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Page 1 of 31912 · PDF PAGE 108
…perhaps, roughly speaking; but the perceiving function is stilled also. Then you wish to obtain a perfect vigilance and attention of the mind, uninterrupted by the rise of thoughts? Yes. . And how do you proceed? . Firstly, we still the body by the practice called.Asana, and secure its ease and the regularity of its functions by Pranayama. Thus no messages from the body will disturb the mind. Secondly, by Yamaand Niyama, we still the emotionsand passions, and thus prevent them arising to disturb the mind. Thirdly, by Pratyahara we analyse the m…
1912 · PDF PAGE 71
CHAPTER V DHARANA OW that we have learnt to observe the mind, so that we know how it works to some extent, and have begun to understand the elements of control, we may try the resultof gathering together all the powers of the mind, and attempting to focus them on a single point. We know that it is fairly easy for the ordinary educated mind to think without much distraction on a subject in which it is much interested. We have the popular phrase, “ revolving a thing in the mind ”; and as long as the subject is sufficiently complex, as long as thou…
1912 · PDF PAGE 104
…the Universe has become the whole, and phenomena and noumena are no longer opposed. But it is quite impossible to describe this state of mind. One can only specify some of the characteristics, and that in language Which forms no image in mind. It is impossible for anyone who experiences it to bring back any adequate memory, nor can we conceive a state transcending this. There is, however, a very much higher state called Shivadarshana, of which it is only necessary to say that it is the destructionofthe previous state, its annihilation; and to u…
1912 · PDF PAGE 65
49 A !) »,, / 33 P : 1-1g Ξ ω: : !? Ο H’ = oi“ : Ξ l = ᾿ : Ξ £ ᾽ Ξ ;! ! Ι’ B c Tm: ; BD shows the Control of the Mind, improving slowly at first, afterwards more quickly. It starts from at or near zero, and should reach absolute control at D. EF shows the Power of Observation of the contents of the mind, improving quickly at first, afterwards more slowly, up to perfection at F. It starts well above zero in the case of most educated men. The height of the perpendiculars HI indicates the dissatisfaction of the student with his power of control. Inc…
1912 · PDF PAGE 59
…e only difficult question is that of continence, which is com- plicated by many considerations, such as that of energy; but every- body’s mind is hopelessly muddled on this subject, which some people confuse with erotology, and others with sociology. There will be no clear thinking on this matter until it is understood as being solely a branch of athletics. We may then dismiss Yama and Niyama with this advice: let the student decide for himself what form of life, what moral code, will least tend to excite his mind; but once he has for- mulated i…
1912 · PDF PAGE 91
75 Another rationalist consideration is this. The student has not been trying to excite the mind but to calm it, not to produce any one thought but to exclude all thoughts; for there is no connection between the object of meditation and the Dhyana. Why must we suppose a breaking down of the whole process, especially as the mind bears no subsequent traces of any interference, such as pain or fatigue? Surely this once, if never again, the Hindu image expressesthe simplest theory! That image is that of a lake into which five glaciers move. These gl…
1912 · PDF PAGE 28
…y must be very carefully distinguished from idleness! At certain times you will feel as if there were a contest between the will and the mind; at other times you may feel as if they were in har- mony; but there is a third state, to be distinguished from the latter feeling. It is the certain sign of near success, the view-halloo. This is when the mind runs naturally towards the object chosen, not as if in obedience to the will of the owner of the mind, but as if directed by nothing at all, or by something impersonal,' as if it were falling by it…
1912 · PDF PAGE 47
CHAPTER Π PRANAYAMA AND ITS PARALLEL IN SPEECH, MANTRAYOGA HE connection between breath and mind will be fully discussed in speaking of the Magick Sword, but it may be useful to premise a few details of a practical character. You may consult various Hindu manuals, and the writings of Kwang Tze, for various notable theories as to method and result. But in this sceptical system one had better content one’s self with statements which are not worth the trouble of doubting. The ultimate idea of meditation being to still the mind, it may be considere…
1912 · PDF PAGE 81
…eak, for this is a matter of experience, and a very striking one. In the course of our concentration we noticed that the contents of the mind at any moment consisted of two things, and no more: the Object, variable, and the Subject, invariable, or apparently so. By success in Dharana the object has been made as invariable as the subject. Now the result of this is that the two become one. This phenomenon usually comes as a tremendous shock. It is indescribable even by the masters of language; and it is therefore not surprising that semi-educated…
1912 · PDF PAGE 29
