The Dangers of Occultism 1 - Franz Hartmann

An excellent article about “True and False Yoga,” written by Marie Russak in the Adyar Bulletin of August 1908, has again forcibly called my attention to the disastrous results arising from meddling with occult practices without understanding their real nature. I have before my eyes a long list of friends and personal acquaintances, who within the last few years have become victims of their “ psychic researches,” for which they were not yet ripe and in which they persisted in spite of all warnings. Some of them became insane, some incurably diseased, others obsessed and morally depraved, and not a few of them ended by suicide. They were not unintelligent or uneducated people; on the contrary, one of them was a great and well known scientist and inventor, noble minded and generous; several were writers or poets of some distinction and a few even public lecturers on Theosophical subjects and on Spiritualism—things, however, of which they had very little personal experience and of which they knew only from reading.

H. P. Blavatsky has repeatedly said that for the purpose of obtaining occult knowledge one has first to become a “Theosophist.” This is not to be understood as if a person could not attain occult knowledge without having first his name inscribed as a member of the Theosophical Society, or as if by doing so he would become immediately ripe for receiving magical powers; but it means what the great Shankaracharya teaches in his Tattwa Bodha, namely, that the first requisite for obtaining real knowledge is the discernment between the “lasting and not lasting,”—between the high and the low, the real and unreal, the true and the false—to distinguish between one’s own permanent Self and the evanescent personality to which that higher Self is bound during its terrestrial and astral life.

In other words, we must realize that which is spiritual and divine within ourselves and in every other thing, before the portals of profound occult knowledge can be opened for us and we become initiated into the divine mysteries of nature. We must be able to raise our consciousness to a higher plane, before we can be able to perceive and actually know that which belongs to that plane and to avoid the snares and pitfalls which await those who walk with closed eyes in the dangerous precincts of the astral plane.

But with the advent of the Theosophical Society and the revival of the Theosophical movement a certain amount of promulgation of occult teachings was unavoidably connected. The spiritualistic movement had already paved the way; its phenomena had brought consternation among the learned and attracted the ignorant crowd. It became necessary to divulge some of the occult secrets which had been hidden for ages, and to explain some of the mysterious laws of nature, for the purpose of destroying certain misconceptions which had been caused by the establishment of a communication between mortals and what were supposed to be the immortal spirits of the departed. It was necessary to explain the nature of some of these astral entities, and thus to stem the tide of a wave of superstition which seemed to invade the world while the wave of materialism was receding and clericalism losing its hold.

Thus, what I may call a new era of occultism and psychism was inaugurated as a side issue of the Theosophical movement; occult phenomena, whether spurious or genuine, alike attracted the general attention of the public. The occult teachings, calculated at first only for such as were supposed to make proper use of them, soon became public property and were extensively misunderstood. Curiosity, the great motor power of the human mind and the first guide on the road to knowledge, was aroused. Many were those who by means of having their attention called to the higher truths of religion, were induced to lead a higher life, owing to the Theosophical teachings which they received; but there were and still are also many desirous of coming into possession of celestial powers, only for the purpose of applying them for the gratification of their passions or selfish desires; because, as the proverb says: “Extremes touch each other, and there is only a step from the sublime to the ridiculous”.

Every great movement, when it becomes popular, oversteps its boundaries and devastation begins. The tree of occultism, overflowing with life, produced many excrescences; hypnotism and mental suggestion appeared upon the scene and their miracles worked both ways; for, the best kind of medicine for effecting a cure may, if misapplied, also become a poison that kills, and the two, great enemies of mankind, stupidity and selfishness, are always ready to misapply the gifts which they receive. There are not a few who are willing to pledge their souls to the demons of hell, if they thereby could come into possession of infernal powers. If magic were to become the property of popular science, no man, woman or child would be sure of his life or safe against obsession; for, as the fanatical vivisectionist would not hesitate to destroy the whole of our animal creation for the purpose of giving support to some of his scientific theories, so the scientist of the future, without moral support, if endowed with occult powers, would not hesitate to experiment with the souls of human beings for the purpose of gratifying his curiosity and ambition for making discoveries. The ignorance and scepticism of the majority of the learned is at present the best protection against such evils for the majority of mankind.

But we will not enter at this moment into a discussion of the history of psychological crime or its prospect in the future, but merely turn our attention to the consequences of human folly and misunderstood truth.

If you remove a part of an anthill, its inhabitants become greatly disturbed. The sunlight, suddenly shining into its subterranean passages, which heretofore rested in darkness, seems to create a great deal of confusion, and you see the ants hurriedly running to and fro in all directions without any apparent object. Thus the light of the Theosophical teachings, made popular by the advent of the Theosophical movement, caused a great stir among those who had thus far rested in the blissful sleep of agnosticism or were enjoying the happy dreams of theological superstitions. The teachings given out by H. P. Blavatsky and her followers made a great impression upon the public mind. Soon new movements were originated by persons who appropriated to themselves this or that portion of those teachings, which they only half understood. Thus the existence of the Theosophical Society gave occasion to the formation of different other societies and sects, which partly, though in a deformed shape, taught the same truths as the former, although they repudiated the original fountain from which their wisdom was drawn; for it is and ever will be a fact in nature that fanatical sectarianism is intimately bound up with fanatical intolerance; acting upon the maxim: “Dare not to touch any other food but that which comes out of my kitchen, even if the other is of the same meat and has been cooked in the same style.”

