SWAMI VIVEKANANDA YOGA

ANUSANDHANA SAMSTHAN
YOGA INSTRUCTORS COURSE : 137

OM SHRI GURAVE NAMAH

Report : jnana yoga

SUBMITTED BY: ARUN C RAO
ROLL NO: 70
Introduction

In all the great religions of the world there is a common thread and the
quest of all of them is that same. It is the eternal question asked by a wise
man.
Who am I?
All religions and philosophies attempt to answer this question in their
own way and in their own cultural context; whether these be monotheistic
religions, polytheistic religions, materialistic philosophers or the
existentialists who were very popular in their time. Indeed the atheists
themselves take time to ponder this question. No one really believes that
man is a lump of elemental matter and is destined to return to that
elemental state at his end.
The same philosophies and religions all converge at this very point to
attempt to answer the question by explaining to their adherents what the
Hindu scriptures call the mahavakyam. This proclaims the relationship
between God and man. It enunciates the distinction between them and yet
brings them inexorably together as part of each other. The Vedas express
the mahavakyam in this wise; “ Tat tvam asi” which translates to “ Thou
art That”. The fundamental concept here is that you are not apart from
God, rather you are a part of Him as much as He is a part of you.
The Bhagwad Gita is dedicated to explaining this relationship to us and
has outlined one of the paths to realization of this as Jnana Yoga, the path
of the intellect. Jnana practice involves the powers of the mind to
discriminate between the real and the unreal, the permanent and the
transitory. A Jnani’s knowledge includes and transcends the intellect
without contradiction. It is the living understanding of the relationship
between Brahman (the source) and Atman (the branches).
What is Jnana Yoga?
Jnana yoga is the path of knowledge practiced by those who are
established in and governed by the intellect. The logicians path to
knowledge of the Supreme is Jnana Yoga. Through the power of
discernment and discriminative thought the Jnana yogi is able to
differentiate the Truth from the delusion and the reality and the unreal in
the world around him. The truth as perceived by materialists is merely the
world as we see it. The seers call it Prakriti and it is the creation of
Brahman.
“Poornaat poornam udachyate” Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 5:1:1
The fullness of creation (Prakriti) has sprung forth from That which is
fullness itself (Brahman)
This Prakriti then is not the greatest of truth since it is derived from the
greater Truth of Brahman. Yet man in his foolish intoxication by the
senses still is under the spell of Prakriti and all its entanglements. He is
unable to free himself from desires and attachments and see with ‘divya
drishti’ divine sight and behold the truth of Brahman.
The Jnana yogi seeks the truth above all that the senses can convey to
him, his goal is transcendence, to reach a plane above the one that the
senses can show him and truly ‘know’ the Truth.
The 1st stage of a seeker is that of Shravana. Any means by which we
gain information comes under this stage. It may be the advise of a guru,
or a lecture, a book, a talk by a master or any such means. It may even be
some thought that occurs to you on your own.
The second stage of a seeker is Manana; that of reflection, cogitation,
musing and questioning. One reflects over what one has heard and goes
over it to try to understand the deeper import of the idea. One cogitates on
it and applies his powers of logic and discrimination to understand it and
its effect on his current thinking and understanding. One questions the
conceptual integrity of what he has heard and then tries to substantiate his
doubts as well as defend the concept itself. It is a mental exercise that
needs the faculties of logic and reasoning above all.
At the 3rd stage is putting the concept, theory or principle to the test and
actually experiment with the idea to prove or disprove it dispassionately.
This level is called Nidhidhyasana. The seeker now must contemplate on
the truths that he has heard and reasoned out and logically accepted. This
is the Sadhana of the seeker. The deep meditation of the seeker leads him
into the truth of himself and of the world around him. As his meditation
gets deeper he is able to see and know more and more until the time when
he realizes that he is in fact that Anandamaya Kosa. He is no longer
bound by flesh though he may still have his body. He knows that he is not
that body but actually pure consciousness and one with Brahman. He is
now established in Jnana.
There are yet more levels of Jnana which a yogi can aspire to and attain, a
level where he is able to cleanse himself of his vasanas and samskaras
and then his knowledge gets stabilized. He becomes the embodiment of
this knowledge and is now a Jivan Mukta. This means freedom while still
alive. When we realise that we are not the body but rather we are that
infinite Self, we live in the immense dimension of Jivan Mukti. There are
yet more levels of Jnana to achieve beyond this and as the yogi grows in
knowledge he is able to unravel the higher dimensions to get greater
knowledge and bliss. At the time of death the Jivan mukta leaves his
body voluntarily with complete freedom and merges with the Self,
moving beyond the Anandamaya kosa. From here there is no return and
it’s the state of Moksha. Complete liberation from the cycle of birth and
death. It is the state of highest freedom and highest bliss, a state of
knowledge and a state of absolute power. It is pure consciousness; it is
eternal, unchanging and everlasting. This is the goal of Jnana Yoga.
Shlokas on Jnana from the Bhagwad Gita:

