Disciplined Use of Opportunities by a Yogi

“Arjuna said: You approved renunciation of social activity and also mentioned the application of yoga to worldly life. Which one of these is better? Tell me this with certainty. The Blessed Lord said: Both methods, the total renunciation of social opportunities and the disciplined use of opportunities by a yogi, lead to ultimate happiness. But of the two aspects, the disciplined use of opportunities in a yogic mood is better than total renunciation of cultural activity. … The level obtained by the Sāṁkhya experts is also reached by the yogis. Sāṁkhya and yoga are essentially one. He who perceives that really sees. Renunciation of opportunities is difficult to attain without yoga practice, O mighty man. In the nick of time, a yoga-proficient sage reaches the spiritual plane.

A person who is proficient in yoga, whose soul is purified, who is self-controlled, who has conquered his senses, whose self feels related to all beings, is not implicated when acting. I do not initiate anything. The senses are interlocked with the attractive objects. Being focused on the spiritual level, discarding attachments, his acts are not defiled by necessary violence, just as a lotus leaf is not affected by water. With the body, mind, and intelligence, or even with the senses alone, the yogis, having discarded attachment, perform cultural acts for self-purification. … The Lord does not create the means of action, nor the actions of the creatures, nor the action-consequence cycle. But the inherent nature causes this. The Almighty God does not receive from anyone, an evil consequence nor a good reaction. …

Indeed, pure spirit is faultless and equally disposed. Therefore they are established on the pure spiritual plane. Having attained a desired item or favorable circumstance, a person should not become excited. Having attained something unpleasant, he should not detest it. With stable intelligence, without confusion, a person who continually experiences the spiritual reality remains situated on the spiritual plane. … O son of Kuntī. … The person who is happy within, who is spiritually delighted and as a result, experiences the brilliant consciousness, he, that yogi, experiences the stoppage of disturbing sensuality and attains constant spirituality in absorption on the spiritual plane. The cessation of material existence and assumption of enlightened spirituality is soon to be attained by those ascetics whose thinking is restrained and who understand the spiritual self. … The wise man, who is dedicated to achieving liberation, whose sensual energy, mind, and intellect are controlled, whose desire, fear, and anger are gone, is liberated always.” ~Bhagavad Gita

Renunciation of Social Activities

Arjuna asks Lord Krishna, as a representative of Brahma, which of the methods of spiritual growth are more important; the path of renunciation of social activity or the application of yoga to everyday life. Krishna tells Arjuna they are both important, but the application of yoga, including Sankhya yoga and karma yoga, is the most important. That is probably a good thing for us today because unlike some times in the distant past, it is nearly impossible today for one to give up all social activities. For one thing, you can meet people at a social gathering and teach them a little when you do. Another reason is that today some social activities may be tied in with our jobs. Your employer may, for example, give everyone tickets to a baseball game once a year. To refuse to join any of these social activities might give the impression that you are not a team player and hurt your chances for advancement. So some social activity is fine and often unavoidable. It is only a problem when you are attending so many social events that you don’t have time for your spiritual activities.

Proficient in Yoga

When the Vedas and other ancient Hindu Sanskrit writings talk about Yoga, they don’t mean the exercise programs that have become popular in the Western World. Exercise is just a small part of real yoga. Being a yogi is actually a spiritual development discipline, and that is what is being referred to here in the Bhagavad Gita. So being proficient in yoga doesn’t mean you do your stretches regularly and with good form, it means you practice spiritual growth techniques regularly as a karma yogi would, and as all embodied beings should. Those spiritual practices may include some forms of meditation, prayer, chanting, and singing. It should also include spiritual sun gazing, though it may not be mentioned in the ancient scripture. That is because governments often banned the practice as the spiritually awakened are not easily controlled by governments. Such practices lead to spiritual energy pervading the body and mind, and awakening the spirit.

Soul is Purified

It is perhaps more accurate to say that the soul is awakened and developed rather than purified. Saying that the soul needs to be purified seems to imply that the soul is somehow unclean. The soul is not unclean, it is simply dormant. It needs to be awakened and developed, and it needs to be done while we are still embodied beings trapped in the physical world.. When it becomes linked with the All (Brahman), with the highest level of Consciousness, it will then be “Purified” in the sense that it will then know truth and have the Wisdom called Gnosis.

Pure Spirit is Faultless

This is certainly true. Pure spirit is faultless, but we dwell in a place where spirit is held in check by the materialism of the intellectual mind. Our spirit must be awakened and developed into a Conscious Soul. Then it is pure and can dwell at the highest “plane” or dimension of reality.

Do Not Become Excited

Krishna advises that we not become overly excited when we get the things we need or want. Likewise, we should not become too upset when unfavorable things happen to us. What this means is that we should not become attached to the material world and the sense pleasure things in it. That is easy to say, but not easy to do. Most of us were raised to love material possessions, to shout with joy and clap to show appreciation when we get what we want, etc. Have you watched a modern game show on television? Adult contestants jump around and scream like infants when they win a prize. The show’s producers love it, but it isn’t spiritual behavior. While it may take some time, we must all learn to detach from the physical and embrace the spiritual. We also gain wisdom (yog) by doing so, as taught in Jnana yoga and Gnostic scripture.

Summary of Bhagavad Gita Chapter 5

“The humble sage, by virtue of true knowledge, sees with equal vision a learned and gentle brahmana, a cow, an elephant, a dog and a dog-eater [outcaste].” ~Bhagavad Gita

So this chapter is teaching us some of the basic disciplines of Yoga, which is to be detached from the things of the world and develop our spiritual faculties. The path of renunciation doesn’t require an end to all social activities, sense pleasures, or sense objects, just those that move us away from the spiritual. Neither so we need renunciation of work or renunciation of actions. Instead, we need to do work and actions that improve ourselves and others spiritually. We need to work on our spiritual Self at least as much as we work on our physical and mental selves. According to the Sankya philosophy, the spiritual world, is separate from the material world. In Cosolargy, we teach similar disciplines along with the practice of Spiritual Sun Gazing. When we take action, the fruits of action should be to better ourselves and others, not just because they feel good. The Sankya philosophy of dualities is real now, but the Plan of God, the supreme Lord, is to reunite the realm of matter with the realm of spirit. The physical body of man, sometimes referred to as “the city of nine gates” in Hindu scriptures, must also become spirit to survive in the new world of spirit. So be a yogi as Krishna wants Arjuna to be, and as the Upanishads teach and become one with Brahman, and achieve Vedanta (Gnosis).