THE FOUR WAYS:-

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1.PATH OF DEVOTION:-


To the men of 'emotion', the Path of  Devotion has been advised. They have tears to shed. And their emotional temperament finds an extreme satisfaction when they are praying at and adoring the lotus feet of their Saviour and Guide, the "Beloved-of-their-heart".


2.PATH OF KNOWLEDGE:-


This method however, will have no appeal to the purely intellectual. They have no emotion to give. There are no fluid sentiments in them that in impatience gurgle forth seeking for themselves a way to flow out. Cold logic and unactivated  reasoning are the vehicles of the head in expressing itself. As such, they need dry arguments and philosophical mountaineering which alone can flag out their irrepressible intellectual stamina and bring them smoothly around the ugliness of their own over-developments. Pure philosophy and steady meditations are for them. The method of Vedanta, the Path of Knowledge, caters to this small group.


3.MIXED GROUP:- (PATH OF ACTION )-


To the members of this group, neither of these two ways would in themselves be sufficient. These are men who are extremely emotional before breakfast, coldly intelligent till lunch time, and perhaps, by evening tea, they are back again in the soft morass of endless emotions. This uncertain type cannot consistently apply itself to either of the above classes: either to the Path of Devotion or to the Path of Knowledge. To them was advised the Path of Action which is a happy synthesis of both the above methods.


4.HATHA YOGA :- ( PATH OF MYSTICISM )-


Lastly, we have that group constituted of those in whom nether the head nor the heart has sufficiently grown to entertain the urge for spiritual  rehabilitation. They would have been the desperation of any prophet of any religious group. But in the infinite wisdom, the Rishies seem to have evolved a method of exercises with which, first of all, the seekers  develop in themselves a sufficient mental and intellectual agility. Those exercises are called by the familiar  terms of postures ( Asanas ) and 'breath'control ( Pranayamam ). This way of self development is called Path of Mysticism (Hatha Yoga ). [to be contd.]             

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