Qualifications of a seeker:

Bhagwad Gita 4:34

“Tadviddhi pranipatena pariprasnena sevaya
Upa dekshyanti te jnanam jnaninah tattvadarshinah”

Translation:
Know that by long prostration, by question and by service, the wise who
have realized the Truth will instruct thee in (that) knowledge.

Commentary:
A disciple or seeker has to have these qualities, complete surrender to
learn from a guru, a questioning and alert mind and a desire to serve his
guru. Through his reverent attitude he makes himself open to receive
knowledge from his master, through positive questioning he dedicates
himself to the search and through humility dedicates himself to the
service of his master.

The nature of Atman:

Bhagwad Gita 2: 23,24
Nainam chindanti sastrani, nainam dahati pavakah
Na cainam kledayantyapo, na sosayati marutah
Acchedyo’yam adahyo’yam, akledo’sosya eva ca
Nityah sarvagatah sthanuh, acalo’yam sanatanah
Translation:
Weapons cannot pierce it (Atman) fire cannot burn it, water does not wet
and neither does the wind dry it. It is indestructible, not burnable, not
wettable and also not dryable, (it is) permanent, ubiquitous, abiding
invariable and eternal.
Commentary:
The action of 4 of the 5 elements does not affect the Atman. Akasa is
actionless and thus not referred to here. The Atman is in the cit-akasa
which is beyond the elements. Atman cannot be cleaved (hurt or divided)
It is all pervading and eternal. It is stable and present everywhere and yet
immovable thus it is known to be everlasting. This is the Atman.

The qualities of a yogi:

Bhagwad Gita 2:56, 57
Dukhesu anudvignamanah, sukhesu vigatasprhah
Vita raga bhaya krodhah sthitadhir munir ucyate
Yah sarvatra’nabhisnehas tat tatprapya subhasubham
N’abhinandati na dvesti tasya pragna pratishtitha
Translation:
He whose mind is not perturbed by adversity, who does not crave for
happiness, who is free from affection, rage, and fear, is the Muni of
constant wisdom. He who is unattached every where, who is not
delighted at receiving good and not dejected at coming by evil, he is
poised in wisdom.
Commentary:
A yogi has to control his senses and his emotions to perceive the truth.
One who is unaffected by the senses and the emotions that ordinary men
are susceptible to is one who is called a true yogi and is worthy to know.
In the middle of the world such a one is unaffected by the world and he
sits detached completely from the vagaries of life. He is steadfast in his
quest for truth and does not turn aside for any of the emotions that are
common to man. He is unperturbed; he views them as unavoidable and
yet remains unaffected through detachment. Joy or sorrow has no effect
on him, he is untouched by the happenings around him. He is thus steady
in wisdom and detached form the world of sensual pleasures and sorrows.

