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Page 1 of 11912 · PDF PAGE 33
I9 perhaps it would be better to say nothing; perhaps only an unbalanced mind would wish to alter anything or believe in the possibilityof altering anything?,־but there are those who think existenceeven in heaven intoler- able so long as there is one single being who does not share that joy. There are some who may wish to travel back from the very threshold of the bridal chamber to assist belated guests. Such at least was the attitude which Gotama Buddha adopted. Nor shall he be alone. Again it may be pointed out that the contemplative life is …
1912 · PDF PAGE 32
… of people who claim to have “seen God,” and who no doubt did “see God” just as much as those whom we have quoted, did nothing else. But perhaps their silence is not a Sign of their weakness, but of their strength. Perhaps these “great ” men are the failures of humanity; 1 The massacres of Jews in Eastern Europe which surprise the ignorant, are almost invariably excited by the disappearance of “ Christian ” children, stolen, as the parents suppose, for purposes of “ ritual murder.”
1912 · PDF PAGE 42
…ion. In fact, in all these practices their apparent simplicity 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 w…
1912 · PDF PAGE 98
…g 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 either, accompanied by a crescent wonder and bliss.” He can understand how that is t…
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 108
?=\-© tuo rues © 92 But in sleep thought is stilled? True, 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 t…
1912 · PDF PAGE 82
…t: is tremendous; all his thoughts are pushed to their greatest develop- ment. He sincerely believes that they have the divine sanction; perhaps he even supposes that they emanate from this “God.” He goes back into the world armed with this intense conviction.
1912 · PDF PAGE 18
…d 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 are perhaps universal, but these, in the absence of demonstrative proof, are repugnant to common sense. But what of the origin of religions? How is it that unproved assertion has so frequently compelled the assent of all classes of man- kind? Is not this a miracle? There is, however, one form of miracle which certainly happens, the influence of the genius. There'18 no known analogy in Nature. One cannot even think …
1912 · PDF PAGE 25
…ty is so great, and seems so natural, that it is hard to understand how any one first got the idea that it was a weakness and a nuisance. Perhaps it was because in the more natural practice of “devotion,” people found that their thoughts interfered. In any case calm and self-controlare to be preferred to restlessness. Darwin in his study presents a marked contrast with a monkey in a cage. Generallyspeaking, the larger and stronger and more highly developed any animal is, the less does it move about, and such movements as it does make are slow an…
1912 · PDF PAGE 75
…l/21y, we get a very high class of break, which is a sort of aberration of the control itself. You think, “ How well I am doing it! ” or perhaps that it would be rather a good idea if you were on a desert
1912 · PDF PAGE 41
…es are not to be strained; and yet they are not allowed to be altogether slack. It is difficult to find a good descriptive word. Braced is perhaps the best. A sense of physical alertness is desirable. Think of the tiger about to spring, or of the oarsman waiting for the gun. After a little there will be cramp and fatigue. The student must now set his teeth, and go through with it. The minor sensations of itching, etc., will be found to pass away, if they are resolutely neglected, but the cramp and fatigue may be expected to increase until the end…
1912 · PDF PAGE 38
…ess mark a definite attain- ment, as will be explained later on. Hindu books, such as the “Shiva Sanhita,” give countless postures; many, perhaps most of them, im- possible for the average adult European. Others insist that the head, neck, and spine should be kept vertical and straight, for reasons connected with the subject of Prana, which will be dealt with in its proper place. The positions illustrated in Liber E (Equinox I and VII) form the best guide.1 The extreme of Asana is practised by those Yogis who remain in one position without movin…
1912 · PDF PAGE 99
83 natural result of Dhyana, but he cannot call Dhyana in the same way the precursor of Samadhi. Perhaps he does not really know the con- ditions which induce Samadhi. He can produce Dhyana at will in the course of a few minutes’ work?,־and it often happens with apparent spontaneity: with Samadhi this is unfortunately not the case. He probably can get it at will, but could not say exactly how, or tell how long it might take him?,־and he could not be sure of getting it at all. One feels sure that one can walk a mile along a level road. One knows…
1912 · PDF PAGE 23
…systems. But Hinduism has no single founder. Lao Tze is one of our best examples of a man who went away and had a mysterious experience; perhaps the best of all examples, as his system is the best of all systems. We have full details of his method of training in the [)'/13118 Kang King, and elsewhere. But it is so little known that we shall omit considera- tion of it in this popular account.