Some of these societies, being based upon a financial scheme for making money, pretending to be able to employ divine powers in their service and to have the will of God at their command for the purpose of procuring for their adherents physical health and worldly benefits, met with great success; for the multitudes will always rush to that camp, where they think that a mine of gold has been discovered and where they are expecting a share; and the holding out promises of making salvation easy has always been the fundamental power of every clerical institution. However, we will not quarrel with these sects; however mistaken their theories and however deplorable the entire want of intelligence among some of their leaders, they too were the outgrowth of our times, the products of the law of necessity, and they had to fill a certain place in the progress of human evolution, and to certain of their guides the testimony may be given, that in spite of their ignorance and self conceit, they after all believed themselves in what they taught, and that they consequently “meant well.”

And now came a glorious harvest time for divers, chevaliers d'industrie, adventurers, conscious frauds and humbugs speculating on the contents of the pockets of gullible people by pretending to be able to teach persons, at so many dollars a head, how to put themselves in possession of supernatural powers. “Occult Societies” were formed with the evident object of desecrating that which is holy and making the high subservient to the low. They met the financial success which usually awaits those who know how to use the ignorance and greed of others to their own advantage; but how many of their deluded followers became victims of black magic will never be known. These victims were not all uncultured persons; there were some of them known to me as men of superior intellect, who seriously believed themselves to be earnest seekers for truth and tried all sorts of yoga practices for the purpose of “seeing what would come of it.” What came was insanity, prostration of the nervous system, loss of vitality and death. I have given the description of one such case in the Occult Review, March 1906. No end of tales, some of them amusing and ridiculous, others tragical, might be told about the experiences of people seeking to obtain occult or magical powers who fell into the hands of cranks or charlatans.

It is quite surprising to see how many otherwise intelligent people are ready to pledge implicit obedience to orders supposed to come from some unknown superiors, even if these orders are purely nonsensical. The game of “Unknown Superiors” was already in the seventeenth century successfully played among the order of the “Illuminates” whose system was based upon mutual espionage and secret supervision; it was organized after the pattern of the Jesuitical orders and existed until it become a real danger to the State. Some years ago the sending out of spurious Mahatma letters was quite the fashion in certain places, and all sorts of lies were employed to make the seekers for wisdom believe in their genuineness. When I was in Hamburg a lady came to me with what she claimed to be a letter from a Mahatma. She said she had been sent by some members of the society to which she belonged, to show me that letter and ask my opinion about it. It was an anonymous letter, containing some common pious phrases and demanding implicit obedience to all orders issuing from the writer—especially such orders as requested the payment of money. I answered that I should consider a person very foolish if he were to act blindly upon orders contained in an anonymous letter. The lady retired, but instead of reporting my answer she, as I afterwards found out, said that as soon as I looked at that letter I immediately recognized it as coming from a Mahatma; that my eyes were filled with tears of emotion (!) and that I recommended the strictest obedience. The fact was that the writer of the letter was that lady’s husband, and that he wanted to obtain my endorsement to strengthen the faith of his gullible followers.

The history of human stupidity is without end; inexhaustible is the army of the credulous, willing to commit all sorts of folly, if they are made to believe that thereby they may obtain superiority over the rest of mankind. They are ready to sacrifice everything except the egotism resulting from the delusion of self. 

The Theosophist, October 1909  

Part 2 

Astral Intoxication - William Q. Judge

There is such a thing as being intoxicated in the course of an unwise pursuit of what we erroneously imagine is spirituality. In the Christian Bible it is very wisely directed to "prove all" and to hold only to that which is good; (Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 1 Thessalonians 5:21) this advice is just as important to the student of occultism who thinks that he has separated himself from those "inferior" people engaged either in following a dogma or in tipping tables for messages from deceased relatives -- or enemies -- as it is to spiritists who believe in the "summerland" and "returning spirits."

The placid surface of the sea of spirit is the only mirror in which can be caught undisturbed the reflections of spiritual things. When a student starts upon the path and begins to see spots of light flash out now and then, or balls of golden fire roll past him, it does not mean that he is beginning to see the real Self -- pure spirit. A moment of deepest peace or wonderful revealings given to the student, is not the awful moment when one is about to see his spiritual guide, much less his own soul. Nor are psychical splashes of blue flame, nor visions of things that afterwards come to pass, nor sights of small sections of the astral light with its wonderful photographs of past or future, nor the sudden ringing of distant fairy-like bells, any proof that you are cultivating spirituality. These things, and still more curious things, will occur when you have passed a little distance on the way, but they are only the mere outposts of a new land which is itself wholly material, and only one removed from the plane of gross physical consciousness.

