The Four Paths Home

There is no path that does not lead to Him.
A Course in Miracles

They say many paths lead to the Lord. Pick the one that is closest to you and follow it. There is the path of wisdom, of action, of devotion and of meditation/channeling our energy. Typically whenever you find a seeker who follows passionately one path, there is very little patience for the other approaches. Yet, the longer you walk on your path the more you realize how connected all the four paths really are. True wisdom comes from falling in love with life, from working hard towards your goal, from falling in love with the many messengers God sends your way. As you mature spiritually the different chakras open up inside and your energy field changes. You also experience the advantages of meditation: the ability to experience who you are when the voice in your head quiets down.

You have your unique way Home, but be on the look-out for the co-travelers who can propel you enormously by walking a few spiritual miles with you. Sadhguru told this story to illustrate this point in his "Mystic's Musings":

 One day, one Jnana (Knowledge) Yogi, one Bhakthi (Devotion) Yogi, one Karma (Action) Yogi and one Kriya (Energy) Yogi were walking together. Usually these four people can never be together, because a thinking person has complete disdain for everybody else. A bhakthi yogi, full of emotion and love, thinks that jnana, karma and kriya yoga is just a waste of time. Just love God and it will happen. The karma yogi thinks that everybody else is just lazy. One must work and work and work. The kriya yogi just laughs at everything. The whole existence is energy. If you don't channel your energies nothing is going to happen. Then it started to rain and they all ran looking for shelter, they found an ancient temple. As the storm grew more and more furious they all moved closer to each other inside the temple. Suddenly they felt a huge presence. Lord Shiva Himself was there. They all cried out together, why now, we have pursued you for years and nothing happened. Lord Shiva replied, at last the four of you got together. I have been waiting for this for a long time.

By meditation, some women can see the Self in the self; others, by the yoga of knowledge; others by selfless action.
(Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita on meditation, wisdom and the path of devotion)


Seeing the great Lord everywhere, she knows beyond doubt that she cannot harm the Self by the self, and reaches the highest goal.
(Lord Krishna, Bhagavad Gita on the path of the Tao)