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Page 1 of 11912 · PDF PAGE 75
…u are, what you are, and what you are doing. A similar phenomenon sometimeshappens when one is half awake in the morning, and one cannot think what town one is living in. The similarity of these two things is rather significant. It suggests that what is really happening is that you are waking up from the sleep which men call waking, the sleep Whose dreams are life. There is another way to test one’s progress in this practice, and that is by the character of the breaks. Breaks are classed as follows: E'rsz‘ly, physical sensations. These should ha…
1912 · PDF PAGE 101
…tate 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 preceding and subsequent classes. You can also meditate on elm/Ming illa! especially appeals loyou. But in all this one feels inclined to suggest that it will be better
1912 · PDF PAGE 63
…ts 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 see nothing there, while his 47
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 71
…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 thoughts pass freely, there is no great difficulty. So long as a gyroscope is in motion, it remains motionless relatively to its support, and even resists attempts to distract it; when it stops it falls from that …
1912 · PDF PAGE 18
…, however, one form of miracle which certainly happens, the influence of the genius. There'18 no known analogy in Nature. One cannot even think of a “super-dog” transforming the
1912 · PDF PAGE 64
…and apparent painful- ness of Asana. Conscious of this fact, we begin to try to control it: “Not quite so many thoughts, please!” “Don’t think quite so fast, please!” “No more of that kind of thought, please!” It is only then that we discover that what we thought was a school of playful porpoises is really the con- volutions of the sea-serpent. The attempt to repress has the effect of exciting. When the unsuspecting pupil first approaches his holy but Wily Guru, and demands magical powers, that Wise One replies that he will confer them, points o…
1912 · PDF PAGE 41
…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 of the practice. One may begin with half an hour or an hour. …
1912 · PDF PAGE 58
… than a hand-to-hand conflict with a griesly bear. If the barking of a dog disturbs your meditation, it is simplest to shoot the dog, and think no more about it. A similar difficulty with wives has caused some masters to recommend celibacy. In all these questions common sense must be the guide. No fixed rule can be laid down. The “non-receiving of gifts,” for instance, is rather important for a Hindu, who would be thoroughly upset for weeks if any one gave him a coconut: but the average Euro— pean takes things as they come by the time that he has …
1912 · PDF PAGE 29
…t strokes are followed by the thought, “I don’t know how I did it ; ” and we cannot repeat those strokes at will. The moment we begin to think consciously about a stroke we get “nervous,” and are lost. In fact, there are three main classes of stroke; the bad stroke, which we associate, and rightly, with wandering attention ; the good stroke which we associate, and rightly, with fixed attention ,' and the perfect stroke, which we do not understand, but which is really caused by the
1912 · PDF PAGE 33
…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 generally opposed to the active life, and it m…
1912 · PDF PAGE 74
… steadiness even at this early stage to cause some very striking phenomena, of which the most marked is one which will possibly make you think that you have gone to sleep. Or, it may seem quite inexplicable, and in any case with a flickering of the eyelid, and can be seen by him. With practice he could detect even very small breaks.
1912 · PDF PAGE 42
…t, 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 warn the stu…
1912 · PDF PAGE 84
…l 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, outragesare very few. At the same time, the police would
1912 · PDF PAGE 98
…ngs of the word which we debated in the last section. From below Dhyana 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 …
1912 · PDF PAGE 96
…ion, because the Buddhists use the word Samadhi to mean something entirely different, the mere faculty of attention. Thus, with them, to think of a cat is to “ make Samadhi ” on that cat. They use the word Jhana to describe mystic states. This is excessively misleading, for as we saw in the last section, Dhyana is a preliminary to Samadhi, and of course Jhana is merely the wretched plebeian Pali corruption of it.1 There are many kinds of Samadhi.2 Some auf/2073 consider Alma- dars/zana, z'lze Universe as a single plzenomenon wir/zeu! conditions…
1912 · PDF PAGE 100
… are inclined to suggest that Samadhi results from meditating on subjects that are in themselves worthy. For example, Vivekananda says: “Think of any» holy subject:” and explains this as follows: “This does not mean any wicked subject.” (!) Frater P. would not like to say definitely whether he ever got Dhyana from commonobjects. He gave up the practice after a few months, and meditated on the Cakkras, etc. Also his Dhyana became so com- mon that he gave up recording it. But if he wishedto do it this minute he would choose something to excite his…