The liability to be carried off and intoxicated by these phenomena is to be guarded against. We should watch, note and discriminate in all these cases; place them down for future reference, to be related to some law, or for comparison with other circumstances of a like sort. The power that Nature has of deluding us is endless, and if we stop at these matters she will let us go no further. It is not that any person or power in nature has declared that if we do so and so we must stop, but when one is carried off by what Boehme calls "God's wonders," the result is an intoxication that produces confusion of the intellect. (Jakob Böhme  1575 – 1624) was a German philosopher, Christian mystic, and Lutheran Protestant theologian.) Were one, for instance, to regard every picture seen in the astral light as a spiritual experience, he might truly after a while brook no contradiction upon the subject, but that would be merely because he was drunk with this kind of wine. While he proceeded with his indulgence and neglected his true progress, which is always dependent upon his purity of motive and conquest of his known or ascertainable defects, nature went on accumulating the store of illusory appearances with which he satiated himself.

It is certain that any student who devotes himself to these astral happenings will see them increase. But were our whole life devoted to and rewarded by an enormous succession of phenomena, it is also equally certain that the casting off of the body would be the end of all that sort of experience, without our having added really anything to our stock of true knowledge.

The astral plane, which is the same as that of our psychic senses, is as full of strange sights and sounds as an untrodden South American forest, and has to be well understood before the student can stay there long without danger. While we can overcome the dangers of a forest by the use of human inventions, whose entire object is the physical destruction of the noxious things encountered there, we have no such aids when treading the astral labyrinth. We may be physically brave and say that no fear can enter into us, but no untrained or merely curious seeker is able to say just what effect will result to his outer senses from the attack or influence encountered by the psychical senses.

And the person who revolves selfishly around himself as a center is in greater danger of delusion than any one else, for he has not the assistance that comes from being united in thought with all other sincere seekers. One may stand in a dark house where none of the objects can be distinguished and quite plainly see all that is illuminated outside; in the same way we can see from out of the blackness of our own house -- our hearts -- the objects now and then illuminated outside by the astral lights; but we gain nothing. We must first dispel the inner darkness before trying to see into the darkness without; we must know ourselves before knowing things extraneous to ourselves.

This is not the road that seem easiest to students. Most of them find it far pleasanter and as they think faster, work, to look on all these outside allurements, and to cultivate all psychic senses, to the exclusion of real spiritual work.

The true road is plain and easy to find, it is so easy that very many would-be students miss it because they cannot believe it to be so simple.

"The way lies through the heart"; / Ask there and wander not; / Knock loud, nor hesitate / Because at first the sounds / Reverberating, seem to mock thee. / Nor, when the door swings wide, / Revealing shadows black as night, / Must thou recoil. / Within, the Master's messengers / Have waited patiently: / That Master is Thyself!

(The Path, October, 1887, pp. 206-208)

Blavatsky on esoteric aspects of the family

Besides, Blavatsky's extensively developed trinitarian philosophy based on the symbolism of father, mother and child, below are a couple of suggestive passages that evoke a cosmic and metaphysical perspective of the family, where is described a holistic, organic view of the familial unit, not unlike the symbolism of the tree, which Blavatsky, in The Key to Theosophy, uses to explain the notion of universal brother/sisterhood; also related to the concept of the Macrocosm and Microcosm Correspondence :

This mysterious process of a nine-months formation the kabalists call the completion of the "individual cycle of evolution." As the foetus develops from the liquor amnii in the womb, so the earths germinate from the universal ether, or astral fluid, in the womb of the universe. These cosmic children, like their pigmy inhabitants, are first nuclei; then ovules; then gradually mature; and becoming mothers in their turn, develop mineral, vegetable, animal, and human forms. From centre to circumference, from the imperceptible vesicle to the uttermost conceivable bounds of the cosmos, these glorious thinkers, the kabalists, trace cycle merging into cycle, containing and contained in an endless series. 

The embryo evolving in its pre-natal sphere, the individual in his family, the family in the state, the state in mankind, the earth in our system, that system in its central universe, the universe in the cosmos, and the cosmos in the First Cause: — the Boundless and Endless. So runs their philosophy of evolution:

"All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is; and God the Soul."

"Worlds without number
Lie in this bosom like children." (Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man, 1734) 
(Isis Unveiled, Vol. I, pp. 389-90)

In the Greek and Latin churches -- which regard marriage as one of the sacraments -- the officiating priest during the marriage ceremony represents the apex of the triangle; the bride its left feminine side and the bridegroom the right one, while the horizontal line is symbolised by the row of witness, the bridesmaids and best-men. 

