دار بيبليون
Yoga, spirituality and their genders
Lecture by Dr Lwiis Saliba on Zoom
Wednesday 03/11/2021
Yoga: a spiritual and mystical path
The research in the previous sections and chapters has shown a clear affinity between yoga and the mysticism of Saint Teresa of Avila. If we put aside the beliefs and dogma on which each is based, then the two paths are similar and close in terms of theoretical and practical principles. Therefore, the question of the spirituality, identity and character of the T A meditation teacher is obvious.
Is it a spirituality of meditation? Or of action? Or of contemplation and cogitation on divine secrets? Or is it a synthesis of all these aspects and elements?
If we wanted to put the question in another form and in Hindu terms or expressions, we would say: What then is the Yoga of St. Teresa?
We do not seek, by asking the question in this way, to dress our saint in the robes of an Indian sage, nor to separate her from her Christian culture and heritage, for she is firmly rooted in both. But we use the term ‘yoga’ in the sense known from Pathanjali: it is a method of approaching the divine or the absolute “Yoga curbs the fluctuations of thought” (Yoga Sutra 1/2) says Pathanjali at the beginning of his book. It is equanimity of mind. It is a way, not a dogma.
The Yoga of Saint Teresa of Avila is therefore her method or way of approaching and experiencing the divine, it is in a word her spirituality or mysticism.
What is this ‘Teresian’ spirituality, and how do we read or approach it from a Hindu perspective? What are the similarities or common threads between it and the Indian Sufi ways?
Yoga: Different approaches, one goal
Pathanjali distinguishes between different kinds, or ‘types’ of yoga. In The Yogasutras 1/23 he speaks of the ‘yoga of devotion’ or love of God (Sanskrit Bhakti).
“Love of the Lord and complete surrender to Him’.
In Sutra 2/1 he defines ‘the yoga of action’ or karma yoga.
In his commentary on Pathanjali’s ‘Yogasutras’, Swami Chidananda presents these different types of yoga, their characteristics, commonalities and differences, saying: “There are many types of yoga. Any act that frees a person from sadness and brings true happiness is yoga. Despite the different practices, yoga is yoga. The practices have been multiplied only to suit people of different abilities and orientations (…) and all these paths ultimately lead to the same end result. After explaining the reasons for the different approaches, despite the unity of purpose, Chidananda mentions their names and the characteristics of each: “To give man the spirit, feeling and spiritual will to examine thought, consciousness, motives and emotions. Each Yoga is suitable for a particular person according to the inner force prevailing in his nature. If the intellect is dominant, the aspirant resorts to the path of Jnâna Yoga, and if the emotion prevails, the approach to the truth is through the yoga of devotion or divine love: Bhakti Yoga. If the power of introspection is dominant, then the recommended path is Raja Yoga, also called Dhyana Yoga. Karma Yoga is a common practice in all paths. If the seeker is pursuing the path of knowledge, meditation or divine love, the practice of action yoga is essential. The yoga of action is to act in this world, without being attached to the fruits of one’s action, in order to be free from one’s selfish fetters.
Swami Vivekânanda, in turn, emphasises the plurality of the disciplines of Yoga and the unity of purpose. He names the four main ones: ‘The most wonderful idea of Vedanta is that we can reach the same goal in different ways. I distinguish four of them:
The path of action Karma yoga. The path of love Bhakti. The path of thought Raja and knowledge Jnâna”.
However, he points out that these approaches overlap, and that one cannot be isolated from the other: “But we must remember that these divisions are not absolute, and that in the different methods, one does not exclude the other”.
Then he takes up the rule mentioned by Swami Chidananda, that each disciple should have an approach according to his nature and inclination: “The divisions have been established according to the nature or inclination of a person. And we have seen that these paths converge in the end to become one path.
The spirituality of Teresa of Avila
is a synthesis of several disciplines
If we look at the yoga of St Teresa, or her spiritual approach, we will see that it is a mixture, or rather a synthesis, of these types of yoga, in different doses and proportions.
She is primarily a master of meditation, her approach is rooted in Dhyana Yoga or Raja Yoga. In addition, she has followed the path of Divine Love Bhakti Yoga and is also a nun of action and reform, hence Karma Yoga, but despite adopting these three paths, she has not neglected the path of knowledge Jnânâ Yoga.
Since we have elaborated on its meditative approach in the previous lectures and compared it to the royal yoga as expounded by Pathanjali in his book/Source: ‘The Yogasutras’. In the following chapters we shall proceed to present the other elements of Teresa’s Yoga, starting with Divine Love Bhakti, which occupies an essential place in her approach, and ending with the Yoga of Action, and its place in this approach, passing on to and stopping at the Yoga of Knowledge, which was not neglected by this Dr. of the Church, although she did not give it the same place she gave to the first three approaches.
Divine Love in Yoga and in Teresa
The Yoga of Piety and the Station of Worship
We have already defined Bhakti Yoga, so what is the yoga of divine love or the yoga of piety?
Our teacher who is our reference in the Vedic sciences, Robert Kfoury, gives us an Indian wisdom definition of this path as follows: “The yoga of piety is the yoga of divine love. It is especially for those of an emotional nature, and leads to the vision of God through mystical love. By focusing on God, the aspirant seeks to increase his or her recall of God and to be in touch with Him. And through faith, prayer and submission, he can attain the direct vision of His Ideal.”
The path of divine love is found in all forms of Sufism, as well as in different cultures and religions. It is divine love, ‘ishq Ilahi among the mystics of Islam. They distinguish three stations: worship, servitude and unifying devotion (‘ubuda).
Al-Qushayri (d. 465 AH) says, distinguishing them: “Worship is for the masters of struggle. Servitude is for the masters of endurance, and ‘ubuda devotion is an attribute of the people of imaginative contemplation.”
Here al-Qushayri agrees with the definition of yoga in that contemplation is the highest stage of divine love. In turn, Abd al-Karim al-Jili (d. 832 AH) emphasises the hierarchy of the three stations mentioned: “The station of ‘ubuda devotion dominates all the stations. The difference between worship, servitude and ‘ubuda devotion is that the act of worship is the issuing of acts of righteousness by the servant seeking reward, and servitude is the issuing of acts of righteousness by the servant of God Almighty, stripped of the search for reward, but rather in a purely devoted act to God Almighty. As for ‘ubuda devotion, it is rather acting by God. Therefore, it is the station of ‘ubuda devotion that dominates over all others.”
Al-Kamakhshawi (d. 1311 AH), like his predecessor al-Jili, sees that ‘ubuda devotion is the station of unification with God, and it is the highest ultimate station of divine love: “Devotion is for those special people who have seen their souls standing beside Him in His worship.”
Yoga, like Islamic mysticism, seeks this unity in the ‘yoga of piety’, after the station of meditative contemplation: “The blending occurs, and the unity remains all alone, the unity of the lover and the beloved, and so the goal is achieved.”
Yoga, like Sufism, seeks divine love for the sake of God, not for reward. Kfoury adds: “Bhakti yoga is the intense love of God. It is the way of worship, and it is for most people. Love for love of love’ is the motto of the Bhakti Yogi. He who loves God has no needs, and no calamity happens to him. He does not hate people or things, nor does he yearn for bodily pleasures. He embraces everyone with the warmth of his love.”
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