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 SIXTH LESSON
WITHIN THE MIND OF THE ONE.
In our last lesson we gave you the Inner Teachings of the Yogi
Philosophy, relating to the real nature of the Universe, and all that
is therein contained. We trust that you have pondered well and
carefully the statements contained in that lesson, for in them is to be
found the essence of the highest Yogi teachings. While we have
endeavored to present these high truths to you in the simplest possible
form, yet unless your minds have been trained to grasp the thought, you
may have trouble in fully assimilating the essence of the teachings.
But, be not discouraged, for your mind will gradually unfold like the
flower, and the Sun of Truth will reach into its inmost recesses. Do
not be troubled if your comprehension seems dull, or your progress
slow, for all things will come to you in time. You cannot escape the
Truth, nor can the Truth escape you. And it will not come to you one
moment sooner than you are ready to receive it, nor will it be delayed
one moment in its coming, when you are ready for it. Such is the Law,
and none can escape it, nor alter it, nor modify it. All is Well, and
All is Under the Law--nothing ever "happens."
To many, the thought that the Universe and all that is therein
contained, are simply "Thought Forms" in the Infinite Mind--Mental
Creations of the Absolute, may seem startling, and a sense of unreality
may pervade one. This is inevitable, but the reaction will come. To
some who have grasped this mighty truth there has come a feeling that
"All is Nothing," which idea is embodied in their teachings and
writings. But this is merely the Negative Phase of the Truth--there is
a Positive Phase which comes as one advances.
The Negative Phase shows us that all that we have considered as real
and permanent--the foundations of the Universe itself--is but a mental
image in the mind of the Absolute, and therefore lacks the fundamental
reality that we had previously associated with it. And realizing this,
we are at first apt to feel that, indeed "all is nothing," and to fall
into a state of apathy, and lack of desire to play our part in the
world. But, then, happily the reaction sets in, sooner or later, and we
begin to see the Positive Phase of the Truth. This Positive Phase shows
us that while all the forms, shapes, and phenomena of the Universe are
but parts of a great show-world, still the essence of all must be
Reality, itself, else there would not be even the "appearance" of a
Universe. Before a thing can be a Mental Image, there must be a Mind to
hold that Mental Image, and a BEING to possess that Mind. And, the very
essence of that BEING must pervade and be immanent in every Image in
that Mind. Just as You are really in your Mental Images, as well as
they in You, so must the Absolute be in Its Mental Images, or
Creations, or Thought Forms, as truly as they are in the Mind of the
Absolute. Do you see this plainly? Think well over it--ponder it
well--for in it lies the Truth.
And so, this Positive Phase of the Truth, is far from depressing--it is
the most stimulating conception one can hold, if he but grasps it in
its entirety and fulness. Even if it be true that all these shapes,
and forms, and appearances, and phenomena, and personalities, be but
illusion as compared to the inner Reality--what of it? Are you not then
assured that the Spirit within Yourself is the Spirit of the
Absolute--that the Reality within You is the Reality of the
Absolute--that you ARE, because the Absolute IS, and cannot be
otherwise? Does not the Peace, and Calm, and Security, and Bliss that
comes to you with this Realization, far more than counterbalance the
petty nothings that you have discarded? We think that there can be but
one answer to this, when you have fully Realized the Truth.
What gives you the greatest Satisfaction and Content in Life? Let us
see. Well, there is the Satisfaction of Immortality. The human mind
instinctively craves this. Well, what that even the highest finite
conceptions of Future Life have given you, can compare with the
assurance of Actual Being, in and of the Absolute? What are your petty
conceptions of "heavens," "paradises," "happy-hunting-grounds," "divine
regions of the blessed," and the other ideas of the various religious
sects, when compared with the conceptions of your Infinite and Eternal
Existence in Spirit--your relation with The One--that conception of
Infinite Wisdom, Being, and Bliss? When you grasp this truth, you will
see that you are "in Eternity right Now," and are Immortal even this
moment, as you have always been.
Now, what we have said above is not intended to deny the
"heaven-worlds," or planes. On the contrary, you will find much in the
teachings regarding these, which the Yogis enter into with much detail.
