Secrets of the Soul 2

dehino ’smin yathā dehe
kaumāraṁ yauvanaṁ jarā
tathā dehāntara-prāptir
dhīras tatra na muhyati

“As the embodied soul continually passes in this body from boyhood to youth and then to old age, similarly the soul also passes into another body at death. The self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a change.” [Bhagavad-gita 2.13]

Ordinary yogis try to realize the self by meditation. Yogic meditation means that first one has to accept some process of bodily and mental purification (yama-niyama). The yogi then has to practice the different kinds of sitting postures, that help to concentrate the mind (asana), control the breath and life airs (pranayama) detachment of the senses from their objects (pratyahara), and then only can attain concentration of the mind on its real nature of pure consciousness (dharana). These are the limbs of astanga-yoga. And if they can successfully concentrate the mind in meditation on its original nature (samadhi), then they can realize the soul as pure consciousness (cit-sakti).

So according to yoga philosophy, am I this body, or am I pure consciousness? Then if I am not this body, where am I located in this body? According to the original yoga-sutras, if we observe and analyze the self according to yogic methods, eventually if we are successful we will realize ourselves as pure consciousness located within the heart. The soul is located within the heart, and the Supersoul (Paramatma) is also there. Therefore, the perfection of yoga is to see oneself and the Supersoul within the heart, and realize that “I am an individual soul, a particle of pure spiritual energy in relationship with the Supersoul.”

To attain such transcendental self-realization by means of ordinary yogic methods is a very long and difficult path. But if one follows the more powerful methods of the Esoteric Teaching given in Bhagavad-gita and similar Vedic scriptures, anyone can attain that perfection immediately. The yogis reach the spiritual platform after much exercise and purification of the body and mind. But we are giving the same thing immediately, simply by the easy method of chanting the Holy Names of the Lord.

You are already a spiritual being, an eternal part and parcel of Kṛṣṇa. And Kṛṣṇa’s expansion is the Supersoul within our hearts. So why should we take so much trouble to find Him within the heart by ordinary yogic methods? Simply calling out to Him by His Holy Names immediately invokes His personal presence and illuminates our original pure spiritual consciousness. This bhakti-yoga process is far more practical in this day and age than ordinary hatha-yoga or astanga-yoga.

The Esoteric Teaching does not begin from the gross stage of bodily consciousness. Bhagavad-gita, although it is just the beginning of the spiritual instructions of the Esoteric Teaching, begins from the stage of realization that the jnanis, the philosophers and the yogis are trying to reach: “I am a pure spirit soul in eternal relation with the Supersoul.” And then the Esoteric Teaching goes on to progress to unimaginable heights of spiritual attainment, far beyond the neophyte stages of realization that any ordinary yogic method can deliver in the limited time we have available.

Certainly astanga-yoga, jnana and meditation are bona fide spiritual methods. But in the modern Western culture we have no time or facility to learn and practice them properly. In this age, it is very rare to come to the realization that “I am not this body” by ordinary yoga practice. Almost all the students who are practicing hatha-yoga, jnana-yoga and so-called meditation are inclined to consider that their self is this body. They are trying to exercise this body, and they mistakenly think that perfection of this physical body is the final perfection of yoga.

But the Vedic scriptures, the original source of all knowledge and practices of yoga, do not agree. They teach a different truth, a very simple but extremely profound truth. Kṛṣṇa, as the supreme spiritual authority, is presenting very simply: dehino ’smin yatha dehe kaumaram yauvanam jara. “As in this body there are different changes, similarly the ultimate change is called death.” [Bhagavad-gita2.13] But the spirit soul, as he exists within this body in spite of all changes, will continue to exist even after the final change of this body. This is the simple truth; please try to understand it. This is the basic principle of all further spiritual progress. If one does not understand this point of view, there can be no further progress. This is ABC, that “I am not this body, but the spirit soul inhabiting and animating it.” This perfection of yoga is just the beginning of the Esoteric Teaching.

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