As promised, the explanation on why Patanjali’s jnana path is the best path in attaining the goal of enlightenment. In this case what I mean by best is that it is the fastest route there. It is the ONLY route that will take you there in one lifetime.
I will first begin by dropping an endorsement by Krishna in the Gita who extolls the jnana path as the best and the highest. To those whom consider Krishna a reliable authority this will carry some weight. Others will reject this. Fair enough.
It will be harder to reject for an objective and rational person the other explanation I will give now. Patanjali’s path is a scientific path. It is secular and non secetarian. His descriptions are technical and not religious, using terminology like consciousness, mind, memory, modifications of mind, cause and effect, subject and object, mental associations. This language is as universal as mathematics is to the study of the mind and therefore anybody of any background can follow his path.
As most acadamic experts have noted about Patanjali’s approach, it is thoroughly scientific. It based on a dispassionate observation of the mind and body by using awareness as the means to collect data. This approach has been borrowed from Patanjali by modern scientific disciplines in transpersonal psychology in the subset of it called consciousness studies. Major researchers in this field include Ken Wilber.
Like any scientific experiment controls have to be set in order to isolate the data. The method Patanjali uses for this is a stable posture, prescribed ratios of breathing and an object for meditation to retain through the entire duration. Patanjali gives a list of various possibilities one can use as their meditation object, and even recommends one comes up with their own. However, initially he recommends using ones own breath to get into higher states. As soon as the controls are in place the experiment begins and one starts to watch what is happening in the mind as the meditation continues. Patanjali then describes qualitatively what happens in the first few stages of meditation: The rise and fall of mental phenomenon which he classifies into 5 categories: valid knowledge, invalid knowledge, fantasy, memories and sleep. Then this mental activity gradually begins to lessen as the meditation continues and there are changes in levels of consciousness. He describes these as sensory withdrawal, then sustained concentration of an object, which gets even more intense and various stages of absorption of the object follow. Different objects will produce different results. He also notes the psychic and physical responses that take place depending on the object selected for meditation.
However, Patanjali is only giving a general description of the states one enters into and not an exhaustive one. In actuality there are various grades in between that other consciousness researchers have identified. Like with any scientific experiment there is a prediction based on previous data collection for peer review. Patanjali descriptions are testable by others doing the experiment. Surely enough, there are both ancient and modern peer-reviewed assessments published both in in the Eastern style of journals and Western style of journals, corroborating Patanjali’s general descriptions and thus satisfying the condition of replicability that a scientific experiment must pass. Thus Patanjali’s scientific path is reliable. It is a basic cause and effect path - do this experiment as prescribed and result follows. There is no mystical or religious jargon.
The type of experiment Patanjali is describing is a long term experiment and the duration of it is directly proportional to how much activity is in the mind. He classifies 4 general types: disturbed mind, dull mind, distracted mind and one-pointed mind. The beginner of Yoga begins from the disturbed mind(ravaged by worries, anxieties, fears) Now, we all know how difficult it is to master our own mind. This gives a general idea of how much dedicated practice it takes to attain higher types of mind. The training of the mind is similar to the training of the body. In order to achieive a toned, supple and healthy body starting out from a flabby, inflexible and unhealthy body a lot of training is required. In order to achieive the perfect body the training becomes even more intense. Professional athletes train for hours a day and live highly disciplined lifetyles.
To continue with this analogy, the more one practices the more results begin to show. The muscles are broken down in the gym, and they grow back bigger. The same Patanjali describes for the mind, the previous state it is in, is broken down and the new state grows back more alert and focussed. The focus levels can be even measured today using EEG devices and classified into beta, alpha, delta and theta wave patterns. So Patanjali describes very intense training of the mind through constant practices like observing yama and niyamas in day to day life and regular and long practice of asana, pranayama and meditation. Obviously, those who want to attain the perfect mind, are going to have to intensify their practice even more. To get an idea of roughly what level of practice we are looking at to achieive the goal of Yoga one can look at people like Buddha. It took 10 years of dedicated practice. But that was Buddha who was already born with a high level of development. Others have taken decades of dedicated practice. It is therefore obvious that Yoga is a complete career in itself and requires single minded devotion.
