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branches ::: integralyogin, Yogi

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object:Yogi
class:Title
see also ::: Sri

see also ::: Sri

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now begins generated list of local instances, definitions, quotes, instances in chapters, wordnet info if available and instances among weblinks


OBJECT INSTANCES [1] - TOPICS - AUTHORS - BOOKS - CHAPTERS - CLASSES - SEE ALSO - SIMILAR TITLES

TOPICS
Vemana
Vemana
SEE ALSO

Sri

AUTH
Sri_Aurobindo
Sri_Ramana_Maharshi
Swami_Krishnananda
Swami_Nikhilananda
Swami_Sivananda_Saraswati

BOOKS
Epigrams_from_Savitri
Essays_In_Philosophy_And_Yoga
Guru_Bhakti_Yoga
Hundred_Thousand_Songs_of_Milarepa
Infinite_Library
Isha_Upanishad
Karmayogin
Letters_On_Poetry_And_Art
Letters_On_Yoga
Letters_On_Yoga_I
Letters_On_Yoga_II
Letters_On_Yoga_III
Letters_On_Yoga_IV
Liber_ABA
Life_without_Death
Magick_Without_Tears
Mind_-_Its_Mysteries_and_Control
My_Burning_Heart
Questions_And_Answers_1929-1931
Questions_And_Answers_1953
Questions_And_Answers_1955
Record_of_Yoga
Savitri
Sri_Aurobindo_or_the_Adventure_of_Consciousness
The_Essential_Songs_of_Milarepa
The_Life_of_Shabkar__Autobiography_of_a_Tibetan_Yogin
Thought_Power
Words_Of_The_Mother_II

IN CHAPTERS TITLE
03.02_-_Yogic_Initiation_and_Aptitude
07.32_-_The_Yogic_Centres
1.01_-_The_Ideal_of_the_Karmayogin
1.10_-_The_Revolutionary_Yogi
1.2.2.01_-_The_Poet,_the_Yogi_and_the_Rishi
1.32_-_How_can_a_Yogi_ever_be_Worried?
1929-04-14_-_Dangers_of_Yoga_-_Two_paths,_tapasya_and_surrender_-_Impulses,_desires_and_Yoga_-_Difficulties_-_Unification_around_the_psychic_being_-_Ambition,_undoing_of_many_Yogis_-_Powers,_misuse_and_right_use_of_-_How_to_recognise_the_Divine_Will_-_Accept_things_that_come_from_Divine_-_Vital_devotion_-_Need_of_strong_body_and_nerves_-_Inner_being,_invariable
1929-06-23_-_Knowledge_of_the_Yogi_-_Knowledge_and_the_Supermind_-_Methods_of_changing_the_condition_of_the_body_-_Meditation,_aspiration,_sincerity
1955-03-02_-_Right_spirit,_aspiration_and_desire_-_Sleep_and_yogic_repose,_how_to_sleep_-_Remembering_dreams_-_Concentration_and_outer_activity_-_Mother_opens_the_door_inside_everyone_-_Sleep,_a_school_for_inner_knowledge_-_Source_of_energy
1955-03-30_-_Yoga-shakti_-_Energies_of_the_earth,_higher_and_lower_-_Illness,_curing_by_yogic_means_-_The_true_self_and_the_psychic_-_Solving_difficulties_by_different_methods
1955-08-03_-_Nothing_is_impossible_in_principle_-_Psychic_contact_and_psychic_influence_-_Occult_powers,_adverse_influences;_magic_-_Magic,_occultism_and_Yogic_powers_-Hypnotism_and_its_effects
1956-11-14_-_Conquering_the_desire_to_appear_good_-_Self-control_and_control_of_the_life_around_-_Power_of_mastery_-_Be_a_great_yogi_to_be_a_good_teacher_-_Organisation_of_the_Ashram_school_-_Elementary_discipline_of_regularity
1.kbr_-_He's_That_Rascally_Kind_Of_Yogi
1.kbr_-_Hes_that_rascally_kind_of_yogi
2.03_-_Karmayogin__A_Commentary_on_the_Isha_Upanishad
2.04_-_Yogic_Action
2.1.1.04_-_Reading,_Yogic_Force_and_the_Development_of_Style
2.19_-_Knowledge_of_the_Scientist_and_the_Yogi
30.07_-_The_Poet_and_the_Yogi
3.2.09_-_The_Teachings_of_Some_Modern_Indian_Yogis

IN CHAPTERS CLASSNAME

IN CHAPTERS TEXT
0_0.01_-_Introduction
00.03_-_Upanishadic_Symbolism
0.00_-_INTRODUCTION
0.01_-_Letters_from_the_Mother_to_Her_Son
0.01_-_Life_and_Yoga
0.03_-_III_-_The_Evening_Sittings
0.03_-_The_Threefold_Life
0.04_-_The_Systems_of_Yoga
0.05_-_Letters_to_a_Child
0.05_-_The_Synthesis_of_the_Systems
0.06_-_Letters_to_a_Young_Sadhak
0.08_-_Letters_to_a_Young_Captain
01.02_-_Natures_Own_Yoga
01.02_-_The_Object_of_the_Integral_Yoga
01.03_-_Yoga_and_the_Ordinary_Life
01.04_-_The_Poetry_in_the_Making
01.05_-_Rabindranath_Tagore:_A_Great_Poet,_a_Great_Man
0.10_-_Letters_to_a_Young_Captain
01.13_-_T._S._Eliot:_Four_Quartets
0.11_-_Letters_to_a_Sadhak
0.12_-_Letters_to_a_Student
0_1954-08-25_-_what_is_this_personality?_and_when_will_she_come?
0_1958-02-03b_-_The_Supramental_Ship
0_1958-05-10
0_1958-07-02
0_1958-08-07
0_1958-10-10
0_1960-06-04
0_1960-11-08
0_1961-01-17
0_1961-02-04
0_1961-02-07
0_1961-02-25
0_1961-04-18
0_1961-04-25
0_1961-06-20
0_1961-07-15
0_1961-11-05
0_1961-12-23
0_1962-01-09
0_1962-01-12_-_supramental_ship
0_1962-02-06
0_1962-02-09
0_1962-05-24
0_1962-05-27
0_1962-06-12
0_1962-06-27
0_1962-07-04
0_1962-07-21
0_1962-07-25
0_1962-09-05
0_1962-09-08
0_1962-09-22
0_1962-10-12
0_1963-08-21
0_1963-10-19
0_1964-03-28
0_1964-08-11
0_1965-05-19
0_1965-06-14
0_1965-07-31
0_1965-12-31
0_1966-04-16
0_1966-09-30
0_1966-10-08
0_1966-12-07
0_1967-04-05
0_1967-05-27
0_1967-11-22
0_1968-01-12
0_1968-02-14
0_1968-09-07
0_1968-09-28
0_1968-10-26
0_1969-02-01
0_1969-02-08
0_1969-03-12
0_1969-04-02
0_1969-05-17
0_1969-05-31
0_1969-07-23
0_1969-10-18
0_1969-10-25
0_1969-12-24
0_1970-04-11
0_1970-04-29
0_1970-05-27
0_1970-07-11
0_1971-04-17
0_1971-06-12
0_1971-11-24
0_1971-11-27
0_1972-03-29b
02.01_-_Metaphysical_Thought_and_the_Supreme_Truth
02.06_-_The_Integral_Yoga_and_Other_Yogas
02.12_-_Mysticism_in_Bengali_Poetry
03.01_-_The_New_Year_Initiation
03.02_-_Yogic_Initiation_and_Aptitude
03.03_-_Arjuna_or_the_Ideal_Disciple
03.06_-_Here_or_Otherwhere
04.02_-_Human_Progress
04.03_-_Consciousness_as_Energy
04.05_-_The_Freedom_and_the_Force_of_the_Spirit
04.09_-_Values_Higher_and_Lower
05.05_-_In_Quest_of_Reality
05.17_-_Evolution_or_Special_Creation
05.22_-_Success_and_its_Conditions
05.26_-_The_Soul_in_Anguish
05.32_-_Yoga_as_Pragmatic_Power
05.34_-_Light,_more_Light
06.01_-_The_End_of_a_Civilisation
06.08_-_The_Individual_and_the_Collective
06.10_-_Fatigue_and_Work
06.14_-_The_Integral_Realisation
07.31_-_Images_of_Gods_and_Goddesses
07.32_-_The_Yogic_Centres
07.33_-_The_Inner_and_the_Outer
07.38_-_Past_Lives_and_the_Psychic_Being
07.41_-_The_Divine_Family
08.07_-_Sleep_and_Pain
08.14_-_Poetry_and_Poetic_Inspiration
09.13_-_On_Teachers_and_Teaching
1.008_-_The_Principle_of_Self-Affirmation
1.00c_-_INTRODUCTION
1.00_-_INTRODUCTION
10.17_-_Miracles:_Their_True_Significance
1.01_-_About_the_Elements
1.01_-_Adam_Kadmon_and_the_Evolution
1.01_-_Asana
1.01_-_Hatha_Yoga
1.01_-_Meeting_the_Master_-_Authors_first_meeting,_December_1918
1.01_-_Prayer
1.01_-_SAMADHI_PADA
1.01_-_Tara_the_Divine
1.01_-_The_First_Steps
1.01_-_The_Four_Aids
1.01_-_The_Ideal_of_the_Karmayogin
1.01_-_The_Unexpected
10.23_-_Prayers_and_Meditations_of_the_Mother
10.26_-_A_True_Professor
1.028_-_Bringing_About_Whole-Souled_Dedication
10.28_-_Love_and_Love
1.02_-_Karma_Yoga
1.02_-_Karmayoga
1.02_-_Prana
1.02_-_Pranayama,_Mantrayoga
1.02_-_SADHANA_PADA
1.02_-_Taras_Tantra
1.02_-_The_Development_of_Sri_Aurobindos_Thought
1.02_-_The_Eternal_Law
1.036_-_The_Rise_of_Obstacles_in_Yoga_Practice
1.037_-_Preventing_the_Fall_in_Yoga
1.03_-_Man_-_Slave_or_Free?
1.03_-_Meeting_the_Master_-_Meeting_with_others
1.03_-_Preparing_for_the_Miraculous
1.03_-_The_End_of_the_Intellect
1.03_-_The_House_Of_The_Lord
1.03_-_The_Psychic_Prana
1.03_-_VISIT_TO_VIDYASAGAR
1.03_-_YIBHOOTI_PADA
1.040_-_Re-Educating_the_Mind
1.04_-_ADVICE_TO_HOUSEHOLDERS
1.04_-_GOD_IN_THE_WORLD
1.04_-_KAI_VALYA_PADA
1.04_-_Narayana_appearance,_in_the_beginning_of_the_Kalpa,_as_the_Varaha_(boar)
1.04_-_Religion_and_Occultism
1.04_-_Te_Shan_Carrying_His_Bundle
1.04_-_The_Control_of_Psychic_Prana
1.04_-_The_Divine_Mother_-_This_Is_She
1.04_-_The_Gods_of_the_Veda
1.04_-_The_Praise
1.04_-_The_Sacrifice_the_Triune_Path_and_the_Lord_of_the_Sacrifice
1.04_-_The_Silent_Mind
1.04_-_What_Arjuna_Saw_-_the_Dark_Side_of_the_Force
1.05_-_2010_and_1956_-_Doomsday?
1.057_-_The_Four_Manifestations_of_Ignorance
1.05_-_Adam_Kadmon
1.05_-_Buddhism_and_Women
1.05_-_Consciousness
1.05_-_Pratyahara_and_Dharana
1.05_-_The_Ascent_of_the_Sacrifice_-_The_Psychic_Being
1.05_-_THE_MASTER_AND_KESHAB
1.05_-_Vishnu_as_Brahma_creates_the_world
1.05_-_War_And_Politics
1.05_-_Yoga_and_Hypnotism
1.06_-_Being_Human_and_the_Copernican_Principle
1.06_-_Dhyana_and_Samadhi
1.06_-_Gestalt_and_Universals
1.06_-_Origin_of_the_four_castes
1.06_-_Quieting_the_Vital
1.06_-_Raja_Yoga
1.06_-_The_Ascent_of_the_Sacrifice_2_The_Works_of_Love_-_The_Works_of_Life
1.06_-_The_Greatness_of_the_Individual
1.06_-_THE_MASTER_WITH_THE_BRAHMO_DEVOTEES
1.070_-_The_Seven_Stages_of_Perfection
1.07_-_A_Song_of_Longing_for_Tara,_the_Infallible
1.07_-_Note_on_the_word_Go
1.07_-_Raja-Yoga_in_Brief
1.07_-_Savitri
1.07_-_The_Farther_Reaches_of_Human_Nature
1.07_-_THE_MASTER_AND_VIJAY_GOSWAMI
1.07_-_The_Process_of_Evolution
1.07_-_The_Psychic_Center
1.081_-_The_Application_of_Pratyahara
1.08_-_Adhyatma_Yoga
1.08_-_Attendants
1.08_-_Independence_from_the_Physical
1.08_-_Introduction_to_Patanjalis_Yoga_Aphorisms
1.08_-_Origin_of_Rudra:_his_becoming_eight_Rudras
1.08_-_Sri_Aurobindos_Descent_into_Death
1.08_-_Stead_and_the_Spirits
1.08_-_The_Four_Austerities_and_the_Four_Liberations
1.08_-_The_Gods_of_the_Veda_-_The_Secret_of_the_Veda
1.08_-_The_Supreme_Will
1.096_-_Powers_that_Accrue_in_the_Practice
1.098_-_The_Transformation_from_Human_to_Divine
1.09_-_Concentration_-_Its_Spiritual_Uses
1.09_-_Equality_and_the_Annihilation_of_Ego
1.09_-_Kundalini_Yoga
1.09_-_Legend_of_Lakshmi
1.09_-_Saraswati_and_Her_Consorts
1.09_-_Sleep_and_Death
1.09_-_Talks
1.1.02_-_Sachchidananda
1.1.02_-_The_Aim_of_the_Integral_Yoga
1.1.05_-_The_Siddhis
1.107_-_The_Bestowal_of_a_Divine_Gift
11.08_-_Body-Energy
1.10_-_Concentration_-_Its_Practice
1.10_-_Foresight
1.10_-_Laughter_Of_The_Gods
1.10_-_Mantra_Yoga
1.10_-_The_Methods_and_the_Means
1.10_-_Theodicy_-_Nature_Makes_No_Mistakes
1.10_-_The_Revolutionary_Yogi
1.10_-_The_Secret_of_the_Veda
1.10_-_The_Yoga_of_the_Intelligent_Will
11.14_-_Our_Finest_Hour
1.11_-_Correspondence_and_Interviews
1.11_-_Oneness
1.11_-_Powers
1.11_-_The_Master_of_the_Work
1.1.1_-_The_Mind_and_Other_Levels_of_Being
1.11_-_WITH_THE_DEVOTEES_AT_DAKSHINEWAR
1.1.2_-_Commentary
1.12_-_God_Departs
1.12_-_Independence
1.1.2_-_Intellect_and_the_Intellectual
1.12_-_The_Divine_Work
1.12_-_THE_FESTIVAL_AT_PNIHTI
1.12_-_The_Significance_of_Sacrifice
1.12_-_The_Strength_of_Stillness
1.12_-_The_Superconscient
1.13_-_Conclusion_-_He_is_here
1.1.3_-_Mental_Difficulties_and_the_Need_of_Quietude
1.13_-_THE_MASTER_AND_M.
1.13_-_The_Supermind_and_the_Yoga_of_Works
1.13_-_Under_the_Auspices_of_the_Gods
1.14_-_INSTRUCTION_TO_VAISHNAVS_AND_BRHMOS
1.14_-_The_Principle_of_Divine_Works
1.14_-_The_Secret
1.14_-_The_Stress_of_the_Hidden_Spirit
1.15_-_The_Possibility_and_Purpose_of_Avatarhood
1.15_-_The_Supramental_Consciousness
1.15_-_The_world_overrun_with_trees;_they_are_destroyed_by_the_Pracetasas
1.1.5_-_Thought_and_Knowledge
1.16_-_Man,_A_Transitional_Being
1.16_-_WITH_THE_DEVOTEES_AT_DAKSHINESWAR
1.17_-_God
1.17_-_M._AT_DAKSHINEWAR
1.17_-_The_Transformation
1.18_-_M._AT_DAKSHINESWAR
1.18_-_The_Divine_Worker
1.19_-_Equality
1.19_-_THE_MASTER_AND_HIS_INJURED_ARM
1.200-1.224_Talks
1.2.01_-_The_Call_and_the_Capacity
1.2.04_-_Sincerity
1.2.05_-_Aspiration
12.05_-_Beauty
1.2.07_-_Surrender
1.20_-_Equality_and_Knowledge
1.20_-_RULES_FOR_HOUSEHOLDERS_AND_MONKS
1.2.1.03_-_Psychic_and_Esoteric_Poetry
1.2.11_-_Patience_and_Perseverance
1.2.12_-_Vigilance
1.21_-_A_DAY_AT_DAKSHINESWAR
1.2.1_-_Mental_Development_and_Sadhana
1.2.2.01_-_The_Poet,_the_Yogi_and_the_Rishi
1.22_-_ADVICE_TO_AN_ACTOR
1.22__-_Dominion_over_different_provinces_of_creation_assigned_to_different_beings
1.240_-_Talks_2
1.24_-_PUNDIT_SHASHADHAR
1.2.4_-_Speech_and_Yoga
1.25_-_ADVICE_TO_PUNDIT_SHASHADHAR
1.25_-_Fascinations,_Invisibility,_Levitation,_Transmutations,_Kinks_in_Time
1.25_-_SPIRITUAL_EXERCISES
1.26_-_FESTIVAL_AT_ADHARS_HOUSE
1.26_-_The_Ascending_Series_of_Substance
1.28_-_Need_to_Define_God,_Self,_etc.
1.300_-_1.400_Talks
13.01_-_A_Centurys_Salutation_to_Sri_Aurobindo_The_Greatness_of_the_Great
1.3.01_-_Peace__The_Basis_of_the_Sadhana
1.3.02_-_Equality__The_Chief_Support
1.3.03_-_Quiet_and_Calm
1.3.04_-_Peace
1.3.05_-_Silence
1.3.1.02_-_The_Object_of_Our_Yoga
1.3.2.01_-_I._The_Entire_Purpose_of_Yoga
1.32_-_How_can_a_Yogi_ever_be_Worried?
1.400_-_1.450_Talks
1.4.01_-_The_Divine_Grace_and_Guidance
1.4.02_-_The_Divine_Force
1.439
1.450_-_1.500_Talks
15.05_-_Twin_Prayers
1.550_-_1.600_Talks
1.64_-_Magical_Power
1.70_-_Morality_1
17.11_-_A_Prayer
1.79_-_Progress
18.02_-_Ramprasad
1.81_-_Method_of_Training
1.82_-_Epistola_Penultima_-_The_Two_Ways_to_Reality
1.83_-_Epistola_Ultima
1929-04-14_-_Dangers_of_Yoga_-_Two_paths,_tapasya_and_surrender_-_Impulses,_desires_and_Yoga_-_Difficulties_-_Unification_around_the_psychic_being_-_Ambition,_undoing_of_many_Yogis_-_Powers,_misuse_and_right_use_of_-_How_to_recognise_the_Divine_Will_-_Accept_things_that_come_from_Divine_-_Vital_devotion_-_Need_of_strong_body_and_nerves_-_Inner_being,_invariable
1929-05-19_-_Mind_and_its_workings,_thought-forms_-_Adverse_conditions_and_Yoga_-_Mental_constructions_-_Illness_and_Yoga
1929-06-16_-_Illness_and_Yoga_-_Subtle_body_(nervous_envelope)_-_Fear_and_illness
1929-06-23_-_Knowledge_of_the_Yogi_-_Knowledge_and_the_Supermind_-_Methods_of_changing_the_condition_of_the_body_-_Meditation,_aspiration,_sincerity
1929-06-30_-_Repulsion_felt_towards_certain_animals,_etc_-_Source_of_evil,_Formateurs_-_Material_world
1929-07-28_-_Art_and_Yoga_-_Art_and_life_-_Music,_dance_-_World_of_Harmony
1950-12-25_-_Christmas_-_festival_of_Light_-_Energy_and_mental_growth_-_Meditation_and_concentration_-_The_Mother_of_Dreams_-_Playing_a_game_well,_and_energy
1951-01-13_-_Aim_of_life_-_effort_and_joy._Science_of_living,_becoming_conscious._Forces_and_influences.
1951-01-25_-_Needs_and_desires._Collaboration_of_the_vital,_mind_an_accomplice._Progress_and_sincerity_-_recognising_faults._Organising_the_body_-_illness_-_new_harmony_-_physical_beauty.
1951-01-27_-_Sleep_-_desires_-_repression_-_the_subconscient._Dreams_-_the_super-conscient_-_solving_problems._Ladder_of_being_-_samadhi._Phases_of_sleep_-_silence,_true_rest._Vital_body_and_illness.
1951-02-08_-_Unifying_the_being_-_ideas_of_good_and_bad_-_Miracles_-_determinism_-_Supreme_Will_-_Distinguishing_the_voice_of_the_Divine
1951-02-10_-_Liberty_and_license_-_surrender_makes_you_free_-_Men_in_authority_as_representatives_of_the_divine_Truth_-_Work_as_offering_-_total_surrender_needs_time_-_Effort_and_inspiration_-_will_and_patience
1951-02-22_-_Surrender,_offering,_consecration_-_Experiences_and_sincerity_-_Aspiration_and_desire_-_Vedic_hymns_-_Concentration_and_time
1951-03-14_-_Plasticity_-_Conditions_for_knowing_the_Divine_Will_-_Illness_-_microbes_-_Fear_-_body-reflexes_-_The_best_possible_happens_-_Theories_of_Creation_-_True_knowledge_-_a_work_to_do_-_the_Ashram
1951-03-19_-_Mental_worlds_and_their_beings_-_Understanding_in_silence_-_Psychic_world-_its_characteristics_-_True_experiences_and_mental_formations_-_twelve_senses
1951-03-24_-_Descent_of_Divine_Love,_of_Consciousness_-_Earth-_a_symbolic_formation_-_the_Divine_Presence_-_The_psychic_being_and_other_worlds_-_Divine_Love_and_Grace_-_Becoming_consaious_of_Divine_Love_-_Finding_ones_psychic_being_-_Responsibility
1951-03-26_-_Losing_all_to_gain_all_-_psychic_being_-_Transforming_the_vital_-_physical_habits_-_the_subconscient_-_Overcoming_difficulties_-_weakness,_an_insincerity_-_to_change_the_world_-_Psychic_source,_flash_of_experience_-_preparation_for_yoga
1951-04-09_-_Modern_Art_-_Trend_of_art_in_Europe_in_the_twentieth_century_-_Effect_of_the_Wars_-_descent_of_vital_worlds_-_Formation_of_character_-_If_there_is_another_war
1951-04-26_-_Irrevocable_transformation_-_The_divine_Shakti_-_glad_submission_-_Rejection,_integral_-_Consecration_-_total_self-forgetfulness_-_work
1951-05-11_-_Mahakali_and_Kali_-_Avatar_and_Vibhuti_-_Sachchidananda_behind_all_states_of_being_-_The_power_of_will_-_receiving_the_Divine_Will
1953-03-18
1953-04-01
1953-05-13
1953-05-20
1953-05-27
1953-07-01
1953-07-15
1953-07-22
1953-09-16
1953-09-30
1953-10-14
1954-03-24_-_Dreams_and_the_condition_of_the_stomach_-_Tobacco_and_alcohol_-_Nervousness_-_The_centres_and_the_Kundalini_-_Control_of_the_senses
1954-06-30_-_Occultism_-_Religion_and_vital_beings_-_Mothers_knowledge_of_what_happens_in_the_Ashram_-_Asking_questions_to_Mother_-_Drawing_on_Mother
1954-07-21_-_Mistakes_-_Success_-_Asuras_-_Mental_arrogance_-_Difficulty_turned_into_opportunity_-_Mothers_use_of_flowers_-_Conversion_of_men_governed_by_adverse_forces
1954-09-22_-_The_supramental_creation_-_Rajasic_eagerness_-_Silence_from_above_-_Aspiration_and_rejection_-_Effort,_individuality_and_ego_-_Aspiration_and_desire
1954-11-24_-_Aspiration_mixed_with_desire_-_Willing_and_desiring_-_Children_and_desires_-_Supermind_and_the_higher_ranges_of_mind_-_Stages_in_the_supramental_manifestation
1954-12-29_-_Difficulties_and_the_world_-_The_experience_the_psychic_being_wants_-_After_death_-Ignorance
1955-03-02_-_Right_spirit,_aspiration_and_desire_-_Sleep_and_yogic_repose,_how_to_sleep_-_Remembering_dreams_-_Concentration_and_outer_activity_-_Mother_opens_the_door_inside_everyone_-_Sleep,_a_school_for_inner_knowledge_-_Source_of_energy
1955-03-30_-_Yoga-shakti_-_Energies_of_the_earth,_higher_and_lower_-_Illness,_curing_by_yogic_means_-_The_true_self_and_the_psychic_-_Solving_difficulties_by_different_methods
1955-04-27_-_Symbolic_dreams_and_visions_-_Curing_pain_by_various_methods_-_Different_states_of_consciousness_-_Seeing_oneself_dead_in_a_dream_-_Exteriorisation
1955-05-25_-_Religion_and_reason_-_true_role_and_field_-_an_obstacle_to_or_minister_of_the_Spirit_-_developing_and_meaning_-_Learning_how_to_live,_the_elite_-_Reason_controls_and_organises_life_-_Nature_is_infrarational
1955-06-01_-_The_aesthetic_conscience_-_Beauty_and_form_-_The_roots_of_our_life_-_The_sense_of_beauty_-_Educating_the_aesthetic_sense,_taste_-_Mental_constructions_based_on_a_revelation_-_Changing_the_world_and_humanity
1955-08-03_-_Nothing_is_impossible_in_principle_-_Psychic_contact_and_psychic_influence_-_Occult_powers,_adverse_influences;_magic_-_Magic,_occultism_and_Yogic_powers_-Hypnotism_and_its_effects
1955-08-17_-_Vertical_ascent_and_horizontal_opening_-_Liberation_of_the_psychic_being_-_Images_for_discovery_of_the_psychic_being_-_Sadhana_to_contact_the_psychic_being
1955-11-09_-_Personal_effort,_egoistic_mind_-_Man_is_like_a_public_square_-_Natures_work_-_Ego_needed_for_formation_of_individual_-_Adverse_forces_needed_to_make_man_sincere_-_Determinisms_of_different_planes,_miracles
1956-02-15_-_Nature_and_the_Master_of_Nature_-_Conscious_intelligence_-_Theory_of_the_Gita,_not_the_whole_truth_-_Surrender_to_the_Lord_-_Change_of_nature
1956-05-30_-_Forms_as_symbols_of_the_Force_behind_-_Art_as_expression_of_contact_with_the_Divine_-_Supramental_psychological_perfection_-_Division_of_works_-_The_Ashram,_idle_stupidities
1956-09-05_-_Material_life,_seeing_in_the_right_way_-_Effect_of_the_Supermind_on_the_earth_-_Emergence_of_the_Supermind_-_Falling_back_into_the_same_mistaken_ways
1956-10-17_-_Delight,_the_highest_state_-_Delight_and_detachment_-_To_be_calm_-_Quietude,_mental_and_vital_-_Calm_and_strength_-_Experience_and_expression_of_experience
1956-11-14_-_Conquering_the_desire_to_appear_good_-_Self-control_and_control_of_the_life_around_-_Power_of_mastery_-_Be_a_great_yogi_to_be_a_good_teacher_-_Organisation_of_the_Ashram_school_-_Elementary_discipline_of_regularity
1957-04-24_-_Perfection,_lower_and_higher
1957-05-01_-_Sports_competitions,_their_value
1957-06-19_-_Causes_of_illness_Fear_and_illness_-_Minds_working,_faith_and_illness
1957-07-17_-_Power_of_conscious_will_over_matter
1958-02-19_-_Experience_of_the_supramental_boat_-_The_Censors_-_Absurdity_of_artificial_means
1958-07-30_-_The_planchette_-_automatic_writing_-_Proofs_and_knowledge
1958-09-10_-_Magic,_occultism,_physical_science
1960_03_30
1960_11_14?_-_51
1961_05_20
1962_05_24
1969_10_13
1.cllg_-_A_Dance_of_Unwavering_Devotion
1f.lovecraft_-_Through_the_Gates_of_the_Silver_Key
1.grh_-_Gorakh_Bani
1.jm_-_Response_to_a_Logician
1.jm_-_Song_to_the_Rock_Demoness
1.jm_-_The_Song_of_Food_and_Dwelling
1.jm_-_The_Song_of_Perfect_Assurance_(to_the_Demons)
1.jm_-_The_Song_of_View,_Practice,_and_Action
1.kbr_-_He's_That_Rascally_Kind_Of_Yogi
1.kbr_-_Hes_that_rascally_kind_of_yogi
1.kbr_-_I_Burst_Into_Laughter
1.kbr_-_I_burst_into_laughter
1.kbr_-_Poem_15
1.kbr_-_Poem_7
1.kbr_-_Tentacles_of_Time
1.kbr_-_Where_do_you_search_me
1.kg_-_Little_Tiger
1.lla_-_I_traveled_a_long_way_seeking_God
1.lla_-_O_infinite_Consciousness
1.lla_-_When_Siddhanath_applied_lotion_to_my_eyes
1.lla_-_Word,_Thought,_Kula_and_Akula_cease_to_be_there!
1.ml_-_Realisation_of_Dreams_and_Mind
1.nrpa_-_The_Summary_of_Mahamudra
1.rmpsd_-_Kulakundalini,_Goddess_Full_of_Brahman,_Tara
1.rmpsd_-_Who_in_this_world
1.sk_-_Is_there_anyone_in_the_universe
1.srh_-_The_Royal_Song_of_Saraha_(Dohakosa)
1.sv_-_In_dense_darkness,_O_Mother
20.01_-_Charyapada_-_Old_Bengali_Mystic_Poems
2.00_-_BIBLIOGRAPHY
2.01_-_AT_THE_STAR_THEATRE
2.01_-_Indeterminates,_Cosmic_Determinations_and_the_Indeterminable
2.01_-_On_Books
2.01_-_The_Preparatory_Renunciation
2.01_-_The_Yoga_and_Its_Objects
2.02_-_On_Letters
2.02_-_The_Bhakta.s_Renunciation_results_from_Love
2.02_-_THE_DURGA_PUJA_FESTIVAL
2.02_-_The_Ishavasyopanishad_with_a_commentary_in_English
2.02_-_The_Status_of_Knowledge
2.02_-_The_Synthesis_of_Devotion_and_Knowledge
2.02_-_Yoga
2.03_-_Karmayogin__A_Commentary_on_the_Isha_Upanishad
2.03_-_On_Medicine
2.03_-_THE_MASTER_IN_VARIOUS_MOODS
2.03_-_The_Naturalness_of_Bhakti-Yoga_and_its_Central_Secret
2.03_-_The_Supreme_Divine
2.04_-_ADVICE_TO_ISHAN
2.04_-_Concentration
2.04_-_On_Art
2.04_-_The_Secret_of_Secrets
2.04_-_Yogic_Action
2.05_-_Apotheosis
2.05_-_Universal_Love_and_how_it_leads_to_Self-Surrender
2.05_-_VISIT_TO_THE_SINTHI_BRAMO_SAMAJ
2.06_-_WITH_VARIOUS_DEVOTEES
2.07_-_BANKIM_CHANDRA
2.07_-_On_Congress_and_Politics
2.07_-_The_Cup
2.07_-_The_Release_from_Subjection_to_the_Body
2.07_-_The_Supreme_Word_of_the_Gita
2.08_-_AT_THE_STAR_THEATRE_(II)
2.08_-_Concentration
2.08_-_God_in_Power_of_Becoming
2.09_-_On_Sadhana
2.09_-_THE_MASTERS_BIRTHDAY
2.1.01_-_The_Central_Process_of_the_Sadhana
2.1.01_-_The_Parts_of_the_Being
2.1.02_-_Combining_Work,_Meditation_and_Bhakti
2.1.02_-_Nature_The_World-Manifestation
2.10_-_THE_MASTER_AND_NARENDRA
2.1.1.04_-_Reading,_Yogic_Force_and_the_Development_of_Style
2.11_-_On_Education
2.11_-_The_Crown
2.11_-_The_Guru
2.12_-_On_Miracles
2.12_-_THE_MASTERS_REMINISCENCES
2.1.2_-_The_Vital_and_Other_Levels_of_Being
2.12_-_The_Way_and_the_Bhakta
2.1.3.3_-_Reading
2.13_-_On_Psychology
2.13_-_The_Difficulties_of_the_Mental_Being
2.13_-_THE_MASTER_AT_THE_HOUSES_OF_BALARM_AND_GIRISH
2.1.3_-_Wrong_Movements_of_the_Vital
2.1.4.2_-_Teaching
2.14_-_AT_RAMS_HOUSE
2.14_-_Faith
2.14_-_On_Movements
2.14_-_The_Passive_and_the_Active_Brahman
2.15_-_CAR_FESTIVAL_AT_BALARMS_HOUSE
2.15_-_On_the_Gods_and_Asuras
2.15_-_The_Cosmic_Consciousness
2.16_-_The_15th_of_August
2.16_-_VISIT_TO_NANDA_BOSES_HOUSE
2.1.7.05_-_On_the_Inspiration_and_Writing_of_the_Poem
2.17_-_December_1938
2.17_-_THE_MASTER_ON_HIMSELF_AND_HIS_EXPERIENCES
2.18_-_January_1939
2.18_-_SRI_RAMAKRISHNA_AT_SYAMPUKUR
2.18_-_The_Evolutionary_Process_-_Ascent_and_Integration
2.19_-_Feb-May_1939
2.19_-_Knowledge_of_the_Scientist_and_the_Yogi
2.19_-_The_Planes_of_Our_Existence
2.2.01_-_The_Outer_Being_and_the_Inner_Being
2.2.01_-_Work_and_Yoga
2.2.02_-_Becoming_Conscious_in_Work
2.2.02_-_The_True_Being_and_the_True_Consciousness
2.2.03_-_The_Divine_Force_in_Work
2.2.03_-_The_Psychic_Being
2.2.03_-_The_Science_of_Consciousness
2.2.04_-_Practical_Concerns_in_Work
2.2.05_-_Creative_Activity
2.20_-_Nov-Dec_1939
2.20_-_THE_MASTERS_TRAINING_OF_HIS_DISCIPLES
2.2.1_-_Cheerfulness_and_Happiness
2.21_-_IN_THE_COMPANY_OF_DEVOTEES_AT_SYAMPUKUR
2.21_-_Towards_the_Supreme_Secret
2.2.2.01_-_The_Author_of_the_Bhagavad_Gita
2.2.3_-_Depression_and_Despondency
2.23_-_The_Conditions_of_Attainment_to_the_Gnosis
2.24_-_Gnosis_and_Ananda
2.24_-_The_Evolution_of_the_Spiritual_Man
2.24_-_THE_MASTERS_LOVE_FOR_HIS_DEVOTEES
2.24_-_The_Message_of_the_Gita
2.25_-_List_of_Topics_in_Each_Talk
2.25_-_The_Higher_and_the_Lower_Knowledge
2.26_-_Samadhi
2.26_-_The_Ascent_towards_Supermind
2.2.7.01_-_Some_General_Remarks
2.27_-_Hathayoga
2.28_-_Rajayoga
2.2.9.04_-_Plotinus
2.3.01_-_Aspiration_and_Surrender_to_the_Mother
2.3.01_-_Concentration_and_Meditation
2.3.02_-_Opening,_Sincerity_and_the_Mother's_Grace
2.3.03_-_The_Mother's_Presence
2.3.04_-_The_Higher_Planes_of_Mind
2.3.04_-_The_Mother's_Force
2.3.05_-_Sadhana_through_Work_for_the_Mother
2.3.06_-_The_Mind
2.3.06_-_The_Mother's_Lights
2.3.07_-_The_Mother_in_Visions,_Dreams_and_Experiences
2.3.07_-_The_Vital_Being_and_Vital_Consciousness
2.3.1.01_-_Three_Essentials_for_Writing_Poetry
2.3.1_-_Ego_and_Its_Forms
2.3.2_-_Desire
2.3.3_-_Anger_and_Violence
2.4.1_-_Human_Relations_and_the_Spiritual_Life
2.4.2_-_Interactions_with_Others_and_the_Practice_of_Yoga
2.4.3_-_Problems_in_Human_Relations
29.03_-_In_Her_Company
2_-_Other_Hymns_to_Agni
30.03_-_Spirituality_in_Art
30.06_-_The_Poet_and_The_Seer
30.07_-_The_Poet_and_the_Yogi
30.08_-_Poetry_and_Mantra
30.09_-_Lines_of_Tantra_(Charyapada)
3.02_-_The_Motives_of_Devotion
3.02_-_The_Psychology_of_Rebirth
3.03_-_The_Godward_Emotions
3.06_-_The_Sage
3.08_-_The_Mystery_of_Love
3.1.01_-_Distinctive_Features_of_the_Integral_Yoga
3.1.01_-_The_Problem_of_Suffering_and_Evil
3.1.02_-_Spiritual_Evolution_and_the_Supramental
31.04_-_Sri_Ramakrishna
3.1.04_-_Transformation_in_the_Integral_Yoga
3.1.23_-_The_Rishi
3.1.3_-_Difficulties_of_the_Physical_Being
3.2.01_-_The_Newness_of_the_Integral_Yoga
3.2.02_-_The_Veda_and_the_Upanishads
3.2.02_-_Yoga_and_Skill_in_Works
3.2.04_-_The_Conservative_Mind_and_Eastern_Progress
32.05_-_The_Culture_of_the_Body
3.2.07_-_Tantra
3.2.08_-_Bhakti_Yoga_and_Vaishnavism
3.2.09_-_The_Teachings_of_Some_Modern_Indian_Yogis
3.2.1_-_Food
3.2.2_-_Sleep
3.2.3_-_Dreams
3.2.4_-_Sex
33.06_-_Alipore_Court
33.08_-_I_Tried_Sannyas
33.09_-_Shyampukur
33.10_-_Pondicherry_I
33.16_-_Soviet_Gymnasts
33.18_-_I_Bow_to_the_Mother
3.3.1_-_Illness_and_Health
3.3.2_-_Doctors_and_Medicines
3.4.1.01_-_Poetry_and_Sadhana
3.4.1.06_-_Reading_and_Sadhana
3.4.1.08_-_Novel-Reading_and_Sadhana
3.4.1_-_The_Subconscient_and_the_Integral_Yoga
36.07_-_An_Introduction_To_The_Vedas
3.7.1.03_-_Rebirth,_Evolution,_Heredity
3.7.1.07_-_Involution_and_Evolution
3.7.2.04_-_The_Higher_Lines_of_Karma
38.01_-_Asceticism_and_Renunciation
38.02_-_Hymns_and_Prayers
38.04_-_Great_Time
3.8.1.03_-_Meditation
3_-_Commentaries_and_Annotated_Translations
4.01_-_The_Principle_of_the_Integral_Yoga
4.07_-_Purification-Intelligence_and_Will
4.10_-_The_Elements_of_Perfection
4.1.3_-_Imperfections_and_Periods_of_Arrest
4.1.4_-_Resistances,_Sufferings_and_Falls
4.14_-_The_Power_of_the_Instruments
4.1_-_Jnana
4.2.01_-_The_Mother_of_Dreams
4.20_-_The_Intuitive_Mind
4.2.1.04_-_The_Psychic_and_the_Mental,_Vital_and_Physical_Nature
4.2.1.06_-_Living_in_the_Psychic
4.21_-_The_Gradations_of_the_supermind
4.2.1_-_The_Right_Attitude_towards_Difficulties
4.2.2.02_-_Conditions_for_the_Psychic_Opening
4.22_-_The_supramental_Thought_and_Knowledge
4.2.3.05_-_Obstacles_to_the_Psychic's_Emergence
4.2.3_-_Vigilance,_Resolution,_Will_and_the_Divine_Help
4.24_-_The_supramental_Sense
4.2.4_-_Time_and_CHange_of_the_Nature
4.2.5_-_Dealing_with_Depression_and_Despondency
4.3.1.03_-_The_Self_and_the_Sense_of_Individuality
4.3.1.09_-_The_Self_and_Life
4.3.1_-_The_Hostile_Forces_and_the_Difficulties_of_Yoga
4.3.2_-_Attacks_by_the_Hostile_Forces
4.3.4_-_Accidents,_Possession,_Madness
4.4.1.05_-_Ascent_and_Descent_of_the_Kundalini_Shakti
4.4.2.02_-_Ascension_or_Rising_above_the_Head
4.4.2.07_-_Ascent_and_Going_out_of_the_Body
4.4.4.11_-_The_Flow_of_Amrita
4.4.5.01_-_Descent_and_Experiences_of_the_Inner_Being
4.4.5.03_-_Descent_and_Other_Experiences
5.02_-_Perfection_of_the_Body
5.03_-_The_Divine_Body
5.1.01_-_Terminology
5.1.03_-_The_Hostile_Forces_and_Hostile_Beings
5.4.01_-_Occult_Knowledge
5.4.02_-_Occult_Powers_or_Siddhis
6.0_-_Conscious,_Unconscious,_and_Individuation
7.04_-_The_Vital
7_-_Yoga_of_Sri_Aurobindo
9.99_-_Glossary
APPENDIX_I_-_Curriculum_of_A._A.
BOOK_II._--_PART_I._ANTHROPOGENESIS.
BOOK_II._--_PART_II._THE_ARCHAIC_SYMBOLISM_OF_THE_WORLD-RELIGIONS
BOOK_I._--_PART_I._COSMIC_EVOLUTION
BOOK_I._--_PART_III._SCIENCE_AND_THE_SECRET_DOCTRINE_CONTRASTED
BOOK_I._--_PART_II._THE_EVOLUTION_OF_SYMBOLISM_IN_ITS_APPROXIMATE_ORDER
Conversations_with_Sri_Aurobindo
DM_2_-_How_to_Meditate
Guru_Granth_Sahib_first_part
Jaap_Sahib_Text_(Guru_Gobind_Singh)
Liber
Liber_71_-_The_Voice_of_the_Silence_-_The_Two_Paths_-_The_Seven_Portals
r1909_06_25
r1912_12_19
r1913_01_31
r1914_03_19
r1914_03_29
r1914_06_25
r1914_07_05
r1914_10_29
r1914_11_29
r1918_02_14
r1918_02_19
r1919_07_20
Sayings_of_Sri_Ramakrishna_(text)
Talks_001-025
Talks_026-050
Talks_051-075
Talks_076-099
Talks_100-125
Talks_151-175
Talks_600-652
Talks_With_Sri_Aurobindo_1
Talks_With_Sri_Aurobindo_2
The_Act_of_Creation_text
The_Riddle_of_this_World
Verses_of_Vemana

PRIMARY CLASS

Title
SIMILAR TITLES
Can a Yogi know all things
integralyogin
Karmayogin
The Life of Shabkar Autobiography of a Tibetan Yogin
Yogi

DEFINITIONS


TERMS STARTING WITH

Yogi ::: A male practitioner of yoga.

Yogi, Yogini (Sanskrit) Yogin, Yoginī A devotee who practices a full yoga system; the yogi state is that which, “when reached, makes the practitioner thereof absolute master of his six ‘principles,’ he now being merged in the seventh. It gives him full control, owing to his knowledge of Self and Self, over his bodily, intellectual and mental states, which, unable any longer to interfere with, or act upon, his Higher Ego, leave it free to exist in its original, pure, and divine state” (TG 381).

Yogi(Yogin, Sanskrit) ::: A yogi is a devotee, one who practices the Yoga system or one or more of its varioussubordinate branches.In some cases, yogis are those who strive in various ways to conquer the body and physical temptations,for instance by torture of the body. They also study more or less some of the magnificent philosophicalteachings of India coming down from far distant ages of the past; but mere mental study will not make aman a mahatma, nor will any torture of the body bring about the spiritual vision -- the vision sublime.(See also Yoga)

Yogic equality ::: The equality of soul, equanimity founded on the sense of the one Self, the one Divine everywhere — seeing the One in spite of all differences, degrees, disparities in the manifestation. The mental principle of equality tries to ignore or else to destroy the differences, degrees and disparities, to act as if all were equal or to try and make all equal,

Yogic Force ::: It simply means a higher Consciousness using its power, a spiritual and supraphysical force acting on the physical world directly.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 35, Page: 484


Yogic kriya ::: A special process or discipline in yoga.

Yogic trance cannot be an aim, as In so many yogic systems, but only a means, and a means not of escape from the waking existence, but to enlarge and raise the whole seeing, living and active consciousness.

Yogigamya: Attainable only by a Yogi.

Yogiha 楊岐派. See YANGQI PAI

Yogi Hoe 楊岐方會. See YANGQI FANGHUI

Yogin: A follower of or adept in yoga.

Yogin, already possessed of the highest supra-cosmic knowledge and experience in the state of irance. is able in the waling state to acquire directly whatever knowledge and exercise, whatever mastery may be useful or necessary to bis activities in the objec- tive world. For the andent system of Rajajoga aimed not only

Yogin, Yogini: (Skr.) The man, the woman, practicing Yoga (q.v.). -- K.F.L.

Yogin fields of consciousness, ranges of experience, abnormal faculties denied to the ordinary human life while it puissantly intensifies such normal powers and faculties as he already pos- sesses. These advantages can be further secured and emphasised by other subsidiary processes open to the Hatha Yogin.

Yogini ::: A female practitioner of yoga.

Yogins ::: I suppose it could be extendi to ilic Iwdy of others.

Yogi: One who practises Yoga; one who strives earnestly for union with God; an aspirant going through any course of spiritual discipline; one going particularly through the scheduled course of Raja Yoga; a spiritually advanced person with a perfectly unruffled mind under all conditions; a Siddha.

Yogi (S) Hindu-mystic, practitioner of yoga

Yogi ::: The whole difference between the Yogin and the natural man will be this, that the Yogin seeks to substitute in himself for the integral action of the lower Nature working in and by ego and division the integral action of the higher Nature working in and by God and unity.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 45


YOGI AND SADHAKA. ::: The yogi is one who is already established In realisation ; the sadhaka is one who -is getting or still trying to get realisation.

yogi ::: Yogi / Yogin A devotee, in particular one who has mastered the techniques and practices of Yoga and who is capable of teaching and training others in the yogic discipline.

YOGIC ATTITUDE. ::: Not one of forceful suppression, but of detachment and equality with regard to the objects of desire.

YOGIC POWERS. ::: The idea that yogins do not or ought not to use these powers I regard as an ascetic superstition. I believe that all yogins who have these powers do use them whenever they find that that they are called from within to do so. They may refrain if they think the use in a particular case is contrary to the Divine Will or see that prevcofing one evil may-be open- ing the door to worse or for any other veiled reason, but not

yogi ::: n. --> A follower of the yoga philosophy; an ascetic.

yogini cakra (Yogini Chakra) ::: [cakra of the female yogin or of the sakti called "Yogini": probably used by Sri Aurobindo as a code word].

yoginī

yoginītantra

yoginītantra. (T. rnal 'byor ma'i rgyud). Also known as "mother tantras" (MĀTṚTANTRA) and "wisdom tantras" (T. shes rab kyi rgyud), one of the two categories into which the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRAs are divided, the other being "father tantras" (PITṚTANTRA). Developing in India from the SIDDHA tradition, the yoginītantras apparently receive this name because the majority (and in some cases all) of the deities in the tantra's MAndALA are female. According to a traditional explanation, these tantras emphasize wisdom (PRAJNĀ), especially the mind of clear light (PRABHĀSVARACITTA), while father tantras emphasize method (UPĀYA), especially the illusory body (MĀYĀDEHA). See CAKRASAMVARATANTRA.

yoginī. (T. rnal 'byor ma). A female practitioner of YOGA, or contemplative practice, but used especially to refer to female adepts of Buddhist TANTRA, particularly those who engage in tantric rituals (including sexual rituals) with tantric YOGINs. The term is sometimes synonymous with dĀKINĪ.

yogin ::: one who practises yoga; one who has attained yogasiddhi. yo . . . sami samim

yogin ::: [one who practises yoga]; one who is established in realisation [cf. sadhaka]. ::: yogi [nominative]

yogin

yogin. (T. rnal 'byor pa; C. xiuxing ren; J. shugyonin; K. suhaeng in 修行人). A male practitioner of YOGA (generally in the generic sense of meditative practice) who has gained some level of attainment in his practice. The term can be used to refer to any advanced Buddhist practitioner, although it refers especially to advanced practitioners of Buddhist TANTRA.

yogipratyaksa

yogipratyaksa. (T. rnal 'byor mngon sum; C. dingguan zhi; J. jokanchi; K. chonggwan chi 定觀知). In Sanskrit, "yogic direct perception"; a specific variety of direct perception (PRATYAKsA) that is typically presumed to derive from meditative practice (BHĀVANĀ; YOGA). A direct intuition of the real obtained through meditative practice, this type of understanding was accepted as a valid means of knowledge by most of the traditional Indian religious schools. In Buddhism, the psychological analysis of the notion of yogipratyaksa and the related yogijNāna (yogic knowledge or cognition) was undertaken by DHARMAKĪRTI (c. 600-670) in his PRAMĀnAVĀRTTIKA and NYĀYABINDU, as well as by his commentators. Dharmakīrti's predecessor DIGNĀGA (c. 480-540) had posited that there were only two reliable sources of knowledge (PRAMĀnA): direct perception (PRATYAKsA) and logical inference (ANUMĀNA). Dharmakīrti, however, subdivided direct perception (pratyaksa) into four subtypes, viz., sensory cognition (indriyajNāna), mental discrimination (MANOVIJNĀNA), self-awareness (SVASAMVEDANA), and yogic cognition (yogijNāna). In Dharmakīrti's analysis, yogic cognition (yogijNāna) is a form of yogic perception (yogipratyaksa), because it fulfills the two conditions of perception (pratyaksa): (1) it is devoid of conceptual construction (KALPANĀ); and (2) it is a cognition that is "nonerroneous" (abhrānta), viz., real. The treatment of yogipratyaksa in the literature thus focuses on how yogipratyaksa fulfills these two conditions of perception. Yogic knowledge is devoid of conceptual construction (kalpanā), Dharmakīrti maintains, because it is nonconceptual (akalpa; NIRVIKALPA) and thus "vivid" or "distinct" (spasta). This type of perception is therefore able to perceive reality directly, without the intercession of mental images or concepts. Since yogic cognition is said to be devoid of conceptual construction, this raises the issue of its second condition, its lack of error. Why is meditatively induced perception true and reliable? How does a meditator's yogic perception differ from the hallucinations of the deranged, since both of them presume they have a vivid cognition of an object? The reason, Dharmakīrti maintains, is that the objects of yogic knowledge are "true" or "real" (bhuta; sadbhuta), whereas hallucinations are "false" or "unreal" objects (abhuta; asadbhuta). The only true objects of yogic knowledge offered by Dharmakīrti are the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS: that is, the perception of these truths is true and reliable because they enable one to reach the goal of enlightenment, not because they involve a perception of an ultimate substance. In this sense, Dharmakīrti's understanding of yogijNāna is more focused on the direct realization of the soteriological import of the four noble truths than on extraordinary sensory ability. Therefore, yogic direct perception is qualitatively different from the various forms of clairvoyance that are the byproducts of deep states of concentration that may be achieved by both Buddhist and non-Buddhist practitioners. Yogipratyaksa is a form of insight (VIPAsYANĀ) posssessed only by noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA); and among the five paths it occurs only on the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) and above. See also DARsANA.

yogi&


TERMS ANYWHERE

53. Yogipa

abhicAra. [alt. abhicara] (T. mngon spyod). In Sanskrit, "magic" or "wrathful action"; in ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, the fourth of the four activities (CATURKARMAN) of the Buddhist tantric adept. AbhicAra is broken down into mArana "killing," mohana "enchanting," stambhana "paralyzing," vidvesana "rendering harm through animosity," uccAtana "removing or driving away," and vasīkarana "subduing." After initiation (ABHIsEKA), adepts who keep their tantric commitments (SAMAYA) properly and reach the requisite yogic level are empowered to use four sorts of enlightened activity, as appropriate: these four types of activities are (1) those that are pacifying (S. sANTICARA); (2) those that increase prosperity, life span, etc. (PAUstIKA), when necessary for the spread of the doctrine; (3) those that subjugate or tame (S. VAsĪKARAnA) the unruly; and finally (4) those that are violent or drastic measures (abhicAra) such as war, when the situation requires it. In the MANJUsRĪNAMASAMGĪTI, CAnakya, Candragupta's minister, is said to have used abhicAra against his enemies, and because of this misuse of tantric power was condemned to suffer the consequences in hell. Throughout the history of Buddhist tantra, the justification of violence by invoking the category of abhicAra has been a contentious issue. PADMASAMBHAVA is said to have tamed the unruly spirits of Tibet, sometimes violently, with his magical powers, and the violent acts that RWA LO TSA BA in the eleventh century countenanced against those who criticized his practices are justified by categorizing them as abhicAra.

ACTIVATION AND OBJECTIVATION, METHODS OF Methods to activate higher, as yet inactive consciousness, and to make subjective (emotional and mental) consciousness objective. Those esoteric methods, which lead rapidly and without risks to causal objective consciousness, remain the property of the planetary hierarchy. K 6.8.6

Unlike the yogis&


Agni Dhatu Samadhi (Sanskrit) Agni Dhātu Samādhi A type of yogic contemplation where kundalini is excited and “the infinitude appears as one sheet of fire.” (TG 10)

AjAtasatru. (P. AjAtasattu; T. Ma skyes dgra; C. Asheshi wang; J. Ajase o; K. Asase wang 阿闍世王). In Sanskrit, "Enemy While Still Unborn," the son of King BIMBISARA of Magadha and his successor as king. According to the PAli account, when BimbisAra's queen VAIDEHĪ (P. Videhī) was pregnant, she developed an overwhelming urge to drink blood from the king's right knee, a craving that the king's astrologers interpreted to mean that the son would eventually commit patricide and seize the throne. Despite several attempts to abort the fetus, the child was born and was given the name AjAtasatru. While a prince, AjAtasatru became devoted to the monk DEVADATTA, the Buddha's cousin and rival, because of Devadatta's mastery of yogic powers (ṚDDHI). Devadatta plotted to take revenge on the Buddha through manipulating AjAtasatru, whom he convinced to murder his father BimbisAra, a close lay disciple and patron of the Buddha, and seize the throne. AjAtasatru subsequently assisted Devadatta in several attempts on the Buddha's life. AjAtasatru is said to have later grown remorseful over his evil deeds and, on the advice of the physician JĪVAKA, sought the Buddha's forgiveness. The Buddha preached to him on the benefits of renunciation from the SAMANNAPHALASUTTA, and AjAtasatru became a lay disciple. Because he had committed patricide, one of the five most heinous of evil deeds that are said to bring immediate retribution (ANANTARYAKARMAN), AjAtasatru was precluded from attaining any degree of enlightenment during this lifetime and was destined for rebirth in the lohakumbhiya hell. Nevertheless, Sakka (S. sAKRA), the king of the gods, described AjAtasatru as the chief in piety among the Buddha's unenlightened disciples. When the Buddha passed away, AjAtasatru was overcome with grief and, along with other kings, was given a portion of the Buddha's relics (sARĪRA) for veneration. According to the PAli commentaries, AjAtasatru provided the material support for convening the first Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST) following the Buddha's death. The same sources state that, despite his piety, he will remain in hell for sixty thousand years but later will attain liberation as a solitary buddha (P. paccekabuddha; S. PRATYEKABUDDHA) named Viditavisesa. ¶ MahAyAna scriptures, such as the MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA and the GUAN WULIANGSHOU JING ("Contemplation Sutra on the Buddha of Infinite Life"), give a slightly different account of AjAtasatru's story. BimbisAra was concerned that his queen, Vaidehī, had yet to bear him an heir. He consulted a soothsayer, who told him that an aging forest ascetic would eventually be reborn as BimbisAra's son. The king then decided to speed the process along and had the ascetic killed so he would take rebirth in Vaidehī's womb. After the queen had already conceived, however, the soothsayer prophesized that the child she would bear would become the king's enemy. After his birth, the king dropped him from a tall tower, but the child survived the fall, suffering only a broken finger. (In other versions of the story, Vaidehī is so mortified to learn that her unborn son will murder her husband the king that she tried to abort the fetus, but to no avail.) Devadatta later told AjAtasatru the story of his conception and the son then imprisoned his father, intending to starve him to death. But Vaidehī kept the king alive by smuggling food to him, smearing her body with flour-paste and hiding grape juice inside her jewelry. When AjAtasatru learned of her treachery, he drew his sword to murder her, but his vassals dissuaded him. The prince's subsequent guilt about his intended matricide caused his skin break out in oozing abscesses that emitted such a foul odor that no one except his mother was able to approach him and care for him. Despite her loving care, AjAtasatru did not improve and Vaidehī sought the Buddha's counsel. The Buddha was able to cure the prince by teaching him the "NirvAna Sutra," and the prince ultimately became one of the preeminent Buddhist monarchs of India. This version of the story of AjAtasatru was used by Kosawa Heisaku (1897-1968), one of the founding figures of Japanese psychoanalysis, and his successors to posit an "Ajase (AjAtasatru) Complex" that distinguished Eastern cultures from the "Oedipal Complex" described by Sigmund Freud in Western psychoanalysis. As Kosawa interpreted this story, Vaidehī's ambivalence or active antagonism toward her son and AjAtasatru's rancor toward his mother were examples of the pathological relationship that pertains between mother and son in Eastern cultures, in distinction to the competition between father and son that Freud posited in his Oedipal Complex. This pathological relationship can be healed only through the mother's love and forgiveness, which redeem the child and thus reunite them.

Ajna-chakra: The sixth lotus of the Yogis, opposite the junction of the eye-brows; this is the seat of the mind; has two ‘petals’.

AkAsAnantyAyatana. (P. AkAsAnaNcAyatana; T. nam mkha' mtha' yas skye mched; C. kong wubian chu; J. kumuhenjo; K. kong mubyon ch'o 空無邊處). In Sanskrit, "sphere of infinite space"; the first and lowest (in ascending order) of the four levels of the immaterial realm (ARuPYADHATU) and the first of the four immaterial absorptions (DHYANA). It is a realm of rebirth as well as a meditative state that is entirely immaterial (viz., there is no physical [RuPA] component to existence) in which the mind comes to an awareness of unlimited pervasive space (AKAsA) without the existence of material objects. Beings reborn in this realm are thought to live as long as forty thousand eons (KALPAS). However, as a state of being that is still subject to rebirth, even the realm of infinite space remains part of SAMSARA. Like the other levels of the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHATU) and the immaterial realm, one is reborn in this state by achieving the specific level of meditative absorption of that state in the previous lifetime. One of the most famous and influential expositions on the subject of these immaterial states comes from the VISUDDHIMAGGA of BUDDHAGHOSA, written in the fifth century. Although there are numerous accounts of Buddhist meditators achieving immaterial states of SAMADHI, they are also used polemically in Buddhist literature to describe the attainments of non-Buddhist yogins, who mistakenly identify these exalted states within saMsAra as states of permanent liberation from rebirth. See also DHYANASAMAPATTI; DHYANOPAPATTI.

Also the yogic practice of the transference of one person’s consciousness into the body of another, newly dead, person.

Also used to denote other schools or sects of the same type, or to designate a particular attitude of mind or policy in which passive resignation is adopted. These Occidental Quietists of whatever affiliation represent what the hatha yogis are in India. While there are certain aspects of distinctly commendable character in true Quietism, it is nevertheless still more true that Quietism of any sort is in a sense spiritual and intellectual somnolence, and therefore runs directly counter to the far higher spiritual precepts wherein man is enjoined to be as fully awake and as alive as possible in the world in which he lives in order that he may do his full duty to his fellows and to the world, the while cultivating the higher spiritual, intellectual, and psychological parts of his constitution.

Anahata dhvani: Mystic sounds heard by Yogis. Anamaya: Without disease (Brahman).

Anahata-sabda (Sanskrit) Anāhata-śabda [from an not + ā-han to beat, strike + śabda sound from the verbal root śabd to make noise, cry out, invoke] Unstruck circle of sound; the immaterial sound produced by no form of material substance; a mystical bell-like sound at times heard by the dying which slowly lessens in intensity until the moment of death. Also heard by the yogi or contemplative at certain stages of his meditation. The Theravada Buddhists speak of this inner signal as the voice of devas which resemble the “sound of a golden bell” (Digha-nikaya 1:152). The anahata-sabda is, in reality, a reflection of the inherent sound-characteristic of akasa (cf VS 18, 78).

Anahata: The fourth lotus of the Yogis, opposite the heart; mystic sounds heard by the Yogis.

AnantaryamArga. (T. bar chad med lam; C. wujian dao; J. mukendo; K. mugan to 無間道). In Sanskrit, the "immediate path" or "uninterrupted path"; a term that refers to the two-stage process of abandoning the afflictions (KLEsA). In the VAIBHAsIKA path (MARGA) schema, as one proceeds from the third level of the path, the path of vision (DARsANAMARGA), to the fifth level, the adept path (AsAIKsAMARGA), the klesa are abandoned in sequence through repeated occasions of yogic direct perception (YOGIPRATYAKsA), which consists of two moments: the first is called the AnantaryamArga (uninterrupted path) in which the specific klesa or set of klesas is actively abandoned, followed immediately by a second moment, the path of liberation (VIMUKTIMARGA), which is the state of having been liberated from the klesa. A similar description is found in YOGACARA and MADHYAMAKA presentations of the path.

Antaratman (Sanskrit) Antarātman [from antar interior, within + ātman self] Interior self; the inner self or primeval heart of an individual. The goal of the yogi is ultimate union with the antaratman.

Antarvaha-sarira: The subtle body of a Yogi by which he accomplishes entry into the bodies of others.

Anuttara, Anuttaras (Sanskrit) Anuttara, Anuttarās [from an not + uttara comparative of ud up] Nonsuperior; unrivaled, unexcelled, chief, principal; secondarily inferior, base, low. Often used adjectivally in compounds: anuttara-bodhi (unexcelled intelligence or wisdom), anuttara-dharma (unexcelled law, truth, religion). In Buddhism anuttara-tantra, one of the four classes of tantric treatises, expounds the yogic procedures for the acquisition of the highest truth.

Anuyogin: When a jar appears as existent, it seems as if it were totally distinct from the rest of the world; the distinction has got the jar for its anuyogin and the rest of the world for its pratiyogin (opposite).

Aranyaka (Sanskrit) Āraṇyaka [from āraṇya forest-like from araṇya wilderness, forest] Forest-born; a hermit or holy man who dwells in the forest during the process of becoming a genuine spiritual yogi. Aranyakas (plural) are a class of Vedic treatises of a mystical nature attached to the Brahmanas and closely associated with the Upanishads. They were called such either because they were written in the solitude of the wilderness or because they were intended for study and contemplation by those who had retired from the world to lead the life of spiritual recluses. The Aranyakas are ritualistic, treating of special ceremonies either omitted or dealt with only in part in the Brahmanas, and hence are considered to be supplemental to the latter.

Archiradi-marga: The path of the gods or the northern path taken by the Jiva after death through which the Yogi, departing in Uttarayana ascends to the world of Brahman, after leaving the body on this earth.

Aryadeva. (T. 'Phags pa lha; C. Tipo; J. Daiba; K. Cheba 提婆). While traditional sources are often ambiguous, scholars have identified two Aryadevas. The first Aryadeva (c. 170-270 CE) was an important Indian philosopher, proponent of MADHYAMAKA philosophy, and a direct disciple of the Madhyamaka master NAGARJUNA. According to traditional accounts, he was born to a royal family in Sri Lanka. Renouncing the throne at the time of his maturity, he instead sought monastic ordination and met NAgArjuna at PAtALIPUTRA. After his teacher's death, Aryadeva became active at the monastic university of NALANDA, where he is said to have debated and defeated numerous brahmanic adherents, eventually converting them to Buddhism. He is the author of the influential work CATUḤsATAKA ("The Four Hundred"). He is also said to be the author of the *sATAsASTRA (C. BAI LUN), or "The Hundred Treatise," counted as one of the "three treatises" of the SAN LUN ZONG of Chinese Buddhism, together with the Zhong lun ("Middle Treatise," i.e., MuLAMADHYAMAKAKARIKA) and SHI'ERMEN LUN ("Twelve [Chapter] Treatise"), both attributed to NAgArjuna. The *satasAstra is not extant in Sanskrit or Tibetan, but is preserved only in Chinese. ¶ The second Aryadeva [alt. AryadevapAda; d.u.] trained in yogic practices under the tantric master NAgArjuna at NAlandA. In the Tibetan tradition, this Aryadeva is remembered for his great tantric accomplishments, and is counted among the eighty-four MAHASIDDHAs under the name Karnari or Kanheri. His important tantric works include the CaryAmelapakapradīpa ("Lamp that Integrates the Practices") and Cittavisuddhiprakarana [alt. CittAvaranavisuddhiprakarana] ("Explanation of Mental Purity").

ASANA. ::: Fixed posture habituating the body to certain attitudes of immobility. The system of Asana has at its basis two profound ideas ::: control by physical immobility, power by immobility.
The sitting motionless posture is the natural posture for concentrated meditation - walking and standing are active conditions. It is only when one has gained the enduring rest and passivity of the consciousness that it is easy to concentrate and receive when walking or doing anything. A fundamental passive condition of the consciousness gathered into itself is the proper poise for concentration and a seated gathered immobility in the body is the best position for that. It can be done also lying down, but that position is too passive, tending to be inert rather than gathered. This is the reason why yogis always sit in an āsana. One can accustom oneself to meditate walking. standing, lying but sitting is the first natural position.


asana. ::: yogic posture, especially a posture adopted for meditation; integration of mind and body through physical activity; the third of the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga

::: "As for immortality, it cannot come if there is attachment to the body, — for it is only by living in the immortal part of oneself which is unidentified with the body and bringing down its consciousness and force into the cells that it can come. I speak of course of yogic means. The scientists now hold that it is (theoretically at least) possible to discover physical means by which death can be overcome, but that would mean only a prolongation of the present consciousness in the present body. Unless there is a change of consciousness and change of functionings it would be a very small gain.” Letters on Yoga

“As for immortality, it cannot come if there is attachment to the body,—for it is only by living in the immortal part of oneself which is unidentified with the body and bringing down its consciousness and force into the cells that it can come. I speak of course of yogic means. The scientists now hold that it is (theoretically at least) possible to discover physical means by which death can be overcome, but that would mean only a prolongation of the present consciousness in the present body. Unless there is a change of consciousness and change of functionings it would be a very small gain.” Letters on Yoga

Ayukta: He who has no concentration; one who is not a Yogi.

bandhas. ::: body locks; a sustained contraction of a group of muscles that assists the practitioner not only in retaining a yogic posture but also in moving in and out of it; muscle locking/contraction, which focuses energy in the body and is closely tied to the breath; there are three bandhas which are considered our internal body locks &

Basti: The purificatory exercise for congested bowels; external cleansing of the bowels, thoroughly by drawing water through anus; the Yogic enema.

Bhakti-yogi: One who strives to attain union with God through the prescribed spiritual discipline of the path of devotion.

bhakti yogi. ::: the one who strives to attain union with God through the path of devotion

Bhujangasana: Cobra pose of the Hatha Yogin.

Bka' brgyud. (Kagyü). In Tibetan, "Oral Lineage" or "Lineage of the Buddha's Word"; one of the four main sects of Tibetan Buddhism. The term bka' brgyud is used by all sects of Tibetan Buddhism in the sense of an oral transmission of teachings from one generation to the next, a transmission that is traced back to India. Serving as the name of a specific sect, the name Bka' brgyud refers to a specific lineage, the MAR PA BKA' BRGYUD, the "Oral Lineage of Mar pa," a lineage of tantric initiations, instructions, and practices brought to Tibet from India by the translator MAR PA CHOS KYI BLO GROS in the eleventh century. Numerous sects and subsects evolved from this lineage, some of which developed a great deal of autonomy and institutional power. In this sense, it is somewhat misleading to describe Bka' brgyud as a single sect; there is, for example, no single head of the sect as in the case of SA SKYA or DGE LUGS. The various sects and subsects, however, do share a common retrospection to the teachings that Mar pa retrieved from India. Thus, rather than refer to Bka' brgyud as one of four sects (chos lugs), in Tibetan the Mar pa Bka' brgyud is counted as one of the eight streams of tantric instruction, the so-called eight great chariot-like lineages of achievement (SGRUB BRGYUD SHING RTA CHEN PO BRGYAD), a group which also includes the RNYING MA, the BKA' GDAMS of ATIsA, and the instructions on "severance" (GCOD) of MA GCIG LAB SGRON. In some Tibetan histories, Mar pa's lineage is called the Dkar brgyud ("White Lineage"), named after the white cotton shawls worn by its yogins in their practice of solitary meditation. The reading Dka' brgyud ("Austerities Lineage") is also found. The lineage from which all the sects and subsects derive look back not only to Mar pa, but to his teacher, and their teachers, traced back to the tantric buddha VAJRADHARA. Vajradhara imparted his instructions to the Indian MAHASIDDHA TILOPA, who in turn transmitted them to the Bengali scholar and yogin NAROPA. It was NAropa (in fact, his disciples) whom Mar pa encountered during his time in India, receiving the famous NA RO CHOS DRUG, or the six doctrines of NAropa. Mar pa returned to Tibet, translated the texts and transmitted these and other teachings (including MAHAMUDRA, the hallmark practice of Bka' brgyud) to a number of disciples, including his most famous student, MI LA RAS PA. These five figures-the buddha Vajradhara, the Indian tantric masters Tilopa and NAropa, and their Tibetan successors Mar pa and Mi la ras pa (both of whom were laymen rather than monks)-form a lineage that is recognized and revered by all forms of Bka' brgyud. One of Mi la ras pa's chief disciples, the physician and monk SGAM PO PA BSOD NAMS RIN CHEN united the tantric instructions he received from Mi la ras pa and presented them in the monastic and exegetical setting that he knew from his studies in the Bka' gdams sect. Sgam po pa, therefore, appears to have been instrumental in transforming an itinerant movement of lay yogins into a sect with a strong monastic element. He established an important monastery in the southern Tibetan region of Dwags po; in acknowledgment of his importance, the subsequent branches of the Bka' brgyud are sometimes collectively known as the DWAGS PO BKA' BRGYUD. The Bka' brgyud later divided into what is known in Tibetan as the "four major and eight minor Bka' brgyud" (BKA' BRGYUD CHE BZHI CHUNG BRGYAD). A number of these subsects no longer survive as independent institutions, although the works of their major figures continue to be studied. Among those that survive, the KARMA BKA' BRGYUD, 'BRI GUNG BKA' BRGYUD, and 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD continue to play an important role in Tibet, the Himalayan region, and in exile.

bkra shis tshe ring mched lnga. (tashi tsering chenga). In Tibetan, "the five long-life sisters," a group of pre-Buddhist Tibetan deities who were subdued and converted to Buddhism by PADMASAMBHAVA; the sisters also make an appearance in the songs of MI LA RAS PA (MI LA'I MGUR 'BUM) collected by GTSANG SMYON HERUKA, where they give the yogin access to the highest states of bliss. According to the DGE LUGS tradition, they are dharma protectors (DHARMAPALA) who have not transcended existence in SAMSARA (although both the RNYING MA and BKA' BRGYUD sects assert that they have done so). They reside at either Mount Everest or LA PHYI, on the border between Tibet and Nepal. Their leader is Bkra shis tshe ring ma/Rdo rje kun grags ma or Tshe yi dbang phyug ma. The other members are Mthing gi zhal bzang ma, Mi g.yo glang bzang ma, Cod pan mgrin bzang ma, and Gtal dkar 'gro bzang ma. They are also known as the bkra shis tshe yi lha mo lnga.

Brag dkar rta so. (Drakar Taso). In Tibetan, lit. "White Rock Horse Tooth"; a complex of meditation caves and small temples located close to the Nepalese border in the SKYID GRONG valley of southwestern Tibet. It was one of the primary meditation retreats of the eleventh-century yogin MI LA RAS PA, who was born nearby and later spent many years in the area in strict meditation retreat, especially at the site called Dbu ma rdzong (Uma dzong), "Fortress of the Central [Channel]." In the sixteenth century, a small monastery was founded at Brag dkar rta so by the 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD master LHA BTSUN RIN CHEN RNAM RGYAL, and the location became an important xylographic printing house specializing in the biographies of BKA' BRGYUD masters. The center also became the seat of an important incarnation lineage, the Brag dkar rta so incarnations.

Brahmadanda (Sanskrit) Brahmadaṇḍa Spinal column or sushumna; “the rod or stick of Brahma, . . . symbolized by the bamboo rod carried by ascetics, the seven-knotted wand of the Yogi. The seven knots are the seven Nadis along the spinal cord” (BCW 12:701). (BCW 12:616).

Brahman-yogins. See YOGI

Brahmapura (Sanskrit) Brahmapura [from brahma + pura city, abode] The abode or city of Brahmā, the creative or Third Logos. “The inmost chamber, the chamber of the Heart, and the abode of the World’s Mother” (VS 9), one of the mystic powers latent in all human beings, but called into activity by advanced yogis. Brahmapura can signify the heart or indeed the entire body. It is also the name of the so-called capital of Brahma on Mt. Kailasa in the Himalayas or on Mount Meru.

Brahma-Yoga: Wherein the Yogi finds himself and the whole universe as Brahman.

Brin. (Drin) A village and its surrounding region of the Rongshar Valley in southern Tibet, close to the Nepalese border, chiefly associated with the eleventh-century Tibetan YOGIN MI LA RAS PA. According to the yogin's biographies, the region was home to numerous patrons, and many of his favored retreat caves are located here. Also spelled Ding ma brin, or Brin thang.

Yogi ::: A male practitioner of yoga.

Yogi, Yogini (Sanskrit) Yogin, Yoginī A devotee who practices a full yoga system; the yogi state is that which, “when reached, makes the practitioner thereof absolute master of his six ‘principles,’ he now being merged in the seventh. It gives him full control, owing to his knowledge of Self and Self, over his bodily, intellectual and mental states, which, unable any longer to interfere with, or act upon, his Higher Ego, leave it free to exist in its original, pure, and divine state” (TG 381).

Yogi(Yogin, Sanskrit) ::: A yogi is a devotee, one who practices the Yoga system or one or more of its varioussubordinate branches.In some cases, yogis are those who strive in various ways to conquer the body and physical temptations,for instance by torture of the body. They also study more or less some of the magnificent philosophicalteachings of India coming down from far distant ages of the past; but mere mental study will not make aman a mahatma, nor will any torture of the body bring about the spiritual vision -- the vision sublime.(See also Yoga)

Yogic equality ::: The equality of soul, equanimity founded on the sense of the one Self, the one Divine everywhere — seeing the One in spite of all differences, degrees, disparities in the manifestation. The mental principle of equality tries to ignore or else to destroy the differences, degrees and disparities, to act as if all were equal or to try and make all equal,

Yogic Force ::: It simply means a higher Consciousness using its power, a spiritual and supraphysical force acting on the physical world directly.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 35, Page: 484


Yogic kriya ::: A special process or discipline in yoga.

Yogic trance cannot be an aim, as In so many yogic systems, but only a means, and a means not of escape from the waking existence, but to enlarge and raise the whole seeing, living and active consciousness.

Yogiha 楊岐派. See YANGQI PAI

Yogi Hoe 楊岐方會. See YANGQI FANGHUI

Yogin: A follower of or adept in yoga.

Yogin, already possessed of the highest supra-cosmic knowledge and experience in the state of irance. is able in the waling state to acquire directly whatever knowledge and exercise, whatever mastery may be useful or necessary to bis activities in the objec- tive world. For the andent system of Rajajoga aimed not only

Yogin, Yogini: (Skr.) The man, the woman, practicing Yoga (q.v.). -- K.F.L.

Yogin fields of consciousness, ranges of experience, abnormal faculties denied to the ordinary human life while it puissantly intensifies such normal powers and faculties as he already pos- sesses. These advantages can be further secured and emphasised by other subsidiary processes open to the Hatha Yogin.

Yogini ::: A female practitioner of yoga.

Yogins ::: I suppose it could be extendi to ilic Iwdy of others.

Yogi (S) Hindu-mystic, practitioner of yoga

Yogi ::: The whole difference between the Yogin and the natural man will be this, that the Yogin seeks to substitute in himself for the integral action of the lower Nature working in and by ego and division the integral action of the higher Nature working in and by God and unity.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 45


CakrasaMvaratantra. (T. 'Khor lo bde mchog gi rgyud). In Sanskrit, the "Binding of the Wheel Tantra" an important Buddhist tantra, often known simply as the CakrasaMvara (T. 'Khor lo bde mchog). The text is extant in Sanskrit and in a Tibetan translation in seven hundred stanzas, which is subdivided into fifty-one sections; it is also known by the name srīherukAbhidhAna (a name appearing at the end of each section), and commonly known in Tibet as the CakrasaMvara Laghutantra ("short tantra" or "light tantra") or Mulatantra ("root tantra") because, according to legend, there was once a longer text of one hundred thousand stanzas. The main deity of the tantra is HERUKA (also known as CakrasaMvara) and his consort is VAJRAVARAHĪ. Historically, the tantra originated as part of a literature that focused on a class of female divinities called YOGINĪ or dAKINĪ. It and its sister tantra, the HEVAJRATANTRA, probably appeared toward the end of the eighth century, and both show the influence of the Sarvabuddhasamayoga-dAkinījAlasaMvaratantra (referred to by Amoghavajra after his return from India to China in 746 CE). All are classed as yoginītantras. The use of skulls, the presence of the KHATVAnGA staff, and the references to sites holy to saivite KApAlikas (those who use skulls) point to a very close relationship between the saiva KApAlika literature and the early yoginītantras, such that some scholars have suggested an actual appropriation of the saiva literature by Buddhists outside mainstream Buddhist practice. Other scholars suggest this class of tantric literature originates from a SIDDHA tradition, i.e., from individual charismatic yogins and yoginīs with magical powers unaffiliated with particular religions or sects. Among the four classes of tantras-KRIYATANTRA, CARYATANTRA, YOGATANTRA, and ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA-the CakrasaMvaratantra is included in the last category; between the father tantras (PITṚTANTRA) and mother tantra (MATṚTANTRA) categories of anuttarayogatantras, it is classified in the latter category. The siddhas Luipa and SARAHA are prominent in accounts of its origin and transmission, and the siddha NAROPA is of particular importance in the text's transmission in India and from there to Tibet. Like many root tantras, the text contains very little that might be termed doctrine or theology, focusing instead on ritual matters, especially the use of MANTRA for the achievement of various powers (SIDDHI), especially the mundane (LAUKIKA) powers, such as the ability to fly, become invisible, etc. The instructions are generally not presented in a systematic way, although it is unclear whether this is the result of the development of the text over time or the intention of the authors to keep practices secret from the uninitiated. Later commentators found references in the text to elements of both the stage of generation (UTPATTIKRAMA) and stage of completion (NIsPANNAKRAMA). The DAkArnavatantra is included within the larger category of tantras related to the CakrasaMvara cycle, as is the Abhidhanottara and the SaMvarodayatantra. The tantra describes, in greater and less detail, a MAndALA with goddesses in sacred places in India (see PĪtHA) and the process of ABHIsEKA. The practice of the MAYADEHA (T. sgyu lus, "illusory body") and CAndALĪ (T. gtum mo, often translated as "psychic heat") are closely associated with this tantra. It was translated twice into Tibetan and is important in all three new-translation (GSAR MA) Tibetan sects, i.e., the SA SKYA, BKA' BRGYUD, and DGE LUGS. Iconographically, the CakrasaMvara mandala, starting from the outside, has first eight cremation grounds (sMAsANA), then a ring of fire, then VAJRAs, then lotus petals. Inside that is the palace with five concentric placement rings going in toward the center. In the center is the main deity Heruka with his consort VajravArAhī trampling on BHAIRAVA and his consort KAlarAtri (deities associated with saivism). There are a number of different representations. One has Heruka (or CakrasaMvara) dark blue in color with four faces and twelve arms, and VArAhī with a single face and two hands, red and naked except for bone ornaments. In the next circles are twenty-four vīras (heroes) with their consorts (related with the twenty-four pītha), with the remaining deities in the mandala placed in different directions in the outer circles.

caksus. (P. cakkhu; T. mig; C. yan; J. gen; K. an 眼). In Sanskrit, lit. "eye"; the base associated with the full range of types of vision (DARsANA), from sensory perception that occurs via the visual base (AYATANA), through extrasensory perception that was a product of meditative development (YOGIPRATYAKsA). Buddhist literature often refers to five types of "eyes" (paNcacaksus), viz., the physical eye (mAMsacaksus), which is the sense base (Ayatana) associated with visual consciousness; the divine eye (DIVYACAKsUS), the vision associated with the divinities (DEVA) in the heavens or the spiritual power (ABHIJNA) of clairvoyance; the wisdom eye (prajNAcaksus), which is the insight (PRAJNA) that derives from mainstream Buddhist practices; the dharma eye (dharmacaksus) that is exclusive to the BODHISATTVAs; and the buddha eye (buddhacaksus), which subsumes all other four. The caksus is said to be impossible to perceive with the naked eye and differs from the gross physical eyeball that is called the basis of the faculty.

candAlī. (T. gtum mo; C. zhantuoli; J. sendari; K. chondari 旃陀利). In Sanskrit, "fierce woman." In ordinary usage, this is a term for an outcaste or low-caste woman. However, in ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, it refers to a meditation practice sometimes described in English as "inner heat" or "psychic heat." It is one of the "six yogas of NAropa" (NA RO CHOS DRUG) but it figures in many practices of the completion stage (NIsPANNAKRAMA). In this practice, the meditator imagines a seed syllable (BĪJA) in the middle of the central channel (AVADHuTĪ) at the navel CAKRA. As the meditator concentrates on the letter, it begins to glow with bright light and emits intense heat. That heat rises slowly up the central channel, first to the cakra at the heart, then to the cakra at the throat, and finally to the cakra at the crown of the head. When it reaches the crown of the head, the heat of the inner fire begins to melt the white drop (BINDU) located there, causing it to begin to melt. As it melts, it descends through the central channel, first to the cakra at the throat, then to the cakra at the heart, the cakra at the navel, and finally to the cakra at the end of the central channel. As the drop moves slowly down through each cakra, a different type of bliss is experienced. This practice is said to produce physical heat in the body; according to tradition, yogins in Tibet, most notably MI LA RAS PA, were able to survive the cold in mountain caves through this practice.

*Caturasītisiddhapravṛtti. (T. Grub thob brgyad bcu rtsa bzhi'i lo rgyus). In Sanskrit, "The Lives of the Eighty-four Siddhas"; a tantric doxography ascribed to the early twelfth-century Indian author ABHAYADATTAsRĪ. The original Sanskrit version has been lost, but the text is preserved in Tibetan translation. The work records brief vitae for the great SIDDHAs (or mahAsiddhas) of Indian tantric Buddhism, who are commonly enumerated in a list of eighty-four. While the list varies, according to Abhayadattasrī's work, the eighty-four siddhas include Luyipa, Līlapa, VIRuPA, dombipa, savaripa, SARAHA, Kankaripa, Mīnapa, Goraksa, CaurAngi, Vīnapa, sAntipa, Tantipa, Camaripa, Khadgapa, NAGARJUNA, KAnḥapa, Karnaripa, Thaganapa, NAROPA, salipa, TILOPA, Catrapa, Bhadrapa, Dhukhandi, Ajokipa, Kalapa, Dhombipa, Kankana, Kambala, tengipa, Bhandhepa, Tandhepa, Kukkuripa, Kucipa, Dharmapa, Mahipa, Acinta, Babhahi, Nalina, Bhusuku, INDRABHuTI, Mekopa, Kotali, KaMparipa, JAlandhari, RAHULA, Dharmapa, Dhokaripa, Medhina, Pankaja, Ghandhapa, Yogipa, Caluki, Gorura, Lucika, Niguna, JayAnanda, Pacari, Campaka, Bhiksana, Telopa, Kumaripa, Caparipa, ManibhadrA, MekhalA, KanakhalA, Kalakala, Kantali, Dhahuli, Udheli, Kapalapa, Kirava, Sakara, Sarvabhaksa, NAgabodhi, DArika, Putali, Panaha, Kokali, Ananga, LaksmīnkarA, Samudra, and Vyali. See MAHASIDDHA.

Cazing on a dame or a bright spot b the traditional means used by yogins for concentration or for awakening of the inner consciousness and vision.

Chakra: In Yogi philosophy, one of the stages of the development of spiritual force in man.

chakras. ::: the six main yogic centres in the body; points or knots in the subtle human body located at the physical counterparts of the major plexuses of arteries, veins and nerves; meeting points of the subtle, non-physical energy channels, called nadis

'Chi med lha khang. (Chime Lhakang). A small temple founded in 1499 near Punakha in central Bhutan, dedicated to the mad YOGIN 'BRUG PA KUN LEGS, who is believed to have stayed there.