But, we mean that back of all the "heavens" and "celestial planes,"
there is a still higher state of being being--the "Absolute Being."
Even the "heavens," and "heaven-worlds," and regions of the Devas, or
Archangels, are but relative states--there is a state higher than even
these exalted relative states, and that is the State of the Conscious
Unity and Identity with the One. When one enters into that State, he
becomes more than Man--more than gods--he is then "in the bosom of the
Father."
And now, before proceeding to a consideration of the phenomenal
manifestation of the Absolute--the evolving of the Universe in the
Infinite Mind--we will again call your attention to the fact that
underlies all the Universe of forms, shapes and appearances, and that
is, as we stated in our last lesson:
All Manifestations and Emanations of the Absolute are Mental Creations
of the Absolute--Thought-Forms held in the Infinite Mind--the Infinite
Spirit in them--and they in the Infinite Spirit. And, the only Real
Thing about Man is the Spirit involved in the Thought-Form--the rest is
mere Personality, which changes and ceases to be. The Spirit in the
Soul of Man, is the Soul of the Soul, which is never born; never
changeth; never dieth--this is The Real Self of Man, in which, indeed,
he is "One with the Father."
And, now let us consider the Yogi Teachings regarding the creation of
the Universe, and the evolution of the living forms thereon. We shall
endeavor to give you the story as plainly as may be, holding fast to
the main thought, and avoiding the side-paths of details, etc., so far
as is possible.
In the first place, we must imagine ourselves back to the beginning of
a "Day of Brahm,"--the first dawn of that Day, which is breaking from
the darkness of a "Night of Brahm." Before we proceed further, we must
tell you something about these "Days and Nights of Brahm," of which you
have seen much mention in the Oriental writings.
The Yogi Teachings contain much regarding the "Days and Nights of
Brahm;" the "In-breathing and Out-breathing of the Creative Principle;"
the periods of "Manvantara," and the periods of "Pralaya." This
thought runs through all the Oriental thought, although in different
forms, and with various interpretations. The thought refers to the
occult truth that there is in Cosmic Nature alternate periods of
Activity and Inactivity--Days and Nights--In-breathings and
Out-breathings--Wakefulness and Sleep. This fundamental law manifests
in all Nature, from Universes to Atoms. Let us see it now in its
application to Universes.
At this point we would call the attention of the student that in many
of the presentations of the Hindu Teachings the writers speak as if the
Absolute, Itself, were subject to this law of Rhythm, and had Its
Periods of Rest and Work, like Its manifestations. This is incorrect.
The highest teachings do not so hold, although at first glance it would
so appear. The teaching really is that while the Creative Principle
manifests this rhythm, still even this principle, great though it be,
is a manifestation of the Absolute, and not the Absolute itself. The
highest Hindu teachings are firm and unmistakable about this point.
And, another point, in which there is much mistaken teaching. In the
periods of Creative Inactivity in a Universe it must not be supposed
that there is no Activity anywhere. On the contrary, there is never a
cessation of Activity on the part of the Absolute. While it is Creative
Night in one Universe, or System of Universes, there is intense
activity of Mid-Day in others. When we say "The Universe" we mean the
Universe of Solar Systems--millions of such systems--that compose the
particular universe of which we have any knowledge. The highest
teachings tell us that this Universe is but one of a System of
Universes, millions in number--and that this System is but one, in a
higher System, and so on and on, to infinity. As one Hindu Sage hath
said: "Well do we know that the Absolute is constantly creating
Universes in Its Infinite Mind--and constantly destroying them--and,
though millions upon millions of aeons intervene between creation and
destruction, yet doth it seem less than the twinkle of an eye to The
Absolute One."
