THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE
India has always been rich with enlightened spiritual teaches, known as “gurus. “The name “guru” means “One who leads from darkness to light.” Gurus guide their followers through the spiritual journey, along a route they themselves have successfully traversed, to the goal of awakening that they have already reached. They are living proof of the truth of their teachings. The gurus lead us on a mystical journey from separation to unity, from ignorance to self-realisation, to selfishness to service from a troubled mind to an open heart; from illusion to love.
The various Hindu spiritual paths, known as “yogas,” are different routs to the same Truth, “Yoga” means “union,” are different routes to the same Truth. “Yoga” means Union”, and its goal is oneness with God. The two most important yogas are gnana yoga and bhakti yoga – the way of the head and of the heart. Through philosophy and meditation, gnanis come to realise that their personal self is merely an illusion caused by thoughts in the mind and that in reality everything is One. Bhaktas lose themselves in all-consuming ecstatic devotion to god, until all that exists is the love-play between God and his devotee. Most gurus teach a combination of gnana yoga and bhakti yoga, often accompanied by karma yoga. Through service to others, karma yogi transform their lives into love-in-action and become instruments of God’s will. The end of all yogas is the same realization. We are not transitory individuals. We are immortal and divine. We are one with God who is the supreme, permanent, and only reality.
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