Chiti (Sanskrit) Citi [from the verbal root cit to think] Understanding; “that by which the effects and consequences of actions and kinds of knowledge are selected for the use of the soul,” or “conscience the inner Voice in man” (SD 1:288n). Some yogis consider chiti as a synonym of mahat, but theosophic philosophy considers mahat the root and base as well as the germ of chiti. Chiti is manas functioning under the illumination of buddhi, and therefore becomes discriminative or intuitive understanding, an organic activity as contrasted with abstract or pure thought or consciousness. This function when developed makes of the human intermediate nature an entity virtually identic with a manasaputra, and thus attracts by spiritual affinity guardian spirits or chitkalas, synonymous themselves with manasaputras.

chonggwan chi 定觀知. See YOGIPRATYAKsA

Ch'ont'ae sagyo ŭi. (C. Tiantai sijiao yi; J. Tendai shikyogi 天台四教儀). In Korean, the "Principle of the Fourfold Teachings of the Tiantai [School]," composed by the Korean monk Ch'egwan (d. 970); an influential primer of TIANTAI ZONG (K. Chont'ae chong) doctrine. The loss of the texts of the Tiantai tradition in China after the chaos that accompanied the fall of the Tang dynasty prompted the king of the Wuyue kingdom to seek copies of them elsewhere in East Asia. King Kwangjong (r. 950-975) of the Koryo dynasty responded to the Wuyue king's search by sending the monk Ch'egwan to China in 961. In order to summarize the major teachings of the Tiantai school, Ch'egwan wrote this one-roll abstract of TIANTAI ZHIYI's Sijiao yi, which also draws on other of Zhiyi's writings, including his FAHUA XUANYI. Ch'egwan's text is especially known for its summary of Zhiyi's doctrinal classification schema (see JIAOXIANG PANSHI) on the different (chronological) stages of the Buddha's teaching career and the varying methods he used in preaching to his audiences; these are called the "five periods and eight teachings" (WUSHI BAJIAO). The five periods correspond to what the Tiantai school considered to be the five major chronological stages in the Buddha's teaching career, each of which is exemplified by a specific scripture or type of scripture: (1) HUAYAN (AVATAMSAKASuTRA), (2) AGAMA, (3) VAIPULYA, (4) PRAJNAPARAMITA, and (5) SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA and MAHAPARINIRVAnASuTRA. The different target audiences of the Buddha's message lead to four differing varieties of content in these teachings (huafa): (1) the PItAKA teachings, which were targeted at the two-vehicle adherents (ER SHENG) of disciples (sRAVAKA) and solitary buddhas (PRATYEKABUDDHA); (2) the common teachings, which were intended for both two-vehicle adherents and neophyte bodhisattvas of the MAHAYANA; (3) the distinct teachings, which targeted only bodhisattvas; (4) the perfect or consummate teachings (YUANJIAO), which offered advanced bodhisattvas an unvarnished assessment of Buddhist truths. In speaking to these audiences, which differed dramatically in their capacity to understand his message, the Buddha is said also to have employed four principal techniques of conversion (huayi), or means of conveying his message: sudden, gradual, secret, and indeterminate. Ch'egwan's text played a crucial role in the revitalization of the Tiantai tradition in China and has remained widely studied since. The Ch'ont'ae sagyo ŭi was also influential in Japan, where it was repeatedly republished. Numerous commentaries on this text have also been written in China, Korea, and Japan.

Chu dbar. (Chubar). A Tibetan name for the region of the Rongshar Valley in southern Tibet close to the Nepalese border, chiefly associated with the eleventh-century Tibetan YOGIN MI LA RAS PA; also spelled Chu 'bar. According to Mi la ras pa's biographies, many of the yogin's favored retreat sites were located in the Chu dbar area, a short distance from the famed enclave of LA PHYI. Foremost among these was 'Bri lce phug (Driche puk), or "Dri's Tongue Cave," which served as the site for his cremation. Many of Mi la ras pa's patrons hailed from Chu dbar and the neighboring village BRIN, both of which later came under the administrative control of 'BRI GUNG BKA' BRGYUD hierarchs. The region is also home to Chu dbar monastery, which was eventually directed by the tenth KARMA PA Chos dbying rdo rje (Choying Dorje, 1604-1674), but was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. Nearby is Mt. Tseringma (Nepalese: Gaurishanker) which, together with four surrounding peaks, is believed to be the divine residence of the five long-life sister goddesses (TSHE RING MCHED LNGA) who were converted to Buddhism and became disciples of Mi la ras pa.

Citipati. (T. Dur khrod bdag po). In Sanskrit, "Lord of the Funeral Pile"; a pair of male and female dancing skeletons associated with the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA and who are often depicted as protectors of VAJRAYOGINĪ. They are also called srīsmasAnAdhipati or "lords of the charnel ground" and are regarded as enlightened beings and emanations of CAKRASAMVARA. They are also propitiated for wealth and for protection from thieves. According to legend, they are the spirits of two Indian ascetics who were murdered by thieves while practicing austerities in a charnel ground (sMAsANA). They each hold a danda or staff made of bone and a KAPALA and dance on corpses in ARDHAPARYAnKA pose, either in YAB YUM posture or side by side. They are not to be confused with the skeleton dancers in Tibetan 'CHAM performances, who represent servants of YAMA, the deity of death.

Citta-suddhi (purification of the mental or moral habits form- ed in the citta) was preached by the yogins as a first movement towards realisation and they got by it the saintliness of the saint and the quietude of the sage but the transformation of the nature of which w« speak Is something more than that, and this trans- formation does not come by contemplation alone.

CONCENTRATION ::: Fixing the consciousness in one place or on one object and in a single condition.

A gathering together of the consciousness and either centralising at one point or turning on a single object, e.g. the Divine; there can also be a gathered condition throughout the whole being, not at a point.

Concentration is necessary, first to turn the whole will and mind from the discursive divagation natural to them, following a dispersed movement of the thoughts, running after many-branching desires, led away in the track of the senses and the outward mental response to phenomena; we have to fix the will and the thought on the eternal and real behind all, and this demands an immense effort, a one-pointed concentration. Secondly, it is necessary in order to break down the veil which is erected by our ordinary mentality between ourselves and the truth; for outer knowledge can be picked up by the way, by ordinary attention and reception, but the inner, hidden and higher truth can only be seized by an absolute concentration of the mind on its object, an absolute concentration of the will to attain it and, once attained, to hold it habitually and securely unite oneself with it.

Centre of Concentration: The two main places where one can centre the consciousness for yoga are in the head and in the heart - the mind-centre and the soul-centre.

Brain concentration is always a tapasyā and necessarily brings a strain. It is only if one is lifted out of the brain mind altogether that the strain of mental concentration disappears.

At the top of the head or above it is the right place for yogic concentration in reading or thinking.

In whatever centre the concentration takes place, the yoga force generated extends to the others and produces concentration or workings there.

Modes of Concentration: There is no harm in concentrating sometimes in the heart and sometimes above the head. But concentration in either place does not mean keeping the attention fixed on a particular spot; you have to take your station of consciousness in either place and concentrate there not on the place, but on the Divine. This can be done with eyes shut or with eyes open, according as it best suits.

If one concentrates on a thought or a word, one has to dwell on the essential idea contained in the word with the aspiration to feel the thing which it expresses.

There is no method in this yoga except to concentrate, preferably in the heart, and call the presence and power of the Mother to take up the being and by the workings of her force to transform the consciousness; one can concentrate also in the head or between the eye-brows, but for many this is a too difficult opening. When the mind falls quiet and the concentration becomes strong and the aspiration intense, then there is a beginning of experience. The more the faith, the more rapid the result is likely to be.

Powers (three) of Concentration ::: By concentration on anything whatsoever we are able to know that thing, to make it deliver up its concealed secrets; we must use this power to know not things, but the one Thing-in-itself. By concentration again the whole will can be gathered up for the acquisition of that which is still ungrasped, still beyond us; this power, if it is sufficiently trained, sufficiently single-minded, sufficiently sincere, sure of itself, faithful to itself alone, absolute in faith, we can use for the acquisition of any object whatsoever; but we ought to use it not for the acquisition of the many objects which the world offers to us, but to grasp spiritually that one object worthy of pursuit which is also the one subject worthy of knowledge. By concentration of our whole being on one status of itself we can become whatever we choose ; we can become, for instance, even if we were before a mass of weaknesses and fears, a mass instead of strength and courage, or we can become all a great purity, holiness and peace or a single universal soul of Love ; but we ought, it is said, to use this power to become not even these things, high as they may be in comparison with what we now are, but rather to become that which is above all things and free from all action and attributes, the pure and absolute Being. All else, all other concentration can only be valuable for preparation, for previous steps, for a gradual training of the dissolute and self-dissipating thought, will and being towards their grand and unique object.

Stages in Concentration (Rajayogic) ::: that in which the object is seized, that in which it is held, that in which the mind is lost in the status which the object represents or to which the concentration leads.

Concentration and Meditation ::: Concentration means fixing the consciousness in one place or one object and in a single condition Meditation can be diffusive,e.g. thinking about the Divine, receiving impressions and discriminating, watching what goes on in the nature and acting upon it etc. Meditation is when the inner mind is looking at things to get the right knowledge.

vide Dhyāna.


:::   ‘Consecration" generally has a more mystical sense but this is not absolute. A total consecration signifies a total giving of one"s self; hence it is the equivalent of the word ``surrender"", not of the word (soumission} which always gives the impression that one accepts'' passively. You feel a flame in the wordconsecration"", a flame even greater than in the word offering''. To consecrate oneself isto give oneself to an action""; hence, in the yogic sense, it is to give oneself to some divine work with the idea of accomplishing the divine work.” Questions and Answers, MCW Vol. 4*.

‘Consecration’ generally has a more mystical sense but this is not absolute. A total consecration signifies a total giving of one’s self; hence it is the equivalent of the word surrender’’, not of the word (soumission} which always gives the impression that oneaccepts’’ passively. You feel a flame in the word consecration’’, a flame even greater than in the wordoffering’’. To consecrate oneself is ``to give oneself to an action’’; hence, in the yogic sense, it is to give oneself to some divine work with the idea of accomplishing the divine work.” Questions and Answers, MCW Vol. 4.

Daijo hoyogiron 大乘寶要義論. See SuTRASAMUCCAYA

dAkArnavamahAyoginītantra. [alt. DAkArnavatantra] (T. Mkha' 'gro rgya mtsho rnal 'byor ma'i rgyud). In APABHRAMsA, an early medieval Indian vernacular based on Sanskrit, literally, "dAk[inī] Ocean Yoginī Tantra"; the yoginī, or "mother," tantras are a subdivision of ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA. A manuscript of the tantra is extant in the Nepalese National Archives; the Tibetan translation is by Jayasena and Dharma yon tan. It is one of the four CAKRASAMVARATANTRA explanatory (vAkhyA) tantras.

dākārnavamahāyoginītantra

dAka. (T. mkha' 'gro). In Sanskrit, a donor or sacrifice; in tantric Buddhism, another name for a VĪRA "hero"; the male counterpart of a dAKINĪ, particularly in the GAnACAKRA, a ritual tantric feast that may have originated as an actual assembly of tAntrikas engaged in antinomian behavior, including ingesting ritually impure foods and engaging in sexual relations. In Tibetan, the term dpa' bo (vīra) or "hero" is typically used instead of mkha' 'gro (dAka), although the latter term appears in traditional lists of the beings invited to the ganacakra (T. tshogs). In the title of such tantras as the dAKARnAVAMAHAYOGINĪTANTRA and the VAJRAdAKATANTRA, dAka seems to be used as an abbreviation of dAKINĪ.

dAkinī. (T. mkha' 'gro ma; C. tuzhini; J. dakini; K. tojini 荼枳尼). In Sanskrit, a cannibalistic female demon, a witch; in sANTIDEVA's BODHICARYAVATARA, a female hell guardian (narakapAlA); in tantric Buddhism, dAkinīs, particularly the vajradAkinī, are guardians from whom tAntrikas obtain secret doctrines. For example, the VAJRABHAIRAVA adept LAlitavajra is said to have received the YAMANTAKA tantras from vajradAkinīs, who allowed him to bring back to the human world only as many of the texts as he could memorize in one night. The dAkinī first appears in Indian sources during the fourth century CE, and it has been suggested that they evolved from local female shamans. The term is of uncertain derivation, perhaps having something to do with "drumming" (a common feature of shamanic ritual). The Chinese, Japanese, and Korean give simply a phonetic transcription of the Sanskrit. In Tibetan, dAkinī is translated as "sky goer" (mkha' 'gro ma), probably related to the Sanskrit khecara, a term associated with the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA. Here, the dAkinī is a goddess, often depicted naked, in semi-wrathful pose (see VAJRAYOGINĪ); they retain their fearsome element but are synonymous with the highest female beauty and attractiveness and are enlightened beings. They form the third of what are known as the "inner" three jewels (RATNATRAYA): the guru, the YI DAM, and the dAkinīs and protectors (DHARMAPALA; T. chos skyong). The archetypical Tibetan wisdom or knowledge dAkinī (ye shes mkha' 'gro) is YE SHES MTSHO RGYAL, the consort of PADMASAMBHAVA. dAkinīs are classified in a variety of ways, the most common being mkha' 'gro sde lnga, the female buddhas equivalent to the PANCATATHAGATA or five buddha families (PANCAKULA): BuddhadAkinī [alt. AkAsadhAtvīsvarī; SparsavajrA] in the center of the mandala, with LocanA, MAmakī, PAndaravAsinī, and TARA in the cardinal directions. Another division is into three: outer, inner, and secret dAkinīs. The first is a YOGINĪ or a YOGIN's wife or a regional goddess, the second is a female buddha that practitioners visualize themselves to be in the course of tantric meditation, and the last is nondual wisdom (ADVAYAJNANA). This division is also connected with the three bodies (TRIKAYA) of MahAyAna Buddhism: the NIRMAnAKAYA (here referring to the outer dAkinīs), SAMBHOGAKAYA (meditative deity), and the DHARMAKAYA (the knowledge dAkinī). The word dAkinī is found in the title of the explanation (vAkhyA) tantras of the yoginī class or mother tantras included in the CakrasaMvaratantra group.

Dand, Danda (Sanskrit) Daṇḍa “The three and seven-knotted bamboo of Sannyasis given to them as a sign of power, after their initiation” (BCW 2:119). Used by raja yogis to store the essence of the yogi’s power: “recognizing this power in himself, he endows the given object with it and concentrates it in the object, . . . Then, when occasion arises, using his own will and discretion, he aims, in one direction or another, this power, the twofold quality of which is attraction and repulsion. . . . By such means he transforms also the wand or danda into a vahana, filling it with his own power and spirit and giving it for the time being his own properties” (Caves and Jungles 594; also 596-8)

darsana. (P. dassana; T. mthong ba; C. jian; J. ken; K. kyon 見). In Sanskrit, lit. "seeing," viz., "vision," "insight," or "understanding." In a purely physical sense, darsana refers most basically to visual perception that occurs through the ocular sense organ. However, Buddhism also accepts a full range of sensory and extrasensory perceptions, such as those associated with meditative development (see YOGIPRATYAKsA), that also involve "vision," in the sense of directly perceiving a reality hidden from ordinary sight. Darsana may thus refer to the seeing that occurs through any of the five types of "eyes" (CAKsUS) mentioned in Buddhist literature, viz., (1) the physical eye (MAMSACAKsUS), the sense base (AYATANA) associated with visual consciousness; (2) the divine eye (DIVYACAKsUS), the vision associated with the spiritual power (ABHIJNA) of clairvoyance; (3) the wisdom eye (PRAJNACAKsUS), which is the insight that derives from cultivating mainstream Buddhist practices; (4) the dharma eye (DHARMACAKsUS), which is exclusive to the BODHISATTVAs; and (5) the buddha eye (BUDDHACAKsUS), which subsumes all the other four. When used in its denotation of "insight," darsana often appears in the compound "knowledge and vision" (JNANADARsANA), viz., the direct insight that accords with reality (YATHABHuTA) of the three marks of existence (TRILAKsAnA)-impermanence (ANITYA), suffering (DUḤKHA), and nonself/insubstantiality (ANATMAN)-and one of the qualities perfected on the path leading to the state of "worthy one" (ARHAT). Darsana is usually considered to involve awakening (BODHI) to the truth, liberation (VIMUKTI) from bondage, and purification (VIsUDDHI) of all afflictions (KLEsA). The perfection of knowledge and vision (jNAnadarsanapAramitA) is also said to be an alternate name for the perfection of wisdom (PRAJNAPARAMITA), one of the six perfections (PARAMITA) of the bodhisattva path. In the fivefold structure of the Buddhist path, the DARsANAMARGA constitutes the third path. The related term "view" (DṚstI), which derives from the same Sanskrit root √dṛs ("to see"), is sometimes employed similarly to darsana, although it also commonly conveys the more pejorative meanings of dogma, heresy, or extreme or wrong views regarding the self and the world, often as propounded by non-Buddhist philosophical schools. Darsana is also sometimes used within the Indian tradition to indicate a philosophical or religious system, a usage still current today.

Desire-rejection ::: the rejection of desire is essentially the rejection of the element of craving, putting that out from the consciousness itself as a foreign clement not belonging to the true self and the inner nature. But refusal to indulge the sugges- tions of desire is also a part of the rejection ; to abstain from the action suggested, if it is not the right action, must be included in the yogic discipline. The first condition for getting rid of desire is, therefore, to become conscious with the true consciousness *, for then it becomes much easier to dismiss it than when one has to struggle with it as if it were a constituent part of oneself to be thrown out from the being. When the psychic being is in front, then also to get rid of desire becomes easy ; for the psychic being has in itself no desires, it has only aspirations and a seeking and love for the Divine and all things that are or tend towards the Divine.

Dhyānottarapatala. (T. Bsam gtan phyi ma rim par phye ba). In Sanskrit, the "Chapter on the Subsequent Stages of Concentration"; a brief work in seventy-four verses regarded as a chapter of the lost Vajrosnīsatantra. It also is related to the fifth chapter of the MAHĀVAIROCANĀBHISAMBODHISuTRA. The work, preserved only in Tibetan, is classified as a KRIYĀTANTRA, and provides instruction on MANTRA recitation and yogic breath practice (PRĀnĀYĀMA), which are to be undertaken subsequent to the practice of DHYĀNA. There is a detailed commentary on the text by BUDDHAGUHYA.

Dignāga. [alt. Dinnāga] (T. Phyogs glang; C. Chenna; J. Jinna; K. Chinna 陳那) (c. 480-c. 540). Indian monk regarded as the formalizer of Buddhist logic (NYĀYA; HETUVIDYĀ). Dignāga was an influential innovator in Buddhist inferential reasoning or logical syllogisms (PRAYOGA; SĀDHANA), an important feature of Indian philosophy more broadly, which occupies a crucial place in later Indian and Tibetan philosophical analysis. The Indian Nyāya (Logic) school advocated that there were five necessary stages in syllogistic reasoning: (1) probandum or proposition (PRATIJNĀ), "The mountain is on fire"; (2) reason (HETU), "because there is smoke," (3) analogy (udāharana), "Whatever is smoky is on fire, like a stove, but unlike a lake"; (4) application (upanāya), "Since this mountain is smoky, it is on fire"; (5) conclusion (nigamana), "The mountain is on fire." Using the same example, Dignāga by contrast reduced the syllogism down to only three essential steps: (1) probandum or proposition (PAKsA), "the mountain is on fire"; (2) reason (hetu), "because there is smoke"; (3) exemplification (dṛstānta), "whatever is smoky is on fire, like a stove," and "whatever is not on fire is not smoky, like a lake," or, more simply, "like a stove, unlike a lake." Dignāga is also the first scholiast to incorporate into Buddhism the Vaisesika position that there are only two valid means of knowledge (PRAMĀnA): direct perception (PRATYAKsA, which also includes for Buddhists the subcategory of YOGIPRATYAKsA) and inference (ANUMĀNA). Dignāga's major works include his PRAMĀnASAMUCCAYA ("Compendium on Valid Means of Knowledge"), ĀLAMBANAPARĪKsĀ ("Investigation of the Object"), and Nyāyamukha ("Primer on Logic"), which is available only in Chinese translation. See also DHARMAKĪRTI.

dingguan zhi 定觀知. See YOGIPRATYAKsA

DIVISION. ::: Division is the cause of ignorance as ignorance is the cause of suffering.

Division of being ■ A necessary stage In the yogic develop- ment and experience. One feels that there is a twofold being, the inner psychic which is the true one and the other, the outer human being which is instrumentaf for the outward life. To live in the inner psychic being in union with the Divine while doing the outward work is the first stage in Karmayoga.

Live always in the psychic being, your true being. The psychic will, in due time, awaken and turn to the Divine all the rest of the nature, so that even the outer being will feel itself in touch with the Divine and moved by the Divine in all it is and feels and does.


Dpa' bo Gtsug lag phreng ba. (Pawo Tsuklak Trengwa) (1504-1566). A renowned master and historian of the KARMA BKA' BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism, second in the line of DPA' BO INCARNATIONS. Born in the region of Snye thang (Nyethang), south of LHA SA in central Tibet, Gtsug lag phreng ba was recognized at the age of five as the embodiment of his predecessor, Dpa' bo Chos dbang lhun grub (Pawo Chowang Lhundrup). At nine, he received monastic ordination from the fourth ZHWA DMAR, Chos grags ye shes (Chodrak Yeshe, 1453-1524), and he later studied with masters such as Dwags po pandita Chos rgyal Bstan pa'i rgyal mtshan (Chogyal Tenpe Gyaltsen, b. fifteenth century), the mad yogin of central Tibet Dbus smyon Kun dga' bzang po (Ü Nyon Kunga Sangpo, 1458-1532) Heruka. At the age of twenty-nine he received the name Gtsug lag phreng ba from the eighth KARMA PA MI BSKYOD RDO RJE. He was active throughout his life in the southern Tibetan region of LHO BRAG; he became the abbot of LHA LUNG monastery and later renovated SRAS MKHAR DGU THOG, the famed site of MI LA RAS PA's tower, commissioning many religious paintings, adding a large a golden roof and constructing a large monastic complex. Among Gtsug lag 'phreng ba's major literary works is the famous history of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism CHOS 'BYUNG MKHAS PA'I DGA' STON, composed between 1544 and 1564.

Dreams from the subconscient ::: It is one of the most embar- rassing elements of yogic experience to find how obstinately the subconscient retains what has been settled and done with in the upper layers of the consciousness. But just for that reason these dreams are often a useful indication as they enable us to pursue things to their obscure roots in this underworld and excise them.

Dreams of physical mind and yogic dreams ; The dreams of the physical mind are an incoherent jumble made up partly of responses to vague touches from the physical world round which the lower mind-faculties disconnected from the will and reason, the bttddhi, weave a web of wandering phantasy, partly of disordered associations from the bram-memory, partly of reflections from the soul travelling on the mental plane, reflections which are, ordinarily, received without intelligence or co-ordination, wildly distorted in the reception and mixed up confusedly with the other dream elements, wnlh brain-memories and fantastic responses to any sensory touch from the physical world. In the yogic dream-state, on the other hand, the mind is in clear pos- session of itself, though not of the physical world, works cohe- rently and is able to use either its ordinary will and intelligence with a concentrated power or else the higher will and intelli- gence of the more exalted planes of mind. It withdraws from experience of the outer world, it puts its seals upon the physical senses and their doors of communication with material things ; but everything that is proper to itself, thought, reasoning, reflec- tion, vision, it can continue to execute with an increased purity and power of sovereign concentration free from the distractions and unsteadiness of the waking mind. It can use too its will and produce upon itself or upon its environment mental, moral and even physical effects which may continue and have their after-consequences on the waking state subsequent to the cessa- tion of the trance.

Ecstasy, Ecstasis (Greek) [from ekstasis displacement, standing out from the proper place, hence rising above] A transference of consciousness from the physical plane to another inner and superior plane, accompanied by awareness and memory of the experience. It is necessary to distinguish between an astral-psychic experience and a truly psychospiritual one. The former is delusive and fraught with harm; the latter is the state of illumination spoken of by Plotinus, resulting from the true asceticism of the disciple, and in its highest form is the same as the high stage of meditation of the Hindu yogi.

Equanimity and peace in all conditions, in all parts of the being is the first foundation of the yogic status. Either Light

Evans-Wentz, Walter Y. (1878-1965). American Theosophist, best known as the editor of THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. Walter Wentz was born in Trenton, New Jersey, the son of a German immigrant and an American Quaker. As a boy he took an early interest in books on spiritualism he found in his father's library, reading as a teen both Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine by Madame HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY of the Theosophical Society. He moved to California at the turn of the century, where in 1901, he joined the American section of the Theosophical Society. After graduating from Stanford University, Wentz went to Jesus College at Oxford in 1907 to study Celtic folklore. He later traveled to Sri Lanka (Ceylon) and then on to India. In 1919, he arrived in the British hill station of Darjeeling, where he acquired a Tibetan manuscript. The manuscript was a portion of a cycle of treasure texts (GTER MA) discovered by RATNA GLING PA, entitled "The Profound Doctrine of Self-Liberation of the Mind [through Encountering] the Peaceful and Wrathful Deities" (Zab chos zhi khro dgongs pa rang grol), said to have been discovered in the fourteenth century. Since he could not read Tibetan, Evans-Wentz took the text to KAZI DAWA SAMDUP, the English teacher at a local school. Kazi Dawa Samdup provided Evans-Wentz with a translation of a portion of the text, which Evans-Wentz augmented with his own introduction and notes, publishing it in 1927 as The Tibetan Book of the Dead. Since its publication, various editions of the book have sold over 500,000 copies in English, making it the most famous Tibetan Buddhist text in the world. The text describes the process of death and rebirth, focusing on the intervening transition period called the BAR DO, or "intermediate state" (ANTARĀBHAVA). The text provides instructions on how to recognize reality in the intermediate state and thus gain liberation from rebirth. Through listening to the instructions in the text being read aloud, the departed consciousness is able to gain liberation; the Tibetan title of the text, BAR DO THOS GROL CHEN MO, means "Great Liberation in the Intermediate State through Hearing." Evans-Wentz's approach to the text reflects his lifelong commitment to Theosophy. Other translations that Kazi Dawa Samdup made for Evans-Wentz were included in Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines (1935). In 1924, after Kazi Dawa Samdup's death, Evans-Wentz visited his family in Kalimpong, from whom he received a manuscript translation of the MI LA RAS PA'I RNAM THAR, a biography of MI LA RAS PA, which Evans-Wentz subsequently edited and published as Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa (1928). He returned to Darjeeling in 1935 and employed two Sikkimese monks to translate another work from the same cycle of texts as the Bar do thos grol, entitled "Self-Liberation through Naked Vision Recognizing Awareness" (Rig pa ngo sprod gcer mthong rang grol). During the same visit, he received a summary of a famous biography of PADMASAMBHAVA. These works formed the last work in his series, The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation, eventually published in 1954.

:::   "Experiences are of all kinds and take all forms in the consciousness. When the consciousness undergoes, sees or feels anything spiritual or psychic or even occult, that is an experience — in the technical yogic sense, for there are of course all sorts of experiences that are not of that character.” Letters on Yoga

Fahua anle xingyi. (J. Hokke anrakugyogi; K. Pophwa allak haengŭi 法華安樂行義). In Chinese, "Exegesis on the 'Blissful Practice' Section of the 'Lotus Sutra,'" treatise composed by NANYUE HUISI and one of the earliest texts of the nascent TIANTAI ZONG. The text situated the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA at the locus of Tiantai teachings and outlined the archetypal contemplative techniques that were subsequently developed by TIANTAI ZHIYI. It contained both the incipient Tiantai understanding of the notion of "emptiness according to the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ" (bore kongxing) and the ritualistic elements of visualization and chanting that became central in subsequent iterations of Tiantai practice.

Fakir (Arabic) [from faqīr poor] An Islamic religious mendicant, synonymous with dervish; the term is loosely applied to any mendicant devotee or yogi in India. According to T. P. Hughes, there are five principal orders of fakirs in North India and Pakistan: the Naqshbandia, Qadiria, Chishtia, Jalalia, and Sarwardia — all being ba-shara (with the law) fakirs — those who govern their conduct according to the principles of Islam. Fakirs should not be confounded with sannyasins or Hindu yogis.

Fakir: The term, properly, designates a Moslem mendicant ascetic and miracle-worker of India. It is often, incorrectly, applied to Hindu ascetics, too. According to Yogi Ramacharaka (in The Philosophies and Religions of Indian), “the secret of the fakir’s power generally consists in his ability to produce a mental illusion, or Maya, whereby the senses of the bystanders are deluded and the people made to appear to witness things that have no basis in fact. Another class of effects is produced by the control of Prana (or Vital Force) by the concentrated Will of the performer, so that heavy objects are moved around in defiance of the law of gravitation, and even the human body at times being floated about in the air ...”

Falsehood, in the yogic sense. ttuihyH, moha}

falsehood ::: “It [falsehood] is created by an Asuric (hostile) power which intervenes in this creation and is not only separated from the Truth and therefore limited in knowledge and open to error, but in revolt against the Truth or in the habit of seizing the Truth only to pervert it. This Power, the dark Asuric Shakti or Rakshasic Maya, puts forward its own perverted consciousness as true knowledge and its wilful distortions or reversals of the Truth as the verity of things. It is the powers and personalities of this perverted and perverting consciousness that we call hostile beings, hostile forces. Whenever these perversions created by them out of the stuff of the Ignorance are put forward as the Truth of things, that is the Falsehood, in the yogic sense, …” Letters on Yoga

Falsehood ::: not Ignorance (Avidya), but an extreme result of it. Falsehood is created by an Asuric power which intervenes in this creation and is not only separated from Truth and therefore limited in knowledge and open to error, but in revolt against the Truth or in the habit of seizing the Truth only to pervert it. This Power puts forth its own perverted consciousness as true knowledge and its willful distortions or reversals of the Truth as the verity of things. Whenever these perversions created out of the stuff of ignorance are put forward as the Truth of things, that is the Falsehood, in the yogic sense.

:::   Footnote: "E.g. the Russellian fear of emptiness which is the form the active mind gives to Silence. Yet it was on what you call emptiness, on the Silence, that my whole yoga was founded and it was through it that there came afterwards all the inexhaustible riches of a greater Knowledge, Will and Joy — all the experiences of greater mental, psychic and vital realms, all the ranges up to overmind and beyond. The cup has often to be emptied before it can be new-filled; the yogin, the sadhak ought not to be afraid of emptiness or silence.” Letters on Yoga

Footnote: “E.g. the Russellian fear of emptiness which is the form the active mind gives to Silence. Yet it was on what you call emptiness, on the Silence, that my whole yoga was founded and it was through it that there came afterwards all the inexhaustible riches of a greater Knowledge, Will and Joy—all the experiences of greater mental, psychic and vital realms, all the ranges up to overmind and beyond. The cup has often to be emptied before it can be new-filled; the yogin, the sadhak ought not to be afraid of emptiness or silence.” Letters on Yoga

Force [Yogic], The ::: it simply means a higher Consciousness using its power, a spiritual and supraphysical force acting on the physical world directly.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 35, Page: 484


from any general prohibitory rule. What is forbidden to anyone with a strong spiritual sense is to be a miracle-monger, perform- ing extraordinary ^things for show, for gain, for fame, out ot vanity or pride. It is forbidden to use powers from mere vital motives, to make an Asuric ostentation of them or turn them into a support for arrogance, conceit, ambition or any other of the amiable weaknesses to which human nature is prone. It is because half-baked yogins so often fall into these traps* of the hostile forces that the use of yogic powers is sometimes discou- raged as harmful to the user.

furyogi 不了義. See NEYĀRTHA

Gayā-Kāsyapa. (P. Gayā-Kassapa; T. Ga ya 'od srung; C. Qieye Jiashe; J. Gaya Kasho; K. Kāya Kasop 伽耶迦葉). A matted-hair ascetic who was ordained with his two brothers and became an early enlightened disciple of the Buddha. According to the Pāli account, the three brothers were fire worshippers, who practiced austerities on the banks of the NeraNjarā (S. NAIRANJANĀ) river. Gayā-Kāsyapa dwelt at Gayāsīsa with two hundred disciples, while his older brother URUVILVĀ-KĀsYAPA (P. Uruvela-Kassapa), dwelled upriver at Uruvelā with five hundred disciples, and the middle brother NADĪ-KĀsYAPA (P. Nadī-Kassapa) with three hundred disciples. All three brothers were devoted to the observance of brahmanical fire rituals. Gayā-Kāsyapa also observed the practice of bathing three times in the river in order to wash away sins during the festival of Gayāphaggu. Not long after his enlightenment, the Buddha visited the hermitage of Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa with the intention of converting him and his disciples. Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa mistakenly believed that he was already an arahant (S. ARHAT) himself and was liberated from the bonds of rebirth. Knowing that Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa could be dissuaded from his false views by a display of yogic power, the Buddha performed numerous magical feats to demonstrate his mastery of iddhi (S. ṚDDHI), including subduing a fire serpent (NĀGA) without being burned, a scene depicted in Indian rock carvings. Using his ability to read Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa's mind, the Buddha was able to dispel his view that he was an arahant and converted him and his disciples. As part of their conversion, they shaved off their long locks and threw them in the river. When Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa's younger brothers Gayā-Kāsyapa and Nadī-Kāsyapa saw all the hair floating downstream, they came to investigate. They in turn accepted the Buddha as their teacher and entered the order of monks (SAMGHA), bringing all their disciples along with them. As a result, the Buddha's community gained a thousand monks. Because of their previous devotions to fire rituals, after their ordination, the Buddha preached to all these new monks the renowned "Fire Sermon" (ĀDITTAPARIYĀYASUTTA), whereupon the three brothers and their disciples attained arahantship. Gayā-Kāsyapa earned the merit to encounter the Buddha and attain arahantship in a previous life during the time of the buddha Sikhī (S. Sikhin), when, as a hermit, he encountered that previous buddha walking in the woods and offered him fruit.

Gling ras pa Padma rdo rje. (Lingrepa Pema Dorje) (1128-1188). A Tibetan YOGIN venerated as a founder of the 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism; also known as Gling chen ras pa (Lingchen Repa) and Gling rje ras pa (Lingje Repa). He trained under the renowned BKA' BRGYUD master PHAG MO GRU PA RDO RJE RGYAL PO at GDAN SA MTHIL monastery and later spent numerous years in solitary meditation retreat. He consecrated the site upon which his principal disciple, GTSANG PA RGYA RAS YE SHES RDO RJE, founded the important 'BRUG PA monastery of RWA LUNG.

Gtsang smyon Heruka. (Tsangnyon Heruka) (1452-1507). Tibetan iconoclast, best known as Gtsang smyon, the "madman of Gtsang"; revered especially for his literary works, including the biography of eleventh-century master MI LA RAS PA. Gtsang smyon Heruka began his career as a monk, receiving Buddhist ordination at the age of seven. He studied various systems of tantra and meditation under his chief guru, the Bka' brgyud master Shes rab 'byams pa, and later under several Sa skya teachers. Discouraged by the limitations of life as a monk and scholar, he adopted the life of a wandering YOGIN, engaging in the unusual behavior for which he earned the appellation smyon pa, "madman." His actions have been interpreted as part of a fifteenth-century reaction and reform movement against the growing wealth and power of elite incarnation lineages and religious institutions of his day. He and other "mad yogins" affiliated with the Bka' brgyud sect, such as 'BRUG BA KUN LEGS, and the lesser known Dbu smyon Kun dga' bzang po (1458-1532), sought to reemphasize the importance of meditation and retreat over strict adherence to monastic discipline or intellectual study-a tradition reaching back to the renowned Bka' brgyud founder, Mi la ras pa. Gtsang smyon Heruka himself spent many years visiting the meditation caves and retreat sites associated with Mi la ras pa. He also attempted to preserve important Bka' brgyud instruction lineages that were in danger of being lost, and toward the end of his life compiled an enormous thirteen-volume synthesis of the aural instructions (snyan brgyud) stemming from three of Mi la ras pa's principal disciples, RAS CHUNG PA RDO RJE GRAGS, SGAM PO PA BSOD NAMS RIN CHEN, and Ngan rdzongs rdo rje rgyal po (late eleventh century). He visited Nepal on several occasions, directing the renovation of SVAYAMBHu STuPA, one of the Kathmandu Valley's principal Buddhist pilgrimage centers. He is perhaps best remembered as the author of the widely read MI LA RAS PA'I RNAM THAR ("Life of Milarepa") and MI LA RAS PA'I MGUR 'BUM ("Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa"), as well as a biography of Milarepa's guru MARPA CHOS KYI BLO GROS.

Gymnosophists [from Greek gymnosophistai naked wise men] Name given by the Greeks to the ascetics met by Alexander in India, as mentioned by Plutarch and others. They are said in some cases to have practiced extreme asceticism, including virtual nudity in all weathers; these “learned yogis and ascetic type philosophers who returned to the jungle and forest, there to reach through great austerities superhuman knowledge and experience,” are said to have possessed occult powers due to their mode of life and to the traditional knowledge which they had (TG 130, IU 1:90, 113).

Gyogi

Gyogi. (行基) (668-749). Japanese monk of the Hosso (FAXIANG ZONG) tradition; his name is sometimes also seen transcribed as Gyoki, although Gyogi is to be preferred. Gyogi was a native of otori in Izumi no kuni (present Sakai-shi, osaka prefecture). He was ordained in 682, perhaps at the monastery of YAKUSHIJI, by the eminent monk DoSHo. Almost two decades later, Gyogi is said to have taken the rather unconventional route of directly preaching to the public in the capital and the countryside. He also became famous for building monasteries, bridges, roads, and irrigation systems. As a large number of the taxable population sought ordination from Gyogi, in 717 the court issued an edict banning private ordination, leaving temple grounds, and performing rites for the sick without official sanction. The court then increased its control of the Buddhist SAMGHA by requiring government certification (kokucho) of all ordinations. The court's hostile attitude toward Gyogi later changed and in 743 he was asked to assist in the construction of the great VAIROCANA statue at ToDAIJI. Shortly thereafter, Gyogi was appointed by Emperor Shomu (r. 724-749) as the supreme priest (daisojo) of the office of priestly affairs (sogo) in 745.

Hathayogic ^-stem its devices of mana and pran^-amz, but reduces their multiple and elaborate forms in each case to one simplest and most directly effective process suffidcnl for its own imme- diate object. Thus it gets rid of the Hathayogic complexity and cumbrousness while it utilises the swift and powerful eOicacy of its methods for the control of the body and the sital functions and for the awakening of that interual dynamism, full of a latent supernormal faculty’, typified in Yogic lenninologj’ by the kuru^alini, the coiled and sleeping serpent of Bnergy within.

hat.ha-yogin ::: one who practises hat.hayoga. hatha-yogin

hathayogin ::: [one who practises hathayoga].

hatha yogi. ::: the one who uses relaxation and other practices such as yamas, niyamas, mudras, bandhas etc.. to gain control of the physical body and the subtle life force &

Hevajratantra/HevajradākinījālasaMvaratantra. (T. Kye rdo rje'i rgyud; C. Dabei kongzhi jingang dajiao wang yigui jing; J. Daihi kuchi kongo daikyoo gikikyo; K. Taebi kongji kŭmgang taegyo wang ŭigwe kyong 大悲空智金剛大教王儀軌經). An important Indian Buddhist TANTRA, classified as an ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, and within that group, a YOGINĪTANTRA and a mother tantra (MĀTṚTANTRA). Likely composed in the eighth century, the work consists of seven hundred fifty stanzas written in a mixture of Sanskrit and APABHRAMsA; it is traditionally said to be a summary of a larger work in five hundred thousand stanzas, now lost. The tantra is presumed to derive from the SIDDHA movement of north India, and the central deity, HEVAJRA, is depicted as a naked siddha. Like most tantras, the text is particularly concerned with ritual, especially those that result in the attainment of worldly (LAUKIKA) powers. It famously recommends the use of "intentional language" or "coded language" (SANDHYĀBHĀsĀ) for tantric practitioners. The widespread ANUTTARAYOGA system of the channels (NĀdĪ), winds (PRĀnA), and drops (BINDU), and the various levels of bliss achieved through the practice of sexual yoga is particularly associated with the Hevajratantra. It sets forth the so-called four joys, the greatest of which is the "innate" or "natural" (SAHAJA) joy. A Chinese translation of the Hevajratantra was made in 1055 by Dharmapāla, but neither the text nor its central deity gained particular popularity in East Asian Buddhism. The text was much more important in Tibet. The tantra was rendered into Tibetan by the Sa skya translator 'BROG MI SHĀKYA YE SHES in the early eleventh century and popularized by MAR PA, whose Indian master NĀROPA wrote a well-known commentary to the text. The scriptures associated with the Hevajratantra were the basis for the Indian adept VIRuPA's LAM 'BRAS ("path and result") systematization of tantric doctrine. This practice is central in the SA SKYA tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. The SaMputatantra is regarded as an explanatory tantra of the Hevajra. There are a number of important commentaries to this tantra written in the Indian tradition and dozens composed in Tibet.

Hevajra. (T. Kye rdo rje; C. Jingangwang; J. Kongoo; K. Kŭmgangwang 金剛王). An important Indian tantric deity in the ANUTTARAYOGA class of tantras, who is the central figure in the HEVAJRATANTRA MAndALA. The cult of Hevajra developed in India at least by the eighth century, the date generally given for that TANTRA. A number of Indian images from the eleventh century have been identified as HERUKA Hevajra, although the identification is uncertain. The tantric deity Hevajra is most commonly depicted as dark blue in color and naked. One of his most common forms is the Kapāladhārin ("Skull Bearing") Hevajra, with four legs, eight faces with three eyes each, and sixteen hands, each of which holds a skull cup. Each face has three bloodshot eyes, four fangs, and a protruding tongue. The skulls in his right hands hold various animals and the skulls in his left hand hold various deities. He is often depicted in sexual union with his consort is Nairātmyā ("Selflessness"), who holds a curved knife and skull cup, the couple surrounded by a retinue of eight yoginīs. There are eight famous forms of Hevajra: four called the body (KĀYA), speech (vāc), mind (CITTA), and heart (hṛdaya) Hevajras, as described in the Hevajratantra (the Kapāladhārin Hevajra corresponds to the heart Hevajra); and the body, speech, mind, and heart Hevajras, as described in the SaMputatantra. His name literally means "Hey, Vajra."

Hokke anrakugyogi 法華安樂行義. See FAHUA ANLE XINGYI

Hon'yaku myogi taishu 翻譯名義大集. See MAHĀVYUTPATTI

however, others which are equally of a Rajayogic character, since they use the mental and psychical being as key. Some of them are directed rather to the quiescence of the mind than to its immediate absorption, as the discipline by which the mind is simply watched and allowed to exhaust its habit of vagrant thought in a purposeless running from which it feels all sanction, purpose and interest withdrawn, and that, more strenuous and rapidly effective, by which all outward-going thought is excluded and the mind forced to sink into itself where in its absolute quietude it can only reflect the pure Being or pass away into its superconscient existence. The method differs, the object and the result are the same.

Ichchha-sakti (Sanskrit) Icchā-śakti [from icchā desire, will + śakti power] Will power or the force of desire; this power of the will is one of the occult forces of nature. Its most ordinary manifestation on the physical plane is the generation of the nerve currents necessary to set certain muscles in motion for the accomplishment of the desired object, and the paralysing of other muscles. A yogi generally performs his wonders by using ichchha-sakti combined with kriya-sakti. Desire arouses or motivates the will, which then moves in accordance with the direction given it through the desire, which always partakes of mental activity. From this general basis the adept with his knowledge of the laws of nature can utilize certain desires of a lofty character, which arouse the corresponding will on the different planes.

In 1111, at the age of twenty, he received the throne of Sa skya monastery from Ba ri lo tsā ba and became the institution's third abbot, a position he held for the remainder of his life. Beginning in 1120, Sa chen received the seminal Sa skya instructions on lam 'bras from Zhang ston chos 'bar (Shangton Chobar, 1053?-1135?), a YOGIN who initially claimed not to know anything about the topic. However, he eventually provided instruction to Sa chen for eight years, after which he instructed him not to teach lam 'bras for the next eighteen years. Sa chen then spent those eighteen years in retreat, practicing these instructions. During this time, he had a vision of the Indian adept VIRuPA, founder of the lam 'bras lineage, who bestowed on him the lam 'bras teachings in their entirety. After completing his retreat, Sa chen put Virupa's instructions on lam 'bras, known as the RDO RJE TSHIG RKANG ("Vajra Verses"), into writing for the first time, eventually composing eleven commentaries on them. Later, Sa chen was poisoned and went into a coma. When he regained consciousness, he had suffered complete memory loss. He thus went to his former teachers to receive instructions again. However, there was no one to provide the lam 'bras teachings and Zhang ston chos 'bar had passed away. Sa chen went into retreat, during which Zhang ston chos 'bar appeared to him and repeated his previous teachings. Among Sa chen's four sons, two became prominent Sa skya leaders: BSOD NAMS RTSE MO and Grags pa rgyal mtshan (Drakpa Gyaltsen, 1147-1216). Another of his sons, Dpal che 'od po (Palche Öpo, 1150-1204), was the father of SA SKYA PAndITA KUN DGA' RGYAL MTSHAN, who would become one of Tibet's most influential religious figures. Kun dga' snying po and the most illustrious of his offspring over the next two generations (Grags pa rgyal mtshan, Bsod nams rtse mo, Kun dga' snying po, and 'PHAGS PA) are known as SA SKYA GONG MA LNGA (the five Sakya hierarchs) and as such have iconic status in Sa skya ritual.

Indrabhuti. (T. In dra bo dhi). There are at least three figures by this name known to the Indian and Tibetan traditions. Perhaps the most important is a semimythical king of OddIYĀNA ([alt. Uddiyāna], probably the Swat region of northwest India but also identified as Orissa) at the time of the miraculous birth of PADMASAMBHAVA; according to tradition, he had no male heir, and so he installed Padmasambhava as crown prince. A second Indrabhuti is listed among the eighty-four MAHĀSIDDHA as a teacher of TILOPA; he may be the Indrabhuti, closely associated with mahāsiddha Lawapa, who is first in the lineage list (T. gsan yig) of the VAJRAYOGINĪ practices of the Tibetan SA SKYA sect and a brother of Laksmīnkarā. There is also a ninth-century Indian king and tantric master, a student of Ācārya Kukurāja, who authored the Cittaratnavisodhana, called Indrabhuti.

Inner tapasya [Austerity, Discipline]? It means the tapasya for the character, and for changing the psychological movements of the being, precisely to conquer the desires, conquer the passions, overcome egoism, get rid of fears. This is the inner tapasya. Outer tapasya is all the ascetic or hatha yogic methods; to make use of physical means for one’s yoga is an outer tapasya. But inner tapasya consists of attending to one’s character and trying to change it.
   Ref: CWM Vol. 06, Page: 410


INTEGRATION. ::: Everybody is an amalgamation not of two, but of many personalities. It is part of the yogic perfection in this yoga to accord and transmute them so as to ' integrate ’ the penonality.

— it can come in afterwards as a powerful aid to experience; it can be full of indications which help to self-knowledge or knowledge of things or knowledge of people ; it can be veridical and lead to prevision, premonition and other openings of less importance but very useful to a Yogi. In short, vision is a great instrument though not absolutely indispensable.

“It is a Cross in a Circle and Crux Ansata, truly; but it is a Cross on which all the human passions have to be crucified before the Yogi passes through the ‘strait gate,’ the narrow circle that widens into an infinite one, as soon as the inner man has passed the threshold” (SD 2:549).

It is here, when this foundation has been secured, that the practice of Asana and Pranayama come in and can then bear their perfect fruits. By itself the control of the mind and moral being only puts our normal consciousness into the right preliminary condition; it cannot bring about that evolution or manifestation of the higher psychic being which is necessary for the greater aims of Yoga. In order to bring about this manifestation the present nodus of the vital and physical body with the mental being has to be loosened and the way made clear for the ascent through the greater psychic being to the union with the superconscient Purusha. This can be done by Pranayama. Asana is used by the Rajayoga only in its easiest and most natural position, that naturally taken by the body when seated and gathered together, but with the back and head strictly erect and in a straight line, so that there may be no deflection of the spinal cord. The object of the latter rule is obviously connected with the theory of the six chakras and the circulation of the vital energy between the muladhara and the brahmarandhra. The Rajayogic Pranayama purifies and clears the nervous system; it enables us to circulate the vital energy equally through the body and direct it also where we will according to need, and thus maintain a perfect health and soundness of the body and the vital being; it gives us control of all the five habitual operations of the vital energy in the system and at the same time breaks down the habitual divisions by which only the ordinary mechanical processes of the vitality are possible to the normal life. It opens entirely the six centres of the psycho-physical system and brings into the waking consciousness the power of the awakened Shakti and the light of the unveiled Purusha on each of the ascending planes. Coupled with the use of the mantra it brings the divine energy into the body and prepares for and facilitates that concentration in Samadhi which is the crown of the Rajayogic method. Rajayogic concentration is divided into four stages; it commences with the drawing both of the mind and senses from outward things, proceeds to the holding of the one object of concentration to the exclusion of all other ideas and mental activities, then to the prolonged absorption of the mind in this object, finally, to the complete ingoing of the consciousness by which it is lost to all outward mental activity in the oneness of Samadhi. The real object of this mental discipline is to draw away the mind from the outward and the mental world into union with the divine Being. Th
   refore in the first three stages use has to be made of some mental means or support by which the mind, accustomed to run about from object to object, shall fix on one alone, and that one must be something which represents the idea of the Divine. It is usually a name or a form or a mantra by which the thought can be fixed in the sole knowledge or adoration of the Lord. By this concentration on the idea the mind enters from the idea into its reality, into which it sinks silent, absorbed, unified. This is the traditional method. There are, however, others which are equally of a Rajayogic character, since they use the mental and psychical being as key. Some of them are directed rather to the quiescence of the mind than to its immediate absorption, as the discipline by which the mind is simply watched and allowed to exhaust its habit of vagrant thought in a purposeless running from which it feels all sanction, purpose and interest withdrawn, and that, more strenuous and rapidly effective, by which all outward-going thought is excluded and the mind forced to sink into itself where in its absolute quietude it can only
   reflect the pure Being or pass away into its superconscient existence. The method differs, the object and the result are the same. Here, it might be supposed, the whole action and aim of Rajayoga must end. For its action is the stilling of the waves of consciousness, its manifold activities, cittavrtti, first, through a habitual replacing of the turbid rajasic activities by the quiet and luminous sattwic, then, by the stilling of all activities; and its object is to enter into silent communion of soul and unity with the Divine. As a matter of fact we find that the system of Rajayoga includes other objects,—such as the practice and use of occult powers,—some of which seem to be unconnected with and even inconsistent with its main purpose. These powers or siddhis are indeed frequently condemned as dangers and distractions which draw away the Yogin from his sole legitimate aim of divine union. On the way, th
   refore, it would naturally seem as if they ought to be avoided; and once the goal is reached, it would seem that they are then frivolous and superfluous. But Rajayoga is a psychic science and it includes the attainment of all the higher states of consciousness and their powers by which the mental being rises towards the superconscient as well as its ultimate and supreme possibility of union with the Highest. Moreover, the Yogin, while in the body, is not always mentally inactive and sunk in Samadhi, and an account of the powers and states which are possible to him on the higher planes of his being is necessary to the completeness of the science. These powers and experiences belong, first, to the vital and mental planes above this physical in which we live, and are natural to the soul in the subtle body; as the dependence on the physical body decreases, these abnormal activities become possible and even manifest themselves without being sought for. They can be acquired and fixed by processes which the science gives, and their use then becomes subject to the will; or they can be allowed to develop of themselves and used only when they come, or when the Divine within moves us to use them; or else, even though thus naturally developing and acting, they may be rejected in a single-minded devotion to the one supreme goal of the Yoga. Secondly, there are fuller, greater powers belonging to the supramental planes which are the very powers of the Divine in his spiritual and supramentally ideative being. These cannot be acquired at all securely or integrally by personal effort, but can only come from above, or else can become natural to the man if and when he ascends beyond mind and lives in the spiritual being, power, consciousness and ideation. They then become, not abnormal and laboriously acquired siddhis, but simply the very nature and method of his action, if he still continues to be active in the world-existence.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 539-40-41-42


“It thus becomes clear why the Agnishwatta, devoid of the grosser creative fire, hence unable to create physical man, having no double, or astral body, to project, since they were without any form, are shown in exoteric allegories as Yogis, Kumaras (chaste youths), who became ‘rebels,’ Asuras, fighting and opposing gods . . . Yet it is they alone who could complete man, i.e., make of him a self-conscious, almost a divine being — a god on Earth. The Barhishad, though possessed of creative fire, were devoid of the higher mahat-mic element. Being on a level with the lower principles — those which precede gross objective matter — they could only give birth to the outer man, or rather to the model of the physical, the astral man” (SD 2:78-9). The barhishads “could only create, or rather clothe, the human Monads with their own astral Selves, but they could not make man in their image and likeness. ‘Man must not be like one of us,’ say the creative gods, entrusted with the fabrication of the lower animal but higher; . . . Their creating the semblance of men out of their own divine Essence means, esoterically, that it is they who became the first Race, and thus shared its destiny and further evolution. They would not, simply because they could not, give to man that sacred spark which burns and expands into the flower of human reason and self-consciousness, for they had it not to give” (SD 2:94-5).

Japa (Sanskrit) Japa [from the verbal root jap to murmur, whisper] The practice of certain yogis of repeating in a murmuring tone passages from the scriptures or mantras, or the names of a deity.

jnana yoga. ::: the yoga of knowledge or wisdom is the most difficult path, requiring tremendous strength of will and intellect, which leads the aspirant to experience his unity with God directly by dissolving the veils of ignorance; constantly and seriously thinking on the true nature of the Self as taught by the Upanishads; one of the four paths of yoga &

jnana yogi. ::: the one who uses his mind to enquire into its own nature through the path of knowledge

Jnanesvari (Sanskrit) Jñāneśvarī [from jñāna knowledge + īśvarī queen] Queen of knowledge; a mystic treatise in which Krishna describes to Arjuna the condition of a fully illuminated yogi.

jokanchi 定觀知. See YOGIPRATYAKsA

Jo nang. A sect of Tibetan Buddhism that flourished between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries, seated primarily at the monastery of JO NANG PHUN TSHOGS GLING, northwest of Shigatse. The lineage of masters affiliated with the Jo nang, traditionally said to begin with the eleventh-century yogin-scholar Yu mo Mi bskyod rdo rje (Yumo Mikyo Dorje), includes such highly acclaimed luminaries as DOL PO PA SHES RAB RGYAL MTSHAN and TĀRANĀTHA. Jo nang scholars are often noted for their interest in the KĀLACAKRATANTRA and the controversial doctrine of GZHAN STONG, or "extrinsic emptiness," developed and promulgated by Dol po pa. This theory, and its attendant interpretation of TATHĀGATAGARBHA, was later adopted, reformulated, and actively transmitted by numerous other masters, especially those of the BKA' BRGYUD and RNYING MA sects. Others, especially SA SKYA and later DGE LUGS adherents, presumed that these doctrines were incorrect and even heretical. In 1650, under the aegis of the fifth DALAI LAMA, the monastery of Jo nang was forcibly converted to the Dge lugs sect, its books locked under state seal. The Jo nang tradition survived, however, secretly in small pockets throughout central and western Tibet, and at 'DZAM THANG monastery in A mdo in eastern Tibet, where it has been practiced openly up to the present day. The name is also used to designate the principal central Tibetan monastery affiliated with the Jo nang tradition, Phun tshogs gling; see JO NANG PHUN TSHOGS GLING.

Kailāsa. The Sanskrit name for one of the most important sacred mountains in Asia, generally referred to in English as Kailash or Mount Kailash. It is 21,778 ft. high and is located in southwestern Tibet, not far from the current borders of India and Nepal. Lake Manasarovar is located eighteen miles to the southeast; these two sites have long been places of pilgrimage for Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, and followers of Tibetan BON, some of whom have regarded the striking dome-shaped peak as Mount SUMERU. The mountain is particularly important in Tibetan Buddhism, where it is called Gangs dkar Ti se ("White Snow Mountain Ti se") or simply Gangs rin po che ("Precious Snow Mountain"). Pilgrims from across the Tibetan Buddhist world visit Mount Kailāsa, especially in the Year of the Horse, which occurs once every twelve years in the Tibetan calendrical cycle. Within that year, it is considered auspicious to visit the mountain at the time that marks the Buddha's birth, enlightenment, and passage into PARINIRVĀnA (generally falling in May or June, depending on the lunar calendar). The primary form of practice is the thirty-two mile clockwise circumambulation of the mountain, often completed in a single day, with specific rituals and practices performed along the route. It is said that one circumambulation purifies the negative KARMAN of one lifetime, ten circumambulations purify the negative KARMAN accumulated over the course of a KALPA, and one hundred circumambulations ensure enlightenment. The mountain came to take on numerous tantric associations beginning in the eleventh century. According to a popular story, the yogin MI LA RAS PA won control of the mountain for the Buddhists by defeating a rival Bon priest, Na ro bon chung, in a contest of miracles. The mountain later became an important meditation site for the followers of Mi la ras pa, principally members of the 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD and 'BRI GUNG BKA' BRGYUD sects. Both sĀKYAMUNI Buddha and PADMASAMBHAVA are said to have visited Kailāsa. One of the most important associations of Mount Kailāsa is with the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA, which names twenty-four sacred lands (PĪtHA) as potent locations for tantric practice. The CakrasaMvara literature recounts how long ago these twenty-four lands came under the control of Mahesvara (siva) in the form of Rudra Bhairava. The buddha VAJRADHARA, in the wrathful form of a HERUKA deity, subdued BHAIRAVA, transforming each of the twenty-four sites into a MAndALA of the deity CakrasaMvara and his retinue. In Tibetan literature, Mount Kailāsa came to be identified with one of the twenty-four sites, the one called Himavat or Himālaya ("The Snowy," or "The Snow Mountain"); this was one of several important transpositions of sacred locations in India onto Tibetan sites. The BKA' BRGYUD sect grouped the peak together with two other important mountain pilgrimage sites in southern Tibet, LA PHYI and TSA RI, identified respectively as CakrasaMvara's body, speech, and mind. These claims drew criticism from some Tibetan quarters, such as the renowned scholar SA SKYA PAnDITA, who argued that the sites associated with CakrasaMvara were located not in Tibet but in India. Such criticism has not prevented Mount Kailāsa from remaining one of the most important pilgrimage places in the Tibetan cultural domain.

Kala Brahma (Gouri) Another name for the god Sabda Brahma, a mystic name for akasa or the astral light, the source of occult sounds and the power of mantras. Sabda Brahma’s “vehicle is called Shadja, and the latter is the basic tone in the Hindu musical scale. It is only after . . . passing through the study of preliminary sounds, that a Yogi begins to see Kala Brahma, i.e., perceives things in the Astral Light” (BCW 4:166; cf 4:164).

kalpanā. [alt. kalpana] (T. rtog pa; C. fenbie; J. funbetsu; K. punbyol 分別). In Sanskrit, "thought," "imagination," or "conceptual construction"; generally carrying the negative connotation of a delusive fantasy and misconception, in which the object of thought is either nonexistent or falsely imagined. (The Chinese translates instead the connotation of conceptual "discrimination.") Kalpanā is often contrasted negatively with direct perception (PRATYAKsA), especially yogic direct perception (YOGIPRATYAKsA), in which reality is perceived directly without the medium of mental images. See also VIKALPA; WANGXIANG.

Kandu (Sanskrit) Kaṇḍu In the Puranas, a sage and yogi whose holiness and pious austerities awakened the jealousy of the gods. Kamadeva, as lord of the gods, sent one of his apsarasas, Pramlocha, to tempt the sage. He lived with her for several centuries, which seemed to him only as one day. Finally the sage, returning to his senses, repudiated her and chased her away, whereupon she gave birth to a daughter, Marisha, in an extraordinary manner. Blavatsky compares this legend to the temptation of Merlin by Vivien, and Sarah’s temptation of Pharaoh in the Old Testament (SD 2:174-5&n).

kapāla. (T. thod pa; C. dulou qi/jiebobei; J. dokuroki/kohahai; K. ch'ongnu ki/kopp'abae 髑髏器/劫波杯). In Sanskrit, "skull"; used in Buddhist TANTRA to refer to the skull cup that is often one of the accoutrements of MAHĀSIDDHAs and wrathful deities. The vessel, made from the cranium of a human skull, is often elaborately carved and inlaid with precious metals. The symbolism of the skull cup is variously explained; most generally, it is yet another antinomian aspect of Buddhist tantra, in which things that would be regarded as polluting in Indian culture (in this case the skull of a corpse) are put to use to overcome dualities. It is also said that the skull cup is a constant reminder of death. In tantric SĀDHANAs, the skull cup is often said to contain the elixir of immortality (AMṚTA). The skull cup figures prominently in tantric iconography (being held, for example, by PADMASAMBHAVA) and in tantric practice. For example, in GCOD practice, one visualizes the top of one's own head being cut off and transformed into a huge vessel, where one's own body is cooked and offered to VAJRAYOGINĪ.

Karma pa. In Tibetan, a title given to the incarnate lama (SPRUL SKU) identified at birth in each generation as the head of the KARMA BKA' BRGYUD subsect of the BKA' RGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is commonly etymologized as "man of [enlightened] action." In the history of Tibetan Buddhism, the lineage of the Karma pas is considered to be the first to institutionalize its succession of incarnate lamas, a practice later adopted by the other sects. According to tradition, at the time of his death, each Karma pa composes a letter that specifies the date and location of his next incarnation. This letter is given to a close disciple, who then reveals its contents upon the death of the Karma pa, with the information in the letter used to locate the child who has been born as the next Karma pa. Among the most famous and sacred possessions of the Karma pa is a black crown, said to be made from the hair of one hundred thousand dĀKINĪS. The actual crown is said to be invisible to persons lacking sufficient merit. However, during the Ming dynasty, the Yongle emperor (r. 1402-1424) presented the fifth Karma pa with a visible physical replica of the crown. The replica itself is said to have great power; the "black hat ceremony," in which the Karma pa dons the crown, is among the most important in the sect. In the ceremony, the Karma pa holds the hat upon his head; otherwise, it is said, it will fly off into space. It is also said that those who see the crown will be liberated from rebirth. Due to the importance of the crown, the Karma pas are sometimes called the "black crowned" (zhwa nag). In the nineteenth century, a Western misunderstanding of this term led to the identification of a sect of Tibetan Buddhism called the "BLACK HATS," a mistake that persists in some accounts of Tibetan Buddhism. Like the DALAI LAMAs, the Karma pas are considered to be emanations of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA. Also like the Dalai Lamas, the Karma pas have been among the most important and revered religious figures in the history of Tibet; they include many great scholars and yogins. Some have also had political power, at times leading to conflicts, sometimes polemical, and sometimes military, with the DGE LUGS PA. Although the main seat of the Karma pas was MTSHUR PHU Monastery in central Tibet, the Karma pas tended to travel widely. Their importance and influence extended throughout the Tibetan cultural domain, including China. The lineage includes:

karmayogena yoginam ::: by the way of works of the yogins. [Gita 3.3]

karma yogi. ::: the one whose actions are not motivated by desire for personal benefit or by any other kind of attachment

Kazi Dawa Samdup. (Ka dzi Zla ba bsam 'grub) (1868-1922). An early translator from Tibetan to English, best known for his work with WALTER EVANS-WENTZ as translator of The Tibetan Book of the Dead. He apparently had wished to pursue the religious life but, as the eldest son in his family, was unable to do so. He was a disciple of a Bhutanese lama, one Guru Norbu, who was affiliated with the 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD sect. Kazi Dawa Samdup served as a translator for such figures as ALEXANDRA DAVID-NÉEL, Charles Bell, and John Woodroffe (Arthur Avalon) and also was a member of the political staff of the thirteenth DALAI LAMA during his sojourn in Sikkim and India. In 1919, he published a 20,000-word English-Tibetan dictionary. Also in 1919, he was serving as the English teacher at the Maharaja's Boys' School in Gangtok, when the local police chief introduced him to Evans-Wentz. He agreed to provide a translation of a Tibetan text that Evans-Wentz had acquired, the BAR DO THOS GROL CHEN MO. The translations that Kazi Dawa Samdup made for Evans-Wentz eventually appeared in three books: The Tibetan Book of the Dead (1927), Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines (1935), and The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation (1954). He was subsequently appointed to the post of lecturer in Tibetan at the University of Calcutta. In 1924, after his death, Evans-Wentz visited Kazi Dawa Samdup's family in Kalimpong, from whom he received a manuscript translation of the MI LA RAS PA'I RNAM THAR, a famous biography of MI LA RAS PA, which Evans-Wentz subsequently edited and published as Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa (1928). Although Evans-Wentz's notes and prefaces to these works contain many fanciful elements, Kazi Dawa Samdup's translations are generally well regarded.

Khe-Chara(Khecara, Sanskrit) ::: "Ether-goer" or sometimes rendered as "sky-walker." The name used in the mysticaland philosophical literature of Hindustan to signify one of the siddhis or psychospiritual powers thatbelong to yogis of advanced grade, or to initiates. It is, in fact, nothing more than what in Tibet is calledhpho-wa, the projection of the mayavi-rupa to any part of the earth's surface or, indeed, farther than that,and the doing of this at will.

Khechara (Sanskrit) Khecara [from kha blue ether, heaven, sky + cara wanderer, goer] He who wanders in the spatial blue, or he who wanders along the roads of heaven. One who can leave his physical body and go to other places in his mayavi-rupa; “the body of the Yogi becomes as one formed of the wind; as ‘a cloud from which limbs have sprouted out,’ after which — ‘he (the Yogi) beholds the things beyond the seas and stars; he hears the language of the Devas and comprehends it, and perceives what is passing in the mind of the ant’ ” (Jnanesvari q in VS 77). Equivalent to the Tibetan hpho-wa and Sanskrit khaga.

Khri srong lde btsan. (Trisong Detsen) (r. 754-799). A Tibetan ruler considered the second of three great religious kings (chos rgyal) during the Imperial Period, the other two being SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO and RAL PA CAN, and as a human incarnation of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA. Inheriting the throne in 754 as the thirty-eighth monarch of the Yar klungs dynasty, Khri srong lde btsan directed several events that are considered milestones in Tibetan history. During the early years of his reign, he extended the boundaries of the Tibetan empire forged under his predecessors. In 763, the king's army occupied the imperial capital of Tang China at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an), an action commemorated on a stele that was erected in front of the PO TA LA Palace. However, Khri srong lde btsan is best remembered for his patronage of Buddhism and support in founding Tibet's first Buddhist monastery of BSAM YAS. Later chronicles record that he actively suppressed the native BON religion, as well as the aristocratic clans who were its benefactors, although he never entirely proscribed early Bon rituals. Khri srong lde btsan invited the renowned Indian Buddhist preceptor sĀNTARAKsITA to oversee the project of building Bsam yas and to establish the first monastic order in Tibet. According to traditional accounts, local spirits inimical to Buddhism created obstacles that hindered the project, which prompted the Indian abbot to request Khri srong lde btsan to invite the powerful tantric master PADMASAMBHAVA to Tibet in order to aid in their subjugation, after which the establishment of the monastery was able to proceed. Khri srong lde btsan is said to have become a devotee of Padmasambhava, with one of his queens, YE SHES MTSHO RGYAL, becoming the yogin's consort and serving as scribe for many of his GTER MA teachings. Padmasambhava also revived the king's eight-year-old daughter PADMA GSAL after her death in order to bestow a special teaching. According to tradition, at the time of his death, sĀNTARAKsITA warned in his final testament that a mistaken philosophical view would become established in Tibet and advised the king to invite KAMALAsĪLA to come to Tibet in order to dispel it. The view was apparently that of the Northen Chan (BEI ZONG) monk Heshang Moheyan, who had developed a following at the Tibetan court. Kamalasīla was invited and a debate was held between the Indian monk and the Chinese monk, with the king serving as judge. It is unclear whether a face-to-face debate took place or rather an exchange of documents. According to Tibetan sources, the king declared Kamalasīla the winner, named MADHYAMAKA as the official philosophical school of his realm, and banished the Chinese party from his kingdom. (Chinese records describe a different outcome.) This event, variously known as the BSAM YAS DEBATE, the Council of Bsam yas, and the Council of Lhasa, is regarded as one of the key moments in the history of Tibetan Buddhism.

Klong chen rab 'byams. (Longchen Rabjam) (1308-1364). Also known as Klong chen pa (Longchenpa). An esteemed master and scholar of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism known especially for his promulgation of RDZOGS CHEN. Klong chen pa is believed to be the direct reincarnation of PADMA LAS 'BREL RTSAL, who revealed the Rdzogs chen snying thig, and also of PADMA GSAL, who first received those teachings from the Indian master PADMASAMBHAVA. Born in the central Tibetan region of G.yo ru (Yoru), he received ordination at the age of twelve. At nineteen, he entered GSANG PHU NE'U THOG monastery where he engaged in a wide range of studies, including philosophy, numerous systems of SuTRA and TANTRA, and the traditional Buddhist sciences, including grammar and poetics. Having trained under masters as diverse as the abbots of Gsang phu ne'u thog and the third KARMA PA, RANG 'BYUNG RDO RJE, he achieved great scholarly mastery of numerous traditions, including the Rnying ma, SA SKYA, and BKA' BRGYUD sects. However, Klong chen pa quickly became disillusioned at the arrogance and pretension of many scholars of his day, and in his mid-twenties gave up the monastery to pursue the life of a wandering ascetic. At twenty-nine, he met the great yogin Kumārarāja at BSAM YAS monastery, who accepted him as a disciple and transmitted the three classes of rdzogs chen (rdzogs chen sde gsum), a corpus of materials that would become a fundamental part of Klong chen pa's later writings and teaching career. Klong chen pa lived during a period of great political change in Tibet, as the center of political authority and power shifted from Sa skya to the Phag mo gru pa hierarchs. Having fallen out of favor with the new potentate, TAI SI TU Byang chub rgyal mtshan (Jangchub Gyaltsen, 1302-1364), he was forced to spend some ten years as a political exile in the Bum thang region of Bhutan, where he founded eight monasteries including Thar pa gling (Tarpa ling). Among the most important and well-known works in Klong chen pa's extensive literary corpus are his redaction of the meditation and ritual manuals of the heart essence (SNYING THIG), composed mainly in the hermitage of GANGS RI THOD DKAR. Other important works include his exegesis on the theory and practice of rdzogs chen, such as the MDZOD BDUN ("seven treasuries") and the NGAL GSO SKOR GSUM ("Trilogy on Rest"). Klong chen pa's writings are renowned for their poetic style and refinement. They formed the basis for a revitalization of Rnying ma doctrine led by the eighteenth-century visionary and treasure revealer (GTER STON) 'JIGS MED GLING PA.

Kratudvish (Sanskrit) Kratudviṣ In Hindu mythology, an enemy of all ritualistic and ceremonial worship and exoteric sham; the spiritual beings which represented, in their human aspect, the adepts of esoteric wisdom in opposition to the multitude who followed exoteric and popular religious forms, mummeries, and sacrifices. The kratusvishas were often called the asuras, daityas, danavas, kinnaras, etc., who fought against Brihaspati, the prototype of exoteric and ritualistic worship in the Tarakamaya (war in heaven). All the kratudvishas are represented as being yogis and ascetics of great spiritual and intellectual power.

kundalini ::: Kundalini She who is coiled; the female energy that lies coiled at the base of the yogic body. Through combined techniques, the Kundalini is 'awakened' and made to rise through the Chakras to the sahasrara (the thousand-petalled spiritual energy centre at the crown of the head) where the individual soul merges into the supreme Self and attains the state of self-realisation.

kundalini. ::: the primordial cosmic energy located in the individual; the yogic principle of serpent power; ascending air

lam 'bras. (lamdre). In Tibetan, lit. "path and result." The central tantric system of the SA SKYA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, derived from the HEVAJRATANTRA and transmitted to Tibet by 'BROG MI SHĀKYA YE SHES. The system was first set down in written form by the first of the five Sa skya hierarchs, SA CHEN KUN DGA' SNYING PO of the aristocratic 'Khon family. There are two exegetical traditions, first, the slob bshad (lopshe), or "explanation for disciples," was originally reserved for members of the 'Khon family, and the second, the tshogs bshad (tsokshe), or "explanation in the assembly," was for a wider audience. The preliminary practices of the lam 'bras are taught under the rubric of the snang ba gsum (nangwa sum) "three appearances" (impure, yogic, and pure) that systematize the topics found in the fundamental Sa skya teaching called "parting from the four attachments" (zhen pa bzhi bral) (see SA CHEN KUN DGA' SNYING PO). These topics are covered in other Tibetan sects under different such names as BSTAN RIM, LAM RIM ("stages of the path"), and so on. The second, the tantric part of the system, requires consecration and includes the practice of esoteric yogas. The practices convey to the practitioner the insight that the nature of the basis (gzhi), path (lam), and result ('bras bu) is the same, and that liberation through the practice of coemergent knowledge (lhan cig skyes pa'i ye shes)-i.e., the enlightened body, speech, and mind-is indivisible from the basis.

La phyi. (Lapchi). Also La phyi gangs (Lapchi Gang) and 'Brog la phyi gangs kyi ra ba (Drok Lapchi Gangkyi Rawa). A preeminent sacred region in southern Tibet on the Nepalese border, considered by some Tibetan sources, especially those of the BKA' BRGYUD sect, to be one of the three most important Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Tibet, together with Mt. KAILĀSA and TSA RI. The central mountain of the region is considered the MAndALA of CAKRASAMVARA and VAJRAYOGINĪ, and the region is specifically identified as GODĀVARĪ, one of the twenty-four sacred sites (tīrtha; see PĪtHA) according to the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA. According to Tibetan tradition, the region was first made suitable for spiritual practice, through the taming of its local demons, by the eleventh-century yogin MI LA RAS PA, who established La phyi as one of his main centers for meditation practice. Central among the complex of retreat caves is Bdud 'dul phug (Dudulphuk), the Demon Vanquishing Cave.

Lha btsun nam mkha' 'jigs med. (Lhatsün Namka Jikme) (1597-1653). An adept of the RNYING MA sect of Tibetan Buddhism, renowned for his mastery of many Rnying ma doctrines and his great supernatural powers. Although ordained as a monk while a youth, he spent much of his life as a YOGIN, practicing meditation in retreat centers across the Tibetan countryside. He is best remembered for entering the region of Sikkim (T. 'Bras mo ljongs), in 1646, "opening" it as a place of pilgrimage and spiritual practice, and for founding the retreat center of Bkra shis lding (Tashiding).

Lha btsun Rin chen rnam rgyal. (Lhatsün Rinchen Namgyal) (1473-1557). A Tibetan Buddhist master famous for his literary compositions and publishing activities in southern Tibet. He was born into the ruling family of the Gung thang region of southwestern Tibet; the title lha btsun is generally applied to descendants of Tibet's royal dynastic aristocracy. Although his teachers represent a wide range of religious affiliations and intellectual currents of his time, Rin chen rnam rgyal's principal teacher is usually considered to be GTSANG SMYON HERUKA, the so-called mad YOGIN of Tsang. Following the example of his master, who edited and published a well-known biography and verse anthology of MI LA RAS PA, Rin chen rnam rgyal began a career of authoring, editing, and publishing a wide range of literary materials from his seat at the retreat complex of BRAG DKAR RTA SO. These works include biographies and verse anthologies of numerous BKA' BRGYUD masters. During the sixteenth century, Brag dkar rta so became one of Tibet's leading publishing centers.

Madhav: “In the tantric symbology all the centres are represented as lotuses hanging downwards; as the kundalini [‘the yogic force asleep in the Muladhara and covered up in the other centres by the ordinary consciousness’—Sri Aurobindo] touches them they bloom upwards.” The Book of the Divine Mother

Ma gcig lab sgron. (Machik Labdron) (c. 1055-1149). Female Tibetan Buddhist master who codified the important meditation tradition called "severance" (GCOD), classified as one of the so-called eight great conveyances that are lineages of achievement (SGRUB BRGYUD SHING RTA CHEN PO BRGYAD). Born in the southern Tibetan region of LA PHYI, Ma gcig lab sgron was recognized at a young age to be a prodigy. According to her traditional biographies, she had a natural propensity for the PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ literature, spending much of her youth reading and studying its root texts and commentaries. She continued her religious education under the monk known as Grwa pa mngon shes (Drapa Ngonshe) and Skyo ston Bsod nams bla ma (Kyoton Sonam Lama) in a monastic setting where she was eventually employed to use her skills in ritual recitation and exegesis. She then took up the lifestyle of a tantric YOGINĪ, living as the consort of the Indian adept Thod pa Bhadra and giving birth to perhaps five children. Reviled in one source as "a nun who had repudiated her religious vows," Ma gcig lab sgron left her family and eventually met the figure who would become her root guru, the famed Indian yogin PHA DAM PA SANGS RGYAS who transmitted to her the instructions of "pacification" (ZHI BYED) and MAHĀMUDRĀ. She combined these with her training in prajNāpāramitā and other indigenous practices, passing them on as the practice of severance, principally to the Nepalese yogin Pham thing pa and her own son Thod smyon bsam grub (Tonyon Samdrup). Ma gcig lab sgron is revered as a dĀKINĪ, an emanation of the Great Mother (Yum chen mo, as the goddess PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ is known in Tibetan), and the female bodhisattva TĀRĀ. Her reincarnations have also been recognized in contemporary individuals, including the former abbess of the important SHUG GSEB nunnery, Rje btsun Rig 'dzin chos nyid zang mo (Jetsun Rikdzin Chonyi Sangmo). Ma gcig lab sgron remains a source of visionary inspiration for new ritual cycles, as well as a primary Tibetan example of the ideal female practitioner. Her tradition of severance continues to be widely practiced by Tibetan Buddhists of all sectarian affiliations.

Mahākāsyapa. (P. Mahākassapa; T. 'Od srung chen po; C. Mohejiashe; J. Makakasho; K. Mahagasop 摩訶迦葉). Sanskrit name of one of the Buddha's leading disciples, regarded as foremost in the observance of ascetic practices (P. DHUTAnGA; S. dhutaguna). According to the Pāli accounts (where he is called Mahākassapa) his personal name was Pipphali and he was born to a brāhmana family in MAGADHA. Even as a child he was inclined toward renunciation and as a youth refused to marry. Finally, to placate his parents, he agreed to marry a woman matching in beauty a statue he had fashioned. His parents found a match in Bhaddā Kapilānī (S. BHADRA-KAPILĀNĪ), a beautiful maiden from Sāgala. But she likewise was inclined toward renunciation. Both sets of parents foiled their attempts to break off the engagement, so in the end they were wed but resolved not to consummate their marriage. Pipphali owned a vast estate with fertile soil, but one day he witnessed worms eaten by birds turned up by his plowman. Filled with pity for the creatures and fearful that he was ultimately to blame, he resolved then and there to renounce the world. At the same time, Bhaddā witnessed insects eaten by crows as they scurried among sesame seeds put out to dry. Feeling pity and fear at the sight, she also resolved to renounce the world. Realizing they were of like mind, Pipphali and Bhaddā put on the yellow robes of mendicants and abandoned their property. Although they left together, they parted ways lest they prove a hindrance to one another. Realizing what had transpired, the Buddha sat along Pipphali's path and showed himself resplendent with yogic power. Upon seeing the Buddha, Pipphali, whose name thenceforth became Kassapa, immediately recognized him as his teacher and was ordained. Traveling to Rājagaha (S. RĀJAGṚHA) with the Buddha, Mahākassapa requested to exchange his fine robe for the rag robe of the Buddha. The Buddha consented, and his conferral of his own rag robe on Mahākassapa was taken as a sign that, after the Buddha's demise, Mahākassapa would preside over the convention of the first Buddhist council (see COUNCIL, FIRST). Upon receiving the Buddha's robe, he took up the observance of thirteen ascetic practices (dhutanga) and in eight days became an arahant (S. ARHAT). Mahākassapa possessed great supranormal powers (P. iddhi; S. ṚDDHI) and was second only to the Buddha in his mastery of meditative absorption (P. JHĀNA; S. DHYĀNA). His body was said to be adorned with seven of the thirty-two marks of a superman (MAHĀPURUsALAKsAnA). So revered by the gods was he, that at the Buddha's funeral, the divinities would not allow the funeral pyre to be lit until Mahākassapa arrived and had one last chance to worship the Buddha's body. Mahākassapa seems to have been the most powerful monk after the death of the Buddha and is considered by some schools to have been the Buddha's successor as the first in a line of teachers (dharmācārya). He is said to have called and presided over the first Buddhist council, which he convened after the Buddha's death to counter the heresy of the wicked monk SUBHADRA (P. Subhadda). Before the council began, he demanded that ĀNANDA become an arhat in order to participate, which Ānanda finally did early in the morning just before the event. At the council, he questioned Ānanda and UPĀLI about what should be included in the SuTRA and VINAYA collections (PItAKA), respectively. He also chastised Ānanda for several deeds of commission and omission, including his entreaty of the Buddha to allow women to enter the order (see MAHĀPRAJĀPATĪ), his allowing the tears of women to fall on the Buddha's corpse, his stepping on the robe of the Buddha while mending it, his failure to recall which minor monastic rules the Buddha said could be ignored after his death, and his failure to ask the Buddha to live for an eon or until the end of the eon (see CĀPĀLACAITYA). Pāli sources make no mention of Mahākassapa after the events of the first council, although the Sanskrit AsOKĀVADĀNA notes that he passed away beneath three hills where his body will remain uncorrupted until the advent of the next buddha, MAITREYA. At that time, his body will reanimate itself and hand over to Maitreya the rag robe of sĀKYAMUNI, thus passing on the dispensation of the buddhas. It is said that the robe will be very small, barely fitting over the finger of the much larger Maitreya. ¶ Like many of the great arhats, Mahākāsyapa appears frequently in the MAHĀYĀNA sutras, sometimes merely listed as a member of the audience, sometimes playing a more significant role. In the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA, he is one of the sRĀVAKA disciples who is reluctant to visit Vimalakīrti. In the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, he is one of four arhats who understands the parable of the burning house and rejoices in the teaching of a single vehicle (EKAYĀNA); later in the sutra, the Buddha prophesies his eventual attainment of buddhahood. Mahākāsyapa is a central figure in the CHAN schools of East Asia. In the famous Chan story in which the Buddha conveys his enlightenment by simply holding up a flower before the congregation and smiling subtly (see NIANHUA WEIXIAO), it is only Mahākāsyapa who understands the Buddha's intent, making him the first recipient of the Buddha's "mind-to-mind" transmission (YIXIN CHUANXIN). He is thus considered the first patriarch (ZUSHI) of the Chan school.

mahāsiddha. (T. grub thob chen po; C. dasheng; J. daisho; K. taesong 大聖). In Sanskrit, "great adept"; an epithet of a tantric YOGIN, used especially to refer to any one of a group of Indian tantric masters (in some renditions, numbering eighty or eighty-four; see "List of Lists"). These yogins, many of whom were historical figures (dating from between the seventh and twelfth centuries CE), were famous in India and Tibet and appear frequently in both hagiography and iconography. The most famous collection of hagiographies is the *CATURAsĪTISIDDHAPRAVṚTTI by Abhayadatta. Just as the ARHAT is the ideal of mainstream Buddhism and the BODHISATTVA the ideal of the MAHĀYĀNA, the MAHĀSIDDHA is the ideal of Buddhist TANTRA in India. Although many of the hagiographies of the mahāsiddhas tell stories of princes who, like the Buddha, renounced the world, others tell of enlightened masters who are neither virtuous monks nor gentle bodhisattvas but are instead drawn from the most ignoble levels of Indian society: butchers, hunters, fishermen, blacksmiths, leathersmiths, pimps; i.e., those involved in professions that were considered to be sources of pollution. If this were not enough, they also engage in activities that break taboos: they eat meat, they meditate sitting on top of corpses, they copulate with low-caste girls. If the power of the monk derives from the purity he acquires through abstaining from the things that laymen do, the power of the tantric yogin derives from his transgression of purity, engaging in acts that both violate monastic vows as well as the prescriptions regarding purity and pollution of traditional Indian society. The mahāsiddhas also perform prodigious magical feats, such as flying through the air, turning base metals into gold, diving into the earth, and restoring amputated limbs. They are regarded as enlightened beings, using what is prohibited on the path, and transforming acts that would send others to hell into the deeds of a buddha. It is unclear how many of the mahāsiddhas were historical figures, and the accounts of their deeds are obviously rich in mythological detail. Their stories are replete with what we might regard as miracles, the performance of which the Buddha was said to have discouraged. On a philosophical level, such miracles demonstrate that those who have insight into the true nature of reality are not bound by rules, their transgression of the conventions of society signifying their transcendence of the laws of nature. Those who understand the true nature of the world can manipulate it, unbound by the laws of either gravity or KARMAN. The stories of the mahāsiddhas also demonstrate the persistence of the worldly in the history of Buddhism. Tantric practice is said to produce two types of powers, called SIDDHIs. There are mundane (LAUKIKA) siddhis, such as the ability to turn base metals into gold, to find buried treasure, to gain the love of a woman, to curse an enemy, to paralyze an invading army, or to stop the sun from moving across the sky. These contrast with the supramundane (LOKOTTARA) siddhis of buddhahood. Much of the tantric literature that survives is designed to provide mundane siddhis, generally divided into four categories of deeds (CATURKARMAN): pacifying, increasing, controlling, and wrathful.

Mahāvyutpatti. (T. Bye brag tu rtogs par byed pa chen po; C. Fanyi mingyi daji; J. Hon'yaku myogi taishu; K. Ponyok myongŭi taejip 翻譯名義大集). In Sanskrit, the "Great Detailed Explanation"; an important Sanskrit-Tibetan lexicon dating from the ninth century. In order to provide consistency in the translation of Indian SuTRAs and sĀSTRAs, the Tibetan king RAL PA CAN convened a meeting of scholars in 821 and charged them with providing standard Tibetan equivalents for a wide range of terms encountered in Sanskrit Buddhist texts. The result was a lexicon known as the Mahāvyutpatti, which contains (in one version) 9,565 terms. The king is said to have instructed its compilers not to include tantric vocabulary. The work is organized into 283 categories, the purpose of some of which (the eighteen kinds of suNYATĀ, the ten virtuous actions, the thirty-two marks of a MAHĀPURUsA) are more self-evident than others ("names of strange things," "various terms"). During the seventeenth century, Chinese, Mongolian, and Manchurian equivalencies were added to the lexicon so that the terms would be available in the four major languages used in the Qing empire (Manchu, Chinese, Tibetan, and Mongolian). The first English translation was made by ALEXANDER CSOMA DE KŐRÖS, but it was not published until long after his death. The Mahāvyutpatti continues to be consulted in editions produced by Japanese scholars that include additional Chinese equivalencies and various indexes.