The ultimate goal of a Jnana yogi:

Bhagwad Gita 4: 38,39
Na hi jnanena sadrsam pavitramiha vidyate
Tat svayam yogasamsiddha kalena’tmani vindati
Sraddhavam labhate jnanam tatparah samyatendriyah
Jnanam labhdva param santim acirena’dhigacchati
Translation:
Truly there is no purifier in this world like knowledge. He that is
perfected in yoga realizes this in his own heart in due time. The devout
man the master of his senses obtains knowledge. Having thus obtained he
goes directly to the peace Supreme.
Commentary:
A dreaming man may dream of himself suffering but when he wakes up
he realizes it was only a dream. Likewise the knowledge of the self
cleanses man of the delusions of birth and death. He is reinstated in his
true blessed self. The proper practice of Yoga transforms the life of a yogi
to jnana yajna. One is said to be devoted when one’s mind is given over
completely to the ideal. Perfect mastery of the senses is the prerequisite to
the development of intuition and discernment. Thus the yogi attains the
supreme knowledge and is enters into peace.

The final state:

Bhagwad Gita 2: 71,72
Vihaya kaman yah sarvan pumamscarati nihsprhah
Nir mamo nirahankarah sa santim adhigacchati
Esa brahmi stithi partha nainam prapya muhyati
Stithva’syam antakale’pi brahma nirvanam rcchati
Translation:
That man attains peace who lives devoid of longing, freed from desires
and without the feeling of “I” and “mine”. This, O Arjuna, is the
Brahman state. Once having attained this none is bewildered or deluded.
Even at the hour of death if one becomes established in this, he becomes
one with Brahman.
Commentary:
The freedom from desires and “I” ness is essential to the attaining of the
goal for a Jnana yogi. This may come at any time and even if it comes at
the hour of death he is blessed to be one with Brahman. The feeling of I
and mine is the strongest feeling we have. We perceive ourselves as
individuals and thus are deluded by the world. Our individuality is
nothing but an illusion, we are the divine and when we realize this we are
truly free and at peace and one with the Supreme.

A personal Experience:
I would like to relate here an incident that happened to me that was my
first experience with Jnana if I may be so bold as to use that term.
One day when I was 9, I was at school and my friend and I were playing a
game of touching each other. It was a foolish game and we were
attempting to irritate each other in a boring class by touching and poking
each other. Finally I was fed up with shifting and jerking out of his way
and he touched my hand. I said ‘Oh you just touched my hand but not
me’. He tried again and touched my face, this time I said “ You have
touched my face but not me’. He tried again and touched my shoulder and
again I replied that he had just touched my shoulder but not me. “You
have to touch my mind to touch me’ I said and he gave up in disgust.
Later that day I thought about this and wondered if I could say “my
mind” then surely something in me owned the mind and that was ‘Me’. It
was rather intriguing and so that evening I asked my great grandfather
about it telling him the story from school.
He was very happy and told me that my mind was not me. I in fact have a
soul and that soul is Atman. It was the first time I had heard the word,
Atman. He said “ The atman is who you are. The body is made of matter,
flesh and bone and sinew but this gets old like me and eventually dies.
The atman, which is what you are, is part of Brahman which is the eternal
spirit what we call God. These two are the same, Atman and Brahman are
the same eternal indestructible and Brahman is what pervades the
universe, what created the universe and all that is in it and each living
person has a soul like you. Atman is in all of us.” I remember thinking
that it was rather a large concept and how shall Atman return to God,
Brahman and remain Atman? It was rather deep for a 9 year old but
nevertheless when I grew older I realized that I needed to find out more
about this and learn about my soul.

