Yoga of Devotion. Lecture for Newcomers
Bhakti Vijnana Goswami · Kochi · 2018
Chapters
Introduction and personal background
Good evening. So my name is Bhaktivigyan Goswami. It's a difficult name. You can call me Goswami if you want. You can call me Swami. You can call me any way you like.
I will say a few words about myself so that you will understand a little better. I have a scientific background. I graduated from Moscow University long ago and had a PhD in molecular biology,
but life is unpredictable as you probably all know by now. So somehow rather I was drawn to this Indian culture, Vedic culture, more precisely, and specifically, to this Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of
love or devotion, and since nineteen 80, good. Almost forty years I have been practicing some sort of spirituality. And I like it.
It gave me a lot of inner fulfillment and helped me to overcome certain problems in my life. And I hope it will help me to overcome the most difficult problem which every one of us will encounter.
This problem is called death. So that's uh That's my hope. Anyway, that's a little introduction. And please, you know, you can ask me any questions you like.
I will speak a few words first about some basic principles or basic understandings which is relevant to practically everyone of us.
And I will also share some personal experience why I, from completely different background, was taking a different course in my life.
Transition from science to Bhagavad-gita
Perhaps I start with this. My interest in Vedic culture and Indian spirituality. As I said, started in 1980 or even before,
actually a little bit before that, when I read for the first time Bhagavad-gītā. Bhagavad-gītā Gita is perhaps the most popular book. I don't know. You probably all heard about it. Who read it? Oh, okay.
So what struck me, and at that time uh I was in a critical condition in the sense that material science and the prospects and the basic premises of material science. I was disillusioned about this.
I didn't like the whole idea, the whole idea of you know I particularly was studying molecular biology and molecular biology is supposed to understand what life is.
But to understand what life is, you first have to kill everything and you know to finish the life and then and then say this is the life.
You know, you study something dead, and then you say this is what life is all about. So there are some basic premises which I was frustrated and disillusioned, and I was in search.
I read different books even though I was in the Soviet Union at that time and the spirituality was strictly restricted. Still, somehow or rather I got hold of different books, including the Bible.
But what struck me when I read Bhagavad-gītā is that it's a completely rational system. It doesn't it's not based on um you know belief
although belief is necessary because when you're going uh to a journey uh to something unknown, some belief is necessary, there is no doubt about it. But it's not based on belief.
It's based on a very rational understanding and very complete worldview. So that actually convinced me and pushed me to practice something because it gave me a new paradigm and new understanding of life.
And basic paradigm of Bhagavad-gītā, the beginning paradigm of Bhagavad-gītā, is that we are not this body, we are spirit-soul. We are indestructible soul and soul is eternal, matter is perishable.
Soul is always there, it has always been there, and it will always be there. And I'm the soul. Sometimes people say my soul or you know I have the soul. No, you don't have the soul. You are the soul.
You are the soul having the body. And the body is temporary, the body is changing.
So this basic paradigm made a lot of sense to me because the understanding which is there in the very beginning of Bhagavad-gītā is that the noṁ smin yathā dehe kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā quoting Krishna directly is that we always change our bodies.
We were a little baby, then we grew up, grew up, grew up, we were inevitably becoming old. And ultimately we will die. But at the same time, I, the particle in me which says I am, says that I am unchangeable. Something within all this changes is not changing.
And uh the idea uh in Bhagavad-gītā is actually very simple. Uh we can only observe changes if we are ourselves unchangeable.
Like for example, if we're flying in an airplane, then we don't know that the airplane is flying. We're eating lunch, we're reading books or magazine or whatever. And actually we are not aware that we are flying somewhere.
Because we are within this airplane which is flying. To see the airplane flying, we should be outside of the airplane. Only then we will see that it's moving.
So in the same way, we can observe the changes which take place in our body. And that very fact proves that we are not this body. Otherwise we would not be able to notice these changes.
I mean, of course you can argue this point, but I'm not here to argue with you, I'm here to share something with you. So it made a lot of sense to me because we are observer and we have this capacity to absorb.
We have the capacity to absorb ourselves from the neutral position, to see what's going on with our changes, with our body.
And at the same time, which also struck me very much is that uh these changes which take place in our body is something really foreign to us. The consciousness, it's very difficult for us to swallow these changes.
