Four paths up one mountain
The Gita meets people where they are: doers, lovers, thinkers, sitters.
In this step
- 01Four ways in
- 02Action and devotion
- 03Knowledge and meditation
Four ways in
Rather than one narrow gate, the Gita opens several ways into the same practice.
People differ, and the Gita is honest about it:
Four ways in
- 1Actionfor the doer, work done without grasping
- 2Devotionfor the lover, offering (and the bar is low)
- 3Knowledgefor the thinker, wisdom patiently earned
- 4Meditationfor the sitter, steady stillness
Action and devotion
For the doer, work without grasping; for the lover, an offering with a deliberately low bar.
For the person whose life is work and service, the doer, the way in is action itself, done without grasping:
From the source
BG 3.19The doer's path in one line: keep performing your duty without attachment, and that itself, done long enough, carries you the whole way.
“Therefore, without attachment, constantly perform action which is duty, for, by performing action without attachment, man verily reacheth the Supreme.”
The original Sanskrit
tasmād asaktaḥ satataṃ kāryaṃ karma samācara asakto hy ācaran karma param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ
For the person who runs on love and relationship, the devotee, the way in is offering instead, and the bar is deliberately low.
Keep reading:BG 9.26
Knowledge and meditation
For the thinker, wisdom patiently earned; for the sitter, steady stillness.
For the person who must understand, the thinker, the way in is wisdom, patiently earned:
From the source
BG 4.38The thinker's path: nothing purifies like wisdom, and it is not handed over. The one "perfected in yoga" finds it in the Self, in due season.
“Verily there is no purifier in this world like wisdom; he that is perfected in yoga finds it in the Self in due season.”
The original Sanskrit
na hi jñānena sadṛśaṃ pavitram iha vidyate | tat svayaṃ yoga-saṃsiddhaḥ kālenātmani vindati
And for the person drawn to stillness itself, the sitter, the way in is steady meditation.
Keep reading:BG 6.10