Yoga
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Sadhana
The Realisation of Life
By Rabindranath Tagore
An Introduction
to Yoga
by Annie Besant
- The Unfolding of Consciousness
- The Oneness of the Self
- The Quickening of the Process of Self-Unfoldment
- Yoga is a Science
- Man a Duality
- States of Mind
- Samadhi
- Some Definitions
- God Without and God Within
- Changes of Consciousness and Vibrations of Matter
- Stages of Mind
- Inward and Outward-turned Consciousness
- The Cloud
- Mind
- The Mental Body
- Methods of Yoga
- To the Self by the Self
- To the Self through the Not-Self
- Yoga and Morality
- Composition of States of the Mind
- Inhibition of States of Mind
- Meditation with and without Seed
- The Use of Mantras
- Obstacles to Yoga
- Capacities for Yoga
- Forthgoing and Returning
- Purification of Bodies
- Dwellers on the Threshold
- Preparation for Yoga
- The End
The Doctrine and Practice of Yoga
by Swami Mukerji
Jogi of the South India Order
Patanjali's
Yoga Sutras
Lessons in Gnani and Raja Yoga
The Yoga of Wisdom
by Yogi Ramacharaka
Acupressure
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Lessons in Gnani and Raja Yoga
The Yoga of Wisdom
by Yogi Ramacharaka
THE FIRST LESSON
THE ONE
The Yogi Philosophy may be divided into several great branches, or
fields. What is known as "Hatha Yoga" deals with the physical body and
its control; its welfare; its health; its preservation; its laws, etc.
What is known as "Raja Yoga" deals with the Mind; its control; its
development; its unfoldment, etc. What is known as "Bhakti Yoga" deals
with the Love of the Absolute--God. What is known as "Gnani Yoga" deals
with the scientific and intellectual knowing of the great questions
regarding Life and what lies back of Life--the Riddle of the Universe.
Each branch of Yoga is but a path leading toward the one
end--unfoldment, development, and growth. He who wishes first to
develop, control and strengthen his physical body so as to render it a
fit instrument of the Higher Self, follows the path of "Hatha Yoga." He
who would develop his will-power and mental faculties, unfolding the
inner senses, and latent powers, follows the path of "Raja Yoga." He
who wishes to develop by "knowing"--by studying the fundamental
principles, and the wonderful truths underlying Life, follows the path
of "Gnani Yoga." And he who wishes to grow into a union with the One
Life by the influence of Love, he follows the path of "Bhakti Yoga."
But it must not be supposed that the student must ally himself to only
a single one of these paths to power. In fact, very few do. The
majority prefer to gain a rounded knowledge, and acquaint themselves
with the principles of the several branches, learning something of
each, giving preference of course to those branches that appeal to them
more strongly, this attraction being the indication of _need_, or
requirement, and, therefore, being the hand pointing out the path.
It is well for every one to know something of "Hatha Yoga," in order
that the body may be purified, strengthened, and kept in health in
order to become a more fitting instrument of the Higher Self. It is
well that each one should know something of "Raja Yoga," that he may
understand the training and control of the mind, and the use of the
Will. It is well that every one should learn the wisdom of "Gnani
Yoga," that he may realize the wonderful truths underlying life--the
science of Being. And, most assuredly every one should know something
of Bhakti Yogi, that he may understand the great teachings regarding
the Love underlying all life.
We have written a work on "Hatha Yoga," and a course on "Raja Yoga"
which is now in book form. We have told you something regarding "Gnani
Yoga" in our Fourteen Lessons, and also in our Advanced Course. We have
written something regarding "Bhakti Yoga" in our Advanced Course, and,
we hope, have taught it also all through our other lessons, for we fail
to see how one can teach or study any of the branches of Yoga without
being filled with a sense of Love and Union with the Source of all
Life. To know the Giver of Life, is to love him, and the more we know
of him, the more love will we manifest.
In this course of lessons, of which this is the first, we shall take up
the subject of "Gnani Yoga"--the Yoga of Wisdom, and will endeavor to
make plain some of its most important and highest teachings. And, we
trust that in so doing, we shall be able to awaken in you a still
higher realization of your relationship with the One, and a
corresponding Love for that in which you live, and move and have your
being. We ask for your loving sympathy and cooperation in our task.
