Review

Author(s): K. L. Seshagiri Rao

Review by: K. L. Seshagiri Rao
Source: Philosophy East and West, Vol. 29, No. 3 (Jul., 1979), pp. 361-362
Published by: University of Hawai'i Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1398939
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361

Ramanuja on the Yoga, by Robert C. Lester. Madras: The Adyar Library and Research
Centre, 1976. Pp. xix + 195.

In his Introduction, Lester writes:

I have taken up the study of Ramanuja's Yoga for two reasons: first, to gain a clearer
understanding of Ramanuja's practicum for moksa (moksopdya) and therethrough to
speak to some questions concerning his contribution to the development of Srivaisnava-
sampraddya; and second, by reference to Ramanuja, to shed light on an issue of com-
parative religion-the relationship between yogic practice and world-view.

This brilliant study contains two main parts. In part I entitled "Knowledge of
Brahman," the author presents succinctly Ramanuja's views on tattvatraya, and under-
scores that right knowledge concerning them is fundamental to all religious action. He
discusses the implications of Ramanuja's rejection of the monistic metaphysics of
Advaita Vedanta and the atheistic philosophy of the Samikhya. The author brings into
relief Ramanuja's view that the individual soul is distinct from prakrti and sesa, the
Supreme Person, the Inner Ruler.
Lester, with his perspective of comparative religion, investigates both the similarities
and the differences between Ramanuja's Yoga and Patafijali's. Ramanuja holds that
Yoga is enjoined by scripture and that it is necessary to the attainment of release. He
accepts the first six limbs of Patafijali's yoga, geared to making the mind one-pointed.
But he does not accept yogic world-view or its total spiritual discipline for self-mastery
or self-realization. He radically defines dhyina and completely disregards samddhi.
The author convincingly argues that for Ramanuja dhyana signifies yoga and that the
essence of yoga is steady remembrance of the Lord. But he also draws our attention to
Ramanuja's firm conviction that yoga-in-itself cannot effect release or give the knowledge
of the Supreme Person. One must be chosen by the Lord. However, the Supreme chooses
only him who is most beloved to Him, and only he to whom the Supreme is immeasurably
dear is most beloved to the Supreme (p. 27). So the purpose of Yoga is to generate
devotion to Brahman and it is to be practiced in the context of worship. It is clearly
shown that Ramanuja looks upon both human devotion and Divine grace as means of
release providing thus an authoritative basis for the doctrines of both the Tengalai and
Vadagalai schools.
Part II of the book entitled "The Religious Life" spells out the details of moksa
sadhana according to Ramanuja in terms of various disciplines outlined in the Bhagavad-
giti; it includes knowledge, action, and meditation. But the Supreme Person is to be
obtained only by bhakti, and all the other disciplines are preparatory to it. Karmayoga
is the performance of prescribed actions without desire for fruit; it pleases the Lord
and purifies the mind. Knowledge of the nature of the real is to be gained from scripture.
Meditation is the steady remembrance of Brahman expressive of devotion. The physical
body and the things of the world are given by the Lord as instruments by which the
soul may worship Him and thereby attain release. In short, it is shown that for Ramanuja,
Yoga is simply a technique by which mind is disciplined into devotion.
Ramanuja's Yoga, like that of Patafijali's, aims at the suppression of normal con-
sciousness with respect to objects of sense. But it does not aim at the suppression of all
states of consciousness-an objectless state in which the yogin "experiences" pure
Being. In Ramanuja's Yoga, mental faculties continue to function and with intensity,
not toward sense-objects but toward the Supreme Person (p. 124).

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362 Book Reviews

The author, in this connection, poses a pertinent question: how does Ramanuja
find it possible to draw significantly on Pataiijali's Yoga and yet avoid what he considers
to be its pitfalls? And he also suggests an answer; he persuasively explains that this
is done by rigorously applying dogma in defining practice. Yoga is structured by Rama-
nuja in terms of his theistic doctrine by insisting (i) that scripture is the only source of
knowledge of Brahman and yogic perception is not; (ii) that right knowledge of the
real-right theological orientation-from scripture is fundamental to the pursuit of
release; and (iii) that the Yoga School's view of the nature of the soul and God is to
be rejected (pp. 133-134).
The book is erudite, illuminating, and significant. For students of Hindu theism,
yoga, and comparative religion, it brings a deeper and meaningful insight. The two
appendices are valuable and should not be overlooked by the readers. An index and a
glossary would have enhanced the usefulness of this excellent work.

K. L. SESHAGIRI RAO

University of Virginia

The I Ching and Mankind, by Diana ffarington Hook. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London
and Boston, 1975. 160 + xii pp.

Working with the I Ching can be frustrating for a Western scholar, partly because of
the difficulty of its language, and partly because its approach to human understanding
is so foreign. The I Ching is based on the assumption that we may toss down a pile of
sticks, pick them up in a certain order, use the results of this operation to select a particu-
lar diagram, study this in conjunction with associated obscure texts and arbitrary
images, and from this we can gain an understanding of our present position in the world.
This strains the credulity of a person with a modern education, as it in no way conforms
to our ideas of logic or proof.
And yet I feel that there is definitely some real value in the I Ching. The fact that it
does not conform with our modes of thinking does not necessarily indicate that it is
wholly wrong, but it may be that our ways of thought are not entirely sufficient, and
that the I Ching may point the way toward broadening our mental horizons. Thus, it
should be studied seriously and not only as a historical relic.
Therefore, I was pleased to have an opportunity to review a book which takes the
I Ching seriously. Hook's approach to the I Ching is indicated by this passage from the
end of her introduction. "Your unconscious can help you to understand what is ahead,
and teach you how to live wisely within the framework of your circumstances. The
I Ching may be used as a bridge to this knowledge, for it will reveal the archetypal
pattern of which you are a part" (p. 9). The idea that the I Ching can help us discover
our unconscious mind, and that it contains an archetypal pattern that is not only in
the mind, but reflects the world order as well, seems to me to be a promising approach,

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