True Philosophy
The word philosophy means “love of knowledge.” Most of us think of knowledge as the stockpile of information and ideas stored in the human brain, but truly speaking this is not real knowledge at all—it’s merely “learning.” The difference between knowledge and learning is like the difference between knowing someone personally and just knowing about that person. In other words, knowledge is learning which has been personally experienced.
   True philosophy is a science which strives to know, rather than just know about, such things as the essential nature of Creation and the meaning of life. Nowadays, we generally don’t think of philosophy as a science because most modern-day philosophers are idea-organizers rather than researchers; instead of embarking upon paths designed to lead them to a direct perception of universal truth, they prefer to create ingenious systems of thought which merely theorize about reality and life. Yogic philosophers, on the other hand, have no interest in intellectual theories; their only concern is with Truth they can personally experience. The Eastern Rishis were all “knowers,” while most modern philosophers are merely “thinkers,” and this is why in ancient times most people were in agreement about the basic nature of things, while nowadays most people are in disagreement.
   The bottom line of Yoga’s message to the world is this: In matters of philosophy, no one need take anyone else’s word for anything, because each of us is capable of knowing the highest universal truths firsthand, by direct perception. To achieve this knowledge, we need only look inside our own being through the practice of meditation. This is not intellectual theory drummed up in some author’s mind; it’s the documented accomplishment of countless meditators over thousands of years. In libraries through out the world there are many detailed accounts by meditators from every period of history. These accounts offer firsthand descriptions of meditation experiences, and they also describe in detail the profound truths which become revealed in the course of one’s inner research.
   When we first begin to study these accounts, we find that many of their descriptions seem to clash with one another, suggesting that perhaps each meditator’s experience of universal truth varies dramatically depending upon the era, culture, background and tradition from which he or she comes. For example, even though all of our great religions have been inspired by beings who have attained Self-realization through meditation, the basic scriptures of each religion seem to present Truth in terms and images which differ greatly from the way other religions describe it. In meditation, Hindus tend to see Hindu gods and goddesses, Christians see Christian saints, Buddhists experience the Great Void etc. The ancient Greeks, Aztecs, Egyptians, Polynesians, etc. each perceived a completely different hierarchy of gods and goddesses.
   Many people wrongly conclude from this that only the great beings from their own particular tradition have seen the “real” truth, while all the others throughout history have been deluded. Such a position is unsound, but at first glance the only other possibility seems to be that each religion must be connected to its own unique system of Truth, and that somehow all the different truths of all the world’s religions are equally supreme. This possibility, however, is denied by virtually all religions, every one of which maintains that a single reality is the basis for all of Creation.
   Most modem religions make no attempt to resolve this dilemma, so perhaps spiritual science can shed some light on it for us. According to yogic philosophy, all meditators experience exactly the same system of universal truth; however, the form in which that Truth presents itself can vary depending upon our personal beliefs and special needs. Yoga tells us that the face of God (meaning supreme truth or supreme reality) changes from one religion to another because each creed is specifically designed to fill the needs of certain select people, so it characterizes Truth in a manner compatible with those needs.
Truth itself is formless but it can present itself to us in many forms. Those who seek Truth through a Christian discipline may experience it in a Christian form; Buddhists may find Truth cloaked an Buddhist garb: spiritual scientists may see Truth revealed to them in non-religious form. Yogic science transcends the limited scope of all religions and presents its model of Truth in a timeless idiom, using imagery understandable to people of any era, culture, background or tradition; and in so doing it reveals the common ground out of which all the world’s diverse descriptions of Truth have grown.
   Should we decide to start our own meditation practice, we will probably be interested in comparing our own discoveries with what the ancient Rishis and other meditators have discovered to be the essence of universal truth. Though the form of this Truth as we experience it will probably reflect our personal beliefs, the essence should be precisely as Yoga describes it.
   At this point in our investigation, some important questions have undoubtedly arisen, and these now deserve our full attention. Such questions are: If the very core of our being is this all- powerful, all-knowing, all-blissful Self, how and why did we ever lose contact with it and set ourselves up for endless pain and misery? If we decide to practice Yoga meditation in order to re-establish union with our inner Self, what is the exact process of Self- realization we can expect to experience? How does this process begin; what stages will we go through along the way; and what will it be like when we reach the final goal? What are these “universal truths” which Yoga guarantees us we will personally perceive through meditation, and exactly how can we come to know the essential nature of the entire cosmos just by looking inside our own body’?
   To find answers to such questions, yogic scientists have systematically examined the whole of Creation to determine just what makes it “tick.” Yoga philosophy is not dry theory, it’s the detailed findings of ancient psychic explorers who were the very first human beings to probe the farthest reaches of Creation as well as the primal depths of their own being. The following six sections present the barest outline of what those pioneers learned.
   As we go along, in order to illustrate how effectively Yoga’s language captures the essence of even the most subtle realities we’ll compare each yogic concept with corresponding ones from modern science and religion whenever possible. Through such comparisons, perhaps we will discover that the Truth of ancient spiritual science, the Truth of modern physical science, and the Truth of all religions is the exact same Truth approached from different angles.
   In order to fully appreciate how and why meditation works inside us, Yoga tells us we must understand some things about the human body which are not commonly known nowadays. But before we can fully comprehend the nature and purpose of these little known inner mechanisms, we must first become familiar with some basic information about the cosmic environment in which each human lives. If we were to study fish, for example, it would be best to begin with a thorough understanding of water and in the same way our study of human beings would be incomplete without some appreciation of the intimate relationship which exists between our individual being and the vast cosmos of which we are a part.
Both modern and ancient science assure us that we are all made of exactly the same material as everything else in Creation, and ancient science adds that there is a remarkable relationship between our mysterious inner world and the equally mysterious universe which contains us. In order to detail this remarkable relationship, let’s begin by examining the cosmos, first as modem science sees it, and then as it’s perceived by yogic science.