Buddhi Yoga, the Yoga of Understanding
I was listening to Swami TV’s BG chapter 4 and he beautifully spoke about right vs wrong Buddhi.
While there is a talk of many Yogas — Karma, Bhakthi, Raja, Jnana etc., Lord Krishna only talks of two: Karma Yoga (3rd chapter) and Jnana Yoga (2nd chapter). Bhakthi is the emotional integrity we bestow to both Karma and Jnana, it is not a separate Yoga in itself.
In fact, what Krishna teaches is Buddhi Yoga, the Yoga of Understanding. If you ask a hard core volunteer, the emphasis will be on “selfless work”. If you ask the ISCON guy, the emphasis will be on “devotion to the Supreme God Personality Lord Krishna”. While selfless work and devotion to God is necessary, it is incomplete and falls short without abiding in Reality.
The more I ponder over, I am convinced that there is no need for magical or mystical experience. All we need is a cognitive understanding that “I am unconditionally free” and abide in that knowledge. Lord Krishna is teaching the Science of Self, a rare and unique wisdom in our Vedas.
Inhering Vedic Vision, Lord Krishna speaks Jnana Yoga (BG chapter 2) and then comes to Karma Yoga (BG chapter 3) for the one who is not ready to understand and assimilate the Truth, a well defined top-down model.
Buddhi Yoga = Karma Yoga + Jnana Yoga
99% of the time is spent in purifying the mind and 1% in knowing and assimilating the Highest Truth. Our Vedic roadmap is very clear: Truth is never known by our own effort, It reveals It-Self to It-Self. Our effort is only in cleansing & fixating the mind and listen to the Maha-Vakyam from a realized soul. This is where our effort is required. We don’t have to make any effort to see the sun, all we have to do is to make an effort to remove the cloud that is obstructing our vision. We need the wind of knowledge to handle the Ignorance, that is where we spend 99% of our effort.
To embark on this spiritual journey, we need to understand what is right and wrong buddhi and they are listed below:
What is Wrong Buddhi?
Tightly stuck in Body Consciousness and deriving Self worth from attributes related to the Body, Mind and Intellect. For example gender, nationality, race, caste, role, social status is all born of BMI (Body, Mind, Intellect)
Having intense likes and dislikes and constantly powering oneself with these e-motions
Having a strong sense of Doer-ship and Enjoyer-ship, I am the Doer and the Enjoyer.
Taking the Plurality of the World to the Real.
What is Right Buddhi?
Strict adherence to Dharma Anushtanam, aka Karma Yoga, it neutralizes the attachment to BMI
Develop Vairagyam, a disspassion to names and forms, neutralizing Raja and Dvesha
The integrity with with we execute Karma Yoga and develop Vairagyam, called Bhakthi, neutralizing the ego.
Acquire Self Knowledge through systematic study of the scripture under the guidance of a competent teacher, dropping the false ideas about the World of Plurality and its names/forms.
On this New Year’s eve, I wish all of you a peaceful life, a life packed with Yama and Niyama, helping each other to embark into the Highest Truth about our own Self.