When we becoming old, I remember very much my mother when she started plucking out her white hairs in front of the mirror. She was really, she didn't like it. So in Bhagavad-gītā, which is spoken by Krishna.
This is the first initial premise of first initial proposal: is that we are not changing, we as a soul not changing, and therefore, it's very difficult for us to cope up with the changes which take place in the body.
And therefore, it's very difficult for us to understand what is death. Somehow that death is very repulsing repulsive. Or whatever. Death is something which we cannot really digest. Why?
If it was natural, why would it be so, you know, why it would have such a dramatical effect on our consciousness?
There's some mismatch in other words. Mismatch between the nature of the consciousness which is unchanging and the very basis and then the body which is constantly in the flux, constantly changing, and ultimately you know will undergo the final transformation.
And then of course according to Bhagavad-gītā there will be new life and new life and new life. But that's another question. I'm talking about the very basic beginner's understanding.
So what follows next, this is the initial premise, I am not this body, and that made a lot of sense.
Applying spiritual understanding in practice
But then how to live with this understanding? That's the most interesting because this understanding will remain purely theoretical and not very will not go very deep. It will be just a nice theory or belief.
If we don't learn how to live and what it means in practice, how to apply this understanding in practice.
And in Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna actually explains, first of all, he explains how to realize this fact. Not to keep it as our belief. I believe that I'm eternal soul. That's nice, but it's not very satisfactory.
So Krishna explains what one uh has to do to realize this fact, to turn the theoretical knowledge into realized knowledge. And then he explains basically what it means: how we should live our life.
So that it's in harmony or it's consistent with this understanding or with this belief.
And that what actually struck me very much because again I read different books of different religions, but I didn't see this rational consistency in their understanding.
And basically, what Krishna wants to say to us in Bhagavad- gītā is that we all want to be happy. And to be happy, we have to be natural. We have to be what we are, isn't it?
We cannot be really happy if we're artificial, if we're playing some role or if we are trying to pretend what we are not. We have to be what we are. And the conclusion is that to become happy we have to live.
We have to be what we are, we have to realize what we are, we have to realize that I am eternal soul and I'm living in eternity, and then there are so many other things. And so many implications are there.
So you know ultimately we're all seeking for happiness. We're looking for happiness. We want to be happy. This is our the most important desire and goal of life. Actually, this is the only goal.
Every other goal which we may pursue in our life is just to make us happy. It's not the goal in itself. Money is not the goal in itself.
If we have a lot of money but we are sick and we are suffering, and you know, what is the use of money? Money is only necessary as much as it can make us happy.
Ultimately, the only goal of life is happiness, and happiness lies in understanding who I really am and what I am supposed to do in life.
So, uh, continuing with this uh little review, I just wanted to give you a Little review of Bhagavad-gītā. It's an amazing book. It's a very short book, it's only 700 verses.
It's probably, you know, one of the shortest scriptures which is there. Seven hundred verses. You can speak Bhagavad-gītā within one and a half hour.
You know, from beginning to end, including all kinds of, you know, questions, answers, everything. But at the same time, it's completely it's so comprehensive and so complete in itself. It's just really amazing.
This fact itself is very amazing.
Principles of karma yoga and action
And in Bhagavad-gītā, Kṛṣṇa says that basically there are three or four, you may say, four kinds of methods by which you can go beyond your ordinary understanding of life, by which you can deepen your knowledge, get more profound realizations.
And first one is called karma yoga. Karma yoga basically means selfless action. Action, you know you you may say some good action, but it's it's more than this.
It's actually action which you are not uh creating or performing for your egoistic purposes, for your selfish purposes. You are doing it not for yourself.
And in this way, if you are doing this, you will gradually, gradually purify your consciousness and you will elevate your consciousness.
And that's the whole system which is very clearly explained in Bhagavad-gītā, and basically, Kṛṣṇa says that only by this you can act in this world without creating new karma. Karma is a terror.
It's a very fearful thing, you know. Everyone who goes to astrologer and says, What is there in my chart? An astrologer looks in the chart and says, Rahu is there in your chart, and Shani is there.
