SECTION XXI. YOGA.There are five processes of mental discipline by the aid of which the human soul can reach the goal quicker. These are called the five paths of Yoga, viz., Hatha, Karma, Rāja, Gnāna and Bhakti. Yoga means Union. The word Yoga is the original of its corrupted English form "Yoke." Yoga, therefore, means yoking the Mind to the Spirit of God by concentration. Hatha Yoga consists in cleaning and disciplining the outer and inner physical body by the practice of certain postures of sitting, processes of moving the muscles and fixing the eye upon some external object or the tip of the nose. These, in time, induce mental poise. Karma Yoga is performing good actions, and practising spiritual formulas which contribute to the purification of the mind and, finally lead to the unfoldment of the soul. Rāja Yoga is stopping the functions of the mind's volitions. By volitions of the mind are meant thought-currents. By the practice of Rāja Yoga, the outflow of these thought-currents can be entirely stopped and turned inwards in one concentrated stream into the soul. The main process of shutting in the mind-currents is by controlling the breath. The action of our breathing upon our mind is like that of the pendulum of a clock upon the movements of its hands. As, for instance, the quicker the pendulum swings the faster the movement of the hands, so, the quicker our breathing, the more rapid the action of our thought-currents. By controlling the breath by certain exercises, prescribed by Rāja Yoga, one can make his breathing slow and thereby diminish the speed of the thought-currents. During these breathing exercises, the mind is concentrated upon God or the Divine Idea, or some mystic words expressive of the Deity. This lessens the activity of the mind which then gradually experiences a calmness unfelt before, a calmness which in itself is a happiness which no form of enjoyment of material pleasure can afford. Calmness of mind develops into harmony, the result of the expression of the Sattwa attribute.There are five kinds of mental states: Murha, Khipta, Bikhipta, Ekāgra, and Samādhi. The Murha, ruled by predominant Tama, is generally attracted to evil objects owing to lack of discrimination. Khipta flits from one object to another in search of pleasure. It is ruled by predominant Rāja, so is ever active and never satisfied. The Bikhipta mental state, ruled by the equal combination of the three attributes, is generally like Khipta, but at times fixes its attention inwards though for a short time only. When the Bikhipta is helped by the practice of concentration into the Ekāgra (one-pointed) state, then it is that harmony is brought about. When, by constant practice, the one-pointed mind becomes unwaveringly fixed on the Deity or the Idea of the Deity gained through the increasing illumination of the Sattwa, it enters into the Samādhi (Trance) state, the state of Absolute absorption into the Deity.The practice of the Rāja Yoga has been forbidden in the Shāstras in the Kali Yuga (Iron Age) because, in this age, excepting in rare cases, the human body is too weak and delicate to stand the hardships, psychic exertions and physical privations of its practices, and because an adept Yogi-Gooroo, without whose constant help in every detail of it no student can attain the highest result, is very hard to be found. Many who now practice it under inexperienced Gooroos in India meet early death or develop incurable diseases or even turn insane. A moderate amount of simple breathing exercises may not be so injurious or fatal, but too much of it or the practice of the advanced rules ought never to be attempted, especially in the West, where a proper Gooroo can never be found and where most people's nerves are generally shaky.Gnāna Yoga is an entirely mental process of Yoga, a process of discriminating between the Unsubstantial and the Substantial in Nature and concentrating upon the only Substantial Essence of things and gradually getting absolutely absorbed by it. The keeping up of this process of thought in an unbroken stream requires living a life of simplicity, solitude and renunciation. The life in which this thought-current becomes unbroken is the last life, last incarnation of that soul. It escapes rebirth for good for which it has worked for many incarnations. Its separate Ego is merged in the universal Ego and finally is lost in and becomes one with the One-without-a-Second.Gnāna Yoga belongs to the school of the Vedānta philosophy. Vedānta is "Veda" and "Anta" which means "End," so that Vedānta means End of the Veda—the Aim or Goal of the Veda; and the word Veda is the original of the English word "Wisdom" (Swedish, Visdom) from Sanscrit, "Vida," to know. Veda means knowledge