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Page 1 of 21912 · PDF PAGE 90
…nced Dhyana takes the same View, but not by mere pale intellectual conviction. Reasons, hoWever cogent, never convince utterly; but this man in Dhyana has the same commonplace certainty that a man has on waking from a nightmare. “ I wasn’t falling down a thousand flights of stairs, it was only a bad dream.” Similarly comes the reflection of the man who has had experience of Dhyana: “ I am not that wretched insect, that imperceptible parasite of earth ; it was only a bad dream.” And as you could not convince the normal man that his nightmare was m…
1912 · PDF PAGE 17
PRELIMINARY REMARKS XISTENCE, as we know it, is full of sorrow. To mention only one minor point: every man is a condemned criminal, only he does not know the date of his execution. This is unpleasant for every man. Consequently every man does everything possible to postpone the date, and would sacrifice anything that he has if he could reverse the sentence. Practicallyall religions and all philosophies have started thus crudely, by promising their adherents some such reward as immortality. No religion has failed hitherto by not promising enough;…
1912 · PDF PAGE 85
69 probably be the first to admit that if any man were really tired of life, in his deepest being, a state very different from that in which a man goes about saying he is tired of life, he could manage somehow or other to kill someone first. “ Νονν the man whohas experienced any of the more intense forms of Dhyana is thus liberated. The Universe is thus destroyed for him, and he for it. His will can therefore go on its way unhampered. One may imagine that in the case of Mohammed he had cherished for years a tremendous ambition, and never done any…
1912 · PDF PAGE 87
…doubt of every day. The popular phrase, “to doubt the evidence of one’s senses,” shows us that that evidence is normally accepted; but a man of science does nothing of the sort. He is so well aware that his senses constantly deceive him, that he invents elaborate instruments to correct them. And he is further aware that the Universe which he can directly perceive through sense, is the minutest fraction of the Universe which he knows indirectly. For example, four-fifths of the air is composed of nitrogen. If anyone were to bring a bottle of nitro…
1912 · PDF PAGE 20
…ith the Tables of the Law in his hand. St. Paul (again), after his adventure on the road to Damascus, goes into the desert of Arabia for many years, and on his return overturns the Roman Empire. Even in the legends of savages we find the same thing universal; somebody who is nobody in particular goes away for a longer or shorter period, and comes back as the “ great medicine man”; but nobody ever knows exactly what happened to him. Making every possible deduction for fable and myth, we get this one coincidence. A nobody goes away, and comes back…
1912 · PDF PAGE 92
…ns and Christians. In Christian writings, however, the deeply-seated dogmatic bias has rendered their documents worthless to the average man. They ignore the essential conditions of Dhyana, and insist on the inessential, to a much greater extent than the best lndian writers. But to any one with experienceand some knowledgeof comparativereligion the identity is certain. We may now proceed to Samadhi.
1912 · PDF PAGE 43
…here will be no further difficulty in the practice. One Will get into one’s Asana with almost the same feeling as that with which a tired man gets into a hot bath; and While he is in that position, the body may be trusted to send him no message that might disturb his mind. Other results of this practice are described by Hindu authors, but they do not concern us at present. Ourfirst obstacle has been removed, and we can continue With the others.
