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Page 1 of 11912 · PDF PAGE 98
82 in Samadhi they are very much more marked than in Dhyana. And while in the latter it seems like a simple union of two things, in the former it appears as if all things rushed together and united. One might say that in Dhyana there was still this quality latent, that the One existing was opposed to the Many non-existing; in Samadhi the Many and the One are united in a union of Existence with non-Existence. This definition is not made from reflection, but from memory. Further, it is easy to master the “trick ” or “knack” of Dhyana. After a while…
1912 · PDF PAGE 89
…t, 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 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 53
…tes; and, whether by reason of the mechanical pressure which it asserts, or by the thorough combustion Which it assures in the lungs, it seems to be admirable from the standpoint of health. Digestive troubles in particular are very easy to remove in this way. It purifies both the body and the lower functions of the mind,1 and should be practised certainly never less than one hour daily by the serious student. 1 Emphatically. Emphatically. Emphatically. It is impossible to combine Prana- yama properly performed with emotional thought. It should b…
1912 · PDF PAGE 104
…s, and the sunlight makes the flame invisible. That is a fair image of Dhyana.1 But the mind refuses to find a simile for Atmadarshana. It seems merely ineffective to say that the rushing together of all the host of heaven would similarly blot out the sunlight. But if we do say so, and wish to form a further image of Shivadarshana, we must imagine our- selves as suddenly recognizing that this universal blazeis darkness; not 1 Here the dictation was interrupted by very prolonged thought due to the difficulty of making the image clear. Virakam.
1912 · PDF PAGE 18
…e 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 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 …
1912 · PDF PAGE 25
II This mental activity 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 …
1912 · PDF PAGE 76
…roof house, or if you were sitting by a waterfall. But these are only trifling variations from the vigilance itself. Afifl/z class of&reaks seems to have no discoverable source in the mind. Such may even take the form of actual hallucination, usually auditory. Of course, such hallucinations are infrequent, and are recog— nized for what they are; otherwise the student had better see his doctor. The usual kind consists of odd sentences or fragments of sentences, which are heard quite distinctly in a recognizable human voice, not the student’s own vo…
1912 · PDF PAGE 101
85 conditions of Samadhi; but in the meantime there seems no particular objection to our following tradition, and using the same objects of meditation as our predecessors,with the single exception which we shall note in due course. The first class of objects for serious meditation (as opposed to pre- liminary practice, in which one should keep to simple recognizable objects, whose definitenessis easy to maintain) is varz'ousparz'sofz‘lzelady. The Hindus have an elaborate system of anatomy and physiology which has apparently no reference to the fa…
1912 · PDF PAGE 86
…ental 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 body. That the brain is not damaged by the practice is proved by the fact that many people who claim to have had this experience repeatedly continue to exercise the ordinary avocations of life wi…