of the Reality, the Truth. The Vedānta Aphorisms of Vedavyasa are but Indices to the Principles of the Upanishads—the Wisdom part of the Veda. There are two Schools of Vedānta, the Old and the New. The Old possesses the true interpretation of the Aphorisms, the New is deluded by their false interpretations, is only about two thousand years old and has a comparatively small number of adherents. The Old school is founded on Parināmbād, the new is founded on Vivartabād, The Old school holds that the universe is composed of the ever changeful manifestations of the Will (Energy) of the One Changeless Deity (Parināmbād), the New calls the whole universe, in fact, all that is visible and perceptible, Māyā (Illusion), in the sense that it never existed, does not exist now and will never exist. All that exists is Brahm, the Divine Essence, and we are That. All else is illusion wrought in our mind through ignorance, just as the mistaking a piece of rope lying in some dark place for a snake is due to the illusion of the darkness. This theory with its plausible analogy is all wrong. The universe is not all illusion though it is the changeful force-materialization of the Unchangeful One Substance. The force or energy or light or reflection of a substance is inseparable from it and is pervaded by it and partakes of its spirit. This materialized force-reflection of Brahm not only possesses its substance at bottom but must be called a part of it as the light of a flame or reflection of a light is undeniably its part. The analogy of the snake and rope is, therefore, not true of God and the Universe: The snake is merely the conjuration of the darkness and not born of the rope; but the universe is born of Brahm (the rope). The theory that it is born of the illusion of our ignorance, is absurd in that it involves accepting that "ignorance" to be something self-existent, that it has an independent existence, separate from the All-in-All, the One-without-a-Second. If not, whence is this "ignorance" which has such power of illusion over our mind and senses? What is it? Whence does it come? The Neo-Vedāntist answers, it is something inexplicable, His Māyā is inexplicable—the argument of one in darkness himself. This New Vedāntic thought has done and is doing more harm to the world than any other religious theory. It is a worse delusion than the delusion of Māyā.
SECTION XXI. YOGA.There are five processes of mental discipline by the aid of which the human soul can reach the goal quicker. These are called the five paths of Yoga, viz., Hatha, Karma, Rāja, Gnāna and Bhakti. Yoga means Union. The word Yoga is the original of its corrupted English form "Yoke." Yoga, therefore, means yoking the Mind to the Spirit of God by concentration. Hatha Yoga consists in cleaning and disciplining the outer and inner physical body by the practice of certain postures of sitting, processes of moving the muscles and fixing the eye upon some external object or the tip of the nose. These, in time, induce mental poise. Karma Yoga is performing good actions, and practising spiritual formulas which contribute to the purification of the mind and, finally lead to the unfoldment of the soul. Rāja Yoga is stopping the functions of the mind's volitions. By volitions of the mind are meant thought-currents. By the practice of Rāja Yoga, the outflow of these thought-currents can be entirely stopped and turned inwards in one concentrated stream into the soul. The main process of shutting in the mind-currents is by controlling the breath. The action of our breathing upon our mind is like that of the pendulum of a clock upon the movements of its hands. As, for instance, the quicker the pendulum swings the faster the movement of the hands, so, the quicker our breathing, the more rapid the action of our thought-currents. By controlling the breath by certain exercises, prescribed by Rāja Yoga, one can make his breathing slow and thereby diminish the speed of the thought-currents. During these breathing exercises, the mind is concentrated upon God or the Divine Idea, or some mystic words expressive of the Deity. This lessens the activity of the mind which then gradually experiences a calmness unfelt before, a calmness which in itself is a happiness which no form of enjoyment of material pleasure can afford. Calmness of mind develops into harmony, the result of the expression of the Sattwa attribute.There are five kinds of mental states: Murha, Khipta, Bikhipta, Ekāgra, and Samādhi. The Murha, ruled by predominant Tama, is generally attracted to evil objects owing to lack of discrimination. Khipta flits from one object to another in search of pleasure. It is ruled by predominant Rāja, so is ever active and never satisfied. The Bikhipta