A jnani (wise or knowledgeable one) is one whose intellect is sharp and profound. Such a person understands everything in depth (and not superficially). A jnani is always close to nature and to God, i.e. a wise person understands and acts in accordance with the laws of Nature and does not violate them.
You can realize God through your feelings (of devotion and surrender), and also by following the path of knowledge (which helps righteous action and dispels ignorance).You should follow the path that is in accordance with your nature, one that appeals to you. If you are someone who is driven more by feelings than by logic and intellect, then you should engage more in satsang and bhakti (devotion).
If you are driven more strongly by intellect and logic, then you will become restless if you sit in a satsang for a long time. Then you would say, ‘Oh, stop all this satsang and chanting. How many times will you say the same thing again and again? Why are you all singing such a long bhajan? Just calling out God’s name once is enough!’
If you see two lovers, they keep writing each other’s names everywhere. They write, ‘I love you’, everywhere they can. And writing it just once is not enough. They write it ten times! They start filling pages and pages of books with the name of their beloved. They even etch the names of their beloved on the walls.
So they write the beloved’s name wherever they can. This is because a lover cannot stop by saying the beloved’s name just once. He is not content with that. So he keeps reciting the beloved’s name again and again. This is not the case for one driven by the intellect and logic.
Even music does not appeal to one driven by the intellect. They are uncomfortable with chanting the same name and same lines again and again. This is how they think. But when such a person (who is driven by the intellect) looks at the creation, he gets so wonder struck by the magnificence of the creation. The creation is so miraculous, so mysterious and so full of amazement.
The are new discoveries that happen every day and every moment, yet the more one discovers of this creation, the more one realizes that the secrets of the creation are far more deeper and mysterious than one can imagine. And this realization only increases the sense of wonder in a person, so much so that ultimately he experiences yoga (union). Through this sense of wonder, he becomes one with nature.
This is why it is said, ‘Vismayo Yogah bhumika’ (The sense of wonder has a great role to play on the path of Yoga).
So, being in a state of wonder is an important step in Yoga. Why is this so? It is because there is so much more than what we think we know, and there is so much that we still do not know. Just understanding this alone can take us to greater heights of progress in our life.
This creation is vast, endless, and full of wonders; it has no end, it has no shores. Knowing this is being in a Gyaan Yajna. A Jnani and a Vijnani (person with a scientific outlook) is always aware of this fact, so he is always close to God. He is always watchful in a state of wonder as Nature reveals its secrets.
