13 posts tagged with "svadhyaya"

This is the study plan that Swami Chinamaya recommends within Kindle Life. This is a long term study plan that covers a wide variety of Vedantic texts and scriptures. It is an eventual goal to complete this study plan over a period of time.

• Hanuman Chalisa (Karma/Bhakti): Devotion
• Yoga Sutras (Raja): Discipline
• Bhagavad Gita (Karma/Bhakti/Jnana): Wisdom

These three shastras encompass the spirit of the Four Yogas and it seems just understanding these three fully and deeply seems to be sufficient. As I stated on v0.11 that I was going toward this path but I didn’t fully understand the depth of each. Frankly, I didn’t think much of the Hanuman Chalisa and now have absolutely fallen in love with it.

The Hanuman Chalisa is not just a song but each sloka is a mantra and an aspiration of behavior that was exuded by Lord Hanuman. Each sloka has a depth of meaning of the trials of Hanuman and how he overcame them. It is in essence the ultimate in the Karma Yoga texts that are succinct to follow the understanding versus reading Ramakrisha or Vivekananda. While, Ramakrishna and Vivekananda act as gurus to guide us to the Four Yogas the Hanuman Chalisa is a condensed version of the values that they want us to lead.

The Yoga Sutras act as a means for disciplining oneself. If the Hanuman Chalisa teaches how to act outwardly then the Yoga Sutras teaches us how the inner world should be. The Yoga Sutras are a guide on how to structure and setup the inner world so that you can act like Lord Hanuman to always be focused on Lord Ram. Since Rama means “light within” it is also a representation the Brahman.

Lastly, the Bhagavad Gita acts as a bridge between the outer and inner world. While the Hanuman Chalisa deals with outer virtues, the Yoga Sutras the inner world, the Bhagavad Gita deals with the battlefield of life of how to deal with yourself as an individual in society at large. It has the ideas that are included in both the Chalisa and Yoga Sutras as well as the Upanishads. It acts as the source of Jnana Yoga encompassing the why of it all.

These shastras have a lifetime of study ahead of them and I am content knowing what I need to focus my energies around.

Jai Shree Ram

Instead of having a half-hazard study I have codified my study of the different teachers that I follow. The outcome of this is that I have a strict end to end for my Yoga-Vedanta studies that encompass the different paths. But there are a lot of texts and the teachers I have decided to follow have created a lot of writing. The preliminary study of these texts will take me a minimum of three years with some other texts likely taking me a lifetime to finish.

I will be updating this site with the readings as I go through them organized according to the various limbs of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. So I will not be listing them out here individually until I have read them.

Interestingly, most of the teachers I ascribe to have various paths that they teach or orient around. Karma Yoga/yama is Vivekananda, Bhakti-Jnana Yoga/niyama is Ramakrishna, Chinnamayananda and Daryananada, Hatha Yoga/asana & pranayama is Satyananda and Raja Yoga is Aurobindo. Sivananda Saraswati seems to be a combination of all of these paths.

Beyond this I haven't even started on the Vedantic texts such as the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras, Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Vaishista and the commentaries. Those will be included in my study as well, but with the preliminary focus on the writings of the teachers I follow.