But behind the priest there is the altar with its mysterious containments and symbolic meaning, inside of which no one but the consecrated priests ought to enter. In the early days of Christianity the marriage ceremony was a mystery and a true symbol. Now, however, even the churches have lost the true meaning of this symbolism. (The Secret Doctrine. Vol. 1 , p. 614 fn)

It is a truism of too long standing, a policy acted upon by every civilized nation from antiquity, that the prosperity of every state is based upon the orderly establishment of family principles. Nor is anyone likely to deny that social ethics depend largely upon the early education received by the growing-up generations. On whom does the duty devolve of guiding that education from early childhood? Who can do so better than a loving mother, once that her moral worth is recognised by all, and that no evil report has ever sullied her fame? The youth and his later intellectual training may well be left to the firmer hand of the father: the care of his childhood belongs by all divine and human rights to the mother alone; the parent who gave her offspring not only a part of her flesh and blood, but a portion likewise of her immortal soul— that which shall create hereafter the real man, the true EGO. This is the A B C of the life-duties of mankind; and it is the first duty of those in power to guard the sacred maternal rights against any brutal violation. (Our 19th Century Christian Ethics [Lucifer, Vol. II, No. 12, August, 1888, pp. 482-484], Collected Writings, Vol. 10, p. 83)

 

Bhagavad Gita Summary - Book 6- Dhyana Yoga or The Yoga of Meditation

Chapter 6 deals with meditation practice, and consistent with the previous chapters,  it stresses that formal meditation alone, is not a central practice per se if there isn't a full integration of action, detachment, devotion and renunciation, fully internalized at a deep level. Certain commentaries divide the Gita into 3 parts, six chapters each; the first part being considered to be the essence of the teachings. Sometime in the future, we will have posts on the next two parts.

1- What is Yoga? (1-9)

Renunciation in action (Verses 1-2) 

1. He who, without depending on the fruits of action, performs his bounden duty, he is a Sannyasin and a Yogin : not he who is without fire and without action. 

Action is a stepping-stone to Dhyana-Yoga. (3)

3. For a devotee who wishes to attain to Yoga, action is said to be the means. For the same (devotee), when he has attained to Yoga, quiescence (sama) is said to be the means.

For a Brahmana there is no wealth equal to this, viz., (knowledge of) oneness and homogeneity (of Brahman in all creatures), truthfulness, character, steadiness, harmlessness, straightforwardness, and renunciation of the several actions."—(Santiparva, 175-38). (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901) 

Shastras have stated that a Sanyasi is a yogi because it is only when the desire goes that the essence of yoga is obtained. (Dnyaneshwari; 6:52-53, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

Duty and the final imperative — the "what ought I to do" — comes in here and becomes a part of the process. The actions to be performed are not any and every one. We are not to go on heedlessly and indiscriminately doing everything that is suggested. We must discover what actions ought to be performed by us and do them for that reason and not because of some result we expect to follow. The fact that we may be perfectly certain of the result is no reason for allowing our interest to fasten upon that. Here again is where certain theosophists think they have a great difficulty. They say that knowing the result one is sure to become interested in it. But this is the very task to be essayed — to so hold one's mind and desires as not to be attached to the result.

By pursuing this practice true meditation is begun and will soon become permanent. For one who watches his thoughts and acts, so as to perform those that ought to be done, will acquire a concentration in time which will increase the power of real meditation. It is not meditation to stare at a spot on the wall for a fixed period, or to remain for another space of time in a perfectly vacuous mental state which soon runs into sleep. All those things are merely forms which in the end will do no lasting good. But many students have run after these follies, ignoring the true way. The truth is that the right method is not easy; it requires thought and mental effort, with persistency and faith. Staring at spots and such miscalled occult practices are very easy in comparison with the former. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 6, 3)

Who is a Yogin ? (4-9) 

4. When a man, renouncing all thoughts, is not attached to sense-objects and actions, then he is said to have attained to Yoga. 

When a Yogin, keeping the mind steadfast, feels no attachment for the objects of the senses such as sound, nor thinks that he has to do any action,—whether nitya (obligatory) or vaimittika (obligatory and incidental) or kamya (done with a motive) or pratishiddha (forbidden by law), — regarding it as of no use to him; and when he has learned to habitually renounce all thoughts which give rise to desires for objects of this world and of the next, then he is said to have become a Yogagriha, to be one who has attained to Yoga.—The words " renouncing all thoughts" imply that all desires as well as all actions should be renounced. For, all desires spring from thoughts, as the smrti says : 

" Verily desire springs from thought (samkalpa), and of thought yajnas are born."—(Manu ii. 2). 

" O Desire, I know where thy root lies. Thou art born of thought. I shall not think of thee, and thou shalt cease to exist as well as thy root,"—(Mahabharata, Santiparva, 177-25). (Sankara Commentary) 

5. Let a man raise himself by himself, let him not lower himself; for, he alone is the friend of himself, he alone is the enemy of himself. 