Mandāravā. (T. Man da ra ba) (c. eighth century). A revered female Indian Buddhist master, renowned as a close disciple and consort of the tantric adept PADMASAMBHAVA. She was born the daughter of the king of Sahor, modern Rewalsar in Mandi District, Himachel Pradesh. According to traditional sources, Mandāravā rejected the marriage arrangements made by her father, wishing instead to renounce the world and practice religion. Padmasambhava accepted her as his disciple and the couple remained in a hilltop retreat. The king learned of their arrangement and, in a fit of anger, had Padmasambhava (or, according to some accounts, the couple) burned alive. As a dense cloud of smoke cleared, the adept appeared seated atop a lotus in the center of a large lake, miraculously unscathed. The king and his court were thus converted to Buddhism and became Padmasambhava's disciples. The lake became known in Tibetan as Mtsho Padma (Lotus Lake) and has become a major site for pilgrimage and religious practice. Mandāravā accompanied Padmasambhava to MĀRATIKA cave in Nepal where they undertook the practice of longevity. Although Mandāravā remained most of her life in India, she was revered as a dĀKINĪ in Tibet, where she is believed to have appeared numerous times as a female teacher and YOGINĪ.

Manduka Yoga (Sanskrit) Maṇḍūka-yoga [from maṇḍūka frog] A “particular kind of abstract meditation in which an ascetic sits motionless like a frog” (Monier-Williams). However, all true yoga practice involves complete mental abstraction from exterior concerns and the outer environment, so that all yogis, while practicing yoga sit motionless “like a frog.” It is not a particularly high kind of yoga, in any case, for true spiritual yoga is the yoga of the inner man, implying intense intellectual and spiritual concentration on affairs and subjects of spiritual character, and need not necessarily involve any sitting in yoga whatsoever. The true disciple may be doing his master’s business and going about in pursuit of his duties from day to day, and yet be practicing this spiritual yoga without a moment’s intermission. All forms of yoga practice which involve postures, sittings or similar things in which the physical body is active or inactive, technically belong to one of the various kinds of hatha yoga and are to be discouraged.

MaNjusrīnāmasaMgīti. (T. 'Jam dpal gyi mtshan yang dag par brjod pa; C. Sheng miaojixiang zhenshi ming jing; J. Shomyokichijo shinjitsumyokyo; K. Song myogilsang chinsil myong kyong 聖妙吉祥眞實名經). In Sanskrit, "Litany of the Names of MANJUsRĪ"; one of the most popular liturgical works of late Indian Buddhism. The text dates from the late seventh or early eighth century CE and in its present form includes 167 verses and a lengthy prose section. It begins with a request to the Buddha from a disciple, in this case, the tantric deity VAJRADHARA, to set forth the names of MaNjusrī. The Buddha offers extensive praise to MaNjusrī in the form of multiple epithets and identifications, equating him with all that is auspicious, although special attention is paid to his identity with the myriad categories of Buddhist wisdom. In other verses, the Buddha provides syllables to be recited in order to visualize a variety of deities, all of whom are considered forms of MaNjusrī. MaNjusrī himself is identified with the letter A, the first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, and hence the source of all other names and the deities they represent. The Buddha also describes the MAndALA of MaNjusrī. The prose section, like so many Mahāyāna sutras, extols the virtues of its own recitation. Here, the Buddha declares that those who recite the MaNjusrīnāmasaMgīti three times daily will gain all manner of attainment and will also be protected by the Hindu gods, such as Visnu (NĀRĀYAnA) and siva (Mahesvara).

manonubhavapratyaksa. [alt. mānasapratyaksa] (T. yid kyis myong ba'i mngon sum/yid kyi mngon sum; C. yishouxianliang; J. ijugenryo; K. ŭisuhyollyang 意受現量). In Sanskrit, "mental direct perception"; a form of perception (PRATYAKsA). According to the ABHIDHARMA analysis, the mind (MANAS) is capable of directly perceiving an object without the intrusion of a process of thought, just as the five sense consciousnesses are capable of directly perceiving a sensory object. An experience of sensory direct perception is said to be followed by a single moment of mental direct perception. That moment, however, is so short that for ordinary beings it passes without being noticed. Other forms of mental direct perception include the various superknowledges, or ABHIJNĀ, such as the ability to know the thoughts of others, the ability to remember one's own former lives, and the ability to hear and see things at a great distance. One element of the Buddhist path is the process of developing mental direct perception to the point that one can directly perceive with the mind (and without thought and imagination) the truths of impermanence, suffering, and nonself. When these truths are directly perceived at the level of a SAMĀDHI that unifies serenity (sAMATHA) and insight (VIPAsYANĀ), the mental direct perception then becomes what is called yogic direct perception (YOGIPRATYAKsA).

Mar pa Chos kyi blo gros. (Marpa Chokyi Lodro) (1012-1097). A renowned Tibetan translator and lay Buddhist master who played an important role in the later transmission (PHYI DAR) of Buddhism from India to Tibet. He is regarded as the Tibetan founder of the BKA' BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism, which traces its lineage to India and the MAHĀSIDDHAs TILOPA and NĀROPA. In his traditional biographies, Mar pa is generally regarded as a reincarnation of the Indian mahāsiddha DOMBĪ HERUKA. Mar pa was born to wealthy landowners in the southern Tibetan region of LHO BRAG and quickly proved to be a gifted child. As an adult, Mar pa was characterized as having a volatile temper, although ultimately compassionate. His parents sent their son to study Sanskrit and Indian vernacular languages with the translator 'BROG MI SHĀKYA YE SHES in western Tibet. Because resources for studying Buddhism in Tibet were limited as the so-called dark period between the earlier dissemination (SNGA DAR) and later dissemination (phyi dar) came to an end, Mar pa decided to make the harrowing journey to India to seek instruction from Buddhist masters. He would make three journeys there over the course of his life. He first spent three years in Nepal, acclimating to the new environment and continuing his study of local languages. There he met two Nepalese teachers, Chitherpa and Paindapa, who offered many religious instructions but also encouraged Mar pa to seek out the master who would become his chief guru, the great SIDDHA NĀROPA. According to tradition, Mar pa studied under Nāropa at the forest retreat of Pullahari, receiving initiations and teachings of several important tantric lineages, especially those of the BKA' 'BABS BZHI (four transmissions) that Nāropa had received from his principal teacher TILOPA. Despite the fame of this encounter, contemporary Tibetan sources indicate that Mar pa himself never claimed to have studied directly with Nāropa, who had already passed away prior to Mar pa's trip to India. Mar pa's other great master was the Indian siddha MAITRĪPA, from whom he received instruction in MAHĀMUDRĀ and the tradition of DOHĀ, or spiritual song. Mar pa received other tantric transmissions from Indian masters such as JNānagarbha and Kukkurīpā. Upon his return to Tibet, Mar pa married several women, the most well known being BDAG ME MA, who figures prominently in the life story of MI LA RAS PA. He began his career as teacher and translator, while also occupying himself as landowner and farmer. He had intended to pass his dharma lineage to his son DARMA MDO SDE, for whom Mi la ras pa's famous tower was built, but the child was killed in an equestrian accident. Mar pa's accumulated instructions were later passed to four principal disciples: Ngog Chos sku rdo rje (Ngok Choku Dorje), Mes tshon po (Me Tsonpo), 'Tshur dbang nge (Tsur Wangnge), and the renowned YOGIN and poet Mi la ras pa. At least sixteen works translated from Sanskrit by Mar pa are preserved in the Tibetan Buddhist canon. He is also known as Mar pa LO TSĀ BA (Marpa the Translator) and Lho brag pa (Man from Lhodrak). Among the biographies of Mar pa, one of the most famous is that by GTSANG SMYON HERUKA.

māyādeha. (T. sgyu lus; C. huanshen; J. genshin; K. hwansin 幻身). In Sanskrit, "illusory body"; a polysemous term that, in its most general sense, refers to the fact that the body is insubstantial and thus like an illusion. The term is also the name of one of the so-called SIX YOGAS OF NĀROPA, where it encompasses a range of practices, including the contemplation of one's own reflection in a mirror and expressing praise and blame to the reflection as a means of overcoming attachment to one's body. In a more technical sense, the term refers to a body achieved through the practice of ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA, in which as a result of insight into the nature of reality and the control of the subtle energies that course through the CAKRAs, the yogin creates a subtle body created from the subtle wind (PRĀnA) that serves as the conduit of the mind of clear light (PRABHĀSVARACITTA); this body appears in the form of the buddha that one will become.

Mi la'i mgur 'bum. (Mile Gurbum). In Tibetan, "The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa", containing the collected spiritual songs and versified instructions of the eleventh-century Tibetan yogin MI LA RAS PA. Together with their brief narrative framing tales, the songs in this collection document the later period of Mi la ras pa's career, his life as a wandering hermit, his solitary meditation, subjugation of demons, and training of disciples. The work catalogues his songs of realization: expressions of his experiences as an awakened master, his reflections on the nature of the mind and reality, and his instructions for practicing the Buddhist path. The songs are composed in a vernacular idiom, abandoning the highly ornamental formal structure of classical poetry in favor of a simple and direct style. They are much loved in Tibet for their clarity, playfulness, and poetic beauty, and continue to be taught, memorized, and recited within most sects of Tibetan Buddhism. Episodes from the Mi la'i mgur 'bum have become standard themes for traditional Tibetan Buddhist plastic arts and have been adapted into theatrical dance performances (CHAMS). The number 100,000 is not literal, but rather a metaphor for the work's comprehensiveness; it is likely that many of the songs were first recorded by Mi la ras pa's own close disciples, perhaps while the YOGIN was still alive. The most famous version of this collection was edited and arranged by GTSANG SMYON HERUKA during the final decades of the fifteenth century, together with an equally famous edition of the MI LA RAS PA'I RNAM THAR ("The Life of Milarepa").

Mi la ras pa'i rnam thar. (Milarepe Namtar). In Tibetan, "Life of Milarepa"; an account of the celebrated eleventh-century Tibetan yogin MI LA RAS PA. While numerous early Tibetan versions of the life story exist, including several that may date from his lifetime, the best-known account was composed in 1488 by GTSANG SMYON HERUKA, the so-called mad YOGIN of Tsang, based upon numerous earlier works. Its narrative focuses on Mi la ras pa's early wrongdoings, his subsequent training and meditation, and eventual death. It is a companion to the MI LA'I MGUR 'BUM ("The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa"), also arranged and printed by Gtsang smyon Heruka, which records Milarepa's later teaching career through a compilation of his religious instruction and songs of realization. Gtsang smyon Heruka's version of the Mi la ras pa'i rnam thar is known and read throughout the Tibetan Buddhist cultural world and is widely accepted as a great literary achievement by Tibetans and Western scholars alike. The account of Milarepa's life profoundly affected the development of sacred biography in Tibet, a prominent genre in Tibetan Buddhist culture, and has influenced the way in which Tibet's Buddhism and culture have been understood in the West.

Mi la ras pa. (Milarepa) (1028/40-1111/23). The most famous and beloved of Tibetan YOGINs. Although he is associated most closely with the BKA' BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism, he is revered throughout the Tibetan cultural domain for his perseverance through hardship, his ultimate attainment of buddhahood in one lifetime, and for his beautiful songs. The most famous account of his life (the MI LA RAS PA'I RNAM THAR, or "The Life of Milarepa") and collection of spiritual songs (MI LA'I MGUR 'BUM, or "The Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa") are extremely popular throughout the Tibetan world. The themes associated with his life story-purification of past misdeeds, faith and devotion to the GURU, ardor in meditation and yogic practice, and the possibility of attaining buddhahood despite the sins of his youth-have inspired developments in Buddhist teaching and practice in Tibet. Mi la was his clan name; ras pa is derived from the single cotton robe (ras) worn by Tibetan anchorites, an attire Milarepa retained for most of his life. The name is therefore an appellation, "The Cotton-clad Mi la." Although his dates are the subject of debate, biographies agree that Mi la ras pa was born to a wealthy family in the Gung thang region of southwestern Tibet. He was given the name Thos pa dga', literally "Delightful to Hear." At an early age, after the death of his father, the family estate and inheritance were taken away by Mi la ras pa's paternal aunt and uncle, leaving Mi la ras pa, his mother, and his sister to suffer poverty and disgrace. At the urging of his mother, Mi las ras pa studied sorcery and black magic in order to seek revenge. He was successful in his studies, causing a roof to collapse during a wedding party hosted by his relatives, with many killed. Eventually feeling remorse and recognizing the karmic consequences of his deeds, he sought salvation through the practice of Buddhism. After brief studies with several masters, he met MAR PA CHOS KYI BLO GROS, who would become his root guru. Mar pa was esteemed for having traveled to India, where he received valuable tantric instructions. However, Mar pa initially refused to teach Mi la ras pa, subjecting him to all forms of verbal and physical abuse. He made him undergo various ordeals, including constructing single-handedly several immense stone towers (including the final tower built for Mar pa's son called SRAS MKHAR DGU THOG, or the "nine-storied son's tower"). When Mi la ras pa was at the point of despair and about to abandon all hope of receiving the teachings, Mar pa then revealed that the trials were a means of purifying the negative KARMAN of his black magic that would have prevented him from successfully practicing the instructions. Mar pa bestowed numerous tantric initiations and instructions, especially those of MAHĀMUDRĀ and the practice of GTUM MO, or "inner heat," together with the command to persevere against all hardship while meditating in solitary caves and mountain retreats. He was given the initiation name Bzhad pa rdo rje (Shepa Dorje). Mi la ras pa spent the rest of his life practicing meditation in seclusion and teaching small groups of yogin disciples through poetry and songs of realization. He had little interest in philosophical discourse and no tolerance for intellectual pretension; indeed, several of his songs are rather sarcastically directed against the conceits of monastic scholars and logicians. He was active across southern Tibet, and dozens of locations associated with the saint have become important pilgrimage sites and retreat centers; their number increased in the centuries following his death. Foremost among these are the hermitages at LA PHYI, BRAG DKAR RTA SO, CHU DBAR, BRIN, and KAILĀSA. Bhutanese tradition asserts that he traveled as far as the STAG TSHANG sanctuary in western Bhutan. Foremost among Milarepa's disciples were SGAM PO PA BSOD NAMS RIN CHEN and RAS CHUNG PA RDO RJE GRAGS. According to his biography, Mi la ras pa was poisoned by a jealous monk. Although he had already achieved buddhahood and was unharmed by the poison, he allowed himself to die. His life story ends with his final instructions to his disciples, the account of his miraculous cremation, and of how he left no relics despite the pleas of his followers.

Mkha' 'gro rgya mtsho rnal 'byor ma'i rgyud. See dĀKĀRnAVAMAHĀYOGINĪTANTRA

More commonly, a practitioner of one or more various subordinate branches of yoga. There are many grades and kinds of yogis, and the term has become in India a generic name for every kind of ascetic. “In some cases, yogins are men who strive in various ways to conquer the body and physical temptations, for instance by torture of the body. They also study more or less some of the magnificent philosophical teachings of India coming down from far-distant ages of the past; but mere mental study will not make a man a Mahatma, nor will any torture of the body bring about the spiritual vision — the Vision Sublime” (OG 183).

mr.tyur va prabhavati (mrityur va prabhavati) ::: death has power.(This phrase, forming the first sortilege of 9 October 1914, occurs in a sentence in Shankara"s commentary on Śvetasvatara Upanis.ad 2.12 which is part of the second sortilege of the same date. The complete sentence means: "Over that Yogi neither disease nor old age nor death has power.")

Muryogikyo 無量義經. See WULIANG YI JING

Nagarajas (Sanskrit) Nāgarāja-s Serpent or dragon kings; the guardian spirits of lakes and rivers, shown in Buddhist chronicles as having been converted to Buddhism, becoming arhats from yogis. Outside of meaning initiates or adepts, nagas were likewise an actual people who inhabited Naga-dvipa, one of the seven divisions of Bharata-varsha or India, according to the Puranas.

naivasaMjNānāsaMjNāyatana. (P. nevasaNNānāsaNNāyatana; T. 'du shes med 'du shes med min skye mched; C. feixiang feifeixiang chu; J. hisohihisojo; K. pisang pibisang ch'o 非想非非想處). In Sanskrit, "sphere of neither perception nor nonperception," the fourth and highest of the four levels of the immaterial realm (ĀRuPYADHĀTU) and the fourth of the four immaterial absorptions (ĀRuPYĀVACARADHYĀNA). It surpasses the first three levels of the immaterial realm, viz., infinite space (AKĀsĀNANTYĀYATANA), infinite consciousness (VIJNĀNĀNANTYĀYATANA), and nothingness (ĀKINCANYĀYATANA), respectively. It is a realm of rebirth and a meditative state that is entirely immaterial (viz., there is no physical or material [RuPA] component to existence) in which perception of all mundane things vanishes entirely, but perception itself does not. Beings reborn in this realm are thought to live as long as eighty thousand eons (KALPA). However, as a state of being that is still subject to rebirth, even the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception remains part of SAMSĀRA. Like the other levels of both the subtle-materiality realm (RuPADHĀTU) and the immaterial realm, one is reborn in this state by achieving the specific level of meditative absorption associated with that state in the previous lifetime. One of the most famous and influential expositions on the subject of these immaterial states comes from the VISUDDHIMAGGA of BUDDHAGHOSA, written in the fifth century. Although there are numerous accounts of Buddhist meditators achieving immaterial states of SAMĀDHI, they are also used polemically in Buddhist literature to describe the attainments of non-Buddhist YOGINs, who mistakenly identify these exalted, but still impermanent, states of existence as the permanent liberation from rebirth. See also DHYĀNASAMĀPATTI; DHYĀNOPAPATTI.

Nanatsudera. (七寺). Japanese vernacular name of the monastery of Toenzan Chofukuji in downtown Nagoya; famous as the repository of a massive twelfth-century manuscript canon of East Asian Buddhist works that was designated an Important Cultural Property after World War II. The monastery, which is affiliated with the SHINGONSHu, was founded by GYoGI in 735 and was originally named Shogakuin. The monastery was destroyed in an air raid in March 1945, but its canon survived, stored in lacquered chests called karabitsu. In 1990, scholarly investigation of the 4,954 juan (3,398 in rolls, 1,556 in folded books) of Nantsudera's canon identified scores of juan of scriptures that were long believed to have been lost. Especially important were several previously unknown Chinese Buddhist APOCRYPHA, including seminal works of the proscribed SANJIE JIAO school. The Nanatsudera collection is considered by many scholars of East Asian Buddhism to be the most important discovery of Buddhist textual materials since the unearthing of the DUNHUANG cache in the early twentieth century.

Nāropa. (1016-1100). An Indian scholar and tantric master who holds an important place in the lineages of tantric Buddhism in Tibet. According to his traditional biography, Nāropa was a brāhmana born in Bengal, who traveled to KASHMIR as a child. He was forced to marry at the age of seventeen, but the marriage ended by mutual consent after eight years. According to some sources, Nāropa's wife (or sister according to other sources) was NIGUMA, who became a famous tantric YOGINĪ. Nāropa was ordained as a Buddhist monk, entering NĀLANDĀ monastry in 1049. His talents as a scholar eventually led him to be selected to serve as abbot and as a senior instructor known by the name Abhayakīrti. In 1057, while at the monastery, he encountered an old hag (in reality a dĀKINĪ), who told him that he had understood the words of the texts he had studied but not their inner meaning. She urged him to go in search of her brother TILOPA. As a result of this encounter, Nāropa left the monastery to find Tilopa and become his disciple. Over the course of his journey, he encountered Tilopa in various forms but was unable to recognize him. Tilopa eventually revealed himself to Nāropa, subjecting him to a famous series of twelve greater and twelve lesser trials, involving serious physical injury and mental anguish. Tilopa eventually transferred his realization to Nāropa by striking him on the head with his shoe. Nāropa later compiled Tilopa's instructions and transmitted them to his own disciples. According to tradition, these students included the Tibetan translator MAR PA CHOS KYI BLO GROS, but in fact Nāropa had died before Mar pa made his first journey to India. Regardless, various instructions of Nāropa were transmitted to Tibet, the most famous of which are the NĀ RO CHOS DRUG, or "six doctrines (or yogas) of Nāropa." These practices became important for numerous Buddhist lineages but are especially associated with the BKA' BRGYUD sect, where Nāropa holds a central place in the lineage from VAJRADHARA to Tilopa to Nāropa to Mar pa to MI LA RES PA. Several works attributed to Nāropa are preserved in the Tibetan canon.

Nature and kept within the narrow bounds of her normal ope- rations. Id the ancient tradition of Hatha Yoga it has always been supposed that this conquest could be pushed so far even as to conquer to a great extent the force of gravitation. By various subsidiary but elaborate processes the Hatha Yogin next contrives to keep the body free from all impurities and the ner- vous system unclogged for those exercises of respiration which are his most important instruments. These are called prana- yama, the control of the breath or vital power ; for breathing is the chief physical functioning of the vital forces. Prdnayaina, for the Hatha Yogin, serves a double purpose. First, it completes the perfection of the body. The vitality is liberated from many of the ordinary necessities of physical Nature ; robust health, prolonged youth, often an extraordinary longevity arc attained.

NECESSITIES. ::: The necessities of a sadhaka should be as few as possible ; for there are only a veiy few things that are real necessities in life. The rest are either utilities or things decorative to life or luxuries. These a yogin has a right to possess or enjoy only on one of two conditions ;

Neichi Toin. (1557-1629). Important Mongolian teacher who helped to spread Buddhism in Inner Mongolia; his traditional biography appears in a work entitled Cindamani-yin erike. Neichi Toin was the son of a Torghud noble. In order to comply with his father's wishes, he married and fathered a child, but left the family home in his late twenties and traveled to Tibet. He spent several years at BKRA SHIS LHUN PO monastery, where he studied with the first PAn CHEN LAMA, BLO BZANG CHOS KYI RGYAL MTSHAN, receiving tantric initiation from him. He excelled particularly in practices associated with YAMĀNTAKA. In the 1590s, he returned to Mongolia, first to the Khalka region and then to Hohhot, where he spent the next thirty years living as a yogin with a group of disciples. His biography, which seems to take the story of MI LA RAS PA as its model, describes his habitation in mountain caves, his practice of GTUM MO, his unconventional behavior, and his performance of various miracles. He is said to have worn blue and green robes and to have taken money intended for monasteries and given it to the poor. Around 1629, he went to Eastern Mongolia, where he sought to spread Buddhism, bringing him into conflict with local shamans. He secured the support of powerful nobles, leading to the founding of four monasteries in the region. Although a devotee of the DGE LUGS PA, he ran afoul of the fifth DALAI LAMA (NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO), who criticized him for giving the YAMĀNTAKA initiation to those without the proper qualification and for claiming to be the incarnation of TSONG KHA PA. On a more political level, it appears that the Dalai Lama was concerned that a Mongol was developing a strong following outside the bounds of the Dge lugs hierarchy controlled from LHA SA. When a formal complaint was brought against Neichi Toin, the Manchu emperor deferred to the Dalai Lama, who declared that Neichi Toin did not have the necessary qualifications to be a high lama. He was therefore purged and his followers disbanded.

neyārtha. (P. neyyattha; T. drang don; C. buliaoyi; J. furyogi; K. puryoŭi 不了義). In Sanskrit, "provisional," "conventional"; one of the two categories (along with NĪTĀRTHA, "definitive," "absolute") into which the teachings of the SuTRAs may be classified. The terms neyārtha and nītārtha are among several sets of categories employed in the interpretation of scriptures, providing a means of accounting for statements that appear to contradict what is regarded as the Buddha's final position on a topic. The Indian schools differ on what constitutes a provisional statement, with some holding that any statement by the Buddha that cannot be accepted literally is provisional, with others holding instead that any statement that does not describe the final nature of reality is provisional. See also SATYADVAYA; ABHISAMDHI; ABHIPRĀYA.

Niguma. (T. Ni gu ma). An Indian tantric YOGINĪ of the eleventh century, said to be either the wife or the sister of NĀROPA. Her teachings are renowned as the "six doctrines (or yogas) of Niguma" (Ni gu chos drug). They are inner heat (GTUM MO), illusory body (sgyu lus; MĀYĀDEHA), dream yoga (rmi lam), clear light ('od gsal; PRABHĀSVARA), transference of consciousness ('PHO BA), and intermediate state (BAR DO), nominally the same as the more famous NĀ RO CHOS DRUG ("six yogas of Nāropa"), but with different emphases. She is said to have transmitted these teachings to her Tibetan disciple KHYUNG PO RNAL 'BYOR, who returned to Tibet to found the Shangs pa branch of the BKA' BRGYUD.

niskama karmayogin ::: [one who does desireless works as yoga].

nītārtha. (P. nītattha; T. nges don; C. liaoyi; J. ryogi; K. yoŭi 了義). In Sanskrit, "definitive," one of the two categories into which statements in the sutras may be classified, along with NEYĀRTHA, or "provisional." Nītārtha and neyārtha are among a number of categories employed in the interpretation of scripture, and provide a means of accounting for statements by the Buddha that appear to contradict the Buddha's presumed final position on a topic. The Indian schools differ on what constitutes a definitive statement. Some hold that any statement that can be accepted literally is definitive. Thus, for those MAHĀYĀNA schools that hold that all beings will eventually achieve buddhahood, the statement in the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra") that there is only one vehicle (EKAYĀNA) would be regarded as a definitive teaching. Based on a statement in the AKsAYAMATINIRDEsASuTRA, others hold that only those statements that describe the ultimate nature of reality are definitive, playing on the literal sense of nītārtha as "definite object" or "definite meaning." Thus, a statement that wealth is the result of charity (DĀNA), while literally true, would be deemed provisional because it does not make reference to the final nature or emptiness (suNYATĀ) of wealth or the act of giving.

Number of experiences ::: The quality of a sadhaka docs not depend on that ; one great spiritual realisation direct and at the centre will often make a great sadhaka or yogi, an army of intermediate yogic experiences will not.

Oh, a tremendous power—tremendous. The first time I heard it … The first time I heard it … There was a certain Bernard who had spent a year in India, in the Himalayas, and he was visited by yogis whom he didn’t know (he lived in a hut in the Himalayas, all alone). One yogi came to see him; he didn’t say anything, he just sat by his side and then left. And that yogi simply told him,”Om …” Then he came back to France, recounted his experiences in India, and he said that. Me, I knew absolutely nothing of India at the time, and when he uttered the word OM … (Mother brings her arms down), it came: a Force like this, my whole, entire body, everything vibrated in an extraordinary way! It was like a revelation—everything, but everything started vibrating. Then I said,”At last, here’s the true sound!” Yet I knew nothing, absolutely nothing, neither what it meant nor anything. Mother’s Agenda, Volume 10, 1969.

  Oh, a tremendous power—tremendous. The first time I heard it … The first time I heard it … There was a certain Bernard who had spent a year in India, in the Himalayas, and he was visited by yogis whom he didn"t know (he lived in a hut in the Himalayas, all alone). One yogi came to see him; he didn"t say anything, he just sat by his side and then left. And that yogi simply told him, "Om …” Then he came back to France, recounted his experiences in India, and he said that. Me, I knew absolutely nothing of India at the time, and when he uttered the word OM … (Mother brings her arms down), it came: a Force like this, my whole, entire body, everything vibrated in an extraordinary way! It was like a revelation—everything, but everything started vibrating. Then I said, "At last, here"s the true sound!” Yet I knew nothing, absolutely nothing, neither what it meant nor anything.

O rgyan pa Rin chen dpal. (Orgyenpa Rinchenpal) (1229/30-1309). A Tibetan Buddhist master venerated as a lineage holder in the early BKA' BRGYUD tradition. Also known as Seng ge dpal, he was a disciple of the renowned "upper" (stod) 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD teacher RGOD TSHANG PA MGON PO RDO RJEs and became famous as a highly accomplished meditator; for this reason, Tibetan literature frequently refers to him as a MAHĀSIDDHA, or great adept. He is said to have made a journey to the fabled land of OddIYĀNA (O rgyan), believed by some modern scholars to lie in the Swat region of modern-day Pakistan. He thus became known as O rgyan pa, "the man of Oddiyāna," and he later authored a pilgrimage guide to the location, the O rgyan lam yig. Some Tibetan historians have identified a separate transmission lineage stemming from O rgyan pa: the Service and Attainment of the Three Vajras (Rdo rje'i gsum gyi bsnyen sgrub), frequently known as the O rgyan bsnyen sgrub. Rin chen dpal is also known for his transmission of practices relating to the six-branch yoga of the KĀLACAKRATANTRA, a system of instructions he is said to have received from the dĀKINĪ VAJRAYOGINĪ during his travels in Oddiyāna. These traditions appear to have largely disappeared in Tibet several centuries after his death. O rgyan pa officially recognized the young RANG 'BYUNG RDO RJE as the third KARMA PA and then served as the hierarch's principal teacher.

:::   "Out of imperfection we have to construct perfection, out of limitation to discover infinity, out of death to find immortality, out of grief to recover divine bliss, out of ignorance to rescue divine self-knowledge, out of matter to reveal Spirit. To work out this end for ourselves and for humanity is the object of our Yogic practice.” *Essays Divine and Human

“Out of imperfection we have to construct perfection, out of limitation to discover infinity, out of death to find immortality, out of grief to recover divine bliss, out of ignorance to rescue divine self-knowledge, out of matter to reveal Spirit. To work out this end for ourselves and for humanity is the object of our Yogic practice.” Essays Divine and Human

Padma bkod. (Pema ko). One of Tibet's foremost SBAS YUL, or "hidden lands," located in southern Tibet and partially in Arunachal Pradesh in India. It is the location of the so-called Gtsang po (Tsangpo) gorges, where the Gtsang po River of Tibet makes a 180-degree bend from east to west through steep cliffs and waterfalls before changing its name to the Brahmaputra River in India. The region is primarily associated with PADMASAMBHAVA and his twenty-five main disciples, who are said to have meditated in caves throughout the area. After spending time there in retreat, the Indian master prophesied that the locale would become a powerful center for religious practice. The treasure revealer (GTER STON) Bdud 'dul rdo rje (Dudul Dorje, 1615-1672) discovered a pilgrimage guide (gnas yig) to the site and identified its geographical features with the body of the goddess VAJRAVĀRĀHĪ. Padma bkod was formally "opened" as a pilgrimage site and place of practice by Sgam po O rgyan 'gro 'dul gling pa (Gampo Orgyan Drodul Lingpa, b. 1757), Rig 'dzin Rdo rje rtog med (Rikdzin Dorje Tokme, 1746-1797), and Chos gling Gar dbang 'chi med rdo rje (Choling Garwang Chime Dorje, b. 1763). The remote region is famous for its forests and dense jungle wilderness, and the numerous ethnic tribal groups living there. It has served as a safe haven for those fleeing conflict as well as a site for tantric practice. According to a seventeenth-century account, it is associated especially with VAJRAYOGINĪ, with the river representing her central channel (AVADHuTĪ).

Padma dkar po. (Pema Karpo) (1527-1592). A Tibetan Buddhist master and lineage holder of the 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD tradition, renowned for his extensive and wide-ranging scholarship. Born in the Kong po region of southern Tibet, as a child he was already recognized as the fourth member in the line of 'BRUG CHEN INCARNATIONS. He became a fully ordained monk and studied widely in the Tibetan traditions of logic and TANTRA. Although famed for his experience in yogic practice and meditation, he also served as a skillful politician and religious administrator. He is perhaps most widely celebrated for his scholarly writings, which include extensive commentaries on traditional doctrinal topics as well as comprehensive historical works on the spread of Buddhism in Tibet, particularly his own 'Brug pa bka' brgyud sect. His followers referred to him by the title kun mkhyen, "the omniscient," a testament to his great learning. Padma dkar po was active at the monasteries of previous 'Brug chen incarnations, including the famed twelfth-century institution at RWA LUNG in Gtsang, but he also founded his own monastery Gsang sngags chos gling in 1574 at Rta dbang near the border with Bhutan. Following Padma dkar po's death, two candidates were pitted against one another as the master's authentic rebirth and the legitimate successor to the 'Brug chen throne. The outcome of the rivalry was eventually decided by the ruler of central Tibet, the Gtsang pa sde srid; the losing candidate, who had already been installed as the throne holder of Rwa lung Monastery, fled to Bhutan in 1616, where he established himself as the important Bhutanese religious figure ZHABS DRUNG NGAG DBANG RNAM RGYAL.

paNcāmṛta. (T. bdud rtsi lnga). In Sanskrit, the "five ambrosias," one of the more graphic examples of the inversion of purity and pollution in the Buddhist TANTRAs. The five ambrosias are feces, urine, semen, menstrual blood, and marrow. In the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRAs, it is said that an advanced YOGIN is able to transform these five polluting substances into five types of ambrosia, which represent the five buddhas (PANCATATHĀGATA): VAIROCANA, AKsOBHYA, AMITĀBHA, RATNASAMBHAVA, and AMOGHASIDDHI. Once purified, the five ambrosias can then be ingested as a form of worshipping the five buddhas and as a means of speeding the attainment of the five wisdoms (PANCAJNĀNA): (1) the wisdom of the DHARMADHĀTU (DHARMADHĀTUJNĀNA), (2) the mirrorlike wisdom (ĀDARsAJNĀNA), (3) the wisdom of equality (SAMATĀJNĀNA), (4) the wisdom of specific knowledge (PRATYAVEKsAnĀJNĀNA), and (5) the wisdom of accomplishing activities (KṚTYĀNUstHĀNAJNĀNA).

patanjali. ::: a yogi of ancient India; the author of the Yoga Sutras

Pha dam pa sangs rgyas. (Padampa Sangye) (d. 1117). An Indian tantric master renowned in Tibet for his teachings on the practice of "pacification" (ZHI BYED). His name in Sanskrit is sometimes given as Paramabuddha, although Pha dam pa is also regarded as an affectionate title, "Excellent Father." According to traditional accounts, he was from a family of seafaring merchants on the southeast coast of India. After his father's death, he was ordained at VIKRAMAsĪLA, with the ordination name Kamalasīla, leading some Tibetan sources to claim that he was the great pandita of the same name who participated in the BSAM YAS DEBATE several centuries earlier. Other sources give his Indian name as Kamalasrī. He visited Tibet on numerous occasions (according to some sources, seven times). Referred to by Tibetans as the "little black Indian" (rgya gar nag chung), he attracted few disciples initially, gaining greater fame on subsequent visits. He spent much time in the region of Ding ri in central Tibet, especially around the village of GLANG 'KHOR, where he is still venerated for the earthy and practical advice he gave on how to practice Buddhism. The most famous of these teachings is his Ding ri brgya tsa ma ("Dingri One Hundred"). He dressed as an Indian ascetic and sometimes taught simply through gestures, although it is unclear whether this was his tantric mode of expression or was because he initially spoke little Tibetan. Pha dam pa sangs rgyas reportedly encountered the famous YOGIN MI LA RAS PA on a nearby mountain pass, where they exchanged teachings and acknowledged each other's spiritual attainment. He was known for including women among his disciples. Indeed, his most famous disciple, the great female adept MA GCIG LAB SGRON, based her practice tradition known as severance (GCOD) partly on his instructions. After leaving Tibet for the last time, he is said to have traveled to China; according to a Tibetan tradition, he was known in China as BODHIDHARMA.

pītha. (T. gnas). In Sanskrit, "abode" or "seat," in tantric literature, a location where YOGINĪs congregate and hence a potent site for tantric practice. There are various lists of such locations, sometimes numbering twelve, twenty-four, or thirty-two; the number twenty-four is the most common, but the lists of twenty-four vary in the names and locations of the specific sites. The pītha figure prominently in yoginītantras such as the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA and the HEVAJRATANTRA. They also appear commonly in scenes from the lives of the MAHĀSIDDHAs. Many of the sites can be linked to geographical locations on the Indian subcontinent, although some remain unidentified and the location of others shifts according to different traditions. They are considered, however, to form a network, both in the external world and inside the body of the tantric practitioner; the external sites are called bāhyapītha, and the internal sites are called nādīsthāna, that is, places where important energy channels (NĀdĪ) are located according to tantric physiology. In both their external and internal forms, the pītha are presumed to form a MAndALA. The pītha are said to be the abodes of tantric goddesses, called yoginī or dĀKINĪ, associated with a particular tantric cycle. They are described as places where male and female tantric practitioners congregate in order to engage in a variety of ritual practices, after having identified each other using secret codes. Tantric texts extol the benefits of visiting the pītha, either externally or internally, and Tibetan pilgrims have long sought to find the twenty-four sites. Based on the conquest and transformation of Mahesvara (siva) by the Buddhist deity VAJRAPĀnI, the twenty-four names of the CakrasaMvara sacred sites are the four seats (pītha) Uddiyāna, Jālandhara, Pullīramalaya, and Arbuda; four outer seats (upapītha) Godāvarī, Rāmesvara, Devīkota, and Mālava; two fields (ksetra) Kāmarupa and Odra; two outer fields (upaksetra) Trisakuni and Kosala; two pleasing places (chandoha) Kalinga and Lampāka; two outer delightful places (upacchanda) KāNci and Himālaya; two meeting places (melāpaka) Pretapuri and Gṛhadevatā; two outer meeting places (upamelāpaka) Saurāstra and Suvarnadvīpa; two cremation grounds (sMAsĀNA) Nagara and Sindu; and two outer cremation grounds (upasmasāna) Maru and Kulatā. The twenty-four sites were later symbolically "transferred" to locations in Nepal and Tibet. To Newar Buddhists, the Kathmandu Valley conceptually mirrors the structure of the CakrasaMvara MAndALA, and the twenty-four temples of different CakrasaMvara goddesses make the valley a sacred space. In Tibet, DAGS PA SHEL RI (Crystal Mountain) in the TSA RI region also mapped the CakrasaMvara mandala. Every twelve years pilgrims would make the arduous pilgrimage around the sites mapped onto that sacred space.

Pranava (Sanskrit) Praṇava [from pra-ṇu to utter a droning or humming sound, as during the proper pronunciation of the word Om or Aum] The mystical, sacred syllable Om or Aum, pronounced by Brahmins, Yogis, and others during meditation. In Vedanta philosophy and the Upanishads, used in another sense: “In one sense Pranava represents the macrocosm and in another sense the microcosm. . . . The reason why this Pranava is called Vach is this, that these four principles of the great cosmos correspond to these four forms of Vach” (N on G 25, 26) — vaikhari, madhyama, pasyanti, para. These are called the four matras of pranava.

PRaNAYAMA. ::: Regulated direction and arrestation by exer- cises of breathing of the vital currents of energy in the body ; control of the breath or vital force ; Yogic exercise of the con- trol of the vital forces.

pranayama. ::: yogic breathing exercises; control of the subtle life-force by means of special modes of breathing; regulation of breath leading to integration of mind and body; the fourth of the eight limbs of ashtanga yoga

pratyaksa. (T. mngon sum; C. xianliang; J. genryo; K. hyollyang 現量). In Sanskrit, "direct perception," cognition that is unmistaken in the sense that it correctly apprehends qualities such as shape and color, and is nonconceptual, in the sense that it does not perceive its object through the medium of an image, as does thought (KALPANĀ). In Buddhist epistemology, direct perception is one of only two forms of valid knowledge (PRAMĀnA), along with inference (ANUMĀNA). Four types of direct perception are enumerated. The first is sensory direct perception, in which the five external sense objects are perceived directly by the sense consciousnesses (VIJNĀNA), in reliance on the five sense organs (INDRIYA). This form of direct perception is to be differentiated from SAMJNĀ, also sometimes translated as "perception." The latter term refers to the specific function of consciousness to apprehend the various characteristics of a given object or to differentiate between two objects. The second kind of direct perception is mental direct perception (MANONUBHAVAPRATYAKsA), which, according to one interpretation, includes a brief and unnoticed moment of direct perception by the mind at the end of sensory direct perception, with that moment of mental direct perception inducing the conceptual cognition of the object. Mental direct perception also includes the five ABHIJNĀ, which result from states of deep concentration. The third type is self-knowing direct perception (svasaMvedana), a function of self-consciousness, which observes a consciousness apprehending its object. It is this form of direct perception that makes possible memory of former moments of consciousness. The fourth type is yogic direct perception (YOGIPRATYAKsA), which occurs only on one of the noble paths (ĀRYAMĀRGA), where the truth is directly perceived through a union of sAMATHA and VIPAsYANĀ.

psychic ::: Psychic This widely used word, which can be both an adjective and a noun, means of the soul or mind. It is the quality of being attuned to or adept at interpreting the more subtle psychic, or soul, faculties and energies. One who is so attuned, such as a medium or an accomplished Yogi. Psychic faculties include such extra-sensory perception as clairvoyance, clairaudience, retrocognition and psychometry (see below) amongst others.

purna yogin ::: [one who practises purna yoga], the sadhaka of the Divine Perfection.

purvanivāsānusmṛti. (P. pubbenivāsānussati; T. sngon gyi gnas rjes su dran pa; C. suzhu suinian; J. shukujuzuinen; K. sukchu sunyom 宿住隨念). In Sanskrit, lit. "recollection of former abodes," viz., "memory of past lives."; a cardinal teaching of all schools of Buddhism and an element of meditative attainment in many Buddhist traditions. The term occurs most commonly as a component of one or another list, such as the superknowledges (ABHIJNĀ), knowledges (VIDYĀ), or powers (BALA). Although lists of five, six, and seven abhijNā appear in Buddhist literature, the most common listing is of six, with the memory of past lives being fourth. The same memory of former abodes is sometimes called the first of the three knowledges (TRIVIDYĀ) that are realized at the point of enlightenment, the other two being the divine eye (DIVYACAKsUS) and the knowledge of the destruction of the contaminants (ĀSRAVAKsAYA). In addition, the memory of former abodes occurs as the eighth of the ten powers (bala) of the TATHĀGATA. ¶ In situating the memory of former abodes within broader descriptions of the practice of the path (MĀRGA), one general account describes the path of an average monk, while in another the Buddha relates his own experience. In the SĀMANNAPHALASUTTA of the Pāli DĪGHANIKĀYA, for example, the Buddha describes the benefits of the life of mendicancy, providing a chronological catalogue of the attainments of one who follows the path, starting from the occasion of first hearing the dharma and proceeding to the attainment of NIRVĀnA. Among those attainments are the six abhiNNā/abhijNā, including memory of past lives and culminating with the knowledge of the destruction of the contaminants. Yet another variety of the arhat path is described in great detail in the CulAHATTHIPADOPAMASUTTA of the MAJJHIMANIKĀYA. This account differs from that in the Dīgha with respect to the superknowledges, in that here, having attained the fourth meditative absorption (P. jhāna, S. DHYĀNA), the monk achieves only the last three of the abhiNNā: the knowledge of former abodes, the divine eye, and the knowledge of the destruction of the contaminants. Elsewhere, these three experiences are referred to as the three types of knowledge. In the VISUDDHIMAGGA, BUDDHAGHOSA describes a regimen in which the meditator recalls his or her life in reverse order, beginning with the most recent act of sitting down to meditate, tracing the events of this life back to the moment of conception and back to the moment of death in the previous existence and so on through the eons. Non-Buddhists are said to be able to recollect as far back as forty eons, ordinary sRĀVAKAs one thousand eons, the eighty great srāvakas one hundred thousand eons, sĀRIPUTRA and MAHĀMAUDGALYĀYANA an incalculable age plus one hundred thousand eons, PRATYEKABUDDHAs two incalculable eons plus one hundred thousand eons, and buddhas limitless past lives. In the more detailed "autobiographical" narratives of the Buddha's enlightenment in mainstream sources, the bodhisattva becomes the Buddha by gaining the three types of knowledge: in the first watch of the night, the knowledge of former abodes; in the second watch, the divine eye; and in the third watch of the night, the knowledge of the destruction of the contaminants. In the second watch, he remembers his name, his clan, his caste, his food, his pleasure and pain, and his life span for individual lives over the incalculable past. In general, the achievement of the knowledge of former lives is described as the product of deep states of concentration and, as such, is accessible also to non-Buddhist YOGINs; for this reason it is considered a worldly or mundane (laukika) knowledge. In the MAHĀYĀNA sutras, similar descriptions of the six abhijNā and three vidyā are found. However, the memory of former lives also occurs simply as the product of a certain meritorious deeds. The memory of past lives typically causes the person to practice virtue in order to avoid an unfortunate rebirth. In the SUKHĀVATĪVYuHASuTRA, it is said that all beings reborn in AMITĀBHA's PURE LAND will be endowed with memory of their former abodes going back trillions of eons.

Quarrels and clashes are a proof of the absence of the yogic poise.

Raja (S) (local or regional) Hindu emperor; also honourific title of important yogis

Rajayoga must cod. For its action is the stilling of the waves of consciousness, its manifold activities, cinovfUl, first, through a habitual replacing of the turbid rajaslc activities by the quiet and luminous sattwic, then, by the stilling of all activities, and its object is to enter into silent communion of soul and unity with the Divine. As a matter of fact we find that the system of Raja- yoga includes other objects, — such as the practice and use of occult powers, — some of which seem to be unconnected with and even inconsistent with its main purpose. These powers or siddhis arc indeed frequently condemned as dangers and dis- tractions wWch draw away the Yogin from his sole legitimate aim of divine union. On the way, therefore, it would naturally seem as if they ought to bfe* avoided; and once the goal is reached, it would seem that they are then frivolous and super- fluous. But Rajayoga is a psychic science and it includes the attainment of all the higher slates of consciousness and their powers by which the mental being rises towards the super- conscient as well as its ultimate and supreme possibility of union wnth the Highest. Moreover, the Yo^n, while in the body, is not always mentally inactive and sunk in Samadhi and an account of the powers and states which arc possible to him on the higher planes of his being is necessary to the completeness of the science.

Raja yoga ::: This is the first step only. Afterwards, the ordinary activities of the mind and sense must be entirely quieted in order that the soul may be free to ascend to higher states of consciousness and acquire the foundation for a perfect freedom and self-mastery. But Rajayoga does not forget that the disabilities of the ordinary mind proceed largely from its subjection to the reactions of the nervous system and the body. It adopts th
   refore from the Hathayogic system its devices of asana and pranayama, but reduces their multiple and elaborate forms in each case to one simplest and most directly effective process sufficient for its own immediate object. Thus it gets rid of the Hathayogic complexity and cumbrousness while it utilises the swift and powerful efficacy of its methods for the control of the body and the vital functions and for the awakening of that internal dynamism, full of a latent supernormal faculty, typified in Yogic terminology by the kundalinı, the coiled and sleeping serpent of Energy within. This done, the system proceeds to the perfect quieting of the restless mind and its elevation to a higher plane through concentration of mental force by the successive stages which lead to the utmost inner concentration or ingathered state of the consciousness which is called Samadhi. By Samadhi, in which the mind acquires the capacity of withdrawing from its limited waking activities into freer and higher states of consciousness, Rajayoga serves a double purpose. It compasses a pure mental action liberated from the confusions of the outer consciousness and passes thence to the higher supra-mental planes on which the individual soul enters into its true spiritual existence. But also it acquires the capacity of that free and concentrated energising of consciousness on its object which our philosophy asserts as the primary cosmic energy and the method of divine action upon the world. By this capacity the Yogin, already possessed of the highest supracosmic knowledge and experience in the state of trance, is able in the waking state to acquire directly whatever knowledge and exercise whatever mastery may be useful or necessary to his activities in the objective world. For the ancient system of Rajayoga aimed not only at Swarajya, self-rule or subjective empire, the entire control by the subjective consciousness of all the states and activities proper to its own domain, but included Samrajya as well, outward empire, the control by the subjective consciousness of its outer activities and environment.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 36-37


Rajayogic concentration is divided into four stages ; h com- mences with the drawing both of the mind and senses from out- ward things, proceeds to the bolding of the one object of con- centration to the exclusion of all tjther ideas and mental activi- ties, then to the prolonged absorption of the mind in this object, finally, to the complete ingoing of the consciousness by which it is lost to all outward mental activity in the oneness of Samadhi.

raja-yogin ::: one who practises rajayoga. raja-yogin

rajayogin ::: [one who practises rajayoga].

raja yogi. :::the one who practices samyama

Ras chung pa Rdo rje grags. (Rechungpa Dorje Drak) (1083/4-1161). A close disciple of the Tibetan sage MI LA RAS PA and an early master of the BKA' BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in the southwest Tibetan region of Gung thang and, while herding cattle at the age of eleven, met Mi la ras pa, who was meditating in a nearby cave. Much to the consternation of his family, Ras chung pa left his home to follow the YOGIN, subsequently spending many years serving and training under his GURU. As one of Milarepa's youngest disciples, he earned the name Ras chung pa, lit. "little cotton-clad one." He was later dispatched to India in order to retrieve several transmissions of the LUS MED MKHA' 'GRO SNYAN RGYUD CHOS SKOR DGU ("nine aural lineage cycles of the formless dĀKINĪs"); Mi la ras pa's teacher MAR PA CHOS KYI BLO GROS had only received five of these nine cycles during his own studies in India. Ras chung pa acquired these teachings from the brāhmana-adept TI PHU PA in India and, returning to Tibet, spent many years in solitary meditation. He eventually taught numerous disciples of his own. Although Ras chung pa was not a central part of the Bka' brgyud sect's institutional development, a role played by Mi la ras pa's other well-known disciple SGAM PO PA BSOD NAMS RIN CHEN, he figures prominently in the MI LA'I MGUR 'BUM ("Hundred Thousand Songs of Milarepa"), the collected verse instructions of Mi la ras pa. He also transmitted an important tradition of tantric instructions that were redacted as the RAS CHUNG SNYAN BRGYUD (Aural Lineage of Ras chung). These teachings gained some importance over the next several centuries and were later revived during the fifteenth century by GTSANG SMYON HERUKA at a religious center founded at one of Ras chung pa's principal meditation caves, RAS CHUNG PHUG.

Ras chung snyan brgyud. (Rechung nyengyu). In Tibetan, lit. "the aural lineage of Ras chung," referring to RAS CHUNG PA RDO RJE GRAGS, a principal disciple of the BKA' BRGYUD founder MI LA RAS PA. Although called an aural lineage (snyan brgyud), it comprises a system of liturgies, ritual manuals, and tantric commentaries, together with their oral instructions, based primarily on the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA. The lineage began with the LUS MED MKHA' 'GRO SNYAN RGYUD CHOS SKOR DGU ("nine aural lineage cycles of the formless dĀKINĪs") promulgated by the Indian adepts TILOPA and NĀROPA. Five of these were subsequently transmitted in Tibet by the Bka' brgyud founders MAR PA CHOS KYI BLO GROS and Mi la ras pa. Ras chung pa received them from Mi la ras pa and then journeyed to India, where he obtained the remaining instructions from the tantric master TI PHU PA. The system of teachings that Ras chung pa subsequently passed on became known as the "aural lineage of Ras chung pa." The fifteenth-century YOGIN GTSANG SMYON HERUKA later codified these teachings, together with those of Mi la ras pa's other prominent disciples, SGAM PO PA BSOD NAM RIN CHEN and Ngan rdzongs ras pa (Ngendzong Repa), into the SNYAN BRGYUD SKOR GSUM ("three cycles of aural lineage instructions").

ṛddhi. (P. iddhi; T. rdzu 'phrul; C. shenli; J. jinriki; K. sillyok 神力). In Sanskrit, "psychic powers," any number of supernatural powers regarded as a by-product of deep states of meditation (DHYĀNA). When listed as one of the six supranormal powers (ABHIJNĀ; see also ṚDDHIVIDHĀBHIJNĀ), these psychic powers include: (1) the ability to replicate one's body and, having done so, to make it one again; (2) the ability to pass through solid objects, such as walls and mountains, as if they were air; (3) the ability to walk on water as if it were solid earth; (4) the ability to fly through the air like a bird, even with one's legs crossed; and (5) the ability to touch the sun and the moon with one's hand. Such powers may be attained by any YOGIN, whether Buddhist or non-Buddhist, and are not in themselves an indicator of enlightenment. The Buddha is said to have generally dissuaded his monks from the display of such powers, although Buddhist texts are replete with accounts of such displays, including by the Buddha himself.

rdo rje gsum gyi bsnyen sgrub. (dorje sumgyi nyendrup). A rare Tibetan Buddhist tradition, lit. "propitiation and achievement of the three adamantine states," closely related to the KĀLACAKRATANTRA. It was originally promulgated by the great Tibetan adept O RGYAN PA RIN CHEN DPAL, who is said to have received the instructions directly from VAJRAYOGINĪ while traveling through northwest India. O rgyan pa's disciples composed several commentaries on the teaching, but it seems to have since fallen into obscurity.

Rdo rje rnal 'byor ma. See VAJRAYOGINĪ

rebirth. An English term that does not have an exact correlate in Buddhist languages, rendered instead by a range of technical terms, such as the Sanskrit PUNARJANMAN (lit. "birth again") and PUNARBHAVA (lit. "re-becoming"), and, less commonly, the related PUNARMṚTYU (lit. "redeath"). The Sanskrit term JĀTI ("birth") also encompasses the notion of rebirth. The doctrine of rebirth is central to Buddhism. It was not an innovation of the Buddha, being already common to a number of philosophical schools of ancient India by the time of his appearance, especially those connected with the sRAMAnA movement of religious mendicants. Rebirth (sometimes called metempsychosis) is described as a beginningless process in which a mental continuum (see SAMTĀNA) takes different (usually) physical forms lifetime after lifetime within the six realms (GATI) of SAMSĀRA: divinities (DEVA), demigods (ASURA), humans (MANUsYA), animals (TIRYAK), ghosts (PRETA), and hell denizens (NĀRAKA). The cycle of rebirth operates through the process of activity (KARMAN), with virtuous (KUsALA) actions serving as the cause for salutary rebirths among the divinities and human beings, and unvirtuous (AKUsALA) actions serving as the cause of unsalutary rebirths (DURGATI; APĀYA) among demigods, animals, ghosts, and hell denizens. The goal of the Buddhist path has been traditionally described as the cessation of the cycle of rebirth through the eradication of its causes, which are identified as the afflictions (KLEsA) of greed, hatred, and ignorance and the actions motivated by those defilements. Despite this ultimate goal, however, much traditional Buddhist practice has been directed toward securing rebirth as a human or divinity for oneself and one's family members, while avoiding rebirth in the evil realms. The issue of how Buddhism reconciles the doctrine of rebirth with its position that there is no perduring self (ANĀTMAN) has long been discussed within the tradition. Some schools of mainstream Buddhism, such as the VĀTSĪPUTRĪYA or PUDGALAVĀDA, have gone so far as to posit that, while there may be no perduring "self," there is an "inexpressible" (avācya) "person" (PUDGALA) that is neither the same as nor different from the five aggregates (SKANDHA), which transmigrates from lifetime to lifetime. A more widely accepted view among the traditions sees the person as simply a sequence of mental and physical processes, among which is the process called consciousness (VIJNĀNA). Consciousness, although changing every moment, persists as a continuum over time. Death is simply the transfer of this conscious continuum (SAMTĀNA) from one impermanent mental and physical foundation to the next, just as the light from one candle may be transferred to the next in a series of candles. The exact process by which rebirth occurs is variously described in the different Buddhist traditions, with some schools asserting that rebirth occurs in the moments immediately following death, with other schools positing the existence of an "intermediate state" (ANTARĀBHAVA) between death in one lifetime and rebirth in another, with that period lasting as long as forty-nine days (see SISHIJIU [RI] ZHAI). This state, translated as BAR DO in Tibetan, became particularly important in Tibet in both funerary rituals and in tantric practice, especially that of the RNYING MA sect. The reality of rebirth is one of the cardinal doctrines of Buddhism, which the religion claims can be empirically validated through direct spiritual insight (see YOGIPRATYAKsA). Indeed, understanding the validity of this cycle of rebirth is associated with two of the three types of knowledge (TRIVIDYĀ) that are experienced through the enlightenment of an ARHAT or a buddha: the ability to remember one's own former lives (PuRVANIVĀSĀNUSMṚTI) in all their detail and insight into the future rebirth destinies of all other beings based on their own actions (S. CYUTYUPAPĀDĀNUSMṚTI). See also SAMSĀRA.

Rgod tshang pa Mgon po rdo rje. (Gotshangpa Gonpo Dorje) (1189-1258). A Tibetan Buddhist master revered as the founder of the upper (stod) branch of the 'BRUG PA BKA' BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in the LHO BRAG region of southern Tibet, and as a child was known for his pleasing appearance and his beautiful singing voice. In his youth, he studied under a number of tutors and finally reached RWA LUNG monastery, where he met his principal guru, the 'Brug pa Bka' brgyud founder GTSANG PA RGYA RAS YE SHES RDO RJE, from whom he received monastic ordination and extensive instruction. In accordance with his master's advice, he spent much of his life as a wandering YOGIN, traveling across central, southern, and western Tibet and visiting numerous pilgrimage places including KAILĀSA, TSA RI, and Jālandhara (the modern Kangra Valley of Himachal Pradesh in northwest India). He also established several important retreat centers where he passed many years in meditation, including Rgod tshang near modern-day Rtsib ri in Gtsang, Steng gro, Bde chen stengs, and Bar 'brogs Rdo rje gling.

Ri bo dpal 'bar. (Riwo Palbar). A mountain in Skyid grong (Kyirong) county of southwestern Tibet on the Nepalese border believed to have been a retreat location of both the Indian sage PADMASAMBHAVA and the Tibetan YOGIN MI LA RAS PA. According to the latter's biography, the village of Ragma at the mountain's base was home to many of the yogin's patrons and the site of his meditation cave called Byang chub rdzong (Jangchup Dzong), "The Fortress of Enlightenment." Near the summit lies a small chapel, now in partial ruins, housing the relics of the great RNYING MA scholar and historian KAḤ THOG RIG 'DZIN TSHE DBANG NOR BU.

Rishi-yogis (Sanskrit) Ṛṣi-yogin-s Adepts in yoga; these adepts of the Puranas acquired divine powers through self-exertion.

rnal 'byor ma'i rgyud. See YOGINĪTANTRA

rnal 'byor ma. See YOGINĪ

rnal 'byor mngon sum. See YOGIPRATYAKsA

rnal 'byor pa. See YOGIN

ROUGH HANDLING. ::: The rough handling and careless breaking or waste and misuse of physical things is a denial of the yogio consciousness and a great hindrance to the bringing do^vn of the Divine Truth to the material plane.

Rsi-yogins. See RISHI-YOGIS

Rudra-Siva (Sanskrit) Rudra-Śiva Siva in the form of the regenerating god; also “the great Yogi, the forefather of all the Adepts — in Esotericism one of the greatest Kings of the Divine Dynasties. Called ‘the Earliest’ and the ‘Last,’ he is the patron of the Third, Fourth, and the Fifth Root-Races. For, in his earliest character, he is the ascetic Dig-ambara, ‘clothed with the Elements,’ Trilochana, ‘the three-eyed’; Pancha-anana, ‘the five-faced,’ an allusion to the past four and the present fifth race, for, though five-faced, he is only ‘four-armed,’ as the fifth race is still alive. He is the ‘God of Time,’ Saturn-Kronos, as his damaru (drum), in the shape of an hour-glass, shows; and if he is accused of having cut off Brahma’s fifth head, and left him with only four, it is again an allusion to a certain degree in initiation, and also to the Races” (SD 2:502n). See also RUDRA

Rwa lo tsā ba Rdo rje grags. (Ra Lotsawa Dorje Drakpa) (1016-1128?). A prominent translator and YOGIN of the "later dissemination" (PHYI DAR) of Buddhism to Tibet. While still in his teens, he went to Nepal, where he received instructions and transmissions of a number of tantric cycles; he received the VAJRABHAIRAVA and VAJRAVĀRĀHĪ transmissions from the Nepalese master Bharo. Upon his return to Tibet, he attracted many students and received generous offerings from patrons, which he used for the support of the dharma; among his many projects was the rebuilding of BSAM YAS after it was destroyed by fire. He translated many tantric texts and is known especially for his translations of texts connected with YAMĀNTAKA. He also translated the KĀLACAKRATANTRA into Tibetan; the tradition deriving from his translation is known as the Rwa lugs. He was also a controversial figure, known to have little patience with those who opposed him; he is said to have used his tantric powers to "liberate" (i.e., kill) thirteen rivals, including according to some accounts, MAR PA's son DAR MA SDO SDE.

ryogi 了義. See NĪTĀRTHA

sadhaka (Sadhak) ::: one who is getting or trying to get realisation [cf. yogin]; one who seeks siddhi by the practice of sadhana.

sādhāranasiddhi. (T. thun mong gi dngos grub). In Sanskrit, "common attainment," a term used, especially in the tantric context, to refer to various supranormal powers, such as the ability to fly, walk through walls, and find buried treasure, which can be attained through the recitation of MANTRAs and the propitiation of deities by both Buddhist and non-Buddhist YOGINs. It is contrasted with the "uncommon attainment" (asādhāranasiddhi), which is synonymous with "supreme attainment" (UTTAMASIDDHI), viz., the attainment of buddhahood.

sahaja. (T. lhan skyes; C. jushengqi; J. kushoki; K. kusaenggi 生起). A polysemous Sanskrit term, variously translated as "coemergence," "connate," "simultaneously arisen," and "the innate." This term is used frequently in the tantric Buddhist verses composed by the SIDDHAs of medieval north India such as SARAHA, Kānha, and TILOPA; these include collections of DOHĀ recorded in APABHRAMsA and Bengali compilations of caryāgīti (see CARYĀGĪTIKOsA). In these contexts, sahaja refers most generally to the ultimate and innermost true nature, as well as to its realization through the spontaneous and uninhibited lifestyle and practice associated with tantric adepts. The term may be used as a noun for the ultimate state itself, or as an adjective describing a state or condition as natural and uncontrived. In the context of the YOGINĪ tantras such as the HEVAJRATANTRA, the term sahaja is used to refer to the highest of four states of ecstasy-innate ecstasy (sahajānanda)-which can be gained through the visualized or actual practice of sexual yoga, and through which one comes to realize the mind's luminosity and natural purity. Early twentieth-century authors-beginning with the Bengali scholars and translators who first published studies on the collections of tantric verses-described what they called the sahajayāna ("path of sahaja") and the sahajiyās who followed it, although neither term is found in traditional Indian Buddhist literature. The Tibetan form, lhan skyes (short for lhan cig tu skyes pa) appears widely in the subsequent literature of MAHĀMUDRĀ.

sahasrara chakra. ::: the topmost yogic centre situated in the head; the highest centre of consciousness

Saiva (Sanskrit) Śaiva The adjectival form of Siva; devotees of the sect of Siva. This divinity is the great patron of all yogis, quite apart from this sect claiming to be especial followers of Siva.

Samadbi or Yogic trance retires to increasing depths accord* lag as it dran^ farther and farther away from the nonnal or waking state and enters into degrees of consciousness less and less communicable to the waking mind, less and less ready to receive a summons from the waking world. Beyond a certain point the trance becomes complete and it is then almost or quite impossible to awaken or calf back the soul that has receded into them ; it can only come back by its own will or at most by a violent shock of physical appeal dangerous to the sj'stem owing to the abrupt upheaval of return. There are said to be supreme states of trance in which the soul persisting for too long a lime cannot return ; for it loses its hold on the cord which binds it to the consciousness of life, and the body is left, maintained indeed in its set position, not dead by dissolution, but incapable of recovering the ensouled life which had rnhahifed it. finally, the Yogin acquires at a certain stage of development the power of abandoning his body definitively without the ordinary pheno- mena of death, by an act of will, or by a process of withdrawing the pranic life-force through the gate of the upward life-current

Samadhana (Sanskrit) Samādhāna [from sam-ā-dhā to put together, restore] The collection of all the principles of a person’s constitution into a single unity, thus restoring the person as an entitative being to the wholeness of the atmic reality. “That state in which a Yogi can no longer diverge from the path of spiritual progress; when everything terrestrial, except the visible body, has ceased to exist for him” (TG 286). It is true religious meditation, and profound intellectual absorption into and contemplation of pure spirit.

Samadhi and norma! sleep, between the dream*state of Yoga and the physical state of dream. The latter belongs to the physical mind ; in the former the mind proper and subtle is at work liberated from the immixture of the physical mentality. The dreams of the physical mind are an incoherent jumble made up partly of responses to vague touches from the physical world round which the lower mind*faculttes disconnected from the will and reason, the buddhi, weave a web of wandering phantasy, partly of disordered associations from the brain>memory, partly of refieclions from the soul travelling on the mental plane, reflec- tions which arc, ordinarily, received without intelligence or co- ordination, wildly distorted in the reception and mixed up confusedly with the other dream elements, with brain-memories and fantastic responses to any sensory touch from the physical world. In the Yogic dream-state, on the other hand, the mind is in clear possession of itself, though not of the physical world, works coherently and is able to use either its ordinary will and intelligence with a concentrated power or else the higher will and intelligence of the more exalted planes of mind. It withdraws from experience of the outer world, it puts its seals upon the physical senses and their doors of conununicatinn with maJerJal things ; but everything that is proper to itself, thought, reasoning, reflection, vision, it can continue to execute with an increased purity and power of sovereign concentration free from the dis- tractions and unsteadiness of the waking mind. It can use too its will and produce upon itself or upon its environment mental, moral and even physical effects which may continue and have

samadhi ::: Yogic trance (in which the mind acquires the capacity of withdrawing from its limited waking activities into freer and higher states of consciousness); [in the Gita]: calm, desireless, griefless fixity of the buddhi in self-poise and self-knowledge. ::: samadhih [nominative]

Samadhi or Yogic trance retires to increasing depths according as it draws farther and farther away from the normal or waking state and enters into degrees of consciousness less and less communicable to the waking mind, less and less ready to receive a summons from the waking world. Beyond a certain point the trance becomes complete and it is then almost or quite impossible to awaken or call back the soul that has receded into them; it can only come back by its own will or at most by a violent shock of physical appeal dangerous to the system owing to the abrupt upheaval of return. There are said to be supreme states of trance in which the soul persisting for too long a time cannot return; for it loses its hold on the cord which binds it to the consciousness of life, and the body is left, maintained indeed in its set position, not dead by dissolution, but incapable of recovering the ensouled life which had inhabited it. Finally, the Yogin acquires at a certain stage of development the power of abandoning his body definitively without the ordinary phenomena of death, by an act of will,1 or by a process of withdrawing the pranic life-force through the gate of the upward life-current (udana), opening for it a way through the mystic brahmarandhra in the head. By departure from life in the state of Samadhi he attains directly to that higher status of being to which he aspires.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 520-21


samadhi (sushupta samadhi) ::: the state of profound samadhi . upta samadhi that is compared to dreamless sleep. It is not an unconscious state, but "the Yogic sleep of the mind with wakefulness of the vijnana", which "is the gate of union with the supreme state of Sachchidananda". sus susupta-svapna

samadhi. ::: transcendental awareness; the quiet state of blissful awareness; oneness; union with Brahman; the goal of all yogic practice, which is attained when the yogi constantly sees the supreme Self in his Heart; a direct but temporary absorption in the Self in which there is only the feeling "I am" and no thoughts; the state of superconsciousness where Reality is experienced attended with all-knowledge and joy &

samāhitajNāna. (T. mnyam bzhag ye shes; C. dengyin zhi; J. toinchi; K. tŭngin chi 等引智). In Sanskrit, "wisdom of equipoise," the state of direct realization of reality in which the ultimate truth is perceived without mediation by thought in a state of yogic direct perception (YOGIPRATYAKsA). In descriptions of the five paths (PANCAMĀRGA) to enlightenment, the attainment of such wisdom occurs on the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) and is repeated over the course of the path of cultivation (BHĀVANĀMĀRGA). It has two parts, the VIMUKTIMĀRGA and the ĀNANTARYAMĀRGA.

samāpatti. (T. snyom 'jug; C. dengzhi/zhengshou; J. toji/shoju; K. tŭngji/chongsu 等至/正受). In Sanskrit and Pāli, "attainment" or "trance," a state of deep concentration produced through the practice of meditation; the term literally means "correct entrance." Specifically, samāpatti refers to eight levels of attainment, which correlate with the eight meditative absorptions (DHYĀNA), the four absorptions of the realm of subtle materiality (RuPĀVACARADHYĀNA) and the four of the immaterial realm (ĀRuPYĀVACARADHYĀNA). However, unlike the dhyāna model, samāpatti may also add a ninth attainment, called either the attainment of the cessation of perception and sensation (SAMJNĀVEDAYITANIRODHA) or the trance of cessation (NIRODHASAMĀPATTI). The four attainments of the realm of subtle materiality are named for the order in which they occur. Thus, in ascending order, they are the first concentration (prathamadhyāna, P. pathamajjhāna), the second concentration (dvitīyadhyāna, P. dutiyajjhāna), the third concentration (tṛtīyadhyāna, P. tatiyajjhāna), and the fourth concentration (caturthadhyāna, P. catutthajjhāna). The four levels of the immaterial realm are the attainment of the sphere of boundless space (ākāsānantyāyatanasamāpatti, P. ākāsānanNcāyatanasamāpatti), attainment of the sphere of boundless consciousness (vijNānānantyāyatanasamāpatti, P. vinNnNānānNcāyatanasamāpatti), attainment of the sphere of nothingness (ākinNcanyāyatanasamāpatti, P. ākiNcaNNāyatanasamāpatti), and attainment of the sphere of neither perception nor nonperception (naivasaMjNānāsaMjNāyatanasamāpatti, P. nevasanNNānāsaNNāyatanasamāpatti). As indicated earlier, a ninth stage, the attainment of the cessation of perception and sensation (saMjNāvedayitanirodha) or the attainment of cessation (nirodhasamāpatti), is often added to these latter four. These eight or nine states are also known as the "successive dwellings" (anupurvavihāra). By achieving one of these states of absorption through the practice of meditation while still a human being, one will be reborn in the respective level of these realms of existence in the next lifetime. Similar samāpatti schemes, which present stratified levels of meditative attainment, also appear in non-Buddhist yogic systems. See also ASAMJNĀSAMĀPATTI.

SAMATA. ::: Yogic samata is equality of soul, equanimity founded on the sense of the one Self, the one Divine everywhere

Samma-sambuddha (Pali) Sammā-sambuddha Used by mystic Buddhists and raja-yogins to signify the complete or perfected knowledge of the whole series of one’s past lives, a phenomenon of memory obtained through the practice of true inner yoga or self-control. More generally, full or complete awaking, in the sense that all the higher nature of the individual is thoroughly awakened and active, thus conferring virtual omniscience as regards our solar system; it likewise brings with it great spiritual and psychic powers. It is the full efflorescence and self-conscious activity of the spiritual monad in and through the one who has attained to this sublime degree in spiritual unfoldment, the becoming at one with the cosmic Logos.

Saraha. (T. Sa ra ha; C. Shaluohe; J. Sharaka; K. Saraha 沙羅訶). An eighth-century Indian tantric adept, counted among the eighty-four MAHĀSIDDHAs and renowned for his songs of realization (DOHĀ); also known as Sarahapāda. There are few historical facts regarding Saraha, but according to traditional sources he was born into a Bengali brāhmana family. He is often known by the appellation "Great Brāhmana." In his youth he entered the Buddhist monastic order but later abandoned the clergy in favor of living as a wandering YOGIN. During a visionary experience, he was exhorted to train under a female arrowsmith, who, by means of symbolic instruction, taught Saraha the means for piercing through discursiveness and dualistic thought. Having realized the nature of MAHĀMUDRĀ, he earned the name Saraha, lit., "piercing arrow" or "he who has shot the arrow." Saraha is an important member in Tibetan lineages for the instructions on mahāmudrā. He also composed numerous spiritual songs (dohā) popular among Newari and Tibetan Buddhists. Originally recorded in an eastern Indian APABHRAMsA dialect, these songs were later collected and translated into Tibetan as the well-known DO HA SKOR GSUM ("Three Cycles of Songs").

sarvatha vartamanopi sa yogi mayi vartate ::: however -- even in all kinds of ways -- he lives and acts, that yogin lives and acts in Me. [Gita 6.31]

Seeking for occulf powers is looked on with disfavour for the most part by spiritual teachers in India, because it belongs to the inferior planes and usually pushes the seeker on a path which may lead him very far from the Divine. Especially, a contact mth the forces and beings of the astral (or, as we term it, the vital) plane is attended with great dangers. The beings of this plane are often bosiQc to the true aim of spiritual life and establish contact with the seeker and offer him powers and occult experiences only in order that they may lead him away from the spiritual path or else that they may establish their own control over him or take possession of him for their owm pur- pose. Often, representing themselves as Divine powers they mis- lead, give erring suggestions and impulsions and pervert the inner life. Many are those who, attracted by these powers and beings of the vital plane, bave ended in a definitive spiritual fall or in mental and physical perversion and disorder. One comes ineritably into contact with the vital plane and enters into it in the expansion of consriousness which results from an inner opening, but one ought never to put oneself into the hands of these beings and forces or allow oneself to be led by their sug- gestions and impulsions. This is one of the chief dangers of the spiritual life and to be on one’s guard against it is a necessity for the seeTer if he wishes to arrive at his goal. It is true that many supraphysical or supernonnal powers come with the expansion of the consciousness in the yoga ; to rise out of the body consciousness, to act by subtle means on the supraphysical planes, etc. are natural activities for the yogi- But these powers are not sought after, they come naturally, and they have not the astral character. Also, Aey have to be used on purely spiritual

serpent ::: “On the other hand, Pranayama awakens the coiled-up serpent of the Pranic dynamism in the vital sheath and opens to the Yogin fields of consciousness, ranges of experience, abnormal faculties denied to the ordinary human life while it puissantly intensifies such normal powers and faculties as he already possesses. These advantages can be farther secured and emphasised by other subsidiary processes open to the Hathayogin.” The Synthesis of Yoga

Seven Pupils of E. G. Chicago: The Yogi Publishing

Sgam po pa Bsod nams rin chen. (Gampopa Sonam Rinchen) (1079-1153). A principal disciple of the Tibetan YOGIN MI LA RAS PA and leading figure in the early formation of the BKA' BRGYUD sect of Tibetan Buddhism. At an early age, Sgam po pa trained as a physician but renounced his career and received monastic ordination at the age of twenty-five following the death of his wife and child. He is often known as Dwags po lha rje (Dakpo Lhaje), "the physician from Dakpo," because of his vocation. Sgam po pa initially trained in the BKA' GDAMS tradition under the master Snyug rum pa Brtson 'grus rgyal mtshan (Nyukrumpa Tsondru Gyaltsen, b. eleventh century) as well as Po to ba Rin chen gsal. At the age of thirty-one, he heard three beggars discussing Mi la ras pa and experienced a strong feeling of faith. He asked permission of his Bka' gdams teachers to study with him, which they granted under the condition that he not renounce his monk's precepts. When he met Mi la ras pa in 1109, Sgam po pa offered him gold and tea, which he refused. Mi la ras pa offered him a skullcup full of wine, which Sgam po pa initially declined but then drank, even though it was a violation of his monk's vows. He received a number of teachings from Mi la ras pa, first concerning VAJARVĀRĀHĪ, and later the transmission of MAHĀMUDRĀ instructions and the "six yogas of Nāropa" (NĀ RO CHOS DRUG), stemming from the Indian MAHĀSIDDHAs TILOPA and NĀROPA. Later, Sgam po pa developed his own system of exposition, fusing elements of his Bka' gdams pa training with the perspectives and practices of mahāmudrā. This has been called the "confluence of the two streams of Bka' gdams pa and mahāmudrā" (bka' phyag chu bo gnyis 'dres). Unlike Mi la ras pa, he kept the practices of mahāmudrā and sexual yoga separate, teaching the latter only to select disciples. Sgam po pa remained a monk, founding his monastic seat at DWAGS LHA SGAM PO in southern Tibet and composing numerous works on Buddhist doctrine and practice. His work entitled THAR PA RIN PO CHE'I RGYAN ("Jewel Ornament of Liberation"), remains a seminal Bka' rgyud textbook. He also promulgated the controversial system of mahāmudrā instructions known as the DKAR PO CHIG THUB, or "self-sufficient white [remedy]." The lineage of Bka' brgyud masters and teachings following Sgam po pa came to be known collectively as the DWAGS PO BKA' BRGYUD. The division of the lineage into numerous subsects called the BKA' BRGYUD CHE BZHI CHUNG BRGYAD or "four major and eight minor Bka' brgyud subsects" stem from the disciples of Sgam po pa and his nephew Dwags po Sgom tshul (Dakpo Gomtsul, 1116-1169). Sgam po pa's principal disciples included the first KARMA PA DUS GSUM MKHYEN PA and PHAG MO GRU PA RDO RJE RGYAL PO.

Shiva ::: “The ‘auspicious one’; a name of the third deity of the Hindu Trinity; . . . represented mostly as ‘the pure and white, the ascetic, the still, contemplative Yogin’. The name Shiva is not found in the Vedas; however, the name Rudra occurs both in the singular and the plural. This Rudra of the Vedas developed in the course of time into Shiva, considered in the Puranic tradition mainly as the destroying or dissolving Power. He has a third eye in the middle of the forehead, a fiery glance from which once reduced Kamadeva to ashes. In his creative aspect he is represented as a Linga (phallus), symbolising the male procreative energy in nature. It is under the form of the Linga that Shiva is mostly worshipped. His abode is on Mt. Kailash, Parvati is his spouse and the Trisula (the trident) his weapon.” Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo’s Works

shiva ::: "The ‘auspicious one"; a name of the third deity of the Hindu Trinity; . . . represented mostly as ‘the pure and white, the ascetic, the still, contemplative Yogin". The name Shiva is not found in the Vedas; however, the name Rudra occurs both in the singular and the plural. This Rudra of the Vedas developed in the course of time into Shiva, considered in the Puranic tradition mainly as the destroying or dissolving Power. He has a third eye in the middle of the forehead, a fiery glance from which once reduced Kamadeva to ashes. In his creative aspect he is represented as a Linga (phallus), symbolising the male procreative energy in nature. It is under the form of the Linga that Shiva is mostly worshipped. His abode is on Mt. Kailash, Parvati is his spouse and the Trisula (the trident) his weapon.” *Glossary and Index of Proper Names in Sri Aurobindo"s Works

shugyonin修行人. See YOGIN

siddha. ::: one who has attained Self-realisation; one who has become Self; a seer of Truth; accomplished being; a perfected yogi; the one who has become Self or All; those without attachments or aversions

siddha ::: perfected; perfect; the "perfected soul", same as siddha yogin; a type of consciousness above the deva; (on page 1280) another term for sadananda.

siddhasana. :::eternal Reality; also a particular Yogic posture

Siddhasena (Sanskrit) Siddhasena [from siddha perfected + sena lord, leader] The leader of the siddhas. As the siddhas are the highly evolved sages or saints who have become semi-divine and virtually a class of dhyani-chohans, it means the leader of the celestial beings of both heaven and earth who are endowed with occult yogi powers.

siddha-yogi ::: [a perfected yogin].

siddha yogin ::: yogin who has achieved siddhi.

Siddhi (Sanskrit) Siddhi [from the verbal root sidh to be fulfilled, perfected, attain an object] Perfect attainment, full accomplishment; philosophically, occult power or secret mystical power, “attributes of perfection’; phenomenal powers acquired through holiness by Yogis” (TG 298). Equivalent to the Pali iddhi.

Siddhi: (Skr.) Reaching of the aim, success, particularly the attainment of supernatural powers, such as clairvoyance, clairaudience, levitation, the penetration of matter, etc, claimed for the Yogin (q.v.) in the highest stage of the practice of Yoga (q.v.). -- K.F.L.

siddhis. :::supernatural powers attained through mantra, meditation, or other yogic practices; miracle

siddhi yoga. ::: yogic attainment which can only be attained and sustained by effort, and that when the effort lapses, the "attainment" disappears

Siva is often spoken of as the patron deity of esotericists, occultists, and ascetics; he is called the Mahayogin (the great ascetic), from whom the highest spiritual knowledge is acquired, and union with the great spirit of the universe is eventually gained. Here he is “the howling and terrific destroyer of human passions and physical senses, which are ever in the way of the development of the higher spiritual perceptions and the growth of the inner eternal man — mystically . . . Siva-Rudra is the Destroyer, as Vishnu is the preserver; and both are the regenerators of spiritual as well as of physical nature. To live as a plant, the seed must die. To live as a conscious entity in the Eternity, the passions and senses of man must first die before his body does. ‘To live is to die and to die is to live,’ has been too little understood in the West. Siva, the destroyer, is the creator and the Saviour of Spiritual man, as he is the good gardener of nature. He weeds out the plants, human and cosmic, and kills the passions of the physical, to call to life the perceptions of the spiritual, man” (SD 1:459&n).

Siva-Rudra (Shiva-Rudra) ::: the auspicious [Siva] and the terrible [Rudra], the leader and destroyer, the yogin who enjoys the supreme liberty and peace and the Master of the force that acts in the worlds.

Śiva (Shiva) ::: "the auspicious", a name of the god who is at once "the Siva Master of the force that acts in the worlds and the Yogin who enjoys the supreme liberty and peace"; especially the contemplative aspect of this deity, in contrast to his "terrible" aspect which is called Rudra2 and sometimes regarded as a distinct god; the divine personality representing absolute Existence (sat) with infinite Force (tapas) inherent in it, whose immobility is translated in the lower hemisphere of existence (aparardha) by inertia, figured in the image of Śiva"s body lying under the feet of the dancing Kali; (also called Mahesvara and identified with Mahavira) the aspect of the fourfold isvara whose sakti is Mahesvari; a name of the Lord and supreme Being (isvara, purus.ottama). siva siv a K Kali

Skyid grong. (Kyirong). A village and surrounding region in southwestern Tibet, on the border with Nepal. Numerous religious centers and pilgrimage sites are located in the area including the 'PHAGS PA WA TI LHA KHANG, RI BO DPAL 'BAR, and the YOGIN MI LA RAS PA's hermitage BRAG DKAR RTA SO. Skyid grong was an important staging post on the foremost ancient trade route between Tibet and Nepal.

Sleep in sSdhana ::: Sleep has to be gradually transformed into the yogic repose.

smasāna. (P. susāna; T. dur khrod; C. shilin/hanlin; J. shirin/kanrin; K. sirim/hallim 屍林/寒林). In Sanskrit, "charnel ground," "cemetery"; funerary sites in ancient India where corpses were left to decompose. The charnel ground was recommended as a site for monks to practice meditation in order to overcome attachment to the body. In the MAHĀSATIPAttHĀNASUTTA, the Buddha recommends nine "charnel ground contemplations" (sīvathikā manasikāra). There is a set of "contemplations on the foul" (AsUBHABHĀVANĀ) described in mainstream Buddhist literature that were to take place in the charnel grounds, where the monks would sit next to the dead and contemplate the nine or ten specific stages in the decomposition of a corpse; this meditation was a powerful antidote to the affliction of lust (RĀGA). The traditional list of thirteen authorized ascetic practices (S. dhutaguna; P. DHUTAnGA) also includes dwelling in a charnel ground (no. 11) and wearing only discarded cloth (no. 1), which typically meant to use funerary cloth taken from rotting corpses to make monastic raiments (CĪVARA), thus weaning the monk or nun from attachment to material possessions. The ideal charnel ground is described as a place where corpses are cremated daily, where there is the constant smell of decomposing corpses, and where the weeping of the families of the dead can be heard. The practice of meditation there is said to result in an awareness of the inevitability of death, the abandonment of lust, and the overcoming of attachment to the body. In India, the charnel ground was a frightful place not only because of the presence of corpses but also for the creatures, including wild animals and various demons, that frequented it at night. Thus, in tantric Buddhism, the charnel ground was considered to be inhabited by wrathful deities, dĀKINĪs, and MAHĀSIDDHAs, making it a potent place for the performance of ritual and meditation. Mahāsiddhas are sometimes depicted in charnel grounds, sitting on corpses and drinking from skull cups. ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA texts also refer to a set of "eight great charnel grounds" (S. AstAMAHĀsMAsĀNA), which are also frequently depicted in tantric Buddhist art. While the eight sites are often equated with actual geographic locations in India, they also carry a deeper symbolism, referring to regions of tantric sacred geography, points on a MAndALA or a deity's body, and elements of tantric physiology such as the channels (NĀdĪ) in the subtle body of a meditating YOGIN. Their origin myth describes the defeat of the demon Rudra, after which the charnel grounds arose in the eight cardinal and intermediate directions, each from a piece of his dismembered body. They are described as wild and terrifying places, littered with human corpses and wild animals, each with their own trees, protectors, STuPAs, NĀGAs, jewels, fires, clouds, mountains, and lakes. They are inhabited by a host of spirits and nonhuman beings, as well as meditating yogins and YOGINĪs. In general, charnel grounds and similar frightening locations are said to be efficacious for the practice of tantric meditation. The astamahāsmasāna are also usually depicted as forming part of the outer protection wheel in mandalas of anuttarayogatantra. There are varying lists of the eight great charnel grounds, one of which is: candogrā (most fierce), gahvara (dense thicket), vajrajvala (blazing vajra), endowed with skeletons (karankin), cool grove (sītavana), black darkness (ghorāndhakāra), resonant with "kilikili" (kilikilārava), and cries of "ha ha" (attahāsa); Tibetan sources give the names of the eight great charnel grounds as gtum drag (candogra), tshang tshing 'khrigs pa (gahvara), rdo rje bar ba (vajrajvala), keng rus can (karankin), bsil bu tshal (sītavana), mun pa nag po (ghorāndhakāra) ki li ki lir sgra sgrog pa (kilikilārava), and ha ha rgod pa (attahāsa).

