Swadharma

In Karma Yoga, Swami Vivekananda says the following:

“So karma, bhakti, and jnana all meet here; and this is what was meant by all the great preachers of ancient times when they taught that God is not the world. The world is one thing and God is another; and this distinction is true. What they mean by the world is selfishness. Unselfishness is God.”

While learning about the four yogas as a high school student at home, I was always taught that the four ultimately lead to the same goal. It was only recently, though, that I made the following connection.

The four yogas are four different paths towards the same goal: realization that the internal atman is no different than the external Brahman. In this quote, Swami Vivekananda points out that this realization is simply that “unselfishness is God.” In one sense, unselfishness can be thought of as giving up the egoistic, self-centered, “lower” self in exchange for awareness of the eternal Self (note the capital S). All of this is known — but I only recently understood how it is that the four yogas arrive at the same realization:

• Karma Yoga (the path of action): I am theirs (via selfless service)… Thus, I am He.
• Bhakti Yoga (the path of devotion): I am His (via sincere devotion)… Thus, I am He.
• Raja Yoga (the path of self-control and discipline): I can be He… Thus, I am He.
• Jnana Yoga (the path of knowledge): I am nothing else… Thus, I am He.

In this way, people can choose a path based on what fits them most! Most people I know find it easiest to think of themselves as God’s children – and thus, it is easiest for most to follow Bhakti Yoga. From my experience in college so far, many of us are full of energy; we want to give our best to the world — and thus, maybe for us, it is best to do service as Karma Yogis while we are young and energetic. In this way, Vedanta seems to give every individual the chance to excel in a chosen path — forcing us to follow the path of another will simply hinder our progress. This, is the idea of swadharma — to each, his own.

Related posts:

1. The Harmony of the Yogas
2. The True Christmas Spirit
3. Question of the Week: Why pray?
4. Why unselfishness?
5. A matter of convenience