Description
The real nature of the Soul is not perceived until all the waves have subsided; so, first, Patanjali teaches us the meaning of these waves; secondly, the best way to repress them; and thirdly, how to make one wave so strong as to suppress all other waves, fire eating fire as it were. When only one remains, it will be easy to suppress that also, and when that is gone, this Samadhi of concentration is called seedless; it leaves nothing, and the Soul is manifested just as It is, in Its own glory. Then alone we know that the Soul is not a compound, It is the only eternal simple in the universe, and, as such, It cannot be born, It cannot die, It is immortal, indestructible, the Ever-living Essence of intelligence.
Mortification, study, and surrendering fruits of work to God are called Kriya Yoga. Those Samadhis with which we ended our last chapter are very difficult to attain; so we must take them up slowly. The first step, the preliminary step, is called Kriya Yoga. Literally this means work, working towards Yoga. The organs are the horses, the mind is the reins, the intellect is the charioteer, the soul is the rider, and this body is the chariot. The master of the household, the King, the Self of man, is sitting in this chariot.
If the organs, the horses, are well controlled, and if the reins, the mind, are well held in the hands of the charioteer, the intellect, the chariot, reaches the goal. What is meant, therefore, by mortification? Holding the reins firmly while guiding this body and mind: not letting the body do anything it likes, but keeping them both in proper control. Study.
Karma is of two kinds, soon to be fructified, and late to be fructified. By making Samyama on that, or by the signs called Aristha, portents, the Yogis know the exact time of separation from their bodies. When the Yogi makes a Samyama on his own Karma, upon those impressions in his mind which are now working, and those which are just waiting to work, he knows exactly by those that are waiting when his body will fall. He knows when he will die, at what hour, even at what minute. The Hindus think very much of that knowledge or consciousness of the nearness of death, because it is taught in the Gita that the thoughts at the moment of departure are great powers in determining the next life.
Vivekananda (Shami Bibekānondo) (January 12, 1863–July 4, 1902) was the chief disciple of Shri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. At birth, he was called Narendranath Datta (Bengali: নরেন্দ্রনাথ দত্ত). He was the founder of Ramakrishna Mission. He introduced Hindu philosophy of Vedanta and Yoga in Europe and America. He brought Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the end of the 19th century.
Vivekananda is considered to be a major force in the revival of Hinduism in modern India. He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of America". Through this he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions at Chicago in 1893.
Vivekananda talked about Jnana Yoga in one of his discourses—
“ The Mahabharata is an epic that most Indians know. Let me give you a summary through Vyasa’s initial shloka. This shloka holds the entire summary of this gigantic epic. The shloka is given in the initial of the Vyasa’s texts itself which says-
The Hastinapur (Duryodhana) is an old tree of spirituality, the incarnation of all virtues, i.e Vrisha Karna is its trunk, king Dhritarashtra and Bhishma are its roots, Drona, Dushashana and Kauravas are its branches, the evil Shakuni is its blooming flower and I myself Krishna Dwaipayana along with Narada and saptarishis are its twigs. Indraprastha (Yudhisthira) is a new tree of righteousness, Krishna is its trunk, Sages and Brahmins are its roots, Bhima and Arjuna are its branches, Nakul and Sahdev are its twigs, Vrishaketu is its fruit.
I would also like to narrate you interpretation of shlokas by sage Bhasa whose writings and proses included scraps of history, tales and legends. He regarded the त्रिदुष्टम or the 3 evils against the progress of Bharata- evil Indra, Drona and Arjuna. The shloka was written in Sanskrit, translated in Prakrit language. It’s English translation goes like this.
The great Aryavartha shall never go on the path of progress if it has evils in this society who discriminate worthy men and who are arrogant in their nature. Ravana too was arrogant through his deeds and his name vanished away from history forever. The त्रिसदुष्टम- Arjuna, his arrogant preceptor Drona and his evil father Indra are an allegory of discrimination and Kshatriya arrogance of the society. There will always be domination-discrimination, arrogance and the त्रिदुष्टम in every society, consider it a rule of the nature but for every त्रिदुष्टम, there will be a heroic Karna to shatter this arrogance and dominance, and shall attain great fame and name in world.
In his youth he visited the ramakrishna Samaj and later he came in contact with Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna initiated him, and after his death Narendranath left his house and went on to found the Ramkrishna movement.
Vivekananda's mission
Born into an aristocratic Bengali Kayastha family of Calcutta, Vivekananda was inclined towards spirituality. He was influenced by his guru, Ramakrishna, from whom he learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to humankind. After Ramakrishna's death, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India. He later travelled to the United States, representing India at the Parliament of the World's Religions in 1893.
Some of His Quotes :
To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean", says the persevering soul; "at my will mountains will crumble up". Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal.
Come up, O lions, and shake off the delusion that you are sheep; you are souls immortal, spirits free, blest and eternal; ye are not matter, ye are not bodies; matter is your servant, not you the servant of matter.
Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.