The Four Jewels of The Path

The Observants know the four pillars of their practice. But are they truly those of The Path? Here, Hans Yoganand ji reveals what it truly rests on, a teaching he had never set out before; a structure reminiscent of the three jewels of the Buddha, without stemming from them.

Hands scoop up water flowing from a mountain spring, in a breathtaking landscape. — The Four Jewels of The Path

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The Four Jewels of The Path

A Letter to the Observants

The Observants know the four pillars of their practice. But are they truly those of The Path? Here, Hans Yoganand ji reveals what it truly rests on, a teaching he had never set out before; a structure reminiscent of the three jewels of the Buddha, without stemming from them.

If I were to ask you, "What are the four pillars of The Path?", you, the Observants, would answer, I am sure: "Service, satsang, meditation and the angas." Well, you would be wrong!

I know, I have always spoken to you about these four pillars. But did I ever say they were those of The Path? I do not believe so. Service, satsang, meditation and the angas are indeed pillars, but they are those of the sadhana.

What The Path rests on, I have never yet set out for you. This is because one first teaches what is practiced; only once the practice is established can one show what upholds it.

To understand this, let us take a detour through sri Gautama Siddhartha, the buddha of the Sakyas. His teaching rested on three jewels:

The Buddha, the awakened one, the master.
The Dhamma (or Dharma), the teaching, the ultimate law of reality and the path practiced.
The Sangha, the community of disciples, traditionally monks and nuns, and more broadly the community of practitioners.

On The Path, we find an awakened master and his teaching. We also find the equivalent of the Dhamma: the sadhana. On the other hand, there is no sangha. There is no ashram, and the Observants cannot gather, since they do not know one another. But I can be reached at any time to receive your questions, hear your doubts and your difficulties, and answer them.

I myself know neither the names, nor the addresses, nor the telephone numbers of the initiates, except those of a few who gave them to me so that we could talk on WhatsApp. Each one walks alone.

What takes the place of a sangha, then, is each one's practice. And there is on The Path a jewel that has no equivalent in the Buddha's teaching: Grace. It is Grace that makes The Path a path of Bhakti.

The four jewels of The Path (caturratna) are thus:

Grace.
The awakened master.
The sadhana, made up of the four pillars mentioned at the beginning of this text.
Observance, that is, the effort and the practice of the Observant.

Their order is not arbitrary: it runs from the Grace of God to the disciple. Initiation and satsang are given by the master. The sadhana provides the tools, and the way the disciple receives these gifts, his Observance, is what makes them bear fruit.

The Grace of the Holy-Name (or Shabda-Brahman) and its Guidance make all things possible. This Grace is the energy of God's purpose, His virtue.

The awakened master initiates seekers and reveals to them the ancestral meditation techniques of the Yoga-Originel, four in number as well. He gives them satsang and extends his teaching through writings and translations, including the Bhaktimàrga, published in French and English.

The sadhana provides the tools to fulfill the purpose of The Path. It rests on four pillars: three practices, service (seva), satsang and meditation with its four techniques, and a set of precepts, the angas, intended to foster the inner posture conducive to Observance.

Observance consists in practicing service, satsang and meditation, and in observing the angas. These resemble the yamas and niyamas of Patanjali, without having copied them: this resemblance is hardly surprising, since both stem from simple common sense.

It is the disciple, the Observant, who acts in Observance. Grace, the awakened master and the sadhana remain fruitless for one who does not practice: without putting them into practice, no realization is possible.

That is why the four jewels of The Path are Grace, the awakened master, the sadhana and Observance.

If you have any questions, please write here:

madhyama.marga@gmail.com

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