mental state, ruled by the equal combination of the three attributes, is generally like Khipta, but at times fixes its attention inwards though for a short time only. When the Bikhipta is helped by the practice of concentration into the Ekāgra (one-pointed) state, then it is that harmony is brought about. When, by constant practice, the one-pointed mind becomes unwaveringly fixed on the Deity or the Idea of the Deity gained through the increasing illumination of the Sattwa, it enters into the Samādhi (Trance) state, the state of Absolute absorption into the Deity.The practice of the Rāja Yoga has been forbidden in the Shāstras in the Kali Yuga (Iron Age) because, in this age, excepting in rare cases, the human body is too weak and delicate to stand the hardships, psychic exertions and physical privations of its practices, and because an adept Yogi-Gooroo, without whose constant help in every detail of it no student can attain the highest result, is very hard to be found. Many who now practice it under inexperienced Gooroos in India meet early death or develop incurable diseases or even turn insane. A moderate amount of simple breathing exercises may not be so injurious or fatal, but too much of it or the practice of the advanced rules ought never to be attempted, especially in the West, where a proper Gooroo can never be found and where most people's nerves are generally shaky.Gnāna Yoga is an entirely mental process of Yoga, a process of discriminating between the Unsubstantial and the Substantial in Nature and concentrating upon the only Substantial Essence of things and gradually getting absolutely absorbed by it. The keeping up of this process of thought in an unbroken stream requires living a life of simplicity, solitude and renunciation. The life in which this thought-current becomes unbroken is the last life, last incarnation of that soul. It escapes rebirth for good for which it has worked for many incarnations. Its separate Ego is merged in the universal Ego and finally is lost in and becomes one with the One-without-a-Second.Gnāna Yoga belongs to the school of the Vedānta philosophy. Vedānta is "Veda" and "Anta" which means "End," so that Vedānta means End of the Veda—the Aim or Goal of the Veda; and the word Veda is the original of the English word "Wisdom" (Swedish, Visdom) from Sanscrit, "Vida," to know. Veda means knowledge of the Reality, the Truth. The Vedānta Aphorisms of Vedavyasa are but Indices to the Principles of the Upanishads—the Wisdom part of the Veda. There are two Schools of Vedānta, the Old and the New. The Old possesses the true interpretation of the Aphorisms, the New is deluded by their false interpretations, is only about two thousand years old and has a comparatively small number of adherents. The Old school is founded on Parināmbād, the new is founded on Vivartabād, The Old school holds that the universe is composed of the ever changeful manifestations of the Will (Energy) of the One Changeless Deity (Parināmbād), the New calls the whole universe, in fact, all that is visible and perceptible, Māyā (Illusion), in the sense that it never existed, does not exist now and will never exist. All that exists is Brahm, the Divine Essence, and we are That. All else is illusion wrought in our mind through ignorance, just as the mistaking a piece of rope lying in some dark place for a snake is due to the illusion of the darkness. This theory with its plausible analogy is all wrong. The universe is not all illusion though it is the changeful force-materialization of the Unchangeful One Substance. The force or energy or light or reflection of a substance is inseparable from it and is pervaded by it and partakes of its spirit. This materialized force-reflection of Brahm not only possesses its substance at bottom but must be called a part of it as the light of a flame or reflection of a light is undeniably its part. The analogy of the snake and rope is, therefore, not true of God and the Universe: The snake is merely the conjuration of the darkness and not born of the rope; but the universe is born of Brahm (the rope). The theory that it is born of the illusion of our ignorance, is absurd in that it involves accepting that "ignorance" to be something self-existent, that it has an independent existence, separate from the All-in-All, the One-without-a-Second. If not, whence is this "ignorance" which has such power of illusion over our mind and senses? What is it? Whence does it come? The Neo-Vedāntist answers, it is something inexplicable, His Māyā is inexplicable—the argument of one in darkness himself. This New Vedāntic thought has done and is doing more harm to the world than any other religious theory. It is a worse delusion than the delusion of Māyā.
