FOUR PATHS OF YOGA

THE DOCTRINE OF THE SWAMI

The following is a brief sketch of the Swami's fundamental teachings: 

Every man must develop according to his own nature. As every science has its methods so has every religion. Methods of attaining the end of our religion are called Yoga, and the different forms of Yoga that we teach are adapted to the different natures and temperaments of men. We classify them in the following way, under four heads:

(1) Karma Yoga — The manner in which a man realizes his own divinity through works and duty.

(2) Bhakti Yoga — The realization of a divinity through devotion to and love of a personal God.

(3) Raja Yoga — The realization of divinity through control of mind.

(4) Jnana Yoga — The realization of man's own divinity through knowledge.

These are all different roads leading to the same center — God. Indeed, the varieties of religious belief are an advantage, since all faiths are good, so far as they encourage man to religious life. The more sects there are the more opportunities there are for making successful appeals to the divine instinct in all men.  (New York Herald, January 19, 1896) (IX, 484)