This year I had the opportunity to hear a lecture from Prof. Jay Garfield called The Meaning of Life: Perspectives from the World's Great Intellectual Traditions. One of the texts he discussed was The Bhagavad Gita, an important ancient Indian text that is part of an epic poem. It is beautifully symbolic and philosophical, and asks important questions about how to live life to the fullest and make choices in line with our highest Self. I found myself relating to the ethical and personal dilemmas posed in the text. It has been widely studied, and there is much to explore in the Gita. To me, it appears like the stories in other sacred texts/ scriptures that can be studied over a lifetime with many layers to discover.
Here I only want to make note of one main idea that stood out to me, in relation to "yoga".
Three Yogas, or paths to liberation/ enlightenment are laid out:
Karma Yoga- path of action (selfless action for the benefit of others, dedication to duty)
Jnana Yoga- path of knowledge or self-realization (asking questions about ones soul in relation to infinite consciousness)
Bhakti Yoga- path of devotion (concentrating oneself on love and connection to the Divine)
I think the Gita describes the paths in a sort of chronological way (one needs to begin with Karma yoga to prepare for Jnana and eventually Bhakti), and the paths are all connected in some way and none is more desirable or effective than another. I look forward to studying more and seeing how the interplay of duty, devotion and knowledge work together in my life.
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