Story of Bhrigu from the Taittriya Upanishad:

The story goes to tell of a guru called Varuna whose son was called
Bhrigu. The boy wanted to know what was Brahman and asked his father.
His father who was also his guru replied that matter, life, sight, hearing,
mind and speech are all part of the Brahman. But he could not explain
Brahman, “ That from which these things are born and do consist and
when they depart that into which they enter; that is Brahman”. He further
said only through meditation and Tapas could the boy attain to this
knowledge. The boy went away and started to meditate and contemplate
on the world around him and then after some time realised that he had to
eat food and without food he would be no more and concluded that
therefore ‘Annam’ was Brahman. He was still at the gross state of
understanding and began in this manner. He came to his father and said
he has discovered that Brahman is food (matter) since all being require
food and it gives life. His father appreciated his knowledge and told him
to go back and get deeper knowledge. This time the boy went back and
meditated and realized that he was also breathing, he was reminded of a
corpse and saw that though all the matter was present still the body was
dead and then concluded that breath, Prana, life, was Brahman and came
back to his father with that conclusion. While the material objects of the
world are explainable in terms of matter and physical forms, living things
take us to another level. From materialism we move on further to
vitalism. The principle of life alone cannot account for conscious objects
and so the boy was yet to understand fully.
After he went away and reflected and performed more tapas he came to
understand that the mind controls the body and as such controls all things
under it. The mind is born with the body and is in control of the body, one
lives by the mind. When he presented this to his father the reply was the
same. He had yet to understand the deeper issues and so he was asked to
go and meditate again. This time he was in contemplation and realized
that a person with life and a mind of his own may also be misusing it or
be lunatic. In this case the mind cannot be supreme and as such is also
subject to the power of the senses. What then controls the mind? He came
to the conclusion that it is the intellect that guides the mind and that is the
essential element. All are born with intellect, which separates us from the
animals and the ‘buddhi’ controls the mind. Thus he reasoned the intellect
is where we derive our existence and our discrimination and this must
then be the Supreme that I seek. When he propounded this to his father he
was told he was doing very well in his search and yet he had to
understand more to understand and know what is Brahman. The boy went
back to his tapas and meditation. As he sat in meditation and applied
himself to understanding the truth it came to him that as he sat he was
using his intellect to understand something further. Hence there needed to
be something further that he as yet did not know. He was in control of his
intellect and the question was born, who am I? Who am I that am
controlling this intellect of mine? Even as matter contains life, does the
mind contains the intellect and the intellect contains spirit. Intelligence
cannot be the highest expression since it is still under our own agency.
Man must go further to the super-consciousness that supersedes our own
earthly consciousness, it is awareness of our selves in a grander and fuller
scale. Finally the boy realized bliss in the super-conscious state and came
to know that Brahman is bliss.
Behind all our growth is the perfection of ourselves which motivates it.
We are constantly becoming until finally we possess our being. We are.
The changing consciousness continues to change until it reaches the state
where it is able to transcend change. This is the level of Ananda, the truth
beyond matter, life, intelligence and mind that controls all of these.

Thoughts on Jnana Yoga by Swami Vivekananda

with commentary and explanation.

1. “Suppose that on account of a blow on the head I lose my memory and

forget all about my past; then I have lost all individuality.” (The real
nature of man: Lecture by Swami Vivekananda London 1896)

In the way described above I become a new person living a new life in
which I have to relearn everything again from walking and talking and
relating to the world. I build a new life with new fresh memories and
experiences. In case of family and relations I have to introduce myself to
them and learn of them anew. In due course of time I settle down to new
relationships and a new perspective on what is my life. Would I like the
same things, the same people, the same work, the same books or movies?
If not, as is often the case have I then become a new man? If then by
further trauma or experience some years later, I remember all my old
memories and thus am able to revert to my old life based on these and yet
am in a new life with new habits, friends relationships and experiences
am I then 2 individuals? Have I a new atman? Certainly the immortal
soul within me is the same and yet as a person I have developed into a
new ‘individual’. Is this a true definition of ‘individuality’, that all our
experiences create ‘that I am’? Or am I still ‘that I was’? Am I then a
‘new’ person? Is my personality, molded by thinking and experience,
actually me? That I am?
I have newness of experience and memory and yet that which is immortal
remains the same and my relation to the Supreme is unchanged. Thus the
absolute truth is unchangeable and is unrelated to this world and my
experiences here however varied or replicated they are.

