by Swami Kriyananda

What differentiates a bar magnet from other bars of iron? It's that its molecules are turned in a single direction, producing a north-south polarity. In most bars, the molecules, each with its own north-south polarity, are turned every which way, in effect canceling one another out. It is when the molecules are oriented in one direction that, with many of them acting together, they acquire magnetic power. Magnetism is generated, not created. Its presence is latent in every piece of metal-indeed, on subtler levels of manifestation, in everything. Thus, people can be magnetic; their magnetism can cause others to feel toward them a strong attraction or repulsion.

There are many kinds of magnetism. Our individual qualities resemble the iron molecules in the sense that, if they are focused on a single goal, they can produce seemingly miraculous results. On the other hand, when they are directed haphazardly they can render us ineffective. Magnetism is the key to success in everything.

People will often say, "I keep trying to be good. Why, then, do I constantly fail?" or, "I work so hard to become competent in my own field of endeavor; why can I not succeed?" or, "I try so hard to overcome my bad habits; why do they keep on coming back, like weeds?" To all of these questions the answer, while perhaps unfortunate, is, "You have created failure magnetism in yourself: You need to get enough of the citizens among your inner population to support you; then only will you be able to make the over-all change you desire. The good side of the problem is that, when you succeed in converting enough mental citizens to the side of goodness, they will outnumber the unruly ones and will gradually win them over, resulting in your rapid spiritual progress."

We must transform our faults into virtues. Angry outbursts, uncontrollable at first, need to be rechanneled into positive behavior. Incarnations-many of them, perhaps-may be required for complete self-transformation.

Nevertheless, a journey of thousands of miles must begin with a single step. Never should one become discouraged. Discouragement itself is simply a characteristic to be fought and conquered by the steady, indomitable pressure of resolute courage. If one thinks, "I simply don't have that kind of courage," know that you can develop it, in time. Every human trait is born in the mind. There is nothing man can achieve or even conceive that is inaccessible to any other human being.

The Bhagavad Gita, however, teaches more than the need to overcome our individual faults and weaknesses. It also gives practical methods for sweeping every obstacle out of the way. One such method is described in Chapter 4, Verse 35, where Krishna tells Arjuna of the importance of the guru, or spiritual savior. A guru is more than a mere teacher. The power of the guru can transfer his magnetism to that disciple who tunes in to his consciousness. Thus, his magnetism can help to transform every fault in the disciple into its opposite virtue, by rechanneling the energy in the disciple's spine-in a sense realigning the "molecules" of tendencies and helping them, ever increasingly, to flow upward. A river, when its flow is strong, dissolves any eddies lingering along the bank, and causes those eddies and any debris swirling in them to enter the river's powerful flow down to the ocean. In similar fashion, a strong upward flow of energy in the spine can dissolve all the "vrittis," or eddies of feeling, and carry them up to the spiritual eye. Hence Patanjali's definition of yoga: "Yogas chitta vritti nirodha (Yoga is the neutralization of the eddies, or whirlpools, of feeling in the consciousness)." The subtle help of a true, or Sat, guru can help the disciple to transform his own tendencies and direct them all toward God.

None of this can be accomplished, however, without the disciple's active cooperation. This process, too, can be hastened scientifically by yoga techniques, and particularly by the great, ancient science of Kriya Yoga. The Bhagavad Gita emphasizes repeatedly the importance of yoga, and hints more than once at this highest of all yoga sciences. Indeed, the scientific aspect of enlightenment underlies every teaching in the Gita.

When an unmagnetized bar of metal is placed next to a bar magnet, it gradually develops a magnetism of its own, as its molecules realign themselves, similarly, in a north-south direction. Such is the real power of the Satguru, or savior, an essential aid to which my guru, Paramhansa Yogananda, referred constantly. He completely endorsed the Indian tradition that one must have a guru to find God. The part played by the guru is not to make his disciples over in his own image, but, by sharing his magnetism with them, to uplift their consciousness. That influence helps to realign the "molecules" of energy in their own bodies, and most particularly in the spine, toward the "north" of the spine at the spiritual eye and in the top of the head (the sahasrara).

None of this is to belittle the need for making painstaking efforts to transform oneself. Indeed, the Bhagavad Gita begins by recognizing the state of constant warfare in all human beings between vice and virtue.

When one considers, however, the vast undertaking one faces in overcoming even one deep-seated flaw, the task seems endless. Think how long it takes for an alcoholic to overcome even that one trait. Once he conquers that one weakness, it is an occasion for celebration. The number of faults every man needs to conquer seems almost overwhelming.

Think of that bar of iron. It contains billions of molecules, probably. They cancel one another out by the fact of being turned every which way. Now then, supposing one could labor minutely on each molecule: Think how long it would take to turn them all in a north-south direction. By the time one had reached only a short distance in the process, and was ready to start on the next level, it is quite within the bounds of possibility for the first molecules to be turning already in random directions again. There would not yet be the magnetism to hold them to the right direction.

Apart from the guru's help, the other thing needed for Self-realization is cooperation with him in the help he gives. This above all is what is intended by working spiritually on oneself. Self-transformation can be accomplished not so much by laboring painstakingly to purify and spiritualize every flaw, but above all by directing all one's energy toward the spiritual eye. That upward flow of energy is like a river, in this case flowing upward (not downward) to the "mouth" of the spiritual eye, where the soul merges at last into the sea of superconsciousness.

Excerpted from The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita, explained by Paramhansa Yogananda, as remembered by his disciple, Swami Kriyananda.

The official book launch of this Gita will be held at
Siri Fort Auditorium, 15 April, 6-8pm.