And you should go on Saturday, tomorrow yeah. Tomorrow. You should do some Shani Puja or chant some shani mantra or
give some, you know, mustard oil to a Brāhmaṇa. Especially if he's wearing black clothes. All kinds of stuff. But Krishna gives a very rational understanding of how to overcome karma.
All these tricks which are there in astrology and other things, it's a palliative measure, it's not really a complete measure in itself.
Krishna says you have to learn the art of how to act without creating new karma and neutralizing the karma which is there. And for that, you have to get rid of your selfish motive, selfish motivation.
The karma is not created by action itself. Karma is created by our motivation, by our consciousness. This, the selfish consciousness is the root cause of all karma. Again, this is review.
I'm really, if you want me to speak on any topic for a long time, I can speak for a long time, really long time. As I said, 40 years pass. I do have a lot to say. At least certain things. So he says this is the beginning.
The karma yoga is the beginning, which is itself a very, you know, glorious thing. But according to Bhagavad-gītā, it's a very initial step.
Initial step to start purifying your consciousness, to start purifying your heart and to deepen your understanding of reality and to have more clear picture of reality: what's going on, how it's going on, why it's happening to you, what are the subtle causes of all the problems which you are undergoing.
Principles of jnana yoga and knowledge
Then he says there is a next step.
Karma-yoga is the first step, the next step in this yoga ladder, because in Bhagavad-gītā, Bhagavad-gītā is a Yoga Shastra. Every chapter is finished with this statement that this is in Yoga Shastra and Gita Opanishad, Krishna conversation between Krishna and Arjuna in any words.
It's a yoga shastra explaining all kinds of yoga. But Krishna says that the next step in yoga ladder is the yoga of knowledge, jñāna-yoga, the yoga of spiritual realization.
When this is a set of methods which can help you to encounter who you are, which can help you to be grounded in this philosophical understanding, as I said, that your spirit, soul and your eternal.
And again, it gives you the experience of this, not just belief, but experience that your spirit soul and you basically can live without this body. You're not dependent on this body.
And it means that you know you can very easily uh overcome all the problems which are there with the body. Because all the problems become unsurmountable when we identify with the body.
If the pain is there, it's very bad. But if you have this facility of understanding you know this body and it means that you know this pain. If you can look you know impartially on this pain which is body undergoing.
And you can uh more or less, you know uh distance yourself from uh this experience of the body. It helps you to uh overcome many many problems which are there.
So the jñāna-yoga is the next step, next logical step when you which you have to make when you go higher and higher in this yoga ladder.
And then he explains a little bit about Ashtanga Yoga, and of course, Ashtanga Yoga, which I think you more or less practice or whatever little bits and pieces of this Ashtanga yoga, all the Sasanas and Pranayamas and everything.
It's a beautiful system. The only problem with this system, it's too beautiful. It's not for us to practice it in its completeness.
Bits and pieces and parts of it we of course can practice, and it's very beneficial for us, there is no doubt about it.
Control of the mind, control of breath, and all this physical discipline, which is good, but ultimately the purpose of yoga is samadhi. And who is there who can really reach this stage? Very few people.
And who even wants to reach this stage? It's uh uh so and even in Bhagavad-gītā Arjuna says and Arjuna he lived five thousand years ago and he was very great yogi. But he says, I cannot do this. I'm sorry.
My mind is too restless. You know, if his mind was too restless, what to speak about us who used to browse in hundred different sites at the same time and you know switch from 100 different channels and TV.
You know the you have to have a special mind and therefore all these preliminary stages of yoga are necessary at least to achieve some success in in proper yoga, in Ashtanga yoga if you want to go this path.
Bhakti yoga and path of love
But then Krishna says that there is even higher understanding. Higher and at the same time easier, easier in a sense, and more difficult in another sense. That is called bhakti-yoga, yoga of love.
Because everyone wants to love and everyone wants to be loved. Primarily we want to be loved. But incidentally we want to love also. But our main purpose is to somehow get others to love us, which is okay, which is not bad.
And this bhakti-yoga, yoga of love, yoga of devotion, is a very powerful process. And we also know it's also very rational because ultimately if you want to know something, you have to love this.
Why I didn't want to pursue molecular biology or science. Because I didn't love it at the end of the day.