However, we are human and weak. As such we require help, for the outer self cannot succeed in the battle. So Krishna points out that the lower self is to be raised up by the help of the higher; that the lower is, as it were, the enemy of the higher, and we must not allow the worse to prevail. It will all depend upon self-mastery. The self below will continually drag down the man who is not self-conquered. This is because that lower one is so near the thick darkness that hangs about the lower rungs of evolution's ladder it is partly devil. Like a heavy weight it will drag into the depths the one who does not try to conquer himself. But on its other side the self is near to divinity, and when conquered it becomes the friend and helper of the conqueror. The Sufis, the Mohammedan mystical sect, symbolize this in their poetry relating to the beautiful woman who appears but for a moment at the window and then disappears. She refuses to open the door to her lover as long as he refers to their being separate; but when he recognizes their unity then she becomes his firm friend. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 6, 5)

2- Directions for the practice of Yoga. (10-17)

11. Having in a cleanly spot established a firm seat, neither too high nor too low, with cloth, skin, and kusa grass thereon;

12. Making the mind one-pointed, with the actions of the mind and the senses controlled, let him, seated there on the seat, practise Yoga for the purification of the self.

13. Holding erect and still the body, head, and neck, firm, gazing on the tip of his nose, without looking around;

If, on the other hand, the very act of gazing on the tip of his nose were meant here, then the mind would be fixed only there, not on the Self. As a matter of fact, the Yogin is to concentrate his mind on the Self, as will be taught in vi. 25, ' Making the mind dwell in the Self.' Wherefore the words ' as it were ' being understood, ' gazing 'means here ' the fixing of the eye-sight within.' (Sankara Commentary) 

16. "Half (the stomach) for food and condiments, the third ((quarter) for water, and the fourth should be reserved for free motion of air." 

Arjuna, one rule of the yoga practice is that he who does not perform prescribed actions does not become worthy. One who is a slave to the pleasures of the tongue and of sleep does not have the right to practice yoga. Also, one who, out of obstinacy reduces his diet by suppressing his hunger and thirst and does not sleep properly cannot control his body. How can such a person succeed in yoga? Therefore one should not pamper the sense-pleasures but at the same time one should not totally abandon them also.

One should eat but it should be proper and in moderation. One should undertake only a limited number of tasks. One should talk only what is necessary, walk within limits and sleep at proper times only. Even if one has to stay awake for any reason, it should not be beyond some specific limit. By such regular routine the essential constituents of the body remain in balance. And when the senses are satisfied in proper proportions the mind also remains satisfied.  Once the external organs become regulated the internal happiness increases and the yoga is achieved even without practice. One who practices yoga by remaining regular and controlled in his habits experiences the Self. A person whose mind becomes steady and remains so until death, may be called a person who has achieved yoga. In this stage his mind may be compared to a flame in windless air. (Dnyaneshwari; 6:344-358, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

3- Being established in the Self (18-26) 

18. When the well-restrained thought is established in the Self only, without longing for any of the objects of desire, then he is said to be a Saint.

19. 'As a lamp in a sheltered spot does not flicker,'—this has been thought as the simile of a Yogin of subdued thought, practising Yoga in the Self.

25. Little by little let him withdraw, by reason (buddhi) held in firmness; keeping the mind established in the Self, let him not think of anything. 

He should make the mind constantly abide in the Self, bearing in mind that the Self is all and that nothing else exists. This ' is the highest form of Yoga. (Sankara Commentary) 

4- The effect of Dhyana-Yoga. (27-36)

29. The Self abiding in all beings, and all beings (abiding) in the Self, sees he whose self has been made steadfast by Yoga, who everywhere sees the same. 

He sees all beings—from Brahma, the Creator, down to a clump of grass—as one with the Self ; and in all the different beings—from Brahma, the Creator, down to inanimate objects—he sees the same ; i. e., he sees that the Self and Brahman (the Absolute) are one. (Sankara Commentary) 

30. He who sees Me everywhere and sees everything in Me, to him I vanish not, nor to Me does he vanish. 

He who sees Me, Vasudeva, the Self of all, in all beings, and who sees Brahma, the Creator, and all other beings, in Me, the Self of all ;— when he has thus seen the unity of the Self, I—who am the Isvara—never leave his presence, nor does that wise man leave My presence ; for his Self and Mine are one, and one's own Self cannot but be manifest to oneself. (Sankara Commentary) 

32. Whoso, by comparison with himself, sees the same everywhere, O Arjuna, be it pleasure or pain, he is deemed the highest Yogin. 

He sees that whatever is pleasant to himself is pleasant to all creatures, and that whatever is painful to himself is painful to all beings. Thus seeing that what is pleasure or pain to himself is alike pleasure or pain to all beings, he causes pain to no being ; he is harmless. Doing no harm, and devoted to right knowledge, he is regarded as the highest among all Yogins.

If you are not able to do even this then listen further. One should fix the thought in one's mind that "I am in the body of every being and everything is in Me; that this universe and all living beings are interlinked." Needless to say that he who sees my presence in every being with the feeling of equality and does not harbour discrimination in his mind based on outwardly differences between them is undisputedly one with Me. By not being involved with its affairs he reaches my level through his experiencing of the Brahman even while he is in his body. He who has experienced my all-pervasive nature himself becomes all-pervasive. (Dnyaneshwari; 6:390-402, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

34. The mind verily, is, O Krishna, restless, turbulent, strong and obstinate. Thereof the restraint I deem quite as difficult as that of the wind. 