And so the "Day and Night of Brahm" means only the statement of the
alternating periods of Activity and Inactivity in some one particular
Universe, amidst the Infinite Universality. You will find a mention of
these periods of Activity and Inactivity in the "Bhagavad Gita," the
great Hindu epic. The following quotations, and page references, relate
to the edition published by the Yogi Publication Society, which was
compiled and adapted by the writer of these lessons. In that edition of
the "Bhagavad Gita," on page 77, you will find these words attributed
to Krishna, the Absolute One in human incarnation:
"The worlds and universes--yea, even the world of Brahm, a single day
of which is like unto a thousand Yugas (four billion years of the
earth), and his night as much--these worlds must come and go... The
Days of Brahm are succeeded by the Nights of Brahm. In these Brahmic
Days all things emerge from invisibility, and become visible. And, on
the coming of the Brahmic Night, all visible things again melt into
invisibility. The Universe having once existed, melteth away; and lo!
is again re-created."
And, in the same edition, on page 80, we find these words, attributed
to the same speaker:
"At the end of a Kalpa--a Day of Brahm--a period of Creative
Activity--I withdraw into my nature, all things and beings. And, at the
beginning of another Kalpa, I emanate all things and beings, and
re-perform my creative act."
We may say here, in passing, that Modern Science now holds to the
theory of periods of Rhythmic Change; of Rise and Fall; of Evolution
and Dissolution.
It holds that, beginning at some time in the past aeons of time, there
was the beginning of an upward or evolutionary movement, which is now
under way; and that, according to the law of Nature, there must come a
time when the highest point will be reached, and then will come the
beginning of the downward path, which in time must come to an end,
being succeeded by a long period of inactivity, which will then be
followed by the beginning of a new period of Creative Activity and
Evolution--"a Day of Brahm."
This thought of this law of Rhythm, in its Universal form, has been
entertained by the thinkers of all times and races. Herbert Spencer
expressly held to it in his "First Principles," expressing it in many
ways akin to this: "Evolution must come to a close in complete
equilibrium or rest;" and again, "It is not inferable from the general
progress towards equilibrium, that a state of universal quiescence or
death will be reached; but that if a process of reasoning ends in that
conclusion, a further process of reasoning points to renewals of
activity and life;" and again, "Rhythm in the totality of
changes--alternate eras of evolution and dissolution." The Ancient
Western Philosophers also indulged in this idea. Heraclitus taught that
the universe manifested itself in cycles, and the Stoics taught that
"the world moves in an endless cycle, through the same stages." The
followers of Pythagoras went even further, and claimed that "the
succeeding worlds resemble each other, down to the minutest detail,"
this latter idea, however--the idea of the "Eternal Recurrence"--while
held by a number of thinkers, is not held by the Yogi teachers, who
teach infinite progression--an Evolution of Evolution, as it were. The
Yogi teachings, in this last mentioned particular, are resembled more
by the line of Lotze's thinking, as expressed in this sentence from his
Micro-cosmos: "The series of Cosmic Periods, ... each link of which
is bound together with every other; ... the successive order of these
sections shall compose the unity of an onward-advancing melody." And,
so through the pages of Heraclitus, the Stoics, the Pythagoreans,
Empedocles, Virgil, down to the present time, in Nietzsche, and his
followers, we find this thought of Universal Rhythm--that fundamental
conception of the ancient Yogi Philosophy.
And, now, returning to the main path of our thought--let us stand here
at the beginning of the dawn of a Day of Brahm. It is verily a
beginning, for there is nothing to be seen--there is nothing but Space.
No trace of Matter, Force or Mind, as we know these terms. In that
portion of Infinite Space--that is, of course, in that "portion" of the
Infinite Mind of the Absolute One, for even Space is a "conception" of
that Mind, there is "Nothing." This is "the darkest moment, just before
the dawn."
Then comes the breaking of the dawn of the Brahmic Day. The Absolute
begins the "creation" of a Universe. And, how does It create? There can
be no creation of something out of nothing. And except the Absolute
Itself there is but Nothing.
Therefore The Absolute must create the Universe out of Its own
"substance," if we can use the word "substance" in this connection.
"Substance" means, literally, "that which stands under," being derived
from the two Latin words, sub, meaning "under," and stare, meaning
"to stand." The English word "understand" means, literally, "to stand
under"--the two words really meaning the same. This is more than a
coincidence.