Sojiji. (總持寺). In Japanese, "DHĀRAnĪ Monastery"; one of the two main monasteries of the SoToSHu of ZEN Buddhism, located in Tsurumi, Yokohama. This monastery was originally established on the Noto peninsula (present-day Ishikawa prefecture) in 740 as Morookadera by the monk GYoGI (668-749), who also founded ToDAIJI. In 1321, KEIZAN JoKIN (1268-1325), the founding patriarch of the Soto Zen institution, came into possession of this local monastery, which he renamed Sojiji. In 1322, Sojiji were sanctioned as an official monastery by Emperor Godaigo (r. 1318-1339), an event that is traditionally considered to mark the official establishment of Soto as an independent Zen institution in Japan. Keizan later entrusted Sojiji to his disciple Gasan Joseki (1276-1366). Sojiji was an important government-sponsored monastery during the Muromachi and Edo periods and its status rivaled that of the other main Soto monastery, EIHEIJI; in its heyday, the monastery is said to have had more than seventy buildings within its precincts. After burning to the ground in 1898, the monastery was rebuilt in Yokohama in 1911, because Soto Zen leaders calculated that a location near Tokyo would have strategic value for the growth of the sect. Sojiji is entered through a gigantic copper-roofed gate (sanmon) that was built in 1969. The butsuden, or main buddha hall, was completed in 1915 and enshrines a statue of sĀKYAMUNI with his disciples MAHĀKĀsYAPA and ĀNANDA. There is a founders' hall (taisodo) for Keizan Jokin that displays statues of the major historical figures of the Soto Zen tradition and that also doubles as a lecture hall; in addition, there is a large SAMGHA hall (daisodo) for ordaining and training monks, which displays a statue of the BODHISATTVA MANJUsRĪ. Other buildings at the monastery include additional living quarters for the monks, a hall for Emperor Godaigo, and a homotsukan, or treasure house, full of important cultural properties held at the monastery, including a hanging tapestry from the Edo period that originally served as a cover for the chair of senior monks delivering sermons, and several precious buddha images.

Song myogilsang chinsil myong kyong 聖妙吉祥眞實名經. See MANJUsRĪNĀMASAMGĪTI

Sonirei. (僧尼令). In Japanese, "Regulations for Monks and Nuns"; a decree issued in 701 by the Japanese imperial court to regulate the activities of Buddhist clerics; the extant twenty-seven-article recension of these regulations was codified within the Yoro ritsurei ("Civil and Penal Codes of the Yoro Era"), which was compiled in 718 and promulgated in 757. The Sonirei is believed to be modeled after the Tang-dynasty code regulating the activities of Daoist and Buddhist clerics, the Daoseng ge. The Sonirei was also based on the traditional Buddhist precepts of the Chinese translation of the DHARMAGUPTAKA VINAYA (C. SIFEN LÜ): for example, it stipulated that committing a PĀRĀJIKA transgression, the most serious category of monastic offense-viz., sexual intercourse, murder, grand theft, and false claims of spiritual achievement-required punishment in accord with civil law. The code also forbade monks from consuming alcohol, meat, and strong-smelling herbs, and prohibited a monk from entering a nun's cell, and vice versa. The Sonirei also reflected the state's concern about the possible threat to its power from an unregulated Buddhist clergy, as shown in the example of GYoGI (668-749), a Hosso (FAXIANG ZONG) monk who disseminated Buddhism among the commoners and gained widespread popularity as a charismatic teacher and thaumaturge. Many of the Sonirei regulations targeted such maverick clerics: to give but a few examples, monks and nuns were prohibited from predicting good and bad fortunes based on heavenly portents; speaking against the state; studying military tactics; living outside the temples or building a Buddhist chapel off temple grounds; giving scriptures or buddha images to a layperson or teaching outside the monastery; or accumulating private property or wealth. The Sonirei also required all monks and nuns to receive official permission before ordaining. However, violations of the Sonirei were widespread and the regulations had lost much of their effectiveness by the middle of the Heian period.

Speech is a formation which in the past has worked much more as an expression of the vital in man than of the mental will. Speech breaks out as the expression of the vital and its habits, without caring to wait for the control of the mind ; the tongue has been spoken of as the unruly membet- Not to he under the control of the impulse to speech, to be able to do without it as a necessity and to speak only when one sees that it is li^t to do so and only what one sees to be right to say, is a very necessary part of yogic self-control.

srāvastī. (P. Sāvatthi; T. Mnyan yod; C. Shewei guo; J. Shae koku; K. Sawi kuk 舍衛國). Capital city of KOsALA and one of the major cities of India at the time of the Buddha. The Pāli commentator BUDDHAGHOSA states implausibly that there were 5.7 million families living in srāvastī during the Buddha's lifetime. The Buddha spent many years there after he attained enlightenment, and he is reported to have passed twenty-five rains retreats (VARsĀ) in the city. srāvastī was ruled by the Buddha's royal patron, King PRASENAJIT, and was home to his wealthiest patron, ANĀTHAPIndADA, who offered to the Buddha the famous JETAVANA grove and its residences. Hundreds of sutras are set in srāvastī. The city is also the site where the Buddha (and, according to some accounts, all previous buddhas) performed two miracles: the "great miracle" (MAHĀPRĀTIHĀRYA), in which the Buddha creates various replicas of himself and appears simultaneously in various terrestrial and celestial abodes; and the "twin miracle" (YAMAKAPRĀTIHĀRYA) in which the Buddha, in response to a challenge from non-Buddhist YOGINs, rose into the air and simultaneously emitted fire and water from his body.

*Sri Aurobindo: "It [falsehood] is created by an Asuric (hostile) power which intervenes in this creation and is not only separated from the Truth and therefore limited in knowledge and open to error, but in revolt against the Truth or in the habit of seizing the Truth only to pervert it. This Power, the dark Asuric Shakti or Rakshasic Maya, puts forward its own perverted consciousness as true knowledge and its wilful distortions or reversals of the Truth as the verity of things. It is the powers and personalities of this perverted and perverting consciousness that we call hostile beings, hostile forces. Whenever these perversions created by them out of the stuff of the Ignorance are put forward as the Truth of things, that is the Falsehood, in the yogic sense, . . . .” Letters on Yoga

Sri Aurobindo: "On the other hand, Pranayama awakens the coiled-up serpent of the Pranic dynamism in the vital sheath and opens to the Yogin fields of consciousness, ranges of experience, abnormal faculties denied to the ordinary human life while it puissantly intensifies such normal powers and faculties as he already possesses. These advantages can be farther secured and emphasised by other subsidiary processes open to the Hathayogin.” *The Synthesis of Yoga

Stag tshang. (Taktsang). In Tibetan, "Tiger's Lair," a complex of meditation caves and temples located in Paro, Bhutan, considered one of the most important sacred Buddhist sites in the Himalayan region associated with the Indian adept PADMASAMBHAVA; also known as Spa gro Stag tshang (Paro Taktsang). Situated on a sheer cliff more than two thousand feet above the valley floor, the complex is the best known among numerous Stag tshang, or "Tiger's Lair," sites located across eastern Tibet. According to traditional accounts, Padmasambhava miraculously flew to the spot in wrathful form as RDO RJE DROD LO, seated on the back of a tigress believed to have been his consort YE SHES MTSHO RGYAL, and remained there for three months. In 853, one of Padmasambhava's twenty-five main disciples, Glang chen Dpal gyi seng ge (Langchen Palkyi Sengye), went to meditate in the main cave at Stag tshang, after which it became known as Stag tshang dpal phug, or "Pal's cave at Taktsang." Later, many great masters undertook meditation retreats there; these include PHA DAM PA SANGS RGYAS, MA GCIG LAB SGRON, THANG STONG RGYAL PO, and, according to one tradition, the great YOGIN MI LA RAS PA. The first buildings were likely erected in the fourteenth century. However, it was under the direction of the Bhutanese reformer ZHABS DRUNG NGAG DBANG RNAM RGYAL and later his regent Bstan 'dzin rab rgyas, that the modern structure was completed in 1692. In 1998, the complex was destroyed by fire.

subtle vision ("s) ::: Sri Aurobindo: " This power of vision is sometimes inborn and habitual even without any effort of development, sometimes it wakes up of itself and becomes abundant or needs only a little practice to develop; it is not necessarily a sign of spiritual attainment, but usually when by practice of yoga one begins to go inside or live within, the power of subtle vision awakes to a greater or less extent; . . . .”*Letters on Yoga

"It is not necessary to have the mind quiet in order to see the lights — that depends only on the opening of the subtle vision in the centre which is in the forehead between the eyebrows. Many people get that as soon as they start sadhana. It can even be developed by effort and concentration without sadhana by some who have it to a small extent as an inborn faculty.” Letters on Yoga

"When the centres begin to open, inner experiences such as the seeing of light or images through the subtle vision in the forehead centre or psychic experiences and perceptions in the heart, become frequent — gradually one becomes aware of one"s inner being as separate from the outer, and what can be called a yogic consciousness with all its deeper movements develops in the place of the ordinary superficial mental and vital movements.” Letters on Yoga


suhaeng in 修行人. See YOGIN

Sumedha. [alt. Sumegha] (C. Shanhui; J. Zen'e; K. Sonhye 善慧). Sanskrit and Pāli name of the BODHISATTVA who would become GAUTAMA Buddha. He was an ascetic at the time of DĪPAMKARA Buddha. Sumedha was born into a wealthy brāhmana family of AMARĀVATĪ. Disenchanted with the vanities of the householders' life, he renounced the world and took up his abode in the Himalaya mountains as an ascetic. There, he practiced assiduously and ultimately gained great yogic power. Once, when flying over the town of Ramma Nagara, he saw a crowd. He landed and asked a member of the crowd why they had gathered and was told that DīpaMkara Buddha was approaching. When he heard the word "buddha," he was overcome with joy. Seeing that people of the town were festooning the road DīpaMkara would be using with decorations, Sumedha decided to prepare and decorate a portion of the road himself. The Buddha arrived before his work was completed and, seeing that the Buddha was walking toward a mud puddle, Sumedha lay facedown and spread his long matted locks over the mud. While lying in the mud, Sumedha realized that, were he to follow DīpaMkara's teachings, he could become an ARHAT in that very lifetime. However, he resolved instead to achieve enlightenment at a time when there was no other buddha in the world, vowing to become a fully enlightened buddha (SAMYAKSAMBUDDHA) like DīpaMkara himself. DīpaMkara, using his supranormal powers, looked into the future and confirmed that Sumedha's vow (PuRVAPRAnIDĀNA) would be fulfilled and he would one day become GAUTAMA Buddha, the fourth of five perfect buddhas of the present age. It was with this vow, and with this confirmation by DīpaMkara Buddha, that the bodhisattva began the path to buddhahood, which, according to the Pāli tradition, he would complete four innumerable plus one hundred thousand eons later.

Sushumna (Sanskrit) Suṣumṇa, Suṣumna Astronomically, the highest of the seven principal rays or Logoi of the sun, the others being Harikesa, Visvakarman, Visvatryarchas, Sannaddha, Sarvavasu, and Svaraj. These rays “are all mystical, and each has its distinct application in a distinct state of consciousness, for occult purposes. The Sushumna, which, as said in the Nirukta (II, 6), is only to light up the moon, is the ray nevertheless cherished by the initiated Yogis. The totality of the Seven Rays spread through the Solar system constitute, so to say, the physical Upadhi (basis) of the Ether of Science; in which Upadhi, light, heat, electricity, etc., etc., — the forces of orthodox science — correlate to produce their terrestrial effects. As psychic and spiritual effects, they emanate from, and have their origin in, the supra-soar Upadhi, in the ether of the Occultist — or Akasa” (SD 1:515n).

Sutrasamuccaya. (T. Mdo kun las btus pa; C. Dasheng baoyaoyi lun; J. Daijo hoyogiron; K. Taesŭng poyoŭi non 大乘寶要義論). In Sanskrit, "Compendium of Sutras," a work attributed to NĀGĀRJUNA, an anthology of passages from sixty-eight mainly MAHĀYĀNA sutras (or collections of sutras), organized under thirteen topics. These topics extol the bodhisattva and the Mahāyāna path, noting the rarity and hence precious nature of such things as faith in the Buddha, great compassion, and laymen who are able to follow the bodhisattva path. The text is of historical interest because it provides evidence of the Mahāyāna sutras that were extant at the time of Nāgārjuna. These include, in addition to various PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ sutras, such famous works as the LAnKĀVATĀRASuTRA, the DAsABHuMIKASuTRA, the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA, and the VIMALAKĪRTINIRDEsA. The Chinese translation was made by Dharmaraksa (c. 1018-1058) during the Northern Song dynasty and was among the last stratum of Indian materials to be entered into the Chinese Buddhist canon (C. DAZANGJING).

Sveta-dvipa is connected with the land of the first root-race, the Imperishable Sacred Land, which is around the north pole. Blavatsky calls Greenland and Eastern and Western Siberia, the lotus-leaves of Sveta-dvipa (SD 2:327), the reference being purely geographical. In more restricted sense, Sveta-dvipa is mystically used for Sambhala, the source of the great mahayogis of the human race as a whole, and hence called “the land of the ‘Gods’ under their chiefs the ‘Spirits of this Planet’ ” (SD 2:6). Instances are very numerous in ancient writings of names being used not only for one single person, entity, geographical locality, or thing, but on analogical principles for similar persons, entities, and so forth. See also DVIPA

Sveta-dvipa (Sanskrit) Śveta-dvīpa The white island; the abode of the blessed in the Puranas, also called the abode of Vishnu, Mount Meru, and the island inhabited by the mahayogis. “All the Avatars of Vishnu are said to come originally from the White Island. According to Tibetan tradition the White Island is the only locality which escapes the general fate of other dwipas and can be destroyed by neither fire nor water, for — it is the ‘eternal land’ ” (SD 2:408n).

tantra ::: 1. a yogic system which is in its nature synthetical and starts from a great central principle of Nature, a great dynamic force of Nature: in the Vedic methods of yoga [i.e. the trimarga] the lord of the yoga is the purusa, the Conscious Soul, but in tantra it is rather prakrti, the Nature-Soul, the Energy, the Will-in-Power executive in the universe; it was by learning and applying the secrets of this Will-in-Power, its method, its tantra, that the tantrika yogin pursued the aims of his discipline-mastery, perfection, liberation, beatitude; the method of tantrika discipline is to raise Nature in man into manifest power of spirit. ::: 2. [a text of the tantrika system].

tapasya ::: effort, energism, austerity of the personal will, ascetic force, askesis; concentration of the will and energy to control the mind, vital and physical and to change them or to bring down the higher consciousness or for any other yogic purpose or high purpose.

TAPASYA. ::: When the will and energy are concentrated and used to control the mind, vital and physical and change them or bring down the higher consciousness or for any other yogic pur- pose or high purpose, that is called tapasya.

Tara-daitya (Sanskrit) Tāra-daitya A daitya or danava described in the Puranas as practicing such severe spiritual and intellectual tapas as a yogi, that the gods feared lest he surpass them; therefore he was slain by Vishnu.

Tāranātha. (1575-1634). The appellation of Kun dga' snying po (Kunga Nyingpo), a Tibetan scholar affiliated with the JO NANG tradition. Tāranātha was an author of exceptional scope, writing on a vast range of philosophical and doctrinal topics. Born in Drong, he was a precocious child, famously declaring himself to be an incarnate lama (SPRUL SKU) at the age of one, an identification that was eventually confirmed. He was installed at Chos lung rtse monastery at the age of four. By age fifteen, he had studied many tantric cycles, becoming adept at both the six yogas of NĀROPA (NA RO CHOS DRUG) and MAHĀMUDRĀ. He also developed an interest in Indian languages; several of his translations of Sanskrit works are included in the Tibetan canon. Tāranātha had a strong interest in India throughout his life, not simply its ancient past but also its contemporary present, chronicling events of the Mughal period. He even declared that he and the Mughal emperor Jahangir were emanations of the same person. He also had a strong interest in the SIDDHA tradition and studied with many Buddhist and non-Buddhist YOGINs. At the age of sixteen, Tāranātha met his most influential Indian teacher, Buddhaguptanātha, who had traveled throughout the Buddhist world and studied directly with some of the last remaining members of the siddha tradition. Tāranātha surveyed the Indian siddha lineages in his BKA' BABS BDUN LDAN GYI RNAM THAR ("Biographies of the Seven Instruction Lineages"). His most famous work, informally called the RGYA GAR CHOS 'BYUNG ("History of Indian Buddhism"), is highly regarded by later Tibetan historians. Tāranātha was a great master of the KĀLACAKRATANTRA and its surrounding topics, writing extensively about them. He restored the STuPA built by the Jo nang founder DOL PO PA SHES RAB RGYAL MTSHAN. Tāranātha saw Dol po pa in many visions and strongly promoted his teachings, writing in support of the GZHAN STONG view. In 1615, with the patronage of the rulers of Gtsang, he began work on JO NANG PHUN TSHOGS GLING, northwest of Gzhis ka rtse (Shigatse) in central Tibet. It was completed in 1628. Renowned for its beautiful design and sumptuous artwork, the monastery would be his primary residence in the last years of his life. After his death, the fifth DALAI LAMA suppressed the Jo nang sect, converting the monastery into a DGE LUGS establishment. He also identified Tāranātha's incarnation in Mongolia as the first RJE BTSUN DAM PA, a line of incarnations who would serve as titular head of the Dge lugs sect in Mongolia until the twentieth century. The reasons for this identification are debated. The Dalai Lama claimed in one of his autobiographies that his mother had been the tantric consort of Tāranātha and that Tāranātha was his biological father. It was also the case that Tāranātha had been supported by the rulers of Gtsang, the opponents that the Dalai Lama's faction had defeated in the civil war that resulted in the Dalai Lama gaining political control over Tibet.

Tārā. (T. Sgrol ma; C. Duoluo; J. Tara; K. Tara 多羅). In Sanskrit, lit. "Savioress"; a female bodhisattva who has the miraculous power to be able to deliver her devotees from all forms of physical danger. Tārā is said to have arisen from either a ray of blue light from the eye of the buddha AMITĀBHA, or from a tear from the eye of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA as he surveyed the suffering universe. The tear fell into a valley and formed a lake, out of which grew the lotus from which Tārā appeared. She is thus said to be the physical manifestation of the compassion of Avalokitesvara, who is himself the quintessence of the compassion of the buddhas. Because buddhas are produced from wisdom and compassion, Tārā, like the goddess PRAJNĀPĀRAMITĀ ("Perfection of Wisdom"), is hailed as "the mother of all buddhas," despite the fact that she is most commonly represented as a beautiful sixteen-year-old maiden. She is often depicted together with BHṚKUTĪ (one of her forms) as one of two female bodhisattvas flanking Avalokitesvara. Tārā is the subject of much devotion in her own right, serving as the subject of many stories, prayers, and tantric SĀDHANAs. She can appear in peaceful or wrathful forms, depending on the circumstances, her powers extending beyond the subjugation of these worldly frights, into the heavens and into the hells. She has two major peaceful forms, however. The first is SITATĀRĀ, or White Tārā. Her right hand is in VARADAMUDRĀ, her left is at her chest in VITARKAMUDRĀ and holds a lotus and she sits in DHYĀNĀSANA. The other is sYĀMATĀRĀ, or Green Tārā. Her right hand is in varadamudrā, her left is at her chest in vitarkamudrā and holds an utpala, and she sits in LALITĀSANA. Her wrathful forms include KURUKULLĀ, a dancing naked YOGINĪ, red in color, who brandishes a bow and arrow in her four arms. In tantric MAndALAs, she appears as the consort of AMOGHASIDDHI, the buddha of the northern quarter; together they are lord and lady of the KARMAKULA. But she is herself also the sole deity in many tantric SĀDHANAs, in which the meditator, whether male or female, visualizes himself or herself in Tārā's feminine form. Tārā is best-known for her salvific powers, appearing the instant her devotee recites her MANTRA, oM tāre tuttāre ture svāhā. She is especially renowned as Astabhayatrānatārā, "Tārā Who Protects from the Eight Fears," because of her ability to deliver those who call upon her when facing the eight great fears (mahābhaya) of lions, elephants, fire, snakes, thieves, water, imprisonment, and demons. Many tales are told recounting her miraculous interventions. Apart from the recitation of her mantra, a particular prayer is the most common medium of invoking Tārā in Tibet. It is a prayer to twenty-one Tārās, derived from an Indian TANTRA devoted to Tārā, the Sarvatathāgatamātṛtārāvisvakarmabhavatantra ("Source of All Rites to Tārā, the Mother of All the Tathāgatas"). According to some commentarial traditions on the prayer, each of the verses refers to a different form of Tārā, totaling twenty-one. According to others, the forms of Tārā are iconographically almost indistinguishable. Tārā entered the Buddhist pantheon relatively late, around the sixth century, in northern India and Nepal, and her worship in Java is attested in inscriptions dating to the end of the eighth century. Like Avalokitesvara, she has played a crucial role in Tibet's history, in both divine and human forms. One version of the creation myth that has the Tibetan race originating from a dalliance between a monkey and an ogress says the monkey was a form of Avalokitesvara and the ogress a form of Tārā. Worship of Tārā in Tibet began in earnest with the second propagation and the arrival of ATIsA DĪPAMKARAsRĪJNĀNA in the eleventh century; she appears repeatedly in accounts of his life and in his teachings. He had visions of the goddess at crucial points in his life, and she advised him to make his fateful journey to Tibet, despite the fact that his life span would be shortened as a result. His sādhanas for the propitiation of Sitatārā and syāmatārā played a key role in promoting the worship of Tārā in Tibet. He further was responsible for the translation of several important Indic texts relating to the goddess, including three by Vāgīsvarakīrti that make up the 'chi blu, or "cheating death" cycle, the foundation of all lineages of the worship of Sitatārā in Tibet. The famous Tārā chapel at Atisa's temple at SNYE THANG contains nearly identical statues of the twenty-one Tārās. The translator Darmadra brought to Tibet the important ANUYOGA tantra devoted to the worship of Tārā, entitled Bcom ldan 'das ma sgrol ma yang dag par rdzogs pa'i sangs rgyas bstod pa gsungs pa. Tārā is said to have taken human form earlier in Tibetan history as the Chinese princess WENCHENG and Nepalese princess Bhṛkutī, who married King SRONG BTSAN SGAM PO, bringing with them buddha images that would become the most revered in Tibet. Which Tārā they were remains unsettled; however, some sources identify Wencheng with syāmatārā and Bhṛkutī with the goddess of the same name, herself said to be a form of Tārā. Others argue that the Nepalese princess was Sitatārā, and Wencheng was syāmatārā. These identifications, however, like that of Srong btsan sgam po with Avalokitesvara, date only to the fourteenth century, when the cult of Tārā in Tibet was flourishing. In the next generation, Tārā appeared as the wife of King KHRI SRONG LDE BTSAN and the consort of PADMASAMBHAVA, YE SHES MTSHO RGYAL, who in addition to becoming a great tantric master herself, served as scribe when Padmasambhava dictated the treasure texts (GTER MA). Later, Tārā is said to have appeared as the great practitioner of the GCOD tradition, MA GCIG LAP SGRON (1055-1149). Indeed, when Tārā first vowed eons ago to achieve buddhahood in order to free all beings from SAMSĀRA, she swore she would always appear in female form.

Tattvasiddhi. [alt. Tattvasiddhi-nāma-prakarana] (T. De kho na nyid grub pa zhes bya ba'i rab tu byed pa). In Sanskrit, "Proof of Reality"; a work of tantric philosophy, extant in Sanskrit, attributed to the eighth-century Indian master sĀNTARAKsITA. The text presents a philosophical argument in support of the achievement of the states of yogic perception (YOGIPRATYAKsA) and bliss (SUKHA) through tantric practice, citing a number of early tantras by name. In the work, the author argues that bodhisattvas endowed with PRAJNĀ and UPĀYA are not bound by ethical conventions.

Tendai shikyogi 天台四教儀. See CH'oNT'AE SAGYO ŬI

Thang stong rgyal po. (Tangtong Gyalpo) (1361-1485). A great adept famed throughout the Tibetan Buddhist world for his illustrious career as a YOGIN and teacher, as well as his many contributions to the fields of engineering, metallurgy, temple construction, and the performing arts. His biographies credit him with a life span of 124 years, during which he traveled widely throughout Tibet and the Himālayan regions, including India, Ladakh, Mongolia, China, and Bhutan. As a youth he studied under numerous masters and spent much of early life in meditation retreat. He received, and is said to have mastered, the corpus of teachings of the SHANG PA BKA' BRGYUD sect as well as the BYANG GTER (Northern Treasure) tradition of the RNYING MA. He is venerated as a treasure revealer (GTER STON) who extracted treasure teachings (GTER MA) from the CHIMS PHU retreat complex near BSAM YAS monastery, from STAG TSHANG in Bhutan, and the region of TSA RI in southern Tibet. His best known teachings include instructions on the system known as "severance" (GCOD) and a visionary meditation SĀDHANA based on the bodhisattva of compassion AVALOKITEsVARA called 'Gro don mkha' khyab ma ("The Benefit of Others, Vast as Space"), which continues to be practiced by Tibetan Buddhists of many sectarian affiliations. Thang stong rgyal po is also remembered for his construction of iron chain-link bridges throughout Tibet and Bhutan-an activity inspired directly by visions of Avalokitesvara. For this reason, he is often called Lcags zam pa, literally the "Iron Bridge Man," and his lineage the "Iron Bridge" (lcags zam) tradition. He is most commonly depicted as holding links of iron chains in one hand. Thang stong rgyal po founded numerous geomantically important religious structures, including the great STuPA of GCUNG RI BO CHE in western Tibet, which became an important seat of the master's tradition, and the ZLUM BRTSEGS temple in Bhutan. Thang stong rgyal po is also traditionally acknowledged as the father of the Tibetan performing arts, with his image commonly displayed prior to theatrical performances.

That is the nature of the action of these gunav in the unattached liberated yogi.

  “that mysterious and divine power latent in the will of every man, and which, if not called to life, quickened and developed by Yogi-training, remains dormant in 999,999 men out of a million, and gets atrophied. . . .

The Yogi Publication Society, Chicago, Ill., publishers of The Philosophies and Religions of India by Yogi Ramacharaka.

"The centre of vision is between the eyebrows in the centre of the forehead. When it opens one gets the inner vision, sees the inner forms and images of things and people and begins to understand things and people from within and not only from outside, develops a power of will which also acts in the inner (yogic) way on things and people etc. Its opening is often the beginning of the yogic as opposed to the ordinary mental consciousness.” Letters on Yoga

“The centre of vision is between the eyebrows in the centre of the forehead. When it opens one gets the inner vision, sees the inner forms and images of things and people and begins to understand things and people from within and not only from outside, develops a power of will which also acts in the inner (yogic) way on things and people etc. Its opening is often the beginning of the yogic as opposed to the ordinary mental consciousness.” Letters on Yoga

“The Demons, so called in the Puranas, are very extraordinary devils when judged from the standpoint of European and orthodox views about these creatures, since all of them — Danavas, Daityas, Pisachas, and the Rakshasas — are represented as extremely pious, following the precepts of the Vedas, some of them even being great Yogis. But they oppose the clergy and Ritualism, sacrifices and forms — just what the full-blown Yogins do to this day in India — and are no less respected for it, though they are allowed to follow neither caste nor ritual; hence all those Puranic giants and Titans are called Devils” (SD 1:415).

The feelings tbemseives are of many kinds. The word feeling is often used for an emotion, and there can be psychic or spiri- tual emotions which are numbered among yogic experiences, such as a wave of Suddha bhakti or the rising of love towards the

The first Dalai Lama, DGE 'DUN GRUB, was known as a great scholar and religious practitioner. A direct disciple of TSONG KHA PA, he is remembered for founding BKRA SHIS LHUN PO monastery near the central Tibetan town of Shigatse. The second Dalai Lama, Dge 'dun rgya mtsho, was born the son of a RNYING MA YOGIN and became a renowned tantric master in his own right. ¶ It is with the third Dalai Lama, BSOD NAMS RGYA MTSHO, that the Dalai Lama lineage actually begins. Recognized at a young age as the reincarnation of Dge 'dun rgya mtsho, he was appointed abbot of 'BRAS SPUNGS monastery near LHA SA and soon rose to fame throughout central Asia as a Buddhist teacher. He served as a religious master for the Mongol ruler Altan Khan, who bestowed the title "Dalai Lama," and is credited with converting the Tümed Mongols to Buddhism. Later in life, he traveled extensively across eastern Tibet and western China, teaching and carrying out monastic construction projects. ¶ The fourth Dalai Lama, Yon tan rgya mtsho, was recognized in the person of the grandson of Altan Khan's successor, solidifying Mongol-Tibetan ties. ¶ While the first four Dalai Lamas served primarily as religious scholars and teachers, the fifth Dalai Lama, NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO, combined religious and secular activities to become one of Tibet's preeminent statesmen. He was a dynamic political leader who, with the support of Gushi Khan, defeated his opponents and in 1642 was invested with temporal powers over the Tibetan state, in addition to his religious role, a position that succeeding Dalai Lamas held until 1959. A learned and prolific author, he and his regent, SDE SRID SANGS RGYAS RGYA MTSHO, were largely responsible for the identification of the Dalai Lamas with the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara. The construction of the PO TA LA palace began during his reign (and was completed after this death). He is popularly known as the "Great Fifth." ¶ The sixth Dalai Lama, TSHANGS DBYANGS RGYA MTSHO, was a controversial figure who chose to abandon the strict monasticism of his predecessors in favor of a life of society and culture, refusing to take the vows of a fully ordained monk (BHIKsU). He is said to have frequented the drinking halls below the Po ta la palace. He constructed pleasure gardens and the temple of the NAGAs, called the KLU KHANG, on the palace grounds. He is remembered especially for his poetry, which addresses themes such as love and the difficulty of spiritual practice. Tibetans generally interpret his behavior as exhibiting an underlying tantric wisdom, a skillful means for teaching the dharma. His death is shrouded in mystery. Official accounts state that he died while under arrest by Mongol troops. According to a prominent secret biography (GSANG BA'I RNAM THAR), however, he lived many more years, traveling across Tibet in disguise. ¶ The seventh Dalai Lama, SKAL BZANG RGYA MTSHO, was officially recognized only at the age of twelve, and due to political complications, did not participate actively in affairs of state. He was renowned for his writings on tantra and his poetry. ¶ The eighth Dalai Lama, 'Jam dpal rgya mtsho (Jampal Gyatso, 1758-1804), built the famous NOR BU GLING KHA summer palace. ¶ The ninth through twelfth Dalai Lamas each lived relatively short lives, due, according to some accounts, to political intrigue and the machinations of power-hungry regents. According to tradition, from the death of one Dalai Lama to the investiture of the next Dalai Lama as head of state (generally a period of some twenty years), the nation was ruled by a regent, who was responsible for discovering the new Dalai Lama and overseeing his education. If the Dalai Lama died before reaching his majority, the reign of the regent was extended. ¶ The thirteenth Dalai Lama, THUB BSTAN RGYA MTSHO, was an astute and forward-looking political leader who guided Tibet through a period of relative independence during a time of foreign entanglements with Britain, China, and Russia. In his last testament, he is said to have predicted Tibet's fall to Communist China. ¶ The fourteenth and present Dalai Lama, Bstan 'dzin rgya mtsho, assumed his position several years prior to reaching the age of majority as his country faced the Chinese invasion of Tibet in 1950. In 1959, he escaped into exile, establishing a government-in-exile in the Himalayan town of Dharamsala (DHARMAsALA) in northwestern India. Since then, he has traveled and taught widely around the world, while also advocating a nonviolent solution to Tibet's occupation. He was born in the A mdo region of what is now Qinghai province in China to a farming family, although his older brother had already been recognized as an incarnation at a nearby important Dge lugs monastery (SKU 'BUM). On his becoming formally accepted as Dalai Lama, his family became aristocrats and moved to Lha sa. He was educated traditionally by private tutors (yongs 'dzin), under the direction first of the regent Stag brag rin po che (in office 1941-1950), and later Gling rin po che Thub bstan lung rtogs rnam rgyal (1903-1983) and Khri byang rin po che Blo bzang ye shes (1901-1981). His modern education was informal, gained from conversations with travelers, such as the Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer. When the Chinese army entered the Khams region of eastern Tibet in 1951, he formally took over from the regent and was enthroned as the head of the DGA' LDAN PHO BRANG government. In the face of Tibetan unrest as the Chinese government brought Tibet firmly under central control, the Dalai Lama fled to India in 1959; the Indian government accorded the Dalai Lama respect as a religious figure but did not accept his claim to be the head of a separate state. In 1989, the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, an event that increased his prominence around the world. He is the author of many books in English, most of them the written record of lectures and traditional teachings translated from Tibetan.

The ghost or spirit who turns up at seances js not the psychic being. What comes tlirough the medium is a mixture of the medium’s subconscient (using subconscient in the ordinary, not in the yogic sense) and that ot the sitters, vital sheaths left by the departed or perhaps occupied or used by some spirit or some vital being, the departed himself in his vital sheath or else something assumed for the occasion (but it is the vital part that communicates), elementals, spirits of the lowest vital physical world near earth etc. A horrible confusion for the most part — a hotch-potch of all sorts of things coming through a medium of

The greatest initiates and yogis since Sankaracharya’s time are reputed to have come from the ranks of the Advaita-Vedantists. “Yet the root philosophy of both Adwaita and Buddhist scholars is identical, and both have the same respect for animal life, for both believe that every creature on earth, however small and humble, ‘is an immortal portion of the immortal matter’ — for matter with them has quite another significance than it has with either Christian or materialist — and that every creature is subject to Karma” (SD 1:636; cf 2:637).

The kings and pontiffs of modern times are the feeble imitators of former king-initiates, whose insignia comprised the crown, representative of the glory or buddhic splendor, which actually encircled the head of the initiate as a nimbus, as it does in the case of the yogi in samadhi and of the buddha. The ceremony of coronation was performed in the Mysteries as the outward symbol of the completion of this attainment; and that ceremony is still perpetuated. The later Roman emperors adopted the Eastern royal fillet, which they called by the Greek name diadema; the Papal tiara goes back through it to the Persian royal headdress of that name. The American Indian wears feathers imitating the rays of light from the head.

The line of Karma pas originated during the twelfth century with DUS GSUM MKHYEN PA, a close disciple of SGAM PO PA BSOD NAMS RIN CHEN, who had himself studied under the famous YOGIN MI LA RAS PA. Dus gsum mkhyen pa established several important monasteries, including Mtshur phu, which served as the main seat of the Karma pas and the Karma bka' brgyud in central Tibet. Dus gsum mkhyen pa's successor, the second Karma pa KARMA PAKSHI, is remembered especially for his prowess in meditation and thaumaturgy. He was patronized by the Mongols, first by Mongke (1209-1259) and later by his brother, the Yuan emperor Qubilai Khan (r. 1260-1294) before losing the emperor's support. The third Karma pa RANG 'BYUNG RDO RJE continued this affiliation with the Mongol court, playing a role in emperor Toghun Temür's (r. 1333-1368) ascension to the throne. The fourth Karma pa Rol pa'i rdo rje and fifth Karma pa Bde bzhin gshegs pa maintained ties with the Chinese court-the former with Toghun Temür and the latter serving as the preceptor of the Yongle emperor (reigned 1402-1424) of the Ming dynasty, a position of great influence. The sixth Karma pa Mthong ba don ldan did not maintain the same political connections of his predecessors; he is remembered especially for his contributions to the religious life of the Karma bka' brgyud, producing meditation and ritual manuals. The seventh Karma pa Chos grags rgya mtsho is known primarily for his philosophical works on logic and epistemology (PRAMĀnA); his voluminous text on the topic is still used today as a principal textbook in many Bka' brgyud monasteries. The eighth Karma pa MI BSKYOD RDO RJE is among the most renowned scholars of his generation, a prolific author whose writings encompassed Sanskrit, poetry, and art, as well as MADHYAMAKA philosophy and tantra. The ninth Karma pa DBANG PHYUG RDO RJE is revered for his influential works on the theory and practice of MAHĀMUDRĀ. It was during his lifetime that the DGE LUGS hierarchs ascended to power, with an attendant decline in the political fortunes of his sect in central Tibet. His successor, the tenth Karma pa Chos kyi dbang phyug, was thus forced into a life of virtual exile near the Sino-Tibetan border in the east as his patron, the king of Gtsang, was defeated by the Gushri Khan, patron of the Dge lugs. As the war came to an end, the tenth Karma pa returned to LHA SA where he established ties with the fifth Dalai Lama NGAG DBANG BLO BZANG RGYA MTSHO. The eleventh Karma pa Ye shes rdo rje and twelfth Karma pa Byang chub rdo rje lived relatively short lives, although the latter made an important journey through Nepal together with his disciple, the brilliant scholar and Sanskritist Si tu CHOS KYI 'BYUNG GNAS. The life of the thirteenth Karma pa Bdud 'dul rdo rje was, for the most part, lived outside the sphere of politics. He is remembered for his love of animals, to which he taught the dharma. Beginning during his lifetime and continuing into that of the fourteenth Karma pa Theg mchog rdo rje, there was a revival of Bka' brgyud doctrine in the eastern Tibetan province of Khams, as part of what has come to be called the RIS MED or non-sectarian movement. The fourteenth Karma pa's disciple, 'JAM MGON KONGS SPRUL BLO GROS MTHA' YAS, played a leading role. The fifteenth Karma pa Mkha' khyab rdo rje, a principal disciple of 'Jam mgon kongs sprul, was a prolific scholar. The sixteenth Karma pa RANG 'BYUNG RIG PA'I RDO RJE, like other lamas of his generation, saw the Communist Chinese occupation of Tibet, fleeing to India in 1959 and establishing an exile seat at Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim. He was the first Karma pa to visit the West. The seventeenth Karma pa O rgyan 'phrin las rdo rje was enthroned at Mtshur phu monastery on September 27, 1992. In late December 2000, he escaped into exile, establishing a residence in Dharamsala, India. Although his identification as the Karma pa has been disputed by a small number of followers of a rival candidate, O rgyan 'phrin las rdo rje is regarded as the seventeenth Karma pa by the majority of the Tibetan community, including the Dalai Lama.

The old yogis call these two components retas and ojas.

  “The Pratyeka Buddha is a degree which belongs exclusively to the Yogacharya school, yet it is only one of high intellectual development with no true spirituality. It is the dead-letter of the Yoga laws, in which intellect and comprehension play the greatest part, added to the strict carrying out of the rules of the inner development. It is one of the three paths to Nirvana, and the lowest, in which a Yogi — ‘without teacher and without saving others’ — by the mere force of will and technical observances, attains to a kind of nominal Buddhaship individually; doing no good to anyone, but working selfishly for his own salvation and himself alone. The Pratyekas are respected outwardly but are despised inwardly by those of keen or spiritual appreciation. A Pratyeka is generally compared to a ‘Khadga’ or solitary rhinoceros and called Ekashringa Rishi, a selfish solitary Rishi (or saint)” (TG 261).

The Rajayogic Pranayama purifies and clears- theaiervous system ; it enables us to circulate the vital energy equally through the body and direct it also where we will nccarding to need, and thus maintain a perfect health and soundness of the body and the vital being ; it gives us control of all the five habitual opera- tions of the vital energy in the system and at the same time breaks down the habitual divisions by which only the ordinary mechanical processes of the vitality arc possible (o the norma! life. It opens entirely the six centres of the psycho-physical system and brings Into (he waking consciousness the power of the awakened Shakti and the light of the unveiled Furusba on each of the as^nding planes. Cbupled with (be use of the mantra it brings the ^vine energy into the body and prepares for and facilitates that concentration in Samadbi which is the crown of the Rajayogic method.

The rough handling and careless breaking or waste and mis- use of physical things is a denial of the yogic consciousness and a great hindrance to the bringing down of the Pivine Truth to the materia! plane.

The work here is a field and an opportunity for the Karma- yoga part of the Integral yoga, for learning to w-ork in the true yogic way, dedication through service, practical selflessness, obedience, scrupulousness, dkciplioe, setting the Divine and the

  ” ‘The Yajna,’ say the Brahmans, ‘exists from eternity, for it proceeded from the Supreme, in whom it lay dormant from no beginning.’ It is the key to the Trai-Vidya, the thrice sacred science contained in the Rig-Veda verses, which teaches the Yajna or sacrificial mysteries. As Haug states in his Introduction to the Aitareya Brahmana — the Yajna exists as an invisible presence at all times, extending from the Ahavaniya or sacrificial fire to the heavens, forming a bridge or ladder by means of which the sacrificer can communicate with the world of devas, ‘and even ascend when alive to their abodes.’ It is one of the forms of Akasa, within which the mystic Word (or its underlying ‘Sound’) calls it into existence. Pronounced by the Priest-Initiate or Yogi, this Word receives creative powers, and is communicated as an impulse on the terrestrial plane through a trained Will-power” (TG 375).

.. this being we are is or can be whatever it has the faith and will to be – for faith is only will aiming at a higher truth – and cease to set limits to our possibility… - Sri Aurobindo ::: .Falsehood ::: Falsehood, on the other hand, is not this Avidya, but an extreme result of it. It is created by an Asuric power which intervenes in this creation and is not only separated from the Truth and th
   refore limited in knowledge and open to error, but in revolt against the Truth or in the habit of seizing the Truth only to pervert it. This Power, the dark Asuric Shakti or Rakshasic Maya, puts forward its own perverted consciousness as true knowledge and its wilful distortions or reversals of the Truth as the verity of things. It is the powers and personalities of this perverted and perverting consciousness that we call hostile beings, hostile forces. Whenever these perversions created by them out of the stuff of the Ignorance are put forward as the truth of things, that is the Falsehood, in the Yogic sense, mithya, moha.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 35, Page: 103


  "Thus it [Rajayoga] gets rid of the Hathayogic complexity and cumbrousness while it utilises the swift and powerful efficacy of its methods for the control of the body and the vital functions and for the awakening of that internal dynamism, full of a latent supernormal faculty, typified in Yogic terminology by the kundalinî, the coiled and sleeping serpent of Energy within.” *The Synthesis of Yoga

“Thus it [Rajayoga] gets rid of the Hathayogic complexity and cumbrousness while it utilises the swift and powerful efficacy of its methods for the control of the body and the vital functions and for the awakening of that internal dynamism, full of a latent supernormal faculty, typified in Yogic terminology by the kundalinî, the coiled and sleeping serpent of Energy within.” The Synthesis of Yoga

Tilopa. (T. Ti lo pa) (988-1069). An Indian tantric adept counted among the eighty-four MAHĀSIDDHAs and venerated in Tibet as an important source of tantric instruction and a founder of the BKA' BRGYUD sect. Little historical information exists regarding Tilopa's life. According to his traditional biographies, Tilopa was born a brāhmana in northeast India. As a young man he took the vows of a Buddhist monk, but later was compelled by the prophecies of a dĀKINĪ messenger to study with a host of tantric masters. He lived as a wandering YOGIN, practicing TANTRA in secret while outwardly leading a life of transgressive behavior. For many years Tilopa acted as the servant for the prostitute Barima (in truth a wisdom dākinī in disguise) by night while grinding sesame seeds for oil by day. The name Tilopa, literally "Sesame Man," derives from the Sanskrit word for sesamum. Finally, Tilopa is said to have received instructions in the form of a direct transmission from the primordial buddha VAJRADHARA. Tilopa instructed numerous disciples, including the renowned Bengali master NĀROPA, who is said to have abandoned his prestigious monastic position to become Tilopa's disciple, undergoing many difficult trials before receiving his teachings. Those teachings were later received by MAR PA CHOS KYI BLO GROS, who brought Tilopa's teachings to Tibet. As with many Indian siddhas, Tilopa's main instructions are found in the form of DOHĀ, or songs of realization. Many of his songs, together with several tantric commentaries and liturgical texts, are included in the Tibetan canon. Among the teachings attributed to him are the BKA' 'BABS BZHI ("four transmissions"), the LUS MED MKHA' 'GRO SNYAN RGYUD CHOS SKOR DGU ("nine aural lineage cycles of the formless dākinīs"), and the MAHĀMUDROPADEsA.

Todaiji. (東大寺). In Japanese, "Great Monastery of the East"; a major monastery in the ancient Japanese capital of Nara affiliated with the Kegon (HUAYAN) school of Buddhism, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The monastery was founded by the Hossoshu (FAXIANG ZONG) monk GYoGI (668-749). The monastery is renowned for its colossal buddha image of VAIROCANA (J. Birushana nyorai), which is commonly known as the NARA DAIBUTSU; at forty-eight feet (fifteen meters) high, this image is the largest extant gilt-bronze image in the world and the Daibutsuden where the image is enshrined is the world's largest wooden building. The Indian monk BODHISENA (J. Bodaisenna) (704-760), who traveled to Japan in 736 at the invitation of Emperor Shomu (r. 724-749), performed the "opening the eyes" (KAIYAN; NETRAPRATIstHĀPANA) ceremony for the 752 dedication of the great buddha image. Todaiji was founded on the site of Konshusenji by order of Emperor Shomu and became the headquarters of a network of provincial monasteries and convents in the Yamato region. The first abbot, Ryoben (689-773), is commemorated in the kaisando (founder's hall; see KAISHAN). Other halls include the inner sanctuary of the hokkedo (lotus hall), which was probably once Konshusenji's main hall. The hall enshrines the Fukukensaku Kannon, a dry lacquer statue of the BODHISATTVA AVALOKITEsVARA, which dates from 746. The monastery was renamed Konkomyoji in 741 and, in 747 when major construction began on the large compound, it finally became known as Todaiji, the name it retains today. The Todaiji complex was completed in 798; monastery records state that 50,000 carpenters, 370,000 metal workers, and 2.18 million laborers worked on the compound, its buildings, and their furnishings, almost bankrupting the country. Entering the monastery through the Great Gate to the South (Nandaimon), itself a Japanese national treasure, a visitor would have passed through two seven-storied, 328-foot high pagodas to the east and west (both subsequently destroyed by earthquakes), before passing through the Inner Gate to the Daibutsuden. North of the Daibutsuden, which is flanked by a belfry and a SuTRA repository, is the kodo (lecture hall), which is surrounded on three sides by the monk's quarters. An ordination hall displays exceptional clay-modeled shitenno (four heavenly kings; see LOKAPĀLA) dating from the Tenpyo Era (729-749). Of the eighth-century buildings, only the tegaimon (the western gate) and the Hokkedo's inner sanctuary have survived. After a conflagration in 1180, then-abbot Chogen (1121-1206) spearheaded a major reconstruction in a style he had seen in Southern Song-dynasty China. This style is exemplified by the south gate, which is protected by two humane-kings statues, both twenty-eight feet in height, carved in 1203. The Tokugawa Shogunate sponsored a second reconstruction after another fire in 1567 and the current Daibutsuden dates from about 1709. The Shosoin repository at the monastery, itself a Japanese national treasure (kokuho), contains over nine thousand precious ornamental and fine-art objects that date from the monastery's founding in the eighth century, including scores of objects imported into Japan via the SILK ROAD from all over Asia, including cut-glass bowls and silk brocade from Persia, Byzantine cups, Egyptians chests, and Indian harps, as well as Chinese Tang and Korean Silla musical instruments, etc. Every spring, the two-week long Omizutori (water-drawing) festival is conducted at Todaiji, which is thought to cure physical ailments and cleanse moral transgressions.

Trance ::: Yogic trance cannot be an aim, as in so many Yogic systems, but only a means, and a means not of escape from the waking existence, but to enlarge and raise the whole seeing, living and active consciousness.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 23-24, Page: 519


Transformation ::: By transformation I do not mean some change of the nature—I do not mean for instance sainthood or ethical perfection or Yogic siddhis (like the Tantrik’s). I use transformation in a special sense, a change of consciousness radical and complete and of a certain specific kind which is so conceived as to bring about a strong and assured step forward in the spiritual evolution of the consciousness such as and greater than what took place when a mentalised being first appeared in a vital and material animal world.
   Ref: CWSA Vol. 35, Page: 153


Uparati (Sanskrit) Uparati [from upa-ram to cease] A cessation; In Vedantic philosophy a state where the yogi desists from sensual enjoyment or any worldly action, and there is an absence of desires which could be affected by exterior stimuli or influences.

ūrn.a yogin ::: one who practises pūrn.a yoga.

Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa. (P. Uruvela-Kassapa; T. Lteng rgyas 'od srung; C. Youloupinluo Jiashe; J. Urubinra Kasho; K. Urubinna Kasop 優樓頻螺迦葉). The chief of the three "Kāsyapa brothers" (together with NADĪ-KĀsYAPA and GAYĀ-KĀsYAPA), also known in Pāli as the Tebhātika Jatila. Prior to their encounter with the Buddha, the three brothers were matted-hair ascetics engaged in fire worship, living with their followers on the banks of the NAIRANJANĀ River. Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa himself is said to have had five hundred followers. After his first teachings in the Deer Park (MṚGADĀVA; ṚsIPATANA) at SĀRNĀTH, the Buddha returned to Uruvilvā, where he had practiced asceticism prior to this enlightenment. There he encountered Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa, who mistakenly believed that he was already an ARHAT and was liberated from the bonds of rebirth. Knowing that Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa could be dissuaded from his false views by a display of yogic power, the Buddha spent the rains retreat with him, performing 3,500 magical feats to demonstrate his mastery of supernatural powers (S. ṚDDHI), including subduing a fire serpent (NĀGA) without being burned, a scene depicted in Indian rock carvings. Using his ability to read Kāsyapa's mind, the Buddha was able to convince the ascetic that he was not an arhat. When the Buddha told Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa that the fire worship that he taught did not lead to enlightenment, Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa requested ordination. Uruvilvā-Kāsyapa and his five hundred followers all cut off their long locks and threw them in the river. When the other two brothers and their followers saw the hair floating by, they came to investigate and in turn sought ordination. In one fell swoop, the Buddha's community of monks grew to over a thousand monks. The Buddha taught them the so-called "Fire Sermon" (ĀDITTAPARIYĀYA), at which point they all become arhats. They then traveled together to RĀJAGṚHA where, in the presence of King BIMBISĀRA, the new monks proclaimed their allegiance to the Buddha. The three brothers are often listed among the audience of MAHĀYĀNA sutras.

uttara yogin (Uttar Yogi) ::: [the yogin from the North].

Vajradākatantra. (T. Rdo rje mkha' 'gro rgyud). A YOGINĪTANTRA of the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA class, named after the deity Vajradāka ("Vajra Hero"), a form of VAJRASATTVA with four faces and four arms. It is counted as one of the five explanatory tantras (S. vyākhyātantra; T. bshad rgyud) of the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA. The text is employed in Tibet especially for its instructions on the performance of fire (HOMA) rituals.

Vajravārāhī. (T. Rdo rje phag mo). One of the most common forms of VAJRAYOGINĪ, an important female tantric deity associated especially with the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA of the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRA class, popular in all sects of Tibetan Buddhism, where she is a consort of the central deity. Vārāhī means sow, referring to the goddess's characteristic porcine head protruding from the right side of her face. She likely derives from the Hindu goddess Vārāhī, depicted with a head of a boar; she is the counterpart of Vārāha, the incarnation of Visnu who took the form of a boar. In the case of Vajravārāhī, she is typically (although not invariably) depicted with a human face but with a boar's head (sometimes quite small) visible on the right side of her face, contributing in part to her wrathful aspect. She is usually depicted as red in color, naked in a dancing pose, standing on the body of Bhairava. She holds a cleaver in her right hand and skull cup in her left, and is adorned with a garland of fifty severed heads. Beginning perhaps as one of a number of wrathful YOGINĪs situated as protectors on the outer circles of the MAndALA, she moved toward the center as one of the consorts of the central deity in the HEVAJRATANTRA and became the main consort of HERUKA in the CakrasaMvara cycle, where she also appears without a consort as the "sole heroine" (ekavirā) in the center of the mandala.

vajrayoga. (T. rdo rje rnal 'byor). In Sanskrit, "adamantine yoga"; a system of yogic practice associated with the KĀLACAKRATANTRA, as transmitted in Tibet by Gyi jo Lo tsā ba Zla ba'i 'od-zer, the tantra's earliest translator, during the eleventh century. It is counted as one of the "eight conveyances that are lineages of achievement" (sgrub brgyud shing rta chen po brgyad).

Vajrayoginī

Vajrayoginī. (T. Rdo rje rnal 'byor ma). The most important of the dĀKInĪ in the VAJRAYĀNA, associated especially with the "mother tantras" (MĀTṚTANTRA) of the ANUTTARAYOGA class. She is also the most important of the female YI DAM. Her visualization is central to many tantric SĀDHANAs, especially in the practice of GURUYOGA, in which the meditator imagines himself or herself in the form of Vajrayoginī in order to receive the blessings of the GURU. She is also visualized in GCOD and GTUM MO practice. Her worship seems to originate with the CAKRASAMVARATANTRA and is popular in all sects of Tibetan Buddhism. Vajrayoginī plays a special role in the "six yogas of NĀROPA" (NĀ RO CHOS DRUG), where she is known as Nā ro mkha' spyod ma (Kachoma). She is closely associated with VAJRAVĀRĀHĪ, the consort of CAKRASAMVARA. In her most common form, she stands in the ĀLĪdHA posture, holding a KAtVĀnGA and a skull cup.

vijNānānantyāyatana. (P. viNNānaNcāyatana; T. rnam shes mtha' yas skye mched; C. shi wubian chu; J. shikimuhenjo; K. sik mubyon ch'o 識無邊處). In Sanskrit, "sphere of infinite consciousness"; the second (in ascending order) of the four levels of the immaterial realm (ĀRuPYADHĀTU) and the second of the four immaterial absorptions (ĀRuPYĀVACARADHYĀNA). It is "above" the first level of the immaterial realm, called infinites space (AKĀsĀNANTYĀYATANA), and "below" the third and fourth levels, "nothingness" (ĀKIMCANYĀYATANA) and "neither perception nor nonperception" (NAIVASAMJNĀNĀSAMJNĀYATANA). It is a realm of rebirth as well as a meditative state that is entirely immaterial (viz., there is no physical, or form [RuPA], component to existence), in which the mind seems to expand to the point that it is essentially infinite. Beings reborn in this realm are thought to live as long as forty thousand eons (KALPA). However, as a state of being that is still subject to rebirth, even the realm of infinite consciousness remains part of SAMSĀRA. Like the other levels of the realm of subtle materiality (RuPADHĀTU) and the immaterial realm, one is reborn in this state by achieving the specific level of meditative absorption of that state in the previous lifetime. One of the most famous and influential expositions on the subject of these immaterial states comes from the VISUDDHIMAGGA of BUDDHAGHOSA, written in the fifth century. Although there are numerous accounts of Buddhist meditators achieving immaterial states of SAMĀDHI, they are also used polemically in Buddhist literature to describe the attainments of non-Buddhist YOGINs, who mistakenly identify these exalted states within saMsāra as states of permanent liberation from rebirth. See also DHYĀNASAMĀPATTI; DHYĀNOPAPATTI.

vimuktimārga. (T. rnam par grol ba'i lam; C. jietuodao; J. gedatsudo; K. haet'alto 解道). In Sanskrit, "path of liberation"; a technical term that refers to the second of a two-stage process of abandoning the afflictions (KLEsA). As one proceeds from the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) to the adept path where there is nothing more to learn (AsAIKsAMĀRGA), the klesas are abandoned in sequence through repeated occasions of yogic direct perception (YOGIPRATYAKsA), consisting of two moments. The first is called the ĀNANTARYAMĀRGA (uninterrupted path), in which the specific klesa or set of klesas is actively abandoned; this is followed immediately by the vimuktimārga [alt. vimoksamārga], which is the state of having abandoned, and thus being liberated from, the klesa.

viparita karani. ::: "Legs-Up-the-Wall" yogic posture &

Virupa. (Bi ru pa). Sanskrit proper name of one of the eighty-four MAHĀSIDDHAs, particularly revered in the SA SKYA sect of Tibetan Buddhism. Very little can be said with certainty about his life (whether he was a historical figure is open to question), but he may have lived at the end of the tenth century CE. He is said to have been a monk and a distinguished scholar of NĀLANDĀ monastery (in some sources, SOMAPURA), who was originally named Dharmapāla, devoting himself to scholastic study during the day and tantric practice at night. He recited the MANTRA of CAKRASAMVARA for years, but, unable to make any progress in his practice, he threw his rosary into the latrine. That night, the goddess NAIRĀTMYĀ, appeared to him in a dream, instructing him to retrieve his rosary. Over the course of six nights, she conferred initiations and instructions that allowed him to attain the sixth bodhisattva BHuMI. She also gave him a text, which is otherwise unknown in Sanskrit, whose Sanskrit title might be reconstructed as *Mārgaphalamulasāstra, the "Root Treatise on the Path and Its Fruition." Dharmapāla subsequently began to engage openly in tantric practices and was expelled from the monastery and branded "deformed" or "ugly" (virupa), whence he derived his name. Among the many stories told about him, perhaps the most famous tells of his stopping in a tavern to drink. When the tavern keeper demanded payment, he offered her the sun instead, using his ritual dagger to stop the sun in its course. The sun did not move for three days, during which time Virupa consumed huge amounts of drink. In order to set the sun on its course, the king agreed to pay his bill. Virupa eventually encountered two YOGINs who became his disciples: dombiheruka and Kṛsnacārin. In the eleventh century, the Tibetan scholar SA CHEN KUN DGA' SNYING PO of the 'Khon clan is said to have had a vision of Virupa in which he received transmission of the *Mārgaphalamulasāstra. This became the foundation for the LAM 'BRAS teachings of the Sa skya sect, where Virupa is regarded as a buddha, equal in importance to Nāropa for the BKA' RGYUD sect. His most famous work is his RDO RJE TSHIG RKANG ("Vajra Verses").

When it opens one gets the inner vision, sees the inner forms and images of things and people and begins to understand things and people from within and not only from outside, develops a power of will which also acts in the inner (yogic) way on things and people etc. Its opening is often the beginning of the yogic as opposed to the ordinary mental consciousness.

When that plunge has once been taken, you are-marked for the yogic, the spiritual life and nothing can ellacc the seal that has been put upon you.

“When the centres begin to open, inner experiences such as the seeing of light or images through the subtle vision in the forehead centre or psychic experiences and perceptions in the heart, become frequent—gradually one becomes aware of one’s inner being as separate from the outer, and what can be called a yogic consciousness with all its deeper movements develops in the place of the ordinary superficial mental and vital movements.” Letters on Yoga

Wideness and calmness are the foundation of the yogic cons- ciousness and the best condition for inner growth and experi- ence. If a wide calm can be established in the physical cons- ciousness, occupying and filling the very body and all its cells, that can become (he basis for its transformation ; in fact, with- out this wideness and calmness (he transformation is hardly possible.

"Wideness and calmness are the foundation of the yogic consciousness and the best condition for inner growth and experience. If a wide calm can be established in the physical consciousness, occupying and filling the very body and all its cells, that can become the basis for its transformation; in fact, without this wideness and calmness the transformation is hardly possible.” Letters on Yoga*

“Wideness and calmness are the foundation of the yogic consciousness and the best condition for inner growth and experience. If a wide calm can be established in the physical consciousness, occupying and filling the very body and all its cells, that can become the basis for its transformation; in fact, without this wideness and calmness the transformation is hardly possible.” Letters on Yoga

WIDENESS. ::: Wideness and calmness are the foundation of the yogic consciousness and Ibe best condition for inner groyrt and experience. If a wide calm can be established in the physica consciousness, occupying and filling the very body and^ all J * cells, that can become the basis for its transformation ; m ac . without this wideness and calmness the transformation is har y possible.

with the ego or being a big Yogi or becoming a superman than with meeting the Divine or getting the Divine consciousness which enables one to live in or with the Divine, then a flood of pscudos or mixtures come in, one is led into the mazes of the intermediate zone or spins in the grooves of one’s own forma- tions.

Wuliang yi jing. (J. Muryogikyo; K. Muryang ŭi kyong 無量義經). In Chinese, "Sutra of Immeasurable Meanings," one of the "Three [Sister] Sutras of the 'Lotus'" (FAHUA SANBU [JING]), along with the SADDHARMAPUndARĪKASuTRA ("Lotus Sutra") itself and the GUAN PUXIAN PUSA XINGFA JING ("Sutra on the Procedures for Contemplating the Practices of the Bodhisattva SAMANTABHADRA"). The Wuliang yi jing, is presumed to be the prequel to the influential Saddharmapundarīkasutra, while the Guan Puxian pusa xingfa jing is usually considered its sequel. The extant version of the scripture, in one roll, is attributed to the Indian translator *Dharmāgatayasas of the Southern Qi dynasty (479-502), and is claimed to have been translated in 481; the LIDAI SANBAO JI scriptural catalogue also refers to a second, nonextant translation. There is, however, no evidence that a scripture with this title ever circulated in India, and no such text is ever cited in Indian sources. In addition, there are issues with the biography of the alleged translator (*Dharmāgatayasas is otherwise unknown and this is his only attributed translation), and peculiar events in the transmission of the scripture, which suggest that attempts were made to obscure its questionable provenance. The scripture also includes unusual transcriptions and translations of Buddhist technical terminology, and peculiar taxonomies of Indian doctrinal concepts. Because of these problematic issues of provenance and content, the sutra is now suspected of being an indigenous Chinese composition (see APOCRYPHA). Such Chinese exegetes as Huiji (412-496) and TIANTAI ZHIYI (538-597) presumed that this scripture was the otherwise-unknown MAHĀYĀNA sutra titled "Immeasurable Meanings" that is mentioned in the prologue to the Saddharmapundarīkasutra, which the Buddha is said to have preached just prior to beginning the "Lotus Sutra" proper. The Wuliang yi jing is in three chapters (pin). The first chapter is the prologue, where the bodhisattva "Great Adornment" (Dazhuangyan pusa) offers a long verse paean describing the Buddha's many virtues. The second chapter is the sermon itself, where the Buddha explains the doctrine of immeasurable meanings as being the one teaching that will enable bodhisattvas to quickly attain complete, perfect enlightenment (ANUTTARASAMYAKSAMBODHI). This doctrine reveals that all phenomena (DHARMA) are void and calm in both their natures and their characteristics and thus are empty and nondual (ADVAYA). Hence, the immeasurable meanings of all descriptions of dharmas derive from the one dharma that is free from characteristics. The final chapter is the epilogue, which describes the ten kinds of merit that accrue from hearing the sutra.

xiuxing ren 修行人. See YOGIN

Yamabushi (Japanese) A sect in Japan of ancient origin, but now inclining to Buddhism. Often regarded as the fighting monks, inasmuch as they have not hesitated to take up arms in case of necessity somewhat like certain yogis in Rajputana or the lamas in Tibet. They are perhaps most numerous near Kyoto, where they are famed for their healing powers. Yamabushi hold a “Japanese Secret Science of the Buddhist Mystics,” calling their seven mystery-teachings the seven precious things or jewels (SD 1:67).

yamakaprātihārya. (P. yamakapātihāriya; T. cho 'phrul ya ma zung; C. shuangshenbian; J. sojinpen; K. ssangsinbyon 雙神變). In Sanskrit, "paired miracle" or "twin miracle"; this and the MAHĀPRĀTIHĀRYA are the two most famous of the miracles performed by the Buddha during his career, which are frequently narrated in both canonical and commentarial literature and widely depicted in Buddhist art. Both types are generally understood to have taken place in the city of sRĀVASTĪ and thus are often referred to collectively in the literature as the sRĀVASTĪ MIRACLES. The yamakaprātihārya involved the manifestation of the contrasting physical elements (MAHĀBHuTA) of fire and water. After the Buddha established a rule preventing monks from displaying miraculous powers, he was challenged by a group of non-Buddhist yogins to a display of his own supranormal powers. As a buddha, he was exempt from this prohibition, so he accepted their challenge and stated that he would perform a miracle at the foot of a mango tree. To keep him from proceeding, his opponents uprooted all the mango trees in the vicinity, leading the Buddha to cause a great tree to grow spontaneously from a mango seed. At the appointed time, the Buddha created a bejeweled walkway in the sky and then proceeded back and forth on it, causing flames to emerge from the upper part of his body and streams of water from the lower part, then water from the upper part and flames from the lower part, then flames from the right side and water from the left side, then from his front and back, right eye and left eye, right ear and left ear, etc. He then created a double of himself (see MANOMAYAKĀYA), with whom he conversed. It is because of the simultaneous presence of fire and water (and perhaps because of his creation of his doppelgänger) that the event is called the "paired miracle." After performing the miracle and preaching for sixteen days, the Buddha departed for the heaven of the thirty-three (TRĀYASTRIMsA), where he spent the rains retreat (VARsĀ) teaching the ABHIDHARMA to his mother MĀYĀ (who had been reborn as a divinity in the TUsITA heaven). This miracle is said to be performed by all buddhas (and only by a buddha) and always in srāvastī.

Yangqi Fanghui. (J. Yogi Hoe; K. Yanggi Panghoe 楊岐方會) (992-1049). Chinese CHAN master and patriarch of the YANGQI PAI collateral line of the LINJI ZONG; one of the two major Linji sublineages, along with the HUANGLONG PAI. Yangqi was a native of Yuanzhou prefecture in present-day Jiangxi province. After studying under various teachers, he visited the Chan master Shishuang Chuyuan (986-1039), himself a successor of Fenyang Shanzhao (947-1024), and became one of Shishuang's leading disciples. Yangqi was later invited to serve as abbot of the monastery Putong Chanyuan on Mt. Yangqi in his hometown of Yuanzhou, whence he acquired his toponym. In 1046, he moved his residence to the monastery of Haihuisi on Mt. Yung'ai. Among his many talented disciples, the most famous is BAIYUN SHOUDUAN (1025-1072). His teachings are recorded in the Yangqi Fanghui chanshi yulu, Yangqi Fanghui chanshi houlu, and Yangqi Hui chanshi yuyao. See also WU JIA QI ZONG.

Yangqi pai. (J. Yogiha; K. Yanggi p'a 楊岐派). One of the two major branches of the LINJI ZONG of the CHAN school, which is listed among the five houses and seven schools (WU JIA QI ZONG) of the mature Chinese Chan tradition. The school is named after its founder, YANGQI FANGHUI (995-1049), who taught at Mt. Yangqi in what is now Yuanzhou province. Yangqi was a disciple of Shishuang Chuyuan (986-1039), a sixth-generation successor in the Linji school, who also taught HUANGLONG HUINAN (1002-1069), the founder of the HUANGLONG PAI sublineage of the Linji school. The Yangqi lineage flourished under its third-generation successors, Fojian Huiqin (1059-1117), Foyan Qingyuan (1067-1120), and YUANWU KEQIN (1063-1135), who promoted it among the literati, and it became one of the dominant schools of Song-dynasty Buddhism thanks to the decisive role played by Yuanwu's disciple DAHUI ZONGGAO (1089-1163). It was especially within this lineage that the meditative technique of the Chan of investigating the meditative topic or questioning meditation (KANHUA CHAN) flourished. The Yangqi masters took a different approach to GONG'AN (public case) training, criticizing "lettered Chan" (WENZI CHAN), a style of Chan developed by Yunmen and Huanglong masters, which gained popularity among the literati officials in the Northern Song period with its polished language and elegant verse explanations of the meaning of the gong'an. Dahui in particular presented the gong'an as a meditative tool for realizing one's innate enlightenment, not to demonstrate one's talent in clever repartee or one's literary prowess; at the same time, he critiqued the approaches of rival Chan schools, criticizing such Huanglong masters as JUEFAN HUIHONG (1071-1128) for clinging to intellectual and literary endeavors and such CAODONG ZONG masters as HONGZHI ZHENGJUE (1091-1157) for clinging to tranquillity and simply waiting for one's innate enlightenment to manifest itself. The school also produced many gong'an collections, including the BIYANLU ("Blue Cliff Record"), complied by Yuanwu Keqin, and the WUMEN GUAN ("Gateless Checkpoint"), compiled by the seventh-generation successor WUMEN HUIKAI (1183-1260). The Yangqi lineage was formally introduced to Korea by T'AEGO POU (1301-1382), who studied with the eleventh-generation Yangqi teacher Shiwu Qinggong (1272-1352); some modern Korean monks and scholars argue that the contemporary Korean Son tradition should be traced back to T'aego and his Yangqi lineage, rather than to POJO CHINUL (1158-1210). The Yangqi school reached Japan in the thirteenth century through pilgrim monks, including Shunjo (1166-1227), who studied with the Yangqi teacher Meng'an Yuancong (1126-1209), and NANPO JoMYo (1235-1309), better known by his imperially bestowed title Entsu Daio Kokushi ("state preceptor," see GUOSHI), who studied with the ninth-generation teacher XUTANG ZHIYU (1185-1269). All Linji lineages in contemporary Japan are affiliated with the Yangqi pai.

Yogabhāvanāmārga. [alt. Bhāvanāyogamārga; Yogabhāvanāpatha] (T. Rnal 'byor bsgom pa'i lam). In Sanskrit, "Path of Yogic Cultivation"; a work on the BODHISATTVA path usually attributed to the eighth-century Indian master JNānagarbha, who is known as the teacher of sĀNTARAKsITA (c. 725-788) and a disciple of srīgupta. It is presumed that the Yogabhāvanāmārga is an example of the later MADHYAMAKA school's attention to the theme of the stages of meditative cultivation (BHĀVANĀ), as best exemplified by KAMALAsĪLA's three BHĀVANĀKRAMAs. There are two JNānagarbhas known to the tradition, one from the early ninth century and the other from the eleventh century. Some scholars suggest that the commentary to the Maitreya chapter of the SAMDHINIRMOCANASuTRA should be attributed to the first JNānagarbha, while authorship of the Yogabhāvanāmārga should be ascribed to the second. The Yogabhāvanāmārga, along with JNānagarbha's two other works, the Satyadvayavibhanga ("Analysis of the Two Truths") and its autocommentary Satyadvayavibhangavṛtti ("Commentary on Analysis of the Two Truths"), are only extant in Tibetan translation.

Yogācārabhumisāstra. [alt. Yogācārabhumi] (T. Rnal 'byor spyod pa'i sa'i bstan bcos; C. Yuqieshidi lun; J. Yugashijiron; K. Yugasaji non 瑜伽師地論). In Sanskrit, "Treatise on the Stages of Yogic Practice"; an encyclopedic work that is the major treatise (sĀSTRA) of the YOGĀCĀRA school of Indian Buddhism. It was widely influential in East Asia and Tibet, being translated into Chinese by XUANZANG between 646 and 648 and into Tibetan circa 800. Authorship is traditionally ascribed to ASAnGA (or, in China, to MAITREYA), but the size and scope of the text suggest that it is the compilation of the work of a number of scholars (possibly including Asanga) during the fourth century CE. The work is divided into five major sections. The first and longest, comprising approximately half the text, is called the "Multiple Stages" (Bahubhumika or Bhumivastu) and sets forth the stages of the path to buddhahood in seventeen sections. The two most famous of these sections (both of which are preserved in Sanskrit and which circulated as independent works) are the sRĀVAKABHuMI and the BODHISATTVABHuMI, the latter providing one of the most detailed discussions of the bodhisattva path (MĀRGA) in Indian literature. In this section, many of the central doctrines of the Yogācāra school are discussed, including the eight consciousnesses, the ĀLAYAVIJNĀNA, and the three natures (TRISVABHĀVA). The structures and practices of the paths of the sRĀVAKA, PRATYEKABUDDHA, and BODHISATTVA are presented here in the form that would eventually become normative among MAHĀYĀNA scholasts in general (not just adherents of Yogācāra). The second section, "Compendium of Resolving [Questions]" (ViniscayasaMgrahanī), considers controversial points that arise in the previous section. The third section, "Compendium of Interpretation" (VyākhyānasaMgrahanī), examines these points in light of relevant passages from the sutras; it is interesting to note that the majority of the texts cited in this section are Sanskrit ĀGAMAs rather than Mahāyāna sutras. The fourth, called "Compendium of Synonyms" (ParyāyasaMgraha) considers the terms mentioned in the sutras. The fifth and final section, "Compendium of Topics" (VastusaMgraha), considers central points of Buddhist doctrine, including PRATĪTYASAMUTPĀDA and BODHI. This section also contains a discussion of VINAYA and (in the Chinese version) ABHIDHARMA.

yogadrsti (Yogadrishti) ::: [yogic (power of) vision].

yoga nidra. ::: a state of half-contemplation and half-sleep; light yogic sleep when the individual retains slight awareness; a state between sleep and wakefulness

yogasana :::. yogic poses

yoga sutras. ::: the oldest known writing on the subject of yoga, written by the sage Patanjali, a yogi of ancient India, and considered to be the most authoritative text on yoga; also known as

yogayajna ::: [sacrifice of yoga; yogic sacrifice].

yoga yogi. :::those who have reached the state of bodiless consciousness through pranayama

YOGI AND SADHAKA. ::: The yogi is one who is already established In realisation ; the sadhaka is one who -is getting or still trying to get realisation.

yogi ::: Yogi / Yogin A devotee, in particular one who has mastered the techniques and practices of Yoga and who is capable of teaching and training others in the yogic discipline.

YOGIC ATTITUDE. ::: Not one of forceful suppression, but of detachment and equality with regard to the objects of desire.

YOGIC POWERS. ::: The idea that yogins do not or ought not to use these powers I regard as an ascetic superstition. I believe that all yogins who have these powers do use them whenever they find that that they are called from within to do so. They may refrain if they think the use in a particular case is contrary to the Divine Will or see that prevcofing one evil may-be open- ing the door to worse or for any other veiled reason, but not

yogi ::: n. --> A follower of the yoga philosophy; an ascetic.

yogini cakra (Yogini Chakra) ::: [cakra of the female yogin or of the sakti called "Yogini": probably used by Sri Aurobindo as a code word].

yoginī

yoginītantra

yoginītantra. (T. rnal 'byor ma'i rgyud). Also known as "mother tantras" (MĀTṚTANTRA) and "wisdom tantras" (T. shes rab kyi rgyud), one of the two categories into which the ANUTTARAYOGATANTRAs are divided, the other being "father tantras" (PITṚTANTRA). Developing in India from the SIDDHA tradition, the yoginītantras apparently receive this name because the majority (and in some cases all) of the deities in the tantra's MAndALA are female. According to a traditional explanation, these tantras emphasize wisdom (PRAJNĀ), especially the mind of clear light (PRABHĀSVARACITTA), while father tantras emphasize method (UPĀYA), especially the illusory body (MĀYĀDEHA). See CAKRASAMVARATANTRA.

yoginī. (T. rnal 'byor ma). A female practitioner of YOGA, or contemplative practice, but used especially to refer to female adepts of Buddhist TANTRA, particularly those who engage in tantric rituals (including sexual rituals) with tantric YOGINs. The term is sometimes synonymous with dĀKINĪ.

yogin ::: one who practises yoga; one who has attained yogasiddhi. yo . . . sami samim

yogin ::: [one who practises yoga]; one who is established in realisation [cf. sadhaka]. ::: yogi [nominative]

yogin

yogin. (T. rnal 'byor pa; C. xiuxing ren; J. shugyonin; K. suhaeng in 修行人). A male practitioner of YOGA (generally in the generic sense of meditative practice) who has gained some level of attainment in his practice. The term can be used to refer to any advanced Buddhist practitioner, although it refers especially to advanced practitioners of Buddhist TANTRA.

yogipratyaksa

yogipratyaksa. (T. rnal 'byor mngon sum; C. dingguan zhi; J. jokanchi; K. chonggwan chi 定觀知). In Sanskrit, "yogic direct perception"; a specific variety of direct perception (PRATYAKsA) that is typically presumed to derive from meditative practice (BHĀVANĀ; YOGA). A direct intuition of the real obtained through meditative practice, this type of understanding was accepted as a valid means of knowledge by most of the traditional Indian religious schools. In Buddhism, the psychological analysis of the notion of yogipratyaksa and the related yogijNāna (yogic knowledge or cognition) was undertaken by DHARMAKĪRTI (c. 600-670) in his PRAMĀnAVĀRTTIKA and NYĀYABINDU, as well as by his commentators. Dharmakīrti's predecessor DIGNĀGA (c. 480-540) had posited that there were only two reliable sources of knowledge (PRAMĀnA): direct perception (PRATYAKsA) and logical inference (ANUMĀNA). Dharmakīrti, however, subdivided direct perception (pratyaksa) into four subtypes, viz., sensory cognition (indriyajNāna), mental discrimination (MANOVIJNĀNA), self-awareness (SVASAMVEDANA), and yogic cognition (yogijNāna). In Dharmakīrti's analysis, yogic cognition (yogijNāna) is a form of yogic perception (yogipratyaksa), because it fulfills the two conditions of perception (pratyaksa): (1) it is devoid of conceptual construction (KALPANĀ); and (2) it is a cognition that is "nonerroneous" (abhrānta), viz., real. The treatment of yogipratyaksa in the literature thus focuses on how yogipratyaksa fulfills these two conditions of perception. Yogic knowledge is devoid of conceptual construction (kalpanā), Dharmakīrti maintains, because it is nonconceptual (akalpa; NIRVIKALPA) and thus "vivid" or "distinct" (spasta). This type of perception is therefore able to perceive reality directly, without the intercession of mental images or concepts. Since yogic cognition is said to be devoid of conceptual construction, this raises the issue of its second condition, its lack of error. Why is meditatively induced perception true and reliable? How does a meditator's yogic perception differ from the hallucinations of the deranged, since both of them presume they have a vivid cognition of an object? The reason, Dharmakīrti maintains, is that the objects of yogic knowledge are "true" or "real" (bhuta; sadbhuta), whereas hallucinations are "false" or "unreal" objects (abhuta; asadbhuta). The only true objects of yogic knowledge offered by Dharmakīrti are the FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS: that is, the perception of these truths is true and reliable because they enable one to reach the goal of enlightenment, not because they involve a perception of an ultimate substance. In this sense, Dharmakīrti's understanding of yogijNāna is more focused on the direct realization of the soteriological import of the four noble truths than on extraordinary sensory ability. Therefore, yogic direct perception is qualitatively different from the various forms of clairvoyance that are the byproducts of deep states of concentration that may be achieved by both Buddhist and non-Buddhist practitioners. Yogipratyaksa is a form of insight (VIPAsYANĀ) posssessed only by noble persons (ĀRYAPUDGALA); and among the five paths it occurs only on the path of vision (DARsANAMĀRGA) and above. See also DARsANA.

yogi&

Zhabs dkar tshogs drug rang grol. (Shapkar Tsokdruk Rangdrol) (1781-1851). One of the most revered Tibetan preachers and saints of the nineteenth century. He was born in the Reb kong region of A mdo in the northeast of the Tibetan cultural domain. During his youth, he received instruction in RDZOGS CHEN and various treasure (GTER MA) cycles of the RNYING MA sect. He undertook a one-year retreat at the age of sixteen and was ordained at the age of twenty at Rdo bis, a DGE LUGS monastery. He maintained his monastic vows throughout his life but wore his hair long and piled on the top of his head in the manner of a tantric YOGIN. His main teacher was Chos rgyal Ngag gi dbang po, but he studied with a variety of teachers, including those of the Dge lugs sect. He also studied traditional painting. An adept, pilgrim, and poet of the Rnying ma sect, he traveled throughout Tibet, undertaking retreats at such famous sites as Rma chen spom ra, TSA RI, and Mount KAILĀSA, including in a number of caves where MI LA RAS PA is said to have meditated. He became known as Zhabs dkar, or "white footprint," because he meditated at Mount Kailāsa, where the Buddha is said to have left his footprints (BUDDHAPĀDA). He also traveled to Kathmandu, where he offered gold for the spire of the BODHNĀTH STuPA. He gained fame among all social classes through his wide-ranging activities as a Buddhist teacher and his enormous personal generosity and charisma. His autobiography, entitled Snyigs dus 'gro ba yongs kyi skyabs mgon zhabs dkar rdo rje 'chang chen po'i rnam par thar pa rgyas par bshad pa (translated as The Life of Shabkar) is regarded as one of the masterworks of that genre of Tibetan literature.



QUOTES [29 / 29 - 893 / 893]


KEYS (10k)

   24 Sri Aurobindo
   2 Yogi Berra
   1 The Mother
   1 Swami Vivekananda
   1 Sri Ramakrishna

NEW FULL DB (2.4M)

  257 Harbhajan Singh Yogi
  222 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
   82 Sri Aurobindo
   78 Yogi Berra
   26 Yogi Bhajan
   16 Swami Vivekananda
   15 William Walker Atkinson
   14 Sadhguru
   13 B K S Iyengar
   11 Elizabeth Gilbert
   10 Paramahansa Yogananda
   8 Jaimal Yogis
   7 Anonymous
   6 The Mother
   5 Robin S Sharma
   5 George Harrison
   4 T J Miller
   4 Om Swami
   4 Darren Main
   3 Karan Bajaj

1:when you come to a fork in the road, take it
   ~ Yogi Berra,
2:In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is. ~ Yogi Berra,
3:A Yogi must avoid the two extremes of luxury and austerity. ~ Swami Vivekananda, (C.W. I. 136),
4:The Yogi eats not out of desire, but to maintain the body. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Food,
5:The Yogi knows by his capacity for a containing or dynamic identity with things and persons and forces.~ The Mother,
6:The Jnana Yogi longs to realize Brahman, God the impersonal, the absolute, and the unconditioned. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
7:The Jnana Yogi says "I am He." But so long as one has the idea of the Self as the body, this egotism is injurious. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
8:The human mind becomes ruffled by breathing, hence the yogi concentrates his mind by regulating breath before meditation on God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
9:The yogi's heart beats for God, as a mother's for her child. A Yogi has the intense feeling of renunciation and wants nothing except God. ~ Sri Ramakrishna,
10:A God who cannot smile could not have created this humorous universe." ~ Sri Aurobindo, (1872 - 1950) Indian philosopher, yogi, guru, poet, and nationalist, Wikipedia.,
11:Be devoted to your master's teaching and the Innate will become manifest." ~ Saraha, (c. 8th cent. CE) wandering yogi, acted to overturned the social norms of caste, social class, and gender roles of the time, Wikipedia.,
12:Always remember God. Each and every event, everywhere, is by His Will alone and is for our own good. Each thing in our lives is always only Blessing, even though it may not appear so, at the time. ~ Sri Yogi Ramsuratkumar,
13:Thought could not think in him, flesh could not quiver;
    The feet of Time could not adventure here ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, The Yogi on the Whirlpool,
14:I do not believe in miracles, I rely on them." ~ Yogi Bhajan, (1929-2004), spiritual teacher, introduced his version of Kundalini Yoga to the U.S., the spiritual director of the 3HO, (Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization) Foundation, over 300 centers in 35 countries, Wikipedia,
15:The purpose of life is to watch and experience living. To enjoy living every moment of it. And to live in environments, which are calm, quiet, slow, sophisticated, elegant. Just to be." ~ Yoga Bhajan, (1929 - 2004), Indian-born-American yogi and spiritual teacher, Wikipedia,
16:the priest and the mage, the man of piety, the just man, the man of wisdom, the saint, the prophet, the Rishi, the Yogi, the seer, the spiritual sage and the mystic ... the saint, the devotee, the spiritual sage, the seer, the prophet, the servant of God, the soldier of the spirit
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine,
17:Kriya Yoga is a simple, psychophysiological method by which human blood is decarbonated and recharged with oxygen. The atoms of this extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal centres. By stopping the accumulation of venous blood, the yogi is able to lessen or prevent the decay of tissues. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
18:To be in full union with the Divine is the final aim. When one has some kind of constant union, one can be called a yogi, but the union has to be made complete. There are yogis who have only the union on the spiritual plane, others who are united in mind and heart, others in the vital also. In our yoga our aim is to be united too in the physical consciousness and on the supramental plane.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [T2],
19:Throughout the past 2500 years, whichever country Buddhism has been taught in, there have always been great yogis. Likewise, sooner or later there will be the great yogis of the West. This is because Buddhism has nothing to do with culture, gender, language, or colour. Buddhism is for all beings throughout time and space. And whoever dedicates their life to putting the teachings into practice will become a great yogi. It is as simple as that. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
20:Let him close the ears with his thumbs .... This is my most beloved Yoga. From practicing this gradually, the Yogi begins to hear mystic sounds (nadas). The first sound is like the hum of the honey-intoxicated bee (matta-bhrnga), next that of a flute (venu), then of a harp (vina); after this, by the gradual practice of Yoga, the destroyer of the darkness of the world, he hears the sounds of ringing bells (ghanta) then sounds like roar of thunder (megha).
   ~ Shiva-Samhita,
21:For arousing compassion, the nineteenth-century yogi Patrul Rinpoche suggested imagining beings in torment - an animal about to be slaughtered, a person awaiting execution. To make it more immediate, he recommended imagining ourselves in their place. Particularly painful is his image of a mother with no arms watching as a raging river sweeps her child away. To contact the suffering of another being fully and directly is as painful as being in the woman's shoes. ~ Pema Chodron,
22:47. A jnani who is a perfectly Self-realized yogi, sees by the eye of wisdom all objective phenomena to be in and of the Self and thus the Self to be the sole being.1

The allusion is to the story of a lady wearing a precious necklace, who suddenly forgot where it was, grew anxious, looked for it everywhere and even asked others to help, until a kind friend pointed out that it was round the seeker's own neck. ~ Adi Sankara, Atma Bodha, trans. Sri Ramana Maharshi, Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi,
23:The Yogi should always listen to the sound (nada) in the interior of his right ear. This sound, when constantly practiced, will drown every sound (dhvani from outside .... By persisting ... the sound will be heard subtler and subtler. At first, it will be like what is produced by the ocean (jaladhi), the cloud (jimuta), the kettle-drum (bheri), and the water-fall (nirjhara) . ... A little later it will be like the sound produced by a tabor (mardala, or small drum), a big bell (ghanta), and a military drum (kahala); and finally like the sound of the tinkling bell (kinkin), the bamboo-flute (vamsa), the harp (vina) and the bee (bhramara).
   ~ Nadabindu-Upanishad, (verses 31-41),
24:Everyone who is turned to the Mother is doing my Yoga. It is a great mistake to suppose that one can 'do' the Purna Yoga - i.e. carry out and fulfil all the sides of the Yoga by one's own effort. No human being can do that. What one has to do is to put oneself in the Mother's hands and open oneself to her by service, by bhakti, by aspiration; then the Mother by her light and force works in him so that the sadhana is done. It is a mistake also to have the ambition to be a big Purna Yogi or a supramental being and ask oneself how far have I got towards that. The right attitude is to be devoted and given to the Mother and to wish to be whatever she wants you to be. The rest is for the Mother to decide and do in you.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother, 151 [T3],
25:Satya Sattva - "Sri Yukteswar's intuition was penetrating; heedless of remarks, he often replied to one's unexpressed thoughts. The words a person uses, and the actual thoughts behind them, may be poles apart. 'By calmness,' my guru said, 'try to feel the thoughts behind the confusion of men's verbiage.' [...]

