be injured; but when
it becomes a tree the hedges are taken away; it is strong
enough to withstand all assaults.
A Yogi must avoid the two extremes of luxury and
austerity. He must not fast, or torture his flesh; he who does
so, says the Gita, cannot be a Yogi; he who keeps awake; he
who sleeps much; he who works too much; he who does no
work; none of these can be Yogis.

Om Tat Sat

                                                        

(Continued...) 

(My humble Thankfulness to  H H Sri Chandrasekharendra Mahaswami ji,  Hinduism online dot com Swamijis, and Philosophers com  for the collection)

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