My colleagues are still there and they're still doing all this stuff, but you know, to really go deeply into something you have to love, you have to have this emotional connection.
And what Krishna says it's a very interesting point, is that it's very difficult to concentrate your mind if you concentrate your mind on something abstract.
Like here, this Ohm sign, which is a glorious symbol of Vedic culture. And even this has a concrete form. But you very naturally concentrate on something which you love.
If you love something, you don't need to train yourself. You always, you know, think about the object or subject whom you love. Naturally, your thoughts flow there.
And as I said, the point of yoga is, of course, to concentrate on something. You know, at least this is a preliminary understanding. And there are different methods and techniques, how to concentrate your mind.
But ultimately, what Krishna says in Bhagavad-gītā, the highest technique, if you can call it technique, is to love.
And then he understands how to love and how to develop this love and how you can see God everywhere in this creation. How God is the most immediate experience which we already have without understanding this.
And he goes into a lot of details about this, explaining how we can relate to this higher reality by by um uh while remaining in the reality which we are living in.
Being practical, being in this world and living in this world, living our life, but at the same time raising our consciousness above the ordinary quote unquote level, going further in our spiritual journey.
So that's in gist what is there in Bhagavad-gītā. Krishna starts with this initial premise: your soul, your particle of consciousness. You're not the whole consciousness, you are just little particle.
He specifically says, mamāṁśo jīva-loke jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ. You are eternal sanātana, jīva-bhūta, jīva. Eternal particle of consciousness.
The subtle body mind and karma
The uh which bears this uh notion I am, I am, as me. And it's interesting, I also know a little bit of other scientists science and the scientists who studied the brain are puzzled about one particular thing.
They still, despite they have thorough knowledge of how the brain functions, they still cannot really point out which area of the brain says I. They know everything.
You know which area of the brain rules our nervous system, the stomach, the this and that, everything. But not this one. Who says I am? Because it's not in the brain. It's in the heart.
The soul, according to Vedas and according to yoga system, is located in the heart. It's a tiny small particle of spirit, and this particle of spirit gives life to the whole body.
And when this soul leaves, and that's also explained in Bhagavad-gītā, when this soul leaves, it leaves with the subtle body, with the body of the mind, and our karma is accumulated in this body of the mind in our mind.
The mind is a repository of our karma. So when the soul lives with the subtle body, it creates the next body according to the shape and form of our mind.
And the whole point of yoga is to change our mind, to prepare our next body. How we should live so that our next body or next life will be better.
And ultimately, you know what is the higher destination which we can achieve? What is the highest possible destination we have to strive for?
Because this again, this desire to achieve the highest possible destination is also there within our soul. So that's a short review.
And again, as I said, what struck me in Bhagavad-gītā is that it's completely rational, and at the same time, it's very complete and very succinct, very, very short and uh and very deep. And that's uh that that was the turning point in my life.
Ever since I'm studying Bhagavad-gītā, I'm teaching Bhagavad-gītā, I'm uh reciting Bhagavad-gītā, I'm writing something on Bhagavad-gītā. But Bhagavad-gītā is a very preliminary book.
There are much higher books in Vedic culture and Vedic knowledge. But you have to understand first Bhagavad-gītā and then go further.
Connecting soul with higher reality
So that's in gist uh what is there. And uh, of course, one of the most important points of Bhagavad-gītā, the first initial point I said is about the nature of the soul.
But then the next point, very important point of Bhagavad-gītā, is about the nature of higher reality. Who is this higher reality? What is this higher reality?
And then Bhagavad-gītā it's very clearly said that Krishna himself says, I am this higher reality. And I am God. And you don't have to believe him, but there are good reasons to believe him too.
And of course it's a big topic. But ultimately, again, you know, it's good to understand
that we are spirit soul, it's good to understand that we're not dying, but then we have to understand what is our destination, which ultimately will make us completely happy.
And yeah, and this destination, according to yoga philosophy or Indian philosophy or in fact any other spiritual philosophy is to make connection between the tiny individual consciousness and the higher consciousness,
to re-establish the unity which is somehow rather broken now between the individual soul and the higher soul, supreme soul, because we are not complete being tiny spiritual particles and we need completeness.
We strive for completeness. And this completeness is achieved through yoga, through different means of yoga which is of course means connection. I guess that's enough because I now I need to hear from you.
