Page 350 - Complete Works of Dr. KCV Volume 1
P. 350

 have a claim for Gnana yoga; Bhakti yoga is intended for people who are uneducated; and Karma yoga for all and sundry. But in ancient times Karma yoga demanded a knowledge of the technique of rituals; Gnana yoga wanted a competence in certain matters; and Bhakti yoga also wanted competence in certain other respects. But thanks to our modern reformulations of ancient yogas, by very well - meaning reformists, we have lost the meaning of Karma yoga, Gnana yoga and Bhakti yoga. Karma yoga is social work. Gnana yoga is Modern Philosophy, and Bhakti yoga is mere bhajan. May be that all this may lead to something good; I do not deny that each one of them has its use in a limited sense. But, by and large, many of us have felt that they have become meaningless as ideals to be pursued and coveted. Therefore, we have been searching for a real yoga, but here again we have met some people who have stated that the Raja yoga propounded and practised by the sannyasis is an exclusive preserve of sannyasis alone, because vairagya is demanded as a condition, giving up of all activities is very necessary. A state of thoughtlessness must be introduced by force and by practice. And all types of disciplines are necessary before you can have union with God. You all know about that other yoga called Hatha yoga. It is a peculiar and arduous training of the physical body, requiring a tremendous amount of patience, and I should say forbearance. We, therefore, found that Hatha yoga, again, is unsuitable for the large mass of mankind.
Now we have Tantrik systems, which have developed several kinds of techniques, occult in some sense, mysterious in another sense, entirely nauseating in a third sense. And revolting also. All this has set intelligent man, the thinking mind, a task of finding out how to connect oneself with God. Much better was it to deny the existence of God himself. But then God cannot be dismissed by merely saying that He does not exist, even if that contention is maintained with the help of proofs drawn from natural history and materialistic sources. We somehow believe that there must be a supreme force, which is operating in every one of us, making us live the life, but unfortunately somehow, for some reason, whatever the reason that man may try to give, the flow of that supreme energy into us, or that supreme consciousness into us, has got arrested, and we feel as if the sap by which we have been fed is almost running dry.

































































































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