Bhakti and Jnana Paths and the Integral Yoga

One question which often arises in the mind of those exposed to traditional yogic practices, is that since the first step is finding the Divine why not find Him by any means and later return to the integral yoga.

Though it is consistent with logic and surely a possibility that has manifested in at least a few disciples such as Kapali Sastry and possibly Pavitra da, there is one problem that stands in the way. It is this that each line of traditional yoga follows one particular line of advance through the forest of nature towards the sun it sees shining amidst the dense trees. In a haste to arrive or pass through the forest of ignorance its efforts are directed towards cutting off whatever stands in the way.

It is certainly possible to return back to the material plane if the original impulse was to seek an integral truth but it becomes less and less probable as one advances far along a certain exclusive path of advance. Of course, everything is possible anyways since there is no single rule book of life valid for everyone and at all times. Some may return, many would possibly not. It is a question of inner destiny and the Soul’s choice after all. 

A jnana yogi often arrives at God vision and God knowledge by dropping off the burden of the world through an exclusive concentration.  The result is a one-sided realisation. Were he now to seek an integral truth and its manifestation, he cannot simply extend it further as rest of his nature, now fallen quiet would resist beyond measure. He would need to return to the ordinary state, even renounce his hard-won realisation and in a certain sense start all over again.  How many would be ready and willing to do that. 

The same with bhakti yoga of an exclusive kind through a Deity wherein one shuts oneself in the embrace of the aspect of the Divine one adores in the Deity or simply has the supreme joy of being in the Supreme’s nearness in His highest status.

Works are different in this regard since by nature the path is integral to an extent if we take it as given in the Gita. That is why Sri Aurobindo so much insisted that the Gita was an excellent preparation for entry into this yoga.