‘We are not individuals yet. We are struggling towards individuality, and
that is the Infinite, that is the real nature of man’. (The real nature of
man: Lecture by Swami Vivekananda London 1896)
We as mature individuals have grown too far from God to ‘know’ him.
We merely know of Him. The very weapons that arm us for our life on
earth take us further and further away from the knowledge of God and
our true selves as Atman. We are overwhelmed with our education, our
enculturation, our prejudices, biases, desires, successes, defeats, failures,
gains, losses, sorrows and joys. We follow after happiness and the
greatest of pursuits is said to be the ‘ pursuit of happiness’. A great sage
has said that happiness is not in the end of the journey but rather in the
journey itself. The saying that money does not buy you happiness, was
countered by the wit who says “Someone who says that money does not
buy you happiness, does not know where to shop”. So the argument goes
on. It is as old as the hills. What is happiness and how does one find it?
The answer is known to the Jnana yogi alone. He alone has ‘known’ the
Supreme. He then has reverted to the childlike state that has been the
description of many enlightened masters. The bliss of ‘knowing’; this is
then the essence of Jnana.

2. The idea of a Personal god, the ruler and creator of the universe as he
has been styled, the ruler of Maya, or nature is not the end of these
Vedantic ideas; it is only the beginning. The idea grows and grows until
the vedantist finds, that He, who he thought was standing outside, is he
himself and is in reality within. He is the one who is free, but who
through limitation thought he was bound.
Maya and illusion - Lecture by Swami Vivekananda London 1896

The search for happiness through the senses, is thus a futile attempt to
satisfy the permanent with the things of this world, jagat, that are
temporal. The quest for happiness is itself a misnomer as it is not
something that is found, as though it were a diamond or a wife or a
treasure of some sort. The eternal spirit within us initiates the search for
happiness that each person who can see beyond the material world
embarks upon. It is the call of our own spirit Atman, longing to reunite
with the universal Brahman. In our own avidya and ajnana we attempt to
fulfill this desire and longing for happiness by the pleasures of the senses.
In the words of Lord Byron, “I have drunk every fount of pleasure, I have
quaffed every cup of fame and yet … I die of thirst”. He had not attained
to the knowledge of the truth. He was still looking among material things
and temporal glory, yet he had the wit to realize that he was not looking
in the right place and admitted freely that he had not attained.

3. He who sees in this world of manifoldness that One running through

all, in this world of death, he who finds that infinite life, and in this world
of insentience and ignorance he who finds that one light and knowledge,
unto him belongs eternal peace. Unto no one else, unto no one else.
Maya and the conception of God- A Lecture by Swami Vivekananda
London 1896

The person who can see through the impermanence of the world and the
things of the physical world is the one who can see the reality of the spirit
world as well. The world is far beyond what we see, hear, touch, or feel.
The real world as we see it is only real to our physical bodies as we
experience it with our senses. There is then far more than what we see
around us. If there was a 5th or 6th dimension we would not be able to
experience them because our senses can only tell us what is happening in
our own dimensions. We experience time, space and causation and we are
limited to these. These do not bind the Eternal and until we are able to
harness our minds to go beyond these in our logic and intellect in
meditation, we are ever bound by our senses. The senses cannot
experience the infinite and so one ruled by the senses cannot experience
or know Brahman.
Jiva, Jagat and Ishwara
The world as we see it is called Jagat in the holy scriptures and the Jiva
or Jivatma is the soul within each of us. Ishwara is the supreme, the
Fullness from which all Prakriti has emerged.

Think of our body as a boat floating on the sea of jagat, which is Maya,
only felt by our senses. This sea is bounded by the truth, Brahman. The
shore of truth.

When we are born we are launched out into the world in the boat and are
to traverse the ocean to reach the shore, Brahman. The Bhagwad Gita
says “navadware pure dehi” “the body has 9 entrances”. We experience
the world or jagat through these means, our senses that are the 9
entrances to our selves. Then realize the senses are like holes in the boat
that make us sink into the sea of samsara. The more we yield to their
influences the greater the hole in the boat.

