The Complete Works of Yogy Ramacharaka. William Walker Atkinson

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      Lesson VI

       Gnani Yoga

       Table of Content

      Gnani Yoga is known as the “Yoga of wisdom.” The word, “Gnani,” is derived from the Sanscrit root-word “Gna,” meaning “to know.” We prefer the ivord “Gnani,” although the words, “Jnana,” “Gnyana,” etc., are often used, and have the same meaning.

      Gnani Yoga is the path to which student, philosophers—men and women of the intellectual temperament are attracted. Those who are attracted by metaphysical reasoning and speculation, subtle intellectual research, philosophy, science, and similar lines of mental effort, turn naturally to “Gnani Yoga” as it holds out to them a pleasant and agreeable path to that which is dear to their hearts.

      But one does not have to he a skilled metaphysician, or a deep student, to avail himself of the lessons of this branch of the Yogi Philosophy. It is open to all of those who wish to know the why and wherefore of life—who are not satisfied with commonplace and childish explanations of the great problems of existence that are offered to them the ordinary teachings and creeds—to those who regard the exoteric side of tlute subject as all very well in its way, but whose natures call out for the hidden knowledge, the esoteric phase of the truth.

      The Karma Yogi is continually asking “How?" or "What?" The Gnani Yogi’s eternal question is “Why?” And this “Why?” is beginning to unfold in the minds of more people every day. The thirst for real spiritual knowledge is rendering many uncomfortable, and causing them to seek that with which to quench the thirst—the spiritual hunger is demanding nourishing food for the soul.

      People are beginning to see the unreality of the material things around them, great as these material things may seem to be. They see that civilization follows civilization—races rise, flourish and fall—people rise from savagery up and on to the heights of material achievement, and then begin to decay. In the ruins found buried beneath the earth’s surface may be found traces of former great civilizations, of which history has no record. And one is awed by the thought that the people of those civilizations must have thought themselves at the apex of human achievement and that there was but little left for the generations to come. And yet, they have faded away, leaving not even a trace on the pages of history. The great warriors, statesmen, philosophers and teachers of these civilizations are unknown, and the people themselves are without a name to us, clothing is left to tell the tale, but a broken column here or a mutilated statue there. And the thinker sees that this fate must meet all races—all civilization s—even our own. We must pass away—our work will be forgotten—future races, building a civilization upon the ruins of that which is our proudest boast, will wonder who and what we were.

      Religions have risen, flourished, dominated millions, and have faded away, borne down by the weight of the superstition and outward forms which man persists in building around the bit of truth which originally caused the religion to spring into existence. It has ever been so, and must be so in the future. We may doubt this fact (so, doubtless, did the people of the vanished civilizations), but it must come. It is mortal—man’s work—and the mortal ever must perish and pass away.

      Men look around them, and, becoming conscious of the unreality of all that goes to make up mortal life, begin to ponder over the meaning of it all. They ask “Whence come we—whither go we—what is the object of our existence?” They try to solve the riddle of life by countless theories. They discard the dogmas that are handed down to them, only to create fresh dogmas equally unsatisfying. They travel around like a squirrel in a cage, and exhaust themselves on the wheel—but they stop just where they began. They are like a caged bird, that beats itself to death against the confining bars of its prison. They go around and around the circle of intellectual reasoning, only to find themselves travelling over and over the same ground, and making no real progress. They try to explain things, but succeed merely in giving things new names. They climb the mountain of knowledge, and when they reach the top they look around them and see that they merely have reached the top of a small foot—hill while, far above them, towering higher and higher, rise range after range of the real mountains, the highest peaks of which are hidden among the clouds.

      The mistake of the searchers is that they are continually seeking the truth from outside—it is not to be found there, for it is within. It is true that with the inner light every outside thing may be studied to advantage, and bits of truth gathered therefrom. But without this inner light the outer objects will give no real answer, and one may shout aloud to nature and hear only the echo of his own cry. The seekers on the relative plane find only that for which they look. They find that which they expect, for there is more or less truth in the theories favored by them, and accordingly they must find something that will correspond with that bit of truth. But the man looks for the thing exactly opposed to that sought for by these seekers also will find that for which he looks, for he, likewise has a bit of the truth, and must find that which corresponds to it. Each realizing that he has found a bit of the truth, but each making the mistake of supposing it to be all of the truth, disputes the claims of the other, and various schools form. Then the schools quarrel over details, and split into sub-schools, and so it goes, and the inquiring student is perplexed more than ever to know just what is the truth.

      Let not our students suppose that we are speaking alone of the western schools of religion and philosophy—the Eastern world is just as bad. In India there are countless sects, schaols and cults. Each started with a bit of the truth, but they have added much nonsense to that sacred thing, until the real truth has been lost sight of by the followers, and superstition and idle theories have taken the place of the calm, clear reasoning of the founders. The Easl and the West stand alike in this respect—but while this is so, there is a small number of men in all parts of the world, who keep alive the lamp of truth—who keep the flame burning by watchful care, and unceasing devotion. These men refuse to allow any theories of their own, or others, to he mixed up with the truth. They say: “Let us speculate if we see fit—let us listen to the speculations of others—but let us not confound it with the bit of Divine Truth that has been handed down to us. Let us mix no alloy with the pure metal.” It is true that India always has been the source and center of great spiritual truths. All great religions have had their real birth in the East. Ance in India today the conditions are more favorable for deep thought and study than is the case in the bustling West. But this does not mean that the masses of the Hindu people are highly developed spiritually. On the contrary, there is no land where the weed of superstition grows more rankly. And the reason of this may be understood, readily, when we consider that the same conditions which are conducive to high metaphysical and spiritual research and study, likewise furnish the best soil in which the weeds of superstition may grow. In the soil of California, fruits and flowers grow in a way unknown to the rest of the United States, but the same soil will grow a rank vegetation of weeds if untended and neglected. In India, if a farmiag settlement be neglected, in a year or so the jungle has again claimed its former home, and rank vegetation nourishes where the field of the farmer formerly stood.

      In the East, the false gods of superstition are found in great number, while in the West the new god (equally false) of Material Wealth occupies the place in the temple. Between Mammon and the false gods of India there is a strong family resemblance.

      The Gnani Yogi sees truth in all forms of religion, and in all schools of philosophy, but he recognizes that this truth is but a small part of the great truth. He finds no fault with any religion or school of philosophy—he has no argument with them—the only point he raises is "this is not the Whole Truth." He has no special school or creed, for he recognizes as brothers all thinkers and professors of religion, everywhere, of all sbades of opinion. His belief is large enough to take them all in—but he refuses to be bound by the limitations of any of them. The trouble with the conflicting schools and creeds is that they wish to limit God, and to exclude some men. The Gnani Yogi can see no limit to God, and can conceive СКАЧАТЬ