The Atma Jyoti Blog

“Yajnavalkya said: ‘The path of liberation is subtle, and hard, and long. I myself am walking in it; nay, I have reached the end. By this path alone the wise, the knowers of Brahman, attain him while living, and achieve final liberation at death.’” –Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4:4:8

Yajnavalkya was obviously no pop-yogi with a yoga studio filled with yoga babes in tank tops and leotards confident that yoga would firm up their buttocks, eliminate cellulite, and give them the kind of body they want (or that others will want). Nor was he a traveling sideshow yogi perpetually on tour convincing people that yoga (his kind, at least) was cheap, easy, fun, and sure to make life a breeze. I know this because of the following statements he has made:

• The path of liberation is subtle.

Without refinement of mind and the interior faculties of perception, yoga is not going on. Yoga is itself the purification of the mind and heart in order to allow the highest powers of the individual to come into play and transform his life and consciousness. Because this is so, Patanjali (the author of the classical Yoga Sutras) puts ten necessary elements for yoga at the top of his list of the eight limbs of yoga:

1. Ahimsa: non-violence, non-injury, harmlessness;
2. Satya: truthfulness, honesty;
3. Asteya: non-stealing, honesty, non-misappropriativeness;
4. Brahmacharya: sexual continence in thought, word and deed as well as control of all the senses;
5. Aparigraha: non-possessiveness, non-greed, non-selfishness, non-acquisitiveness;
6. Shaucha: purity, cleanliness;
7. Santosha: contentment, peacefulness;
8. Tapas: austerity, practical (i.e., result-producing) spiritual discipline;
9. Swadhyaya: introspective self-study, spiritual study;
10. Ishwarapranidhana: offering of one’s life to God.

This is a total overhaul of external and internal life–AND IT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING OF YOGA.

• The path of liberation is hard.

Yes, indeed. When confronted with Patanjali’s list there will be a lot of indignation, whining and general complaint. Why? Because the path of liberation is hard! Such reaction is proof of that. Only the hardy even really begin the journey, and only the toughest and strongest will end it successfully. This is not a path for the weak and whimsical, and it is definitely not a mere body-splash, a hobby, or a free-time diversion. It is the attainment of Brahman, for God’s sake (literally).

• The path of liberation is long.

It takes lifetimes–many if we dawdle, and not so many if we knuckle down and go for it. And believe me, those pathetic souls that boast of how they are “taking the jet-plane route to God” while looking and living more like a jet crash, do not have a clue. Yes, it is possible to realize God in one birth–the last birth. Everybody does.

So we need to get busy. There can be no periods of coasting along, deluding ourselves that our liberation is assured and just around the next corner. (Real spiritual life goes in a straight line–there no bends or curves.) Buddha meditated and engaged in intense discipline right up to the moment of his leaving the body, even though he had attained enlightenment decades before. And so did Swami Sivananda. All real yogis do the same.

• By this path alone…

is Brahman attained. And that attainment is not some swell surprise after death. It takes place right here in this world which is no longer an obstacle to enlightenment. By changing himself the yogi changes the effect the world has on him. What hindered him before now helps him. The once-closed door is now open to him. Death is the final going through that door. For him there will be no return.

Further reading:

• The Foundations of Yoga
• Introduction to Om Yoga

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