If the hand tried to eat the food, we would think it ridiculous. The hand has to give the food to the mouth, which needs to send it to the stomach. In this way the whole body enjoys the food. The hand cannot enjoy it separately, and it knows how to serve it to the mouth for the pleasure of all, including itself.
Similarly the enlightened yogi knows that they are not a separate enjoyer, independent of the original supreme enjoyer. The yogi remembers themself as part and parcel of the whole. And with that identification, they simply channel the flow of the material energy in a way that is of best service to the original supreme enjoyer.
And until one has renounced any concept of being the enjoyer independently of the original great enjoyer, then one is still an apprentice. In this sense, real yoga is not a part-time thing. It is a way of life.
Real self-realization means taking the ego out of the way, removing it from the primary seat in the center and placing it at the feet of the higher self, in service. It takes a lifetime of practice, yet becomes easier if we acknowledge in the first place that there is a power greater than ourselves. If the ego can do that, then half the battle is won.
If we realize that there is a much more powerful force than ourselves which is influencing us and everyone all the time, then the next step is to figure out how to best be of service to that force. If you can't beat them, then join them.
We may label the force in different ways, as chi, prana, shakti, kundalini, ananta shesha; or simply electromagnetism, or consciousness, the archetypes of the collective unconscious or any other label. But the end is the same. It flows through us and everything else, and it animates all life.
Some say it is conscious, is the source of all consciousness, that it therefore has nuance, personality. Indeed it does. It is the original personality. Any personality that exists in the world is as a result of it.
Some say it is an impersonal force. Indeed it is that too. This is because it appears in innumerable states, and is the source of all states. In the end nothing exists which is not part and parcel of that original source.
Any spark of splendor or power in this world is as a result of the original force operating. May the force be with you, and may you harness and channel the force for the pleasure of the source. That is our original constitutional position and we find perfection in that role of service. When properly situated, we will be at our best and feel like we're liberated, even while still in the body.
Bhagavad Gita ch6:2
यं सन्न्यासमिति प्राहुर्योगं तं विद्धि पाण्डव ।
न ह्यसन्न्यस्तसङ्कल्पो योगी भवति कश्चन ॥ २ ॥
yaṁ sannyāsam iti prāhur
yogaṁ taṁ viddhi pāṇḍava
na hy asannyasta-saṅkalpo
yogī bhavati kaścana
SYNONYMS
yam—what; sannyāsam—renunciation; iti—thus; prāhuḥ—they say; yogam—linking with the Supreme; tam—that; viddhi—you must know; pāṇḍava—O son of Pāṇḍu; na—never; hi—certainly; asannyasta—without giving up; saṅkalpaḥ—self-satisfaction; yogī—a mystic transcendentalist; bhavati—becomes; kaścana—anyone.
TRANSLATION
What is called renunciation is the same as yoga, or linking oneself with the Supreme, for no one can become a yogī unless he renounces the desire for sense gratification.
PURPORT
Real sannyāsa-yoga or bhakti means that one should know his constitutional position as the living entity, and act accordingly. The living entity has no separate independant identity. He is the marginal energy of the Supreme. When he is entrapped by material energy, he is conditioned, and when he is Kṛṣṇa conscious, or aware of the spiritual energy, then he is in his real and natural state of life. Therefore, when one is in complete knowledge, one ceases all material sense gratification, or renounces all kinds of sense gratificatory activities. This is practiced by the yogīs who restrain the senses from material attachment. But a person in Kṛṣṇa consciousness has no opportunity to engage his senses in anything which is not for the purpose of Kṛṣṇa. Therefore, a Kṛṣṇa conscious person is simultaneously a sannyāsī and a yogī. The purpose of knowledge and of restraining the senses, as prescribed in the jñāna and yoga processes, is automatically served in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. If one is unable to give up the activities of his selfish nature, then jñāna and yoga are of no avail. The real aim is for a living entity to give up all selfish satisfaction and to be prepared to satisfy the Supreme. A Kṛṣṇa conscious person has no desire for any kind of self-enjoyment. He is always engaged for the enjoyment of the Supreme. One who has no information of the Supreme must therefore be engaged in self-satisfaction because no one can stand on the platform of inactivity. All these purposes are perfectly served by the practice of Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
Reference: Bhagavad Gita As It Is, translation and commentary by Swami A C Bhaktivedanta, original Macmillan 1972 edition.
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