Many teachers talked of miracles but could manifest nothing. Sri Yukteswar seldom mentioned the subtle laws but secretly operated them at will. 'A man of realization doesn't perform any miracle until he receives an inward sanction', master explained. 'God does not wish the secrets of His creation revealed promiscuously. Also, every individual in the world has an inalienable right to his free will. A saint will not encroach on that independence.'

The silence habitual to Sri Yukteswar was caused by his deep perceptions of the Infinite. [...] Because of my guru's unspectacular guise, only a few of his contemporaries recognized him as a superman. The adage: 'He is a fool that cannot conceal his wisdom,' could never be applied to my profound and quiet master. Though born a mortal like all others, Sri Yukteswar achieved identity with the Ruler of time and space. Master found no insuperable obstacles to the mergence of human and Divine. No such barrier exists, I came to understand. [...]

Though my guru's undissembling speech prevented a large following during his years on Earth, nevertheless, through an ever-growing number of sincere students of his teachings, his spirit lives on in the world today. [...]

The disclosures of the Divine insight are often painful to worldly ears. Master was not popular with superficial students. The wise, always few in number, deeply revered him. I daresay Sri Yukteswar would have been the most sought-after guru in India had his speech not been so candid and so censorious. [...]

He added, 'You will go to foreign lands, where blunt assaults on the ego are not appreciated. A teacher could not spread India's message in the West without an ample fund of accommodative patience and forbearance.' [...]

I am immeasurably grateful for the humbling blows he dealt my vanity. I sometimes felt that, metaphorically, he was discovering and uprooting every diseased tooth in my jaw. The hard core of egotism is difficult to dislodge except rudely. With its departure, the Divine finds at last un unobstructed channel. In vain It seeks to percolate through flinty hearts of selfishness. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda, Autobiography of a Yogi,
26:Who could have thought that this tanned young man with gentle, dreamy eyes, long wavy hair parted in the middle and falling to the neck, clad in a common coarse Ahmedabad dhoti, a close-fitting Indian jacket, and old-fashioned slippers with upturned toes, and whose face was slightly marked with smallpox, was no other than Mister Aurobindo Ghose, living treasure of French, Latin and Greek?" Actually, Sri Aurobindo was not yet through with books; the Western momentum was still there; he devoured books ordered from Bombay and Calcutta by the case. "Aurobindo would sit at his desk," his Bengali teacher continues, "and read by the light of an oil lamp till one in the morning, oblivious of the intolerable mosquito bites. I would see him seated there in the same posture for hours on end, his eyes fixed on his book, like a yogi lost in the contemplation of the Divine, unaware of all that went on around him. Even if the house had caught fire, it would not have broken this concentration." He read English, Russian, German, and French novels, but also, in ever larger numbers, the sacred books of India, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, although he had never been in a temple except as an observer. "Once, having returned from the College," one of his friends recalls, "Sri Aurobindo sat down, picked up a book at random and started to read, while Z and some friends began a noisy game of chess. After half an hour, he put the book down and took a cup of tea. We had already seen him do this many times and were waiting eagerly for a chance to verify whether he read the books from cover to cover or only scanned a few pages here and there. Soon the test began. Z opened the book, read a line aloud and asked Sri Aurobindo to recite what followed. Sri Aurobindo concentrated for a moment, and then repeated the entire page without a single mistake. If he could read a hundred pages in half an hour, no wonder he could go through a case of books in such an incredibly short time." But Sri Aurobindo did not stop at the translations of the sacred texts; he began to study Sanskrit, which, typically, he learned by himself. When a subject was known to be difficult or impossible, he would refuse to take anyone's word for it, whether he were a grammarian, pandit, or clergyman, and would insist upon trying it himself. The method seemed to have some merit, for not only did he learn Sanskrit, but a few years later he discovered the lost meaning of the Veda. ~ Satprem, Sri Aurobindo Or The Adventure of Consciousness,
27:reading :::
   50 Spiritual Classics: List of Books Covered:
   Muhammad Asad - The Road To Mecca (1954)
   St Augustine - Confessions (400)
   Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970)
   Black Elk Black - Elk Speaks (1932)
   Richard Maurice Bucke - Cosmic Consciousness (1901)
   Fritjof Capra - The Tao of Physics (1976)
   Carlos Castaneda - Journey to Ixtlan (1972)
   GK Chesterton - St Francis of Assisi (1922)
   Pema Chodron - The Places That Scare You (2001)
   Chuang Tzu - The Book of Chuang Tzu (4th century BCE)
   Ram Dass - Be Here Now (1971)
   Epictetus - Enchiridion (1st century)
   Mohandas Gandhi - An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth (1927)
   Al-Ghazzali - The Alchemy of Happiness (1097)
   Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet (1923)
   GI Gurdjieff - Meetings With Remarkable Men (1960)
   Dag Hammarskjold - Markings (1963)
   Abraham Joshua Heschel - The Sabbath (1951)
   Hermann Hesse - Siddartha (1922)
   Aldous Huxley - The Doors of Perception (1954)
   William James - The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)
   Carl Gustav Jung - Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1955)
   Margery Kempe - The Book of Margery Kempe (1436)
   J Krishnamurti - Think On These Things (1964)
   CS Lewis - The Screwtape Letters (1942)
   Malcolm X - The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1964)
   Daniel C Matt - The Essential Kabbalah (1994)
   Dan Millman - The Way of the Peaceful Warrior (1989)
   W Somerset Maugham - The Razor's Edge (1944)
   Thich Nhat Hanh - The Miracle of Mindfulness (1975)
   Michael Newton - Journey of Souls (1994)
   John O'Donohue - Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom (1998)
   Robert M Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)
   James Redfield - The Celestine Prophecy (1994)
   Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements (1997)
   Helen Schucman & William Thetford - A Course in Miracles (1976)
   Idries Shah - The Way of the Sufi (1968)
   Starhawk - The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (1979)
   Shunryu Suzuki - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)
   Emanuel Swedenborg - Heaven and Hell (1758)
   Teresa of Avila - Interior Castle (1570)
   Mother Teresa - A Simple Path (1994)
   Eckhart Tolle - The Power of Now (1998)
   Chogyam Trungpa - Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (1973)
   Neale Donald Walsch - Conversations With God (1998)
   Rick Warren - The Purpose-Driven Life (2002)
   Simone Weil - Waiting For God (1979)
   Ken Wilber - A Theory of Everything (2000)
   Paramahansa Yogananda - Autobiography of a Yogi (1974)
   Gary Zukav - The Seat of the Soul (1990)
   ~ Tom Butler-Bowdon, 50 Spirital Classics (2017 Edition),
28:The Song Of Food And Dwelling :::
I bow down at the feet of the wish-fulfilling Guru.
Pray vouchsafe me your grace in bestowing beneficial food,
Pray make me realize my own body as the house of Buddha,
Pray grant me this knowledge.

I built the house through fear,
The house of Sunyata, the void nature of being;
Now I have no fear of its collapsing.
I, the Yogi with the wish-fulfilling gem,
Feel happiness and joy where'er I stay.

Because of the fear of cold, I sought for clothes;
The clothing I found is the Ah Shea Vital Heat.
Now I have no fear of coldness.

Because of the fear of poverty, I sought for riches;
The riches I found are the inexhaustible Seven Holy Jewels.
Now I have no fear of poverty.

Because of the fear of hunger, I sought for food;
The food I found is the Samadhi of Suchness.
Now I have no fear of hunger.

Because of the fear of thirst, I sought for drink;
The heavenly drink I found is the wine of mindfulness.
Now I have no fear of thirst.

Because of the fear of loneliness, I searched for a friend;
The friend I found is the bliss of perpetual Sunyata.
Now I have no fear of loneliness.

Because of the fear of going astray,
I sought for the right path to follow.
The wide path I found is the Path of Two-in-One.
Now I do not fear to lose my way.

I am a yogi with all desirable possessions,
A man always happy where'er he stays.

Here at Yolmo Tagpu Senge Tson,
The tigress howling with a pathetic, trembling cry,
Reminds me that her helpless cubs are innocently playing.
I cannot help but feel a great compassion for them,
I cannot help but practice more diligently,
I cannot help but augment thus my Bodhi-Mind.

The touching cry of the monkey,
So impressive and so moving,
Cannot help but raise in me deep pity.
The little monkey's chattering is amusing and pathetic;
As I hear it, I cannot but think of it with compassion.

The voice of the cuckoo is so moving,
And so tuneful is the lark's sweet singing,
That when I hear them I cannot help but listen
When I listen to them,
I cannot help but shed tears.

The varied cries and cawings of the crow,
Are a good and helpful friend unto the yogi.
Even without a single friend,
To remain here is a pleasure.
With joy flowing from my heart, I sing this happy song;
May the dark shadow of all men's sorrows
Be dispelled by my joyful singing. ~ Jetsun Milarepa,
29:
   Can a Yogi attain to a state of consciousness in which he can know all things, answer all questions, relating even to abstruse scientific problems, such as, for example, the theory of relativity?


Theoretically and in principle it is not impossible for a Yogi to know everything; all depends upon the Yogi.

   But there is knowledge and knowledge. The Yogi does not know in the way of the mind. He does not know everything in the sense that he has access to all possible information or because he contains all the facts of the universe in his mind or because his consciousness is a sort of miraculous encyclopaedia. He knows by his capacity for a containing or dynamic identity with things and persons and forces. Or he knows because he lives in a plane of consciousness or is in contact with a consciousness in which there is the truth and the knowledge.

   If you are in the true consciousness, the knowledge you have will also be of the truth. Then, too, you can know directly, by being one with what you know. If a problem is put before you, if you are asked what is to be done in a particular matter, you can then, by looking with enough attention and concentration, receive spontaneously the required knowledge and the true answer. It is not by any careful application of theory that you reach the knowledge or by working it out through a mental process. The scientific mind needs these methods to come to its conclusions. But the Yogi's knowledge is direct and immediate; it is not deductive. If an engineer has to find out the exact position for the building of an arch, the line of its curve and the size of its opening, he does it by calculation, collating and deducing from his information and data. But a Yogi needs none of these things; he looks, has the vision of the thing, sees that it is to be done in this way and not in another, and this seeing is his knowledge.

   Although it may be true in a general way and in a certain sense that a Yogi can know all things and can answer all questions from his own field of vision and consciousness, yet it does not follow that there are no questions whatever of any kind to which he would not or could not answer. A Yogi who has the direct knowledge, the knowledge of the true truth of things, would not care or perhaps would find it difficult to answer questions that belong entirely to the domain of human mental constructions. It may be, he could not or would not wish to solve problems and difficulties you might put to him which touch only the illusion of things and their appearances. The working of his knowledge is not in the mind. If you put him some silly mental query of that character, he probably would not answer. The very common conception that you can put any ignorant question to him as to some super-schoolmaster or demand from him any kind of information past, present or future and that he is bound to answer, is a foolish idea. It is as inept as the expectation from the spiritual man of feats and miracles that would satisfy the vulgar external mind and leave it gaping with wonder.

   Moreover, the term "Yogi" is very vague and wide. There are many types of Yogis, many lines or ranges of spiritual or occult endeavour and different heights of achievement, there are some whose powers do not extend beyond the mental level; there are others who have gone beyond it. Everything depends on the field or nature of their effort, the height to which they have arrived, the consciousness with which they have contact or into which they enter.

   Do not scientists go sometimes beyond the mental plane? It is said that Einstein found his theory of relativity not through any process of reasoning, but through some kind of sudden inspiration. Has that inspiration anything to do with the Supermind?

The scientist who gets an inspiration revealing to him a new truth, receives it from the intuitive mind. The knowledge comes as a direct perception in the higher mental plane illumined by some other light still farther above. But all that has nothing to do with the action of Supermind and this higher mental level is far removed from the supramental plane. Men are too easily inclined to believe that they have climbed into regions quite divine when they have only gone above the average level. There are many stages between the ordinary human mind and the Supermind, many grades and many intervening planes. If an ordinary man were to get into direct contact even with one of these intermediate planes, he would be dazzled and blinded, would be crushed under the weight of the sense of immensity or would lose his balance; and yet it is not the Supermind.

   Behind the common idea that a Yogi can know all things and answer all questions is the actual fact that there is a plane in the mind where the memory of everything is stored and remains always in existence. All mental movements that belong to the life of the earth are memorised and registered in this plane. Those who are capable of going there and care to take the trouble, can read in it and learn anything they choose. But this region must not be mistaken for the supramental levels. And yet to reach even there you must be able to silence the movements of the material or physical mind; you must be able to leave aside all your sensations and put a stop to your ordinary mental movements, whatever they are; you must get out of the vital; you must become free from the slavery of the body. Then only you can enter into that region and see. But if you are sufficiently interested to make this effort, you can arrive there and read what is written in the earth's memory.

   Thus, if you go deep into silence, you can reach a level of consciousness on which it is not impossible for you to receive answers to all your questions. And if there is one who is consciously open to the plenary truth of the supermind, in constant contact with it, he can certainly answer any question that is worth an answer from the supramental Light. The queries put must come from some sense of the truth and reality behind things. There are many questions and much debated problems that are cobwebs woven of mere mental abstractions or move on the illusory surface of things. These do not pertain to real knowledge; they are a deformation of knowledge, their very substance is of the ignorance. Certainly the supramental knowledge may give an answer, its own answer, to the problems set by the mind's ignorance; but it is likely that it would not be at all satisfactory or perhaps even intelligible to those who ask from the mental level. You must not expect the supramental to work in the way of the mind or demand that the knowledge in truth should be capable of being pieced together with the half-knowledge in ignorance. The scheme of the mind is one thing, but Supermind is quite another and it would no longer be supramental if it adapted itself to the exigencies of the mental scheme. The two are incommensurable and cannot be put together.

   When the consciousness has attained to supramental joys, does it no longer take interest in the things of the mind?

The supramental does not take interest in mental things in the same way as the mind. It takes its own interest in all the movements of the universe, but it is from a different point of view and with a different vision. The world presents to it an entirely different appearance; there is a reversal of outlook and everything is seen from there as other than what it seems to the mind and often even the opposite. Things have another meaning; their aspect, their motion and process, everything about them, are watched with other eyes. Everything here is followed by the supermind; the mind movements and not less the vital, the material movements, all the play of the universe have for it a very deep interest, but of another kind. It is about the same difference as that between the interest taken in a puppet-play by one who holds the strings and knows what the puppets are to do and the will that moves them and that they can do only what it moves them to do, and the interest taken by another who observes the play but sees only what is happening from moment to moment and knows nothing else. The one who follows the play and is outside its secret has a stronger, an eager and passionate interest in what will happen and he gives an excited attention to its unforeseen or dramatic events; the other, who holds the strings and moves the show, is unmoved and tranquil. There is a certain intensity of interest which comes from ignorance and is bound up with illusion, and that must disappear when you are out of the ignorance. The interest that human beings take in things founds itself on the illusion; if that were removed, they would have no interest at all in the play; they would find it dry and dull. That is why all this ignorance, all this illusion has lasted so long; it is because men like it, because they cling to it and its peculiar kind of appeal that it endures.

   ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931, 93?
,

*** WISDOM TROVE ***

1:The Yogi must always practice. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
2:A yogi's brain extends from the bottom of the foot to the top of his head ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
3:God-realization is attained only by great effort on the part of the yogi and by divine grace. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove
4:The yogi learns to forget the past and takes no thought for the morrow. He lives in the eternal present. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
5:A lamp does not flicker in a place where no wind blows; so it is with a yogi, who controls his mind, intellect and self, being absorbed in the spirit within him. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
6:When the restlessness of the mind, intellect and self is stilled through the practice of Yoga, the yogi by the grace of the Spirit within himself finds fulfillment. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
7:The yogi cannot be afraid to die, because he has brought life to every cell of his body. We are afraid to die, because we are afraid we have not lived. The yogi has lived. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
8:The sleeping tortoise takes all its limbs into its carapace. So does the yogi: going back into himself he does not see anything worldly any longer, he makes peace in himself. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
9:Do you recall the story of the young Yogi in the Mah√¢bh√¢rata who prided himself on his psychic powers by burning the bodies of a crow and crane by his intense will, produced by anger? ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
10:Ive learned that everything happens for a reason, the yogi Krishnan told him. Every event has a why and all adversity teaches us a lesson... Never regret your past. Accept it as the teacher that it is. ~ robin-sharma, @wisdomtrove
11:Intellectuals tend to be arrogant. Intelligence, like money, is a good servant but a bad master. When practicing pranayama, the yogi [makes] himself humble and without pride in his intellectual attainments. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
12:Is it necessary to practice all these asanas, further and further? Is it necessary to develop scientific researches further and further? To a yogi, the body is a laboratory, a field of experiments and perpetual researches. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
13:The Yogi conquers the body by the practice of asanas, making the body a fit vehicle for the spirit. The Yogi knows that it is a necessary vehicle for the spirit, for a soul without a body is like a bird deprived of its power to fly. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
14:... "And for God's sake, never get into the petty habit of measuring your self-worth against other people's net-worth. As Yogi Ramen preached: &
15:What do you want to do sadhana for? The aim should not be the satisfaction of egoism: "I want to be a great yogi; I shall have so much power and with that power I shall establish myself in the world." All such thoughts must be thrown far away. ~ sri-aurobindo, @wisdomtrove
16:The test of ahimsa is the absence of jealousy. The man whose heart never cherishes even the thought of injury to anyone, who rejoices at the prosperity of even his greatest enemy, that man is the bhakta, he is the yogi, he is the guru of all. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
17:In the world, there are countless Sadhus, Mahatmas, Mahapurushas, Saints, Yogis, and Walis, though the number of genuine ones is very, very limited. I am neither a Mahatma nor a Mahapurush, neither a Sadhu nor a Saint, neither a Yogi nor a Wali. I am the ancient One. The Highest of the High! ~ meher-baba, @wisdomtrove
18:A yogi never forgets that health must begin with the body. . . .Physical health is not a commodity to be bargained for. Nor can it be swallowed in the form of drugs and pills. . . . It is something that we must build up. You have to create within yourself the experience of beauty, liberation, and infinity. This is health. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
19:If you want to be a yogi, you must be free, and place yourself in circumstances where you are alone and free from all anxiety. One who desires a comfortable and nice life and at the same time wants to realize the Self is like the fool who, wanting to cross the river, caught hold of a crocodile, mistaking it for a log of wood. ~ swami-vivekananda, @wisdomtrove
20:One has to see oneself through one's actions, works, and mind. Knowing the Self by the self is not as easy as writing that line. A
21:A scientist sets out to conquer nature through knowledge - external nature, external knowledge. By these means he may split the atom and achieve external power. A yogi sets out to explore his own internal nature, to penetrate the atom (atma) of being. He does not gain dominion over wide lands and restless seas, but over his own recalcitrant flesh and febrile mind. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
22:Yoga is as old and traditional as civilization, yet it persists in modern society as a means to achieving essential vitality. But yoga demands that we develop not only strength in body but attention and awareness in mind.The yogi knows that the physical body is not only the temple for our soul but the means by which we embark on the inward journey toward the core. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
23:Death is unimportant to a yogi; he does not mind when he is going to die. What happens after death is immaterial to him. He is only concerned with life-with how he can use his life for the betterment of humanity. Having undergone various types of pain in his life and having acquired a certain mastery over pain, he develops compassion to help society and maintains himself in purity and holiness. The yogi has no interest beyond that. ~ b-k-s-iyengar, @wisdomtrove
24:The greatest dread of ordinary man is death, with its rude imposition interrupting fortuitous plans and fondest attachments with an unknown and unwelcome change. The yogi is a conqueror of the grief associated with death. By control of mind and life force and the development of wisdom, he makes friends with the change of consciousness called death-he becomes familiar with the state of inner calmness and aloofness from identification with the mortal body. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove
25:When a man in the process of dreaming becomes conscious that he is dreaming, he is no longer identified with the phenomena; he is not affected exultantly or dolefully. God consciously dreams His cosmic play and is unaffected by it's dualities. A yogi who perceives his real self as separate from his active senses and their objects never becomes attached to anything. He is aware of the dream nature of the universe and watches it without being entangled in its complex but ephemeral nature. ~ paramahansa-yogananda, @wisdomtrove

*** NEWFULLDB 2.4M ***

1:Deja Vu All Over Again ~ Yogi Berra,
2:Its getting late early ~ Yogi Berra,
3:Love yourself. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
4:The Autobiography of a Yogi, ~ Anonymous,
5:It's déjà vu all over again. ~ Yogi Berra,
6:It ain't over 'til it's over. ~ Yogi Berra,
7:It ain't over until it's over ~ Yogi Berra,
8:All happiness is in the mind. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
9:It ain`t over until it`s over. ~ Yogi Berra,
10:90% of the game is half mental. ~ Yogi Berra,
11:Truth is everlasting. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
12:Even Napoleon had his Watergate. ~ Yogi Berra,
13:Inner life is Divine. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
14:Life is all business. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
15:We made too many wrong mistakes. ~ Yogi Berra,
16:Feel good, be good, and do good. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
17:Life is a flow of love. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
18:Life is here to Enjoy! ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
19:Okay you guys, pair up in threes! ~ Yogi Berra,
20:It's like deja-vu, all over again. ~ Yogi Berra,
21:We remain where we are. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
22:What you see you become. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
23:A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore. ~ Yogi Berra,
24:A nickle ain't worth a dime anymore! ~ Yogi Berra,
25:The future ain't what it used to be. ~ Yogi Berra,
26:In Thy fullness, my Lord, ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
27:It ain't the heat, it's the humility. ~ Yogi Berra,
28:Sleep in the bliss of God. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
29:The Yogi must always practice. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
30:He must have made that before he died. ~ Yogi Berra,
31:No matter where you go, there you are, ~ Yogi Berra,
32:Self-reliance conquers any difficulty ~ Yogi Bhajan,
33:I never said most of the things I said. ~ Yogi Berra,
34:We're lost, but we're making good time. ~ Yogi Berra,
35:You can observe a lot just by watching. ~ Yogi Berra,
36:Nature supports right action. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
37:Be the answer not the question. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
38:Enjoy your life and be happy. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
39:I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous. ~ Yogi Berra,
40:If the world was perfect, it wouldn't be. ~ Yogi Berra,
41:If you can't imitate him, don't copy him. ~ Yogi Berra,
42:Nature works in parallel ways. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
43:Problems are all in your head. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
44:The highest state is laughter. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
45:The nature of life is to grow. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
46:When you see a fork in the road, take it. ~ Yogi Berra,
47:You wouldn't have won if we'd beaten you. ~ Yogi Berra,
48:If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be. ~ Yogi Berra,
49:If you come to a fork in the road, take it ~ Yogi Berra,
50:Keep up and you will be kept up. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
51:Nobody comes here anymore, its too crowded ~ Yogi Berra,
52:Nobody goes there anymore, it's to crowded ~ Yogi Berra,
53:Be the alter not the alternative. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
54:If I didn't wake up, I'd still be sleeping. ~ Yogi Berra,
55:If the world were perfect, it wouldn't be. ~ Yogi Berra,
56:It's 90% mental. The other half is physical ~ Yogi Berra,
57:It's not too far; it just seems like it is. ~ Yogi Berra,
58:Ninety percent of this game is half mental. ~ Yogi Berra,
59:Sacrifice is total nonpresence of the I. N ~ Yogi Bhajan,
60:Share your strengths, not your weaknesses. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
61:When you come to a fork in the road take it ~ Yogi Berra,
62:When you see a fork in the road...Take It!! ~ Yogi Berra,
63:Competition is for the competent. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
64:yogi may remain dutifully in the world; there ~ Anonymous,
65:Half the lies they tell about me aren't true. ~ Yogi Berra,
66:Nature knows best how to organise. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
67:That which comes slow comes solid. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
68:Water the root to enjoy the fruit. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
69:We don't do what we know is wrong. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
70:When you come to a fork in the road, take it. ~ Yogi Berra,
71:An attitude of gratitude brings great things. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
72:Pitching always beats batting — and vice-versa. ~ Yogi Berra,
73:Prosperity is the opposite of greedy. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
74:when you come to a fork in the road, take it
   ~ Yogi Berra,
75:When you come to a fork in the road....Take it. ~ Yogi Berra,
76:You are remembered for your goodness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
77:Established in Being, perform action. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
78:Happiness is your birthright. Live it! ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
79:Laughter is the language of the heart ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
80:Let your heart speak to others hearts. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
81:Mind is a wave of the ocean of Being. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
82:Self-reliance conquers any difficulty. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
83:There is time in life for everything. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
84:To conquer the unknown you must trust. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
85:You owe it to yourself to be yourself. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
86:Every happening is a lesson, a message. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
87:Ideal relationship is based on giving. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
88:Only a new seed will yield a new crop. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
89:When you come to a fork in the road, just take it ~ Yogi Berra,
90:When you get to the fork in the road.....take it! ~ Yogi Berra,
91:Gratitude is the open door to abundance. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
92:Opposition is dangerous to immortality. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
93:Prayer without heart is a waste to time. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
94:Knowledge is structured in consciousness ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
95:When you don't go within, you go without. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
96:75% of baseball is mental the other half is phisical ~ Yogi Berra,
97:Never make predictions, especially about the future. ~ Yogi Berra,
98:Share your strengths, not your weaknesses. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
99:Success in anything is through happiness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
100:A failure is only a step on the way to your success. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
101:Any act in the name of God returns 10 fold. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
102:Naturalness is the basis of effectiveness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
103:Ninety percent of all mental errors are in your head. ~ Yogi Berra,
104:Have wisdom in your actions and faith in your merits. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
105:If you can't see God in all, you can't see God at all ~ Yogi Bhajan,
106:Love without trust is a river without water. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
107:An attitude of gratitude brings great things. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
108:Consult your spirit, your soul on everything. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
109:I do not believe in miracles, I rely on them. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
110:If your presence doesn't work, neither will your word. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
111:Rest and activity are the steps of progress. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
112:The atma-jnani alone can be a good karma-yogi. ~ Sri Ramana Maharshi,
113:The greatest art is to sit, and wait, and let it come. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
114:Good luck and good timing are the same thing. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
115:In the field of knowledge is all possibility. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
116:Personal love is concentrated universal love. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
117:When you come upon a difficult task ... start. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
118:Never curse yourself by limiting your students. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
119:Only we should not be influenced by the winds. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
120:There is nothing outside of us. It's all in us. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
121:When you speak, it should be as if Infinity is speaking. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
122:     You can observe a lot by just watching. ~ Yogi Berra ~ Jim Benson,
123:You can observe a lot just by watching. —YOGI BERRA ~ Shaunti Feldhahn,
124:I just want to thank everyone who made this day necessary. ~ Yogi Berra,
125:Meditation is the best means of elongating life ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
126:The story of Love is the story of Love of Self. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
127:Travel light, live light, spread the light, be the light. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
128:Yogi Berra said "If the world was perfect, it wouldn't be. ~ Yogi Berra,
129:Fools live in fear, a wise man lives in strength. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
130:Meditation is nothing but taking a mental shower. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
131:See the job, do the job, stay out of the misery. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
132:Some of the stuff about Yogi energy is really fascinating. ~ Kathy Acker,
133:The secret of success in business is creativity. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
134:Doubts are death. Doubts are the dry rot of life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
135:Every individual has the potential to be original. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
136:It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future. ~ Yogi Berra,
137:One must be a saint, Yogi and a hero to be a good teacher. ~ ~ The Mother,
138:Creation is ready to serve you, if you just be you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
139:Cut my pie into four pieces, I don’t think I could eat eight. ~ Yogi Berra,
140:Expansion of happiness is the purpose of creation. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
141:If you ask me anything I don't know, I'm not going to answer. ~ Yogi Berra,
142:Life is a lie if you do not find the eternal truth. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
143:A failure is only a step on the way to your success. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
144:Managers are the most creative people in the world. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
145:You can never get rid of fear, you can only drop it. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
146:By honoring your words you are honored in this world. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
147:Complaints bring misery; compliments brings strength. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
148:The secret of success is conviction and persistence. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
149:The whole purpose of life is to gain enlightenment. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
150:Fake it, you will make it. But you have to believe it. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
151:If you can't see God in All, you can't see God at all. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
152:If your presence doesn't work, neither will your word. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
153:Nobody goes to that restaurant anymore because it's too crowded. ~ Yogi Berra,
154:The basic fundamental of behaviour should be to give. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
155:The greatest art is to sit, and wait, and let it come. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
156:Allow your love to nourish yourself as well as others. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
157:Love is nothing but giving, tolerating and sacrificing. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
158:Ninety percent of baseball is mental, the other half is physical. ~ Yogi Berra,
159:There are three values: Feel good, be good and do good. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
160:A Yogi must avoid the two extremes of luxury and austerity. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
161:Behaviour arises from the level of one's consciousness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
162:If you ask me a question I don't know, I'm not going to answer it. ~ Yogi Berra,
163:If you cannot bless yourself, then nobody can bless you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
164:The mind is given to you, you are not given to the mind. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
165:Through Transcendental Meditation, the human brain can ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
166:Wisdom, character, and consciousness conquer everything. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
167:Blessed is the Yogi who can breathe through his bones. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
168:If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else. ~ Yogi Berra,
169:If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up somewhere else. ~ Yogi Berra,
170:Responsibility can never be given. It can only be taken. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
171:The purpose of speech is to enliven the bliss in others. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
172:Travel light, live light, spread the light, be the light. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
173:Yogi Berra reportedly said, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humility. ~ Paul Levine,
174:Your heart works for you, but do you work for your heart? ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
175:Autobiography of a Yogi, a book that he would return to several ~ Brent Schlender,
176:I did not come to collect students, but to train teachers. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
177:If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else. ~ Yogi Berra,
178:If you don't know where you are going you will end up somewhere else ~ Yogi Berra,
179:The moment you value yourself, the whole world values you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
180:There is only one thing you should know. Conquer yourself. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
181:What is the purpose of life? To elevate all, big or small. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
182:What you put your attention on grows strong in your life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
183:You communicate for a better tommorow, not to spoil today. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
184:Art arises from the interaction of the mind and the heart. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
185:Assign Yogi Berra to Cape Canaveral; he could handle any missile. ~ Marianne Moore,
186:Consciousness, fully awake to itself, is the Light of God. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
187:Find friends and not lovers; you will win the game of life. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
188:Never think of failure, for what we think will come about. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
189:If one is not happy, one has lost the very purpose of life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
190:If the fans don’t wanna come out to the ballpark, no one can stop ‘em. ~ Yogi Berra,
191:When you are far away from reality, your fantasy won't work. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
192:Without realizing who you are, happiness cannot come to you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
193:If you don't know where you are going,
you'll end up someplace else. ~ Yogi Berra,
194:If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else. ~ Yogi Berra,
195:Life is a flow of love, only your participation is requested. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
196:When ego is lost, limit is lost. You become infinite, kind, beautiful. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
197:If you don't know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else. ~ Yogi Berra,
198:If you don't know where you're going, you might wind up some place else. ~ Yogi Berra,
199:The art of happiness is to serve all, and all shall serve you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
200:The first principle of self-love is that you are not for sale. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
201:Time and space cannot play any part between two loving hearts. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
202:When I see a non-yogi [benefit], that's when it really affects my life. ~ Donna Karan,
203:You are very powerful, provided you know how powerful you are. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
204:Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours. ~ Yogi Berra,
205:The greatest education man has to learn is the science of self. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
206:The most effective teachers embody the teaching they give out. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
207:Yogi Berra put it best, "If people don't want to come, we can't stop them." ~ Jay Mohr,
208:Your greatest strength is love. Your greatest weakness is fear. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
209:Be so happy that when others look at you, they become happy too. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
210:I am not a yogi yet, but I aspire to have more balance in my life. ~ Baratunde Thurston,
211:If you want to progress in your life and grow, act not to react. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
212:Outside is the joy of the drop. Inside is the joy of the ocean. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
213:Peace has its price: your head and heart; less than that is war. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
214:Sometimes bringing out your inner best is the secret of success. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
215:The power of light is always bigger than the power of darkness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
216:Every disability is imagined. Every achievement is an experience. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
217:Make yourself so happy, that by looking at you, other people become happy. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
218:Whatever we put our attention on will grow stronger in our life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
219:A yogi is one who leaves a place a little nicer than when they arrived. ~ David F Swensen,
220:A yogi's brain extends from the bottom of the foot to the top of his head ~ B K S Iyengar,
221:Be happy, healthy, and let all that love flow through your heart. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
222:'God helps those who help themselves.' - it's a very true saying. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
223:If you're too busy to meditate twice a day, you're just too busy. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
224:I wish I had an answer to that because I'm tired of answering that question. ~ Yogi Berra,
225:The United States influences government and life everywhere else. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
226:Your strength is how calmly, quietly and peacefully you face life. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
227:Improve with each breath. Every negative vibration returns 10 fold. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
228:Love is a process in which ego is lost and infinity is experienced. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
229:Make yourself so happy so that when others look at you they become happy too ~ Yogi Bhajan,
230:The flower of life blooms in love and radiates love all around it. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
231:There is nothing in life to take seriously except the joy of life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
232:To be calm is the highest achievement of the best of what you have. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
233:When we love there are no barriers, no desires, no needs, no wants. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
234:Why is meditation essential? By meditating we take our garbage out. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
235:Adopt the standard of perfection, because it is a perfect universe. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
236:All world conflicts will be resolved if people listen to my advice. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
237:Don't fight darkness. Bring the light, and darkness will disappear. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
238:The whole effect of activity is to enrich the feeling of the other. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
239:Do not get attached to that which is given, be attached to the Giver. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
240:Don't go for what you know you can get. Go for what you really want. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
241:Hope is not a prediction of the future, it's a declaration of what's possible. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
242:To resolve problems through negotiation is a very childish approach. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
243:dwells in the silent chamber of the heart of everyone and everything. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
244:Life finds its purpose and fulfillment in the expansion of happiness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
245:Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good, too. ~ Yogi Berra,
246:Never say things to friends which you don't want to hear from enemies. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
247:No, I don't go to that restaurant anymore. No body goes there. It's too crowded. ~ Yogi Berra,
248:The heart of a yogi should always bear good-will and thoughts that benefit others. ~ Amit Ray,
249:When ego is lost, limit is lost. You become infinite, kind, beautiful. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
250:Human concepts, no matter how grand they may appear, have limitations. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
251:I'm not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did. ~ Yogi Berra,
252:In all darkness, there is a light and in all light there is a darkness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
253:Meditation is a means to discover all the glories of the ocean of mind ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
254:Prayer is talking to God. Meditation is letting God talk to you.” —Yogi Bhajan ~ Maria Shriver,
255:REAL Peace is always unshakable... 'Bliss is unchanged by gain or loss' ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
256:The pair of opposites do not effect a yogi - neither praise nor insult. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
257:You can never hide from your truth. If you do, you will always be lost. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
258:Challenge doesn't come to small people. Challenge comes to great people. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
259:If you give your Self a chance, your Self will give you all the chances. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
260:No action can be performed successfully without a clear result in view. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
261:Our purity lies in our originality. Our intuition lies in our innocence. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
262:Problems will disappear as darkness disappears with the onset of light. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
263:The fundamental law of truth is that it penetrates through all darkness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
264:You know how to drive a car, but you do not know how to drive your life! ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
265:Divine Love can overcome the evil and the cruel—the tiger does not attack the yogi. ~ The Mother,
266:A comfortable and regulated life is needed for fastest pace of evolution. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
267:Divine Love can overcome the evil and the cruel- the tiger does not attack the yogi. ~ The Mother,
268:Passion is like waves; it comes and goes. Compassion is the constant flow. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
269:We are not responding to this instant if we are judging any aspect of it. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
270:Where is the money going to come from? From wherever it is at the moment. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
271:Your truth should be so pure that if lifts a person's soul to the heights. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
272:A spiritual person is vast, like an ocean - but very mighty, very powerful. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
273:If you want to pay off your debts, it pays to increase your earning power. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
274:Master of the universe is every man's potential insight, cosmic potential. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
275:Meditation makes the man Divine and brings the Divine to the world of man. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
276:Remember: the Word is God and God is the Word. You are what your words are. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
277:The Yogi believes in psychic control and the conquest of internal nature. “How ~ Swami Vivekananda,
278:To be blessed is to live in gratitude, so that God can fulfill you forever. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
279:When the heart gets into prayer, every beat of the heart creates a miracle. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
280:Day after day, we culture our minds with the deep silence of our own Being. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
281:If you make your body very strong, really strong, it can fight off anything. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
282:Talking to Yogi Berra about baseball is like talking to Homer about the Gods. ~ A Bartlett Giamatti,
283:Where there's love there's no limit; where there's a limit, there's no love. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
284:A loving heart, a heart full of love, is the precious essence of human life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
285:Do not fight the darkness, let the light in and the darkness will disappear. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
286:There is no liberation without labor...and there is no freedom which is free. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
287:What is meditation? When you empty yourself and let the universe come in you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
288:Alloted duty means you should live full potentiality with which you are born. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
289:Body is not all. Mind is not all. Spirit is not all. All three make the sense. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
290:If you believe in light, you'll be in light, you don't have to face darkness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
291:Love is the ultimate state of human being where compassion prevails and kindness rules. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
292:The Yogi Philosophy teaches that Man has always lived and always will live. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
293:Bless be the ones who serve others. They are the ones who find heaven on earth. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
294:Hope is not a prediction of the future, it's a declaration of what is possible. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
295:Little League baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets. ~ Yogi Berra,
296:The kingdom of heaven is like electricity. You don't see it. It is within you. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
297:The kingdom of heaven is like electricity. You don’t see it. It is within you. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
298:Through meditation, you can calm the mind and develop what is important to you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
299:I let people make remarks about me, but it doesn't touch me, all those remarks. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
300:In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is. ~ Yogi Berra,
301:Kundalini Yoga will dawn on you the secret of how to be Healthy, Happy and Holy. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
302:The knowledge from an enlightened person breaks on the hard rocks of ignorance. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
303:The Yogi eats not out of desire, but to maintain the body. ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters on Yoga - IV, Food,
304:Yogi Berra, Bill Lee, they were irreverent, poked fun at the stodgy owners and managers. ~ W P Kinsella,
305:Ingrown anger is like an ingrown hair. The pain it creates in life is unbearable. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
306:In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are not.” —Yogi Berra In ~ Henrik Kniberg,
307:It was impossible to get a conversation going, everybody was talking too much. —YOGI BERRA ~ Jim Afremow,
308:I want to give you the depth and the strength which is yours... the original you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
309:What you say should not just be truth now, but should be a proven truth tomorrow. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
310:As Yogi Berra said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you will wind up somewhere else. ~ Sue Johnson,
311:The state of least excitation of consciousness is the field of all possibilities. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
312:Don’t hurt Yogi!” yelled the German father, who still didn’t know who I was supposed to be. ~ Stuart Gibbs,
313:Life is not a struggle, not a tension. Life has not to be suffering. Life is bliss ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
314:Life is simple. Life is not complicated. Life is only one thing: Identify yourself. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
315:TM in the a.m. and the p.m....20 minutes in the bank, all day in the market place. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
316:What is a cozy home? Where you enter and you feel the radiance of your divine self. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
317:Yogi Bear changed my life in ways that I can't explain because it's not a full feature on me. ~ T J Miller,
318:You are the master of all the laws of nature if you know the transcendental field. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
319:America is the most creative country and the most powerful government in the world. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
320:Consciousness in the individual is that area where the totality of life is located. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
321:Speak not through the positive mind or the negative mind, but from the neutral mind. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
322:The first law of social communication is whenever you meet anyone, exalt him or her. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
323:Three mantras you should never say: (1) I don't know. (2) I'm not ready. (3) I can't do it. W ~ Yogi Bhajan,
324:Yogi Raman detected his dismay. “Never overlook the power of simplicity,” Julian was told. ~ Robin S Sharma,
325:Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, which was Steve Jobs’s favorite book. 9. ~ Vishen Lakhiani,
326:Your mind is your servant, your body is your vehicle and your soul is your residence. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
327:You should make yourself so happy, that by looking at you, other people become happy. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
328:I want to eliminate the basis of problems and basis of crime, and basis of terrorism. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
329:You have to bounce in life with joy. Your strength lies in your smiles and your songs. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
330:Love is the ultimate state of human being where compassion prevails and kindness rules. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
331:Make an attitude to be in gratitude, you will find the whole Universe will come to you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
332:Meditation is the only means to the harmonious development of the body, mind and soul. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
333:What is the power of life? With all the ungraceful dirt, nonsense, you remain graceful. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
334:When the elephant decides to walk through the village, all the dogs come out and bark. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
335:You've got to be careful
If you don't know where you're going,
Because you might get there. ~ Yogi Berra,
336:Don't solve your problems, dissolve your problems - so that they should not recur again. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
337:Every thought, speech, and action of a person influences everything in the environment. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
338:Fantasy and anger totally destroy the human body. Tolerance is the greatest human asset. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
339:If you give your word, let the entire Universe fall before you, but let your word stand. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
340:The narrow edge between comfort and discomfort is to a yogi what a grain of sand is to an oyster. ~ Darren Main,
341:From tiny, tiny waves of joy, one gets to the ocean of happiness, which is called bliss. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
342:The fact is that there is nothing more beautiful, more worthy or more conscious than you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
343:We must be guided by faith. If we are guided by fear we lock ourselves and our expansion. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
344:What should the yogi have to fear? Trees, plants, and all that is inside and outside, is He Himself ~ Guru Nanak,
345:When the prayer becomes the vibration of the mind and self, then we can create a miracle. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
346:Develop your Intuition so that the changes in the years to come may be convenient for you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
347:Meditation is the means through which the Soul dictates and guides the mind for all good. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
348:On the platform of reality, on the platform of oneness of life, all differences dissolve. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
349:You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you're going, because you might not get there. ~ Yogi Berra,
350:Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower, and draws all good things toward you. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
351:You've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there. ~ Yogi Berra,
352:If you do not love yourself to the depth of totality, you will never love love as a reality. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
353:Monks are not expected to speak about themselves; the message is important, not the person. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
354:We must take situations as they are. We must only change our mental attitudes towards them. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
355:Actually, I never liked Dylan's kind of music before; I always thought he sounded just like Yogi Bear. ~ Mick Ronson,
356:Falling out of a posture means you are human; getting back into the posture means you are a yogi. ~ Bikram Choudhury,
357:My coherence-creating groups are going to put out all this mischief-mongership in the world. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
358:The Yogi knows by his capacity for a containing or dynamic identity with things and persons and forces.~ The Mother,
359:God-realization is attained only by great effort on the part of the yogi and by divine grace. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
360:If we take judging ourselves and others out of our life, we will mostly be living in paradise. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
361:If you are happy, happiness will come to you because happiness wants to go where happiness is. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
362:The Age of Aquarius is the age of excellence in which personal purity shall absolutely matter. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
363:When you do not consciously relate to your body, your mind does not relate consciously to you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
364:Who's your soul's mate? Consciousness. Soul is your conscious mate. Guru keeps you conscious. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
365:Divine is all Love in its essential nature, and Love is all Divine in its truthful expression. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
366:You cannot live by feelings and emotions; you have to live by your intuition and consciousness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
367:You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, ’cause you might not get there. —Yogi Berra ~ Anonymous,
368:We have an infinite number of reasons to be happy, and a serious responsibility not be serious. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
369:People are influenced by what we are, what we radiate. This has greater appeal than what we say. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
370:The yogi learns to forget the past and takes no thought for the morrow. He lives in the eternal present. ~ B K S Iyengar,
371:They think democracy - I used to say "damn the democracy", because it's not a stable government. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
372:Whatever has been discovered has to be put to use - otherwise, what is the use of the discovery? ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
373:You are not a soul, you are not a mind, you are not a body. You are the controller of all three. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
374:About humility we speak with an analogy: When the branches are full of fruit, they just bow down. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
375:As you train your mind, shockingly it brings you prosperity as well as the faculty to maintain it. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
376:If you only know one kriya, then share that. Just be humble, teach it. Every student is a teacher. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
377:Just as a mountain of snow is nothing but water, so also the whole universe is nothing but bliss. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
378:You have to understand the purpose of life, the purpose of life is to do something which will live forever. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
379:Just think of any negativity that comes to you as a raindrop falling into the ocean of your bliss. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
380:The genius of man is hidden in the silent, settled state of mind from where every thought emerges. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
381:The habit of quietly absorbing the shocks will be quite a great help to stabilize pure awareness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
382:If your mind can go along with you it is a blessing. If your mind obeys you, it is a super-blessing. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
383:The idea is to just stop. Just wait. Don't react. Therein lies the whole universe. Just don't react. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
384:Regardless of what we understand or do not understand, we are what we speak. That's how we are known. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
385:The experience of happiness is a direct means of replenishing life energy and revitalizing the mind. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
386:Yogi Bear was a real moment in my life. Post-Yogi Bear: don't drink as much. Pre-Yogi Bear: like to drink much. ~ T J Miller,
387:You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, ’cause you might not get there. —Yogi Berra ~ Benjamin Graham,
388:I tell the kids, somebody's gotta win, somebody's gotta lose. Just don't fight about it. Just try to get better. ~ Yogi Berra,
389:Meditation is a glorious link to connect and harmonize the two ends of life - material and spiritual. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
390:Never utter a word if it is not from your navel point and it doesn't confirm your regal, highest self. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
391:My University of Management will create managers who will float in happiness, success and fulfillment. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
392:There is one unity, unified wholeness, total natural law, in the transcendental unified consciousness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
393:What is greatness? Greatness is when you have found out that you are not great, but everything else is. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
394:If you cannot put the ego on the side you cannot succeed in love, period. Therefore love must defeat it. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
395:Meditation is the sharp tool to dig out the great treasure hidden within everybody's inner personality. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
396:All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
397:As Yogi Berra said, “In theory there is no difference between theory and practice; in practice there is. ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
398:Life is a lie if truth is not found. Truth is just an idea if it is not lived. It is living that matters. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
399:Little mother, thy son will be a yogi. As a spiritual engine, he will carry many souls to God’s kingdom. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
400:Meditation is the straight flight of the mind to the Kingdom of Heaven present in the heart of everyone. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
401:There are two ways to change things: Either you are forced to change or you have the intuition to change. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
402:Working by heart means using your feelings and emotions to lead you to your spiritual sense of existence. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
403:You don't have to learn to be wise. If you just flow you can be successful. Mother Nature will carry you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
404:first step in Yogi development consists of the mastery of the physical body and its care and attention. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
405:The important thing is this: to be able, at any moment, to sacrifice what we are for what we could become. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
406:You have to understand the purpose of life. The purpose of life is to do something which will live forever. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
407:God grants us the faculty to open ourselves to peace. If we don't then we are responsible if wars continue. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
408:The greatest progress in life is when you know your limitations, and then you have the courage to drop them. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
409:Although Christ, in my mind is an absolute Yogi, I think many Christian teachers today are misrepresenting Christ. ~ George Harrison,
410:One's own karma, one's own actions are responsible to come to bring either happiness or success or whatever. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
411:The path which we believe in is the path of love; it has all the goodness of God in it-calmness and kindness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
412:It is the focus on the highest ideal day after day that saves life from being wrapped up in small whirlwinds. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
413:Losing is a learning experience. It teaches you humility. It teaches you to work harder. It’s also a powerful motivator. ~ Yogi Berra,
414:The question is, "Are you spiritual or are you not?" The truth is you are. The reality is you don't believe it ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
415:Yogi Raman preached: ‘Every second you spend thinking about someone else’s dreams, you take time away from your own. ~ Robin S Sharma,
416:Meditation is not what you do in the morning, that's practice. Meditation is the daily result of that practice. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
417:In order to see him it is necessary to meet him in seclusion, far from the main activity of the business scene. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
418:Know what you want, decide when you want it, figure your plan of action, follow through on it, and never doubt. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
419:Conscious communication is called Turiya-when you are totally effective, totally understood and totally truthful. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
420:Cultivate the attitude of gratitude. The attitude of gratitude is when you are grateful for every breath of life. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
421:Stress is the reason for crime and all other kinds of frustration. To relieve it will eliminate everything else. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
422:Nature is favourable to our effort when human awareness is being established more and more in pure consciousness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
423:I did not become great by association of The Beatles! Beatles make Maharishi great? Pah! It is a waste of thought. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
424:There are three things you cannot hide: smell of the garlic, fragrance of the flower and the wisdom of the teacher. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
425:Your mind, emotions and body are instruments and the way you align and tune them determines how well you play life. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
426:Meditation is the direct means of eradicating the very cause of the majority of diseases, both mental and physical. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
427:But Little League can be a great experience for kids, as long as they want to play--and don't play to bring their parents glory. ~ Yogi Berra,
428:Your words should be so strong that they affect every your intuition so that you can recognize what is real and heart. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
429:It may take a little self-discipline - be simple, be kind, stay rested. Attend to your own inner-health and happiness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
430:Take new values: Leave behind a legend to be followed by those who follow you. Be a yogi - don't be an ordinary person. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
431:There is nothing in the cosmos, either in the material plane or the spiritual plane which cannot be directly cognized. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
432:The Yogi says, religion is practical if you know first why misery exists. All the misery in the world is in the senses. Is ~ Swami Vivekananda,
433:You have to give 100 percent in the first half of the game. If that isn't enough, in the second half, you have to give what's left. ~ Yogi Berra,
434:There is no such thing as an accident. It is all part of a master plan. Play your role as gracefully as you can and relax. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
435:There is nothing difficult, there is nothing complicated, only one has to have a desire to have a better quality of life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
436:As a healer, the first thing to tell every patient is to breathe deeply. Shallow breathing means no endurance, no patience. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
437:If love could be purchased, everybody would have paid a thousand dollars a pound for it. You know it doesn't work that way. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
438:Lord Krishna pointed out the holy science by which the yogi may master his body and convert it, at will, into pure energy. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
439:To the Yogi everything is bliss, every human face that he sees brings cheerfulness to him. That is the sign of a virtuous man. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
440:If you want to learn a thing, read that. If you want to know a thing, write that; if you want to master a thing, teach that. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
441:When the mind is attuned to the cosmic law, all the laws of nature are in perfect harmony with the aspirations of the mind. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
442:Friendship means only one thing: you don't create fences around you, but try to remove fences from the life of another person. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
443:The philosophy of life is this: Life is not a struggle, not a tension Life is bliss. It is eternal wisdom, eternal existence. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
444:Danger is when you are split three ways: Your soul goes one way, your mind goes another way and your body goes yet another way. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
445:You don't have to explain yourself. Let your weakness be yours. Let your strength be everybody's. You understand the principle? ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
446:In the United States we have the great Harvard Business School, but America is the country with the greatest debt in the world. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
447:Yogi Bear - there's everything before Yogi Bear and there's everything after Yogi Bear. Like a major car accident, or the birth of Christ. ~ T J Miller,
448:Your value is nothing if you cannot honor your word. If you do not mean what you say, you are the most mean person on the Earth. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
449:Appreciation is an art and a lifestyle and a source of happiness and fulfillment. It's called gratitude-an attitude of gratitude. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
450:In the Age of Aquarius, the depression and stress on mankind will tear up people who do not have the technical knowledge of self. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
451:Many things you are already practicing; but you practice them under fear. But if you practice them under love they become Divine. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
452:You have to understand the process of healing in the Age of Aquarius. What will give the healing is the flow of your soul energy. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
453:The Yogi is a most patient and persevering man, and his great attainments are due largely to the possession of these qualities. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
454:Be thou a true yogi. A yogi who understands that everything he's looking for is really inside himself. Learn to live more in the Self. ~ Goswami Kriyananda,
455:Boy, Whitey, I hope I never see my name up there.

To Whitey Ford during scoreboard tribute on opening day to recently deceased Yankees. ~ Yogi Berra,
456:Elevate. Each day, live to elevate yourself, each day elevate one person. Make elevation your religion and you shall reach infinity. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
457:The Yogi's ideal is a body strong in all its parts, under the control of a masterful and developed Will, animated by high ideals. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
458:You only communicate to pass the time, or to express the emotions. Your tongue has to develop [the capacity] to speak consciousness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
459:If you want to learn something, read about it. If you want to understand something, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
460:Meditation is the direct means of enjoying the greatest happiness and is the only means to quench the thirst for happiness on earth. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
461:Meditation is a technique to integrate one's personality, to be able to live and enjoy full life of all glories - worldly and divine. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
462:For example, Yogi Raman would never eat after 8:00 p.m. He said that the digestive activity it induced would reduce the quality of his sleep. ~ Robin S Sharma,
463:Talk to everybody with reverence. Listen to everybody with reverence. Say things with reverence. You will always be happy and graceful. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
464:The unit of every country is the family and the strength of the country is based on the smiles of the children and songs of the adults. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
465:In meditation we research the field without time and space and activity, and yet produce a useful effect while conducting the research. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
466:We are not in a position to criticize anyone. The existence of enemies means for us that our friendliness has not been sufficient enough. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
467:Nothing from outside can stop a man from enjoying lasting peace and permanent joy in life, for it is the essential nature of his own soul. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
468:That great, mighty current of evolution which is advancing the life of everything in creation is simply invincible - no one can resist it. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
469:Peter swept aside Yogi Tea and Harmony Herbal Blend, though he hesitated a second over the chamomile. .... But no. Violent death demanded Earl Grey. ~ Louise Penny,
470:Love fundamentally is the most powerful ecstasy of consciousness, and even if a person goes blind, there is no question when you are in love. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
471:The future is a blank canvas. - not Yogi, Michael Hyatt or Lewis H. Lapham (the correct author is Suzy Kassem according to the U.S. copyright office). ~ Suzy Kassem,
472:Your wealth will increase, your values will increase, your projection will increase, if you simply love to live, just love yourself and live yourself. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
473:Any woman on this planet who values herself as a woman is great. She is a giver of life. And when you are a giver of life, what more is there? ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
474:Thought could not think in him, flesh could not quiver;
    The feet of Time could not adventure here ~ Sri Aurobindo, Collected Poems, The Yogi on the Whirlpool,
475:People who love each other don't bargain. Love has no such thing as business. Love has no conditions, because love does not obey time and space. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
476:Transcendental Meditation opens the awareness to the infinite reservoir of energy, creativity, and intelligence that lies deep within everyone. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
477:Being is the basis of thinking, thinking is the basis of action, action is the basis of achievement and achievement is the basis of fulfillment. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
478:This small little thing, which was started to give people a way of life, with love and dedication, shall prevail in the coming change of the Age. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
479:The golden gate to peace in life is the experience of bliss, and it is easy for everyone to acquire this great glory and live it throughout life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
480:We are not satisfied with peace alone. There has to be prosperity, there has to be affluence, there has to be fulfillment in life, not just peace. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
481:Your job is to control yourself. Your job is to discipline yourself. Your job is to deal with everything in life with affection, love and kindness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
482:Balance is the natural state of life, because the basic characteristic of the fundamental element of life, pure consciousness, is complete balance. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
483:If the entire divinity and domain of God sits in the heart of a person, and his longing becomes timeless, then man can develop the capacity to love. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
484:Integrated is the expression of knowledge: an assembly is significant in Unity: united are their minds in the silent dynamism of all possibilities. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
485:The light of a lamp does not flicker in a windless place”: that is the simile which describes a yogi of one-pointed mind, who meditates upon the Atman. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
486:Transcendental meditation is something that can be defined as a means to do what one wants to do in a better way, a right way, for maximum results. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
487:We do not think of life - we live it. We do not think of ourselves too much. We do not think of others too much... We just behave in a natural way. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
488:As the twelfth-century Tibetian yogi Milarepa said when he heard of his student Gampopa's peak experiences, 'They are neither good nor bad. Keep meditating.' ~ Pema Ch dr n,
489:Even in the world, the yogi who faithfully discharges his responsibilities, without personal motive or attachment, treads the sure path of enlightenment. ~ Mahavatar Babaji,
490:It's very difficult for people, because when you purify yourself with love you have to merge. Anything in the world is easier to merge than two egos. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
491:Gently resist the temptation to chase your dreams into the world; pursue them in your heart until they disappear into the Self, and leave them there. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
492:Meditation is the most effective form of relaxation. It not only relaxes the body and mind but also feeds them with vital energy, peace and happiness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
493:If you just feel happy for what you have, have an attitude of gratitude, and be grateful, then it will come true, you will be great and you will be full. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
494:A lamp does not flicker in a place where no wind blows; so it is with a yogi, who controls his mind, intellect and self, being absorbed in the spirit within him. ~ B K S Iyengar,
495:If you can rhythmically slow down your breath to four breaths a minute, you can indirectly control your mind and slow it down from its obnoxious behavior. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
496:We meditate so that our minds can be sharp and alert. We chant mantras so that your souls may be ignited like candles. We walk in the light of this beauty. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
497:When the conscious mind expands to embrace deeper levels of thinking, the thought wave becomes more powerful and results in added energy and intelligence. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
498:The care of the body, under the intelligent control of the mind, is an important branch of yogi philosophy, and is known as ‘Hatha Yoga,’ ” Ramacharaka writes. ~ Michelle Goldberg,
499:Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki, Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda, and Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism by Chögyam Trungpa. They ~ Walter Isaacson,
500:As long as you don't compliment yourself, your environments and your job, you will always be miserable. Complaints bring misery, compliments brings strength. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
501:Naturalness is the basis of effectiveness. If one poses to be something else, one loses the charm of naturalness. The result is that one accumulates stress. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
502:When the restlessness of the mind, intellect and self is stilled through the practice of Yoga, the yogi by the grace of the Spirit within himself finds fulfillment. ~ B K S Iyengar,
503:Decide what you want and don't think of the intermediary conditions. When Nature works for us we should want what we want and Nature will work it out for us. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
504:Divinity is the elementary personality of a human being. When he can stand before corruption and win, that is an undivided personality. It is called divinity. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
505:When you are appreciating creation as much as the Creator, then the Creator will ask, 'Who is appreciating my creation as much as me. Let me see this person.' ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
506:When you are calm, quiet and sensitive then you can expand. But when you are irritated, phobic, fearful, insensitive, and neurotic, you can't achieve anything. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
507:If world peace is to be established, peace in the individual must be established first. Transcendental Meditation directly brings peace in the individual life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
508:Once it happened…Four men were walking in the forest. The first was a gnana yogi, the second was a bhakti yogi, the third was a karma yogi, and the fourth was a kriya yogi. ~ Sadhguru,
509:Perfect health means no weakness anywhere, that is no weakness should remain in the body, or in the mind, or in the relationship between the body and the mind. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
510:When you understand who and what you are, your radiance projects into the universal radiance and everything around you becomes creative and full of opportunity. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
511:Bliss becomes blissful with practice. In our own bliss the desire, desirer and process of desiring are united - they are one. Desire is fulfilled at its source. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
512:Nature's government spontaneously brings satisfaction to everyone because it promotes all innumerable, diverse tendencies of life in the evolutionary direction. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
513:A good teacher will appreciate the good qualities of his students. If one good quality is allowed to emerge, a world of good qualities will emerge from that one. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
514:One of the first lessons in the Yogi Science of Breath, Is to learn how to breathe through the nostrils, and to overcome the common practice of mouth-breathing. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
515:No matter how good you are, you still need grace to get out of the material world. You can be a yogi or a monk or a nun, but without God's grace you still can't make it. ~ George Harrison,
516:The yogi cannot be afraid to die, because he has brought life to every cell of his body. We are afraid to die, because we are afraid we have not lived. The yogi has lived. ~ B K S Iyengar,
517:The yogi who looks with the same eye upon saints or sinners, relatives or strangers, friends or foes, well-wishers or even those wishing harm is indeed supreme. ~ Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa,
518:Just remember, the language of gesture is more effective than the spoken word. Body language is very powerful. Bring the balance within you and project that balance. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
519:O Nobly Born, now there is born in you exceeding compassion for all those living creatures who have forgotten their true nature. —Mahamudra text of Tibetan yogi Longchenpa ~ Jack Kornfield,
520:If your words do not have a smile, if you do not talk heart to heart, and you decide everything with your head, it is better to keep a dog as a friend rather than you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
521:The sleeping tortoise takes all its limbs into its carapace. So does the yogi: going back into himself he does not see anything worldly any longer, he makes peace in himself. ~ B K S Iyengar,
522:What you feel, what you desire and what you want is not what you are. You are a consciousness. Speak consciously and speak what your consciousness allows you to speak. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
523:When you meet an ungrateful person, be great. The moment you become great, you will become fulfilled. There is no other secret. Nothing else will give you fulfillment. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
524:If you appreciate your life, if you appreciate your job, if you appreciate yourself, if you appreciate your surroundings-poor or rich, whatever they are-you are divine. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
525:Yogi Bhajan shows us that a key to being the master of your own mind is to learn how to forgive yourself. So for today, just for one minute, practice forgiving yourself. ~ Gabrielle Bernstein,
526:Communication always has a purpose. Before speaking, the first law is: you must know why you are talking. You must know what you are communicating for. What do you want? ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
527:Everything should be considered as a gift of God. When anything wrong comes to you and you think it is a gift, it won't stay with you. Do you know that? Try it sometime. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
528:From when you are young, through middle age, you must grow to the point that you glow, so that your light lets people feel the blessings, the virtues, and the happiness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
529:Know that the most neurotic, most ugly situation is simply testing you. It is testing capacity, beyond his control, your flexibility, your adjustment and your character. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
530:It takes the same energy to complain as it does to compliment. When there is a short circuit, there is a complaint, and when the energy is flowing, there is a compliment. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
531:Love knows no pain, no sacrifice is too much for it; it is an absolute one-pointed state of mind toward the well-being of the other person who is called lover or beloved. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
532:Your communication should not be for you. Your communication should be a service vehicle to reach the other person. Talking is for the other person. Listening is for you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
533:The three salient features of love are: Where there is love, there is no question. Where there is love, there is no pain. Where there is love, there is nothing impossible. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
534:You think that when you love somebody you have to totally follow him or her. No, that's not love. When you love somebody, you have to be totally truthful with that person. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
535:It is the omnipresence of Being that is responsible for hiding Being behind the scenes and giving It the status of the omniscient, omnipotent supreme lord of the universe. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
536:This chapter also explores the question, "Who is the true yogi?" This word yogi may bring to mind images of amazing people who do strange contortions with their bodies. ~ Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa,
537:Communication is a science as well as an art. What does speaking precisely mean? You are consciously communicating with another person at that person's frequency, not yours. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
538:Compassion is for the very strong. Compassion does not come to the weak. People who are unkind, bullies, use rude language, are not strong people. They are very weak people. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
539:It's as if we live in a house which has a vast treasury in one of its rooms. Only we've forgotten about it. So, instead of living a life of royalty, we go about in poverty. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
540:He whose happiness is within, whose contentment is within, whose light is all within, that yogi, being one with Brahman, attains eternal freedom in divine consciousness. BHAGAVAD-GITA ~ David Lynch,
541:What I believe in touches many aspects of religious and spiritual thought. Mainly I'm influenced and inspired by the eastern yogi's aspect of mysticism, Which is, I think, the future. ~ Dave Davies,
542:A yogi never forgets that health must begin with the body. . . .Physical health is not a commodity to be bargained for. Nor can it be swallowed in the form of drugs and pills. . . . ~ B K S Iyengar,
543:People say Yogi (Berra) is a strange guy, and I've heard Yogi say some funny things. But he has a beautiful wife, he's rich, and he's famous. I don't see anything strange about that. ~ Mickey Mantle,
544:The constitution of the universe is total natural law. 'Natural law,' we say from the field of science. 'Will of God,' we say from the field of religion. It's the same thing. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
545:3HO is a family of healthy, happy, and holy people. Do you understand the word "family"? If, under all longitudes and latitudes, we keep our nucleus together, that is a family. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
546:If we are able to meet these two requirements - regularity in meditation and leading a good life in society, day-to-day a good life - then nothing would be unattainable by us. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
547:It should not be taken in a hot climate. If you are in a place that is cool and peaceful, and you are alone and your mind is turned toward God, then you may take the yogi medicine. ~ Neem Karoli Baba,
548:Why don't you make your whole body into a string and play the music of the vibratory electromagnetic self, which is your creativity, and project to the heart of another person? ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
549:Love is not enough; intelligence is not enough; powerful strength is not enough. You may put everything on one side of the scale, but if you are missing gratitude, you shall lose. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
550:Do you recall the story of the young Yogi in the Mahâbhârata who prided himself on his psychic powers by burning the bodies of a crow and crane by his intense will, produced by anger? ~ Swami Vivekananda,
551:Our limited mind is our enemy and our unlimited mind is our best friend. When you become a slave of the mind, it will limit you. When you use it, it will bring you the whole universe. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
552:Modern psychology has pointed to the need of educating people to use a much larger portion of the mind. Transcendental meditation fulfills this need. And it can be taught very easily. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
553:Where there is Dharma there is no karma. So we have to lean on Dharmic values and we have to build a Dharmic family, we have to relate to that family and we have to relate to it deeply. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
554:As brain functioning becomes more and more integrated, consciousness - the mind - becomes more and more invincible, and then any dictate of the mind is immediately followed by the body. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
555:In the process of evolution, the body lasts for some time and then will take other body and take other body and take other body until the final redemption from diversity is transcended. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
556:Work does not kill you, food does. God does not kill you, food does. Food is your first and last enemy. If you take in more than you can handle, it takes all of your energy to digest it. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
557:He who does so, says the Gita, cannot be a Yogi: He who fasts, he who keeps awake, he who sleeps much, he who works too much, he who does no work, none of these can be a Yogi (Gita, VI, 16). ~ Swami Vivekananda,
558:Near the foot of the mountain we visited a yogi who dwelled in a hollow tunneled beneath a boulder. He pondered our notion of climbing Shivling and said: 'First travel, then struggle, finally calm'. ~ Greg Child,
559:Two people may have one sensitivity, one action, one reaction and one feeling; it doesn't matter how much time and distance they have between themselves-that is the state of ultimate love. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
560:What others think of us is not our concern - it is their concern... It is important only that we radiate life. Every individual must be a joy to himself, to his family and to his society. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
561:I keep stacks of Autobiography of a Yogi around the house, and I give it out constantly to people. When people need 'regrooving,' I say read this, because it cuts to the heart of every religion. ~ George Harrison,
562:They ask me what the biggest thing I have going on right now is, and I usually say, "I think this interview?" And then they don't get that it's a joke. So then I say, Yogi Bear 3D. That's my default. ~ T J Miller,
563:Before you touch anybody you have to make sure that you are as pure as possible. If you don't purify yourself of all the inner duality, negativity can prevail through the flow of the psyche. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
564:The mental ability to concentrate is inherent to all; it is not extraordinary or mysterious. Meditation is not something that a Yogi has to teach you; you already have the ability to shut out thoughts. ~ Sivananda,
565:Anyone who practices a scientific technique for divine realization is a yogi. He may be either married or unmarried, either a man of worldly responsibilities or one of formal religious ties. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
566:Fulfillment is structured in achievement, Achievement is structured in action, Action is structured in thinking, Thinking is structured in knowledge, Knowledge is structured in consciousness ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
567:He who in the midst of intense activity finds himself in the greatest calmness, and in the greatest peace finds intense activity, that is the greatest [Yogi as well as the wisest man]” (note 2). ~ Swami Vivekananda,
568:Let somebody prove friendship which time and space cannot jolt, and then accept the love. Don't accept the love first and then find the friendship; it will never come. You have lost the game. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
569:Ive learned that everything happens for a reason, the yogi Krishnan told him. Every event has a why and all adversity teaches us a lesson... Never regret your past. Accept it as the teacher that it is. ~ Robin Sharma,
570:Be as delicate as possible. If communication accomplishes something on the gross but damages something on the level of feeling then it is a spiritual loss! The feeling is more important for life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
571:Keep a cool head and a warm heart. A mantra that became a song, inspired by the wise words of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. If we all take the time to listen and love each other, this world would be a better place. ~ Mike Love,
572:The yogi is greater than body-disciplining ascetics, greater even than the followers of the path of wisdom (jnana yoga), or of the path of action (karma yoga); be thou, O disciple Arjuna, a yogi! ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
573:Unless an action is rightly thought out and its steps rightly planned, every stage of its performance will probably remain vague and therefore unsatisfactory for the doer and all those concerned. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
574:Consciousness is the basis of all life and the field of all possibilities. Its nature is to expand and unfold its full potential. The impulse to evolve is thus inherent in the very nature of life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
575:If you are open with someone, he will be open with you. If you want love from someone, give your love to him. If you want kind and sympathetic behavior from someone, be kind and sympathetic to him. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
576:I’ve learned that everything happens for a reason,” the yogi Krishnan told him. “Every event has a why and all adversity teaches us a lesson... Never regret your past. Accept it as the teacher that it is. ~ Robin S Sharma,
577:Yogi science teaches that this Solar Plexus is really a most important part of the Nervous System, and that it is a form of brain, playing one of the principal parts in the human economy. Western ~ William Walker Atkinson,
578:Always remember God. Each and every event, everywhere, is by His Will alone and is for our own good. Each thing in our lives is always only Blessing, even though it may not appear so, at the time. ~ Sri Yogi Ramsuratkumar,
579:Consciousness is the basis of all life and the field of all possibilities. Its nature is to expand and unfold its full potential. The impulse to evolve is thus inherent in the very nature of life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
580:Intellectuals tend to be arrogant. Intelligence, like money, is a good servant but a bad master. When practicing pranayama, the yogi [makes] himself humble and without pride in his intellectual attainments. ~ B K S Iyengar,
581:Peace (shanti) is a divine quality. A true yogi, one united to "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, is like a lovely rose, spreading around him the fragrance of tranquility and harmony. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
582:The goal of the Transcendental Meditation technique is the state of enlightenment. This means we experience that inner calmness, that quiet state of least excitation, even when we are dynamically busy. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
583:The power or force transmitted from the brain to all parts of the body by means of the nerves, is known to Western science as “nerve force,” although the Yogi knows it to be a manifestation of Prana. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
584:Yogi's been an inspiration to me, not only because of his baseball skills, but of course for the enduring mark he left on the English language. Some in the press corps think he might even be my speechwriter. ~ George H W Bush,
585:Above all there's a love which is real, the ultimate love. We merge not only physically, but mentally and spiritually, in arc-line, aura and subtle body. We amalgamate with each other. That is real love. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
586:If a man can permanently establish his awareness in contact with that pure field (of consciousness), then problems wither away. It's a very simple thing. When the light comes, then where is the darkness? ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
587:It is the purity of man's heart and mind, and his innocent and faithful approach to action with the purpose of all good to everyone, which really succeeds in yielding maximum results with minimum effort. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
588:One sacrifice has to be made: never use harsh or rude language. Foul language you can use; foul language doesn't hurt. Foul language is forgivable (though it is bad). But rude language cannot be forgiven. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
589:Getting up for sadhana in the morning is a totally selfish act - for personal strength, for personal intuition, for personal sharpness, for personal discipline, and overall for absolute personal prosperity. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
590:Individual potential of life is cosmic potential. Individual is divine deep inside. Transcendental experience awakens that divinity in man. And when you kill a man you deprive him of that birthright of it. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
591:The search for total knowledge starts from the Self and finds its fulfillment in coming back to the Self, finding that everything is the expression of the Self - everything is the expression of my own Self. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
592:The Self of everyone, the Atma of everyone, the transcendental field of reality of everyone, is the same in everyone. Whether the body calls itself an American, German, Indian or Chinese, it doesn't matter. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
593:With the practice of deep meditation the mind contacts the Bliss Consciousness of the Spirit and becomes more peaceful, happy, creative and powerful. This state of mind enriches all values of material life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
594:Whether you are a medical doctor or a chiropractor or another type of healer, life has a challenge that you have to be egoless. You have to just become, without self, a healer at that moment, for that purpose. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
595:All freedom to man, but freedom is useful when we know what life is, when we know what past is, what present is, when we know how to go about things, not that every man should be left to experiment by himself. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
596:Sometimes people do go wrong. There is no judgment needed. Wrong will take a short time or a long time to make the individual aware that something is wrong, and that is the beginning of that person's awakening. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
597:A grown man who can shed tears without embarrassment is like a yogi who has learned to expel toxic matter from his body by consciously speeding up the peristaltic rhythm. He can eliminate many of life's poisons ~ Christopher Isherwood,
598:When you experience your origin as a reality, you are happy. Be constant under all circumstances and relate to one thing - you are a part of Infinity and always lean on that power - then you'll never be unhappy. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
599:I am upset and completely disappointed in the government, the millionaires and billionaires in the U.S. See what's happening to the country? Look at all the health problems, the economy, the recession and crime. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
600:Love without trust does not exist. Love is a strength of trust. Trust is the test of love. When you love, you trust each other. When you don't, you don't. Don't camouflage the word "love" and not trust each other. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
601:The life and teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda are described in his Autobiography of a Yogi. An award-winning documentary film about his life and work, Awake: The Life of Yogananda, was released in October 2014. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
602:Problems are not solved on the level of problems. Analyzing a problem to find its solution is like trying to restore freshness to a leaf by treating the leaf itself, whereas the solution lies in watering the root. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
603:Is it necessary to practice all these asanas, further and further? Is it necessary to develop scientific researches further and further? To a yogi, the body is a laboratory, a field of experiments and perpetual researches. ~ B K S Iyengar,
604:Physical love must end up as a creative love. And creative love must end up as a divine love. And divine love must end up as a unison love. And unison love must become God Itself. These are the known stages of love. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
605:The fact is, if a person has not experienced the love of his or her soul, within one's self, there is no chance that that person can go out and love, even though it is a faculty of love that you most powerfully need. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
606:Once, when we were discussing a world peace project with my teacher, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, somebody asked him, Where is all the money going to come from? And he replied without hesitation, From wherever it is at the moment. ~ Deepak Chopra,
607:the highest yogic attainments are not barred to the family man. Even in the world, the yogi who faithfully discharges his responsibilities, without personal motive or attachment, treads the sure path of enlightenment. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
608:Hard labour to succeed in the world? Hard labour no, no, human constitution, human physiology, human intelligence is made of infinite creative potential of Natural Law and therefore no-one has to work hard for success. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
609:The strength behind communication is in its quality, not in its quantity. Your talk should be that of quality, not of quantity. You should use small sentences which say a lot. Or you should say a lot in small sentences. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
610:But sexual control does not mean sexual weakness, and the Yogi teachings are that the man or woman whose reproductive organism is normal and healthy, will have a stronger will with which to control himself or herself. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
611:Like the hollow nothingness within the seed of a tree, which contains the potential of the entire tree, the experience of nothingness in the unmanifest field has within it the lively potential of everything in creation. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
612:Yet Yogi Bhajan describes mastery of this practice as arising from teaching it: “If you want to learn something,” he says, “read it. If you want to know something, write it. If you want to MASTER something, Teach it!” (Bhajan). ~ Mark Stephens,
613:You do not understand your job. You are not running an election, you are not winning wealth. You are being taken care of. But you cannot pocket anything. Whatever comes to you: "Unto Thee, unto Thee, Oh Lord, unto Thee." ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
614:Life is a book of changes. It should be read only to understand how it works. You can't help the changes in life; they must come whether they are good or bad because the good must follow the bad and the bad must follow the good. T ~ Yogi Bhajan,
615:Let them laugh and point. You are a yogi of traffic jams and discarded apple cores, aloneness and impossibly blue winter skies, a yogi of broken dreams, mad with truth and devotion and inexplicable joy, and you cannot be saved now. ~ Jeff Foster,
616:Shaanta-kaaram bhujaga-shayanam padma-naabham suresham vishwa-dhaaram gagana-sadrisham megha-varanam shubhaangam. lakshmi-kaantam kamala-nayanam yogi-bhi-dhyaana-agamyam vande vishnum bhava-bhaya-haram sarva-lokaika-naatham ~ Christopher C Doyle,
617:If you feel just one thing in your life-that life is nothing but the gift of God-you are divine and the most courageous person. Try it! Try it as a thought. The moment you feel that life is a gift, you'll become prosperous. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
618:A family is not built just by marrying a woman and producing children. Family is built with a timeless sacrifice which must represent purity, unity, standard of ethics, righteousness, grace, dignity, divinity and principles. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
619:The greatest investment and greatest fair deal and enterprise is family, cozy homes. A cozy home is based on cozy people. Cozy people are not brought and imported, they are made from the time of birth to the time of infinity. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
620:The most difficult thing on the earth one can practice is to be humble. It is not easy; it is difficult, because you have to surmount the existence of whole maya and to recognize that God is by your side. Then you feel the humility. G ~ Yogi Bhajan,
621:The Yogi conquers the body by the practice of asanas, making the body a fit vehicle for the spirit. The Yogi knows that it is a necessary vehicle for the spirit, for a soul without a body is like a bird deprived of its power to fly. ~ B K S Iyengar,
622:Yogi Berra, the fabled Yankee baseball player and manager, was said to have pointed out, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up somewhere else.” That is so true about brands; you need to know where they are to end up. ~ David A Aaker,
623:In the beginning was the Word. It doesn't say in the beginning was God. In the beginning was the Word because in the very beginning of every moment of time and space your word counts. Your whole destiny is written in the Word. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
624:The greatest demand is not to demand anything, and the greatest service of love is not to turn it into a business: "You kiss me, I'll bring flowers to you. I brought flowers to you, why didn't you kiss me?"-your American way. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
625:Love means total interest; love means total creativity; love means total input. Who has that for you? Who has given you values? Who has given you character? Who has told you, "Stand for righteousness and I'll stand behind you"? ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
626:The Bhagavad-Gītā gives a very clear exposition of the path of enlightenment, Transcendental Meditation, and claims that there is no obstacle to it, there is no hurdle on the way. A slight practice relieves man of great fears. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
627:It is not that it is religious or it is not religious, it is called attitude of gratitude, it is called thanking God for giving you elbows and knees, giving you ribs and the glandular system, giving you head and skull and brain. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
628:..."And for God's sake, never get into the petty habit of measuring your self-worth against other people's net-worth. As Yogi Ramen preached: 'Every second you spend thinking about someone elses dreams you take time away from your own.'" ~ Robin Sharma,
629:If we think of defeat, that is what we will get. If we are undecided, nothing will happen to us. We must just pick something great to do and do it. Never do we think of failure at all, for as we think now, that is what we will get. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
630:What makes one luckier is the good that he has done to others. It comes back to him. A man doesn't become lucky by doing wrong. He becomes lucky because he has done good to others and that good comes back to him. And now he is lucky. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
631:If we think of defeat, that's what we will get. If we are undecided then nothing will happen for us. We must just pick something great to do, and then do it. Never think of failure at all, for as we think now, that's what we will get. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
632:What do you want to do sadhana for? The aim should not be the satisfaction of egoism: "I want to be a great yogi; I shall have so much power and with that power I shall establish myself in the world." All such thoughts must be thrown far away. ~ Sri Aurobindo,
633:When we think of failure; failure will be ours. If we remain undecided nothing will ever change. All we need to do is want to achieve something great and then simply to do it. Never think of failure, for what we think, will come about. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
634:If you are willing to look at another person’s behavior toward you as a reflection of the state of their relationship with themselves rather than a statement about your value as a person, then you will, over a period of time cease to react at all. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
635:Let the standard of everybody's mind be raised to the heights of his own inner glory and then man will feel for himself the greatness of the higher values of life and would be tempted to bring them down into practical life and live them. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
636:Love knows that nothing is ever needed but more love. It is what we all do with our hearts that affects others most deeply. It is not the movements of our body or the words within our minds that transmit love. We love from heart to heart. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
637:The test of ahimsa is the absence of jealousy. The man whose heart never cherishes even the thought of injury to anyone, who rejoices at the prosperity of even his greatest enemy, that man is the bhakta, he is the yogi, he is the guru of all. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
638:Mostly your love is passionate force. But when this passionate force turns itself to be a compassionate force under the guidance of compassionate intelligence, that is where one becomes brahm giani. One knows all, one sees all, one says all. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
639:Where there is love, there is no question. Where there is a question, there is no love. Then it becomes a business. So love is the totality of the self. My dear folks, if you cannot find yourself, you can never find anybody you want to find. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
640:Do you know what love is? It is the most beautiful, comprehensive, divine, pranic energy given to you by God, which you should have experienced. But what did you do? You turned it into mucous and saliva and you call it kisses and hugs and sex. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
641:Do you know what love is? Love is an absolute power of self-totality. Love is not what you think love is. Love is a strength. Love is a goodness, like Godliness. There is no limit to it. There is no shortage in it. There is no bargaining in it. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
642:The practice of Transcendental Meditation creates a natural situation in the mind so that the mind entertains right thoughts, useful thoughts, thoughts that are cherished by nature and whose fulfillment is worked out by all the laws of nature. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
643:The saint’s censorious attitude vanished; his eyes became compassionately soft. He patted my shoulder. “Young yogi, I see you are running away from your master. He has everything you need; you must return to him. Mountains cannot be your guru. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
644:The dignity of a woman's life is infinite, her status immeasurable, her capacity unbounded, her role divine...In the fast changing world of today her vision penetrates into the reality of the far beyond, the reality which endures beyond change. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
645:Attachment is the act of trying to control, manipulate, or sculpt the outside world in such a way that we lose sight of our true nature. Nonjudgmental observation allows a yogi to experience the external world as a mirror reflecting back one’s true nature. ~ Darren Main,
646:If you are willing to look at another person's behavior toward you as a reflection of the state of their relationship with themselves rather than a statement about your value as a person. then you will, over a period of time, cease to react at all. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
647:The purpose is to be in gratitude forever. Live with applied consciousness, prosperity will break through the walls, flood you with it. You do prayer when you are in difficulty. Pray when you are not in difficulty! That is the attitude of gratitude. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
648:Almost every yogi that appeared in the book [The Yoga of Max's Discontent] is either somebody I have seen and met and spoken to, or someone who is in my three degrees of separation - I know the source who talks to me about it so well that I believe his story. ~ Karan Bajaj,
649:Just think of any negativity that comes to you as a raindrop falling into the ocean of your bliss. You may not always have an ocean of bliss, but think that way anyway and it will help it come. Doubting is not blissful and does not create happiness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
650:Teacher is not a great popular person. They teach what they know and make people better than them. Teacher must create a student better than him or her. Otherwise that person is not a teacher but a preacher. There are tons and thousands of preachers. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
651:The moment you understand that there is an essence of purity in you, you will realize reality. The moment you realize reality you will have royalty, and then you don't have to say or do a thing. When your presence will work then you will emit wisdom. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
652:You want to know about a good man? Man is the one who can carry the home and the family and have the strength to keep that weight going; woman is that which can nurture and nurse and be herself and can keep her radiance and have the strength of that. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
653:Although Christ in my mind is an absolute yogi, I think many Christian teachers today are misrepresenting Christ. They're supposed to be representing Jesus, but they're not doing it very well. They're letting him down very badly, and that's a big turn off. ~ George Harrison,
654:Do not oppose because in opposing the tenderness of the feeling level is crushed. That is why we say Speak the Truth but see that you are speaking delicately. Do not speak non-truth and do not speak in a non sweet way, so that the feeling is nourished. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
655:Talk passionately and act compassionately. The only thing you can do in your life to win the world is to be a kind speaker and a kind listener. That's what makes the humankind. Kind listening and kind speaking. Passionately talk and compassionately act. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
656:Shake up your life a bit. Get rid of the cobwebs. Take the road less traveled. Most people live within the confines of their comfort zone. Yogi Raman was the first person to explain to me that the best thing you can do for yourself is regularly move beyond it. ~ Robin S Sharma,
657:Scratching Yogi's ears Michelle says 'That's just part of his job, the comforting. That's what I mean by the bhatisvata. That he's more concerned with comforting and helping, even more than his own well-being." This is a trait that more "people" should encompass. ~ Chuck Palahniuk,
658:My high-school coach Tony Reginelli was kind of famous for 'Reggie-isms,' kind of like 'Yogi-isms.' He always said if you want to be a good quarterback, when sprinting left you want to be amphibious and throw left-handed. I told him, 'You mean ambidextrous, coach?' ~ Peyton Manning,
659:All speech, action and behavior are fluctuations of consciousness. All life emerges from, and is sustained in, consciousness. The whole universe is the expression of consciousness. The reality of the universe is one unbounded ocean of consciousness in motion. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
660:Do not base your life on the likings and dislikings or whims of others. What you are in life - whether you enjoy or suffer - it is your own responsibility. Be regular in your meditation and do not postpone for a later date your striving for God consciousness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
661:Great amount of scientific research is there to show that health is better because transcendental meditation deals with consciousness, and consciousness is the basic value of all the physical expressions. The entire creation is the expression of consciousness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
662:I see the faces that stop by my cart here. Their smiles are hollow, their eyes are hungry. The yogi's faces are different. Silent, complete. Like the mountains around them. Asking no questions, seeking no answers, just certain, as though they knew exactly who they were. ~ Karan Bajaj,
663:The process of education takes place in the field of consciousness; the prerequisite to complete education is therefore the full development of consciousness - enlightenment. Knowledge is not the basis of enlightenment, enlightenment is the basis of knowledge. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
664:We are here to start an era, to start an Age, to celebrate the transition from the Piscean Age into the Aquarian Age. We are here to celebrate that. We are the pioneers. We are the pioneers of the Dharma. Let's bow our heads in prayer and let us open our hearts. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
665:When I started on the path, too, I really thought I would become a yogi in a cave, but I didn't have clarity about my path. When I evolved in the ashram for six months, I learned a lot, but I realized that it was not my natural state of being. So, I came back to the world. ~ Karan Bajaj,
666:Problems or successes, they all are the results of our own actions. Karma. The philosophy of action is that no one else is the giver of peace or happiness. One's own karma, one's own actions are responsible to come to bring either happiness or success or whatever. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
667:The Yogi teaches that the mind itself has a higher state of existence, beyond reason, a superconscious state, and when the mind gets to that higher state, then this knowledge, beyond reasoning, comes to man. Metaphysical and transcendental knowledge comes to that man. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
668:Love opens all doors, no matter how tightly closed they may be, no matter how rusty from lack of use. Your work is to bring unity and harmony, to open all those doors which have been closed for a long time. Have patience and tolerance. Open your heart all the time. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
669:The art of healing, the art of ecstasy, the art of God-consciousness has millions of names in mystic terms. It has to do with rhythm and reality. When the body is in rhythm, there is ease. When the body, or any part of the body goes out of rhythm, there is dis-ease. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
670:Whenever you remember me, now or hereafter, one word you must remember: God only lives in cozy homes. Man without a cozy home is a man without God. And coziness is the relationship between you and your purity, your piety and your principles to which you have agreed. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
671:Most people believe that pain and suffering are synonymous—that one begets the other. A yogi recognizes that pain is an unavoidable aspect of life and that suffering is a choice. Pain is what happens when you stub your toe, suffering is what your mind does with the sensation. ~ Darren Main,
672:The purpose of life is to be beautiful, to be bountiful, to be blissful, to be graceful and grateful. What a wonderful English word-grateful. If one is great and full, one is God. And whenever smallness faces you, you should be great, and full-full of that greatness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
673:Sometimes you have tons of money, and still you are miserable, you are not satisfied. The bow of gratitude and arrow of mercy will give you everything. Gratitude will turn your attitude into mercy, mercy will bring you dharma, and dharma will give you solid prosperity. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
674:This path belongs to those who are not cold, whose hearts have not become stone, and whose heads have not become so swollen that they can't hear the voice of the soul. This path will belong to those who, with all their strengths and weaknesses, will still serve others. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
675:If your breath is very deep in the lungs, it will give you a good red blood. Good red blood, with the oxygen, is quite sufficiently empowered to take away impurities. When the lungs start clearing the blood, then the liver, spleen, and kidneys have much less work to do. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
676:Life is in balance. The swings in the mind are there to give you the experience, and to let you discover the you within you...That balance and swing lets your standard be tested. You cannot hold to something external. You must find your own depth and test it, confirm it. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
677:When the mind is opening to that unbounded pure awareness, the field of pure intelligence, simultaneously the body is losing stresses and strains, and thereby the clouds that were hindering the use of inner full creative intelligence in action, they begin to wither away. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
678:1-Don't analyze. 2-Don't complain. 3-Don't compare yourself to others. 4-Don't expect things to be done for you. 5-Don't expect perfection in the relative. 6-Look to the knowledge aspect daily. 7-Own the movement. 8-Problems are all in your head. 9-Hold yourself together. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
679:In ordinary breathing we absorb and extract a normal supply of prana, but by controlled and regulated breathing (generally known as Yogi breathing) we are enabled to extract a greater supply, which is stored away in the brain and nerve centers, to be used when necessary. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
680:It lies out of the realm of time, space, and causation, and out of the boundaries of the ever-changing phenomenal field of creation. It is, It was, It will be, in the status of Its absolute purity. It always has the status which knows no change, the status of eternal life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
681:But a yogi never forgets that health must begin with the body. Your body is the child of the soul. You must nourish and train your child. Physical health is not a commodity to be bargained for. Nor can it be swallowed in the form of drugs and pills. It has to be earned through sweat. ~ B K S Iyengar,
682:Don't count your wrongs, count your blessings and you shall not fail. Any human who calls himself a creature of God and does not count, many times during the day, the blessings but only counts what he doesn't have is insulting to God and to himself; he is a living non-reality. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
683:In ordinary breathing we absorb and extract a normal supply of prana, but by controlled and regulated breathing (generally known as Yogi breathing) we are enabled to extract a greater supply, which is stored away in the brain and nerve centers, to be used when necessary. We ~ William Walker Atkinson,
684:Life is all business. Spend your energy to get joy, happiness, evolution, and to gain more ability to enjoy. In this field we spend our energy. We never use our time, energy, speech, or ability to do something that doesn't help us grow and improve our life. It's not worth it. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
685:Samadhi. Immersed in concentration and meditation, all thoughts and distractions far away. Your focus steady, you achieve samadhi. All that exists is the heart of the experience. There is no one meditating, no one concentrating, only awareness. There is no yogi, only the yoga. (3) ~ Alberto Villoldo,
686:The best medicine that a person can have is the knowledge and experience that he can swim through every tide and change of the time. If you have the mental competency to deal with every situation that arises, then you are very happy, very healthy and a very well-balanced person. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
687:There is another possibly apocryphal story about the philosopher Jerry Fodor (he’s the Yogi Berra of philosophy). Someone asked what his stream of consciousness was like as he wrote philosophy. His reply was that it mostly said, “Come on, Jerry, you can do it, Jerry, keep going, Jerry. ~ Alison Gopnik,
688:If you mentioned Hanna-Barbera to people, they said, "Oh yeah, Flintstone, Yogi, Scooby-Doo, Jetsons," and that was pretty much it. We have characters with very high recognition factors and great films, but no organized plans for really making the most of them and increasing their value. ~ Fred Seibert,
689:I love you but you didn't bring me flowers. Your love is hanging on flowers! You are seasonal, conditional, demanding and bargaining. Love is not a bargain. Love is not a business. It cannot be bought and sold. It has no condition. When you put a condition on love, it evaporates. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
690:The seven principles of man, as known to the Yogi philosophy, are herewith stated, English terms being substituted for Sanscrit words, so far as may be: 7. Spirit. 6. Spiritual-Mind. 5. Intellect. 4. Instinctive-Mind. 3. Prana, or Vital Force. 2. Astral Body. 1. Physical Body. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
691:What we have done, the result of that comes to us whenever it comes, either today, tomorrow, hundred years later, hundred lives later, whatever, whatever. And so, it's our own karma. That is why that philosophy in every religion: Killing is sin. Killing is sin in every religion. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
692:Only he who is constantly aware of the mortal nature of his existence, who knows that the flesh and blood that he carries is nothing more than a heap of ash, is truly self-realized. In incinerating all falsehood within is the making of a yogi. This is the ultimate truth that Adiyogi embodied. ~ Sadhguru,
693:This Universe is made by God by one universal rule: everybody has a standard of birth, growth, and death, except man. God is extremely forgiving, but if you do not acknowledge what you have, in gratitude, you will never have more, and if you care to get it, something will be lost. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
694:In the world, there are countless Sadhus, Mahatmas, Mahapurushas, Saints, Yogis, and Walis, though the number of genuine ones is very, very limited. I am neither a Mahatma nor a Mahapurush, neither a Sadhu nor a Saint, neither a Yogi nor a Wali. I am the ancient One. The Highest of the High! ~ Meher Baba,
695:If two people fight on the street, whose fault is it? Who is the criminal? It is the government?s responsibility because the government has not educated the people to not make mistakes. The people have inadequate, incompetent education, so they make mistakes them! It is such a fraud. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
696:Don't worry about the situation of the world. You must be very happy, very very happy! Only through happiness and waves of bliss you will be able to help your country and the entire world in an automatic manner. You will remain ever invincible when you don't allow anything to obscure ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
697:Like the air, God's Grace is available to us. It is permeating every fibre of Being and the Being of the entire universe. When we take our attention to that Being, finer than the finest, then we establish ourselves on the level of God's Grace. Immediately we just enjoy. Life is Bliss! ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
698:A chemist may understand the molecular basis of a strawberry. A geneticist may understand the DNA sequences that underlie different varieties of strawberries. A botanist may know the precise soil and water requirements for a strawberry plant to thrive. A yogi knows the strawberry by taking a bite. ~ Anonymous,
699:Life is bliss. It is unbounded, deep within; and it is full of boundaries outside. So we advise the people to turn the attention within, experience that unbounded wholeness of life, and bring the mind out fully saturated with that--start to live unboundedness in the field of boundaries. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
700:The attitude of gratitude is the highest way of living, and is the biggest truth, the highest truth. You cannot live with applied consciousness until you understand that you have to be grateful for what you have. If you are grateful for what you have, then Mother Nature will give you more. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
701:A cozy home is not just a sixty-five thousand dollar house bought from Bank of America. A cozy home is a total consciousness of the two individuals within the framework of the home, and in relationship to the entire surrounding of this planet and beyond this planet. God lives in cozy homes. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
702:This 3HO shall be the most important legacy on this planet for the Age of Aquarius. Sooner or later people will experience a tremendous amount of emptiness which always brings a void. A void brings unhappiness. Then people will want to find a place where they can be healthy, happy, and holy. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
703:The only way a relationship between you and God can be established is if you become grateful and build up a standard of gratitude. Only then will fulfillment come in life. Only then can you be happy in life. Only then will you be fulfilled in life. Because in God we trust and in God we dwell. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
704:the priest and the mage, the man of piety, the just man, the man of wisdom, the saint, the prophet, the Rishi, the Yogi, the seer, the spiritual sage and the mystic ... the saint, the devotee, the spiritual sage, the seer, the prophet, the servant of God, the soldier of the spirit
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Life Divine,
705:Without meditation, and without a relationship to your mind, you fail to use the power of the mind. You fail to rely on your self. You complicate your approach. You do not use the beautiful designs given to you by birthright in this body, that link the effectiveness of body, mind, soul and you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
706:I have to pause the video while I corral the dogs in the other room. They howl in protest, and I tell them they are harshing my mellow and Yogi Beef Jerky’s going to be pissed."

Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest To Discover if Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, Or Why Pie is Not The Answer ~ Jen Lancaster,
707:All you have to do is send a message or somehow establish communication between the mind and body of the sick person. The mind should be in peace, so that the body can do the job. That's all the cure is. The body cures itself. Medicine allows it to get into that space where healing can take place. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
708:If a man is able to submit himself to nature, then nature will react to his needs. Almighty nature is all powerful and all loving, for the laws of nature are for the creation and evolution of all beings and creatures throughout the cosmos. There is no greater kindness than the kindness of nature. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
709:When you are blessing the sick, you beg of the Almighty, but actually you are not begging for anything, because from inside your being, energy is pouring into the other person. It is from a state of compassion, of compassionate meditation, that the healing activity of God, within the being, flows. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
710:I see a real yogi as a someone who is committed to growth and to being the best version of themselves, and, at the same time, is courageous enough to be fully present and authentic in each moment. Someone who is not afraid to get real about the whole mess of who they are - the good, the bad, and the ugly ~ Baron Baptiste,
711:We have been impossible right from the beginning and we must continue to be impossible because we are raising a voice against suffering which has been considered to be the nature of life. It is our joy to be considered impossible - and it is our greater joy to make the impossible a living reality. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
712:No one who is angry or shallow can repeat what they've said. The moment you ask a person to repeat, you have won the battle. You have put them on guard. So don't reply angrily and don't take any offense, just say politely, "Yes, I understand, but could you please repeat it?" With that, you have won. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
713:The process of self-healing is the privilege of every being. Self-healing is not a miracle, nor is self-healing a dramatization of the personality as though you could do something superior. Self-healing is a genuine process of the relationship between the physical and the infinite power of the soul. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
714:Experience shows that Being is the essential, basic nature of the mind; but, since It commonly remains in tune with the senses projecting outwards toward the manifested realms of creation, the mind misses or fails to appreciate its own essential nature, just as the eyes are unable to see themselves. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
715:The pure mystic wishes to approach his God only in the all-embracing love. The yogi, too, walks toward one single aspect of God. The bhakti-yogi keeps to the road of love and devotion, the raja and hatha yogi choose the path of self-control or volition, the jnana yogi will follow that of wisdom and cognition. ~ Franz Bardon,
716:Your total life is nothing without activity. When you are not acting, you are dead. You act in sleep also. You act through dreams. You act through mental vibrations. You are continually vibrating. The moment you don't vibrate you are dead. Death is nothing but nonvibration of a finite unit. That's all death is. S ~ Yogi Bhajan,
717:By enlivening this most basic level of life, Transcendental Meditation is that one simple procedure which can raise the life of every individual and every society to its full dignity, in which problems are absent and perfect health, happiness, and a rapid pace of progress are the natural features of life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
718:To start with, you should have an attitude of gratitude. Without an attitude of gratitude, neither prosperity nor pleasure, joy nor happiness means anything, and it works this way: to those who have an attitude of gratitude and who do it with innocence, Mother Nature brings all the wealth, health, and happiness. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
719:The factor of time is very vital in life. Those who have accomplished great things in the world have been those who valued time in their life. The time of life is limited and a great amount of evolution has to be accomplished for fulfillment of life. Therefore, the factor of time must be valued above everything. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
720:I have a four-and-a-half-year-old and, when she was two and a half, she would make my wife and I do voices, like Woody and Jessie the Cowgirl, or Elmo, or Yogi Bear and Booboo. If we didn't do it, she would scream at us. So, my wife and I would have adult conversations as Yogi Bear and Booboo. It was just a nightmare year. ~ Judd Apatow,
721:We are all pioneers in the Age of Aquarius. No man can give a man anything other than love. No man can give a man anything other than hope. No man can give a man anything but service. The only thing you can do is act like a forklift-go into the dirt and lift the other person and put him on track, so he can proceed. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
722:The Karma-Yogi is the man who understands that the highest ideal is non-resistance, and who also knows that this non-resistance is the highest manifestation of power in actual possession, and also what is called the resisting of evil is but a step on the way towards the manifestation of this highest power, namely, non-resistance ~ Anonymous,
723:This grossness, physical love, which is actually the biological cooling system, is very essential. The prana feeds the tattvas and the tattvas create the rasa. Rasa means juices. The juices circulate and in that circulation the glandular system works and involves itself. And there's a place to bring it all to harmony. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
724:Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower, and draws all good things toward you. Allow your love to nourish yourself as well as others. Do not strain after the needs of life. It is sufficient to be quietly alert and aware of them. In this way life proceeds more naturally and effortlessly. Life is here to Enjoy! ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
725:If you want to be a yogi, you must be free, and place yourself in circumstances where you are alone and free from all anxiety. One who desires a comfortable and nice life and at the same time wants to realize the Self is like the fool who, wanting to cross the river, caught hold of a crocodile, mistaking it for a log of wood. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
726:Hail Guru Ram Das and heal the world. It is His problem to heal. Your problem is to insert Him into it. You have nothing to worry about. If he doesn't heal, His Name will be spoiled-what's it to you? Most of the time you do not know what to do, true? There are so many times I don't know what to do. So, I insert Him into it. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
727:I ask you to accept the things you cannot change, only so you may grow to the point when you can change the things you cannot accept. Consider this”, said the Yogi, “what cannot be cured, must be endured, but then what can’t be endured must one day be cured. Be a boulder of endurance. Be a stonecutter of grit, to cure. Be both. ~ Shailendra Gulhati,
728:The whole planet Earth shines with exactly the same radiance, and I am a part of it, and it is a part of me. And I know it is all temporary. Earth has given me a vehicle for staying on it, and I am beyond the vehicle. The day I have to leave, that vehicle has to be left back on this earth, deposited in its bosom safely and securely. I ~ Yogi Bhajan,
729:Kriya Yoga is a simple, psychophysiological method by which human blood is decarbonated and recharged with oxygen. The atoms of this extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal centres. By stopping the accumulation of venous blood, the yogi is able to lessen or prevent the decay of tissues. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
730:May God guide you on this path. May you understand that you are blessed children and you have a job to do. May you know in your heart that God belongs to you always, within and without. May your sorrows never touch your tomorrow, may your blessings be for all, may your happiness be shared, and may your smiles give hope to others. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
731:To a yogi, the breath is the anchor that keeps the mind in the eternal now. Just as an anchored boat still shifts with the wind and moves with the current, so too will the mind continue to be affected by things beyond its control. Like the anchored boat, the mind will never drift too far from its mooring once it is anchored in the breath. ~ Darren Main,
732:A new humanity will be born, fuller in conception and richer in experience and accomplishments in all fields. Joy of life will belong to every man, love will dominate human society, truth and virtue will reign in the world, peace on earth will be permanent and all will live in fulfillment in fullness of life in God Consciousness. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
733:if a yogi is so well blessed with karma to be one who can tread the pleasant path, one who can gain wisdom without undergoing pain, then he can work on pleasant sensation. But for the overwhelming majority of us, as may be observed, there is no choice but to tread the path of unpleasant sensation, for we are not blessed with such karma. ~ Jack Kornfield,
734:All problems in life arise from some weakness of mind. All weakness of mind is due to the mind's ignorance of its own essential nature, which is universal and the source of infinite energy and intelligence. ... In order to root out any problem of life it is only necessary to be brought out of ignorance, to be brought to knowledge. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
735:Kriya Yoga is a simple, psychophysiological method by which human blood is decarbonated and recharged with oxygen. The atoms of this extra oxygen are transmuted into life current to rejuvenate the brain and spinal centres. By stopping the accumulation of venous blood, the yogi is able to lessen or prevent the decay of tissues. The ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
736:Seven years ago when I came, I said to you that I'll teach you how to be healthy, happy and holy and we will build a family which shall not have any facet of human life as an orphan; to build an exclusive family in which there is no facet of our life which is an orphan. 'In God we trust,' We are the trust of God and let us live it. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
737:It is not possible to live in today's society without a cozy home. What is a cozy home? A cozy home is a place where there is a unity in all those who live there, an understanding in all those who relate to it. There is a will to sacrifice for each other; there is a will to live for each other; there is a will to protect each other. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
738:What happens when you speak positively? When you speak positively there is no negative left to express and then there's a gap. And that gap creates the super-positive. And that, in English, is what we call God. Therefore, cultivate the attitude of gratitude. The attitude of gratitude is when you are grateful for every breath of life. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
739:A yogi must be able to pass into, and continue in, the superconsciousness, regardless of multitudinous distractions never absent from this earth. Whether in the buzz of insects or the pervasive glare of daylight, the testimony of the senses must be barred. Sound and sight come then indeed, but to worlds fairer than the banished Eden. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
740:The attitude of gratitude is yoga. Ingratitude is "unyoga," like "uncola." Where gratitude is, there is yoga. Where there is ingratitude, yoga is gone. That mind which does not live in gratitude is just like a junkyard. There are great cars there, but they don't work; they are useless, because they are junk. What are you without gratitude? ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
741:One has to see oneself through one's actions, works, and mind. Knowing the Self by the self is not as easy as writing that line. A #‎ yogi sees things in every movement he makes, maybe when practicing, maybe when teaching, or maybe when talking to people. You should have courage in your convictions and pursue what is dear to you all these years. ~ B K S Iyengar,
742:For every beautiful thing, you have to pass through a valley of hardship. There is no liberation without labor. There is no freedom which is free. To create in you the power to create the intelligence which will give you power to be effective in your own living and give you satisfaction in your own joy, you have to work for it, you have to earn it. E ~ Yogi Bhajan,
743:The world has witnessed the rise and fall of monarchy, the rise and fall of dictatorship, the rise and fall of feudalism, the rise and fall of communism, and the rise of democracy; and now we are witnessing the fall of democracy... the theme of the evolution of life continues, sweeping away with it all that does not blossom into perfection. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
744:I quietly quaffed my cognac, discreetly admiring Lana's legs. Longer than the Bible and a hell of a lot more fun, they stretched forever, like an Indian yogi or an American highway shimmering through the Great Plains or the southwestern desert. Her legs demanded to be looked at and would not take no, non, nein, nyet, or even maybe for an answer. ~ Viet Thanh Nguyen,
745:The sleeping man becomes a yogi; each night he unconsciously performs the yogic rite of releasing himself from bodily identification, and of merging the life force with healing currents in the main brain region and the six sub-dynamos of his spinal centres. The sleeper thus dips unknowingly into the reservoir of cosmic energy which sustains all life. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
746:The sword master stepping onto the fighting floor knows he will be facing powerful opponents. Not the physical adversaries whom he will fight (though those indeed serve as stand-ins for the enemy). The real enemy is inside himself. The monk in meditation knows this. So does the yogi. So do the film editor and the video-game creator and the software writer. ~ Steven Pressfield,
747:The greatest blunder I have seen that almost everyone makes is to just speak their mind. It doesn't make any sense. They sound like the squawking ducks in a pond. The mind is not meant to be spoken. The mind is mostly waves of thoughts and sensations from many sources. The mind is meant to know the truth. Know your own mind and use it to speak the truth. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
748:A scientist sets out to conquer nature through knowledge - external nature, external knowledge. By these means he may split the atom and achieve external power. A yogi sets out to explore his own internal nature, to penetrate the atom (atma) of being. He does not gain dominion over wide lands and restless seas, but over his own recalcitrant flesh and febrile mind. ~ B K S Iyengar,
749:Yoga is as old and traditional as civilization, yet it persists in modern society as a means to achieving essential vitality. But yoga demands that we develop not only strength in body but attention and awareness in mind.The yogi knows that the physical body is not only the temple for our soul but the means by which we embark on the inward journey toward the core. ~ B K S Iyengar,
750:The fortunate one uses the instrument of deep meditation and probes deep into his heart. Then the waves of love gain the depth of the ocean, and the ocean of love flows and fills the heart and thrills every particle of being. Every wave of life then flows in the fullness of love, in the fullness of divine glory, in the fullness of grace, in bliss and peace. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
751:We call it 3HO, an organization of healthy, happy, and holy people. It has no membership charge, no presidents, and at this point not even a secretary. Anybody can be a member who will promise that he shall undertake to practice these exercises, and to practice to breathe consciously. Be aware that the breath is the divine charge and it is a gift of the God. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
752:You should not say anything that you cannot put your totality behind. The total value of you is that whatever you say, you stick with it. When you don't stick with what you say, you have no value, and your decoration and your jewelry and your sex and your person have no value. Real communication is the faculty of a human that whatever you say, you stick with it. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
753:The most courageous, and pious act of a human is to be with another human, because we are like stars in the sky, born at one time and space, to be ourselves. Everybody is our neighbor. All we have to do is say, "I am with you." When you start being one with everybody, then you are actually with God, because if you cannot see God in all, you cannot see God at all. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
754:the idea of supernatural being may rouse to a certain extent the power of action in man, But it also brings spiritual decay. It brings dependence; it brings fear; it brings superstition . It degenerates into a horrible belief in the natural weakness of man.there is no supernatural, says the Yogi, but there are in nature gross manifestations and subtle manifestations. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
755:Art really has its source in the transcendent, the unmanifest field of pure consciousness, which is the non-changing, immortal field of all possibilities...When the awareness of the artist is in tune with this center of infinite creativity, his piece of art breathes fullness of life, nourishes the creator, the artist, and inspires his admirers with waves of bliss. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
756:Today in the west we are asking the question, why is man unhappy? Answer is very simple. We have created a very fast society but we do not have a cozy home, and without a cozy home we do not have a mental state of nerve relaxed personality. Without having a mental state of nerve relaxed personality, you cannot face this fastness of the outer world; it's impossible. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
757:A few years ago we said, 'Hail Guru Ram Das and heal the world.' It looked like a joke at that time. Heal with what? Now the Age has come when your own psyche can be in flow and beam on the other personality, and in the cross-exchange you can heal a person just by walking by his side. For this we have to have a mental clarity, and we have to have a mental projection. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
758:The law of balance is a law of applied consciousness. You can never change it. You will get one thing, you lose the other, you get third thing, you lose the fourth. Always there will be a gap. The 'law of gap' is that there is no gap and how can that gap be filled? Be in gratitude. Make an attitude to be in gratitude, you will find the whole Universe will come to you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
759:If people depend on me to be a man of truth, I have to prove again and again and again and again that I am a man of truth. It cannot be that on Monday I am a man of truth, on Tuesday I speak three-quarters truth, Wednesday I speak half-truth, on Thursday I speak one-quarter truth, on Friday I don't speak at all, and on Saturday I can't even think how to speak the truth. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
760:Today anywhere you go you will find that this is a living legacy which is not only for now, not only for the next one hundred years, but for the coming two thousand years of the Age of Aquarius, when mankind will find shelter in the 3HO way of life. And then, you who are here now, who are just considered to be a handful of people, shall be considered as the most Divine. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
761:There's a great blunder which we commit. Through communication, we try to control people...The fact is that nobody can control anybody. All you can do is flow. You can flow with each other, like rivers and streams flow with each other and they all end up in the same ocean. All things come from God and all things go to God. It's a very simple formula which you have learned. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
762:Governments have tried to stop crime through punishment throughout the ages, but crime continued in the past punishment remains. Crime can only be stopped through a preventive approach in the schools. You teach the students Transcendental Meditation, and right away they'll begin using their full brain physiology sensible and they will not get sidetracked into wrong things. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
763:Hate nobody; love everybody. It won't cost you anything. Love never costs anything. Love is the most selfish act. It gives you so much protection, grace, and radiance. It doesn't give you any smallness or suffering. The attitude of conscious living is to love and give grace to someone worthy of your trust. Do not seek anything from people. Give love instead, and rely on God. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
764:pursuing virtuous activities in the pure realms. Therefore, those capable of training the mind are not vulnerable to the proliferation of the five degenerations and remain contented. If you know how to train the mind, even your body, the body of a mind training yogi, is known as the “city that is a source of joy.” For all happiness—of this and future lives, of self and others—comes ~ Thupten Jinpa,
765:The purpose of life is to watch and experience living. To enjoy living every moment of it. And to live in environments, which are calm, quiet, slow, sophisticated, elegant. Just to be. Whether you are naked or you have a golden robe on you, that doesn’t make any difference. The ideal purpose of your life is that you are grateful - great and full - that you are alive, and you enjoy it. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
766:Rummaging through the cupboard like a wartime surgeon frantically searching for the right bandage, Peter swept aside Yogi Tea and Harmony Herbal Blend, though he hesitated for a second over chamomile. But no. Stay focused, he admonished himself. He knew it was there, that opiate of the Anglos. And his hand clutched the box just as the kettle whistled. Violent death demanded Earl Grey. ~ Louise Penny,
767:If you can do any favor for yourself, if you want to understand yourself, if you really want to build anything for yourself, try to make a plan to have a cozy home and a cozy partner. When even God may leave you, your partner should not-that kind of partner; a partner who does not know how to part. If your partner knows that he can part, he does not yet have the power to unite. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
768:He said that a yogi must seriously examine the origin of the arising of fear, where fear abides, and where it ceases, in order to be completely free from the fear of death. When we examine the place of arising, abiding, and cessation of fear (or any afflictive emotion) and cannot find them, we should rest in the confidence that all phenomena are beyond arising, abiding, and cessation. ~ Anyen Rinpoche,
769:I've spent so much time these last years wondering what I'm supposed to be. A wife? A lover? A celibate? An Italian? A glutton? A traveler? An artist? A Yogi? But I'm not any of these things, at least not completely. And I'm not Crazy Aunt Liz, either. I'm just a slippery antevasin - betwixt and between - a student on the ever-shifting border near the wonderful, scary forest of the new. ~ Elizabeth Gilbert,
770:The yogi uses all his resources - physical, economic, mental or moral - to alleviate the pain and suffering of others. He shares his strength with the weak until they become strong. He shares his courage with those who are timid until they become brave by his example. He denies the maxim 'survival of the fittest', but makes the weak strong enough to survive. He comes a shelter to one and all. ~ B K S Iyengar,
771:There is only one problem: You do not trust your powers. There is no difference between you and God. Count your blessings. Be proud of yourself. Make your children, friends and neighbors proud of you. Let your touch be the Master's Touch. Serve the Age of Aquarius. Keep up and God will keep you up. Trust it. Stop looking down at yourself. Feel God within. There is no God outside of you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
772:A true yogi is able to pass into and maintain the superconscious state, regardless of multitudinous distractions never absent from this earth—the buzz of insects! the pervasive glare of daylight! In the first state of samadhi (sabikalpa), the devotee shuts off all sensory testimony of the outer world. He is rewarded then by sounds and scenes of inner realms fairer than the pristine Eden. 6 ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
773:Lana was not above socializing with a common man, and for the next hour they became partners on a walk down memory lane, reminiscing about Saigon and songs while I quietly quaffed my cognac, discreetly admiring Lana’s legs. Longer than the Bible and a hell of a lot more fun, they stretched forever, like an Indian yogi or an American highway shimmering through the Great Plains or the southwestern desert. ~ Viet Thanh Nguyen,
774:Meditation is making research into yourself, and into the subtler fields of activity. Day after day we culture our minds with the deep silence of our own Being. This is not the silence of a stone, but creative silence. We have to find it for ourselves. We decrease activity until silence becomes creative, and we sit in creative silence and close the gates of perception for insight into the content of life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
775:You have no sensitivity that your soul shall leave in the subtle body and that your subtle body is as sophisticated as anything in the universe can be. So unless you produce in yourself elegance, grace, sophisticatedness in your mind, manners and attitude, and unless you come from the infinite altitude, and ascend to that altitude, you cannot descend in love. The higher is your being, the deeper is the love. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
776:The law of miracles is operable by any man who has realized that the essence of creation is light. A master is able to employ his divine knowledge of light phenomena to project instantly into perceptible manifestation the ubiquitous light atoms. The actual form of the projection (whatever it be: a tree, a medicine, a human body) is determined by the yogi’s wish and by his power of will and of visualisation. At ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
777:To be in full union with the Divine is the final aim. When one has some kind of constant union, one can be called a yogi, but the union has to be made complete. There are yogis who have only the union on the spiritual plane, others who are united in mind and heart, others in the vital also. In our yoga our aim is to be united too in the physical consciousness and on the supramental plane.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, Letters On Yoga - II, [T2],
778:For some time there was a widely held notion (zealously fostered by the daily press) to the effect that the 'thinking ocean' of Solaris was a gigantic brain, prodigiously well-developed and several million years in advance of our own civilization, a sort of 'cosmic yogi', a sage, a symbol of omniscience, which had long ago understood the vanity of all action and for this reason had retreated into an unbreakable silence. ~ Stanis aw Lem,
779:For some time there was a widely held notion (zealously fostered by the daily press) to the effect that the 'thinking ocean' of Solaris was a gigantic brain, prodigiously well-developed and several million years in advance of our own civilization, a sort of 'cosmic yogi', a sage, a symbol of omniscience, which had long ago understood the vanity of all action and for this reason had retreated into an unbreakable silence. ~ Stanislaw Lem,
780:The books say that he alone is the Yogi who, after long practice in self-concentration, has attained to this truth. The Sushumna now opens and a current which never before entered into this new passage will find its way into it, and gradually ascend to (what we call in figurative language) the different lotus centres, till at last it reaches the brain. Then the Yogi becomes conscious of what he really is, God Himself. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
781:I'll (Phil Rizzuto) never forget September 6, 1950. I got a letter threatening me, Hank Bauer, Yogi Berra and Johnny Mize. It said if I showed up in uniform against the Red Sox I'd be shot. I turned the letter over to the FBI and told my manager Casey Stengel about it. You know what Casey did? He gave me a different uniform and gave mine to Billy Martin. Can you imagine that! Guess Casey thought it'd be better if Billy got shot. ~ Phil Rizzuto,
782:Death is unimportant to a yogi; he does not mind when he is going to die. What happens after death is immaterial to him. He is only concerned with life-with how he can use his life for the betterment of humanity. Having undergone various types of pain in his life and having acquired a certain mastery over pain, he develops compassion to help society and maintains himself in purity and holiness. The yogi has no interest beyond that. ~ B K S Iyengar,
783:Yogi system of Complete Breathing is of vital importance to every man, woman and child who wishes to acquire health and keep it. Its very simplicity keeps thousands from seriously considering it, while they spend fortunes in seeking health through complicated and expensive “systems.” Health knocks at their door and they answer not. Verily the stone which the builders reject is the real cornerstone of the Temple of Health. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
784:When there is no mind, you are in yoga; when there is mind you are not in yoga. So you may do all the postures, but if the mind goes on functioning, if you go on thinking, you are not in yoga. Yoga is the state of no-mind. If you can be without the mind without doing any posture, you have become a perfect yogi. It has happened to many without doing any postures, and it has not happened to many who have been doing postures for many lives. ~ Rajneesh,
785:Maybe the yogi is a parent who's a little more patient with their child, or a more compassionate coworker, or an understanding boss. Perhaps, they pick up a piece of trash that wasn't theirs, turn off a light when they're not in the room, or turn off the water while they brush their teeth, sensitive to the finite nature of our worldly resources. When we become mindful this way, there's a ripple effect. We inspire others to do the same. ~ David F Swensen,
786:Be as delicate as possible. If communication accomplishes something on the gross but damages something on the level of feeling then it is a spiritual loss! The feeling is more important for life. Nourishment of the feeling level is the basis for growth of the spiritual holistic value. Delicate behaviour on the surface should be such as to nourish, uphold and enhance the Transcendental value where feelings merge into a common source. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
787:In any communication, or in any situation which you cannot confront because it is exaggerating, hot or aggressive, just change your breath. Breathe through the lips instead of through the nostrils. Exhale always through the nostrils. Inhale through the rolled lips and make it slow and long. It will slow everything as required. It will increase your sensitivity. It will give you 10 times more projection over the person you are talking to. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
788:The rejuvenating effects of sleep are due to man’s temporary unawareness of body and breathing. The sleeping man becomes a yogi; each night he unconsciously performs the yogic rite of releasing himself from bodily identification, and of merging the life force with healing currents in the main brain region and in the six subdynamos of his spinal centres. Unknowingly, the sleeper is thus recharged by the cosmic energy that sustains all life. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
789:Throughout the past 2500 years, whichever country Buddhism has been taught in, there have always been great yogis. Likewise, sooner or later there will be the great yogis of the West. This is because Buddhism has nothing to do with culture, gender, language, or colour. Buddhism is for all beings throughout time and space. And whoever dedicates their life to putting the teachings into practice will become a great yogi. It is as simple as that. ~ Chamtrul Rinpoche,
790:Nu căutați ceea ce este precis și local. Nu fiți îngust la minte. Marele descoperitor Pasteur, care a venit cu ideea că norocul îl favorizează pe cel pregătit, a înțeles că pentru a lăsa contingența să-ți afecteze viața nu trebuie să cauți ceva anume în fiecare dimineață, ci să muncești din greu. Așa cum a spus un alt mare gânditor, Yogi Berra, "Dacă nu știi încotro mergi, trebuie să fii foarte atent, pentru că s-ar putea să nu ajungi acolo. ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
791:The rejuvenating effects of sleep are due to man’s temporary unawareness of body and breathing. The sleeping man becomes a yogi; each night he unconsciously performs the yogic rite of releasing himself from bodily identification, and of merging the life force with healing currents in the main brain region and the six sub-dynamos of his spinal centres. The sleeper thus dips unknowingly into the reservoir of cosmic energy which sustains all life. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
792:Let him close the ears with his thumbs .... This is my most beloved Yoga. From practicing this gradually, the Yogi begins to hear mystic sounds (nadas). The first sound is like the hum of the honey-intoxicated bee (matta-bhrnga), next that of a flute (venu), then of a harp (vina); after this, by the gradual practice of Yoga, the destroyer of the darkness of the world, he hears the sounds of ringing bells (ghanta) then sounds like roar of thunder (megha).
   ~ Shiva-Samhita,
793:All unhappiness is caused by our not having mastery over the body... We are all putting the cart before the horse... Take the system of work, for instance. We are trying to do good by ... comforting the poor. We do not get to the cause which created the misery. It is like taking a bucket to empty out the ocean, and more water comes all the time. The Yogi sees that this is nonsense. He says that the way out of misery is to know the cause of misery first... ~ Swami Vivekananda,
794:As a yogi, you are an environmentalist because you recognize that the rivers flowing through the valleys and those flowing through your veins are intimately related. The breath of an old-growth forest and your most recent breath are inextricably intertwined. The quality of the soil in which your food is raised is directly connected to the health of your tissues and organs. Your environment is your extended body. You are inseparably interwoven with your ecosystem. ~ Anonymous,
795:For arousing compassion, the nineteenth-century yogi Patrul Rinpoche suggested imagining beings in torment - an animal about to be slaughtered, a person awaiting execution. To make it more immediate, he recommended imagining ourselves in their place. Particularly painful is his image of a mother with no arms watching as a raging river sweeps her child away. To contact the suffering of another being fully and directly is as painful as being in the woman's shoes. ~ Pema Chodron,
796:For arousing compassion, the nineteenth-century yogi Patrul Rinpoche suggested imagining beings in torment - an animal about to be slaughtered, a person awaiting execution. To make it more immediate, he recommended imagining ourselves in their place. Particularly painful is his image of a mother with no arms watching as a raging river sweeps her child away. To contact the suffering of another being fully and directly is as painful as being in the woman's shoes. ~ Pema Chodron,
797:The greatest dread of ordinary man is death, with its rude imposition interrupting fortuitous plans and fondest attachments with an unknown and unwelcome change. The yogi is a conqueror of the grief associated with death. By control of mind and life force and the development of wisdom, he makes friends with the change of consciousness called death-he becomes familiar with the state of inner calmness and aloofness from identification with the mortal body. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
798:In most forms of exercise one’s breath follows the movement—the faster and harder you work, the faster and harder you will breathe. In yoga, the exact opposite is true. Rather than changing the breath to match one’s movement, the movement is changed to follow the breath. In doing so, a yogi gains immediate and unconditional access to the deepest levels of consciousness, because just as breath and movement are connected, so too is the breath bound tightly to the mind. ~ Darren Main,
799:We built a foundation called the 3HO Foundation: a Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization of people. The first song I sang was, "We are the people, the people of love, let us people love today."All of those who have left, all who are with me, who shall be with me, or who shall leave me, all play a very important role in the development of 3HO-a lifestyle of the Age of Aquarius where humans shall be first and foremost purely human, and will do everything graciously. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
800:They who cannot face the world have not the strength to face the difficulties of Yoga practice. If the outer world out-wearies your powers, how do you expect to conquer the difficulties of the inner life? If you cannot climb over the little troubles of the world, how can you hope to climb over the difficulties that a yogi has to scale? Those men blunder, who think that running away from the world is the road to victory, and that peace can be found only in certain localities. ~ Annie Besant,
801:The garden keeps me focused on inspiring thoughts, the lighthouse reminds me that the purpose of life is a life of purpose, the sumo wrestler keeps me centered on continuous self-discovery, while the pink wire cable links me to the wonders of willpower. A day doesn’t pass without me thinking about the fable and considering the principles Yogi Raman taught me.” “And exactly what does the shiny gold stopwatch represent?’ “It is a symbol of our most important commodity — time. ~ Robin S Sharma,
802:Write it on your forehead, write it on your heart, on your third chakra, on your second chakra and your first chakra. You will never go short, never will you have less. God will prevail by God's True Nature. If you have discomfort and hunger say, "God, that is Thy Virtue. Thank you for accepting me for that tragedy." This is the attitude of gratitude. "My shackles will be removed by Thy Will." God is so great, to Him the whole of what we have is just like a sesame seed. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
803:Shiva is a strange god, the epitome of the sort of person a man would not want his daughter to marry: He is a yogi who has vowed never to marry, he has a third eye in the middle of his forehead, he wanders around naked or wearing nothing but a loincloth woven of living snakes, he has no family, and he lives not in a house but in a cremation ground, smearing his body with the ashes of corpses. It is therefore not surprising that both his potential fathers-in-law object strenuously to him. ~ Anonymous,
804:A swami may conceivably follow only the path of dry reasoning, of cold renunciation; but a yogi engages himself in a definite, step-by-step procedure by which the body and mind are disciplined and the soul gradually liberated. Taking nothing for granted on emotional grounds or by faith, a yogi practices a thoroughly tested series of exercises that were first mapped out by the ancient rishis. In every age of India, yoga has produced men who became truly free, true Yogi-Christs. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
805:My meditation techniques ARE dangerous. In fact there cannot be any meditation techniques which are not dangerous. If they are not dangerous, they are not meditation techniques, they are tricks. Just like Transcendental Meditation of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. They are mental tricks. Just consolatory. No danger. At the most they can give you good sleep, that's all. If you miss, you don't miss anything, you remain the same. If you attain, you attain to good sleep, that's all. No danger involved. ~ Rajneesh,
806:47. A jnani who is a perfectly Self-realized yogi, sees by the eye of wisdom all objective phenomena to be in and of the Self and thus the Self to be the sole being.1

The allusion is to the story of a lady wearing a precious necklace, who suddenly forgot where it was, grew anxious, looked for it everywhere and even asked others to help, until a kind friend pointed out that it was round the seeker's own neck. ~ Adi Sankara, Atma Bodha, trans. Sri Ramana Maharshi, Collected Works of Sri Ramana Maharshi,
807:When a man in the process of dreaming becomes conscious that he is dreaming, he is no longer identified with the phenomena; he is not affected exultantly or dolefully. God consciously dreams His cosmic play and is unaffected by it's dualities. A yogi who perceives his real self as separate from his active senses and their objects never becomes attached to anything. He is aware of the dream nature of the universe and watches it without being entangled in its complex but ephemeral nature. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
808:Surround yourself with those who are moving very quickly towards Unity. Be in the presence of those who are running forward. Besides the knowledge the Veda, the greatest thing we can do is be surrounded by those who are living and seeking the highest value of life, Brahmi Chetana. This is why yogic flying with groups is so much greater than flying alone. To live and work with others who are moving and aspiring fast towards Unity consciousness is the great force to help you achieve Unity. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
809:We have songs and we have smiles; that is the beauty of 3HO. We have many, many songs and we have very, very, very many smiles. We have all the tools not to be fools but still sometimes we mess up. But it's all right. If one thing doesn't work another will work-we have the technology and methodology to become and be good, graceful, courageous, pure human beings. We are all on the same path. Nobody is slave to anybody and nobody is subject to anybody. We worship no man but we love every man. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
810:When there is real purification of the body, external and internal, there arises neglect of the body, and the idea of keeping it nice vanishes. A face which others call most beautiful will appear to the Yogi as merely animal, if there is not intelligence behind it. What the world calls a very common face he regards as heavenly, if the spirit shines behind it. This thirst after body is the great bane of human life. So the first sign of the establishment of purity is that you do not care to think you are a body. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
811:This reminded me of the stories His Holiness Zong Rinpoche told about meditators who had achieved the illusory body. While they were sleeping at night, they would use their subtle body to read and memorize many scriptures at the same time. I thought that Lama was able to read so many texts in such a short time because he did it at night with the illusory body. From the way Lama talked so confidently about the many actions that a yogi could do with their subtle body, I could see that Lama himself had this power. ~ Lama Thubten Yeshe,
812:Solar Plexus the “Abdominal Brain.” The Solar Plexus is situated in the Epigastric region, just back of the “pit of the stomach” on either side of the spinal column. It is composed of white and gray brain matter, similar to that composing the other brains of man. It has control of the main internal organs of man, and plays a much more important part than is generally recognized. We will not go into the Yogi theory regarding the Solar Plexus, further than to say that they know it as the great central store-house of Prana. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
813:If we are all strong, stable, we can set our sail with any wind in the world that comes along. We make up our own direction. If we are not strong, we are like a leaf in the wind and the world's winds will take us where they wish, not where we wish. So we meditate, every day, regularly, and gain transcendental being in our everyday life and then we are strong. When we are all infused with Being, we need not think which course is right, we just take the one that is automatically. Being is the wind-resister and the sail-setter. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
814:Yoga can give you greater health and longevity, but these benefits can also become distractions from the greater truth that yoga seeks to reveal. Even the most disciplined yogis will sometimes fall ill, and longevity is never eternal. Yoga’s true gift is the recognition that while health and longevity may be nice,
peace and joy are not dependent on these temporary conditions. Once a yogi recognizes this, the true journey begins. Living to avoid pain, sickness, and death is not living at all. It is like removing a bandage one hair at a time. ~ Darren Main,
815:There are times when you cannot even control the sugar level in your body. Remember that when you put sugar in your metabolism, you are upsetting your metabolism in a very direct way. X amount of sugar is understandable, but the amount of sugar you put in, only God can save you. And whenever you put x amount of sugar, you must follow the law of depression. When you get that kind of depression, you lose a lot of friends. Therefore, it is very fair to channel your energy. One of the best ways to channel the energy is to do the pranayama. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
816:O LORD Increate, who will serve Thee?
Every votary offers his worship to the God of his own creation: each day he receives service
None seek Him, the Perfect: Brahma, the Indivisible Lord.
They believe in ten Avatars; but no Avatar can be the Infinite Spirit, for he suffers the results of his deeds:
The Supreme One must be other than this.
The Yogi, the Sanyasi, the Ascetics, are disputing one with another:
Kabr says, "O brother! he who has seen that radiance of love, he is saved."
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
~ Kabir, Poem 7
,
817:God lives in cozy homes. Happiness, which a cozy home can give you, is so divine on this Earth, you don't need anything more than that. God is unseen but His creation is known and seen. What is known and seen for you, if you cannot relate to that how can you relate to the unknown? If you can relate knowingly to your unknown thought, you can always find happiness. But you have to have nerves for it. You have to have a mental capacity for it, you have to have trained yourself, and this is the part of that training I have come to share with you. ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
818:When we meditate to expand our consciousness, we perceive reality from an evolved perspective. The yogic mindset is able to create the miraculous magic of each moment at all times. Even when doing mundane chores, a yogi is able to tap into the flow of inspiration. Holding unwavering focus, the mind of consciousness is efficient and effective in dealing with every day realities by being. The vast void mind of awareness is aligned to the world of all enlightened beings of the past as in the moment of now- alight as a Lamp.The magic of Now is consciousness. ~ Nandhiji,
819:People slip spontaneously into moments of concentration all the time—while reading a book, exercising, playing chess, or creating art. A yogi seeks to experience that same level of concentration intentionally in a practice known as dharana—the act of purposefully narrowing the mind’s focus on the breath, the sensations of the body, a mantra, or a prayer bead. This consistent and purposeful focusing of the mind while on the yoga mat or meditation cushion gives the yogi the same level of focus in life, allowing for wild creativity and unfathomable productivity. ~ Darren Main,
820:When I find that I am more conscious, it's because I'm in tune with a higher reality. When I'm less conscious, it's because I've cut off that entunement to some extent. Maybe through drinking, through anger, through whatever. And I realized then that God has to be an infinite consciousness, and that I had to be an expression of that consciousness. And that the goal of life then must be to become more and more in tune with that consciousness. And I decided to give my life to God. And around that time, to make a long story short, I found Autobiography of a Yogi. ~ Goswami Kriyananda,
821:Even though peak experiences might show us the truth and inform us about why we are training, they are essentially no big deal. If we can't integrate them into the ups and downs of our lives, if we cling to them, they will hinder us. We can trust our experiences as valid, but then we have to move on and learn how to get along with our neighbors. Then even the most remarkable insights can begin to permeate our lives. As the twelfth-century Tibetian yogi Milarepa said when he heard of his student Gampopa's peak experiences, 'They are neither good not bad. Keep meditation.' ~ Pema Ch dr n,
822:For a Siddhar yogi, time is precious. It is important to utilize every moment to evolve into ever higher states of consciousness. We understand stagnancy as decay and for growth, we constantly discard the old to welcome change as the new. We tap into the magical abilities to evolve. "Every saint was a sinner in the past" maxim holds true. In the intensity of our yogic pursuit we evolve quickly. By evolving, we know that is the greatest gift of a lifetime we could ever receive- to be angelic as a being of consciousness. Consciousness is ever evolving and dynamic in transforming. ~ Nandhiji,
823:Does God aspire?” asked the snake. “I had asked you to meditate upon this”, said the Yogi. “They say God cannot desire. This calls for a high spiritual understanding. If God does not desire, there is no need for creation, life, and God itself. The God of no desire can only rest in a void, in the primordial state, why should He go for the dynamics of creation? The God of no desire would thus be a neutralized force. Such a state of God can last for longer than the age of the Universe itself”, the Yogi was becoming very still. “Then, there is a stir! and the God of desire begins to ~ Shailendra Gulhati,
824:Look what we are trying. You call it dharma, but it is not. What we are trying is to come together; come together to an understanding. The difference is, the discipline is, the commitment is that we are going to come together with the following guiding lines: 'May the long time sun shine upon you, all love surround you, and the pure light within you guide your way on.' When we came together we decided we would guide our way on. My way and your way we already know, so we do not need to learn that. Each one of you knows 'my' way and 'your' way. All we have to learn is 'our' way." ~ Harbhajan Singh Yogi,
825:All these years, her sole objective had been to keep still and hope no one would ever know. She had been a mistress of stillness. She had mastered the simulation of peace without a wisp of real peace, like a nun from a silent order who was screaming inside her head, or a yogi racked with pain. How she had managed to fool anyone, let alone everyone, mystified her (how obtuse people were!) and, oddly, made her extraordinarily bitter. Because the price of her gift for evasion was to have no one, not one person, who understood how horrible she felt. All the time. Absolutely all the time. ~ Jean Hanff Korelitz,
826:Vairâgya or renunciation is the turning point in all the various Yogas. The Karmi (worker) renounces the fruits of his work. The Bhakta (devotee) renounces all little loves for the almighty and omnipresent love. The Yogi renounces his experiences, because his philosophy is that the whole Nature, although it is for the experience of the soul, at last brings him to know that he is not in Nature, but eternally separate from Nature. The Jnâni (philosopher) renounces everything, because his philosophy is that Nature never existed, neither in the past, nor present, nor will It in the future. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
827:Karma-Yoga, therefore, is a system of ethics and religion intended to attain freedom through unselfishness, and by good works. The Karma-Yogi need not believe in any doctrine whatever. He may not believe even in God, may not ask what his soul is, nor think of any metaphysical speculation. He has got his own special aim of realising selflessness; and he has to work it out himself. Every moment of his life must be realisation, because he has to solve by mere work, without the help of doctrine or theory, the very same problem to which the Jnâni applies his reason and inspiration and the Bhakta his love. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
828:The man who thinks that he is receiving response to his prayers does not know that the fulfillment comes from his own nature, that he has succeeded by the mental attitude of prayer in waking up a bit of this infinite power which is coiled up within himself. What, thus, men ignorantly worship under various names, through fear and tribulation, the Yogi declares to the world to be the real power coiled up in every being, the mother of eternal happiness, if we but know how to approach her. And Raja-Yoga is the science of religion, the rationale of all worship, all prayers, forms, ceremonies, and miracles. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
829:It has been said that the body is the temple of the spirit and the mind is the altar within that temple. When we practice hatha yoga we allow ourselves to come fully into the temple of the body—not simply as a tourist wishing to admire the fine architecture, but as a seeker on a pilgrimage of deep devotion and reverence.

Meditation is the devotional practice of placing on the altar of the mind that which is sacred, holy, and revered. Just as you would not place garbage on the altar of a great temple, meditation allows a yogi to place on the altar of her mind that which is noble, pure, and free from attachment. ~ Darren Main,
830:Economics is really about two stories. One is the story of the old economist and younger economist walking down the street, and the younger economist says, ‘Look, there’s a hundred-dollar bill,’ and the older one says, ‘Nonsense, if it was there somebody would have picked it up already.’ So sometimes you do find hundred-dollar bills lying on the street, but not often—generally people respond to opportunities. The other is the Yogi Berra line ‘Nobody goes to Coney Island anymore; it’s too crowded.’ That’s the idea that things tend to settle into some kind of equilibrium where what people expect is in line with what they actually encounter. ~ Paul Krugman,
831:Our purpose in this life is to live in higher consciousness and to teach others to live in higher consciousness. But the best test to that consciousness is humility, selflessness, and sweetness. When you teach, teach with honesty, truthfulness, and straightforwardness. As a teacher, never compromise. As a man, always compromise. The teacher who compromises is an idiot; a person who does not compromise is an idiot. Because the teacher does not teach for himself, but for the higher consciousness. And higher consciousness will never compromise with lower consciousness. This is a straight law and that has to be considered as a law; that has to be observed as a law. ~ Yogi Bhajan,
832:The Yogi should always listen to the sound (nada) in the interior of his right ear. This sound, when constantly practiced, will drown every sound (dhvani from outside .... By persisting ... the sound will be heard subtler and subtler. At first, it will be like what is produced by the ocean (jaladhi), the cloud (jimuta), the kettle-drum (bheri), and the water-fall (nirjhara) . ... A little later it will be like the sound produced by a tabor (mardala, or small drum), a big bell (ghanta), and a military drum (kahala); and finally like the sound of the tinkling bell (kinkin), the bamboo-flute (vamsa), the harp (vina) and the bee (bhramara).
   ~ Nadabindu-Upanishad, (verses 31-41),
833:Shamatha is presented in the Vajra Essence as a foundational practice on the Dzogchen path. Dzogchen, often translated as “the Great Perfection,” is the highest of the nine vehicles (yanas) in the Nyingma tradition of Tibetan Buddhism. Classically speaking, after achieving shamatha, the yogi will use his or her newly acquired powers of concentration to practice insight into the nature of emptiness (vipashyana), followed by the Dzogchen practices of tregchö (breakthrough) and tögal (direct crossing-over). These four practices comprise the essential path to enlightenment from the Nyingma point of view. The practice of Dzogchen brings one into direct contact with reality, unmediated by the individual personality or society. ~ B Alan Wallace,
834:He's that rascally kind of yogi
who has no sky or earth,
no hand, foot,
form or shape.
Where there's no market
he sets up shop,
weighs things
and keeps the accounts.
No deeds, no creeds,
no yogic powers,
not even a horn or gourd,
so how can he
go begging?

'I know you
and you know me
and I'm inside of you.'

When there isn't a trace
of creation or destruction,
what do you meditate on?
That yogi built a house
brimful of Ram.
He has no healing herbs,
his root-of-life
is Ram.

He looks and looks
at the juggler's tricks,
the magician's sleight-of-hand -
Kabir says, saints, he's made it
to the King's land.

~ Kabir, He's That Rascally Kind Of Yogi
,
835:He's that rascally kind of yogi who has no sky or earth, no hand, foot, form or shape. Where there's no market he sets up shop, weighs things and keeps the accounts. No deeds, no creeds, no yogic powers, not even a horn or gourd, so how can he go begging? "I know you and you know me and I'm inside of you." When there isn't a trace of creation or destruction, what do you meditate on? That yogi built a house brimful of Ram. He has no healing herbs, his root-of-life is Ram. He looks and looks at the juggler's tricks, the magician's sleight-of-hand -- Kabir says, saints, he's made it to the King's land. [2024.jpg] -- from The Bijak of Kabir, Translated by Linda Hess / Translated by Shukdeo Singh

~ Kabir, Hes that rascally kind of yogi
,
836:The yogi moving toward Divinity is deemed more highly evolved than ascetics who practice
severe penance, higher than the learned ones who know the scriptures, and above the ritualists who perform their rites seeking favors. All of these are to some extent still entangled in desire. So be a yogi, Arjuna!
“Know that the true yogi has chosen a great yet attainable ideal in life: to turn Godward, to constantly and consciously move toward Divinity — to not simply know about God, but to know God in the fullest sense, to literally become one with the Divine!
“This is the profound plan and purpose of creation that is hidden from most people. Arjuna, be the one who gives Me his whole heart. That yogi will be My very own. ~ Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa,
837:Krishna. The mystic who worships the Supersoul within himself is also called Atmarama. Such Atmarama yogis are of two kinds: The one is called sagarbha; the other is called nigarbha. In Srimad Bhagwatam it is stated, in the Second Canto, Second Chapter: "Some of the yogis meditate within the heart on the localized situation of Vishnu, Who is four-handed with four symbols: the conch shell, the wheel, the club and the lotus." The yogi who thinks of the fourhanded Vishnu becomes developed in devotional ecstasy, and attains the different symptoms of that position. Sometimes he cries, sometimes he feels separation. In this way he becomes merged in transcendental bliss. So, as a result of such transcendental bliss, he is practically entrapped like a fish. ~ Anonymous,
838:It wasn’t as outside as they wanted. Sisler drove it over the left-field fence. The Whiz Kids were going to the 1950 World Series. They lost. The Yankees of Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and Phil Rizzuto swept them in four games. The Yanks had their second consecutive World Series title and thirteenth overall; the Phillies were still looking for their first. They had scored all of four runs while getting swept in the last all-Caucasian World Series. (Mays, Monte Irvin, and Hank Thompson would play for the New York Giants in the 1951 Series.) Still, they rode the train home to a heroes’ welcome at Philadelphia’s Broad Street Station. The Whiz Kids were National League champions, the youngest club in the league, with better years in store, they thought. ~ Kevin Cook,
839:Everyone who is turned to the Mother is doing my Yoga. It is a great mistake to suppose that one can 'do' the Purna Yoga - i.e. carry out and fulfil all the sides of the Yoga by one's own effort. No human being can do that. What one has to do is to put oneself in the Mother's hands and open oneself to her by service, by bhakti, by aspiration; then the Mother by her light and force works in him so that the sadhana is done. It is a mistake also to have the ambition to be a big Purna Yogi or a supramental being and ask oneself how far have I got towards that. The right attitude is to be devoted and given to the Mother and to wish to be whatever she wants you to be. The rest is for the Mother to decide and do in you.
   ~ Sri Aurobindo, The Mother With Letters On The Mother, 151 [T3],
840:When meditating, the yogi should first complete all the preparatory practices. He should go to the toilet and in a pleasant location free of disturbing noise he should think, "I will deliver all sentient beings to the state of enlightenment." Then he should manifest great compassion, the thought wishing to liberate all sentient beings, and pay homage to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas in the ten directions by touching the five
limbs of his body to the ground.


When you make prostrations, tradition recommends that you do so by touching your five limbs your forehead, two palms, and two knees to the ground. The important thing is that it should be done properly and with delight. It is unwholesome to perform prostrations either as a mere formality or under coercion. ~ Dalai Lama XIV,
841:But I've since realized that I'm fine with my anxious-ass, can't-touch-my-toes life. In my soul, I am not chill, and I do not want to be calm, and no part of me aspires to Zen. Sure, through yoga I learned to take time for myself, and I learned how to deep-breathe through pain, but the most valuable thing yoga taught me was that I'm not built to be a yogi -- and that's the only mantra I need.

For anyone who wants to be a yogi but hears the internal cries of "Oh my God, I hate this so much" from start to finish? Fuck it. Oh man, fuck it all the way back to wherever you bought your mat from. There are other outlets for your energy, other ways to carve out some peace. Nobody here needs to force themselves into downward dog when they'd rather be walking super-fast around the mall. ~ Anne T Donahue,
842:LAMPS burn in every house, O blind one! and you cannot see them.
One day your eyes shall suddenly be opened, and you shall see: and the fetters of death will fall from you.
There is nothing to say or to hear, there is nothing to do: it is he who is living, yet dead, who shall never die again.

Because he lives in solitude, therefore the Yogi says that his home is far away.
Your Lord is near: yet you are climbing the palm-tree to seek Him.
The Brahman priest goes from house to house and initiates people into faith:
Alas! the true fountain of life is beside you, and you have set up a stone to worship.
Kabr says: "I may never express how sweet my Lord is. Yoga and the telling of beads, virtue and vicethese are naught to Him."
Translated by Rabindranath Tagore
~ Kabir, Poem 15
,
843:Sri Krishnaprem
Sons of an intellectual age, we scan
And weigh the heart's findings with our mental measures,
Surmising never once that no mind can
Win even a clue to the soul's resplendent treasures.
The more we probe the more must thought mislead
Till even the meaning of our spirit's birth
Is buried in the din of words that plead
For the reign of trifling truths of temporal worth.
You diagnosed this fatal malady
With an insight born of loyalty to love
And so disowned our reasoned revelry
Whose dire discord your heart could never approve.
O Reason's elect, withal, a citizen
Of stellar climes no mind has ever trod:
Who saw your radiant Face could never again
Doubt faith's deep power of leading us back to God.
[From 'Yogi Sri Krishnaprem ']
~ Dilip Kumar Roy,
844:What I can tell you is that yoga is about removing the muck by shining the light of awareness on it. That is why yoga is so hard. None of us wants to look at the muck, but looking at it is the only way to dissolve it. Thus, there are many times that a yogi may feel filled with darkness. It’s not that the darkness
arrived because of yoga; it’s that yoga made you aware of all the things that were holding you back. The good news is that with this awareness, you have the opportunity to dissolve the muck once and for all. However great the doubt, however deep the despair, you can take comfort in knowing that you
are feeling these things because your yoga is doing exactly what it was designed to do. You can also take refuge in the knowledge that whatever you are feeling—whether high or low—will pass, because it always does. ~ Darren Main,
845:Who in this world can understand what Mother Kali really is? The six systems of philosophy remain powerless to describe Her. She is the inmost awareness of the sage who realizes that Consciousness alone exists. She is the life blossoming within the creatures of the universe. Both macrocosm and microcosm are lost within Mother's Womb. Now can you sense how indescribable She is? The yogi meditates upon Her in the six subtle nerve centers as She sports with delight through the lotus wilderness of the pristine human body, playing with Her Consort, Shiva, the Great Swan. When anyone attempts to know Her, the singer of this song laughs. Can you swim across a shoreless ocean? Yet the child in me still reaches out to touch the moon. [1146.jpg] -- from Great Swan: Meetings with Ramakrishna, by Lex Hixon

~ Ramprasad, Who in this world
,
846:Note that I am not relying in this book on the beastly method of collecting selective "corroborating evidence." ...I call this overload of examples naïve empiricism--successions of anecdotes selected to fit a story do not constitute evidence. Anyone looking for confirmation will find enough of it to deceive himself--and no doubt his peers.* The Black Swan idea is based on the structure of randomness in empirical reality.

*It is also naïve empiricism to provide, in support of some argument, series of eloquent confirmatory quotes by dead authorities. By searching, you can always find someone who made a well-sounding statement that confirms your point of view--and, on every topic, it is possible to find another dead thinker who said the exact opposite. Almost all my non Yogi Berra quotes are from people I disagree with. ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
847:(1) Sit erect, in an easy posture, being sure to hold the chest, neck and head as nearly in a straight line as possible, with shoulders slightly thrown back and hands resting easily on the lap. In this position the weight of the body is largely supported by the ribs and the position may be easily maintained. The Yogi has found that one cannot get the best effect of rhythmic breathing with the chest drawn in and the abdomen protruding. (2) Inhale slowly a Complete Breath, counting six pulse units. (3) Retain, counting three pulse units. (4) Exhale slowly through the nostrils, counting six pulse units. (5) Count three pulse beats between breaths. (6) Repeat a number of times, but avoid fatiguing yourself at the start. (7) When you are ready to close the exercise, practice cleansing breath, which will rest you and cleanse the lungs. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
848:This OM that is eternally going on at the basis of all creation, Hum, this is 100% OM. Now there can be 75% OM and there can be 50% OM and there can be 25% of OM. But this 100% OM is life supporting; 75% OM supports life but it has a destructive quality too. Because something that is eternally going on, that upholds creation and some impulse like that but broken. When it is broken then it will have the influence of breaking life, life damaging influence to some degree. 50% OM will have a more amount of breaking effect. 25% OM will have a more amount of breaking effect.                 This OM, what we say OM, OM, OM, this is 25% OM, it has more breaking effect.  And how does it break life? By reducing brilliancy, reducing dynamism, reducing interest in life. This is how it starts to break. Peace, deeper peace leading to inertia. This is how it breaks life. ~ Maharishi Mahesh Yogi,
849:The exercise given below will in time impart the above-mentioned qualities, or the Yogi Voice, to the student who practices it faithfully. It is to be understood, of course, that this form of breath is to be used only as an occasional exercise, and not as a regular form of breathing. (1) Inhale a Complete Breath very slowly, but steadily, through the nostrils, taking as much time as possible in the inhalation. (2) Retain for a few seconds. (3) Expel the air vigorously in one great breath, through the wide opened mouth. (4) Rest the lungs by the Cleansing Breath. Without going deeply into the Yogi theories of sound-production in speaking and singing, we wish to say that experience has taught them that the timbre, quality and power of a voice depends not alone upon the vocal organs in the throat, but that the facial muscles, etc., have much to do with the matter. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
850:The wise know that living by scriptural injunctions (good deeds, sacrifice, and so forth) will help you reach heaven. But the true yogi knows that even heaven is part of nature (prakriti) and thus is eventually perishable. This yogi therefore transcends all of nature to reach Me, Brahman, the Imperishable Godhead, the Divine Love who lives in your heart.”

But know, Arjuna, that I quickly come to those who offer Me all their actions, set their minds on Me with unswerving devotion, worship Me as their dearest delight, and takeMe as their one and only goal in life. Because they so dearly love Me, I save them from the sorrow of death and endless waves of rebirth.
“It is true that one is where one’s mind is. So fix your mind on Me. Be absorbed in Me alone. Focus your devotion on Me. Still yourself in Me. Without a doubt you will then come and live within Me. ~ Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa,
851:There is nothing noble about being superior to some other person. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.’ All I’m really getting at is that if you want to improve your life and live with all that you deserve, you must run your own race. It doesn’t matter what other people say about you. What is important is what you say to yourself. Do not be concerned with the judgment of others as long as you know what you are doing is right. You can do whatever you want to do as long as it is correct according to your conscience and your heart. Never be ashamed of doing that which is right; decide on what you think is good and then stick to it. And for God’s sake, never get into the petty habit of measuring your self-worth against other people’s net worth. As Yogi Raman preached: ‘Every second you spend thinking about someone else’s dreams, you take time away from your own.’” It ~ Robin S Sharma,
852:Un signe de cette autocratie laïque et de la mondanité qui en résulte est, parmi les manifestations vestimentaires, le décolleté des femmes, déjà blâmé par Dante, et paradoxal non seulement au point de vue de l'ascétisme chrétien, mais aussi au point de vue du légalisme sémitique, lequel ignore précisément la distinction entre clercs et laïcs puisqu'il sacralise la société entière ; ce n'est pas le phénomène de la dénudation qui étonne ici – car il existe légitimement dans l'hindouisme et ailleurs – mais c'est le fait que ce phénomène se produise en milieu chrétien. On pourrait dire aussi que la frivolité des mœurs laïques – les bals notamment – fait pendant au rigorisme exagéré des couvents, et que cette disparité trop ostentatoire marque un déséquilibre fauteur de toutes sortes d'oscillations subséquentes. Dans l'Inde, le maharadjah couvert de perles et le yogi couvert de cendre sont certes dissemblables, mais ils sont tous deux des « images divines ». ~ Frithjof Schuon,
853:in the Bhagavad Gita. One stanza reads: “Offering the inhaling breath into the exhaling breath and offering the exhaling breath into the inhaling breath, the yogi neutralizes both breaths; thus he releases prana from the heart and brings life force under his control.”2 The interpretation is: “The yogi arrests decay in the body by securing an additional supply of prana (life force) through quieting the action of the lungs and heart; he also arrests mutations of growth in the body by control of apana (eliminating current). Thus neutralizing decay and growth, the yogi learns life-force control.” Another Gita stanza states: “That meditation-expert (muni) becomes eternally free who, seeking the Supreme Goal, is able to withdraw from external phenomena by fixing his gaze within the mid-spot of the eyebrows and by neutralizing the even currents of prana and apana [that flow] within the nostrils and lungs; and to control his sensory mind and intellect; and to banish desire, fear, and anger.”3 ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
854:The Yoga system of Patanjali is known as the Eightfold Path.9 The first steps are (1) yama (moral conduct), and (2) niyama (religious observances). Yama is fulfilled by noninjury to others, truthfulness, nonstealing, continence, and noncovetousness. The niyama prescripts are purity of body and mind, contentment in all circumstances, self-discipline, self-study (contemplation), and devotion to God and guru. The next steps are (3) asana (right posture); the spinal column must be held straight, and the body firm in a comfortable position for meditation; (4) pranayama (control of prana, subtle life currents); and (5) pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from external objects). The last steps are forms of yoga proper: (6) dharana (concentration), holding the mind to one thought; (7) dhyana (meditation); and (8) samadhi (superconscious experience). This Eightfold Path of Yoga leads to the final goal of Kaivalya (Absoluteness), in which the yogi realizes the Truth beyond all intellectual apprehension. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
855:Memory can be dramatically disrupted if you force something that’s implicit into explicit channels. Here’s an example that will finally make reading this book worth your while—how to make neurobiology work to your competitive advantage at sports. You’re playing tennis against someone who is beating the pants off of you. Wait until your adversary has pulled off some amazing backhand, then offer a warm smile and say, “You are a fabulous tennis player. I mean it; you’re terrific. Look at that shot you just made. How did you do that? When you do a backhand like that, do you hold your thumb this way or that, and what about your other fingers? And how about your butt, do you scrunch up the left side of it and put your weight on your right toes, or the other way around?” Do it right, and the next time that shot is called for, your opponent/victim will make the mistake of thinking about it explicitly, and the stroke won’t be anywhere near as effective. As Yogi Berra once said, “You can’t think and hit at the same time. ~ Robert M Sapolsky,
856:The Yogi practices exercises by which he attains control of his body, and is enabled to send to any organ or part an increased flow of vital force or “prana,” thereby strengthening and invigorating the part or organ. He knows all that his Western scientific brother knows about the physiological effect of correct breathing, but he also knows that the air contains more than oxygen and hydrogen and nitrogen, and that something more is accomplished than the mere oxygenating of the blood. He knows something about “prana,” of which his Western brother is ignorant, and he is fully aware of the nature and manner of handling that great principle of energy, and is fully informed as to its effect upon the human body and mind. He knows that by rhythmical breathing one may bring himself into harmonious vibration with nature, and aid in the unfoldment of his latent powers. He knows that by controlled breathing he may not only cure disease in himself and others, but also practically do away with fear and worry and the baser emotions. ~ William Walker Atkinson,
857:Any apparent insurrection of bodily or cerebral cells towards Emperor Soul, manifesting as disease or depression, is due to no disloyalty among the humble citizens, but to past or present misuse by man of his individuality or free will, given to him simultaneous with a soul and revocable never. Identifying himself with a shallow ego, man takes for granted that it is he who thinks, wills, feels, digests meals and keeps himself alive, never admitting through reflection (only a little would suffice!) that in his ordinary life he is naught but a puppet of past actions (karma) and of nature or environment. Each man’s intellectual reactions, feelings, moods and habits are circumscribed by effects of past causes, whether of this or a prior life. Lofty above such influences, however, is his regal soul. Spurning the transitory truths and freedoms, the kriya yogi passes beyond all disillusionment into his unfettered Being. All scriptures declare man to be not a corruptible body, but a living soul; by kriya he is given a method to prove the scriptural truth. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
858:ENVIRONMENT FOR MEDITATION Those of you who can afford it will do better to have a room for this practice alone. Do not sleep in that room, it must be kept holy. You must not enter the room until you have bathed, and are perfectly clean in body and mind. Place flowers in that room always; they are the best surroundings for a Yogi; also pictures that are pleasing. Burn incense morning and evening. Have no quarrelling, nor anger, nor unholy thought in that room. Only allow those persons to enter it who are of the same thought as you. Then gradually there will be an atmosphere of holiness in the room, so that when you are miserable, sorrowful, doubtful, or your mind is disturbed, the very fact of entering that room will make you calm. This was the idea of the temple and the church, and in some temples and churches you will find it even now, but in the majority of them the very idea has been lost. The idea is that by keeping holy vibrations there the place becomes and remains illumined. Those who cannot afford to have a room set apart can practise anywhere they ~ Swami Vivekananda,
859:ENVIRONMENT FOR MEDITATION Those of you who can afford it will do better to have a room for this practice alone. Do not sleep in that room, it must be kept holy. You must not enter the room until you have bathed, and are perfectly clean in body and mind. Place flowers in that room always; they are the best surroundings for a Yogi; also pictures that are pleasing. Burn incense morning and evening. Have no quarrelling, nor anger, nor unholy thought in that room. Only allow those persons to enter it who are of the same thought as you. Then gradually there will be an atmosphere of holiness in the room, so that when you are miserable, sorrowful, doubtful, or your mind is disturbed, the very fact of entering that room will make you calm. This was the idea of the temple and the church, and in some temples and churches you will find it even now, but in the majority of them the very idea has been lost. The idea is that by keeping holy vibrations there the place becomes and remains illumined. Those who cannot afford to have a room set apart can practise anywhere they like. (I. 145) ~ Swami Vivekananda,
860:INEZ: To forget about the others? How utterly absurd! I feel you there, in every pore.Your silence clamours in my ears. You can nail up your mouth, cut your tongue out - but you can't prevent your being there. Can you stop your thoughts? I hear them ticking away like a clock, tick-tock, tick-tock, and I'm certain you hear mine. It's all very well skulking on your sofa, but you're everywhere, and every sound comes to me soiled because you've intercepted it on its way. Why, you've even stolen my face; you know it and I don't ! And what about her, about Estelle? You've stolen her from me, too; if she and I were alone do you suppose she'd treat me as she does? No, take your hands from your face, I won't leave you in peace - that would suit your book too well. You'd go on sitting there, in a sort of trance, like a yogi, and even if I didn't see her I'd feel it in my bones - that she was making every sound, even the rustle of her dress, for your benefit, throwing you smiles you didn't see... Well, I won't stand for that, I prefer to choose my hell; I prefer to look you in the eyes and fight it out face to face. ~ Jean Paul Sartre,
861:we should take what is of value in knowledge, and leave the dross. Intellectual gymnastics are necessary at first. We must not go blindly into anything. The Yogi has passed the argumentative state, and has come to a conclusion, which is, like the rocks, immovable. The only thing he now seeks to do is to intensify that conclusion. Do not argue, he says; if one forces arguments upon you, be silent. Do not answer any argument, but go away calmly, because arguments only disturb the mind. The only thing necessary is to train the intellect, what is the use of disturbing it for nothing? The intellect is but a weak instrument, and can give us only knowledge limited by the senses. The Yogi wants to go beyond the senses, therefore intellect is of no use to him. He is certain of this and, therefore, is silent, and does not argue. Every argument throws his mind out of balance, creates a disturbance in the Chitta, and a disturbance is a drawback. Argumentations and searchings of the reason are only by the way. There are much higher things beyond them. The whole of life is not for schoolboy fights and debating societies. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
862:The great king Yudhishthira once said that the most wonderful thing in life is that every moment we see people dying around us, and yet we think we shall never die. Surrounded by fools on every side, we think we are the only exceptions, the only learned men. Surrounded by all sorts of experiences of fickleness, we think our love is the only lasting love. How can that be? Even love is selfish, and the Yogi says that in the end we shall find that even the love of husbands and wives, and children and friends, slowly decays. Decadence seizes everything in this life. It is only when everything, even love, fails, that, with a flash, man finds out how vain, how dream-like is this world. Then he catches a glimpse of Vairâgya (renunciation), catches a glimpse of the Beyond. It is only by giving up this world that the other comes; never through holding on to this one. Never yet was there a great soul who had not to reject sense-pleasures and enjoyments to acquire his greatness. The cause of misery is the clash between the different forces of nature, one dragging one way, and another dragging another, rendering permanent happiness impossible. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
863:The Yogis say that the man who has discriminating powers, the man of good sense, sees through all that are called pleasure and pain, and knows that they come to all, and that one follows and melts into the other; he sees that men follow an ignis fatuus all their lives, and never succeed in fulfilling their desires. The great King Yudhishthira once said that the most wonderful thing in life is that evry moment we see people dying around us, and yet we think we shall never die. Surrounded by fools on every side, we think we are the only exceptions, the only learned men. Surrounded by all sorts of experiences of fickleness, we think our love is the only lasting love. How can that be? Even love is selfish, and the Yogi says that in the end we shall find that even the love of husbands and wives, children and friends, slowly decays. Decadence seizes everything in this life. It is only when everything, even love, fails, that, with a flash, man finds out how vain, how dreamlike is this world. Then he catches a glimpse of Vairagya, catches a glimpse of the beyond. It is only by giving up this world that the other comes; never through holding on to this one. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
864:There exists in society a very special class of persons that I have always referred to as the Believers. These are folks who have chosen to accept a certain religion, philosophy, theory, idea or notion and cling to that belief regardless of any evidence that might, for anyone else, bring it into doubt. They are the ones who encourage and support the fanatics and the frauds of any given age. No amount of evidence, no matter how strong, will bring them any enlightenment. They are the sheep who beg to be fleeced and butchered, and who will battle fiercely to preserve their right to be victimized… patent offices handle an endless succession of inventors who still produce perpetual-motion machines that don't work, but no number of idle flywheels will convince these zealots of their folly; dozens of these patent applications flow in every year. In ashrams all over the world, hopping devotees of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi will never abandon their goal of blissful levitation of their bodies by mind power, despite bruises and sprains aplenty suffered as they bounce about on gym mats like demented (though smiling) frogs, trying to get airborne. Absolutely nothing will discourage them. ~ James Randi,
865:sound or word; of course, your eyes are open if you are gazing. Attention to the normal rhythm of breathing is also useful and enhances the repetition of the sound or the word.   (3) A Passive Attitude When distracting thoughts occur, they are to be disregarded and attention redirected to the repetition or gazing; you should not worry about how well you are performing the technique, because this may well prevent the Relaxation Response from occurring. Adopt a “let it happen” attitude. The passive attitude is perhaps the most important element in eliciting the Relaxation Response. Distracting thoughts will occur. Do not worry about them. When these thoughts do present themselves and you become aware of them, simply return to the repetition of the mental device. These other thoughts do not mean you are performing the technique incorrectly. They are to be expected.   (4) A Comfortable Position A comfortable posture is important so that there is no undue muscular tension. Some methods call for a sitting position. A few practitioners use the crosslegged “lotus” position of the Yogi. If you are lying down, there is a tendency to fall asleep. As we have noted previously, the various postures of ~ Herbert Benson,
866:The purity of the initiate has nothing to do with the Judeo-Christian sense of sin, the hatred and resentment of slaves. The existing earth must be transmuted, nature transfigured, the Twilight of the Gods make way for the Resurrection of the Gods. And this is another thing. It is an alchemical transmutation, sublimation, a spiritualization of matter. More, it is not for all, only for the initiated, for the Aryan, in the center of a hierarchy of castes. In Aryan India the initiate, the tantric yogi of the 'Right Hand,' must guard chastity. As well as the Platonic troubadour in the Initiation of A-Mor, which we shall explain in the fourth part of this work. For my Maestro chastity acquires fundamental importance in the path of our Warrior Initiation. I only saw him angry once. It was when I told him I was going to marry. He exclaimed: 'You are throwing chains on your feet…!' And added: 'Advice counts for nothing, each one must learn by themselves'.

I said that before I married I lived surrounded by presences ('of ghosts, of ghosts, in order to think,' as the Chilean poet Omar Caceres would say), rumours of another world. I was in close contact with the astral. That 'body,' or expectant embryo, kept developing its own 'senses'. ~ Miguel Serrano,
867:The nutritionist said I should eat root vegetables.
Said if I could get down thirteen turnips a day
I would be grounded, rooted.
Said my head would not keep flying away
to where the darkness lives.

The psychic told me my heart carries too much weight.
Said for twenty dollars she’d tell me what to do.
I handed her the twenty. She said, “Stop worrying, darling.
You will find a good man soon.”

The first psycho therapist told me to spend
three hours each day sitting in a dark closet
with my eyes closed and ears plugged.
I tried it once but couldn’t stop thinking
about how gay it was to be sitting in the closet.

The yogi told me to stretch everything but the truth.
Said to focus on the out breath. Said everyone finds happiness
when they care more about what they give
than what they get.

The pharmacist said, “Lexapro, Lamicatl, Lithium, Xanax.”

The doctor said an anti-psychotic might help me
forget what the trauma said.

The trauma said, “Don’t write these poems.
Nobody wants to hear you cry
about the grief inside your bones.”

But my bones said, “Tyler Clementi jumped
from the George Washington Bridge
into the Hudson River convinced
he was entirely alone.”

My bones said, “Write the poems. ~ Andrea Gibson,
868:THE SIMPLE UNION

Listen to me, O friend.

Be thou a yogi, a monk, a priest,
A devout lover of God,
A pilgrim searching for Happiness, Bathing in holy rivers,
Visiting sacred shrines,
The occasional worshipper of a day,
A great reader of books, Or a builder of many temples -
My love aches for thee.
I know the way to the heart of the Beloved.

This vain struggle,
This long toil,
This ceaseless sorrow,
This changing pleasure,
This burning doubt,
This burden of life,
All these will cease, O friend -
My love aches for thee.
I know the way to the heart of the Beloved.

Have I pilgrimage the earth,
Have I loved the reflections,
Have I chanted, singing in ecstasy,
Have I donned the robe,
Have I put on ashes,
Have I listened to the temple bells,
Have I grown old with study,
Have I searched,
Was I lost?
Yea, much have I known -
My love aches for thee.
I know the way to the heart of the Beloved,

O friend,
Wouldst thou love the reflection,
If I can give thee the reality?
Throw away thy bells, thine incense,
Thy fears and thy gods,
Set aside thy systems, thy philosophies.
Come,
Put aside all these.
I know the way to the heart of the Beloved.

O friend,
The simple union is the best.

This is the way to the heart of the Beloved. ~ Anonymous,
869:Starting as some fungus, some very minute, microscopic bubble, and all the time drawing from that infinite store-house of energy, a form is changed slowly and steadily until in course of time it becomes a plant, then an animal, then man, ultimately God. This is attained through millions of aeons, but what is time? An increase of speed, an increase of struggle, is able to bridge the gulf of time. That which naturally takes a long time to accomplish can be shortened by the intensity of the action, says the Yogi. A man may go on slowly drawing in this energy from the infinite mass that exists in the universe, and, perhaps, he will require a hundred thousand years to become a Deva, and then, perhaps, five hundred thousand years to become still higher, and, perhaps, five millions of years to become perfect. Given rapid growth, the time will be lessened. Why is it not possible, with sufficient effort, to reach this very perfection in six months or six years? There is no limit. Reason shows that. If an engine, with a certain amount of coal, runs two miles an hour, it will run the distance in less time with a greater supply of coal. Similarly, why shall not the soul, by intensifying its action, attain perfection in this very life? All beings will at last attain to that goal, we know. But who cares to wait all these millions of aeons? Why not reach it immediately, in this body even, in this human form? Why shall I not get that infinite knowledge, infinite power, now? ~ Swami Vivekananda,
870:The Yoga system of Patanjali is known as the Eightfold Path. 9 The first steps are (1) yama (moral conduct), and (2) niyama (religious observances). Yama is fulfilled by noninjury to others, truthfulness, nonstealing, continence, and noncovetousness. The niyama prescripts are purity of body and mind, contentment in all circumstances, self-discipline, self-study (contemplation), and devotion to God and guru. The next steps are (3) asana (right posture); the spinal column must be held straight, and the body firm in a comfortable position for meditation; (4) pranayama (control of prana, subtle life currents); and (5) pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from external objects). The last steps are forms of yoga proper: (6) dharana (concentration), holding the mind to one thought; (7) dhyana (meditation); and (8) samadhi (superconscious experience). This Eightfold Path of Yoga leads to the final goal of Kaivalya (Absoluteness), in which the yogi realizes the Truth beyond all intellectual apprehension. “Which is greater,” one may ask, “a swami or a yogi?” If and when oneness with God is achieved, the distinctions of the various paths disappear. The Bhagavad Gita, however, has pointed out that the methods of yoga are all-embracing. Its techniques are not meant only for certain types and temperaments, such as those few persons who incline toward the monastic life; yoga requires no formal allegiance. Because the yogic science satisfies a universal need, it has a natural universal appeal. A true yogi may remain dutifully in the world; ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
871:Hail to thee, O teacher of Brahmins!” Onesikritos said after seeking out Dandamis in his forest retreat. “The son of the mighty God Zeus, being Alexander who is the Sovereign Lord of all men, asks you to go to him. If you comply, he will reward you with great gifts; if you refuse, he will cut off your head!” The yogi received calmly this fairly compulsive invitation, and “did not so much as lift up his head from his couch of leaves.” “I also am a son of Zeus, if Alexander be such,” he commented. “I want nothing that is Alexander’s, for I am content with what I have, while I see that he wanders with his men over sea and land for no advantage, and is never coming to an end of his wanderings. “Go and tell Alexander that God the Supreme King is never the Author of insolent wrong, but is the Creator of light, of peace, of life, of water, of the body of man and of souls; He receives all men when death sets them free, being then in no way subject to evil disease. He alone is the God of my homage, who abhors slaughter and instigates no wars. “Alexander is no god, since he must taste of death,” continued the sage in quiet scorn. “How can such as he be the world’s master, when he has not yet seated himself on a throne of inner universal dominion? Neither as yet has he entered living into Hades, nor does he even know the course of the sun over the vast regions of this earth. Most nations have not so much as heard his name!” After this chastisement—surely the most caustic ever sent to assault the ears of the “Lord of the World”—the sage added ironically, ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
872:Those who really want to be Yogis must give up, once for all, this nibbling at things. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life — think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced. Others are mere talking machines. If we really want to be blessed, and make others blessed, we must go deeper. The first step is not to disturb the mind, not to associate with persons whose ideas are disturbing. All of you know that certain persons, certain places, certain foods, repel you. Avoid them; and those who want to go to the highest, must avoid all company, good or bad. Practise hard; whether you live or die does not matter. You have to plunge in and work, without thinking of the result. If you are brave enough, in six months you will be a perfect Yogi. But those who take up just a bit of it and a little of everything else make no progress. It is of no use simply to take a course of lessons. To those who are full of Tamas, ignorant and dull — those whose minds never get fixed on any idea, who only crave for something to amuse them — religion and philosophy are simply objects of entertainment. These are the unpersevering. They hear a talk, think it very nice, and then go home and forget all about it. To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean," says the persevering soul, "at my will mountains will crumble up." Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
873:Croesus, King of Lydia, was considered the richest man of his time. To this day Romance languages use the expression “rich as Croesus” to describe a person of excessive wealth. He was said to be visited by Solon, the Greek legislator known for his dignity, reserve, upright morals, humility, frugality, wisdom, intelligence, and courage. Solon did not display the smallest surprise at the wealth and splendor surrounding his host, nor the tiniest admiration for their owner. Croesus was so irked by the manifest lack of impression on the part of this illustrious visitor that he attempted to extract from him some acknowledgment. He asked him if he had known a happier man than him. Solon cited the life of a man who led a noble existence and died while in battle. Prodded for more, he gave similar examples of heroic but terminated lives, until Croesus, irate, asked him point-blank if he was not to be considered the happiest man of all. Solon answered: “The observation of the numerous misfortunes that attend all conditions forbids us to grow insolent upon our present enjoyments, or to admire a man’s happiness that may yet, in course of time, suffer change. For the uncertain future has yet to come, with all variety of future; and him only to whom the divinity has [guaranteed] continued happiness until the end we may call happy.” The modern equivalent has been no less eloquently voiced by the baseball coach Yogi Berra, who seems to have translated Solon’s outburst from the pure Attic Greek into no less pure Brooklyn English with “it ain’t over until it’s over,” or, in a less dignified manner, with “it ain’t over until the fat lady sings. ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb,
874:Buddha is the only prophet who said, "I do not care to know your various theories about God. What is the use of discussing all the subtle doctrines about the soul? Do good and be good. And this will take you to freedom and to whatever truth there is." He was, in the conduct of his life, absolutely without personal motives; and what man worked more than he? Show me in history one character who has soared so high above all. The whole human race has produced but one such character, such high philosophy, such wide sympathy. This great philosopher, preaching the highest philosophy, yet had the deepest sympathy for the lowest of animals, and never put forth any claims for himself. He is the ideal Karma-Yogi, acting entirely without motive, and the history of humanity shows him to have been the greatest man ever born; beyond compare the greatest combination of heart and brain that ever existed, the greatest soul-power that has even been manifested. He is the first great reformer the world has seen. He was the first who dared to say, "Believe not because some old manuscripts are produced, believe not because it is your national belief, because you have been made to believe it from your childhood; but reason it all out, and after you have analysed it, then, if you find that it will do good to one and all, believe it, live up to it, and help others to live up to it." He works best who works without any motive, neither for money, nor for fame, nor for anything else; and when a man can do that, he will be a Buddha, and out of him will come the power to work in such a manner as will transform the world. This man represents the very highest ideal of Karma-Yoga. ~ Swami Vivekananda,
875:O Yogi die; die to the world. Such death is sweet. Die in the manner of Goraksa who died and then saw the Invisible. Speak not in haste, walk not in haste Take slow cautious steps. Let not pride overtake you. Lead a simple life, says Goraksanath. Goraksha says: Listen, O Avadhuta, this is how you should lead your life in this world. See with your eyes, hear with your ears but never speak. Just be a dispassionate witness to the happenings around you. Do not react. Goraksa says one who remains steadfast in observing his sadhna keeping his spiritual practice, food habits and sleeping habits under strict yogic discipline neither grows old nor dies. Goraksa says-- Om Siva Goraksa Yogi is the mantra, which is the substance of all true joys. One should repair to a solitary place and chant this mantra so devoutly that he becomes oblivious of his own body. Om Siva Goraksa Yogi-- this auspicious mantra contains measureless sakti. It is so powerful that even sinners of the worst kind have attained moksa just by chanting this mantra. Goraksa says he who chants the name vocally or non-vocally, meditates, controls the five senses from their pleasures and burns his body in the holy fire of Brahma finds Mahadeva. The mind is dull and fails to comprehend the secret of the the path of yoga. It is very capricious and is always engaged in mischief, thus causing a man to drift away from the true path. The mind itself is the abode of the good as well as of the evil. One may either let the good prevail or may allow free play to the evil instincts. This mind is pure and pious only when it lets the good in it prosper. If the mind promotes the evil instincts residing in it then it becomes impure and impious. Yoga is the means by which the mind can be trained to promote and sustain the good instincts.