35. Doubtless, O mighty-armed, the mind is hard to restrain and restless ; but by practice, O son of Kunti, and by indifference it may be restrained.

Shri Krishna replied, "What you are saying is true. The mind is mercurial. But if one can turn it towards the practice of yoga observing dispassion, then it will become steady after some time. The mind has one good quality and that is, it develops a liking for a thing towards which gets attracted. Therefore one should make it to like the experience of the Self. Those who are not dispassionate and also do not practice yoga would find it impossible to control the mind. But if we do not at all bother about following the techniques of regulated behaviour (Yama- Niyama) and about dispassion, and instead get immersed in sense pleasures and thus do not conquer the mind then how can it become steady? Therefore let your actions be such as to control the mind and then we shall see how it does not become steady." (Dnyaneshwari; 6:418-424, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

The next few verses in the Gita outline that which is extremely difficult — equal-mindedness, and intentness upon the Supreme Being in heat and cold, pleasure and pain, success and failure. We cannot reach to this easily, perhaps not in many lives, but we can try. Every effort we make in that direction will be preserved in the inner nature and cannot be lost at death. It is a spiritual gain, the riches laid up in heaven to which Jesus referred. To describe the perfection of equal-mindedness is to picture an adept of the highest degree, one who has passed beyond all worldly considerations and lives on higher planes. Gold and stones are the same to him. The objects he seeks to accomplish are not to be reached through gold, and so it and the pebbles have the same value. He is also so calm and free from delusion of mind and soul that he remains the same whether with enemies or friends, with the righteous or the sinners.

This high condition is therefore set before us as an ideal to be slowly but steadfastly striven after so that in the course of time we may come near it. If we never begin we will never accomplish, and it is far better to adopt this high ideal, even though failing constantly, than to have no ideal whatever. But some are likely to make a mistake herein. Indeed they have done so. They set up the ideal, but in a too material and human manner. Then they thought to walk on the chosen path by outward observance, by pretending to regard gold and stones as the same to them, while in their hearts they preferred the gold. Their equal-mindedness they confined to other people's affairs, while they displeased and alarmed all relatives and friends by the manner of riding this hobby and by wrong neglect of obvious duty. Truly they sought for equal-mindedness, but failed to see that it can only be acquired through right performance of duty, and not by selecting the duties and environments that please us. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 6, 27-36)

5- Failures in Yoga and the after-career. (37-47)

40. O Partha, neither in this world nor in the next is there destruction for him ; none, verily, who does good. My son, ever comes to grief. 

44. By that very former practice is he borne on, though unwilling. Even he who merely wishes to know of Yoga rises superior to the Word-Brahman.

The best of the Yogins. 45-47 

45. Verily, a Yogin who strives with assiduity, purified from sins and perfected in the course of many births, then reaches the Supreme Goal.

46. A Yogin is deemed superior to men of austerity, and superior to even men of knowledge he is also superior to men of action ; therefore be thou a Yogin, O Arjuna,

Knowledge of the teachings of the sastra. Action: such as Agnihotra, worship of the sacred fire. (Sankara Commentary) 

47. Of all Yogins, whoso, full of faith, worships Me with his inner self abiding in Me, he is deemed by Me as most devout.

Bhagavad Gita Summary - Book 5: Karma Sanyasayoga or The Yoga of Renunciation

Book 5: Karma Sanyasayoga or The Yoga of Renunciation

The stage of complete renunciation; sannyas is one of the four ashrams or stages of life in Hindu philosophy. It requires to renounce all worldly thoughts and desires, and spends the rest of his life in spiritual contemplation.  In the first five chapters, there has been on ongoing consideration of the relation between action and contemplation, although they are not to be understood as distinct. This chapter has some of the most pointed statements on this question.

1- Action and Renunciation. (1-12)

Karma Yoga suits the ignorant better than Samnyasa. (1-3)

2. Renunciation and Yoga through action both lead to the highest bliss; but, of the two. Yoga through action is esteemed more than renunciation of action.

Sankhya and Yoga lead to the same goal. (4-5)

4. Children, not the wise, speak of Sankhya and Yoga as distinct. He who is rightly devoted to even one obtains the fruits of both.

 

I think such is not the meaning, but that, on the contrary, the seemingly easy alternative of performing actions properly is in reality the most difficult of all tasks. And no matter how much we may wait for a favorable birth, for a much hoped-for environment which will not only permit the new sort of life but, in fact, urge it upon us, it will never arrive for us until we have learned what is the right performance of action. This learning can never be acquired by a renunciation of works now. Indeed, it may be taken for granted that no person will be able to renounce the world unless he has passed through the other experience in some life. A few may be found who attempt to do so, but if they have not been through all action they cannot proceed. The character of the man himself inwardly is the real test. No matter how many times during countless births he has renounced the world, if his inner nature has not renounced, he will be the same man during the entire period, and whenever, in any one of his ascetic lives, the new, the appropriate temptation or circumstance arises, he will fall from his high outward asceticism.