Let us begin by a consideration of what has been called the "Questions
of Questions"--the question: "What is Reality?" To understand the
question we have but to take a look around us and view the visible
world. We see great masses of something that science has called
"matter." We see in operation a wonderful something called "force" or
"energy" in its countless forms of manifestations. We see things that
we call "forms of life," varying in manifestation from the tiny speck
of slime that we call the Moneron, up to that form that we call Man.
But study this world of manifestations by means of science and
research--and such study is of greatest value--still we must find
ourselves brought to a point where we cannot progress further. Matter
melts into mystery--Force resolves itself into something else--the
secret of living-forms subtly elude us--and mind is seen as but the
manifestation of something even finer. But in losing these things of
appearance and manifestation, we find ourselves brought up face to face
with a Something Else that we see must underlie all these varying
forms, shapes and manifestations. And that Something Else, we call
Reality, because it is Real, Permanent, Enduring. And although men may
differ, dispute, wrangle, and quarrel about this Reality, still there
is one point upon which they must agree, and that is that _Reality is
One_--that underlying all forms and manifestations there must be a
_One_ Reality from which all things flow. And this inquiry into this
One Reality is indeed the Question of Questions of the Universe.
The highest reason of Man--as well as his deepest intuition--has always
recognized that this Reality or Underlying Being must be but ONE, of
which all Nature is but varying degrees of manifestation, emanation, or
expression. All have recognized that Life is a stream flowing from One
great fount, the nature and name of which is unknown--some have said
unknowable. Differ as men do about theories regarding the nature of
this one, they all agree that it can be but One. It is only when men
begin to name and analyze this One, that confusion results.
Let us see what men have thought and said about this One--it _may_ help
us to understand the nature of the problem.
The materialist claims that this one is a something called
Matter--self-existent--eternal--infinite--containing within itself the
potentiality of Matter, Energy and Mind. Another school, closely allied
to the materialists, claim that this One is a something called Energy,
of which Matter and Mind are but modes of motion. The Idealists claim
that the One is a something called Mind, and that Matter and Force are
but ideas in that One Mind. Theologians claim that this One is a
something called a personal God, to whom they attribute certain
qualities, characteristics, etc., the same varying with their creeds
and dogmas. The Naturistic school claims that this One is a something
called Nature, which is constantly manifesting itself in countless
forms. The occultists, in their varying schools, Oriental and
Occidental, have taught that the One was a Being whose Life constituted
the life of all living forms.
All philosophies, all science, all religions, inform us that this world
of shapes, forms and names is but a phenomenal or shadow world--a
show-world--back of which rests Reality, called by some name of the
teacher. But remember this, _all philosophy that counts_ is based upon
some form of monism--Oneness--whether the concept be a known or unknown
god; an unknown or unknowable principle; a substance; an Energy, or
Spirit. There is but One--there can be but One--such is the inevitable
conclusion of the highest human reason, intuition or faith.
And, likewise, the same reason informs us that this One Life must
permeate all apparent forms of life, and that all apparent material
forms, forces, energies, and principles must be emanations from that
One, and, consequently "of" it. It may be objected to, that the creeds
teaching a personal god do not so hold, for they teach that their God
is the creator of the Universe, which he has set aside from himself as
a workman sets aside his workmanship. But this objection avails naught,
for where could such a creator obtain the material for his universe,
except from himself; and where the energy, except from the same source;
and where the Life, unless from his One Life. So in the end, it is seen
that there must be but One--not two, even if we prefer the terms God
_and_ his Universe, for even in this case the Universe must have
proceeded from God, and can only live, and move and act, and think, by
virtue of his Essence permeating it.