~ Gorakhnath, Gorakh Bani
,
876:The ancient rishi Patanjali6 defines yoga as “neutralization of the alternating waves in consciousness.”7 His short and masterly work, Yoga Sutras, forms one of the six systems of Hindu philosophy. In contradistinction to Western philosophies, all six Hindu systems8 embody not only theoretical teachings but practical ones also. After pursuing every conceivable ontological inquiry, the Hindu systems formulate six definite disciplines aimed at the permanent removal of suffering and the attainment of timeless bliss. The later Upanishads uphold the Yoga Sutras, among the six systems, as containing the most efficacious methods for achieving direct perception of truth. Through the practical techniques of yoga, man leaves behind forever the barren realms of speculation and cognizes in experience the veritable Essence. The Yoga system of Patanjali is known as the Eightfold Path.9 The first steps are (1) yama (moral conduct), and (2) niyama (religious observances). Yama is fulfilled by noninjury to others, truthfulness, nonstealing, continence, and noncovetousness. The niyama prescripts are purity of body and mind, contentment in all circumstances, self-discipline, self-study (contemplation), and devotion to God and guru. The next steps are (3) asana (right posture); the spinal column must be held straight, and the body firm in a comfortable position for meditation; (4) pranayama (control of prana, subtle life currents); and (5) pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from external objects). The last steps are forms of yoga proper: (6) dharana (concentration), holding the mind to one thought; (7) dhyana (meditation); and (8) samadhi (superconscious experience). This Eightfold Path of Yoga leads to the final goal of Kaivalya (Absoluteness), in which the yogi realizes the Truth beyond all intellectual apprehension. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
877:From science, then, if it must be so, let man learn the philosophic truth that there is no material universe; its warp and woof is maya, illusion. Its mirages of reality all break down under analysis. As one by one the reassuring props of a physical cosmos crash beneath him, man dimly perceives his idolatrous reliance, his past transgression of the divine command: “Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.” In his famous equation outlining the equivalence of mass and energy, Einstein proved that the energy in any particle of matter is equal to its mass or weight multiplied by the square of the velocity of light. The release of the atomic energies is brought about through the annihilation of the material particles. The ‘death’ of matter has been the ‘birth’ of an Atomic Age. Light-velocity is a mathematical standard or constant not because there is an absolute value in 186,000 miles a second, but because no material body, whose mass increases with its velocity, can ever attain the velocity of light. Stated another way: only a material body whose mass is infinite could equal the velocity of light. This conception brings us to the law of miracles. The masters who are able to materialise and dematerialise their bodies or any other object and to move with the velocity of light, and to utilise the creative light-rays in bringing into instant visibility any physical manifestation, have fulfilled the necessary Einsteinian condition: their mass is infinite. The consciousness of a perfected yogi is effortlessly identified, not with a narrow body, but with the universal structure. Gravitation, whether the ‘force’ of Newton or the Einsteinian ‘manifestation of inertia’, is powerless to compel a master to exhibit the property of ‘weight’ which is the distinguishing gravitational condition of all material objects. He who knows himself as the omnipresent Spirit is subject no longer to the rigidities of a body in time and space. Their imprisoning ‘rings-pass-not’ have yielded to the solvent: “I am He. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
878:Kulakundalini, Goddess Full of Brahman, Tara -- You are inside me. You are inside me, Ma in the muladhara, the sahasrara, and the wish-granting manipura. The Ganges flows to the left, the Yamuna to the right; in their midst streams the Sarasvati where Siva and Sakti shine. Meditating on You like this a ruby-red snake sleeping coiled around the Lord Self-Born a man is blessed. In each glorious lotus Muladhara, svadhisthana, manipura at the navel, anahata, and visuddha You incarnate as letters v to s, b to l, d to ph, k to th, sixteen vowels at the throat, and h and ks between the eyebrows. My teacher was firm with me; he told me to think of You like this in my body. Brahma and the four gods, and Dakini and her five saktis inhabit the ascending lotuses, supported underneath by an elephant, a crocodile, a ram, an antelope, and a second elephant. If you hold your breath you can know Her and hear the buzzing hum of a drunken bee. Earth, water, fire, and air dissolve immediately when you sound "yam," ram," "lam," "ham," and "haum." Then cast me a compassionate glance -- I keep being reborn! Your feet alone drip nectar. You are Sakti, cosmic sound, and Siva the dot in "Om" full of nectar like the moon. Who can cleave the One Self? Ritual worship, controversies over dualism and nondualism these don't bother me, for the Great Mistress of Time tramples Time. Once sleep is broken there's no more sleep, and the soul will be turned into Siva. Could one like this even if reborn drown anew in the senses? Liberation adores him like a daughter. Pierce the agna cakra; dispel the devotee's despair. Traveling past lotuses four, six, ten, twelve, sixteen, and two to the thousand-petaled flower at the top of the head the female swan unites with Her handsom amde in the residence of the Lord. Hearing Prasad's words, the yogi floats in a sea of bliss. [1770.jpg] -- from Singing to the Goddess: Poems to Kali and Uma from Bengal, Translated by Rachel Fell McDermott

~ Ramprasad, Kulakundalini, Goddess Full of Brahman, Tara
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879:Correlation is enough,” 2 then-Wired editor in chief Chris Anderson famously declared in 2008. We can, he implied, solve innovation problems by the sheer brute force of the data deluge. Ever since Michael Lewis chronicled the Oakland A’s unlikely success in Moneyball (who knew on-base percentage was a better indicator of offensive success than batting averages?), organizations have been trying to find the Moneyball equivalent of customer data that will lead to innovation success. Yet few have. Innovation processes in many companies are structured and disciplined, and the talent applying them is highly skilled. There are careful stage-gates, rapid iterations, and checks and balances built into most organizations’ innovation processes. Risks are carefully calculated and mitigated. Principles like six-sigma have pervaded innovation process design so we now have precise measurements and strict requirements for new products to meet at each stage of their development. From the outside, it looks like companies have mastered an awfully precise, scientific process. But for most of them, innovation is still painfully hit or miss. And worst of all, all this activity gives the illusion of progress, without actually causing it. Companies are spending exponentially more to achieve only modest incremental innovations while completely missing the mark on the breakthrough innovations critical to long-term, sustainable growth. As Yogi Berra famously observed: “We’re lost, but we’re making good time!” What’s gone so wrong? Here is the fundamental problem: the masses and masses of data that companies accumulate are not organized in a way that enables them to reliably predict which ideas will succeed. Instead the data is along the lines of “this customer looks like that one,” “this product has similar performance attributes as that one,” and “these people behaved the same way in the past,” or “68 percent of customers say they prefer version A over version B.” None of that data, however, actually tells you why customers make the choices that they do. ~ Clayton M Christensen,
880:English version by Garma C. C. Chang
Obeisance to the perfect Marpa.

I am the Yogi who perceives the Ultimate Truth.
In the Origin of the Unborn, I first gain assurance;
On the Path of Non-extinction, slowly
   I perfect my power;
With meaningful symbols and words
Flowing from my great compassion,
I now sing this song
From the absolute realm of Dharma Essence.

Because your sinful Karma has created
Dense blindness and impenetrable obstruction,
You cannot understand the meaning
Of Ultimate Truth.
Listen, therefore, to the Expedient Truth.

In their spotless, ancient Sutras,
All the Buddhas in the past, repeatedly
Admonished with the eternal Truth of Karma --
That every sentient being is one's kinsman.
This is eternal Truth which never fails.
Listen closely to the teaching of Compassion.

I, the Yogi who developed by his practices,
Know that outer hindrances are but a shadow-show,
And the phantasmal world
A magic play of mind unborn.

By looking inward into the mind is seen
Mind-nature -- without substance, intrinsically void.
Through meditation in solitude, the grace
Of the Succession Gurus and the teaching
Of the great Naropa are attained.
The inner truth of the Buddha
Should be the object of meditation.

By the gracious instruction of my Guru,
Is the abstruse inner meaning of Tantra understood.
Through the practice of Arising and
   Perfecting Yoga,
Is the Vital Power engendered
And the inner reason for the microcosm realized.
Thus in the outer world I do not fear
The illusory obstacles.

To the Great Divine Lineage I belong,
With innumerable yogis great as all Space.

When in one's own mind one ponders
On the original state of Mind,
Illusory thoughts of themselves dissolve
Into the Realm of Dharmadhatu.
Neither afflicter nor afflicted can be seen.
Exhaustive study of the Sutras
Teaches us no more than this.

~ Jetsun Milarepa, The Song of Perfect Assurance (to the Demons)
,
881:Masters are under no cosmic compulsion to limit their residence.” My companion glanced at me quizzically. “The Himalayas in India and Tibet have no monopoly on saints. What one does not trouble to find within will not be discovered by transporting the body hither and yon. As soon as the devotee is willing to go even to the ends of the earth for spiritual enlightenment, his guru appears nearby.” I silently agreed, recalling my prayer in the Benares hermitage, followed by the meeting with Sri Yukteswar in a crowded lane. “Are you able to have a little room where you can close the door and be alone?” “Yes.” I reflected that this saint descended from the general to the particular with disconcerting speed. “That is your cave.” The yogi bestowed on me a gaze of illumination which I have never forgotten. “That is your sacred mountain. That is where you will find the kingdom of God.” His simple words instantaneously banished my life-long obsession for the Himalayas. In a burning paddy field I awoke from the monticolous dreams of eternal snows. “Young sir, your divine thirst is laudable. I feel great love for you.” Ram Gopal took my hand and led me to a quaint hamlet. The adobe houses were covered with coconut leaves and adorned with rustic entrances. The saint seated me on the umbrageous bamboo platform of his small cottage. After giving me sweetened lime juice and a piece of rock candy, he entered his patio and assumed the lotus posture. In about four hours, I opened my meditative eyes and saw that the moonlit figure of the yogi was still motionless. As I was sternly reminding my stomach that man does not live by bread alone, Ram Gopal approached me. “I see you are famished; food will be ready soon.” A fire was kindled under a clay oven on the patio; rice and dal were quickly served on large banana leaves. My host courteously refused my aid in all cooking chores. ‘The guest is God,’ a Hindu proverb, has commanded devout observance from time immemorial. In my later world travels, I was charmed to see that a similar respect for visitors is manifested in rural sections of many countries. The city dweller finds the keen edge of hospitality blunted by superabundance of strange faces. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
882:12 Many uninformed persons speak of yoga as Hatha Yoga or consider yoga to be “magic,” dark mysterious rites for attaining spectacular powers. When scholars, however, speak of yoga they mean the system expounded in Yoga Sutras (also known as Patanjali’s Aphorisms): Raja (“royal”) Yoga. The treatise embodies philosophic concepts of such grandeur as to have inspired commentaries by some of India’s greatest thinkers, including the illumined master Sadasivendra. Like the other five orthodox (Vedas-based) philosophical systems, Yoga Sutras considers the “magic” of moral purity (the “ten commandments” of yama and niyama) to be the indispensable preliminary for sound philosophical investigation. This personal demand, not insisted on in the West, has bestowed lasting vitality on the six Indian disciplines. The cosmic order (rita) that upholds the universe is not different from the moral order that rules man’s destiny. He who is unwilling to observe the universal moral precepts is not seriously determined to pursue truth. Section III of Yoga Sutras mentions various yogic miraculous powers (vibhutis and siddhis). True knowledge is always power. The path of yoga is divided into four stages, each with its vibhuti expression. Achieving a certain power, the yogi knows that he has successfully passed the tests of one of the four stages. Emergence of the characteristic powers is evidence of the scientific structure of the yoga system, wherein delusive imaginations about one’s “spiritual progress” are banished; proof is required! Patanjali warns the devotee that unity with Spirit should be the sole goal, not the possession of vibhutis — the merely incidental flowers along the sacred path. May the Eternal Giver be sought, not His phenomenal gifts! God does not reveal Himself to a seeker who is satisfied with any lesser attainment. The striving yogi is therefore careful not to exercise his phenomenal powers, lest they arouse false pride and distract him from entering the ultimate state of Kaivalya. When the yogi has reached his Infinite Goal, he exercises the vibhutis, or refrains from exercising them, just as he pleases. All his actions, miraculous or otherwise, are then performed without karmic involvement. The iron filings of karma are attracted only where a magnet of the personal ego still exists. ~ Paramahansa Yogananda,
883:...] Un trait caractéristique de la culture occidentale depuis le Moyen Âge finissant est, du reste, une certaine féminisation : à l'extérieur, le costume masculin manifeste en effet, du moins dans les classes supérieures et surtout chez les princes, un besoin excessif de plaire aux femmes – ce qui est révélateur – tandis que dans la culture en général nous pouvons observer un accroissement de la sensibilité imaginative et émotive, bref une expressivité qui à rigoureusement parler va trop loin et « mondanise » les âmes au lieu de les intérioriser. La cause lointaine de ce trait pourrait être en partie le respect qu'avaient, selon Tacite, les Germains pour la femme – respect que nous sommes fort loin de blâmer –, mais ce trait tout à fait normal et louable eût été sans conséquence problématique s'il n'y avait pas eu un autre facteur beaucoup plus déterminant, à savoir la scission chrétienne de la société en clercs et laïcs ; de ce fait, la société laïque devenait une humanité à part qui croyait de plus en plus avoir droit à la mondanité, dans laquelle la femme – qu'elle le veuille ou non – joue évidemment un premier rôle (3). Nous mentionnons cet aspect de la culture occidentale parce qu'il explique une certaine allure du génie extériorisé et hypersensible ; et n'oublions pas d'ajouter que tout cela relève du mystère d'Ève et non de celui de Marie, lequel relève de la Mâyâ ascendante.

3 – Un signe de cette autocratie laïque et de la mondanité qui en résulte est, parmi les manifestations vestimentaires, le décolleté des femmes, déjà blâmé par Dante, et paradoxal non seulement au point de vue de l'ascétisme chrétien, mais aussi au point de vue du légalisme sémitique, lequel ignore précisément la distinction entre clercs et laïcs puisqu'il sacralise la société entière ; ce n'est pas le phénomène de la dénudation qui étonne ici – car il existe légitimement dans l'hindouisme et ailleurs – mais c'est le fait que ce phénomène se produise en milieu chrétien. On pourrait dire aussi que la frivolité des mœurs laïques – les bals notamment – fait pendant au rigorisme exagéré des couvents, et que cette disparité trop ostentatoire marque un déséquilibre fauteur de toutes sortes d'oscillations subséquentes. Dans l'Inde, le maharadjah couvert de perles et le yogi couvert de cendre sont certes dissemblables, mais ils sont tous deux des « images divines ». ~ Frithjof Schuon,
884:t is discovered an extraordinary similarity between Nietzsche and the Hindu-Aryan Rishi, visionary poets of the Vedas.

They also thought the ideas from outside to inside: they 'appeared' to them. Rishi means 'he who sees'. See an Idea, express it, or try to express it. The job of the Rishis has been fulfilled for millennia and the vision of the Vedas was revised, elaborated, in subsequent visions, in scholastics, in doctrinal buildings and sophisticated verifications, through centuries.

In any case, he, who preached not to subtract anything that life offers as Will of Power, as possession, increasing its power, lived chaste, like a yogi, always looking for the highest tensions of the soul, climbing always, more and more lonely, to be able to open up to that style of thinking, where the ideas could possess him as the most authentic expression of life, as his 'pulse', hitting him in the center of the personal being, or of the existence there accumulated, and that he called, long before Jung and any other psychologist, the Self, to differentiate it from the conscious and limited self, from the rational self.

Let's clarify, then. What Nietzsche called thinking is something else, Nietzsche did not think with his head (because 'synchronistically' it hurt) but with the Self, with all of life and, especially, 'with the feet'. 'I think with my feet,' he said, 'because I think walking, climbing.'

That is, when the effort and exhaustion caused the conscious mind to enter a kind of drowsiness or semi-sleep, there it took possession of the work of thinking that 'other thing', the Self, opening up to the dazzling penetration of the Idea, or that expression of the Original Power of Life, of Being, of the Will of Power, which crosses man from part to part, as in a yoga samadhi, or in a kaivalya, from an ancient rishi, or Tantric Siddha.

Also like those rays that pierced the Etruscan 'fulgurators', to change them, and that they were able to resist thanks to a purified technique of concentration and initiation preparation.

That this is a deep Aryan, Hyperborean, that is, Nordic-polar, Germanic style of origins ('let's face ourselves, we are Hyperborean'), and that he knew it, is proved in the name he gave his more beautiful, bigger work: 'Thus spoke Zarathustra'. Zarathustra is the Aryan Magician-reformer of ancient Persia. ~ Miguel Serrano,
885:Homage to the state of great bliss!
Concerning what is called Mahamudra
All things are your own mind.
Seeing objects as external is a mistaken concept;
Like a dream, they are empty of concreteness.
This mind, as well, is a mere movement of attention
That has no self-nature, being merely a gust of wind.
Empty of identity, like space.
All things, like space, are equal.
When speaking of 'Mahamudra'
It is not an entity that can be shown.
There the mind's suchness
Is itself the state of Mahamudra.
It is neither something to be corrected nor transformed,
But when anyone sees and realizes its nature
All that appears and exists is Mahamudra,
The great all-encompassing Dharmakaya.
Naturally and without contriving, allowed simply to be,
This unimagined Dharmakaya,
Letting it be without seeking is the meditation training.
But to meditate while seeking is deluded mind.
Just as with space and a magical display,
While neither cultivating nor not cultivating
How can you be separate and not separate!
This is a yogi's understanding.
All good deeds and harmful actions
Dissolve by simply knowing this nature.
The emotions are the great wisdom.
Like a jungle fire, they are the yogi's helpers.
How can there be staying or going?
What meditation is there by fleeing to a hermitage?
Without understanding this, all possible means
Never bring more than temporary liberation.
When understanding this nature, what is there to bind you?
While being undistracted from its continuity,
There is neither a composed nor an uncomposed state
To be cultivated or corrected with a remedy.
It is not made out of anything
Experience self-liberated is dharmadhatu.
Thinking self-liberated is great wisdom,
Non-dual equality is dharmakaya.
Like the continuous flow of a great river,
Whatever you do is meaningful,
This is the eternal awakened state,
The great bliss, leaving no place for samasara.
All things are empty of their own identities.
This concept fixed on emptiness has dissolved in itself.
Free of concept, holding nothing in mind,
Is in itself the path of the Buddhas.
For the most fortunate ones,
I have made these concise words of heartfelt advice.
Through this, may every single sentient being
Be established in Mahamudra.
~ Naropa, The Summary of Mahamudra
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886:Tim Tigner began his career in Soviet Counterintelligence with the US Army Special Forces, the Green Berets. That was back in the Cold War days when, “We learned Russian so you didn't have to,” something he did at the Presidio of Monterey alongside Recon Marines and Navy SEALs. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, Tim switched from espionage to arbitrage. Armed with a Wharton MBA rather than a Colt M16, he moved to Moscow in the midst of Perestroika. There, he led prominent multinational medical companies, worked with cosmonauts on the MIR Space Station (from Earth, alas), chaired the Association of International Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, and helped write Russia’s first law on healthcare. Moving to Brussels during the formation of the EU, Tim ran Europe, Middle East, and Africa for a Johnson & Johnson company and traveled like a character in a Robert Ludlum novel. He eventually landed in Silicon Valley, where he launched new medical technologies as a startup CEO. In his free time, Tim has climbed the peaks of Mount Olympus, hang glided from the cliffs of Rio de Janeiro, and ballooned over Belgium. He earned scuba certification in Turkey, learned to ski in Slovenia, and ran the Serengeti with a Maasai warrior. He acted on stage in Portugal, taught negotiations in Germany, and chaired a healthcare conference in Holland. Tim studied psychology in France, radiology in England, and philosophy in Greece. He has enjoyed ballet at the Bolshoi, the opera on Lake Como, and the symphony in Vienna. He’s been a marathoner, paratrooper, triathlete, and yogi.  Intent on combining his creativity with his experience, Tim began writing thrillers in 1996 from an apartment overlooking Moscow’s Gorky Park. Decades later, his passion for creative writing continues to grow every day. His home office now overlooks a vineyard in Northern California, where he lives with his wife Elena and their two daughters. Tim grew up in the Midwest, and graduated from Hanover College with a BA in Philosophy and Mathematics. After military service and work as a financial analyst and foreign-exchange trader, he earned an MBA in Finance and an MA in International Studies from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton and Lauder Schools.  Thank you for taking the time to read about the author. Tim is most grateful for his loyal fans, and loves to correspond with readers like you. You are welcome to reach him directly at tim@timtigner.com. ~ Tim Tigner,
887:Who could have thought that this tanned young man with gentle, dreamy eyes, long wavy hair parted in the middle and falling to the neck, clad in a common coarse Ahmedabad dhoti, a close-fitting Indian jacket, and old-fashioned slippers with upturned toes, and whose face was slightly marked with smallpox, was no other than Mister Aurobindo Ghose, living treasure of French, Latin and Greek?" Actually, Sri Aurobindo was not yet through with books; the Western momentum was still there; he devoured books ordered from Bombay and Calcutta by the case. "Aurobindo would sit at his desk," his Bengali teacher continues, "and read by the light of an oil lamp till one in the morning, oblivious of the intolerable mosquito bites. I would see him seated there in the same posture for hours on end, his eyes fixed on his book, like a yogi lost in the contemplation of the Divine, unaware of all that went on around him. Even if the house had caught fire, it would not have broken this concentration." He read English, Russian, German, and French novels, but also, in ever larger numbers, the sacred books of India, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, although he had never been in a temple except as an observer. "Once, having returned from the College," one of his friends recalls, "Sri Aurobindo sat down, picked up a book at random and started to read, while Z and some friends began a noisy game of chess. After half an hour, he put the book down and took a cup of tea. We had already seen him do this many times and were waiting eagerly for a chance to verify whether he read the books from cover to cover or only scanned a few pages here and there. Soon the test began. Z opened the book, read a line aloud and asked Sri Aurobindo to recite what followed. Sri Aurobindo concentrated for a moment, and then repeated the entire page without a single mistake. If he could read a hundred pages in half an hour, no wonder he could go through a case of books in such an incredibly short time." But Sri Aurobindo did not stop at the translations of the sacred texts; he began to study Sanskrit, which, typically, he learned by himself. When a subject was known to be difficult or impossible, he would refuse to take anyone's word for it, whether he were a grammarian, pandit, or clergyman, and would insist upon trying it himself. The method seemed to have some merit, for not only did he learn Sanskrit, but a few years later he discovered the lost meaning of the Veda. ~ Satprem, Sri Aurobindo Or The Adventure of Consciousness,
888:English version by Garma C. C. Chang
I bow down at the feet of the wish-fulfilling Guru.
Pray vouchsafe me your grace in bestowing beneficial food,
Pray make me realize my own body as the house of Buddha,
Pray grant me this knowledge.

I built the house through fear,
The house of Sunyata, the void nature of being;
Now I have no fear of its collapsing.
I, the Yogi with the wish-fulfilling gem,
Feel happiness and joy where'er I stay.

Because of the fear of cold, I sought for clothes;
The clothing I found is the Ah Shea Vital Heat.
Now I have no fear of coldness.

Because of the fear of poverty, I sought for riches;
The riches I found are the inexhaustible Seven Holy Jewels.
Now I have no fear of poverty.

Because of the fear of hunger, I sought for food;
The food I found is the Samadhi of Suchness.
Now I have no fear of hunger.

Because of the fear of thirst, I sought for drink;
The heavenly drink I found is the wine of mindfulness.
Now I have no fear of thirst.

Because of the fear of loneliness, I searched for a friend;
The friend I found is the bliss of perpetual Sunyata.
Now I have no fear of loneliness.

Because of the fear of going astray,
I sought for the right path to follow.
The wide path I found is the Path of Two-in-One.
Now I do not fear to lose my way.

I am a yogi with all desirable possessions,
A man always happy where'er he stays.

Here at Yolmo Tagpu Senge Tson,
The tigress howling with a pathetic, trembling cry,
Reminds me that her helpless cubs are innocently playing.
I cannot help but feel a great compassion for them,
I cannot help but practice more diligently,
I cannot help but augment thus my Bodhi-Mind.

The touching cry of the monkey,
So impressive and so moving,
Cannot help but raise in me deep pity.
The little monkey's chattering is amusing and pathetic;
As I hear it, I cannot but think of it with compassion.

The voice of the cuckoo is so moving,
And so tuneful is the lark's sweet singing,
That when I hear them I cannot help but listen --
When I listen to them,
I cannot help but shed tears.

The varied cries and cawings of the crow,
Are a good and helpful friend unto the yogi.
Even without a single friend,
To remain here is a pleasure.
With joy flowing from my heart, I sing this happy song;
May the dark shadow of all men's sorrows
Be dispelled by my joyful singing.
~ Jetsun Milarepa, The Song of Food and Dwelling
,
889:The Song Of Food And Dwelling :::
I bow down at the feet of the wish-fulfilling Guru.
Pray vouchsafe me your grace in bestowing beneficial food,
Pray make me realize my own body as the house of Buddha,
Pray grant me this knowledge.

I built the house through fear,
The house of Sunyata, the void nature of being;
Now I have no fear of its collapsing.
I, the Yogi with the wish-fulfilling gem,
Feel happiness and joy where'er I stay.

Because of the fear of cold, I sought for clothes;
The clothing I found is the Ah Shea Vital Heat.
Now I have no fear of coldness.

Because of the fear of poverty, I sought for riches;
The riches I found are the inexhaustible Seven Holy Jewels.
Now I have no fear of poverty.

Because of the fear of hunger, I sought for food;
The food I found is the Samadhi of Suchness.
Now I have no fear of hunger.

Because of the fear of thirst, I sought for drink;
The heavenly drink I found is the wine of mindfulness.
Now I have no fear of thirst.

Because of the fear of loneliness, I searched for a friend;
The friend I found is the bliss of perpetual Sunyata.
Now I have no fear of loneliness.

Because of the fear of going astray,
I sought for the right path to follow.
The wide path I found is the Path of Two-in-One.
Now I do not fear to lose my way.

I am a yogi with all desirable possessions,
A man always happy where'er he stays.

Here at Yolmo Tagpu Senge Tson,
The tigress howling with a pathetic, trembling cry,
Reminds me that her helpless cubs are innocently playing.
I cannot help but feel a great compassion for them,
I cannot help but practice more diligently,
I cannot help but augment thus my Bodhi-Mind.

The touching cry of the monkey,
So impressive and so moving,
Cannot help but raise in me deep pity.
The little monkey's chattering is amusing and pathetic;
As I hear it, I cannot but think of it with compassion.

The voice of the cuckoo is so moving,
And so tuneful is the lark's sweet singing,
That when I hear them I cannot help but listen
When I listen to them,
I cannot help but shed tears.

The varied cries and cawings of the crow,
Are a good and helpful friend unto the yogi.
Even without a single friend,
To remain here is a pleasure.
With joy flowing from my heart, I sing this happy song;
May the dark shadow of all men's sorrows
Be dispelled by my joyful singing. ~ Jetsun Milarepa,
890:reading :::
   50 Spiritual Classics: List of Books Covered:
   Muhammad Asad - The Road To Mecca (1954)
   St Augustine - Confessions (400)
   Richard Bach - Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970)
   Black Elk Black - Elk Speaks (1932)
   Richard Maurice Bucke - Cosmic Consciousness (1901)
   Fritjof Capra - The Tao of Physics (1976)
   Carlos Castaneda - Journey to Ixtlan (1972)
   GK Chesterton - St Francis of Assisi (1922)
   Pema Chodron - The Places That Scare You (2001)
   Chuang Tzu - The Book of Chuang Tzu (4th century BCE)
   Ram Dass - Be Here Now (1971)
   Epictetus - Enchiridion (1st century)
   Mohandas Gandhi - An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments With Truth (1927)
   Al-Ghazzali - The Alchemy of Happiness (1097)
   Kahlil Gibran - The Prophet (1923)
   GI Gurdjieff - Meetings With Remarkable Men (1960)
   Dag Hammarskjold - Markings (1963)
   Abraham Joshua Heschel - The Sabbath (1951)
   Hermann Hesse - Siddartha (1922)
   Aldous Huxley - The Doors of Perception (1954)
   William James - The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)
   Carl Gustav Jung - Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1955)
   Margery Kempe - The Book of Margery Kempe (1436)
   J Krishnamurti - Think On These Things (1964)
   CS Lewis - The Screwtape Letters (1942)
   Malcolm X - The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1964)
   Daniel C Matt - The Essential Kabbalah (1994)
   Dan Millman - The Way of the Peaceful Warrior (1989)
   W Somerset Maugham - The Razor's Edge (1944)
   Thich Nhat Hanh - The Miracle of Mindfulness (1975)
   Michael Newton - Journey of Souls (1994)
   John O'Donohue - Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom (1998)
   Robert M Pirsig - Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974)
   James Redfield - The Celestine Prophecy (1994)
   Miguel Ruiz - The Four Agreements (1997)
   Helen Schucman & William Thetford - A Course in Miracles (1976)
   Idries Shah - The Way of the Sufi (1968)
   Starhawk - The Spiral Dance: A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Great Goddess (1979)
   Shunryu Suzuki - Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind (1970)
   Emanuel Swedenborg - Heaven and Hell (1758)
   Teresa of Avila - Interior Castle (1570)
   Mother Teresa - A Simple Path (1994)
   Eckhart Tolle - The Power of Now (1998)
   Chogyam Trungpa - Cutting Through Spiritual Materialism (1973)
   Neale Donald Walsch - Conversations With God (1998)
   Rick Warren - The Purpose-Driven Life (2002)
   Simone Weil - Waiting For God (1979)
   Ken Wilber - A Theory of Everything (2000)
   Paramahansa Yogananda - Autobiography of a Yogi (1974)
   Gary Zukav - The Seat of the Soul (1990)
   ~ Tom Butler-Bowdon, 50 Spirital Classics (2017 Edition),
891:Then the Yogi suddenly fell silent, and when I looked puzzled he shrugged and said: ‘Don’t you see yourself where the fault lies?’ But I could not see it. At this point he recapitulated with astonishing exactness everything he had learned from me by his questioning. He went back to the first signs of fatigue, repugnance, and intellectual constipation, and showed me that this could have happened only to someone who had submerged himself disproportionately in his studies and that it was high time for me to recover my self-control, and to regain my energy with outside help. Since I had taken the liberty of discontinuing my regular meditation exercises, he pointed out, I should at least have realized what was wrong as soon as the first evil consequences appeared, and should have resumed meditation. He was perfectly right. I had omitted meditating for quite a while on the grounds that I had no time, was too distracted or out of spirits, or too busy and excited with my studies. Moreover, as time went on I had completely lost all awareness of my continuous sin of omission. Even now, when I was desperate and had almost run aground, it had taken an outsider to remind me of it. As a matter of fact, I was to have the greatest difficulty snapping out of this state of neglect. I had to return to the training routines and beginners’ exercises in meditation in order gradually to relearn the art of composing myself and sinking into contemplation.” With a small sigh the Magister ceased pacing the room. “That is what happened to me, and to this day I am still a little ashamed to talk about it. But the fact is, Joseph, that the more we demand of ourselves, or the more our task at any given time demands of us, the more dependant we are on meditation as a wellspring of energy, as the ever-renewing concord of mind and soul. And – I could if I wished give you quite a few more examples of this – the more intensively a task requires our energies, arousing and exalting us at one time, tiring and depressing us at another, the more easily we may come to neglect this wellspring, just as when we are carried away by some intellectual work we easily forget to attend to the body. The really great men in the history of the world have all either known how to meditate or have unconsciously found their way to the place to which meditation leads us. Even the most vigorous and gifted among the others all failed and were defeated in the end because their task or their ambitious dream seized hold of them, made them into persons so possessed that they lost the capacity for liberating themselves from present things, and attaining perspective. Well, you know all this; it’s taught during the first exercises, of course. But it is inexorably true. How inexorably true it is, one realizes only after having gone astray. ~ Hermann Hesse,
892:The process of receiving teaching depends upon the student giving something in return; some kind of psychological surrender is necessary, a gift of some sort. This is why we must discuss surrendering, opening, giving up expectations, before we can speak of the relationship between teacher and student. It is essential to surrender, to open yourself, to present whatever you are to the guru, rather than trying to present yourself as a worthwhile student. It does not matter how much you are willing to pay, how correctly you behave, how clever you are at saying the right thing to your teacher. It is not like having an interview for a job or buying a new car. Whether or not you will get the job depends upon your credentials, how well you are dressed, how beautifully your shoes are polished, how well you speak, how good your manners are. If you are buying a car, it is a matter of how much money you have and how good your credit is. But when it comes to spirituality, something more is required. It is not a matter of applying for a job, of dressing up to impress our potential employer. Such deception does not apply to an interview with a guru, because he sees right through us. He is amused if we dress up especially for the interview. Making ingratiating gestures is not applicable in this situation; in fact it is futile. We must make a real commitment to being open with our teacher; we must be willing to give up all our preconceptions. Milarepa expected Marpa to be a great scholar and a saintly person, dressed in yogic costume with beads, reciting mantras, meditating. Instead he found Marpa working on his farm, directing the laborers and plowing his land. I am afraid the word guru is overused in the West. It would be better to speak of one’s “spiritual friend,” because the teachings emphasize a mutual meeting of two minds. It is a matter of mutual communication, rather than a master-servant relationship between a highly evolved being and a miserable, confused one. In the master-servant relationship the highly evolved being may appear not even to be sitting on his seat but may seem to be floating, levitating, looking down at us. His voice is penetrating, pervading space. Every word, every cough, every movement that he makes is a gesture of wisdom. But this is a dream. A guru should be a spiritual friend who communicates and presents his qualities to us, as Marpa did with Milarepa and Naropa with Marpa. Marpa presented his quality of being a farmer-yogi. He happened to have seven children and a wife, and he looked after his farm, cultivating the land and supporting himself and his family. But these activities were just an ordinary part of his life. He cared for his students as he cared for his crops and family. He was so thorough, paying attention to every detail of his life, that he was able to be a competent teacher as well as a competent father and farmer. There was no physical or spiritual materialism in Marpa’s lifestyle at all. He did not emphasize spirituality and ignore his family or his physical relationship to the earth. If you are not involved with materialism, either spiritually or physically, then there is no emphasis made on any extreme. Nor is it helpful to choose someone for your guru simply because he is famous, someone who is renowned for having published stacks of books and converted thousands or millions of people. Instead the guideline is whether or not you are able actually to communicate with the person, directly and thoroughly. How much self-deception are you involved in? If you really open yourself to your spiritual friend, then you are bound to work together. Are you able to talk to him thoroughly and properly? Does he know anything about you? Does he know anything about himself, for that matter? Is the guru really able to see through your masks, communicate with you properly, directly? In searching for a teacher, this seems to be the guideline rather than fame or wisdom. ~ Ch gyam Trungpa,
893:
   Can a Yogi attain to a state of consciousness in which he can know all things, answer all questions, relating even to abstruse scientific problems, such as, for example, the theory of relativity?


Theoretically and in principle it is not impossible for a Yogi to know everything; all depends upon the Yogi.

   But there is knowledge and knowledge. The Yogi does not know in the way of the mind. He does not know everything in the sense that he has access to all possible information or because he contains all the facts of the universe in his mind or because his consciousness is a sort of miraculous encyclopaedia. He knows by his capacity for a containing or dynamic identity with things and persons and forces. Or he knows because he lives in a plane of consciousness or is in contact with a consciousness in which there is the truth and the knowledge.

   If you are in the true consciousness, the knowledge you have will also be of the truth. Then, too, you can know directly, by being one with what you know. If a problem is put before you, if you are asked what is to be done in a particular matter, you can then, by looking with enough attention and concentration, receive spontaneously the required knowledge and the true answer. It is not by any careful application of theory that you reach the knowledge or by working it out through a mental process. The scientific mind needs these methods to come to its conclusions. But the Yogi's knowledge is direct and immediate; it is not deductive. If an engineer has to find out the exact position for the building of an arch, the line of its curve and the size of its opening, he does it by calculation, collating and deducing from his information and data. But a Yogi needs none of these things; he looks, has the vision of the thing, sees that it is to be done in this way and not in another, and this seeing is his knowledge.

   Although it may be true in a general way and in a certain sense that a Yogi can know all things and can answer all questions from his own field of vision and consciousness, yet it does not follow that there are no questions whatever of any kind to which he would not or could not answer. A Yogi who has the direct knowledge, the knowledge of the true truth of things, would not care or perhaps would find it difficult to answer questions that belong entirely to the domain of human mental constructions. It may be, he could not or would not wish to solve problems and difficulties you might put to him which touch only the illusion of things and their appearances. The working of his knowledge is not in the mind. If you put him some silly mental query of that character, he probably would not answer. The very common conception that you can put any ignorant question to him as to some super-schoolmaster or demand from him any kind of information past, present or future and that he is bound to answer, is a foolish idea. It is as inept as the expectation from the spiritual man of feats and miracles that would satisfy the vulgar external mind and leave it gaping with wonder.

   Moreover, the term "Yogi" is very vague and wide. There are many types of Yogis, many lines or ranges of spiritual or occult endeavour and different heights of achievement, there are some whose powers do not extend beyond the mental level; there are others who have gone beyond it. Everything depends on the field or nature of their effort, the height to which they have arrived, the consciousness with which they have contact or into which they enter.

   Do not scientists go sometimes beyond the mental plane? It is said that Einstein found his theory of relativity not through any process of reasoning, but through some kind of sudden inspiration. Has that inspiration anything to do with the Supermind?

The scientist who gets an inspiration revealing to him a new truth, receives it from the intuitive mind. The knowledge comes as a direct perception in the higher mental plane illumined by some other light still farther above. But all that has nothing to do with the action of Supermind and this higher mental level is far removed from the supramental plane. Men are too easily inclined to believe that they have climbed into regions quite divine when they have only gone above the average level. There are many stages between the ordinary human mind and the Supermind, many grades and many intervening planes. If an ordinary man were to get into direct contact even with one of these intermediate planes, he would be dazzled and blinded, would be crushed under the weight of the sense of immensity or would lose his balance; and yet it is not the Supermind.

   Behind the common idea that a Yogi can know all things and answer all questions is the actual fact that there is a plane in the mind where the memory of everything is stored and remains always in existence. All mental movements that belong to the life of the earth are memorised and registered in this plane. Those who are capable of going there and care to take the trouble, can read in it and learn anything they choose. But this region must not be mistaken for the supramental levels. And yet to reach even there you must be able to silence the movements of the material or physical mind; you must be able to leave aside all your sensations and put a stop to your ordinary mental movements, whatever they are; you must get out of the vital; you must become free from the slavery of the body. Then only you can enter into that region and see. But if you are sufficiently interested to make this effort, you can arrive there and read what is written in the earth's memory.

   Thus, if you go deep into silence, you can reach a level of consciousness on which it is not impossible for you to receive answers to all your questions. And if there is one who is consciously open to the plenary truth of the supermind, in constant contact with it, he can certainly answer any question that is worth an answer from the supramental Light. The queries put must come from some sense of the truth and reality behind things. There are many questions and much debated problems that are cobwebs woven of mere mental abstractions or move on the illusory surface of things. These do not pertain to real knowledge; they are a deformation of knowledge, their very substance is of the ignorance. Certainly the supramental knowledge may give an answer, its own answer, to the problems set by the mind's ignorance; but it is likely that it would not be at all satisfactory or perhaps even intelligible to those who ask from the mental level. You must not expect the supramental to work in the way of the mind or demand that the knowledge in truth should be capable of being pieced together with the half-knowledge in ignorance. The scheme of the mind is one thing, but Supermind is quite another and it would no longer be supramental if it adapted itself to the exigencies of the mental scheme. The two are incommensurable and cannot be put together.

   When the consciousness has attained to supramental joys, does it no longer take interest in the things of the mind?

The supramental does not take interest in mental things in the same way as the mind. It takes its own interest in all the movements of the universe, but it is from a different point of view and with a different vision. The world presents to it an entirely different appearance; there is a reversal of outlook and everything is seen from there as other than what it seems to the mind and often even the opposite. Things have another meaning; their aspect, their motion and process, everything about them, are watched with other eyes. Everything here is followed by the supermind; the mind movements and not less the vital, the material movements, all the play of the universe have for it a very deep interest, but of another kind. It is about the same difference as that between the interest taken in a puppet-play by one who holds the strings and knows what the puppets are to do and the will that moves them and that they can do only what it moves them to do, and the interest taken by another who observes the play but sees only what is happening from moment to moment and knows nothing else. The one who follows the play and is outside its secret has a stronger, an eager and passionate interest in what will happen and he gives an excited attention to its unforeseen or dramatic events; the other, who holds the strings and moves the show, is unmoved and tranquil. There is a certain intensity of interest which comes from ignorance and is bound up with illusion, and that must disappear when you are out of the ignorance. The interest that human beings take in things founds itself on the illusion; if that were removed, they would have no interest at all in the play; they would find it dry and dull. That is why all this ignorance, all this illusion has lasted so long; it is because men like it, because they cling to it and its peculiar kind of appeal that it endures.

   ~ The Mother, Questions And Answers 1929-1931, 93?
,

IN CHAPTERS [300/630]



  337 Integral Yoga
   78 Yoga
   29 Poetry
   19 Hinduism
   15 Occultism
   9 Buddhism
   6 Sufism
   6 Mysticism
   4 Education
   3 Psychology
   3 Philosophy
   1 Mythology
   1 Fiction


  258 Sri Aurobindo
  140 The Mother
   83 Satprem
   59 Nolini Kanta Gupta
   41 Sri Ramakrishna
   22 Swami Vivekananda
   19 A B Purani
   13 Aleister Crowley
   11 Swami Krishnananda
   10 Nirodbaran
   8 Kabir
   8 George Van Vrekhem
   7 Vyasa
   6 Swami Sivananda Saraswati
   6 Sri Ramana Maharshi
   5 Patanjali
   5 Jetsun Milarepa
   4 Lalla
   3 Bokar Rinpoche
   3 Aldous Huxley
   2 Ramprasad
   2 Mahendranath Gupta
   2 Franz Bardon
   2 Carl Jung


   64 The Synthesis Of Yoga
   39 The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
   32 Letters On Yoga IV
   28 Letters On Yoga II
   19 Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo
   17 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03
   16 Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness
   15 Agenda Vol 03
   14 Questions And Answers 1950-1951
   14 Letters On Yoga I
   14 Essays In Philosophy And Yoga
   13 Essays On The Gita
   13 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 07
   12 Record of Yoga
   12 Raja-Yoga
   11 The Study and Practice of Yoga
   11 Questions And Answers 1953
   11 Letters On Poetry And Art
   10 Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo
   10 Letters On Yoga III
   10 Agenda Vol 10
   9 Talks
   9 Questions And Answers 1929-1931
   9 Magick Without Tears
   9 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04
   8 Questions And Answers 1955
   8 Preparing for the Miraculous
   8 Agenda Vol 02
   8 Agenda Vol 01
   7 Vishnu Purana
   7 The Mother With Letters On The Mother
   7 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01
   6 Songs of Kabir
   6 Some Answers From The Mother
   6 Questions And Answers 1957-1958
   6 Amrita Gita
   5 Words Of The Mother II
   5 The Secret Doctrine
   5 The Integral Yoga
   5 Questions And Answers 1956
   5 Questions And Answers 1954
   5 Patanjali Yoga Sutras
   5 On Thoughts And Aphorisms
   5 Milarepa - Poems
   5 Essays Divine And Human
   5 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05
   5 Agenda Vol 09
   4 Vedic and Philological Studies
   4 The Life Divine
   4 On Education
   4 Liber ABA
   4 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02
   4 Bhakti-Yoga
   4 Agenda Vol 07
   4 Agenda Vol 06
   3 The Perennial Philosophy
   3 Tara - The Feminine Divine
   3 Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 08
   3 Agenda Vol 11
   3 Agenda Vol 08
   2 The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious
   2 Isha Upanishad
   2 Initiation Into Hermetics
   2 Hymns to the Mystic Fire
   2 Collected Poems
   2 Agenda Vol 12
   2 Agenda Vol 05
   2 Agenda Vol 04


0 0.01 - Introduction, #Agenda Vol 1, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  A little white silhouette, twelve thousand miles away, solitary and frail amidst a spiritual horde which had once and for all decided that the meditating and miraculous Yogi was the apogee of the species, was searching for the means, for the reality of this man who for a moment believes himself sovereign of the heavens or sovereign of a machine, but who is quite probably something completely different than his spiritual or material glories. Another, a lighter air was throbbing in that breast, unburdened of its heavens and of its prehistoric machines. Another Epic was beginning.
  Would Matter and Spirit meet, then, in a third PHYSIOLOGICAL position that would perhaps be at last the position of Man rediscovered, the something that had for so long fought and suffered in quest of becoming its own species? She was the great Possible at the beginning of man. Mother is our fable come true. 'All is possible' was her first open sesame.
  --
  She spoke to deaf ears. She was very alone in this 'ashram.' Little by little, the disciples fill up the place, then they say: it is ours. It is 'the Ashram.' We are 'the disciples.' In Pondicherry as in Rome as in Mecca. 'I do not want a religion! An end to religions!' She exclaimed. She struggled and fought in their midst - was She therefore to leave this Earth like one more saint or Yogi, buried beneath haloes, the 'continuatrice' of a great spiritual lineage? She was seventy-six years old when we landed there, a knife in our belt and a ready curse on our lips.
  She adored defiance and did not detest irreverence.

00.03 - Upanishadic Symbolism, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Garhapatya is the Fire in the body-consciousness, the fire of Earth, as it is sometimes called; Dakshina is the Fire of the moon or mind, and Ahavaniya that of life.10 The earthly fire is also the fire of the sun; the sun is the source of all earth's heat and symbolises at the same time the spiritual light manifested in the physical consciousness. The lunar fire is also the fire of the stars, the stars, mythologically, being the consorts or powers of the moon and they symbolise, in Yogic experience, the intuitive thoughts. The fire of the life-force has its symbol in lightning, electric energy being its vehicle.
   Agni in the physical consciousness is calledghapati, for the body is the house in which the soul is lodged and he is its keeper, guardian and lord. The fire in the mental consciousness is called daki; for it is that which gives discernment, the power to discriminate between the truth and the falsehood, it is that which by the pressure of its heat and light cleaves the wrong away from the right. And the fire in the life-force is called havanya; for pra is not only the plane of hunger and desire, but also of power and dynamism, it is that which calls forth forces, brings them into' play and it is that which is to be invoked for the progression of the Sacrifice, for an onward march on the spiritual path.

0.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
   Eight years later, some time in November 1874, Sri Ramakrishna was seized with an irresistible desire to learn the truth of the Christian religion. He began to listen to readings from the Bible, by Sambhu Charan Mallick, a gentleman of Calcutta and a devotee of the Master. Sri Ramakrishna became fascinated by the life and teachings of Jesus. One day he was seated in the parlour of Jadu Mallick's garden house (This expression is used throughout to translate the Bengali word denoting a rich man's country house set in a garden.) at Dakshineswar, when his eyes became fixed on a painting of the Madonna and Child. Intently watching it, he became gradually overwhelmed with divine emotion. The figures in the picture took on life, and the rays of light emanating from them entered his soul. The effect of this experience was stronger than that of the vision of Mohammed. In dismay he cried out, "O Mother! What are You doing to me?" And, breaking through the barriers of creed and religion, he entered a new realm of ecstasy. Christ possessed his soul. For three days he did not set foot in the Kali temple. On the fourth day, in the afternoon, as he was walking in the Panchavati, he saw coming toward him a person with beautiful large eyes, serene countenance, and fair skin. As the two faced each other, a voice rang out in the depths of Sri Ramakrishna's soul: "Behold the Christ, who shed His heart's blood for the redemption of the world, who suffered a sea of anguish for love of men. It is He, the Master Yogi, who is in eternal union with God. It is Jesus, Love Incarnate." The Son of Man embraced the Son of the Divine Mother and merged in him. Sri Ramakrishna krishna realized his identity with Christ, as he had already realized his identity with Kali, Rama, Hanuman, Radha, Krishna, Brahman, and Mohammed. The Master went into samadhi and communed with the Brahman with attributes. Thus he experienced the truth that Christianity, too, was a path leading to God-Consciousness. Till the last moment of his life he believed that Christ was an Incarnation of God. But Christ, for him, was not the only Incarnation; there were others — Buddha, for instance, and Krishna.
   --- ATTITUDE TOWARD DIFFERENT RELIGIONS
  --
   In the year 1879 occasional writings about Sri Ramakrishna by the Brahmos, in the Brahmo magazines, began to attract his future disciples from the educated middle-class Bengalis, and they continued to come till 1884. But others, too, came, feeling the subtle power of his attraction. They were an ever shifting crowd of people of all castes and creeds: Hindus and Brahmos, Vaishnavas and Saktas, the educated with university degrees and the illiterate, old and young, maharajas and beggars, journalists and artists, pundits and devotees, philosophers and the worldly-minded, jnanis and Yogis, men of action and men of faith, virtuous women and prostitutes, office-holders and vagabonds, philanthropists and self-seekers, dramatists and drunkards, builders-up and pullers-down. He gave to them all, without stint, from his illimitable store of realization. No one went away empty-handed. He taught them the lofty .knowledge of the Vedanta and the soul
  -melting love of the Purana. Twenty hours out of twenty-four he would speak without out rest or respite. He gave to all his sympathy and enlightenment, and he touched them with that strange power of the soul which could not but melt even the most hardened. And people understood him according to their powers of comprehension.
  --
   To those who became his intimate disciples the Master was a friend, companion, and playmate. Even the chores of religious discipline would be lightened in his presence. The devotees would be so inebriated with pure joy in his company that they would have no time to ask themselves whether he was an Incarnation, a perfect soul, or a Yogi. His very presence was a great teaching; words were superfluous. In later years his disciples remarked that while they were with him they would regard him as a comrade, but afterwards would tremble to think of their frivolities in the presence of such a great person. They had convincing proof that the Master could, by his mere wish, kindle in their hearts the love of God and give them His vision.
   Through all this fun and frolic, this merriment and frivolity, he always kept before them the shining ideal of God-Consciousness and the path of renunciation. He prescribed ascents steep or graded according to the powers of the climber. He permitted no compromise with the basic principles of purity. An aspirant had to keep his body, mind, senses, and soul unspotted; had to have a sincere love for God and an ever mounting spirit of yearning. The rest would be done by the Mother.
  --
   Pundit Shashadhar one day suggested to the Master that the latter could remove the illness by concentrating his mind on the throat, the scriptures having declared that Yogis had power to cure themselves in that way. The Master rebuked the pundit. "For a scholar like you to make such a proposal!" he said. "How can I withdraw the mind from the Lotus Feet of God and turn it to this worthless cage of flesh and blood?" "For our sake at least", begged Narendra and the other disciples. "But", replied Sri Ramakrishna, do you think I enjoy this suffering? I wish to recover, but that depends on the Mother."
   NARENDRA: "Then please pray to Her. She must listen to you."

0.01 - Letters from the Mother to Her Son, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  detrimental to the achievement of our Yogic aim.
  What do you say to this? Isn't it tempting? Will you ever

0.01 - Life and Yoga, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Mother in her vast upward labour. It is this view of Yoga that can alone form the basis for a sound and rational synthesis of Yogic methods. For then Yoga ceases to appear something mystic and abnormal which has no relation to the ordinary processes of the World-Energy or the purpose she keeps in view in her two great movements of subjective and objective selffulfilment; it reveals itself rather as an intense and exceptional use of powers that she has already manifested or is progressively
  Life and Yoga
  --
  But as in physical knowledge the multiplication of scientific processes has its disadvantages, as that tends, for instance, to develop a victorious artificiality which overwhelms our natural human life under a load of machinery and to purchase certain forms of freedom and mastery at the price of an increased servitude, so the preoccupation with Yogic processes and their exceptional results may have its disadvantages and losses. The
  The Conditions of the Synthesis

0.03 - III - The Evening Sittings, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   After Sri Aurobindo had come to Pondicherry from Chandernagore, he entered upon an intense period of Sadhana and for a few months he refused to receive anyone. After a time he used to sit down to talk in the evening and on some days tried automatic writing. Yogic Sadhan, a small book, was the result. In 1913 Sri Aurobindo moved to Rue Franois Martin No. 41 where he used to receive visitors at fixed times. This was generally in the morning between 9 and 10.30.
   But, over and above newcomers, some local people and the few inmates of the house used to have informal talks with Sri Aurobindo in the evening. In the beginning the inmates used to go out for playing football, and during their absence known local individuals would come in and wait for Sri Aurobindo. Afterwards regular meditations began at about 4 p.m. in which practically all the inmates participated. After the meditation all of the members and those who were permitted shared in the evening sitting. This was a very informal gathering depending entirely upon Sri Aurobindo's leisure.

0.03 - The Threefold Life, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The utility of the compromise in the then actual state of the world cannot be doubted. It secured in India a society which lent itself to the preservation and the worship of spirituality, a country apart in which as in a fortress the highest spiritual ideal could maintain itself in its most absolute purity unoverpowered by the siege of the forces around it. But it was a compromise, not an absolute victory. The material life lost the divine impulse to growth, the spiritual preserved by isolation its height and purity, but sacrificed its full power and serviceableness to the world. Therefore, in the divine Providence the country of the Yogins and the Sannyasins has been forced into a strict and imperative contact with the very element it had rejected, the element of the progressive Mind, so that it might recover what was now wanting to it.
  We have to recognise once more that the individual exists not in himself alone but in the collectivity and that individual perfection and liberation are not the whole sense of God's intention in the world. The free use of our liberty includes also the liberation of others and of mankind; the perfect utility of our perfection is, having realised in ourselves the divine symbol, to reproduce, multiply and ultimately universalise it in others.

0.04 - The Systems of Yoga, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  On the other hand, Pranayama awakens the coiled-up serpent of the Pranic dynamism in the vital sheath and opens to the Yogin fields of consciousness, ranges of experience, abnormal faculties denied to the ordinary human life while it puissantly intensifies such normal powers and faculties as he already possesses.
  The Systems of Yoga
  --
  But Rajayoga does not forget that the disabilities of the ordinary mind proceed largely from its subjection to the reactions of the nervous system and the body. It adopts therefore from the Hatha Yogic system its devices of asana and pran.ayama, but reduces their multiple and elaborate forms in each case to one simplest and most directly effective process sufficient for its own immediate object. Thus it gets rid of the Hatha Yogic complexity and cumbrousness while it utilises the swift and powerful efficacy of its methods for the control of the body and the vital functions and for the awakening of that internal dynamism, full of a latent supernormal faculty, typified in Yogic terminology by the kun.d.alin, the coiled and sleeping serpent of Energy within. This done, the system proceeds to the perfect quieting of the restless mind and its elevation to a higher plane through concentration of mental force by the successive stages which lead to the utmost inner concentration or ingathered state of the consciousness which is called Samadhi.
  By Samadhi, in which the mind acquires the capacity of withdrawing from its limited waking activities into freer and higher states of consciousness, Rajayoga serves a double purpose. It compasses a pure mental action liberated from the confusions of the outer consciousness and passes thence to the higher supra-mental planes on which the individual soul enters into its true spiritual existence. But also it acquires the capacity of that free and concentrated energising of consciousness on
  --
   its object which our philosophy asserts as the primary cosmic energy and the method of divine action upon the world. By this capacity the Yogin, already possessed of the highest supracosmic knowledge and experience in the state of trance, is able in the waking state to acquire directly whatever knowledge and exercise whatever mastery may be useful or necessary to his activities in the objective world. For the ancient system of
  Rajayoga aimed not only at Swarajya, self-rule or subjective empire, the entire control by the subjective consciousness of all the states and activities proper to its own domain, but included

0.05 - Letters to a Child, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  becoming a true Yogi if that be his aspiration. And the more this
  man realises his true being, the more he will become my very

0.05 - The Synthesis of the Systems, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Y THE very nature of the principal Yogic schools, each covering in its operations a part of the complex human integer and attempting to bring out its highest possibilities, it will appear that a synthesis of all of them largely conceived and applied might well result in an integral Yoga. But they are so disparate in their tendencies, so highly specialised and elaborated in their forms, so long confirmed in the mutual opposition of their ideas and methods that we do not easily find how we can arrive at their right union.
  An undiscriminating combination in block would not be a synthesis, but a confusion. Nor would a successive practice of each of them in turn be easy in the short span of our human life and with our limited energies, to say nothing of the waste of labour implied in so cumbrous a process. Sometimes, indeed,
  Hathayoga and Rajayoga are thus successively practised. And in a recent unique example, in the life of Ramakrishna Paramhansa, we see a colossal spiritual capacity first driving straight to the divine realisation, taking, as it were, the kingdom of heaven by violence, and then seizing upon one Yogic method after another and extracting the substance out of it with an incredible rapidity, always to return to the heart of the whole matter, the realisation and possession of God by the power of love, by the extension of inborn spirituality into various experience and by the spontaneous play of an intuitive knowledge. Such an example cannot be generalised. Its object also was special and temporal, to exemplify in the great and decisive experience of a master-soul the truth, now most necessary to humanity, towards which a world long divided into jarring sects and schools is with difficulty labouring, that all sects are forms and fragments of a single integral truth and all disciplines labour in their different ways towards one supreme experience. To know, be and possess
  The Conditions of the Synthesis
  --
  Will-in-Power executive in the universe. It was by learning and applying the intimate secrets of this Will-in-Power, its method, its Tantra, that the Tantric Yogin pursued the aims of his discipline, - mastery, perfection, liberation, beatitude. Instead of drawing back from manifested Nature and its difficulties, he confronted them, seized and conquered. But in the end, as is the general tendency of Prakriti, Tantric Yoga largely lost its principle in its machinery and became a thing of formulae and occult mechanism still powerful when rightly used but fallen from the clarity of their original intention.
  We have in this central Tantric conception one side of the truth, the worship of the Energy, the Shakti, as the sole effective force for all attainment. We get the other extreme in the Vedantic conception of the Shakti as a power of Illusion and in the search after the silent inactive Purusha as the means of liberation from the deceptions created by the active Energy. But in the integral conception the Conscious Soul is the Lord, the Nature-Soul is his executive Energy. Purusha is of the nature of Sat, the being of conscious self-existence pure and infinite; Shakti or Prakriti is of the nature of Chit, - it is power of the Purusha's self-conscious existence, pure and infinite. The relation of the two exists between the poles of rest and action. When the Energy is absorbed
  --
  Yoga that we seek must also be an integral action of Nature, and the whole difference between the Yogin and the natural man will be this, that the Yogin seeks to substitute in himself for the integral action of the lower Nature working in and by ego and division the integral action of the higher Nature working in and by God and unity. If indeed our aim be only an escape from the world to God, synthesis is unnecessary and a waste of time; for then our sole practical aim must be to find out one path out of the thousand that lead to God, one shortest possible of short cuts, and not to linger exploring different paths that end in the same goal. But if our aim be a transformation of our integral being into the terms of God-existence, it is then that a synthesis becomes necessary.
  The method we have to pursue, then, is to put our whole conscious being into relation and contact with the Divine and to call Him in to transform our entire being into His. Thus in a sense
  --
  Sadhana, the practice by which perfection, siddhi, is attained; sadhaka, the Yogin who seeks by that practice the siddhi.
  The Conditions of the Synthesis

0.06 - Letters to a Young Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  If truly you are no longer attached to anything, it is a great Yogic
  realisation and it would be wrong of you to complain about it.
  --
  The Yogic life does not depend on what one does but on how
  one does it; I mean it is not so much the action which counts
  --
  No, this is wrong! It is true of the ordinary life but not of a Yogi.
  Sweet Mother, if my company is not good for others,
  --
  A Yogi ought to accept and digest all dirt with a perfect
  equality.

0.08 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  And it is through the various Yogic exercises of breathing,
  meditation, japa and concentration that one puts oneself in
  --
  educational or Yogic system has, as it were, its own division
  based on the experience of its founder. Nevertheless, despite

01.02 - Natures Own Yoga, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   An organ in the human being has been especially developed to become the effective instrument of this accelerated Yogic process the self-consciousness which I referred to as being the distinctive characteristic of man is a function of this organ. It is his soul, his psychic being; originally it is the spark of the Divine Consciousness which came down and became involved in Matter and has been endeavouring ever since to release itself through the upward march of evolution. It is this which presses on continually as the stimulus to the evolutionary movement; and in man it has attained sufficient growth and power and has come so far to the front from behind the veil that it can now lead and mould his external consciousness. It is also the channel through which the Divine Consciousness can flow down into the inferior levels of human nature. It is the being no bigger than the thumb ever seated within the heart, spoken of in the Upanishads. It is likewise the basis of true individuality and personal identity. It is again the reflection or expression in evolutionary Nature of one's essential selfjivtman that is above, an eternal portion of the Divine, one with the Divine and yet not dissolved and lost in it. The psychic being is thus on the one hand in direct contact with the Divine and the higher consciousness, and on the other it is the secret upholder and controller' (bhart, antarymin) of the inferior consciousness, the hidden nucleus round which the body and the life and the mind of the individual are built up and organised.
   The first decisive step in Yoga is taken when one becomes conscious of the psychic being, or, looked at from the other side, when the psychic being comes forward and takes possession of the external being, begins to initiate and influence the movements of the mind and life and body and gradually free them from the ordinary round of ignorant nature. The awakening of the psychic being means, as I have said, not only a deepening and heightening of the consciousness and its release from the obscurity and limitation of the inferior Prakriti, confined to the lower threefold status, into what is behind and beyond; it means also a return of the deeper and higher consciousness upon the lower hemisphere and a consequent purification and illumination and regeneration of the latter. Finally, when the psychic being is in full self-possession and power, it can be the vehicle of the direct supramental consciousness which will then be able to act freely and absolutely for the entire transformation of the external nature, its transfiguration into a perfect body of the Truth-consciousness in a word, its divinisation.

01.02 - The Object of the Integral Yoga, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  ... the object of the Yoga is to enter into and be possessed by the Divine Presence and Consciousness, to love the Divine for the Divine's sake alone, to be turned in our nature into nature of the Divine and in our will and works and life to be the instrument of the Divine. Its object is not to be a great Yogi or a superman (although that may come) or to grab at the Divine for the sake of the ego's power, pride or pleasure.
  It is not for salvation though liberation comes by it and all else may come; but these must not be our objects. The Divine alone is our object.

01.03 - Yoga and the Ordinary Life, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  But even if he can live partly in it or keep himself constantly open to it, he receives enough of this spiritual light and peace and strength and happiness to carry him securely through all the shocks of life. What one gains by opening to this spiritual consciousness, depends on what one seeks from it; if it is peace, one gets peace; if it is light or knowledge, one lives in a great light and receives a knowledge deeper and truer than any the normal mind of man can acquire; if it [is] strength or power, one gets a spiritual strength for the inner life or Yogic power to govern the outer work and action; if it is happiness, one enters into a beatitude far greater than any joy or happiness that the ordinary human life can give.
  There are many ways of opening to this Divine consciousness or entering into it. My way which I show to others is by a constant practice to go inward into oneself, to open by aspiration to the Divine and once one is conscious of it and its action to give oneself to It entirely. This self-giving means not to ask for anything but the constant contact or union with the Divine Consciousness, to aspire for its peace, power, light and felicity, but to ask nothing else and in life and action to be its instrument only for whatever work it gives one to do in the world. If one can once open and feel the Divine Force, the
  --
  I must say in view of something you seem to have said to your father that it is not the object of the one to be a great man or the object of the other to be a great Yogin. The ideal of human life is to establish over the whole being the control of a clear, strong and rational mind and a right and rational will, to master the emotional, vital and physical being, create a harmony of the whole and develop the capacities whatever they are and fulfil them in life. In the terms of Hindu thought, it is to enthrone the rule of the purified and sattwic buddhi, follow the dharma, fulfilling one's own svadharma and doing the work proper to one's capacities, and satisfy kama and artha under the control of the buddhi and the dharma. The object of the divine life, on the other hand, is to realise one's highest self or to realise
  God and to put the whole being into harmony with the truth of the highest self or the law of the divine nature, to find one's own divine capacities great or small and fulfil them in life as a sacrifice to the highest or as a true instrument of the divine

01.04 - The Poetry in the Making, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   When we say one is conscious, we usually mean that one is conscious with the mental consciousness, with the rational intelligence, with the light of the brain. But this need not be always so. For one can be conscious with other forms of consciousness or in other planes of consciousness. In the average or normal man the consciousness is linked to or identified with the brain function, the rational intelligence and so we conclude that without this wakeful brain activity there can be no consciousness. But the fact is otherwise. The experiences of the mystic prove the point. The mystic is conscious on a level which we describe as higher than the mind and reason, he has what may be called the overhead consciousness. (Apart from the normal consciousness, which is named jagrat, waking, the Upanishad speaks of three other increasingly subtler states of consciousness, swapna, sushupti and turiya.)And then one can be quite unconscious, as in samadhi that can be sushupti or turiyaorpartially consciousin swapna, for example, the external behaviour may be like that of a child or a lunatic or even a goblin. One can also remain normally conscious and still be in the superconscience. Not only so, the mystic the Yogican be conscious on infraconscious levels also; that is to say, he can enter into and identify with the consciousness involved in life and even in Matter; he can feel and realise his oneness with the animal world, the plant world and finally the world of dead earth, of "stocks and stones" too. For all these strands of existence have each its own type of consciousness and all different from the mode of mind which is normally known as consciousness. When St. Francis addresses himself to the brother Sun or the sister Moon, or when the Upanishad speaks of the tree silhouetted against the sky, as if stilled in trance, we feel there is something of this fusion and identification of consciousness with an infra-conscient existence.
   I said that the supreme artist is superconscious: his consciousness withdraws from the normal mental consciousness and becomes awake and alive in another order of consciousness. To that superior consciousness the artist's mentalityhis ideas and dispositions, his judgments and valuations and acquisitions, in other words, his normal psychological make-upserves as a channel, an instrument, a medium for transcription. Now, there are two stages, or rather two lines of activity in the processus, for they may be overlapping and practically simultaneous. First, there is the withdrawal and the in-gathering of consciousness and then its reappearance into expression. The consciousness retires into a secret or subtle worldWords-worth's "recollected in tranquillity"and comes back with the riches gathered or transmuted there. But the purity of the gold thus garnered and stalled in the artistry of words and sounds or lines and colours depends altogether upon the purity of the channel through which it has to pass. The mental vehicle receives and records and it can do so to perfection if it is perfectly in tune with what it has to receive and record; otherwise the transcription becomes mixed and blurred, a faint or confused echo, a poor show. The supreme creators are precisely those in whom the receptacle, the instrumental faculties offer the least resistance and record with absolute fidelity the experiences of the over or inner consciousness. In Shakespeare, in Homer, in Valmiki the inflatus of the secret consciousness, the inspiration, as it is usually termed, bears down, sweeps away all obscurity or contrariety in the recording mentality, suffuses it with its own glow and puissance, indeed resolves it into its own substance, as it were. And the difference between the two, the secret norm and the recording form, determines the scale of the artist's creative value. It happens often that the obstruction of a too critically observant and self-conscious brain-mind successfully blocks up the flow of something supremely beautiful that wanted to come down and waited for an opportunity.
  --
   The absolute passivity is attainable, perhaps, only by the Yogi. And in this sense the supreme poet is a Yogi, for in his consciousness the higher, deeper, subtler or other modes of experiences pass through and are recorded with the minimum aberration or diffraction.
   But the Yogi is a wholly conscious being; a perfect Yogi is he who possesses a conscious and willed control over his instruments, he silences them, as and when he likes, and makes them convey and express with as little deviation as possible truths and realities from the Beyond. Now the question is, is it possible for the poet also to do something like that, to consciously create and not to be a mere unconscious or helpless channel? Conscious artistry, as we have said, means to be conscious on two levels of consciousness at the same time, to be at home in both equally and simultaneously. The general experience, however, is that of "one at a time": if the artist dwells more in the one, the other retires into the background to the same measure. If he is in the over-consciousness, he is only half-conscious in his brain consciousness, or even not conscious at allhe does not know how he has created, the sources or process of his creative activity, he is quite oblivious of them" gone through them all as if per saltum. Such seems to have been the case with the primitives, as they are called, the elemental poetsShakespeare and Homer and Valmiki. In some others, who come very near to them in poetic genius, yet not quite on a par, the instrumental intelligence is strong and active, it helps in its own way but in helping circumscribes and limits the original impulsion. The art here becomes consciously artistic, but loses something of the initial freshness and spontaneity: it gains in correctness, polish and elegance and has now a style in lieu of Nature's own naturalness. I am thinking of Virgil and Milton and Kalidasa. Dante's place is perhaps somewhere in between. Lower in the rung where the mental medium occupies a still more preponderant place we have intellectual poetry, poetry of the later classical age whose representatives are Pope and Dryden. We can go farther down and land in the domain of versificationalthough here, too, there can be a good amount of beauty in shape of ingenuity, cleverness and conceit: Voltaire and Delille are of this order in French poetry.
   The three or four major orders I speak of in reference to conscious artistry are exampled characteristically in the history of the evolution of Greek poetry. It must be remembered, however, at the very outset that the Greeks as a race were nothing if not rational and intellectual. It was an element of strong self-consciousness that they brought into human culture that was their special gift. Leaving out of account Homer who was, as I said, a primitive, their classical age began with Aeschylus who was the first and the most spontaneous and intuitive of the Great Three. Sophocles, who comes next, is more balanced and self-controlled and pregnant with a reasoned thought-content clothed in polished phrasing. We feel here that the artist knew what he was about and was exercising a conscious control over his instruments and materials, unlike his predecessor who seemed to be completely carried away by the onrush of the poetic enthousiasmos. Sophocles, in spite of his artistic perfection or perhaps because of it, appears to be just a little, one remove, away from the purity of the central inspiration there is a veil, although a thin transparent veil, yet a veil between which intervenes. With the third of the Brotherhood, Euripides, we slide lower downwe arrive at a predominantly mental transcription of an experience or inner conception; but something of the major breath continues, an aura, a rhythm that maintains the inner contact and thus saves the poetry. In a subsequent age, in Theocritus, for example, poetry became truly very much 'sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought', so much of virtuosity and precocity entered into it; in other words, the poet then was an excessively self-conscious artist. That seems to be the general trend of all literature.
   But should there be an inherent incompatibility between spontaneous creation and self-consciousness? As we have seen, a harmony and fusion can and do happen of the superconscious and the normally conscious in the Yogi. Likewise, an artist also can be wakeful and transparent enough so that he is conscious on both the levels simultaneouslyabove, he is conscious of the source and origin of his inspiration, and on the level plain he is conscious of the working of the instrument, how the vehicle transcribes and embodies what comes from elsewhere. The poet's consciousness becomes then divalent as it werethere is a sense of absolute passivity in respect of the receiving apparatus and coupled and immisced with it there is also the sense of dynamism, of conscious agency as in his secret being he is the master of his apparatus and one with the Inspirerin other words, the poet is both a seer (kavih) and a creator or doer (poits).
   Not only so, the future development of the poetic consciousness seems inevitably to lead to such a consummation in which the creative and the critical faculties will not be separate but form part of one and indivisible movement. Historically, human consciousness has grown from unconsciousness to consciousness and from consciousness to self-consciousness; man's creative and artistic genius too has moved pari passu in the same direction. The earliest and primitive poets were mostly unconscious, that is to say, they wrote or said things as they came to them spontaneously, without effort, without reflection, they do not seem to know the whence and wherefore and whither of it all, they know only that the wind bloweth as it listeth. That was when man had not yet eaten the fruit of knowledge, was still in the innocence of childhood. But as he grew up and progressed, he became more and more conscious, capable of exerting and exercising a deliberate will and initiating a purposive action, not only in the external practical field but also in the psychological domain. If the earlier group is called "primitives", the later one, that of conscious artists, usually goes by the name of "classicists." Modern creators have gone one step farther in the direction of self-consciousness, a return upon oneself, an inlook of full awareness and a free and alert activity of the critical faculties. An unconscious artist in the sense of the "primitives" is almost an impossible phenomenon in the modern world. All are scientists: an artist cannot but be consciously critical, deliberate, purposive in what he creates and how he creates. Evidently, this has cost something of the old-world spontaneity and supremacy of utterance; but it cannot be helped, we cannot comm and the tide to roll back, Canute-like. The feature has to be accepted and a remedy and new orientation discovered.
  --
   That is what is wanted at present in the artistic world the true inspiration, the breath from higher altitudes. And here comes the role of the mystic, the Yogi. The sense of evolution, the march of human consciousness demands and prophesies that the future poet has to be a mysticin him will be fulfilled the travail of man's conscious working. The self-conscious craftsman, the tireless experimenter with his adventurous analytic mind has sharpened his instrument, made it supple and elastic, tempered, refined and enriched it; that is comparable to what we call the aspiration or call from below. Now the Grace must descend and fulfil. And when one rises into this higher consciousness beyond the brain and mind, when one lives there habitually, one knows the why and the how of things, one becomes a perfectly conscious operator and still retains all spontaneity and freshness and wonder and magic that are usually associated with inconscience and irreflection. As there is a spontaneity of instinct, there is likewise also a spontaneity of vision: a child is spontaneous in its movements, even so a seer. Not only so, the higher spontaneity is more spontaneous, for the higher consciousness means not only awareness but the free and untrammelled activity and expression of the truth and reality it is.
   Genius had to be generally more or less unconscious in the past, because the instrument was not ready, was clogged as it were with its own lower grade movements; the higher inspiration had very often to bypass it, or rob it of its serviceable materials without its knowledge, in an almost clandestine way. Wherever it was awake and vigilant, we have seen it causing a diminution in the poetic potential. And yet even so, it was being prepared for a greater role, a higher destiny it is to fulfil in the future. A conscious and full participation of a refined and transparent and enriched instrument in the delivery of superconscious truth and beauty will surely mean not only a new but the very acme of aesthetic creation. We thus foresee the age of spiritual art in which the sense of creative beauty in man will find its culmination. Such an art was only an exception, something secondary or even tertiary, kept in the background, suggested here and there as a novel strain, called "mystic" to express its unfamiliar nature-unless, of course, it was openly and obviously scriptural and religious.

01.05 - Rabindranath Tagore: A Great Poet, a Great Man, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The spirit of the age demands this new gospel. Mankind needs and awaits a fresh revelation. The world and life are not an illusion or a lesser reality: they are, if taken rightly, as real as the pure Spirit itself. Indeed, Spirit and Flesh, Consciousness and Matter are not antinomies; to consider them as such is itself an illusion. In fact, they are only two poles or modes or aspects of the same reality. To separate or divide them is a one-sided concentration or abstraction on the part of the human mind. The fulfilment of the Spirit is in its expression through Matter; human life too reaches its highest term, its summum bonum, in embodying the spiritual consciousness here on earth and not dissolving itself in the Transcendence. That is the new Dispensation which answers to the deepest aspiration in man and towards which he has been travelling through the ages in the course of the evolution of his consciousness. Many, however, are the prophets and sages who have set this ideal before humanity and more and more insistently and clearly as we come nearer to the age we live in. But none or very few have expressed it with such beauty and charm and compelling persuasion. It would be carping criticism to point out-as some, purists one may call them, have done-that in poetising and aesthetising the spiritual truth and reality, in trying to make it human and terrestrial, he has diminished and diluted the original substance, in endeavouring to render the diamond iridescent, he has turned it into a baser alloy. Tagore's is a poetic soul, it must be admitted; and it is not necessary that one should find in his ideas and experiences and utterances the cent per cent accuracy and inevitability of a Yogic consciousness. Still his major perceptions, those that count, stand and are borne out by the highest spiritual realisation.
   Tagore is no inventor or innovator when he posits Spirit as Beauty, the spiritual consciousness as the ardent rhythm of ecstasy. This experience is the very core of Vaishnavism and for which Tagore is sometimes called a Neo-Vaishnava. The Vaishnava sees the world pulsating in glamorous beauty as the Lila (Play) of the Lord, and the Lord, God himself, is nothing but Love and Beauty. Still Tagore is not all Vaishnava or merely a Vaishnava; he is in addition a modern (the carping voice will say, there comes the dilution and adulteration)in the sense that problems exist for himsocial, political, economic, national, humanitarianwhich have to be faced and solved: these are not merely mundane, but woven into the texture of the fundamental problem of human destiny, of Soul and Spirit and God. A Vaishnava was, in spite of his acceptance of the world, an introvert, to use a modern psychological phrase, not necessarily in the pejorative sense, but in the neutral scientific sense. He looks upon the universe' and human life as the play of the Lord, as an actuality and not mere illusion indeed; but he does not participate or even take interest in the dynamic working out of the world process, he does not care to know, has no need of knowing that there is a terrestrial purpose and a diviner fulfilment of the mortal life upon earth. The Vaishnava dwells more or less absorbed in the Vaikuntha of his inner consciousness; the outer world, although real, is only a symbolic shadowplay to which he can but be a witness-real, is only a nothing more.

0.10 - Letters to a Young Captain, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  liberator. Not the Pundit, but the Yogin, not monasticism, but the inner renunciation of
  desire and ignorance and egoism."
  --
  Ecstasy belongs to the perfected Yogi.
  Joy belongs to the desireless man.
  --
  perfected Yogi identified with the Supreme Lord? Isn't a
  desireless man a sincere sadhak?
  --
  A sadhak is one who has chosen a Yogic discipline and
  practises it. There are desireless men who are not pursuing any
  --
  and spend five or six hours a day in Yogic practices.
  Japa such as you describe it cannot have much effect except
  --
  This uncertainty and these departures are due to the lower nature, which resists the influence of the Yogic power and tries to
  slow down the divine action, not out of ill-will but in order to
  --
  How can one practise Yogic disciplines without believing in God or the Divine?31
  Why? It is very easy. Because these are only words. When one

0.11 - Letters to a Sadhak, #Some Answers From The Mother, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  pure Being. Does this apply only to the Yogi or to
  everyone?
  --
  the Yogic way, the mystic way, no one has realised transformation."10
  Can one hope that the sadhaks have now made good
  --
  instrumentation is necessary for the Yogi too, but that the
   Yogi puts this knowledge to the test of the essential truth.
  --
  In fact, Mother, what is the Yogi's attitude towards the
  outward appearance?
  --
  for the Yogi?
  That probably depends on the Yogi and his condition.
  But when one is united with the Supreme Consciousness and

0 1954-08-25 - what is this personality? and when will she come?, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Sadhana: Yogic discipline or effort.
   Mother received each disciple individually on his birthday.

0 1958-02-03b - The Supramental Ship, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Between the beings of the supramental world and men, there exists approximately the same gap as between men and animals. Sometime ago, I had the experience of identification with animal life, and it is a fact that animals do not understand us; their consciousness is so constituted that we elude them almost entirely. And yet I have known domestic animalscats and dogs, but especially catswho made an almost Yogic effort of consciousness to understand us. But generally, when they watch us living and acting, they dont understand, they dont SEE US as we are and they suffer because of us. We are a constant enigma to them Only a very tiny part of their consciousness is linked to us. And it is the same for us when we try to look at the supramental world. Only when the link of consciousness has been built shall we see itand even then, only that part of our being which has undergone the transformation will be capable of seeing it as it isotherwise the two worlds would remain as separate as the animal world and the human world.
   The experience I had on February 3 proves this. Before, I had had an individual, subjective contact with the supramental world, whereas on February 3, I went strolling there in a concrete wayas concretely as I used to go strolling in Paris in times pastin a world that EXISTS IN ITSELF, beyond all subjectivity.

0 1958-05-10, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Tapasya: Yogic discipline or askesis.
   May 1, 1958.

0 1958-07-02, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Ramdas: a Yogi from Northwest India who followed the path of love (bhakti). His whole yoga consisted in repeating the name Ram. He founded the Anand-ashram in Kanhargad, Kerala. He was born in 1884 and died in 1963.
   Bishnupriya, a Bengali film.

0 1958-08-07, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   When I think of the time the hatha Yogis devote to the work on the bodythey do nothing but that; they do nothing but that all the time, until they have attained a certain point. This is in fact the reason why Sri Aurobindo wanted none of it: he found that it took a lot of time for a rather meager result.
   ***

0 1958-10-10, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   For example, this question of PowerTHE Powerover Matter. Those who perceive me as the eternal, universal Mother and Sri Aurobindo as the Avatar are surprised that our power is not absolute. They are surprised that we have not merely to say, Let it be thus for it to be thus. This is because, in the integral realization, the union of the two is essential: a union of the power that proceeds from the eternal position and the power that proceeds from the sadhana through evolutionary growth. Similarly, how is it that those who have reached even the summits of Yogic knowledge (I was thinking of Swami) need to resort to beings like gods or demigods to be able to realize things?Because they have indeed united with certain higher forces and entities, but it was not decreed since the beginning of time that they were this particular being. They were not born as this or that, but through evolution they united with a latent possibility in themselves. Each one carries the Eternal within himself, but one can join Him only when one has realized the complete union of the latent Eternal with the eternal Eternal.
   And this explains everything, absolutely everything: how it works, how it functions in the world.3 I was saying to myself, But I have no powers, I have no powers! Several days ago, I said, But after all, I KNOW WHO is there, I know, yet how is it that ? There, up to there (the level of the head), it is all-powerful, nothing can resist but here it is ineffective. So those who have faith, even an ignorant but real faith (it can be ignorant but nevertheless it is real), say, What! How can you have no powers? Because the sadhana is not yet over.
  --
   Sadhana: Yogic discipline. Sadhak: seeker.
   Mother added: 'The most beautiful part of the experience is missing... When I try to formulate something in too precise a way, all the vastness of the experience evaporates. The entire world is being revealed in all its organization down to the minutest details but everything simultaneouslyhow can that be explained? It's not possible.'