That our view as to the extreme difficulty of right renunciation through action is correct, we may refer to what Krishna says further on in the chapter.

Yet such abstraction, Chief!
Is hard to win without much holiness. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 5, 4)

Karma Yoga is a means to Samnyasa. (6)

6- O thou of mighty arms, it is difficult to attain true renunciation, without right performance of action; the devotee rightly performing action attains to true renunciation before long.

Here again is a higher place assigned to performance of action. It seems clear that what Krishna meant was that renunciation of action in any one life, followed by the same conduct in all the subsequent lives thereby affected, would at last lead the renouncer to see how he must begin to stop that kind of renunciation and take up the performance of actions while he renounced the fruit of them. This is thought by many occultists to be the true view

No matter in what direction we see ourselves acting, we perceive how difficult it is to be true renouncers. And we cannot hope to reach the perfection of this better sort of renunciation through action, in the present life, be it the one in which we have begun, or be it the twentieth of such effort. However, we can try, and such is our duty; if we persevere, the tendency toward the right understanding will increase with each life more rapidly than would otherwise be possible. (William Q. Judge, Essays on the Gita, 5, 6)

A sage's actions do not affect him. (7)

7. He who is equipped with Yoga, whose mind is quite pure, by whom the self has been conquered, whose senses have been subdued, whose Self has become the Self of all beings,—though doing, he is not tainted.

A sage's actions are really no actions. (8-9)

8-9. 'I do nothing at all'; thus should the truth-knower think, steadfast,—though seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, going, sleeping, breathing, speaking, letting go, seizing, opening and closing the eyes,—remembering that the senses move among sense-objects.

Karma Yogin is untainted by the results of this action. (10-12)

12. The steady-minded one, abandoning the fruit of action, attains the peace born of devotion. The unsteady one, attached to the fruit through the action of desire, is firmly bound. 

The steady- minded man who, resolved that " I do actions for the sake of the Lord, not for my benefit," abandons the fruit of action attains the peace called moksha, as the result of devotion, through the following stages : first, purity of the mind ; then, attainment of knowledge ; then, renunciation of all actions ; and lastly, devotion to knowledge. But he who is unsteady is led by desire and is attached to the fruit, thinking ' I do this act for my benefit.' He is firmly bound. Therefore, be thou steady-minded.   (Baghavad Gita, with the Commentary of Sri Sankaracharya, transl. A. Mahadeva Sastri, 1901, 151)

2- Life of the sage (13-26)

The blissful embodied life of a sage. (13)

13. Renouncing all actions by thought, and Self-controlled, the embodied one rests happily in the nine-gated city, neither at all acting nor causing to act. 

Actions are either the obligatory duties (nitya-karmani), or those arising on the occurrence of some special events (naimittika- karmani), or those intended for securing some special ends, and which are only optional (kamya-karma),or those which are forbidden (pratishiddha-karmani). The man who has subdued the senses, renounces all actions in speech, thought, and deed, by discrimination, by seeing inaction , in action, and rests happily. 

 

He rests happily because he has given up all action in speech, thought and deed, because he is without worry, because his mind is calm, because, excepting the Self, all interests (foreign to the Self) have departed from his mind. Where and how does he rest ? — In the body which has nine openings : seven in the head, being the organs of sensation ; two nether ones for the passage of the urine and the dung. As having these nine openings, the body is said to be a nine-gated city. It is like a city, with the Self for its Monarch, inhabited by the citizens of the senses, mind, intellect, as well as their objects,—all working for the sole benefit of their Lord and producing consciousness of various objects. In such a nine-gated city the embodied one rests, having renounced all action. (Sankara Commentary)

 

Nature is the source of activity. (14)

14. Neither agency nor objects does the Lord create for the world, nor union with the fruits of actions. But it is the nature that acts.

 

{Question):—If the Self in the body does not Himself act nor cause others to act, what then is it that acts and causes others to act ? { [Answer) :—Listen. It is Nature, Svabhava, Prakriti, \ Maya, ' the Divine Maya made up of gunas '( vii. 14 ).  (Sankara Commentary)

Wisdom and Unwisdom. (15-16) 

16. But to those whose unwisdom is destroyed by wisdom of the Self, like the sun wisdom illuminates that Supreme.

The sage has no more births. (17) 

17. With their consciousness in That, their Self being That, intent on That, with That for their supreme goal, they go never again to return, their sins shaken off by means of wisdom.

The sage sees the One in all beings. (18) 

18. In a Brahmana endued with wisdom and humility, in a cow, in an elephant, as also in a dog and in a dog-eater,'' the wise see the same. Humility is tranquillity, the condition of a well-disciplined soul. 

The sage is liberated while still on earth. (19) 

19. Even here birth is overcome by them whose mind rests on equality. Spotless, indeed, and equal is Brahman ; wherefore in Brahman they rest.