In passing by the conceptions of the various thinkers, we are struck by
the fact that the various schools seem to manifest a one-sidedness in
their theories, seeing only that which fits in with their theories, and
ignoring the rest. The Materialist talks about Infinite and Eternal
Matter, although the latest scientific investigations have shown us
Matter fading into Nothingness--the Eternal Atom being split into
countless particles called Corpuscles or Electrons, which at the last
seem to be nothing but a unit of Electricity, tied up in a "knot in the
Ether"--although just what the Ether is, Science does not dare to
guess. And Energy, also seems to be unthinkable except as operating
through matter, and always seems to be acting under the operation of
Laws--and Laws without a Law giver, and a Law giver without mind or
something higher than Mind, is unthinkable. And Mind, as we know it,
seems to be bound up with matter and energy in a wonderful combination,
and is seen to be subject to laws outside of itself, and to be varying,
inconstant, and changeable, which attributes cannot be conceived of as
belonging to the Absolute. Mind as we know it, as well as Matter and
Energy, is held by the highest occult teachers to be but an appearance
and a relativity of something far more fundamental and enduring, and we
are compelled to fall back upon that old term which wise men have used
in order to describe that Something Else that lies back of, and under,
Matter, Energy and Mind--and that word is "Spirit."
We cannot tell just what is meant by the word "Spirit," for we have
nothing with which to describe it. But we can think of it as meaning
the "essence" of Life and Being--the Reality underlying Universal Life.
Of course no name can be given to this One, that will fitly describe
it. But we have used the term "The Absolute" in our previous lessons,
and consider it advisable to continue its use, although the student may
substitute any other name that appeals to him more strongly. We do not
use the word God (except occasionally in order to bring out a shade of
meaning) not because we object to it, but because by doing so we would
run the risk of identifying The Absolute with some idea of a personal
god with certain theological attributes. Nor does the word "Principle"
appeal to us, for it seems to imply a cold, unfeeling, abstract thing,
while we conceive the Absolute Spirit or Being to be a warm, vital,
living, acting, feeling Reality. We do not use the word Nature, which
many prefer, because of its materialistic meaning to the minds of many,
although the word is very dear to us when referring to the outward
manifestation of the Absolute Life.
Of the real nature of The Absolute, of course, we can know practically
nothing, because it transcends all human experience and Man has nothing
with which he can measure the Infinite. Spinoza was right when he said
that "to define God is to deny him," for any attempt to define, is, of
course an attempt to limit or make finite the Infinite. To define a
thing is to identify it with something else--and where is the something
else with which to identify the Infinite? The Absolute cannot be
described in terms of the Relative. It is not Something, although it
contains within itself the reality underlying Everything. It cannot be
said to have the qualities of any of its apparently separated parts,
for it is the ALL. It is all that really IS.
It is beyond Matter, Force, or Mind as we know it, and yet these things
emanate from it, and must be within its nature. For what is in the
manifested must be in the manifestor--no stream can rise higher than
its source--the effect cannot be greater than the cause--you cannot get
something out of nothing.
But it is hard for the human mind to take hold of That which is beyond
its experience--many philosophers consider it impossible--and so we
must think of the Absolute in the concepts and terms of its highest
manifestation. We find Mind higher in the scale than Matter or Energy,
and so we are justified in using the terms of Mind in speaking of the
Absolute, rather than the terms of Matter or Energy--so let us try to
think of an Infinite Mind, whose powers and capacities are raised to an
infinite degree--a Mind of which Herbert Spencer said that it was "a
mode of being as much transcending intelligence and will, as these
transcend mere mechanical motion."
While it is true (as all occultists know) that the best information
regarding the Absolute come from regions of the Self higher than
Intellect, yet we are in duty bound to examine the reports of the
Intellect concerning its information regarding the One. The Intellect
has been developed in us for use--for the purpose of examining,
considering, thinking--and it behooves us to employ it. By turning it
to this purpose, we not only strengthen and unfold it, but we also get
certain information that can reach us by no other channel. And
moreover, by such use of the Intellect we are able to discover many
fallacies and errors that have crept into our minds from the opinions
and dogmas of others--as Kant said: "The chief, and perhaps the only,
use of a philosophy of pure reason is a negative one. It is not an
organon for extending, but a discipline for limiting! Instead of
discovering truth, its modest function is to guard against error." Let
us then listen to the report of the Intellect, as well as of the higher
fields of mentation.
One of the first reports of the Intellect, concerning the Absolute, is
that it must have existed forever, and must continue to exist forever.
There is no escape from this conclusion, whether one view the matter
from the viewpoint of the materialist, philosopher, occultist, or
theologian. The Absolute could not have sprung from Nothing, and there
was no other cause outside of itself from which it could have emanated.
And there can be no cause outside of itself which can terminate its
being. And we cannot conceive of Infinite Life, or Absolute Life,
dying. So the Absolute must be Eternal--such is the report of the
Intellect.