SECTION XXI. YOGA.There are five processes of mental discipline by the aid of which the human soul can reach the goal quicker. These are called the five paths of Yoga, viz., Hatha, Karma, Rāja, Gnāna and Bhakti. Yoga means Union. The word Yoga is the original of its corrupted English form "Yoke." Yoga, therefore, means yoking the Mind to the Spirit of God by concentration. Hatha Yoga consists in cleaning and disciplining the outer and inner physical body by the practice of certain postures of sitting, processes of moving the muscles and fixing the eye upon some external object or the tip of the nose. These, in time, induce mental poise. Karma Yoga is performing good actions, and practising spiritual formulas which contribute to the purification of the mind and, finally lead to the unfoldment of the soul. Rāja Yoga is stopping the functions of the mind's volitions. By volitions of the mind are meant thought-currents. By the practice of Rāja Yoga, the outflow of these thought-currents can be entirely stopped and turned inwards in one concentrated stream into the soul. The main process of shutting in the mind-currents is by controlling the breath. The action of our breathing upon our mind is like that of the pendulum of a clock upon the movements of its hands. As, for instance, the quicker the pendulum swings the faster the movement of the hands, so, the quicker our breathing, the more rapid the action of our thought-currents. By controlling the breath by certain exercises, prescribed by Rāja Yoga, one can make his breathing slow and thereby diminish the speed of the thought-currents. During these breathing exercises, the mind is concentrated upon God or the Divine Idea, or some mystic words expressive of the Deity. This lessens the activity of the mind which then gradually experiences a calmness unfelt before, a calmness which in itself is a happiness which no form of enjoyment of material pleasure can afford. Calmness of mind develops into harmony, the result of the expression of the Sattwa attribute.There are five kinds of mental states: Murha, Khipta, Bikhipta, Ekāgra, and Samādhi. The Murha, ruled by predominant Tama, is generally attracted to evil objects owing to lack of discrimination. Khipta flits from one object to another in search of pleasure. It is ruled by predominant Rāja, so is ever active and never satisfied. The Bikhipta mental state, ruled by the equal combination of the three attributes, is generally like Khipta, but at times fixes its attention inwards though for a short time only. When the Bikhipta is helped by the practice of concentration into the Ekāgra (one-pointed) state, then it is that harmony is brought about. When, by constant practice, the one-pointed mind becomes unwaveringly fixed on the Deity or the Idea of the Deity gained through the increasing illumination of the Sattwa, it enters into the Samādhi (Trance) state, the state of Absolute absorption into the Deity.The practice of the Rāja Yoga has been forbidden in the Shāstras in the Kali Yuga (Iron Age) because, in this age, excepting in rare cases, the human body is too weak and delicate to stand the hardships, psychic exertions and physical privations of its practices, and because an adept Yogi-Gooroo, without whose constant help in every detail of it no student can attain the highest result, is very hard to be found. Many who now practice it under inexperienced Gooroos in India meet early death or develop incurable diseases or even turn insane. A moderate amount of simple breathing exercises may not be so injurious or fatal, but too much of it or the practice of the advanced rules ought never to be attempted, especially in the West, where a proper Gooroo can never be found and where most people's nerves are generally shaky.Gnāna Yoga is an entirely mental process of Yoga, a process of discriminating between the Unsubstantial and the Substantial in Nature and concentrating upon the only Substantial Essence of things and gradually getting absolutely absorbed by it. The keeping up of this process of thought in an unbroken stream requires living a life of simplicity, solitude and renunciation. The life in which this thought-current becomes unbroken is the last life, last incarnation of that soul. It escapes rebirth for good for which it has worked for many incarnations. Its separate Ego is merged in the universal Ego and finally is lost in and becomes one with the One-without-a-Second.Gnāna Yoga belongs to the school of the Vedānta philosophy. Vedānta is "Veda" and "Anta" which means "End," so that Vedānta means