THE YOGA OF SYNTHESIS

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

THE YOGA OF SYNTHESIS
Some maintain that the practice of Karma Yoga alone is the only means for salvation. Some
others hold that devotion to the Lord is the only way to release. Some believe that the path of
wisdom is the sole way to attain the final beatitude. There are still others who hold that all the three
paths are equally efficacious to bring about perfection and freedom.
Man is a strange, complex mixture of will, feeling and thought. He wills to possess the
objects of his desires. He has emotion and so he feels. He has reason and so he thinks and
ratiocinates. In some, the emotional element may preponderate, while in some others, the rational
element may dominate. Just as will, feeling and thought are not distinct and separate, so also work,
devotion and knowledge are not exclusive of one another.
The Yoga of Synthesis is the most suitable and potent form of Sadhana. In the mind there are
three defects, viz., Mala or impurity, Vikshepa or tossing and Avarana or veil. The impurity should
be removed by the practice of Karma Yoga. The tossing should be removed by worship or
Upasana. The veil should be torn down by the practice of Jnana Yoga. Then only is Self-realisation
possible. If you want to see your face clearly in a mirror, you must remove the dirt in the mirror,
keep it steady and remove the covering also. You can see your face clearly in the bottom of the lake 

only if the turbidity is removed, if the water that is agitated by the wind is rendered still, and if the
moss that is lying on the surface is removed. So too is the case with Self-realisation.
The Yoga of Synthesis alone will bring about integral development. The Yoga of Synthesis
alone will develop the head, heart and hand and lead one to perfection. To become harmoniously
balanced in all directions is the ideal of religion. This can be achieved by the practice of the Yoga of
Synthesis.
To behold the one Universal Self in all beings is Jnana, wisdom; to love this Self is Bhakti,
devotion; and to serve this Self is Karma, action. When the Jnana-Yogin attains wisdom, he is
endowed with devotion and selfless activity. Karma Yoga is for him a spontaneous expression of
his spiritual nature, as he sees the one Self in all. When the devotee attains perfection in devotion, he
is possessed of wisdom and activity. For him also, Karma Yoga is a spontaneous expression of his
divine nature, as he beholds the one Lord everywhere. The Karma-Yogin attains wisdom and
devotion when his actions are wholly selfless. The three paths are in fact one in which the three
different temperaments emphasise one or the other of its inseparable constituents. Yoga supplies
the method by which the Self can be seen, loved and served.