… always, the moment that one becomes conscious of this, it stops, and the dreary old struggle between the cowboy will and the buckjumper mind begins again. Like every other physiological process, consciousness of it implies disorder or disease. In analysing the nature of this work of controlling the mind, the student will appreciate without trouble the fact that two things are involved—the person seeing and the thing seen—the person knowing and the thing known; and he will come to regard this as the necessary condition of all consciousness. We …
1912 · PDF PAGE 24
…t by these two things, we find that they are only one. For what is the state of either prayer or meditation? It is the restraining of the mind to a single act, state, or thought. If we sit down quietly and investigate the contents of our minds, we shall find that even at the best 05 times the principal characteristics are wandering and distraction. Any one who has had anything to do with children and untrained minds generally knows that fixity of attention is never present, even when there is a large amount of intelligence and good will. If then w…
1912 · PDF PAGE 102
86 and more convincing if the meditation is directed to an object which in itself is apparently unimportant. One does not want the mind to be excited in any way, even by adoration. See the three meditative methods in Liber HHH (Equinox VI).1 At the same time, one would not like to deny positively that it is very much easier to take some idea towards which the mind would naturally flow. The Hindus assert that the nature of the object determines the Samadhi; that is, the nature of those lower Samadhis which confer so— called “magic powers.” For ex…
1912 · PDF PAGE 98
…a seems like a trance, an experience so tremendous that one cannot think of anything bigger, while from above it seems merely a state of mind as natural as any other. Frater P., before he had Samadhi, wrote of Dhyana: “ Perhaps as a result of the intense control a nervous storm breaks: this we call Dhyana. Samadhi is but an expansion of this, so far as I can see.” Five years later he would not take this view. He would say perhaps that Dhyana was “ a flowing of the mind in one unbroken current from the ego to the non-ego without consciousnessof e…
1912 · PDF PAGE 89
…son- ing process, one can assume that the premisses are in some way false; but in this case, if one attacks the evidence for Dhyana, the mind is staggered by the fact that all other experience, attacked on the same lines, will fall much more easily. In whatever way we examine it the result Will always be the same. Dhyana may be false; but, if so, so is everything else. Now the mind refuses to rest in a belief of the unreality of its own experiences. It may not be what it seems; but it must be something, and if (on the whole) ordinary life is so…
1912 · PDF PAGE 26
…urable. New faces, new scenes will disjturb us ; even the new habits of life which we undertake for this very purpose of controlling the mind will at first tend to upset it. Still, we must give up our habit of eating too much, and follow the natural rule of only eating when we are hungry, listening to the interior voice which tells us that we have had enough. The same rule applies to sleep. We have determined to control our minds, and so our time for meditation must take precedence of other hours. We must fix times for practice, and make our feas…
1912 · PDF PAGE 72
56 the mind, so that the object is altogether forgotten, perhaps for whole minutes at a time; and at other times the object itselfwill begin to play all sorts of tricks. Suppose you have chosen a white cross. It will move its bar up and down, elongate the bar, turn the bar oblique, get its arms unequal, turn upside down, grow branches, get a crack around it or a figure upon it, change its shape altogether like an Amoeba,change its size and distance as a whole, change the degree of its illumination, and at the same time change its colour. It will…
1912 · PDF PAGE 43
… 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 79
…er form of Samadhi. Others, however, treat it as if it were merely an intensification of Dharana. Patanjali says: “Dharana is holding the mind on to some particular object. An unbroken flow of knowledge in that subject is Dhyana. When that, giving up all forms, reflects only the meaning, it is Samadhi.” He combines these three into Samyama. We shall treat of Dhyana as a result rather than as a method. Up to this point ancient authorities have been fairly reliable guides, except with regard to their crabbed ethics,- but when they get on the subject…
1912 · PDF PAGE 67
…s inhibitory power may flower suddenly in very much the same way as occurred with Asana. Quite without any relaxa- tion of vigilance, the mind will suddenly he stilled. There will be a marvellousfeeling of peace and rest, quite different from the lethargic feeling which is produced by over-eating. It is difficult to say whether so definite a result would come to all, or even to most people. The matter is one of no very great importance. If you have acquired the power of checking the rise of thought you may proceed to the next stage.
1912 · PDF PAGE 63
…r present purpose a process rather strategical than practical; it is introspection, a sort of general examination of the contents of the mind which we wish to control: Asana having been mastered, all immediate exciting causes have been removed, and we are free to think what we are thinking about. A very similar experience to that of Asana is in store for us. At first we shall very likely flatter ourselves that our minds are pretty calm; this is a defect of observation. Just as the European standing for the first time on the edge of the desert will…