End of the Veda—the Aim or Goal of the Veda; and the word Veda is the original of the English word "Wisdom" (Swedish, Visdom) from Sanscrit, "Vida," to know. Veda means knowledge of the Reality, the Truth. The Vedānta Aphorisms of Vedavyasa are but Indices to the Principles of the Upanishads—the Wisdom part of the Veda. There are two Schools of Vedānta, the Old and the New. The Old possesses the true interpretation of the Aphorisms, the New is deluded by their false interpretations, is only about two thousand years old and has a comparatively small number of adherents. The Old school is founded on Parināmbād, the new is founded on Vivartabād, The Old school holds that the universe is composed of the ever changeful manifestations of the Will (Energy) of the One Changeless Deity (Parināmbād), the New calls the whole universe, in fact, all that is visible and perceptible, Māyā (Illusion), in the sense that it never existed, does not exist now and will never exist. All that exists is Brahm, the Divine Essence, and we are That. All else is illusion wrought in our mind through ignorance, just as the mistaking a piece of rope lying in some dark place for a snake is due to the illusion of the darkness. This theory with its plausible analogy is all wrong. The universe is not all illusion though it is the changeful force-materialization of the Unchangeful One Substance. The force or energy or light or reflection of a substance is inseparable from it and is pervaded by it and partakes of its spirit. This materialized force-reflection of Brahm not only possesses its substance at bottom but must be called a part of it as the light of a flame or reflection of a light is undeniably its part. The analogy of the snake and rope is, therefore, not true of God and the Universe: The snake is merely the conjuration of the darkness and not born of the rope; but the universe is born of Brahm (the rope). The theory that it is born of the illusion of our ignorance, is absurd in that it involves accepting that "ignorance" to be something self-existent, that it has an independent existence, separate from the All-in-All, the One-without-a-Second. If not, whence is this "ignorance" which has such power of illusion over our mind and senses? What is it? Whence does it come? The Neo-Vedāntist answers, it is something inexplicable, His Māyā is inexplicable—the argument of one in darkness himself. This New Vedāntic thought has done and is doing more harm to the world than any other religious theory. It is a worse delusion than the delusion of Māyā.
There are five processes of mental discipline by the aid of which the human soul can reach the goal quicker. These are called the five paths of Yoga, viz., Hatha, Karma, Rāja, Gnāna and Bhakti. Yoga means Union. The word Yoga is the original of its corrupted English form "Yoke." Yoga, therefore, means yoking the Mind to the Spirit of God by concentration. Hatha Yoga consists in cleaning and disciplining the outer and inner physical body by the practice of certain postures of sitting, processes of moving the muscles and fixing the eye upon some external object or the tip of the nose. These, in time, induce mental poise. Karma Yoga is performing good actions, and practising spiritual formulas which contribute to the purification of the mind and, finally lead to the unfoldment of the soul. Rāja Yoga is stopping the functions of the mind's volitions. By volitions of the mind are meant thought-currents. By the practice of Rāja Yoga, the outflow of these thought-currents can be entirely stopped and turned inwards in one concentrated stream into the soul. The main process of shutting in the mind-currents is by controlling the breath. The action of our breathing upon our mind is like that of the pendulum of a clock upon the movements of its hands. As, for instance, the quicker the pendulum swings the faster the movement of the hands, so, the quicker our breathing, the more rapid the action of our thought-currents. By controlling the breath by certain exercises, prescribed by Rāja Yoga, one can make his breathing slow and thereby diminish the speed of the thought-currents. During these breathing exercises, the mind is concentrated upon God or the Divine Idea, or some mystic words expressive of the Deity. This lessens the activity of the mind which then gradually experiences a calmness unfelt before, a calmness which in itself is a happiness which no form of enjoyment of material pleasure can afford. Calmness of mind develops into harmony, the result of the expression of the Sattwa attribute.
