Jnana Yoga

11 hrs. 49 min.

Esotericism & Alternative Religious-Philosophical Teachings

Language Russian

Author Vivekananda Swami

Narrator Auromir

Description

A divinely inspired warrior of India—he swept across the world like a meteor, emitting powerful bursts of energy. Anyone who came into contact with him, personally or through his texts, was forever drawn under the invincible charm of his spirit. Ramakrishna, the teacher of Vivekananda, compared him to a torch that burns away all impurity encountered along the way. Jawaharlal Nehru left behind these words about the great light of his country:

“Firmly bound to the past and proud of India’s glory, Vivekananda nevertheless approached life’s problems in a modern way, and was a kind of connecting link between India’s past and its present… He was an excellent example of an impressive man, filled with calm and dignity, confident in himself and in his mission, and at the same time full of dynamic and fiery energy and passionate desire to move India forward. He revived the spirit of oppressed and demoralized Indians and gave them confidence in themselves…”

Elena Ivanovna Roerich, who from her youth regarded as her first spiritual teachers the teachings and books of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, wrote about the latter:
“He died comparatively young, in his fortieth year, yet he fulfilled a huge mission. He laid the beginning of a real introduction and rapprochement between the East and the West. For the first time, the foundations of the magnificent Hindu vision of the world were clearly and from the heart set before the West…”

“Jnana Yoga” was compiled from notes of Vivekananda’s lectures in New York in 1895–1896. In Russian it was published in 1914.

If Vivekananda’s previous work “Raja Yoga” was devoted to the problems of concentration and meditation, then this book has a broader thematic scope: good and evil, the science of recognizing Truth and delusions, the Absolute and Maya, the problem of the Higher Self, dualism and monism, humanity’s duties in this world, and the strategy of Great Liberation. At first glance, we seem to have an orthodox Vedantic approach to the nature of things—especially since it corresponds to reality in many ways, and the traditional line of succession is preserved. However, careful study of the text shows that it was written by a man who knows the West deeply, and that Vedanta here is, to a certain extent, modernized. Of course, this modernization is carried out with high precision and delicacy—in the form of the material, but not in the spirit of the teaching. The new perspective also appears in the expanded range of topics (analysis of other religions, engagement with Western philosophy, social problems), and in the character of the ideas presented (aimed not only at inner self-immersion but also at awakening national feeling), and finally in the very manner of exposition. The book does not belong to the genre of a philosophical treatise with a logically strict sequence of conclusions. It is precisely “inspired conversations,” with an outwardly unsystematic style of narration, where each idea is born, grows, and blooms as freely as a living organism, like a flower or a tree. Vivekananda reflects on the Highest, the Eternal, the Divine—calmly and passionately—sometimes developing a broad thought, sometimes using a vivid parable, sometimes limiting himself to a short aphorism, and sometimes turning to a commentary on some Vedantic thesis. What we have before us is not merely a precise retelling of ancient truths, but a text enlivened by the unmistakable presence of the author’s personal plan—the author’s voice, as it were, behind the scenes.