What is there any questions or what because again I can talk about many topics but I just wanted to hear something from you just pick later. He has a question. I have a question. You have a question? Okay.
What it is now did say uh study you have changed for the studio. I will translate. He himself knows Bhagavad-gītā, so he's asking about the stages of yoga.
Is it necessary to go from one step to another step to another step or you can go s you can you know jump over uh certain uh steps. The natural development is gradu.
In any case, you can start practicing bhakti- yoga, you can start practicing any yoga basically, but still you will have to, you know gradually come to the level which is natural for this level of consciousness.
So, but in Bhagavad-gītā, Krishna is very clear that you can start Bhakti- Yoga at any stage of life.
Diversity of paths in Vedic culture
One specific, it's perhaps interesting, I will say a few words about this. One very important feature of Vedic culture is that it talks about many different ways and paths. Many, many different ways.
For an outsider, the Hinduism or Vedic culture or Hindu culture is a it's a very bewildering sort of thing because there are so many things. You know, this path and that path.
You know, if we go to the West or if we try to study history of Western religions, they basically are a little fanatical about this, they say this is the way and everything else is not the way. You know.
Or this is the way to heaven and everything else is the way to hell. So that's that's the common understanding which is there in the West. At least it used to be like this. Now it's even more bewildering than in India.
But what is very interesting in India is that there are different paths and there is a specific qualification for everyone who wants to go this path or this path or that path.
We definitely don't agree with the notion that every path is the same, equal, they all come to the same thing.
But it's definitely that there is in Vedic culture the plurality is there originally, because people have different levels of qualification. And according to your qualification, it's uh actually
very unrealistic and even very unfair to say that there is only one path.
Because there are different people, different levels, different qualifications, and this uh multiple ways which are prescribed in Vedic literature is actually very natural and very organic thing.
But again uh there is a path and there is a specific qualification uh which you have to uh have in order to traverse this path to be successful in this path. Like for example, if we take aṣṭāṅga- Yoga, then Ashtanga Yoga, the prerequisite to be successful in Ashtanga Yoga is renunciation.
Because the very definition of yoga, yogaś citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ, in Patañjali Muni Yoga Sutras, is that you have to still your mind, completely quiet your mind.
And you cannot really do it if you are actively involved in this flux of life. So, you have to be somewhat renounced, and therefore yogis they go to the caves and everything.
So, but bhakti-yoga it has a very liberal qualification. It's accessible to to many people, but still there are some certain requisites there.
I always feel very frustrated when I talk, talk, talk and nobody asks questions. I usually think I'm totally useless because if I couldn't invoke any curiosity in you.
Synthesis of yoga paths into love
It probably means that I was actually resonating with his question. I didn't understand your language but I understood the translation.
Um, which is that in the Bhagavad-gītā, as you mentioned, these different types of yoga are mentioned, explained, developed. The beauty of it I find is that it welcomes all types of personality. Absolutely.
You're using the term qualification. Um I understand it also as different qualities. Some people are more devotional, some people are more dynamic. So karma yoga is a path that is better suited for them.
Some people are more intellectual, sannyāsa-yoga, or they can go into Rāja-yoga if they have that quality of complete control.
But what I find really beautiful is that all these different paths ultimately take the individual to a state of awareness which you can say is the combination of jñāna-yoga, the combination of bhakti yoga, the combination, culmination of karma-yoga, which is that oneness, that yoga in itself.
And that's what I find, that's kind of my understanding of the Bhagavad-gītā. Maybe you can develop a bit more. But it's beautiful because it's integrating all aspects of who we are.
We can have a percentage of devotion, maybe a smaller and bigger percentage of intellect, dynamism and so this śāstra um encourages us to be who we are and to develop naturally without suppressing certain aspects of their personality and so I find that yeah you ultimately achieve the same goal.
Though they are considered as steps on the ladder of yoga, I find that sometimes they're almost simultaneous parallel paths that take you to the same state of awareness ultimately. What's your name? Priyadhara.
Very nice name. Very nice name. I will definitely say something about it. Thank you very much. Yes, i in one sense it's true what you said.
Um any path which is described in Bhagavad Gita is an path which elevates the soul, which gives you some higher consciousness and higher understanding, no doubt about it.