It is a given that if you do the practice you will get the result. But this practice is a very long-term investment of time and energy. It is equally a given that if you do not do the practice and do not invest the time and energy required, you will not get the result.
Finally, I will now submit for the review of the objective reader why the path of Jnana(Patanjalis) is indeed the highest. Other paths you hear about such as Bhakti yoga and Karma yoga appeared much later and gained legitimacy much later than Jnana. They appeared in a time period which is considered to be the spiritual dark ages which started around 5000 years ago and is still going. They were considered necessary for people who simply did not have the discipline to be jnanis. In a way it is a second-rate path for people who are inferior in spiritual evolution.
Bhakti Yoga is basically idol worship and is looked down on by many spiritual and religious traditions in the world. Most people who practice it do so on faith alone, it involved loads of rituals and superstitions, and lot of penance, trials and tribulations, without many results and loads of people lose faith because of the lack of results. It is often practiced in the world surrounded by temptations and world politics. It is difficult to maintain and very few people reach enlightenment on this path. If there is any good that comes from this path is that you may gain some good karma and get a good life in the future, but it does little to transform the mind. In fact it should be said bhakti yoga is the most problematic yoga and is what is so disgusting about religion.
Karma yoga is a grade better and is considered respectable by many spiritual and religious traditions. To dedicate your life to living in the world helping others, doing acts of charity and contributing to social upliftment creates many good, caring and compassionate people who we all love, but it does not necessarily create enlightened minds with sharp and concentrated minds that can penetrate deep into reality and taste the Self. One still lives in the same baseline consciousness level as everybody else. The difference is they are nicer people. But nice does not make enlightened. They too will get good karma and get a good life in the future, but little will be done to transform their mind.
The reason is very clear why bhakti yoga and karma yoga does not transform minds. It is because the mind can only be transformed by entering into deeper levels of consciousness than the normal waking consciousness. It then gradually grows and grows and becomes more focussed and powerful, penetrating deeper into things and witnessing deeper realities. In order to achieive this the condition of sensory-withdrawal must be achieived. It is logical that in order to go deeper into the mind, one must first withdraw themselves from the world and observe their mind exclusively, only then does one start to go deeper. The mind follows a sequence going from most outer to most inner. The most outer level Patanjali calls waking consciousness or gross consciousness(modern: conscious mind). The intermeditate level he calls dream or subtle consciousness(modern: subconscious mind). The most inner level he calls causal consciousness(mondern: unconscious mind) In order to become aware of these higher states then one must move out of waking and go deeper. This is impossible if you are actively engaged in the world. The only time you enter into these deeper states is either when you are lucid dreaming or meditating.
Just as the muscles of the body need a sufficient amount of stress in order to be broken down and caused to grow back stronger, likewise the mind needs serious sit down meditation in order to be broken down and caused to grow back stronger. The body will transform very slowly and only minimally if you do not hit the gym and do the weights, likewise the mind will transform very slowly and only minimally if you do not meditate regularly for long hours a day.
Regular, intense and long meditation practice is absolutely mandatory if your goal is to reach any goal in Yoga. Even the intermediate goals require intense practice. The highest goal of enlightenment requires super-intense practice. But because Patanjali’s jnana path is a science the result is absolutely guaranteed for the one who puts in the effort in terms of time and energy. The question is not will you get enlightenment, the question is how much do you really want it.
It is clear in Patanjali Yoga that videhas aka gods have not reached the goal of Yoga cf. YS I:19 and commentaries from Vyasa, Vacaspati Mishra, Vijnana Bhikshu. I think that you will gain if you learn more about basic points of Patanjali Yoga before lecturing others on Internet though. You have the soul of an achiever, I wish you sincerely all the best for your yogic career.