We are adrift and sinking ever deeper into the sea because of the control
of the senses that allow the jagat to enter into our selves. We find that if
we have no control over the senses we are doomed to remain in the sea
and ever sinking and soon lost to the truth through delusion that
surrounds us. If we are able then to control the senses, subdue them to our
will and resist the encroachment of delusion into our minds and intellect,
we will gain mastery over the ocean of samsara and reach the shore of
truth. We will attain to the Supreme, Brahman.
Story of Alexander and the yogi:
Alexander the great Grecian king and conqueror had as teacher, one of
the greatest philosophers of the known world; the noble Aristotle. When
he embarked on his conquest of the east he asked his teacher what he
would like to bring back for him and among other things the teacher
asked him to fetch an Indian yogi with whom he could have philosophical
interaction. In India Alexander sought a Yogi and found one meditating
in the Himalayas. He asked the yogi to come back with him to Greece.
The yogi refused because he was quite content where he was. The king
offered him wealth and riches and anything he wanted but the yogi
refused saying he was content there. Finally the King threatened to kill
him. The yogi replied “ that is the most foolish thing you have said O
King. Me, the sun cannot dry, the fire cannot burn, the sword cannot kill,
for I am the birthless, deathless, the ever-living, all pervading Omnipotent
spirit”.

The yogi had realized Brahman, there was no fear or doubt or any desire
in him. He knew Him who is unknowable. He had transcended the gunas
and the barriers of senses and the mind. He was a realized soul. In fact he
had attained Jnana, he was secure in the knowledge of himself and the
eternal spirit being One.
A story from Rome c 100A.D. :
Pliny the Elder in early Rome writes of a man who was brought before
him for preaching the Christ’s message of freedom. In that slavery ridden
society he was thought to be inciting the slaves to rebellion. The record of
the case shows the following interaction.
Pliny the elder: Is it true that you are talking to people about being free
especially slaves?
Accused: I am telling them that they are already free and they do not
know it.
Pliny the elder: What? Are they not slaves? How then do you say they are
free?
Accused: No man is born a slave, the immortal spirit within him is
eternally free.
Pliny the elder: This is treason I will have you exiled.
Accused: You cannot my Lord, because the whole world is my God’s
house.
Pliny the elder: I will imprison you in the deepest dungeon then, and you
will see no one till you die.
Accused: You cannot my Lord because my God is within me.
Pliny the elder: I will have you torn apart by wild horses and killed.
Accused: You cannot my Lord, because my soul is eternal and lives on
despite what happens to my body.
Pliny had to give up, what can one do to a man who has no fear of death
exile or imprisonment, these were the only weapons he had to instill fear
an they proved impotent in the face of one who knows. One who knows
himself and the Eternal is past these things of the world. Man is born free
and he returns to Him who is Infinite and Supreme and no matter what
passes on Earth, this truth is incontrovertible.
CONCLUSION:
The path of the Jnana yogi is not an easy one. The senses carry a man
away with ease and the wiles of the world and worldly pleasures are very
hard to resist, much less subdue and bring under our control. The ones
who choose this path to reach the Supreme are those governed innately by
their intellect and their reason. They seek truth in a higher form than that
which is sought by other men.
Lord Krishna says,
Raga dvesha viyuktaistu, visaya indriyaiscaran
Atmavasyair vidheyatma prasadam adhigacchati
“ the disciplined yogi, moving among objects with the senses under
control, and free from attraction and aversions ultimately achieves
tranquility.”
This is the highest goal for all those who live in the world. To achieve
true peace and tranquility, secure in the knowledge of who we are.
Finally we have the answer to the world foremost question.

Who am I?
Once we achieve that tranquil state in super-consciousness we can say
with conviction,
Aham brahmasmi.

I am one with the Supreme!

