Hinduism
In his section on Hinduism, Huston Smith discusses the Hindu belief in how they can obtain the fullness of human potential. There are four different "paths" or yogas Hindus may take to reach their goal of uniting with God. They have different paths for different types of people who choose to follow them. Jnana yoga is for more reflective individuals, bhakti is for those whose emotions, more particularly love, drives them to become closer to God, karma is for those who enjoy being actively engaged in the work of God, thus becoming closer to Him, and raja yoga is for those who use psychophysical experiments to try to find a way to God. Jnana yoga is perhaps the most difficult "path" to God. Smith points out that only those who have a strong sense of reflection, who try to change their lives and themselves by controlling their thoughts, choose to walk this path. He states that the way to accomplish this is to use discrimination to separate the "surface self" that everyone can see and the "larger self" that lies hidden and dormant. There are three steps one takes on this path hearing, thinking, and applying what they learned to change their self-identification. Hearin . . .
Step one and two sets the stage for better self- knowledge by putting the yogi's life in order by abstaining from injury, lying, stealing, sensuality, and greed, and by keeping cleanliness, contentment, self-control, studiousness, and contemplation of the divine in their life. They are also encouraged to try all of the yogas and possibly combine them into whatever will help them move faster to God. When using jnanic karma the yogi work in a reflective manner, whereas they use loving service for bhakti karma. Step three keeps the body from distracting the mind by using the "lotus position" in their meditation. Step seven the yogi concentrates so much on the object that he is no longer aware of their self. The third step is where they shift their self-identification to completely become who they are at heart. He describes japam as the ritual of repeating God's name to keep him in their thoughts always. " Smith then states that Hinduism believes that everyone has a part of every yoga in them, but one may move faster towards God on one path than on another. Karma yoga is for those who find satisfaction in work. Smith states that bhakti yoga is the most popular of the four yogas mainly because it is based on emotion, most especially love. Ringing the changes on love, Smith says, is when bhaktas use the different types of love to strengthen their love of God. The main goal of bhakti yoga is to turn all the love of the heart to God. Karma yoga can be split into two modes jnanic and bhakti. The first part is the body, then the conscious mind, the individual subconscious, and Being Itself.
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