So the Absolute must create the Universe from its own substance, we
have seen. Well, what is this "substance" of the Absolute? Is it
Matter? No! for Matter we know to be, in itself, merely a manifestation
of Force, or Energy. Then, is it Force or Energy? No! because Force and
Energy, in itself, cannot possess Mind, and we must think of the
Absolute as possessing Mind, for it manifests Mind, and what is
manifested must be in the Manifestor, or Manifesting Agent. Then this
"substance" must be Mind? Well, yes, in a way--and yet not Mind as we
know it, finite and imperfect. But something like Mind, only Infinite
in degree and nature--something sufficiently greater than Mind as we
know it, to admit of it being the Cause of Mind. But, we are compelled
to think of it as "Infinite Mind," for our finite Minds can hold no
higher conception. So we are content to say that this "substance" from
which the Absolute must create the Universe is a something that we will
call Infinite Mind. Fix this in your mind, please, as the first step in
our conception.
But, how can the Infinite Mind be used to create finite minds, shapes,
forms, and things, without it being lessened in quantity--how can you
take something from something, and still have the original something
left? An impossibility! And, we cannot think of the Absolute as
"dividing Itself up" into two or more portions--for if such were the
case, there would be two or more Absolutes, or else None. There cannot
be two Absolutes, for if the Absolute were to divide itself so there
would be no Absolute, but only two Relatives--two Finites instead of
One Infinite. Do you see the absurdity?
Then how can this work of Creation be accomplished, in view of these
difficulties which are apparent even to our finite minds? You may
thresh this question over and over again in your minds--men have done
so in all times--and you will not find the answer except in the
fundamental Idea of the Yogi Teachings. And this Fundamental Idea is
that the creation is purely a Mental Creation, and the Universe is the
Mental Image, or Thought-Form, in the Mind of the Absolute--in the
Infinite Mind, itself. No other "creation" is possible. And so this,
say the Yogi Masters, this is the Secret of Universal Creation. The
Universe is of, and in, the Infinite Mind, and this is the only way
it could be so. So, fix in your mind this second step in our
conception.
But then, you ask us, from whence comes Force, Matter, and Finite Mind?
Well asked, good student--your answer shall be forthcoming. Here it is.
Finite Mind; Force or Energy; and Matter; in themselves have no
existence. They are merely Mental Images, or Thought-Forms in the
Infinite Mind of the Absolute. Their whole existence and appearance
depends upon their Mental Conception and Retention in the Infinite
Mind. In It they have their birth, rise, growth, decline and death.
Then what is Real about ME, you may ask--surely I have a vivid
consciousness of Reality--is this merely an illusion, or shadow? No,
not so! that sense of Reality which you possess and which every
creature or thing possesses--that sense of "I Am"--is the perception by
the Mental Image of the Reality of its Essence--and that Essence is the
Spirit. And that Spirit is the SUBSTANCE OF THE ABSOLUTE embodied in
Its conception, the Mental Image. It is the perception by the Finite,
of its Infinite Essence. Or, the perception by the Relative of its
Absolute Essence. Or, the perception by You, or I, or any other man or
woman, of the Real Self, which underlies all the sham self or
Personality. It is the reflection of the Sun, in the dew-drop, and
thousands of dew-drops--seemingly thousands of Suns, and yet but One.
And yet, that reflection of the Sun in the dewdrop is more than a
"reflection," for it is the substance of the Sun itself--and yet the
Sun shines on high, one and undivided, yet manifesting in millions of
dew-drops. It is only by figures of speech that we can speak of the
Unspeakable Reality.
To make it perhaps plainer to some of you, let us remind you that even
in your finite Mental Images there is evident many forms of life. You
may think of a moving army of thousands of men. And yet the only "I" in
these men is your own "I." These characters in your mind move and live
and have their being, and yet there is nothing in them except "You!"
The characters of Shakespeare, Dickens, Thackeray, Balzac, and the
rest, were such strong Mental Images that not only their creators were
carried away by their power, and apparent ability, but even you who
read of them, many years after, perhaps, feel the apparent reality, and
weep, or smile, or grow angry over their actions. And, yet there was no
Hamlet, outside of Shakespeare's mind; no Micawber outside of Dickens;