1912 · PDF PAGE 106
…other in their lives, and begun to preach immediately on their return. . Of what advantage is such a retirement? One would expect that a man who so acted would find himself on his return out of touch with his civilization, and in every way less capable than when he left. . But each claims, though in different language, to have gained in his absence some superhuman power. . Do you believe this? It becomes us ill to reject the assertions of those who are admit» 90
1912 · PDF PAGE 37
CHAPTER I ASANA ΗΕ problem before us may be stated thus simply. A man wishes to control his mind, to be able to think one chosen thought for as long as he will without interruption As previously remarked, the first difficulty arises from the body, which keeps on asserting its presence by causing its victim to itch, and in other ways to be distracted. He wants to stretch, scratch, sneeze. This nuisance is so persistent that the Hindus (in their scientific way) devised a special practice for quieting it. The word Asana means [505126763 but, as with …
1912 · PDF PAGE 18
…ination of all systems would be an unending task; the cloud of witnesses is too great. Now each religion is equally positive; and each demands faith. This we refuse in the absence of positive proof. But we may usefully inquire whether there is not any one thing upon which all religions have agreed: for, if so, it seems possible that it may be worthy of really thorough consideration. It is certainly not to be found in dogma. Even so simple an idea as that of a supreme and eternal being is denied by a third of the human race. Legends of miracle a…
1912 · PDF PAGE 25
…animal communities which are organized, such as bees, the greatest intelligence is shown by those of solitary habits. This is so true of man that psychologists have been obliged to treat of the mental state of crowds as if it were totally different in quality from any state possible to an individual. It is by freeing the mind from external influences,whether casual or emotional, that it obtains power to see somewhat of the truth of things. Let us, however, continue our practice. Let us determine to be masters of our minds. We shall then soon find…
1912 · PDF PAGE 49
33 the mantra to meditate upon its meaning. This suggests that the student might construct for himself a mantra which should represent the Universe in sound, as the pantacle 1 should do in form. Occasion- ally a mantra may be “given,” i.e., heard in some unexplained manner during a meditation. One man, for example, used the words: “And strive to see in everything the will of God; ” to another, while engaged ’ apparently referring to the action of the inhibitory centres which he was using. By in killing thoughts, came the words “and push it down…
1912 · PDF PAGE 101
…ical. The second class is ob./eois ofdooofz'ofz, such as the idea or form of the Deity, or the heart or body of your Teacher, or of some man whom you respect profoundly. This practice is not to be commended, because it implies a bias of the mind. You can also meditate on your dreams. This sounds superstitious; but the idea is that you have already a tendency, independent of your conscious will, to think of those things, which will consequently be easier to think of than others. That this is the explanation is evident from the nature of the prec…
1912 · PDF PAGE 86
…balanced mind, versed in the study of nature, is that we have experienced a mental cata- strophe. Just as a blow on the head will make a man “see stars,” so one might suppose that the terrific mental strain of Dharana has some— how over-excited the brain, and caused a spasm, or possibly even the breaking of a small vessel. There seems no reason to reject this ex- planation altogether, though it would be quite absurd to suppose that to accept it would be to condemn the practice. Spasm is a normal func- tion of at least one of the organs of the bo…
1912 · PDF PAGE 32
18 enabled to persist through the usual persecution, and founded a religion to which even to—day one man in every eight belongs. The history of Christianity shows precisely the same remarkable fact. Jesus Christ was brought up on the fables of the “ Old Testament,” and so was compelled to ascribe his experiences to “Jehovah,” although his gentle spirit could have had nothing in common with the monster who was always commanding the rape of virgins and the murder of little children, and whose rites were then, and still are, celebrated by human sa…
1912 · PDF PAGE 42
…city is such that the beginner is likely to wonder what all the fuss is about, perhaps to think that he is specially gifted. Similarly a man who has never touched a golf club will take his umbrella and carelessly hole a putt which would frighten the best putter alive. In a few days, however, in all cases, the discomforts will begin. As you go on, they will begin earlier in the course of the hour’s exercise. The disinclination to practise at all may become almost unconquerable. One must warn the student against imagining that some other position…
1912 · PDF PAGE 84
…so overwhelming, so out of proportion to the rest of things, that they were freed from all the petty hindrances which prevent the normal man from carrying out his projects. Worrying about clothes, food, money, what people may think, how and why, and above all the fear of consequences, clog nearly every one. Nothing is easier, theoretically, than for an anarchist to kill a king. He has only to buy a rifle, make himself a first-class shot, and shoot the king from a quarter of a mile away. And yet, although there are plenty of anarchists, outragesar…
1912 · PDF PAGE 83
…sed upon most persons by doubt, modesty, and diffidence,1 further there15, one may suppose, a real clarification. In any case, the mass of mankind is always ready to be swayed by anything thus authoritative and distinct. History is full of stories of officers who have walked unarmed up to a mutinous regiment, and disarmed them by the mere force of confidence. The power of the orator over the mob is well known. It is, probably, for this reason while that the prophet has been able to constrain mankind to obey his law. It never occurs to him that any …
1912 · PDF PAGE 89
…ng, and if (on the whole) ordinary life is something, how much more mus that be by whose light ordinary life seems nothing! The ordinary man sees the falsity and disconnectedness and purpose-
1912 · PDF PAGE 48
32 The best way to time the breathing, once some little skill has been acquired, with a watch to bear witness, is by the use of a mantra. The mantra acts on the thoughts very much as Pranayama does upon the breath. The thought is bound down to a recurring cycle; any intruding thoughts are thrown off by the mantra, just as pieces of putty would be from a fly-wheel; and the swifter the wheel the more difficult would it be for anything to stick. This is the proper way to practise a mantra. Utter it as loudly and slowly as possible ten times, then no…