<p>The Bhagwad Gita, in its Gnana Yoga chapter, speaks of three obstacles to the spiritual growth and evolution of man. The first one is attachment — excessive desire for objects of sensual pleasure which in turn engenders greed and a tendency to cling to worldly objects, not knowing that they are fleeting and illusory and can vanish suddenly.</p>.<p>This attachment leads to possessiveness and its offshoot — fear, the second obstacle in man’s path to spiritual progress. Fear of losing those possessions, fear of not being able to maintain one’s image in society and so on. We may not accept or recognise it as such, but it is fear that haunts man at every step.</p>.<p>But, one fear of every human is the great equaliser — death. As the wise saying goes, fearing death, every day we die a thousand deaths. Here too, a distinction can be drawn between those who fear death because of the pain and suffering and those who fear not death itself, but who dread the possibility of rebirth.</p>.<p>The third obstacle in man’s path is anger — anger at not being able to attain those desires haunting the mind, anger when one’s aims are not fulfilled, anger at the sheer inequity of human existence and so on. The Gita does not proffer a magic wand to expel all these problems and promise a utopian life. Lord Krishna says: “many are those who have benefited by overcoming these three impediments of attachment, fear and anger, by surrendering to me wholeheartedly and by acquiring the right knowledge and sincerely putting it to practice. They have thus purified their inner selves and finally attained to me”.</p>.<p>But how exactly is this done? Transcending the three obstacles of attachment, fear and anger is through doing one’s duty sincerely without focusing only on the benefits to be got at the end, carrying out the work as an offering to the divine. This is ‘Karma Yoga’. Surrendering to the Supreme, shedding one’s ego is ‘Bhakti Yoga’. Acquiring the right knowledge of permanent and impermanent things by resorting to a knowledgeable preceptor and incorporating it into daily life is ‘Gnana Yoga’. “But, irrespective of the path followed, all lead to the same goal — that of steadying the wavering mind and purifying it, enriching and ennobling man”, says the Gita.</p>
<p>The Bhagwad Gita, in its Gnana Yoga chapter, speaks of three obstacles to the spiritual growth and evolution of man. The first one is attachment — excessive desire for objects of sensual pleasure which in turn engenders greed and a tendency to cling to worldly objects, not knowing that they are fleeting and illusory and can vanish suddenly.</p>.<p>This attachment leads to possessiveness and its offshoot — fear, the second obstacle in man’s path to spiritual progress. Fear of losing those possessions, fear of not being able to maintain one’s image in society and so on. We may not accept or recognise it as such, but it is fear that haunts man at every step.</p>.<p>But, one fear of every human is the great equaliser — death. As the wise saying goes, fearing death, every day we die a thousand deaths. Here too, a distinction can be drawn between those who fear death because of the pain and suffering and those who fear not death itself, but who dread the possibility of rebirth.</p>.<p>The third obstacle in man’s path is anger — anger at not being able to attain those desires haunting the mind, anger when one’s aims are not fulfilled, anger at the sheer inequity of human existence and so on. The Gita does not proffer a magic wand to expel all these problems and promise a utopian life. Lord Krishna says: “many are those who have benefited by overcoming these three impediments of attachment, fear and anger, by surrendering to me wholeheartedly and by acquiring the right knowledge and sincerely putting it to practice. They have thus purified their inner selves and finally attained to me”.</p>.<p>But how exactly is this done? Transcending the three obstacles of attachment, fear and anger is through doing one’s duty sincerely without focusing only on the benefits to be got at the end, carrying out the work as an offering to the divine. This is ‘Karma Yoga’. Surrendering to the Supreme, shedding one’s ego is ‘Bhakti Yoga’. Acquiring the right knowledge of permanent and impermanent things by resorting to a knowledgeable preceptor and incorporating it into daily life is ‘Gnana Yoga’. “But, irrespective of the path followed, all lead to the same goal — that of steadying the wavering mind and purifying it, enriching and ennobling man”, says the Gita.</p>