What Is Transcendental Knowledge?

“Nothing in this world is as sublimely purifying as transcendental knowledge. One who has achieved the perfection of yoga realizes this knowledge within one’s self in due course of time.” – Bhagavad-gita 4.38

The Bhagavad-gita fully embraces both the request for revelation that lies at the heart of religion and the quest for knowledge that lies at the heart of science. The fruit of this integration of religion and science is called “transcendental knowledge,” a kind of knowledge that situates all that’s accessible to the intellect within the context of a truth that lies beyond the reach of the intellect.

And just like any other science, the science of transcendental knowledge proposes theories and provides methodologies and technologies that we can use to verify its theories. Books of transcendental knowledge aren’t just compendiums of armchair philosophy; they’re guidebooks on how to develop an internal state of being that’s conducive for experiencing transcendental knowledge by direct perception.

The activation of transcendental knowledge supports our engagement with the world from a transcendental position. It's not as if we just go up a ladder and leave the world behind. Transcendental knowledge gives us the ability to be in two places at once: in the world and beyond the world.

To get there, we have to start with the same thing we need to acquire any kind of knowledge: faith. Faith that the knowledge exists, that it has practical value, and that we can obtain it.

The Bhagavad-gita offers us substantial encouragement on all counts:

“Those who are endowed with faith, who dedicate themselves to the pursuit of transcendental knowledge, and who subdue their senses for the sake of such knowledge, are eligible to attain it. Upon acquiring such knowledge, one quickly attains supreme peace.” – Bhagavad-gita 4.39

If someone offered you access to a special kind of knowledge that revealed truths about the world that can only be seen from a vantage point beyond the world, would you take a leap of faith and check it out? Let me know in the comments.


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Hari-kirtana das is a yoga teacher, spiritual mentor, and author. He’s lived in yoga ashrams and intentional spiritual communities, worked for Fortune 500 companies and Silicon Valley start-ups, and brings a wide range of spiritual knowledge and life experience to his classes, workshops, and presentations.

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