Yoga as Christian Spiritual Practice Parts 3 & 4

Image by Priscilla Du Preez from Unsplash.

This post is the second of a two-part series describing the four paths of yoga. You can view the first post here.

In the traditional sense, yoga means to yoke up or join with the higher consciousness of Love. A sacred yogic text affirms, “The Lord of Love is the one Self of all” (Mundaka Upanishad II:10). Christians also know God as Love and see God’s immanence as Christ. There are many routes on this spiritual journey and a variety of callings in the body of Christ. Yoga philosophy describes four paths that facilitate joining with the Lord of Love: bhakti yoga, karma yoga, jnana yoga, and raja yoga. Following the path that best suits your natural temperament facilitates the revelation of the glory of God in you. In the subsequent blogs, we will explore the essence of each path and how flowing with your natural temperament in the way that feels organic to you can foster yoking with the higher consciousness of Christ within. I invite you to notice, as you read.

PART 3: Jnana Yoga: The Path of Wisdom

“Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.” Colossians 3:2-4

“Nothing in the world purifies like spiritual wisdom. It is the perfection achieved in time through the path of yoga, the path which leads to the Self within.” Bhagavad Gita 4:38

Jnana yoga is the path of yoking to Christ through wisdom. The traveler on this path finds God in intellectual and philosophical pursuits. The wisdom seeker ponders the nature of the True self and asks, “Who am I?” 

The inquiry of the wisdom seeker progresses through the negation of the false self in search of that which is eternal. For example, the wisdom seeker asks the following questions:

“Am I my name?” “No, my name is just a collection of letters in the alphabet. 

“Am I my body?” “No, the body I have now is different from the form I had as a baby and changes in all my life stages.”

“Am I my personality?” “No, my personality is just a collection of beliefs, attributes, and preferences that have evolved throughout my life.”

“Am I my thoughts?” “No, my thoughts are constantly changing.”

“Am I my emotions?” “No, emotions are just energy flowing through me.”

“Am I the roles I play?” “No, those roles are directly tied to this earthly life and vary according to the situation.”

Through this line of inquiry, the wisdom seeker comes in contact with their true nature in Christ and transmits this knowledge to others. The great wisdom seeker, Thomas Merton, described the True Self thusly: “To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name.” (New Seeds of Contemplation, Chapter 8)

On the path of wisdom, Teresa of Avila, a 15th-century mystic, advised, “Always visualize your soul as vast, spacious, and plentiful. This amplitude is impossible to exaggerate. The soul’s capacity far transcends our imagining. The sun at the center of this place radiates to every part.” (The Interior Castle, First Dwelling)

For those who are drawn to philosophical pursuits, the path of jnana yoga offers an open door to yoking with Christ. Learning to disidentify with all that is impermanent is the primary practice of this spiritual journey. As the transient is shed, the wisdom seeker understands themselves as the righteousness of God in Christ. After her near-death experience when she encountered Jesus, Julian of Norwich, 14th-century mystic, proclaimed, “Our soul is made to be God’s dwelling place; and the soul’s dwelling place is God, who is not made. It is a tremendous thing to have an inner assurance that God, our Creator, dwells within our soul. Yet it is even more tremendous to know that our soul, our created soul, dwells in the essential being of God! We are what we are because we come from that being.” (Revelations of Divine Love, Chapter 54) 

May the same mind be in you that is in Christ Jesus.

PART 4: Raja Yoga: The Path of Systematic Practice

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33

“By the practice of the limbs of yoga, the impurities dwindle away and there dawns the light of wisdom, leading to discriminative discernment.” Yoga Sutras 2:28

Raja yoga is the path of yoking to Christ through systematic practice. On the path of raja yoga, the journey proceeds in eight steps: 

Step 1 (yama)

To abstain from five impediments (violence, lying, stealing, hoarding, and promiscuity);

Step 2 (niyama)

To commit to five beneficial practices (purity in all that is consumed mentally, physically, and spiritually, contentment in every circumstance, embracing the events of life as opportunities to offer love, the study of sacred scripture and the Self, and surrender to God at all times);

Step 3 (asana)

To maintain a healthy body that can sit comfortably in meditative prayer;

Step 4 (pranayama) 

To consciously meter the breath in order to calm the mind and body;

Step 5 (pratyahara)

To draw the senses inward in preparation for meditation;

Step 6 (dharana)

To practice steady concentration;

Step 7 (dhyana)

To abide in meditation; and

Step 8 (samadhi)

To be absorbed in the realization of Christ.

Teresa of Avila, 15th century mystic, elucidated systematic practice as the prayer of recollection, the prayer of quiet, and the prayer of union. She described pratyahara/sensory withdrawal as the prayer of recollection and wrote, “The soul becomes acutely aware of a gentle withdrawal inside herself. I think I read somewhere a comparison with a hedgehog curling up or a turtle drawing into its shell.” (The Interior Castle, Fourth dwelling, Chapter 3) Teresa described dhyana/meditation as the prayer of quiet and stated, “God wants the soul to do nothing more than rest in the garden and enjoy the sublime fragrance beginning to emanate from the flowers.” (The Book of My Life, Chapter 17) Finally, Teresa described samadhi/absorption as the prayer of union and affirmed, “In a state of union, the soul sees nothing and hears nothing and comprehends nothing. . . God presses himself so fully against the inside of the soul that when she returns to herself the soul has no doubt whatsoever that God was in her and she was in God. This truth remains with her forever.” (The Interior Castle, Fifth dwelling, Chapter 1)

In his book One Minute Wisdom, Anthony de Mello shared a parable about vigilant practice. He wrote, 

The student asks the teacher, 

“Is there anything I can do to make myself Enlightened?”

“As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning.”

“Then of what use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?”

“To make sure you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise.”

The journey of raja yoga is especially suited for those who enjoy an ordered approach to the spiritual life. Each of the practices outlined in this path is geared toward stripping away the nonessentials and promoting mindfulness. Jesus told the story of ten bridesmaids who went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were prepared with enough oil to sustain their lamps and five of them were not. When the bridegroom came at midnight, the unprepared bridesmaids missed him because they went out to buy more oil. The systematic spiritual practitioner is like the wise bridesmaid who has prepared herself to meet her bridegroom. 

May you also keep awake and alert, for the kingdom of God is at hand.

Cover image by Dawid Zawiła from Unsplash.