Jnana yoga (or the yoga of wisdom, the yoga of knowledge) and https://www.julianalucky.com/yoga-for-kids is one of the four main branches of yoga. Knowledge here does not mean intellectual or rational knowledge, but a kind of mystical, intuitive comprehension of things in themselves, experiencing the identity of the Atman (human soul and all living beings) and Brahman (God, the root cause of all things).
Cognition in jnana yoga is a wholly transcendent or spiritual state, not a concept that can be comprehended simply by means of the material mind. When in search of one’s true nature through self-awareness, false conceptions of reality are destroyed, to the point of erasing the distinction between knower, knower, and cognizer. In other words, a state of “nonduality” arises.
Jnana yoga is the yoga of the Vedas (the oldest surviving texts) and the early Upanishads (commentaries on the Vedas). In its classical variant Jnana yoga is closely connected to the teaching – Advaita Vedanta (the teaching of Non-dividendhood). The original idea of which is that the “true
Self” of man, was never separated from the Supreme mind and the main task of the practice is to remember one’s original state.
Adepts of this branch of yoga include such great Gurus as: Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi, Krishnamurti, Swami Vivekananda, and Muji.
Jnana Yoga deeply explores the subtleties of the human mind, the mental body (Manamaya-kosha) and the body of intellect and intuition, which according to yogic philosophy is called – Vijnanamaya-kosha), where the word kosha – means a receptacle. We will talk about these important aspects of yoga in more detail in the next classes.
So, as mentioned above, Jnana yoga deeply explores the subtleties of the human psyche. For example, the question, “Who am I?” is carefully considered until the capacity of the mind and its ability to think, reason, experience various emotions, form beliefs and construct concepts is exhausted.
In constant practice, when the intellect has exhausted its capabilities and can no longer provide a clear answer, because any answer to the question “Who am I,” is incapable of providing a comprehensible answer that cannot be refuted or understood, it is a temporary idea that is replaced by another. For example, if one identifies with an emotion, one sees that it changes rather quickly. With thoughts and role-playing, similar processes occur. Then consciousness expands and the subconscious begins its work. Concentrating on the inner, and minimizing the intake of external information, the mind sinks into its natural state, as Buddhists say – emptiness, as yoga practitioners say – clarity, as transpersonal psychologists say – the self or true nature. And one is freed from the confines of one’s mind. And, it is in this state, not in the feverish race of the brain, that the realization of one’s authentic self takes place. This is the basic task of all kinds of yoga.