The mystery of life
is at last clear and we are One!
This is the ultimate goal of all Yoga practice.
Hari Om tat sat.
Literature survey:
Srimad Bhagwad Gita by Swami Sivananda
Having taught Arjuna the immortal nature of the Atman, Lord Krishna
turns to the performance of action without expectation of fruit. A man
should not concern himself about the fruit of the action, like gain and
loss, victory and defeat. These are in the hands of the Lord. He should
perform all action with a balanced mind, calmly enduring the pairs of
opposites like heat and cold, pleasure and pain, that inevitably manifest
during action. Krishna advises Arjuna to fight, free from desire for
acquisition of kingdom or preservation of it.
Arjuna is eager to know the characteristics of a man who has a stable
mind. Such a person, Krishna tells him, will have no desires at all. Since
he is content within, having realised the Self, he is entirely free from
desires. The consciousness of the Atman and abandonment of desires are
simultaneous experiences. The various qualities of a Sthitaprajna (a stable
-minded person) are described by the Lord. He will not be affected by
adversity and will have no fear or anger. He will take things as they
come, and will not have any likes and dislikes. He will neither hug the
world nor hate it. The man of stable mind will have perfect control of the
senses. The senses are powerful and draw the mind outwards. One should
therefore turn one’s gaze within and realise God who resides in the heart.
The Yogi, having achieved a stable mind, remains steadfast even though
all sense-objects come to him. He is unmoved and lives a life of eternal
peace.
Katha Upanishad by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
Katha Up : I.1.14
“pra te bravimi tad u me nibodha svargyam agnim naciketah prajanan,
Anantalokaptim atho pratishtam viddhi, tvam etam nihito guhayam
(Yama said) : Knowing well as I do, that fire which is the aid to heaven, I
shall describe it to thee – learn it of me, O Naciketas. Know that fire to be
the means of attaining he boundless world, as the support of the universe
and as abiding in the secret place of the heart.
The central purpose of this passage is to indicate that the ultimate power
of the universe is also the deepest part of our being. “Nihito guhayam”
abiding in the secret place of the heart. It is the assumption of the
Upanishad writers that deep below the plane of our empirical life of
imagination, will and feeling is the ultimate being of man, his true center
which remains unmoved and unchanged, even when on the surface we
have the fleeting play of thoughts and emotions, hopes and desires. When
we withdraw from the play of outward faculties, pass the divisions of
discursive thought, we retreat into the soul, the witness spirit within.

Vedanta Treatise by A. Parthasarathy

Jnanam means knowledge. And the Jnana yoga is the path of knowledge
designed for persons in the intellectual category. It is meant for those who
enquire into the mystery of life and the world. Who am I? How did this
world come about. What is the origin of beings? Who is God? The path
of knowledge finds answers to these questions. Jnana yoga is not mere
erudition and scholarship in religious literature. Not cramming spiritual
knowledge from textbooks, precepts and preceptors. True knowledge
arises out of an eternal discipline of reflection and contemplation on the
eternal truths. As you absorb the knowledge, you apply it practically in all
walks of life. You begin to question what is permanent and impermanent
in life. What is eternal and ephemeral. Distinguish the real from the
unreal. The discipline has been brought out by one potent advice by the
poet philosopher Adi Sankaracarya: nitya anitya viveka vicara, which
means reflecting on the distinction between the Eternal and the
ephemeral.

Taittriya Upanishad by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan

The higher includes the lower and goes beyond it. Brahman is the deep
delight of freedom.
The ascent of reality from matter to God as one of increasing likeness to
God is brought out. While man has all thse 5 elements in his being, he
may stress one or the other, the material, the vital, the mental or the
intellectual or the spiritual. He who harmonises all these is the complete
man. For Aristotle the human soul is, in a certain sense, everything.
This analysis is accepted by the Buddha who speaks of 5 kinds of food
for the physical vital, psychological, logical and spiritual elements. The
enjoyment of nirvana is the food of the spirit.

The Holy Bible: Authorised King James version.