And you're absolutely right when you say that we have mixture of different tendencies, some are more intellectual, some are more into work, some are more into this and into that.
And uh some are more devotional and more emotional. Uh uh what I don't agree and yes, ultimately we have to get more unified and more integrated consciousness.
Now our consciousness is separated by our ego, and because of this, there are many sufferings which we undergo. Which I don't agree is that first of all any path is bringing you to the same state of consciousness.
Every path can elevate you, but it's not a coincidence that there is a ladder, and ladder means leather. Ladder doesn't mean, you know, you know, leather means leather. So what is uh the understanding which is very
clearly there in Bhagavad Gita is that you start with karma yoga and by the means and but karma yoga doesn't bring you beyond the sphere of material existence.
Karma yoga elevates your consciousness and purifies your consciousness.
And karma yoga prepares your heart for higher understanding, which is there in jnana yoga or ashtanga yoga, which gives you the spiritual realization, the realization of your spiritual nature.
But again, if we take Jnana Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga, of course, Ashtanga yoga speaks about the unity of the individual soul and Paramātmā, the spiritual soul. But ultimately, the unity, the very word unity means love.
You know, you are united in love. So if we study very carefully the whole structure of Bhagavad-gītā Gita and many other things, we will understand that ultimately Krishna wants us to bring to this point of love.
He says very clearly in the very end of Bhagavad-gītā, Bhaktyā mām abhijānāti. You can know me by Bhakti.
And then he says, Man-manā bhava mad-bhakto mad-yājī māṁ namaskuru, which is supposed to be the most important verse in Bhagavad-gītā. You think about me, you become my bhakta. And that's the very end.
And this is the culmination. I agree that we have to strive for this culmination, but the culmination is in the surrendering our individual consciousness to the higher consciousness.
And Bhagavad-gītā starts with surrender. In the very beginning of Bhagavad-gītā, Arjuna as the primordial disciples, as the prototype of disciples. He surrenders himself.
And the very last verse of Bhagavad-gītā, sarvadharmān parityajya mām ekam śaraṇaṁ vraja, you surrender unto me. Raja, you surrender unto me.
You surrender your individuality, your ego, so to speak, to the higher consciousness to God. And that means love, because love means surrender. If we love somebody, it basically means we have to surrender.
So even though every pass of yoga elevates you,
but it's a ladder, and um the highest achievement or the crown achievement in a yoga is this you know feeling of complete unity between you and God while remaining your individuality, because we are eternally individual.
We cannot completely lose individuality, as Kṛṣṇa Himself says, jīva-bhūtaḥ sanātanaḥ, the individuality is eternal. And he speaks about this in the beginning, Bhagavad-gītā, and the end of Bhagavad-gītā everywhere.
So yeah. You're right, Priyadāsa. But there is something to add to what, because sometimes people have this very how shall I say this? Uh very passive or uh stale understanding of unity. Unity is dynamic.
We are dynamic by nature. You know, sometimes people say that you you are acting while you are in disease condition, but when you become completely spiritually healthy you stop acting.
But how is that how is that logical? You know? It's not possible. Action, yeah. Action is the very nature of consciousness. Consciousness wants to be alive and wants to be dynamic.
So the ultimate goal is not this stale, indifferent sort of static unity. It's a dynamic union between the individual consciousness and higher consciousness, which is the exchange of love.
And therefore more creative, more positive participation. Yeah, and that's two-directional. It's not one directional, you know. It's coming from him to us and from us to him and that you can do for a long... Thank you.
Anything else? Actually you are right. There is a beautiful synthesis of all the tendencies which is there in Bhagavad- Gītā. But I can only add to this that this synthesis is called love.
Because in love there is dynamic, there is intellectual understanding and there is devotion. So everything is included.
I was just thinking of you reiterating that another way of looking at a at a ladder instead of it going up I find that in our personalities as the karma-yoga and the qualities of sevā develop, the jñāna develops within us, the the wisdom and the devotion and they all kind of go walking up the ladder by holding hands.
Ultimately you need everything but the the complete synthesis of it is love. Absolutely. Thank you, Judy. Thank you. Thank you very much, Maria. Thank you. Thank you.