This idea of the Eternal is practically unthinkable to the human mind,
although it is forced to believe that it must be a quality of the
Absolute. The trouble arises from the fact that the Intellect is
compelled to see everything through the veil of Time, and Cause and
Effect. Now, Cause and Effect, and Time, are merely phenomena or
appearances of the relative world, and have no place in the Absolute
and Real. Let us see if we can understand this.
Reflection will show you that the only reason that you are unable to
think of or picture a Causeless Cause, is because everything that you
have experienced in this relative world of the senses has had a
cause--something from which it sprung. You have seen Cause and Effect
in full operation all about you, and quite naturally your Intellect has
taken it for granted that there can be nothing uncaused--nothing
without a preceding cause. And the Intellect is perfectly right, so far
as Things are concerned, for all Things are relative and are therefore
caused. But back of the caused things must lie THAT which is the Great
Causer of Things, and which, not being a Thing itself, cannot have been
caused--cannot be the effect of a cause. Your minds reel when you try
to form a mental image of That which has had no cause, because you have
had no experience in the sense world of such a thing, and there fail to
form the image. It is out of your experience, and you cannot form the
mental picture. But yet your mind is compelled to believe that there
must have been an Original One, that can have had no cause. This is a
hard task for the Intellect, but in time it comes to see just where the
trouble lies, and ceases to interpose objections to the voice of the
higher regions of the self.
And, the Intellect experiences a similar difficulty when it tries to
think of an Eternal--a That which is above and outside of Time. We see
Time in operation everywhere, and take it for granted that Time is a
reality--an actual thing. But this is a mistake of the senses. There is
no such thing as Time, in reality. Time exists solely in our minds. It
is merely a form of perception by which we express our consciousness of
the Change in Things.
We cannot think of Time except in connection with a succession of
changes of things in our consciousness--either things of the outer
world, or the passing of thought-things through our mind. A day is
merely the consciousness of the passing of the sun--an hour or minute
merely the subdivision of the day, or else the consciousness of the
movement of the hands of the clock--merely the consciousness of the
movement of Things--the symbols of changes in Things. In a world
without changes in Things, there would be no such thing as Time. Time
is but a mental invention. Such is the report of the Intellect.
And, besides the conclusions of pure abstract reasoning about Time, we
may see many instances of the relativity of Time in our everyday
experiences. We all know that when we are interested Time seems to pass
rapidly, and when we are bored it drags along in a shameful manner. We
know that when we are happy, Time develops the speed of a meteor, while
when we are unhappy it crawls like a tortoise. When we are interested
or happy our attention is largely diverted from the changes occurring
in things--because we do not notice the Things so closely. And while we
are miserable or bored, we notice the details in Things, and their
changes, until the length of time seems interminable. A tiny insect
mite may, and does, live a lifetime of birth, growth, marriage,
reproduction, old age, and death, in a few minutes, and no doubt its
life seems as full as does that of the elephant with his hundred years.
Why? _Because so many things haze happened!_ When we are conscious of
many things happening, we get the impression and sensation of the
length of time. The greater the consciousness of things, the greater
the sensation of Time. When we are so interested in talking to a loved
one that we forget all that is occurring about us, then the hours fly
by unheeded, while the same hours seem like days to one in the same
place who is not interested or occupied with some task.
Men have nodded, and in the second before awakening they have dreamed
of events that seemed to have required the passage of years. Many of
you have had experiences of this kind, and many such cases have been
recorded by science. On the other hand, one may fall asleep and remain
unconscious, but without dreams, for hours, and upon awakening will
insist that he has merely nodded. Time belongs to the relative mind,
and has no place in the Eternal or Absolute.
Next, the Intellect informs us that it must think of the Absolute as
Infinite in Space--present everywhere--Omnipresent. It cannot be
limited, for there is nothing outside of itself to limit it. There is
no such place as Nowhere. Every place is in the Everywhere. And
Everywhere is filled with the All--the Infinite Reality--the Absolute.
And, just as was the case with the idea of Time, we find it most
difficult--if not indeed impossible--to form an idea of an
Omnipresent--of That which occupies Infinite Space. This because
everything that our minds have experienced has had dimensi