There are five kinds of mental states: Murha, Khipta, Bikhipta, Ekāgra, and Samādhi. The Murha, ruled by predominant Tama, is generally attracted to evil objects owing to lack of discrimination. Khipta flits from one object to another in search of pleasure. It is ruled by predominant Rāja, so is ever active and never satisfied. The Bikhipta mental state, ruled by the equal combination of the three attributes, is generally like Khipta, but at times fixes its attention inwards though for a short time only. When the Bikhipta is helped by the practice of concentration into the Ekāgra (one-pointed) state, then it is that harmony is brought about. When, by constant practice, the one-pointed mind becomes unwaveringly fixed on the Deity or the Idea of the Deity gained through the increasing illumination of the Sattwa, it enters into the Samādhi (Trance) state, the state of Absolute absorption into the Deity.
The practice of the Rāja Yoga has been forbidden in the Shāstras in the Kali Yuga (Iron Age) because, in this age, excepting in rare cases, the human body is too weak and delicate to stand the hardships, psychic exertions and physical privations of its practices, and because an adept Yogi-Gooroo, without whose constant help in every detail of it no student can attain the highest result, is very hard to be found. Many who now practice it under inexperienced Gooroos in India meet early death or develop incurable diseases or even turn insane. A moderate amount of simple breathing exercises may not be so injurious or fatal, but too much of it or the practice of the advanced rules ought never to be attempted, especially in the West, where a proper Gooroo can never be found and where most people's nerves are generally shaky.
Gnāna Yoga is an entirely mental process of Yoga, a process of discriminating between the Unsubstantial and the Substantial in Nature and concentrating upon the only Substantial Essence of things and gradually getting absolutely absorbed by it. The keeping up of this process of thought in an unbroken stream requires living a life of simplicity, solitude and renunciation. The life in which this thought-current becomes unbroken is the last life, last incarnation of that soul. It escapes rebirth for good for which it has worked for many incarnations. Its separate Ego is merged in the universal Ego and finally is lost in and becomes one with the One-without-a-Second.
Gnāna Yoga belongs to the school of the Vedānta philosophy. Vedānta is "Veda" and "Anta" which means "End," so that Vedānta means End of the Veda—the Aim or Goal of the Veda; and the word Veda is the original of the English word "Wisdom" (Swedish, Visdom) from Sanscrit, "Vida," to know. Veda means knowledge of the Reality, the Truth. The Vedānta Aphorisms of Vedavyasa are but Indices to the Principles of the Upanishads—the Wisdom part of the Veda. There are two Schools of Vedānta, the Old and the New. The Old possesses the true interpretation of the Aphorisms, the New is deluded by their false interpretations, is only about two thousand years old and has a comparatively small number of adherents. The Old school is founded on Parināmbād, the new is founded on Vivartabād, The Old school holds that the universe is composed of the ever changeful manifestations of the Will (Energy) of the One Changeless Deity (Parināmbād), the New calls the whole universe, in fact, all that is visible and perceptible, Māyā (Illusion), in the sense that it never existed, does not exist now and will never exist. All that exists is Brahm, the Divine Essence, and we are That. All else is illusion wrought in our mind through ignorance, just as the mistaking a piece of rope lying in some dark place for a snake is due to the illusion of the darkness. This theory with its plausible analogy is all wrong. The universe is not all illusion though it is the changeful force-materialization of the Unchangeful One Substance. The force or energy or light or reflection of a substance is inseparable from it and is pervaded by it and partakes of its spirit. This materialized force-reflection of Brahm not only possesses its substance at bottom but must be called a part of it as the light of a flame or reflection of a light is undeniably its part. The analogy of the snake and rope is, therefore, not true of God and the Universe: The snake is merely the conjuration of the darkness and not born of the rope; but the universe is born of Brahm (the rope). The theory that it is born of the illusion of our ignorance, is absurd in that it involves accepting that "ignorance" to be something self-existent, that it has an independent existence, separate from the All-in-All, the One-without-a-Second. If not, whence is this "ignorance" which has such power of illusion over our mind and senses? What is it? Whence does it come? The Neo-Vedāntist answers, it is something inexplicable, His Māyā is inexplicable—the argument of one in darkness himself. This New Vedāntic thought has done and is doing more harm to the world than any other religious theory. It is a worse delusion than the delusion of Māyā.