All gurus of the east and west made Self-realization more so complicated, and books on Self-realization have made it still more complicated.

All gurus of the east and west made Self-realization more so complicated, and books on Self-realization have made it still more complicated by mixing yoga and religion.

The purpose of the whole Gita is to point out that nobody is able to live without action, even though seemingly inactive, that even the Gnani must work and not keep idle, and that the only difference between his action and the ignorant man's is that the latter works for his own self-interest or for that of a section connected with him whereas former works for the welfare of all, the world at large, for all beings without egoism because he regards them as one. Gita lays down principles applicable not only to battlefields but to daily life. Lord Krishna wants to correct the wrong idea that the Gnani spends his life sitting in meditation as a sanyasi. -

Gita Chapter 6 deals with meditation, verses 11 and 12. It says "Yoga is for purification." This means it is not for truth but for discipline.

Chap.5 deals with renunciation. The Gita says throughout the book, not to rely on Yoga, but to rely on reason (Buddhi) (discrimination between real and unreal).

Lord Krishna confesses that the oldest wisdom of India (our true Advaita wisdom) has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it today as they did then. It is not yoga but philosophic truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and leaders of mysticism or religion do not want to inquire into truth and have no time for it. (Gita ~ Chap ~IV~ v.2)

Why is the word Yoga used in so many different senses in the Gita? Because there are grades and the highest demands concentrated brains, not sitting mindless and imagining you are seeing God.

In Gita Chap.IV where Lord Krishna says: ~ “This yoga has been lost for ages" the word yoga refers to Gnana yoga, not other yogas: the force of the word this is to point this out.

Lord Krishna describes some of the other yogas but devotes this chapter separately to Gnana yoga. So one sees even in those ancient days people did not care for Advaita; they wanted religion; hence Gnana got lost. That is why Krishna calls it "the supreme secret." Krishna points out that yoga must see "Brahman in action."

Gita Chap.IV:~ “He who achieves perfection in Yoga finds the Self in time." This means that after his yoga is finished, he begins the inquiry into ultimate truth, and in due course, this inquiry produces the realization of the universal spirit as the result.

Understanding what is God is not so easy. Religious people can only imagine God based on their beliefs.

That is why Lord Krishna says Ch ~V: ~ “Those who know the Self in truth.". The last two words (tattvataha) are usually ignored by pundits, but they make all the difference between the ordinary concept of God and the truth about God.

Lord Krishna himself says that he can do nothing to make a man intelligent straight away. The adepts give Prasad, blessings, initiations, mantrams, etc. only to confer temporary peace of mind, to help one to get rid of worries, but not to confer Gnana. The capacity to receive it must first be inborn in man by evolutionary degree.

Gita Chap.VII. Verse 4: "Earth etc" Thus he begins his analysis with the world, with the solid earth, not with remote Atman. In all these things earth, water, etc. I am the finality." "Vasudeva sees the All." But to know this they must be examined and studied. There is a wide gulf between the yogi's "I do not care to know about the world" and the Gnani's "Nothing remains to be known for him."

Page 329: "Objection" and "Answer" explain why the Pundits do not know the true meaning of our sastras.

Bhagavad Gita: ~ Brahman is considered the all-pervading consciousness which is the basis of all the animate and inanimate entities and material. (brahmano hi pratisthaham, ( 14.27)

Remember:~

Yoga ~ does not qualify you to acquire Self-knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

People try to see God through yogic samadhi meditation. And this process of yogic samadhi meditation does not help the seeker to get rid of ignorance. Ignorance hides God in truth.

Brih Upanishad: page 32. "Yoga does not yield truth or liberation."

One who is in Samadhi will not know that this universe as consciousness; therefore, yoga is not the means to Self- knowledge or Brahma Gnana or Atma Gnana.

In Samadhi the yogi knows nothing and sees no universe; so if there is nothing but blankness. The blankness is not the Advaitic wisdom.

The yogi does not know the nature of the universe. If the universe is not seen in the Samadhi then there is no need to use the word Atman and Brahman. The yogi is unaware of the truth, which is beyond form, time, and space.

By shutting his eyes in Samadhi, the yogi does not know the universe, which confronts him. Hence the universe can't be known as the Soul or consciousness through yoga.

One is in a non-dual condition in deep sleep or Samadhi, one without a second, true, but he did not know it at the time. He says only in the waking experience afterward. Hence, there must be inquiry so that you find nonduality whilst you are awake so that you can see nonduality at the time not afterward. Hence, too the need of inquiring into the nature of the universe and knowing it as the Soul or consciousness whilst one is awake, and not during sleep or Samadhi.:~Santthosh Kumaar