John 15: 1,5 : I am the True vine and my Father is the husbandman. I am
the vine and ye are the branches.
John 17 :21,23: That they all may be one; as thou Father art in me and I in
thee and that they also may be one in us and the world believe that thou
hast sent me. I in them and thou in me and that they may be made perfect
in one.
Thought Power by Swami Sivananda
Srutis emphatically declare: “This Atman cannot be obtained by weak
persons.” Sincere aspirants dedicate their whole being to contemplation
of the Eternal, having withdrawn their affection from the world of sense-
objects.
Those who have destroyed the Vasanas and host of habitual thoughts will
enjoy their final beatitude in the Brahmic seat, replete with trust,
quiescence and equality. They will have equal vision over all. This
mischievous and powerful mind generates all pains and all fears, all sorts
of diversities, heterogeneity, distinctions and dualities and destroys all
noble, spiritual wealth. Slay this troublesome mind.
When the seen and the sight merge into one another in the seer, then is
the experience of Ananda (bliss). This is Turiya state. Then one sees the
illimitable Jnana, Atman only everywhere. All sorts of distinctions and
dualities vanish now entirely.
Thoughts of attraction, and thoughts of repulsion, likes and dislikes,
Raga-Dvesha are annihilated in toto. Then the sage will not be conscious
of the existence of the body, though working in it. He will never lose his
control even amidst the many illusions of the world, like a woman who
performs her household duties whilst her mind is engrossed in her
paramour at a distance. The sage will always centre his mind on
Brahman.

Encyclopedia of Philosphy: Definitions of A bodhisattva

Mahayana Buddhism notes 10 perfections of the ideal bodhisattva:
giving (dana), morality (sila), patience (ksanti), vigor (virya),
contemplation (dhyana), wisdom (prajna), means-to-ends ability (upaya),
resolution (pranidhana), strength (bala), and knowledge (jnana).
Yoga for men by Thomas Claire

Jnana Yoga: The Yoga of Knowledge

Jnana literally means “wisdom” or “knowledge” in Sanskrit. Jnana yoga
is known as the yoga of wisdom. Of all the branches of yoga, this path
requires the greatest concentration of mental activity. Jnanins
(“knowers”), or practitioners of Jnana yoga, seek enlightenment
through the power of mental discrimination and inquiry—learning to
differentiate the real from the unreal, and the limited personal self from
the unlimited infinite self that is the source of all being. Meditation is the
most powerful tool used in the practice of Jnana yoga.

The C.I guide to Yoga

Jnana Yoga: Sagacious You

Jnana Yoga is the path of knowledge and wisdom. Inquiring minds are
what Jnana Yoga is all about, and because all knowledge is hidden within
us, Jnana Yoga’s goal is to inquire deeply into ourselves through
questioning, meditation, and contemplation until we find that knowledge.
Jnana Yoga involves a radical shift in perception. Everything you know,
think, believe, or feel is questioned—temporarily. When everything
you know is suddenly untrue, all that remains is you and the universe,
which are the same thing. The goal is wisdom, which is far beyond the
mere accumulation of information. It’s direct knowledge of the divine
through the elimination of all that is merely illusion.
Flow- the currency of health wealth and real happiness. By James
Traverse
The intellectually dominant follow the path of Jnana yoga.
Jnana is the path of knowledge. Jnana practice involves the powers of the
mind to discriminate between the real and the unreal, the permanent and
the transitory. A Jnani’s knowledge includes and transcends the intellect
without contradiction. It is the living understanding of the relationship
between Brahman (the source) and Atman (the branches)
Bibliography:

 Jnana Yoga: A compilation of lectures By Swami Vivekananda

 Vyasa Pushpanjali By Dr Nagendra
 Bhagwad Gita By Swami Chidbhavananda
 Bhagwad Gita By Swami Sivananda
 Bhagwad Gita by Ramesh Menon
 Easy_Steps_To_Yoga_By_Sri_Swami_Sivananda
 Vedanta Treatise by A. Parthasarathy
 The Taittriya Upanishad By Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
 Flow- the currency of health wealth and real happiness.
 The Principle Upanishads by Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
 Thought power by Swami Sivananda