The focus of all paths is slightly different. Gyaana Yoga is understanding “who we are”. We start with understanding what we want to do in life and how to do it. Then more importantly, we understand what the mind actually is and how it works. Pujya Gurudev, Swami Chinmayananda, defines the intricate and complex mind as a term that is easy to understand – a flow of thoughts. Just like the flow of water, the mind is not one, but continuous thoughts that can be gushing and active or peaceful and still.

We all have created for ourselves the ‘i” or the personality layer. Made of traits, belief systems and social conditions, it is a barrier separating my individual entity from the world. In oneness, it is not that “i”, the limited entity, becomes one, but these man-made defining boundaries are foregone so that the differences dissolve. What is revealed is the essence of life that I am, is everywhere and in all creation. We establish in simply being, and not in the processes of ego. There is just oneness.

Oneness is the essence, goal, and truth of spirituality. When we are one integrated whole, we interact with the world and our relationships with beauty of character, joy, and love. Conversely, conflicts within our personality and in the world around us bring confusion and frustrations. We can create a vision of oneness by seeing the connectivity of all creation and focusing on how similar we are to others.

The mind has many aspects. We have the essential functional aspect that is used to interact in the world. There is also the emotional aspect related to our strong desires, likes and dislikes. The mind’s effective functional part is often overridden by the emotional layer, which colors our thinking. The solution is not to just give up on emotions altogether, but to rise above the emotional thinking or recognize it for what it is. We should also discontinue the momentum of biased and non-beneficial thoughts.

The breath and the mind are two branches of the same tree. Pull one and the other is pulled with it. Since it is easier to regulate our breath than the mind, controlling it is a great temporary way to still our constantly fluttering mind. Once the controlled breathing stops, the mind resumes thinking different things. Despite being short, this pause is powerful as we regain our balance, objectivity, and clarity. Self-experiment and notice the effects within your own mind.

Yoga, meaning “to unite”, is the lesser known path to moksha and comprised of 8 steps. At every purposeful step, noble qualities are cultivated and the mind and personality are purified, aiding the seeker to evolve. But with the levels clearly outlined, it is easy to get attached to the singular joyful experience of progress and of merely moving up a level. So always check in with yourself – are you more concerned with perfecting the outside while neglecting the inside?

While Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga or Gyaana Yoga may seem different, when being sincerely followed, they all require purity of intentions, nobility in our heart and a desire to uplift ourselves. So all paths lead to the ultimate goal of our restless mind becoming silent. In the stillness of that purified mind, all divisions such as likes/dislikes or good/bad dissolve and we see divinity as one undivided Truth. So resolve to be more continuous and dedicated, knowing that the goal can definitely be reached.

In Bhakti, we start by seeing ourselves as devotees who are separate from Paramatma, the Supreme Truth. We feel like small seekers constantly asking our grand creator for strength, knowledge, blessings or protection. But as we grow in spirituality, we see divinity’s reflection clearly within our hearts and comprehend that ‘i’ cannot be. There can ultimately only be one Truth of oneness. Once this is truly understood, our bhakti for the Lord is complete as our love, too, is vast, infinite and free. 

The purpose of Japa is to silence the mind so that love and worship flows beautifully and smoothly towards the Lord. Constant and unbroken, all thoughts stay focused on the mantra and committed to the higher as they long to reach divinity. Such effortless and intense thinking is the ideal we want to attain to escape the wandering, scattered and disruptive mind we do have.

But in actuality, what are we sincerely dedicated and single-pointed towards? So what is it that we truly want?

Japa is the repetition of a mantra while constantly and continuously thinking of the higher. Various Japa practices exist to help us concentrate as our mind experiences different moods. Although subtler practices are more powerful, the essence of Japa is to offer our minds, hearts, and our whole personality to the Lord. We surrender the momentum of our egoistic thoughts to divinity, never making it about ‘me, myself and I’. If you haven’t yet, try the best purification method as you dwell in silence.