The sage is free from grief and rejoicing. (20) 

20. He who knows Brahman can neither rejoice on obtaining the pleasant, nor grieve on obtaining the unpleasant,—steady-minded, undeluded, resting in Brahman.

The sage's infinite joy. (21-22) 

22. For, those delights which arc born of contacts are only generators of pain, having a beginning and an end, O son of Kunti ; a wise man rejoices not in them. 

Seeing that there is no trace of joy in the samsara, the devotee should withdraw the senses from the mirage of sense-objects. Not only do the delights cause pain, but also they have a beginning and an end. The contact of a sense with its object marks the beginning) of a pleasure, and their separation its end. Delights are temporary, occurring in the moment of interval (between the origin and the end). (Sankara Commentary)

The path of Nirvana. (23-26) 

23. He that is able, while still here, to withstand, before liberation from the body, the impulse of desire and anger, he is a Yogin, he is a happy man. While still here : while yet living. Before liberation from the body : up to the point of death.

By thus marking death as the limit, the Lord teaches that the impulse of desire and anger is unavoidable during life, since its causes are innumerable, and that till the very moment of death it should not be trusted. Desire (Kama) is the longing for a pleasure giving agreeable object of our experience when coming within the ken of our senses, heard of, or remembered ; and anger (krodha) is the aversion for the disagreable, for the cause of pain, when being seen, heard of, or remembered. 

The impulse of desire (kama) is the agitation of the mind (antah-karana) as indicated by hairs standing on end and by a joyful countenance ; and the impulse of anger is the mental agitation indicated by the trembling of the body, by perspiration, lip-biting, fiery eyes, and the like. He who can withstand the impulses of desire and anger is a Yogin, and he is a happy man here on earth. (Sankara Commentary)

24. Whoso has his joy within and his pastime within, and whoso has his light within only, that Yogin attains Brahman's bliss, himself becoming Brahman. Within: in the Self. He attains the bliss (nirvana) in Brahman,—i.e. he attains moksha,—while still living here on earth. 

One who is not affected by the success or failure (or gains and losses) of his actions is a person with sense of equability. He is the Brahman personified. Due to the limitless internal bliss of the Self he is not attracted towards the external worldly pleasures. It is only those who have not experienced this internal bliss that are attracted towards the impermanent worldly pleasures. The pleasures of the sense-objects are actually miseries from the beginning to the end but ignorant people cannot do without them. It is these people who are addicted to the sense pleasures that have given the appearance of truth to this worldly delusion of Maya. (5:126). (Dnyaneshwari; 5:103-126, transl. M.R. Yardi) 

These instructions will be very difficult for all who are living for themselves and who have not in some small degree begun to believe that they are not here for their own sake. But when we feel that there is no separation between us and any other creature, and that our higher self is leading us through all the experiences of life to the end that we shall recognize the unity of all, then, instead of continually acting contrary to that object of the higher self, we try to acquire the right belief and aspiration. Nor need we be deterred, as some are, by the extreme difficulty of eliminating the selfish desire for progress. That will be the task during many lives, and we should begin it voluntarily as soon as it is known, instead of waiting for it to be forced in upon us through suffering and many defeats.

Effacement in the Supreme Spirit is gained by the right-seeing sage whose sins are exhausted, who hath cut asunder all doubts, whose senses and organs are under control, and who is devoted to the well-being of all creatures.

If the last qualification is absent, then he is not a "right-seeing sage" and cannot reach union with the Supreme. It must follow that the humblest imitator, everyone who desires to come to that condition, must try to the best of his ability to imitate the sage who has succeeded. And such is the word of the Master; for he says in many places that, if we expect to have his help, we must apply ourselves to the work of helping humanity — to the extent of our ability. No more than this is demanded.  (Judge, 5, 25)

26. To the devotees who are free from desire and anger, who have controlled their thought, and who have known the Self, Brahman's bliss exists everywhere. Those who have renounced all actions and attained right knowledge are liberated, whether living or dead.

3- Realisation of the Lord by Dhyana-Yoga. (27-29) 

It has been said that those who, renouncing all actions, remain steady in right knowledge obtain instant liberation. It has often been and will be declared by the Lord that Karma-Yoga, which is performed in complete devotion to the Lord and dedicated to Him, leads to moksha step by step: first the purification of the mind, then knowledge, then renunciation of all actions, and lastly moksha.  (Sankara Commentary)

29. On knowing Me,—the Lord of all sacrifices and austerities, the Great Lord of all worlds, the Friend of all beings,—he goes to Peace.

I am Narayana, the Lord of all sacrifices and austerities, both as their author and as their Devata (i.e, as the God whose grace is sought by their means). I am the Friend of all, doing good to them without expecting any return for it. Lying in the heart of all beings, I am the dispenser of the fruits of all actions and the witness of all cognitions. On knowing Me, they attain peace, the cessation of all samsara. (Sankara Commentary)