What is Yogic Gnosticism? Demarcating an Elite Ritual Identity Worth Reconsidering

Abstract

In this paper I gather core definitional components of yogic Gnosticism (aka jñāna-yoga/ the yoga of knowledge), which I produced for a forthcoming monograph (Metaphysics as Therapy, Springer, April 2025) on the use of taxonomy in the spiritual exercises of gnostic yogas. I highlight the historical significance of this elite form of yogic cultivation and its general neglect within the emerging field of Yoga Studies. I explore the reasons for this neglect and suggest that, since we have not yet come close to any thorough understanding of the variform manifestations of gnostic yogas, it leaves a serious gap in the field to disregard this rather contemplative, intellectual, and scholastic form of yoga in favour of the more spectacular ones in fashion today. I present textual evidence for the usage of the term jñāna-yoga and the development of its meaning. I propose a minimal list of ten features, which I argue are shared among the various gnostic currents of yoga. In a fourth step, I briefly discuss the doctrinal antagonism of the ritual-oriented forms of yoga (karma-yoga) and the knowledge-oriented jñāna-yoga, to highlight how Hindu, Buddhist, and Jaina Gnostics have variously insisted on the cultivation of knowledge as the sole means of liberation. I then critically engage with Vivekananda’s perception of jñāna-yoga to highlight some elements of his thought that correspond with my research findings on yogic Gnosticism, before concluding with remarks on the challenging elitism of this trans-sectarian South Asian current.