The Sure Signs of a Yogi

Self Inquiry & Reflective Reading:

(a) Mark the 2 items from the 16 teachings below that are

most important to you now.

(b) Put a ? mark by the 2 puzzlers.

(c) Mark any “Aha!” items (sudden clarity, insights).

(d) How long might it take you to become yogi-like:_____ years.

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In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna explains that:

“One is a yogi not only at the end of the path but while on the path…

___ 1. For those who are in the process of climbing to spiritual heights the path is karma yoga, selfless God-directed action.

___ 2. For those who have made the summit (which is union with God) the path is sanyasa, deep serenity and absence of thought.

___ 3. You cannot perceive God in the mental ferment of the worldly. You have to blot out thoughts of the world.

___ 4. When you are no longer attached to performing action and have eliminated your desires for worldly things, you will only then have climbed to the highest state of yoga, union with Divinity.

___ 5. You must not allow yourself to be demeaned by your ego-self. Lift yourself by your own efforts.

___ 6. The self can be both friend or foe—it is a friend when used to conquer the lower mind, senses, and body—it is a foe when it drags you into the mind, senses and body.

___ 7. The Atma (True Self Within) is the ally, the ego-mind-self is the enemy.

___ 8. Permanent cheerfulness is the sure sign of a yogi. Maintaining physical, mental, and intellectual balance, no matter how difficult the challenge, leads you to this cheerful state.

___ 9. Maintaining equanimity—an even mind in heat and cold, pleasure and pain, honor and disgrace—is the mark of the wise yogi.

___ 10. Be a serene person absorbed in the Divine, living in peace. This is the badge of the true renunciate, the yogi.

___ 11. A true yogi, remember, is not a spiritual recluse but a godly person of discipline who lives fully in the world.

___ 12. The person who knows the Atma, who has conquered the senses and is calm under all circumstances—that yogi has climbed to the summit of human consciousness!

___ 13. The true yogi considers a clod of mud, a stone or a gold nugget with similar indifference.

___ 14. Worldly people pursue earthly things; godly people (yogis) pursue only the Divine.

___ 15. The one who looks with the same eye on saints or sinners, relatives or strangers, friends or foes, well-wishers or even those who wish harm—that yogi is indeed supreme.

___16. To attain this godly state you must become fully immersed in Atma, your True Self Within.” – Krishna

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