0 1960-06-04, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   Sri Aurobindo said that the true or Yogic reason for sleep is to put the consciousness back into contact with Sat-Chit-Ananda (I used to do this without knowing it). For some people the contact is established immediately, while for others it takes eight, nine, ten hours to do it. But really, normally you should not wake up till the contact has been established, and thats why its very bad to wake up in an artificial way (with an alarm clock, for example), because then the night is wasted.
   As for me, my night is now organized. I go to bed at 8 oclock and get up at 4, which makes for a very long night, and its sliced into three parts. And I get up punctually at 4 in the morning. But Im always awake ten or fifteen minutes beforehand, and I review all that has happened during the night, the dreams, the various activities, etc., so that when I get up, I am fully active.

0 1960-11-08, #Agenda Vol 01, #unset, #Zen
   So for persons who are severe and grave (there are two such examples here, but its not necessary to name them) There are beings who are grave, so serious, so sincere, who find it hypocritical; and when it borders on certain (how shall I put it?) vital excesses, they call it vice. There are others who have lived their entire lives in a Yogic or religious discipline, and they see this as an obstacle, illusion, dirtyness (Mother makes a gesture of rejecting with disgust), but above all, its this terrible illusion that prevents you from nearing the Divine. And when I saw the way these two people here reacted, in fact, I said to myself, but you see, I FELT So strongly that this too is the Divine, it too is a way of getting out of something that has had its place in evolution, and still has a place, individually, for certain individuals. Naturally, if you remain there, you keep turning in circles; it will always be (not eternally, but indefinitely) the woman of my life, to take that as a symbol. But once youre out of it, you see that this had its place, its utilityit made you emerge from a kind of very animal-like wisdom and quietude that of the herd or of the being who sees no further than his daily round. It was necessary. We mustnt condemn it, we mustnt use harsh words.
   The mistake we make is to remain there too long, for if you spend your whole life in that, well, youll probably need many more lifetimes. But once the chance to get out of it comes, you can look at it with a smile and say, Yes, its really a sort of love for fiction!people love fiction, they want fiction, they need fiction! Otherwise its boring and all much too flat.
  --
   And I wondered why people are so rigid and severe, why they condemn others (but one day Ill understand this as well). I say this because very often I run into these two states of mind in my activities (the grave and serious mind which sees hypocrisy and vice, and the religious and Yogic mind which sees the illusion that prevents you from nearing the Divine)and without being openly criticized, Im criticized Ill tell you about this one day
   Youre criticized?

0 1961-01-17, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   There is another case where peoplewithout knowing it or because they WANT to ignore italways pursue their personal interests, their preferences, their attachments, their concepts; people who are not entirely consecrated to the Divine and make use of moral and Yogic ideas to conceal their personal motives. These people doubly deceive themselves: not only do they deceive themselves through their outer activities, their relations with others, but they also deceive themselves about their personal motives; instead of serving the Divine they are serving their own egoism. And this happens constantly, constantly! One serves his own personality, his egoism, while pretending to serve the Divine. This is no longer even self-deception: its sheer hypocrisy.
   This mental habit of always cloaking everything with a favorable appearance, of giving all movements a favorable explanation, is at times so flagrant that it can fool nobody but oneself (although it may occasionally be subtle enough to create an illusion). It is a sort of habitual self-exoneration, the habit of giving a favorable mental excuse, a favorable mental explanation for all one does, all one says, all one feels. For example, someone with no self-control who strikes another in great indignation and is ready to call it divine wrath! Righteous2 is perfect, because righteous immediately introduces this element of puritanical moralitywonderful!

0 1961-02-04, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Tapasya: ascetic or Yogic discipline.
   Asura: demon of the mental plane embodying the forces of division and darkness.

0 1961-02-25, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I replied very briefly in English. I havent brought my answer with me, but I can tell you right away that there are two signstwo certain, infallible signs. I know them through personal experience, for they are two things that can ONLY come with the supramental consciousness; without it, one cannot possess themno Yogic effort, no discipline, no tapasya can give them to you, while they come almost automatically with the supramental consciousness.
   The first sign is perfect equality as Sri Aurobindo has described it (you must know it, theres a whole chapter on equality, samat, in The Synthesis of Yoga)exactly as he described it with such wonderful precision! But this equality (which is not equanimity) is a particular STATE where one relates to all things, outer and inner, and to each individual thing, in the same way. That is truly perfect equality: vibrations from things, from people, from contacts have no power to alter that state.

0 1961-04-25, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Well, his jaw dropped! People imagine that by the simple fact of being here they become disciples and apprentice Yogis! But its not true.
   So, now Im not angry any more!

0 1961-06-20, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   (Satprem remarks on the gap between the inner realization of certain Yogis like X and their outer behavior, which doesnt always seem up to the mark.)
   I truly have the impression of a kind of abyss between the X I can sense, who attracts me, and the outer man.

0 1961-07-15, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   For the past two days there has been the feeling of not knowing anythingNOTHING at all. I have had this feeling for a very long time, but now it has become extremely acute, as it always does at times of crisis, at times when things are on the verge of changingor of getting clarified, or of exploding, or. From the purely material standpointchemically, biologically, medically, therapeutically speaking I dont believe many people do know (there may be some). But it doesnt seem very clear to mein any case, I dont know. Yogically (I dont mean spiritually: that was the first stage of my sadhana), its very easy to be a saint! Oh, even to be a sage is very easy. I feel I was born with itits spontaneous and natural for me, and so simple! You know all that has to be done, and doing it is as easy as knowing it. Its nothing. But this transformation of Matter! What has to be done? How is it to be done? What is the path?
   Is there a path? Is there a procedure? Probably not.

0 1961-11-05, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   As a matter of fact, the books he wrote (especially the first one, The Living Ether) were based on my knowledge; he put my knowledge into French and beautiful French, I must say! I would tell him my experiences and he would write them down. Later he wrote The Gods (it was incomplete, one-sided). Then he became a lawyer and entered politics (he was a first-class orator and fired his audiences with enthusiasm) and was sent to Pondicherry to help a certain candidate who couldnt manage his election campaign single-handed. And since Richard was interested in occultism and spirituality, he took this opportunity to seek a Master, a Yogi. When he arrived, instead of involving himself in politics, the first thing he did was announce, I am seeking a Yogi. Someone said to him, Youre incredibly lucky! The Yogi has just arrived. It was Sri Aurobindo, who was told, Theres a Frenchman asking to see you. Sri Aurobindo wasnt particularly pleased but he found the coincidence rather interesting and received him. This was in 1910.
   When Richard had finished his work, he returned to France with a poor photograph of Sri Aurobindo and a completely superficial impression of him, yet with the feeling that Sri Aurobindo KNEW (he hadnt at all understood the man that Sri Aurobindo was, he hadnt felt the presence of an Avatar, but he had sensed that he had knowledge). Moreover, I think he always held this opinion, because he used to say that Sri Aurobindo was a unique intellectual giant without many spiritual realizations! (The same type of stupidity as Romain Rollands.) Well, my relationship with Richard was on an occult plane, you see, and its difficult to touch upon. What happened was far more exciting than any novel imaginable.
  --
   When we returned to France, Richard got himself declared unfit for military service on health groundsa Yogic heart ailment! But life in France was impossible; and my presence there was dangerous because monstrous things were going on, monstrous; as Sri Aurobindo said, my sitting at home all alone was generating revolutionsarmies were revolting.6 I saw that happening and I didnt want the Germans to win, which would have been even worse, so I said, I had better go. Then Richard managed to have himself sent to Japan on business (an admirable feat!), representing certain companies. People didnt want to travel because it was dangerousyou risked being sunk to the bottom of the sea; so they were pleased when we offered and sent us to Japan.
   Once there (this would also make a great novel), Richard continued writing and sending his manuscripts to Sri Aurobindo. Finally, when the Peace Treaty was signed and it was possible to travel, the English said that if we tried to return to India they would throw us in jail! But it all worked out miraculously, almost becoming a diplomatic incident: the Japanese government decided that if we were put in prison they would protest to the British government! (What a story I could write novels!) In short, Richard returned here with me. And thats when the tragi-comedy began.

0 1961-12-23, #Agenda Vol 02, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But truly, EVERYTHING was changed at that moment: something was achieved. It was the perception of Power the Power that comes from Love (what Love is to the Supreme Consciousness, which has nothing to do with what we usually mean by the word love). And it was it was simple! None of those complications resulting from thought, intellect, understandingall that was gone, all gone. A formidable Power! And it made me understand one thing, that the state I had been put in (by the Lord of Yoga, in fact) was for obtaining the particular power that comes through an identity with all material things, a power possessed by certain personsnot always Yogis, certain mediums, for instance. I saw it with Madame Theon: she would will a thing to come to her instead of going to the thing herself; instead of going to get her sandals when she wanted them, she made the sandals come to her. She did this through a capacity to radiate her mattershe exercised a will over her matterher central will acted upon matter anywhere, since she WAS THERE. With her, then, I saw this power in a methodical, organized way, not as something accidental or spasmodic (as it is with mediums), but as an organization of Matter. And so I began to understand: With this comes the power to put each thing in its place! provided one is universal enough.
   Well, I have understood. And now I know where I stand.

0 1962-01-09, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But following that, and because of the overwork, an old thing I thought I had cured has come back. It was originally brought on by overwork when I was going to the Playground and resting only two hours out of twenty-four, which wasnt enougha sort of ulcer formed between my nose and throat. Its an old complaint, dating from the removal of adenoids in my childhood; the operation left a kind of small cavity, which was nothing in itself, except that occasionally it would give me a cold. But as a result of overwork it came back in the form of an ulcer, and gave me artificial colds; it was so sour and corrosive, a terrible irritation in the throat and nose. It got much worse when I was giving classes at the Playground, and once I showed it to the doctor. Why, you have an ulcer! he said. A big fuss. He offered to treat me. No thanks! I said. Dont worry, it will pass. And I began my own Yogic treatment. It was over in a week and for three years there was no further sign of it. Recently (the last two or three months) I had felt it trying to come back, for exactly the same reason of overwork. And with that little adventure the other day, it did come backit gave me one of those stupid colds: sneezing, coughing. Its not quite over yet. But its nothing, it just gives me an excuse (laughing) to tell people I am still not quite well!
   I am resting.
  --
   Tapasya: Yogic discipline.
   For Sri Aurobindo and Mother, the "vital" represents the regions or centers of consciousness below the mind, between the throat and the sex center, i.e. the whole region of emotions, feelings, passions, etc., which constitute the various expressions of Life-Energy.

0 1962-01-12 - supramental ship, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Not that the problem hasnt been partially solved: hatha Yogis have solved it, partiallyprovided you do nothing else (thats the trouble). Yet having the knowledge, we should have the power to do whats necessary without making it our exclusive preoccupation. At any rate, this possibility is certainly not altogether unknown; for the first few months after I retired to my room,4 when I had cut all contact with the outside, it was working very well even extraordinarily so! Lots of disorders in my body were surmounted, and I had many fairly precise indications that if I continued like that long enough I would regain everything that had been lost, and with an even better equilibrium. I mean that the functional equilibrium was far superior. Only when I came back into contact with the world did it all come to a halt and begin to deteriorateall the more so as it was aggravated by this discipline of expansion making me constantlyCONSTANTLYabsorb mountains of difficulties to be resolved. And so.
   With the mind, its rather easyyou can put things back in order in five minutes, its not difficult. With the vital its already a bit more troublesome, it takes a little longer. But when you come to the material level, well. Theres a CONTAGION of wrong cellular functioning and a kind of internal disorganizationthings not staying in their proper places. Each vibration absorbed from the outside instantly creates a disorder, dislocates everything, creates wrong contacts and disrupts the organization; it sometimes takes HOURS to put it all back in order. Consequently, if I really want to make use of this bodys possibility without having to face the necessity of changing it because it cant follow along, then, materially, I would really need, as much as possible, to stop having to gulp down all sorts of things that drag me years backwards.

0 1962-02-06, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Perhaps the problem is the opposition (if it is an opposition) between two attitudes, both of which should express our relationship with the Supreme. One is the acceptancenot only voluntary but perfectly contentof everything, even the worst calamities (what are conventionally called the worst calamities). I wont use this story as an example because its self-explanatory, but if Andromeda were a Yogi (with ifs you can build castles in the air, but I am trying to explain what I mean), she would accept the idea of death readily, easily. Well, its precisely this conflict between an attitude quite ready to accept death (I am not talking about what happens in the story itself, but merely giving a case in point to make myself clear) because it is the divine Will, for this reason aloneits the divine Will, so its quite all right; since thats how it is, its quite all rightand at the same time, the love of Life. This love of Life.3 Following the story, you would say: she lived because she had to live and everything is explained. But thats not what I mean. I am looking at this outside the context of the story.
   Because things like that happen in the consciousness of. It always bothers me to get into big ideas and big words, but to truly explain myself, I should say: the Universal Mother.

0 1962-02-09, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Maharshi: a famous South Indian Yogi, now deceased.
   ***

0 1962-05-24, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   For a very long time it had seemed to me that a perfect union between the scientific approach pushed to its extreme and the spiritual approach pushed to its extreme, to its utmost realization, a merging of the two would naturally lead to the Truth we seek, the total Truth. But with the two experiences I have had, the experience of the outer life (with universalization, impersonalizationall the Yogic experiences you can have in a material body) and the experience of total and perfect union with the Origin now that Ive had those two experiences and something has happened something I cant yet describe I know that knowing and uniting the two approaches is not enough; they open out on a third thing, and that third thing is what is in the making. The third thing is what can lead to the Realization, to the Truth we seek.
   Is it clear this time?

0 1962-05-27, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Let me put it to you more clearly: your physical body, for example, should have been either stronger or more supple or endowed with certain very strong vital compensations, so that you wouldnt suffer from your working conditions. Of course, for someone following a Yogic ascent, whose soul is in the process of formation, the external conditions of life are normally what is best for inner development, whatever that may beeven if, on the surface, those conditions arent good. So the only advice you can give such a person is, Well, either renounce the spiritual life or else putup with it. But thats not your case. There is a Mission, a work, and a kind of gap between a certain physical formation and that Mission. So if you ask me plainly what I see, I can tell you plainly, instead of saying as I would to certain sadhaks or anyone sincerely wanting to do yoga, Take it or leave it; you must learn to transform yourself inwardly to the point where you can master the body and its needs. I cant tell you that, because thats not how it is for you.
   I mean it may beit may be that even an inner transformation (a complete conversion of the vital being, for instance) wouldnt necessarily bring an improvement in your health. It is here where. Its not something I see imperatively. And to go back to ordinary life would be the end of everythingof your physical life and your inner life too.
  --
   And this blockage in my meditationsis it also due to this special work? I have a sort of feeling that Ive already had those Yogic realizations, you see
   Yes, of course!

0 1962-06-12, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Of course, one has to be in a terribly superficial consciousness to react the way he did. He had a rather deep contact with you, and there were moments when he understood very well who you arehe knows, he told me so. Consequently, had he truly been in a Yogic state, then even if you had done something tactless or wrong, he would have just smiled! He would have said, Oh, hes just impetuous, but I dont mind.
   But it wasnt like that, Mother! Im self-critical, god knows, and I have examined myself on this I wasnt tactless for a SECOND, I spoke very calmly. Very calmly. And not with the idea of accusing him. On the contrary, I was simply trying to tell him, Look, see whats happening. I have really done nothing wrong, to tell you the truth.

0 1962-06-27, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   You know, mon petit, I said one day that in the history of earth, wherever there was a possibility for the Consciousness to manifest, I was there1; this is a fact. Its like the story of Savitri: always there, always there, always there, in this one, that oneat certain times there were four emanations simultaneously! At the time of the Italian and French Renaissance. And again at the time of Christ, then too. Oh, you know, I have remembered so many, many things! It would take volumes to tell it all. And then, more often than not (not always, but more often than not), what took part in this or that life was a particular Yogic formation of the vital beingin other words something immortal.2 And when I came this time, as soon as I took up the yoga, they came back again from all sides, they were waiting. Some were simply waiting, others were working (they led their own independent lives) and they all gathered together again. Thats how I got those memories. One after the other, those vital beings camea deluge! I had barely enough time to assimilate one, to see, situate and integrate it, and another would come. They are quite independent, of course, they do their own work, but they are very centralized all the same. And there are all kindsall kinds, anything you can imagine! Some of them have even been in men: they are not exclusively feminine.
   At first, I used to think they were fantasies.

0 1962-07-04, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   They tried, fought, operated: no movement, nothing moved. Then one day they declared him dead (by the way, according to doctors, when the body dies the heart beats on faintly for a few seconds; then it stops and its all over). In his case, those faint beats (not strong enough to pump blood) continued for half an hour the kind of heartbeats typical of the trance state. (They all seem to be crassly ignorant! But anyway, it doesnt matter.) And they all said, even the doctors, Oooh, he must be a great Yogi, this only happens to Yogis! I have no idea what they mean by that. But I do know that although those heartbeats arent strong enough to pump blood through the body (thus putting the body into a cataleptic state), they do suffice to maintain life, and thats how Yogis can remain in trance for months on end. Well, I dont know what type of doctors they are (probably very modern), but theyre ignorant of this fact. Anyway, according to them he had those pulsations for half an hour (normally they last a few seconds). All right. Hence their remarks. And he was here the whole while, immutable. Then suddenly I felt a kind of shudder; I lookedhe was gone. I was busy and didnt note the time, but it was in the afternoon, thats all I know. Later I was told that they had decided to cremate him, and had done so at that time.
   The violence of the accident had brutally exteriorized him, but when it happened he must have been thinking of me with trust. He came and didnt budgehe never knew what was happening to his body. He didnt know he was dead! And if.
  --
   People say, He has lost consciousness. They made this assumption in N.S.s case because there were no vital signs and the consciousness in the body was reduced to a minimum; there was still some left (because it did react!), but it was a bare minimum, without much reacting powerhe wasnt an accomplished Yogi, after all, only an apprentice Yogi. It would have been entirely different, for instance, and far more serious, for someone who had practiced hatha yoga. But I mean to say that N.S. was here beside me, fully conscious, and could have moved on to another mode of manifestation without having to go through the throes of death thats not at all indispensable! Such is my experience, and I find it very important, tremendously important.
   Besides, this is the first time it has happened. All those (like I.B., for example) who were hurled violently out of their bodies through an accident have, after a time, become conscious again the consciousness gathers itself back together. But N.S.s consciousness never scattered, he never lost consciousness.

0 1962-07-21, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Then look at India. Except for some solitary giants, everywhere there is your simple man, that is, the average man who does not want to think and cannot think, who has not the least Shakti but only a temporary excitement. In India, you want the simple thought, the easy word. In Europe they want the deep thought, the deep word; there even an ordinary laborer or artisan thinks, wants to know, is not satisfied with surface things but wants to go behind. But there is still this difference: there is a fatal limitation in the strength and thought of Europe. When it comes into the spiritual field, its thought-power can no longer move ahead. There Europe sees everything as riddlenebulous metaphysics, Yogic hallucination. They rub their eyes as in smoke and can see nothing clear. Still, some effort is being made in Europe to surmount even this limitation. We already have the spiritual sensewe owe it to our forefa thersand whoever has that sense has at his disposal such Knowledge and Shakti as with one breath might blow away all the huge power of Europe like a blade of grass. But to get that Shakti one must be a worshiper of Shakti. We are not worshipers of Shakti. We are worshipers of the easy way. But Shakti is not to be had by the easy way. Our forefa thers dived into a sea of vast thought and gained a vast Knowledge and established a mighty civilization. As they went on in their way, fatigue and weariness came upon them. The force of thought diminished and with it also the strong current of Shakti. Our civilization has become an achalayatana [prison], our religion a bigotry of externals, our spirituality a faint glimmer of light or a momentary wave of religious intoxication. And so long as this sort of thing continues, any permanent resurgence of India is improbable
   In Bengal this weakness has gone to the extreme. The Bengali has a quick intelligence, emotional capacity and intuition. He is foremost in India in all these qualities. All of them are necessary but they do not suffice. If to these there were added depth of thought, calm strength, heroic courage and a capacity for and pleasure in prolonged labor, the Bengali might be a leader not only of India, but of mankind. But he does not want that, he wants to get things done easily, to get knowledge without thinking, the fruits without labor, siddhi by an easy sadhana [discipline]. His stock is the excitement of the emotional mind. But excess of emotion, empty of knowledge, is the very symptom of the malady. In the end it brings about fatigue and inertia. The country has been constantly and gradually going down. The life-power has ebbed away. What has the Bengali come to in his own country? He cannot get enough food to eat or clothes to wear, there is lamentation on all sides, his wealth, his trade and commerce, his lands, his very agriculture have begun to pass into the hands of others. We have abandoned the sadhana of Shakti and Shakti has abandoned us. We do the sadhana of Love, but where Knowledge and Shakti are not, there Love does not remain, there narrowness and littleness come, and in a little and narrow mind there is no place for Love. Where is Love in Bengal? There is more quarreling, jealousy, mutual dislike, misunderstanding and faction there than anywhere else even in India which is so much afflicted by division.

0 1962-07-25, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Some receive it from above; for others, it rises from below (gesture to the base of the spine). As I once told you, the old system always proceeds from below upwards, while Sri Aurobindo pulls from above downwards. This becomes very clear in meditation (well, in yoga, in Yogic experience): for those who follow the old system, its invariably the kundalini at the base [of the spine] rising from center to center, center to center, until the lotus (in an ironic tone) bursts open here gesture at the crown of the head). With Sri Aurobindo, it comes like this (gesture of descending Force) and then settles here (above the head); it enters, and from there it comes down, down, down, everywhere, to the very bottom, and even below the feet the subconscientand lower still, the inconscient.
   Its the Shakti. He said, you know (I am still translating it), that the shakti drawn up from below (this is what happens in the individual process) is already what could be called a veiled shakti (it has power, but it is veiled). While the Shakti drawn down from above is a PURE Shakti; and if it can be brought down carefully and slowly enough so that it isnt (how shall I put it?) polluted or, in any case, obscured as it enters matter, then the result is immediately much better. As he has explained, if you start out with this feeling of a great power in yourself (because its always a great power no matter where it awakens), theres inevitably a danger of the ego meddling in. But if it comes pure and you are very careful to keep it pure, not to rush the movement but let it purify as it descends, then half the work is done.

0 1962-09-05, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   (Satprem reads a passage from his manuscript in which he speaks of illnesses, including Yogic illnesses, that can result from some inner discrepancy when the various parts of the consciousness are unevenly developed.)
   These illnesses are not of the same nature as the others, because GENERALLY (I am not making any absolute rule), generally their origin is not found to be viruses or bacteria, but a kind of disorder what is it called? They have a splendid word for it now. You know, an incapacity to bear something, a lack of harmony.

0 1962-09-08, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Its a strange sensation, a bizarre perception of both the true functioning and the functioning distorted by the sense of being an individual body. Theyre not even you cant even say theyre superimposed, theyre almost simultaneous, and thats why it is so hard to explain. A number of things are malfunctioning in the body; I dont know if they can be called illnesses (maybe the doctors would call them illnesses), but in any case, theyre malfunctionings in the bodys organs: the heart, the stomach, the intestines, the lungs and so on. And at the same time theres (it cant be called a functioning) the true state. And thus certain disorders appear only when the consciousness as if the consciousness were pulled or pushed or poised in a certain way, and then, those malfunctionings INSTANTLY appearnot as a consequence: I mean the consciousness becomes aware of their existence. And if the consciousness stays in that position long enough, there are what we conventionally call consequences: the malfunctioning has its consequences (tiny things, such as physical discomforts, for instance). And if through (is it Yogic discipline, is it the Lords intervention? Call it what you will) but if the consciousness regains its true position, the consequences cease IMMEDIATELY. Sometimes, though, its like this (Mother makes a gesture of an overlapping or interpenetration by interlacing the fingers of her two hands), in other words, this way, then that, this way, then that (Mother slips the fingers of her right hand back and forth through the fingers of her left to show the consciousness alternating between two states), this position, then that position, this one, then that one. This movement takes only a few seconds, so I can almost perceive the two functionings simultaneously. Thats what gave me the knowledge of the process, otherwise I wouldnt understand; I would simply think I am falling from one state into another. Thats not it, its just. The substance, the vibrations, everything is probably following its normal course, you see, and all that is really changing is the way consciousness perceives things.
   So pushing this knowledge to its limit that is, applying it generallylife (what we usually call life, the physical life of the body) and death are THE SAME THING, simultaneous its just that the consciousness moves back and forth, back and forth (same gesture). I dont know if I am making myself clear. But its fantastic.

0 1962-09-22, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Thats the essential failing of the old Yogic system: things go quite nicely on the level where they practice yoga, but as soon as they descend, theyre worse than everyone else!
   ***

0 1962-10-12, #Agenda Vol 03, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Theres a person I wont name who has read Sri Aurobindos books and thought he understood them. He has been following a Yogic discipline (anyway, he thought he was doing yoga) and he pulled down the Force. The Force responded (Mother laughs). He wound up with a headache! He got frightened and wrote to me in these exact words: This Force is the Lords Force (which is true, quite true), and it has turned into fear. So (Mother laughs) fear is the Lords principal perversion. There you have it. He read in books that the Lord is behind everything, that there is nothing that isnt the Lord; so its the Lord who has become perverted in His manifestation, naturally. The Force of the Lord came to help him and was changed into fear, so the Lords principal perversion is fear!
   If you read that, youd say he was going off his rocker.

0 1963-08-21, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Thats what I had told you already: the whole basis of the Yogic effort is changed now. Formerly, the work was based precisely on that knowledge of inner dimensions I cant recapture that any more, I see it as completely outside me.1
   So I cant add anything to those Talks: their source is different. Even now for the aphorisms, its a little bit difficult. I feel I have to come down, to revert to an old frame of mind in order to say something.

0 1963-10-19, #Agenda Vol 04, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Yesterday (this is an example I give you, but in all three domains its similar), yesterday it was a question of money. The question of money, for more than twelve years, has been a problemgrowing increasingly acute because the expenses are increasing fantastically while the income is decreasing! (laughing) So the two things together make the problem very acute. It results in things to be paid but no money, which means that the cashier (the poor cashier, it does him a lot of good from the Yogic viewpoint: he has acquired a calm that he never had before! But still he is the one who has to stand the greatest tension), the cashier spends money and I cannot reimburse him. Very well. And then its not for me to run about, look for money, arrange things, discuss with people, of course, that wouldnt be proper (!), and those who do it for me have in them a rather sizable amount of tamas, which I cannot yet shake up. Anyway, yesterday they proposed something absurd to me (I dont want to go into the details, it doesnt matter), but their proposal was absurd and put me in a totally unacceptable situation. In other words, it might have brought a legal action against me, I might have been summoned before the court, anyway, all kinds of inadmissible thingsnot that I care personally, but theyre inadmissible. When they proposed their idea to me, I looked and saw it was silly; I was very quiet, when, suddenly, there came into me a Power (I told you it happens now and then) like this (massive gesture). When it comes, you feel as though you could destroydestroy everything with it you see, its too awesome for the present state of the earth. So I answered very quietly that it was unacceptable, I said why, and I returned the paper. Then something COMPELLED me to add: If I am here, it is not because of any necessity or obligation; it is not a necessity from the past, not a karma, not any obligation, any attraction, any attachment, but only, solely and absolutely because of the Lords Grace. I am here because He keeps me here, and when He no longer keeps me here, when He considers I am not to stay any longer, I wont stay. And I added (I was speaking in English), As for me (as for me [gesture upward] that is, not this [gesture to the body]), as for Me, I consider that the world isnt ready: its way of responding inwardly and outwardly, even visibly in those around me, proves that the world isnt ready something must happen for it to be ready. Or else it will take QUITE SOME TIME for it to be prepared. Its all the same to me: whether it is ready or not makes no difference. And everything could collapse, Icouldntcareless. And with what force I said that! My arm rose, my fist banged on the tablemon petit, I thought I was going to break everything!
   I was watching the scene, thinking, Why the devil am I made to do this?! These people are, apparently, quite devoted, quite surrendered and intimate enough not to be afraid. (I dont know what effect it had on them, but it must have had some effect.) As soon as it was over, I started working again, looking into affairs and so on. Afterwards, once I was alone, I wondered, Why did that come into me? And in the evening, I had the solution to the situation: its here (Mother takes an envelope on the table). I didnt even look at it (Mother opens the envelope and looks at the amount of a check).

0 1964-03-28, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   That may be why I am disappointed with Yogic life.
   But I have myself never had much respect for Yogic life! Never.
   Yes, some days I feel a little bitter, I find thats really not it.

0 1964-08-11, #Agenda Vol 05, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But there is one thing you must know. I am surrounded with people, even people who are considered great Yogisits only with you that I can talk. So this isnt to make you inflate (!), its simply to tell you that there is obviously something there that can receive. And if you have that trust, the trust that THERE IS something and IT IS for this something that you are here, then all will be well.
   Its a question of adjustment (gesture of connection).

0 1965-05-19, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Thats why certain minds have postulated that the creation was the result of an error. But we find all the possible conceptions: the perfect creation, then a fault that introduced the error; the creation itself as a lower movement, which must end since it began; then the conception of the Vedas according to what Sri Aurobindo told us about it, which was a progressive and infinite unfolding or discoveryindefinite and infiniteof the All by Himself. Naturally, all these are human translations. For the moment, as long as we express ourselves humanly, its a human translation; but depending on the initial stand of the human translator (that is, a stand that accepts the primordial error, or the accident in the creation, or the conscious supreme Will since the beginning, in a progressive unfolding), the conclusions or the descents in the Yogic attitude are different. There are the nihilists, the Nirvanists and the illusionists, there are all the religions (like Christianity) that accept the devils intervention in one form or another; and then pure Vedism, which is the Supremes eternal unfolding in a progressive objectification. And depending on your taste, you are here or there or here, and there are nuances. But according to what Sri Aurobindo felt to be the most total truth, according to that conception of a progressive universe, you are led to say that, every minute, what takes place is the best possible for the unfolding of the whole. The logic of it is absolute. And I think that all the contradictions can only stem from a more or less pronounced tendency for this or that position, that other position; all the minds that accept the intrusion of a fault or an error and the resulting conflict between forces pulling backward and forces pulling forward, can naturally dispute the possibility. But you are forced to say that for someone who is spiritually attuned to the supreme Will or the supreme Truth, what happens is necessarily, every instant, the best for his personal realizationthis is true in all cases. The unconditioned best can only be accepted by one who sees the universe as an unfolding, the Supreme growing more and more conscious of Himself.
   (silence)

0 1965-06-14, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I must tell you that I was born in a family in which nobody smoked: my father had never smoked and neither had his brothersanyway, no one smoked. So since my early childhood, I hadnt been used to others smoking. Later, when I lived with artists Artists smoke, of course (it seems it gives them inspiration!), but I detested the smell. I didnt say anything because I didnt want to be unpleasant, but I detested it. Then I came hereSri Aurobindo smoked. He smoked deliberately, he smoked in order to say: one can do the yoga while smoking, I say one can smoke and do the yoga, and I smoke. And he smoked. And naturally all the disciples smoked, since Sri Aurobindo smoked. For some time, I even gave them pocket money so they could buy cigars (they smoked cigarsit was ghastly!). Then I came to live in Sri Aurobindos house, we spoke freely, and one day I told him, How awful the smell of smoke is! (laughing) Its disgusting! So he said to me, Oh, you dont like the smell? Oh, no! I said, Not only that, but I had to make a Yogic effort to stop it from making me feel sick! The next day, he had stopped. It was over, he never smoked again. That was kind. It wasnt on principle, it was because he didnt want to impose the smell on me. But I had never said anything: it was simply because he asked me just like that, while talking, so I told him. And when he stopped smoking, everyone had to stop toosmoking wasnt allowed anymore, since he didnt smoke anymore.
   No, for those who dont smoke (laughing), others smoke is very

0 1965-07-31, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   A practical problem, not a Yogic one! Its about Italy, N. and the publication of the book on Sri Aurobindo [The Adventure of Consciousness]. N. translated it and gave it to his friend S. to look after the publication in Italy. S. saw a publisher, who asked to read the book in French and found it interesting. And then, I dont know whether on the publishers suggestion or S.s, they are asking if it wouldnt be better to publish first a book by Sri Aurobindo like, for instance, The Guide to Yoga.
   That doesnt exist!

0 1965-12-31, #Agenda Vol 06, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   No, I assure you, you can believe me (Mother laughs), I have a little experience: its done. To put it poetically, Your head is in the Light. But your vital doesnt want this manifestation; your vital wanted a vital manifestation, as for instance when it was in the virgin forest, chopping trees down: it wanted to have the sense of the power of life. And that has been denied to it (for Yogic AND material reasons, both extremes, because the body wasnt made for that, and because [laughing] the yoga has no time to waste with that), so Mister Vital is furious! It has been told, Calm down, be at peace, quite at peace, its all right, you too will have your joy, but once you are transformed. And it may be less pugnacious or rebellious or aggressive than before, but its dissatisfied, so its what gives you the feeling, But I have no sign that Im making headway! I have no sign that I am progressing. Quite the contrary! Quite the contrary, its more and more dull, more and more morose, more and more ordinary, that is to say, less and less consonant with my ideal, and my ideal
   Thats not exactly the point. Yes, when its in one of its fits, its like that, but

0 1966-04-16, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Those are generally people who have reached a fairly advanced Yogic state.
   but one still wants ones love to be accepted.

0 1966-09-30, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Although St. Paul had remarkable mystic experiences and, certainly, much profound spiritual knowledge (profound rather than wide, I think)I would not swear to it that he is referring1 to the supramentalised body (physical body). Perhaps to the supramental body or to some other luminous body in its own space and substance, which he found sometimes as if enveloping him and abolishing this body of death which he felt the material envelope to be. This verse like many others is capable of several interpretations and might refer to a quite supraphysical experience. The idea of a transformation of the body occurs in different traditions, but I have never been quite sure that it meant the change in this very matter. There was a Yogi some time ago in this region who taught it, but he hoped when the change was complete, to disappear in light. The Vaishnavas speak of a divine body which will replace this one when there is the complete siddhi. But, again, is this a divine physical or supraphysical body? At the same time there is no obstacle in the way of supposing that all these ideas, intuitions, experiences point to, if they do not exactly denote, the physical transformation.2
   Sri Aurobindo

0 1966-10-08, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Its a chapter entitled The End of the Intellect, in which I wrote that in the beginning Sri Aurobindo was an agnostic and had mainly cultivated the intellect. So V. has made a summary of this chapter, and in the end he asks: How can one practice Yogic disciplines without believing in God or in the Divine?
   How?Very simple. Because these are mere words. When you practice without believing in God or in the Divine, you practice to reach a perfection, to make progress, for all sorts of reasons.

0 1966-12-07, #Agenda Vol 07, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Yogic Sadhana, a book written in automatic writing by Sri Aurobindo.
   ***

0 1967-04-05, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Its still the old idea. Still the old idea of the sage, the Yogi, the sannyasi, the who represents spiritual life, while all others represent ordinary life but its not true! Its not true, not true at all.
   If they still need to oppose one thing to another (because that wretched mind doesnt work when its not given an opposition), if they need an opposition, let them take the opposition between Truth and Falsehood, its somewhat better (I am not saying its perfect, but its somewhat better). But then, in all things Falsehood and Truth are there, mixed, everywhere; in the so-called spiritual life, in the sannyasins, the swamis, those who think they represent divine life on earth, all that, there is also that mixture of Falsehood and Truth.

0 1967-05-27, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Do you remember S.B.? He was here. He was a man with many disciples, he had Yogic powers. He came here and was thunderstruck, as it were, when he saw Sri Aurobindo: he fainted. He said afterwards it was because of the power of the revelation. He stayed here for years and years; he lived there, downstairs. Then he went away; you see, he used to receive all his disciples here, so I said, No, that wont do, its better to have a room elsewhere. Then he left. And for years and years he wasnt heard of again. Lately, he has been reappearing (I have seen him relatively often at night), and he reappears with such ardour, such enthusiasm! He has just sent this card from Riga, in Latviahe intended to go to Russia (Mother hands the card to the disciples):
   Greetings. I remember your marvel. I spoke of our divine Master and of your sweetness in a great conference here. Bless me. Yours ever.

0 1967-11-22, #Agenda Vol 08, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Yes, I understand. I understand. Well, perhaps that is what Sri Aurobindo meant when he said to me, Your body is at present the only one on earth that can do this work. I thought it was a kindness on his part. But its true that it was cut off, I knew it I saw itcut off, the states of being were sent away: Go away, you are not wanted anymore. Then the body had to rebuild a life for itself. And instead of having to go through all those states of being as it did before, through successive awakenings (gesture of ascent from degree to degree, in the way of the Yogis of old), right to the top, the topmost beyond the form, now its no longer that at all, the body no longer needs anything of all that, it simply has (gesture of a rising aspiration opening out like a flower). Something within opened and developed, which caused that idiotic mind to become organized and capable of falling silent in an aspiration. And then then there was the direct Contact, without intermediaries the direct contact. That it now has constantly. Constantly, constantly, constantly, the direct contact. And its THE BODY: it doesnt go through all kinds of things and states of being, not at all, its direct.
   But once that has been done (this is something Sri Aurobindo had said), once ONE body has done it, it has the capacity of passing it on to others; and I tell you, there is now (I am not saying in its totality and in detail, probably not), but here and there (scattered gesture to show various points on earth) people suddenly get one experience or another. Some of them (the majority) get frightened, so naturally it goes away that is because they werent prepared enough within (if its not the little routine of every minute, always the same, they get frightened), and once they get frightened its over, it means they will need years of preparation for the experience to recur. But still, some arent; frightened; suddenly, an experience: Ah! something wholly new, wholly unexpected, which they had never thought of.

0 1968-01-12, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   There may be here some debate on this true sense: some, along with the religions we know, will tell you that the true sense isnt here, but in goodness knows what heaven beyond. Its a point of view, but if this material evolution does not hold its own sense within itself, it means we are in the presence of a sinister farce invented by goodness knows what divine masochist. If God exists, he must be a little less foolish than that, and we are entitled to think that this material evolution has a divine sense and that it is the field of a divine manifestation in Matter. Our spiritual discipline must therefore aim at gaining this divine man or perhaps that other, still unknown being who will emerge from us just as we emerged from hominid infancy. What is the place of the sexual function in this evolution? Until now, the progress of consciousness has made use of the progress of species, which means that sexual reproduction has been the key to the proliferation of species so as to reach the form most fit for the manifestation of consciousness. Since the appearance of man two or three million years ago, Nature hasnt produced new species, as if she had found in man the fittest mode of expression. But evolution cannot remain stagnant, or else it no longer is evolution. So it means that the key of evolution no longer lies in the proliferation of species by means of sexual reproduction, but directly in the very power of consciousness. Before man, consciousness was still too buried in its material support; with man, it has disengaged itself sufficiently to assume its true mastery over material Nature and work out its own mutations by itself. From the standpoint of evolutionary biology, this is the end of sexuality. We have reached the stage at which we can switch from natural evolution through sexual power to spiritual evolution through the power of consciousness. Nature generally does not let organs linger that no longer serve her evolutionary design, so we can foresee that the sexual function will atrophy in those who will be able to channel their energy no longer for reproduction but to develop their consciousness. Quite obviously, not all of us have reached that stage, and for a long time Nature will still need sexual power to pursue her evolution in the midst of the human species, that is to say, to lead the rather brute man we still are to a more conscious man, more capable of grasping the true sense of his evolution, and finally wholly capable of switching from natural to spiritual evolution. The inequality of development in individuals is the obvious reason why we cannot make general rules or hand out infallible prescriptions. To each stage its law. But after however long a time, it is equally obvious that, from the point of view of evolutionary biology, the sexual function comes to its end when it has fulfilled its purpose, that is, when it has succeeded in giving birth to a sufficiently conscious man. So we cannot reasonably base a spiritual discipline of accelerated evolution on a principle that runs counter to evolution. Moreover, anyone who has even barely crossed the difficult line, the point X of the transition from natural to spiritual evolution, cannot but realize that all the pseudo-mystic attempts to prettify the sexual relations between man and woman are shams. I have nothing against sexual relations (God knows!), but trying to coat them with a Yogic or mystic phraseology is a deceitful illusion, a self-deception. Therefore, in that sense, there is no key to be recoveredit does not exist.
   There is a key in the relationship between man and woman, but not in their sexual relations. The so-called left-hand Tantrics (of the Vama Marga) are to true Tantrism what Boccaccios tales are to Christianity, or what the sodden Roman Bacchus is to Dionysos of the Greek mysteries. I know Tantrism, to say the least. As for the Cathars, whom I hold in the highest esteem, it would be doing them little honor to believe that they followed a sort of yoga of sexuality. Through my own experience I have often had the feeling of reliving the Cathars experience, and I see plainly that if some of them attempted to mix sexual relations into the true relationship between man and woman, they soon realized their error. It is a dead-end road, or rather its only end is to show you that it leads you nowhere forward. The Cathars were too sincere and conscious men to persist in a burdening experience. For ultimately, and that is the crux of the matter, the sexual experience in its very nature (whether or not there is backward flow or whatever its mode) automatically fastens you again to the old animal vibrations there is nothing you can do about it: however much love you may put into it, the very function is tied to millennia of animality. It is as if you wanted to plunge into a swamp without stirring up any mudit cannot be done, the milieu is like that. And when one knows how much transparency, clarification and inner stillness it takes to slowly rise to a higher consciousness, or to allow a higher light to enter our waters without being instantly darkened, one fails to see how sexual activity can help you attain that still limpidity in which things can start happening??? The union, the oneness of two beings, the true and complete meeting of two beings does not take place at that level or through those means. That is all I can say. But I have seen that in the silent tranquillity of two beings who have the same aspiration, who have overcome the difficult transition, something quite unique slowly takes place, of which one can have no inkling as long as one is still stuck in the struggles of the flesh, to use a preachers language! I think the Cathars experience begins after that transition. After it, the man-woman couple assumes its true meaning, its effectiveness, if I may say so. Sex is only a first mode of meeting, the first device invented by Nature to break the shell of individual egosafterwards, one grows and discovers something else, not through inhibition or repression, but because something different and infinitely richer takes over. Those who are so eager to preserve sex and to mystify it in order to move on to the second stage of evolution are very much like children clinging to their scootersit isnt more serious than that. There is nothing in it to do a yoga with, nothing also to be indignant about or raise ones eyebrows at. So I have nothing to criticize, I am merely observing and putting things in their place. All depends on the stage one has reached. As for those who want to use sex for such and such a sublime or not-so-sublime reason, well, let them have their experience. As Mother told me on the very same subject no later than yesterday, To tell the truth, the Lord makes use of everything. One is always on the way towards something. One is always on the way, through any means, but what is necessary is, as much as possible, to keep ones lucidity and not to deceive oneself.

0 1968-02-14, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Mahesh Yogi, whose disciples included the Beatles and a few Hollywood stars.
   ***

0 1968-09-07, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I have told you many times, and couldnt repeat it too often, that we are not made of a piece. Within ourselves we have lots of states of being, and each state of being has its own life. All that is gathered together in a single body, as long as you have one, and acts through a single body; thats what gives you the sense of a single person, a single being. But there are many of them, and there are in particular concentrations on different planes: just as you have a physical being, you have a vital being, a mental being, a psychic being, and many others with all possible intermediaries. So when you leave your body, all those beings will scatter. Its only if you are a very advanced Yogi and have been capable of unifying your being around the divine center that those beings remain linked together. If you havent been able to unify yourself, then at the time of death, all that will scatter: every being will go back to its own region. With the vital being, for example, your various desires will separate and each of them will go and chase its realization quite independently, because there will no longer be a physical being to hold them together. While if you have united your consciousness to the psychic consciousness, when you die you will remain conscious of your psychic being, and the psychic being will return to the psychic world which is a world of bliss, joy, peace, tranquillity, and growing knowledge. But if you have lived in your vital and all its impulses, each impulse will try to realize itself here and there. For instance, for the miser who was concentrated on his money, when he dies the part of his vital that was concerned with his money will hook on there and will keep watching over the money so no one takes it. People wont see him, but he is there nonetheless, and very unhappy if something happens to his dear money. Now, if you live exclusively in your physical consciousness (which is difficult, because, after all, you have thoughts and feelings), if you live exclusively in your physical, when the physical being disappears, you disappear along with it, its over. There is a spirit of the form: your form has a spirit that lives on for seven days after your death. The doctors have declared you dead, but the spirit of your form is alive, and not only alive but conscious in most cases. It lasts for seven to eight days, and after that, it too dissolves I am not talking about Yogis, I am talking about ordinary people. Yogis have no laws, its quite different; for them the world is different. I am talking about ordinary people living an ordinary life; for them its like that. So the conclusion is that if you want to preserve your consciousness, it would be better to center it on a part of your being which is immortal; otherwise it will evaporate like a flame into thin air. And happily so, because if it were otherwise, there might be gods or kinds of superior men who would create hells and heavens as they do in their material imagination, inside which they would shut you up. (Question:) It is said that there is a god of death. Is it true? Yes. As for me, I call him a genius of death. I know him very well. And its an extraordinary organization. You cant imagine how organized it is! I think there are many of those genii of death, hundreds of them. I met at least two of them. One I met in France, the other in Japan, and they were very different. Which leads me to believe that depending on the mental culture, the education, the countries and beliefs, there must be different genii. But there are genii for all manifestations of Nature: there are genii of fire, genii of air, water, rain, wind; and there are genii of death. Any one genius of death is entitled to a certain number of dead every day. Its truly a fantastic organization. Its a sort of alliance between the vital forces and the forces of Nature. If, for example, he decided, Here is the number of people I am entitled to, say four or five, or six, or one or two (it varies from day to day), if he decided so many people would die, hell go straight and set himself up near the person whos going to die. But if you (not the person) happen to be conscious, if you see the genius going to the person but do not want him or her to die, then, if you have a certain occult power, you can tell him, No, I forbid you to take this person. Thats something which happened, not once but several times, in Japan and here. It wasnt the same genius. Which makes me say there must be many of them. If you can tell him, I forbid you to take this person and have the power to send him away, theres nothing he can do but go away; but he wont give up his due and will go elsewhere there will be a death elsewhere. (Question:) Some people, when they are about to die, are aware of it. Why dont they tell the genius to go away? Two things are needed. First, nothing in your being, no part of your being, should wish to die. That doesnt often happen. You always have, somewhere in you, a defeatist: something tired or disgusted, which has had enough, something lazy or which doesnt want to fight and says, Ah, well, let it be over, so much the better. Thats enoughyoure dead. But its a fact: if nothing, absolutely nothing in you consents to die, you will not die. For someone to die, there is always a second, if a hundredth part of a second, when he consents. If there isnt that second of consent, he will not die. But who is certain he doesnt have within himself, somewhere, a tiny bit of a defeatist which just yields and says, Oh well? Hence the need to unify oneself. Whatever the path we may follow, the subject we may study, we always reach the same result. The most important thing for an individual is to unify himself around his divine center; that way he becomes a real individual, master of himself and of his destiny. Otherwise, he is a plaything of the forces, which toss him about like a cork in a stream. He goes where he doesnt want to, is made to do what he doesnt want to, and finally he gets lost in a hole without any way to stop himself doing so. But if you are consciously organized, unified around the divine center, governed and led by it, you are the master of your destiny. Its worth trying. At any rate, I find its better to be the master rather than the slave. The feeling of being pulled by strings and being made to do things you may or may not want to do is a rather unpleasant sensation. Its quite irksome. Well, I dont know, I, for one, found it quite irksome even when I was a small child. When I was five, I began finding it wholly intolerable, and I sought a way for it to be otherwisewithout anyone being able to tell me anything. Because I knew no one capable of helping me, and I didnt have the luck you havesomeone who can tell you, Here is what you must do. There was no one to tell me. I had to find it all by myself. I found it. I began at the age of five. And you, its a long time since you were five?
   Well cut out the end.

0 1968-09-28, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Surely! You can have the experience in a Yogic way, you can even have it materially if (laughing) if death is brief enough not to give the doctors time to declare you dead!
   They wont understand!

0 1968-10-26, #Agenda Vol 09, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   In a letter (see Cent. Ed., vol. 26, p. 352-353), Sri Aurobindo told the story of a Yogi who could prolong his life at will (and lived for more than 200 years), but who kept the same toothache till the end, without ever being able to cure it. He was Swami Brahmananda, who, one day in the 1900s, told a disciple of his (Sardar Mazumdar), "As for the tooth, I have suffered from it since the days of Bhao Girdi," that is, since 1761.
   ***

0 1969-02-01, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   As for immortality, it cannot come if there is attachment to the body,for it is only by living in the immortal part of oneself which is unidentified with the body and bringing down its consciousness and force into the cells that it can come. I speak of course of Yogic means. The scientists now hold that it is (theoretically at least) possible to discover physical means by which death can be overcome, but that would mean only a prolongation of the present consciousness in the present body Unless there is a change of consciousness and change of functionings it would be a very small gain.
   Sri Aurobindo

0 1969-02-08, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   To be viable, this would demand that all Auroville workers should be Yogis, conscious of the Divine Truth.
   6) Has the time come to aspire to, set up or attempt a general organization, or should we wait for the correct attitude and people?

0 1969-03-12, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   One morning, with this Consciousness I had that experience of power (the true power): how, when it goes through a perfectly static, still, peaceful consciousness, theres no distortion; and how, going through it, it awakens in the individual a sense of power and the collaboration of the individual will. If it is (I saw the two things at the same time), if its a Yogic consciousness with the calm and IMPERSONALITY (that is, without any desire and any preference), then its STILL MORE POWERFUL, because its directed towards a precise spot instead of working in a general wayits directed towards a precise spot, and the action is multiplied. But if, in the consciousness through which the force is to act, there is the LEAST desire, the LEAST preference, or the least recoil everything is spoilt. Everything is spoilt: it goes like this (gesture of trepidation), and its over. I saw that, with examples to back it up; not narrated examples, theres nothing mental: everything shownshown with vibrations. And thats really interesting. It means that in the superman consciousness, with the full impersonalization (that is, no preference, no desire, no refusal, nothingyou are like this [gesture of an immobile Witness]), there will be the capacity to direct the Power for it to act on a PRECISE POINT, and then it will be multiplied in Matter. A multiplication of power, that is, an intensification of power in Matter.
   That explains (its the body which is learning all that, its really very happy), that very clearly explains to the body why there have been individuals and their purpose in the whole but those individuals must lose all that was necessary to form them; they must go beyond that and become divine again. Then then the result will be extraordinary.

0 1969-04-02, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   This Yogis idea was transcendental Meditation, and he had them come for a month to his place, in the Himalayas. Of course, after two weeks they were getting bored, they couldnt stand it anymore! And the Transcendent has little opening onto the world (!) If on the other hand these people were shown what Sri Aurobindo has brought, a yoga open to the world, they would be touched.
   The trouble is that all these people take their desires for inspirations. And then I have this difficulty with Auroville too, thats why I take every opportunity to repeat to them (they all keep saying that they come to Auroville to be free), I answer them that one can be free only if one is united with the Supreme; and to be united with the Supreme, one must have no more desires!

0 1969-05-17, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   You know that I used to see Pavitra every day, in the evening. He was in a poor state. But I had been forewarned (long ago) that his inner being was waiting for A.1 to return before it would leave. I dont know whether he was aware of something in his outward consciousness, but at any rate he had never said anything. But I knew The day A. arrived, that very day [May 13], just before coming here, Pavitra fell down. He came here with quite a few scratches. I thought it would stop there, but the day after A.s arrival (I dont remember, I never keep a clear memory of dates), at any rate between the 15th and 16th, at night, after 9 (I didnt look at the time, so I dont know precisely, but I was on my bed), Pavitras whole individualized consciousness (but not in a form), his conscious, fully awakened consciousness, down to all that can come out of the cells, began to come and enter into me according to the ancient, the very old Yogic practice of merging into the Supremein that way, that practice. It came while I was lying on my bed; it began, and it was so material that there was a very strong friction in all the cells, everywhere. It went on for three hours. After three hours, it became not exactly still, but no longer active. Then, the next morning, I saw A. (it was on the 16th), I saw A. at about 8:30 (naturally, Pavitra had been in bed since the day before, they had put him to bed), and in the morning, A. told me that just as he was about to come here, Pavitra opened his eyes and looked at him So I told him, I dont know, but with a Yogic knowledge of the process, quite an extraordinary knowledge (he had never boasted of having it), his conscious being melted last night and entered my body, this body2 I told him, Well see. But half an hour later, they told me that just as I was talking with A., the doctor declared he had left.
   Have you seen him? I am told he looks very good.
  --
   Did he know it from a previous life, or? I dont know. Or else, he just didnt talk about it. Because the way he spoke, he didnt seem to know the secrets of Yogic processes.5 It was done with a rare perfection. Three hours without stop, without flaggingthree hourscontinuous, continuous. Naturally, I was lying on my bed.
   (silence)
  --
   Apart from that, in Amritas case, it was something different again.6 Amrita used to come in spite of his illness, he used to come and see me every day; he would come upstairs in the morning and sit down here, and once again in the evening (you saw how much work it was to climb the stairs). In his case, when he left The doctor had told him, You cant go upstairs for a month, and its after that, later on that day, that he came: he didnt accept, he left his body and camehe came straight to me. But he was IN HIS OWN FORM, more subtle, but precisely defined (Mother draws an outline showing Amritas form), it was his form, in his likeness. And he remained there, now active and now at rest (he rests more than he is active, but now and then he is still active). Its like like a shadow, you understand, which is wholly in my atmosphere. And he has stayed therehe stays there, rests there. But in Pavitras case, it was something else altogether: its the entire conscious being which gave up (how can I put it?) its limits, the personal limit and form, so as to identify totallyhe entered like that, like a stream of consciousness and force, but very material, very material: it produced a friction, I felt a friction, and for three hours. I had never seen that before, it was the first time I had heard about it very often (its often mentioned), that knowledge the great Yogis had: they would go like that deliberately.
   And it has ADDED something to the body consciousness. In the bodys spontaneous attitude, its way of being, I have noticed a slight change; it has added a sort of stability in the body: a satisfied stability, like that. Its not like something that comes and might go, its not that: its here [in Mother]. It has been really quite interesting and unexpected.

0 1969-05-31, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Today was Ys birthday She came, and (smiling) started telling me that the latest scientific discoveries are absolutely wonderful, that they have found how thoughts are formed and travel from one person to another (Mother laughs). I couldnt help telling her, Yes, thats what Yogis already knew!
   Well, indeed. Really!

0 1969-07-23, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   As you say, it is the failure of the right attitude that comes in the way of passing through ordeals to a change of nature. The pressure is becoming greater now for this change of character even more than for decisive Yoga experience for if the experience comes, it fails to be decisive because of the want of the requisite change of nature. The mind, for instance, gets the experience of the One in all, but the vital cannot follow, because it is dominated by ego-reaction and ego-motive or the habits of the outer nature keep up a way of thinking, feeling, acting, living which is quite out of harmony with the experience. Or the psychic and part of the mind and emotional being feel frequently the closeness of the Mother, but the rest of the nature is unoffered and goes its own way prolonging the division from her nearness, creating distance. It is because the Sadhaks have never even tried to have the Yogic attitude in all things, they have been contented with the common ideas, common view of things, common motives of life, only varied by inner experiences and transferred to the framework of the Asram instead of that of the world outside. It is not enough and there is great need that this should change.9
   Sri Aurobindo

0 1969-10-18, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   I have a strong impression that what he wants to pull He says, The Divine is in everything, and he wants to say, I am the Divine. From the (how should I put it?) Yogic point of view, from the point of view of discipline, I found it much preferable to say, You are rather than I am. Do you understand the difference?
   I do understand.
  --
   Looking at what happens from one day to the next, the bodys experience is like this. In a certain way, at certain times, its in the consciousness of Immortality, and then, out of influence (also out of habit now and then), it falls back into the consciousness of mortality, and thats really For it now, as soon as it falls back into the consciousness of mortality, theres a dreadful anguish; its only when it emerges from that, when it enters the true consciousness, that it passes. I understand why some people, Yogis, spoke of the unreality of the world, because, for the consciousness of Immortality, the consciousness of mortality is an unreal absurdity. And its like this (Mother slips the fingers of one hand between the fingers of the other, showing an alternation between the two consciousnesses). So now its like this, now its like that. And the other state, the state of Immortality, is immutably peaceful, tranquil, with like lightning-fast waves, so rapid that they seem still. Its like this: complete motionlessness (apparently) within a tremendous Movement. But then, as soon as the other state comes, its all the ordinary notions that come back, that is to say really in its present state, that gives it the anguish and suffering of a falsehood. But its still like this (same to-and-fro gesture).
   The only, only way out that is effective is in fact self-abandon, surrender. Its not expressed in words or idea or anything, but its a state, a state of vibration, in which ONLY the Divine Vibration has value. Then then things get back in order.

0 1969-10-25, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Near you, A.R. says that he only feels a difference in intensity of the same Thing. I tried to explain to him that it was not quite the same thing, but he irrefutably says that there is only ONE Thing with varying intensities, and that you only let That flow through more purely than others do. And as we spoke of Avatars, he said: There cannot be a difference between an Avatar and a realized Yogi, or if there is a difference, it means that the Yogi isnt truly realized.
   In short, we both turned round an indefinable differencewhich may be the Grace.
  --
   What he says about the avatar and the Yogi is logically true.
   But there may be a secret beyond mens understanding except and only if they wholly abdicate their humanity.

0 1969-12-24, #Agenda Vol 10, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   Oh, a tremendous powertremendous. The first time I heard it The first time I heard it There was a certain Bernard who had spent a year in India, in the Himalayas, and he was visited by Yogis whom he didnt know (he lived in a hut in the Himalayas, all alone). One Yogi came to see him; he didnt say anything, he just sat by his side and then left. And that Yogi simply told him, OM Then he came back to France, recounted his experiences in India, and he said that. Me, I knew absolutely nothing of India at the time, and when he uttered the word OM (Mother brings her arms down), it came: a Force like this, my whole, entire body, everything vibrated in an extraordinary way! It was like a revelationeverything, but everything started vibrating. Then I said, At last, heres the true sound! Yet I knew nothing, absolutely nothing, neither what it meant nor anything.
   (long silence)

0 1970-04-29, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   And then people like C., for instance, in their ignorant goodwill, say, Well, some Yogis do have a fall like that, at the end of their lives. Its stupid!
   Yes. But they told me too, thats how they broke the news to me! They told me that Rishabhch and had committed suicide. There was in me a categorical NO. I didnt say it. I didnt say, I waited; because if I had said something, they would have I didnt say anything, I waited. Then they told me that the police had demanded the body, and later on they said, Well, the police found there wasnt a drop of water in his stomach. So he didnt throw himself into the water. And it was the only thing he could have done.
  --
   Naturally, there is the whole Yogic preparation, but the body is you know, its a constant miracle! People couldnt bear it for more than a few minutes, and it goes on and on and on.
   It began exactly on the day of darshan.

0 1970-05-27, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   The only thing conceivable almost immediately is for a human being to feed on pure air, just as there are beings that feed on water (they live in water and feed on it). Its conceivable that human beings could feed on pure air. Some Yogis used to do it.
   Are there beings that feed on water alone?
  --
   Simply plankton: tiny particles that live in water. It is said that there are Yogis who can feed on pure air. Ancient texts refer to that.
   That would be really convenient!

0 1970-07-11, #Agenda Vol 11, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   It seems that a Tamil Yogi [Swami Ramalingam] of this region, who lived around 1850, had experiences, which he described in a poem and appear rather connected. Experiences of the transformation of the skeleton, bones, etc. Its a Tamilian who sent me this letter, asking me to put the question to you.
   All right.

0 1971-06-12, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   This kind of condition which is between two things one of which is being left but will not let go its hold and the other is almost or near to be grasped but cannot be brought into action, always comes at a certain stage in the transition between the ordinary consciousness and the Yogic consciousness. It is obviously very troublesome. One has to keep a firm mind as much as possible. There are two ways of dealing with it. One is to sit quiet with a silent will to get rapidly through to the true thing and allow the Force to work out the difficulty. The other is effort, but this effort too must be a quiet effort,if it is a struggling or over eager effort, it may increase the struggle and restlessness in the mind or body. The best way is to keep quiet, observe, will for the change in reliance on the working of the Force, but also to use a quiet effort whenever that is possible. If one does that, after a time one finds a quiet action becoming habitual which whenever the outer force comes to pull the mind out, repels it automatically and maintains the poise of the consciousness.
   January 19, 1937

0 1971-11-27, #Agenda Vol 12, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   (Question:) Somebody told X that Sri Aurobindo brought about the Russian revolution through Lenin. X told Y that people here were over-credulous and believed such things. Y said that if it is possible to cure dangerous diseases of the body by Yogic power, why should it not be possible to act on the mind of another person and pour in him immense vital force which can bring about such results as the Russian revolution?
   (Answer:) The statement made to X was not quiet correct; it is putting things in too physical a form. A spiritual and occult working supplies forces and can watch over the members of the execution of a world event, but to put it like that makes the actual workers too much of automata which they are not.

0 1972-03-29b, #Agenda Vol 13, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
   But many Yogisat least somehad the capacity to absorb energy directly, Mother, without eating. There are many such stories from the past.
   Yes, but I dont know if theyre true.

02.01 - Metaphysical Thought and the Supreme Truth, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  In the East, especially in India, the metaphysical thinkers have tried, as in the West, to determine the nature of the highest Truth by the intellect. But, in the first place, they have not given mental thinking the supreme rank as an instrument in the discovery of Truth, but only a secondary status. The first rank has always been given to spiritual intuition and illumination and spiritual experience; an intellectual conclusion that contradicts this supreme authority is held invalid. Secondly, each philosophy has armed itself with a practical way of reaching to the supreme state of consciousness, so that even when one begins with Thought, the aim is to arrive at a consciousness beyond mental thinking. Each philosophical founder (as also those who continued his work or school) has been a metaphysical thinker doubled with a Yogi. Those who were only philosophic intellectuals were respected for their learning but never took rank as truth discoverers. And the philosophies that lacked a sufficiently powerful means of spiritual experience died out and became things of the past because they were not dynamic for spiritual discovery and realisation.
  In the West it was just the opposite that came to pass.

02.06 - The Integral Yoga and Other Yogas, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  I found them out in my own experience. The reason is that the old Yogins when they went above the spiritual mind passed into samadhi, which means that they did not attempt to be conscious in these higher planes - their aim being to pass away into the
  Superconscient and not to bring the Superconscient into the waking consciousness, which is that of my Yoga.
  --
  From where did you get this singular attitude towards the old Yogas and Yogis? Is the wisdom of the Vedanta and Tantra a small and trifling thing? Have then the sadhaks of this Asram attained to self-realisation and are they liberated Jivan-muktas, free from ego and ignorance? If not, why then do you say, "it is not a very difficult stage", "their goal is not high", "is it such a long process?"
  I have said that this Yoga was "new" because it aims at the integrality of the Divine in this world and not only beyond it and at a supramental realisation. But how does that justify a superior contempt for the spiritual realisation which is as much the aim of this Yoga as of any other?

02.12 - Mysticism in Bengali Poetry, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 02, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Bengali poetry was born some time towards the end of an era of decline in the Indian consciousness, almost towards the close of what is called the Buddhist period, but it was born with a veritable crown on its head. For it was sheer mystic poetry, mystic in substance, mystic in manner and expression. The poets were themselves mystics, that is to say spiritual seekers, sadhaks they were called Siddhas or Siddhacharyas. They told of their spiritual, rather occult experiences in an occult or oblique manner, the very manner of the ancient Vedic Rishis, in figures and symbols and similes. It was a form of beauty, not merely of truthof abstract metaphysical truth that rose all on a sudden, as it were, out of an enveloping darkness. It shone for a time and then faded slowly, perhaps spread itself out in the common consciousness of the people and continued to exist as a backwash in popular songs and fables and proverbs. But it was there and came up again a few centuries later and the crest is seen once more in a more elevated, polished and dignified form with a content of mental illumination. I am referring to Chandidasa, who was also a sadhak poet and is usually known as the father of Bengali poetry, being the creator of modern Bengali poetry. He flourished somewhere in the fourteenth century. That wave too subsided and retired into the background, leaving in interregnum again of a century or more till it showed itself once more in another volume of mystic poetry in the hands of a new type of spiritual practitioners. They were the Yogis and Fakirs, and although of a popular type, yet possessing nuggets of gold in their utterances, and they formed a large family. This almost synchronised with the establishment and consolidation of the Western Power, with its intellectual and rational enlightenment, in India. The cultivation and superimposition of this Western or secular light forced the native vein of mysticism underground; it was necessary and useful, for it added an element which was missing before; a new synthesis came up in a crest with Tagore. It was a neo-mysticism, intellectual, philosophical, broad-based, self-conscious. Recently however we have been going on the downward slope, and many, if not the majority among us, have been pointing at mysticism and shouting: "Out, damned spot!" But perhaps we have struck the rock-bottom and are wheeling round.
   For in the present epoch we are rising on a new crest and everywhere, in all literatures, signs are not lacking of a supremely significant spiritual poetry being born among us.

03.01 - The New Year Initiation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   An Aspect of Emergent Evolution Yogic Initiation and Aptitude
   Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta Part ThreeThe New Year Initiation
  --
   An Aspect of Emergent Evolution Yogic Initiation and Aptitude

03.02 - Yogic Initiation and Aptitude, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
  object:03.02 - Yogic Initiation and Aptitude
  author class:Nolini Kanta Gupta
  --
   Yogic Initiation and Aptitude
   In the practice of Yoga a condition precedent is usually laid down: it is called adhikra, aptitude, fitness or capacity. Everybody does not possess this aptitude, it is urged, and; cannot take to a life of Yoga at one's sweet will. There must be a preparation, certain rules and regulations must be observed, some discipline must be followed and one must acquire certain qualities or qualifications, must reach a particular stage and degree, rise to a particular level of life and consciousness before one can successfully face the spiritual problem. It is not everyone that has a laisser-passer, a free pass to enter the city or citadel of the spirit.

03.03 - Arjuna or the Ideal Disciple, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Yogic Initiation and Aptitude The Body Human
   Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta Part ThreeArjuna or the Ideal Disciple
  --
   Yogic Initiation and Aptitude The Body Human

03.06 - Here or Otherwhere, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   "A question is often asked of us whether it is possible to do Yoga while remaining in the world. Some declare outright that it is not possible: world and Yoga are, like oil and water, absolutely different things, they do not go together. World means, to put it plainly, earning money and raising family. Well, these two are the very opposite of Yoga, for they involve, at their best, desire and attachment and, at their worst, dishonesty and deceit, lust and libertinage. There is the other school, on the contrary, that pronounces that a Yogic life must be lived in the world if it is not your intention to leave that world altogether and seek and merge in the Beyond, the otherwhere, the immutable transcendent Brahman. It is quite possible for one to be in the very midst of the worldly forces and yet remain unshaken by them. Therefore it has been said: When the causes of disturbance are there and still the mind is not disturbedhat indeed is the sign of a wise steadiness.
   It can, however, be asked, what then is meant by being in the world? If it means merely sitting quiet, suffering and observing nonchalantly the impacts of the world something in the manner described by Matthew Arnold in his famous lines on the East, well, that stoic way, the way of indifference is a way of being in the world which is not very much unlike not being in the world; for it means simply erecting a wall of separation or isolation within one's consciousness without moving away physically. It is a psychological escapism. But if by living in the world we should mean participating in the movements of the worldnot only being but becoming, not merely standing as a witness but moving out as a doer then the problem becomes different. For the question we have to ask in that case is what happens to our dutieslife in the world being a series of duties, duty to oneself (self-preservation), duty to the family (race-preservation), duty to the country, to humanity and, finally, duty to God (which last belongs properly to the life in Yoga). Now, can all these duties dwell and flourish together? The Christ is categorical on the point. He says, in effect: Leave aside all else and follow Me and look not back. Christ's God seems to be a jealous God who does not tolerate any other god to share in his sovereign exclusiveness. You have to give up, if you wish to gain. They who lose life shall find it and they who stick to life shall as surely lose it.
   But is not The Gita's solution somewhat different? Sri Krishna urges Arjuna to be in the very thick of a deadly fight, not a theoretical or abstract combat, but take a hand in the direst man-slaughter, to do the deed (even like Macbeth) but Yogically. Yes, The Gita's position seems to be thatto accept all life integrally, to undertake all necessary work (kartavyam karma) and turn them Godward. The Gita seeks to do it in its own way which consists of two major principles: (1) to do the work, whatever it may be, unattachedwithout any desire for the fruit, simply as a thing that has to be done, and (2) to do it as a sacrifice, as an offering to the supreme Master of works.
   The question naturally turns upon the nature and the kind of workwhe ther there is a choice and selection in it. Gita speaks indeed of all works, ktsna-karmakt, but does that really mean any and every work that an ignorant man, an ordinary man steeped in the three Gunas does or can do? It cannot be so. For, although all activity, all energy has its source and impetus in the higher consciousness of the Divine, it assumes on the lower ranges indirect, diverted or even perverted formulations and expressions, not because of the inherent falsity of these so-called inferior strata, the instruments, but because of their temporary impurity and obscurity. There are evidently activities and impulsions born exclusively of desire, of attachment and egoism. There are habits of the body, urges of the vital, notions of the mind, there are individual and social functions that have no place in the spiritual scheme, they have to be rigorously eschewed and eliminated. Has not the Gita said, this is desire, this is passion born of the quality of Rajas? . . . There is not much meaning in trying to do these works unattached or to turn them towards the Divine. When you are unattached, when you turn to the Divine, these 'Simply drop away of themselves. Yes, there are social duties and activities and relations that inevitably dissolve and disappear as you move into the life divine. Some are perhaps tolerated for a period, some are occasions for the consciousness to battle and surmount, grow strong and pass beyond. You have to learn to go beyond and new-create your environment.

04.02 - Human Progress, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   In other words, the self-consciousness which marks off man as the highest of living beings as yet evolved by Nature is still not her highest possible instrumentation. As has been experienced and foreseen by Yogins in all ages and climes and as it is being borne in upon the modern mind more and more imperatively, this self-consciousness has to be consciously transcended, lifted, transmutedworked out into the super-consciousness. Such is Nature's evolutionary nisus and such is the truth and fact man is being driven to face in his inner individual consciousness as well as outer collective life.
   We can thus note, broadly speaking, three stages in the human cycle of Nature's evolution. The first was the period of emergence of self-consciousness and the trials and experiments it went through to establish and confirm itself. The ancient civilisations represented this character of the human spirit. The subject freeing itself more and more from its environmental tegument, still living and moving within it and dynamically reacting upon itthis was the character we speak of. Next came the period when the free and dynamic subject feeling itself no more tied down to its natural objective sphere sought lines of development and adventure on its own account. This was the age of speculation and of scholasticism in philosophy and intellectual inquiry and of alchemy in natural sciencea period roughly equated with the Middle Ages. The Scientific Age coming last seeks to re-establish a junction and co-ordination between the free and dynamic self-consciousness and the mode and pattern of its objective field, involving a greater enrichment on one side the subjective consciousness and on the other, the objective environment, a corresponding change and effective reorganisation.
   The present age which ushers a fourth stagesignificantly called turiya or the transcendent, in Indian terminologyis pregnant with a fateful crisis. The stage of self-consciousness to which scientific development has arrived seems to land in a cul-de-sac, a blind alley: Science also is faced, almost helplessly, with the antinomies of reason that Kant discovered long ago in the domain of speculative philosophy. The way out, for a further growth and development and evolution, lies in a supersession of the self-consciousness, an elevation into a super-consciousnessas already envisaged by Yogis and Mystics everywherewhich will give a new potential and harmony to the human consciousness.
   This super consciousness is based upon a double movement of sublimation and integration which are precisely the two things basically aimed at by present-day psychology to meet the demands of new facts of consciousness. The rationalisation, specialisation or foreshortening of consciousness, mentioned above, is really an attempt at sublimation of the consciousness, its purification and ascension from baseranimal and vegetalconfines: only, ascension does not mean alienation, it must mean a gathering up of the lower elements also into their higher modes. Integration thus involves a descent, but it has to be pointed out, not merely or exclusively that, as Jung and his school seem to say. Certainly one has to see and recognise the aboriginal, the infra-rational elements imbedded in our nature and consciousness, the roots and foundations that lie buried under the super-structure that Evolution has erected. But that recognition must be accompanied by an upward look and sense: indeed it is healthy and fruitful only on condition that it occurs in a consciousness open to an infiltration of light coming from summits not only of the mind but above the mind. If we go back, it must be with a light that is ahead of us; that is the sense of evolution.

04.03 - Consciousness as Energy, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   A live wirethrough which an electric current, say of several thousand volts, is passinglooks quite innocent, motionless, inactive, almost inert. The appearance, needless to say, is deceptive. Even so the still life of a Yogin. Action does not consist merely in mechanical motion visible to the eye: intra-atomic movements that are subtle, invisible, hard to detect even by the most sensitive instruments, possess a tremendous potency, even to unimaginable degrees. Likewise in man, the extent of muscular flexions does not give the measure or potential of his activity. One cannot say that the first-line infantryman who rushes and charges, shoots, bayonets, kills and is killed is more active and dynamic than the general who sits quiet behind in a cabin and merely sends out orders. Vivekananda wandered about the whole of India, crossed the seas, traversed continents, undertook whirlwind campaignstalking, debating, lecturing: it was a life superbly rich in muscular movements. By his side, Ramakrishna would appear quite tameinactive, introvert: fewer physical displacements or muscular exercises marked his life. And yet, ask anyone who is in touch with the inner life of these great souls, he will tell you, Vivekananda is only a spark from the mighty and concentrated Energy that Ramakrishna was.
   What is this spiritual or Yogic Energy? Ordinary people, people with a modern mind, would concede at the most that there are two kinds of activity: (1) real activityphysical action, work, labour with muscle and nerve, and (2) passive activityactivity of mind and thought. According to the pragmatic standard especial, if not entire, importance is given the first category; the other category, sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought, is held at a discount. The thoughtful people are philosophers at the most, they are ineffectual angels in this workaday world of ours. We need upon earth people of sterner stuff, dynamic people who are not thought-bound, but know how to apply and execute their ideas, whatever they may be. Lenin was great, not because he had revolutionary ideas, but because he gave a muscular frame to them. Such people alone are the pragmatic, dynamic, useful category of humanity. The others are, according to the more radical leftist view, merely parasitic, and according to a more generous liberal view, chiefly decorative elements in human society. Mind-energy can draw dream pictures, beautiful perhaps, but inane; it is only muscular energy that gives a living and material bodya local habitation and a nameto what otherwise would be airy nothing.
   Energy, however, is not merely either muscular (physical) or cerebral. There are energies subtler than thought and yet more dynamic than the muscle (or the electric pile). One such, for example, is vital energy, although orthodox bio-chemists do not believe in any kind of vitalism that is something more than mere physico-chemical reaction. Indeed, this is the energy that counts in life; for it is this that brings about what we call success in the world. A man with push and go, as it is termed, is nothing but a person with abundant vital energy. But even of this energy there are gradations. It can be deep, controlled, organised or it can be hectic, effusive, confused: the latter kind expresses and spends itself often in mere external, nervous and muscular movements. Those, however, who are known as great men of action are precisely they who are endowed with life energy of the first kind.
   The Yogi the Hatha Yogi, the Raja Yogi, the Tantrikseeks consciously to master this life energy, to possess and use it as he wills. The Yogi, the true Yogi, aims at a higher quality, a deeper potentiality of the life energy: it may be called the Inner Life Energy. This inner life energy is in a line with, is one with the universal life energy; therefore it is said when one possesses and controls this power one has comm and over the universal power. All other energiesvisible, tangible, concretised and canalisedare particular formations and embodiments of till, mother energy. Even the most physical and material energiesmechanical, electrical, nervous, etc.are all derivatives and lesser potentials of this fount and origin. The mastery of the inner vital energy is the whole secret of what is known as occultism, even magic, black or white, spell and other allied powers or miracles. The eight siddhis well known to the Yogis are the natural results of this mastery. With such a mastery the Yogi controls and guides his own destiny; he can also in the same way control and guide the destiny of others, even of peoples and humanity at large. That is the deeper meaning the great phrase of the Gitalokasagrahacarries. Indeed, great souls are precisely they who move with the upward current of Nature, in and through whom Nature works out vast changes, prepares the steps of evolution in the world and humanity.
   But what again is this universal vital energy? This also is an instrument, not the ultimate agent. After all, vital energy is blind by itself; it moves instinctively or intuitively, as Bergson would say; it does not know consciously beforeh and the next step it is going to take. Consciousness then is the secret. This is the power behind the throne, it is this to which the Upanishad refers in its analysis of the ultimate dynamics of things as the life of Life, prasva pr .
  --
   Thus consciousness is not merely a status of being, but also a force of becoming. All that is to take form and be active, whether in the grossest, the material mode or in the most subtle, the ideative mode is originally a seed, a stress, a point of concentration of this consciousness. The Yogi becomes potentially all-powerful, because he is one with the All-Power, the Mother Consciousness. The perfect spiritual man not merely dwells with or is close to the Divine (slokya), he is not merely made in the image of the Divine (srpya), and again he is not merely unified and one with the Divine (syujya) but what is most marvellous, he has the same nature, that is to say, he has the same powers and capacities as the Divine (sdharmya).
   The dynamic becoming, becoming a power and personality of the omnipotent Divine, is a secret well known to the Yogis and mystics. Only it has not been worked out in all its implications, not given the full value and importance rightfully due to it. The reason is that although the principle was discovered and admitted, the proper key had not been found that could release and manipulate the Energy at its highest potential and largest amplitude. Because the major tendency in the spiritual man till now has been rather to follow the path of nivtti than the path of pravtti, this latter path being more or less identified with the path of Ignorance. But there is a higher line of pravtti which means the manifestation of the Divine, not merely the expression of the inferior Nature.
   II
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   Consciousness has a fourfold potential. The first is the normal consciousness, which is predominantly mental; it is the sphere comprising movements of which man is usually and habitually aware. It is what the Upanishad names Jgrat or jgaritasthna and characterises as bahipraja: it is the waking state and has cognition only of external things. In other words, the consciousness here is wholly objectivised, externalisedextrovert: it is also a strongly individualised formation, the consciousness is hedged in, isolated and contoured by a protective ring, as it were, of a characteristically separative personality; it is a surface formation, a web made out of day-to-day sensations and thoughts, perceptions and memories, impressions and associations. It is a system of outward actions and reactions against or in the midst of one's actual environment. The second potential is that of the Inner Consciousness: its characteristic is that the consciousness here is no longer trenchantly separative and individual, narrowly and rigidly egoistic. It feels and sees itself as part of or one with the world consciousness. It looks upon its individuality as only a wave of the universal movement. It is also sometimes called the subliminal consciousness; for it plays below or behind the normal surface range of consciousness. It is made up of the residuary powers of the normal consciousness, the abiding vibrations and stresses that settle down and remain in the background and are not immediately required or utilised for life purposes: also it contacts directly energies and movements that well out of the universal life. The phenomena of clairvoyance and clairaudience, the knowledge of the past and the future and of other worlds and persons and beings, certain more dynamic movements such as distant influence and guidance and controlling without any external means, well known in all Yogic disciplines, are various manifestations of the power of this Inner Consciousness. But there is not only an outward and an inner consciousness; there is also a deeper or nether consciousness. This is the great field that has been and is being explored by modern psychologists. It is called the subconscious, sometimes also the unconscious: but really it should be named the inconscient, for it is not altogether devoid of consciousness, but is conscious in its own way the consciousness is involved or lost within itself or lies buried. It comprises those movements and impulsions, inclinations and dispositions that have no rational basis, on the contrary, have an irrational basis; they are not acquired or developed by the individual in his normal course of life experience, they are ingrained, lie imbedded in man's nature and are native to his original biological and physical make-up. As the human embryo recapitulates in the womb the whole history of man's animal evolution, even so the normal man, even the most civilised and apparently the farthest from his ancient moorings and sources, enshrines in his cells, in a miraculously living manner, the memory of vast geological epochs, the great struggles and convulsions through which earth and its inhabitants have passed, the basic urges of the crude life force, its hopes, fears, desires, hungers that constitute the rudimental and aboriginal consciousness, the atavism that links the man of today not only to his primitive ancestry but even to the plant worldeven perhaps to the mineral worldout of which his body cells have issued and evolved. Legends and fairy tales, mythologies and fables are a rationalised pattern and picture of the vibrations and urges that moved the original consciousness. It was a collectivea racial and an aboriginal consciousness. The same lies chromosomic, one can almost say, in the constitution of the individual man of today. This region of the unconscious (or the inconscient) is a veritable field of force: it lies at the root of all surface dynamisms. The surface consciousness, jgrat, is a very small portion of the whole, it is only the tip of the pyramid or an iceberg, the major portion lies submerged beyond our normal view. In reflex movements, in sudden unthinking outbursts, in dreams and day-dreams, this undercurrent is silhouetted and made visible and recognisable. Even otherwise, they exercise a profound influence upon all our conscious movements. This underground consciousness is the repository of the most dark and unenlightened elements that grew and flourished in the slime of man's original habitat. They are small, ugly, violent, anti-social, chaotic forces, their names are cruelty, lust, hunger, blind selfishness. Nowhere else than in this domain can the great Upanishadic truth find its fullest applicationHunger that is Death.
   But this is the seamy side of Nature, there is also a sunny side. If there is a nadir, there must be a corresponding zenith. In the Vedic image, if man is born of the Dark Mother, he is also a child of the White Mother (ka and vet). Or again, if Earth is our mother, the Heaven is our fatherdyaur me pit mat pthiv iyam. In other words, consciousness extends not in depth alone, but in height alsoit is vertically extended, infinite both ways. As there is a sub-consciousness or unconsciousness, so also there is at the other end super-consciousness.

04.05 - The Freedom and the Force of the Spirit, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The soldier of an ideal, the martyr, bears testimony to the reality of this mental condition: the Yogi is he who is supremely indifferent to outside contacts (mtrsparah), fixed as he is in inner union with the Divine. Secondly, the freedom of the will not only liberates the inner person, but exerts a pressure on the outside also, upon the field and circumstances, obliging them to change or move in the direction and according to the demand of the will. Consciousness has this power: only all depends on the nature of the consciousness and the will it embodies. For consciousness-will has varying degrees and levels of its potential. A will belonging to the purely mental consciousness can have only a very limited result and may not even show itself at all in any external modification. For it is only one among a million contending forces and its effect will depend upon the allies it can count on its side. Similar is the case with a vital will or a physico-vital will: these are more effective apparently but always in a narrow field; the narrower the field, the greater the possibility of the effectiveness. Moreover, a mental will affects chiefly the mental field, a vital will is directly operative in the vital world, even as a physical force is effective on physical things: each is largely confined to its own domains, the effect on other domains is for the most part indirect and remote.
   But the truly effective will, that can produce an all-round change, comes from a still higher or deeper source. Indeed, the will that never fails, that turns even the external circumstances, adverse and obstructive though they appear to be, to serve it, is the will of the soul, the spiritual being in us. And man is man, not a mere animal, because he has been called upon to seek and find his soul, to get at his inner and inmost being and from there comm and his external nature and outside circumstances too. The orthodox name for this endeavour is spiritual discipline or Yoga.

04.09 - Values Higher and Lower, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   It is India's great achievement and speciality that she has found the way the way to all truly high fulfilment. It is Yoga and the Yogic consciousness. Yoga is the science and art of discovering the higher truths, indeed, the highest reality and of living there, not a midway moral elevation only. In its integral view it combines all the three processes mentioned above. The Yogic consciousness seeks to lift the consciousness as high as possible, in fact, to the very highestit literally means union or identity (with the highest Reality, Spirit or God). Thus it has the true perception or vision of the forces that act in and upon the world and the powers that decide and is in union with them. The Yogic consciousness and power is also embodied in the Divine Incarnation for he is Yogeshwara: and in India it is accepted as a commonplace that God descends in a human shape, whenever there is a great crisis and man needs salvaging and salvation. God comes then with all his angels, with the divine host to battle for him and with him to establish the Dharma.
   Sri Aurobindo's stand in this field is very definite and clear. The goal or end is clear, and with it the way too. What he envisages is the transformation of Matter and material life, that is to say, neither rejecting it as an impossible thing nor trying to gloss it over with a coat of mental luminosity, but delving into it and cleaning and purifying it, removing its mire and dross wholly and absolutely so that its true divine nature comes out and remains as Nature's highest and fullest expression on earth. That is the goal: the waytoo is not less characteristic. The total spiritual transformation, the divinisation of Matter is possible, not only possible but inevitable, because it is : Matter that wants it, because Matter in its essence, in its true reality is spiritual energy, is the Spirit itself. That is the great secret Sri Aurobindo has brought to light. The ideals in the past for the reclamation of human nature and reformation of human society were tackled with mental and moral powers which were not adequate to the task. Even when the spiritual power was invoked, it was of the static category which is above, aloof, witness and can have at best a kindly look and influence. That the spirit dynamic is involved in Matter and as Matter is a truth that has to be discovered.

05.05 - In Quest of Reality, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   This faculty of direct knowledge, however, is not such a rare thing as it may appear to be. Indeed if we step outside the circumscribed limits of pure science instances crowd upon us, even in our normal life, which would compel one to conclude that the rational and sensory process is only a fringe and a very small part of a much greater and wider form of knowing. Poets and artists, we all know, are familiar only with that form: without intuition and inspiration they are nothing. Apart from that, modern inquiries and observations have established beyond doubt certain facts of extra-sensory, suprarational perceptionof clairvoyance and clairaudience, of prophecy, of vision into the future as well as into the past. Not only these unorthodox faculties of knowledge, but dynamic powers that almost negate or flout the usual laws of science have been demonstrated to exist and can be and are used by man. The Indian Yogic discipline speaks of the eight siddhis, super-natural powers attained by the Yogi when he learns to control nature by the force of his consciousness. Once upon a time these facts were challenged as facts in the scientific world, but it is too late now in the day to deny them their right of existence. Only Science, to maintain its scientific prestige, usually tries to explain such phenomena in the material way, but with no great success. In the end she seems to say these freaks do not come within her purview and she is not concerned with them. However, that is not for us also the subject for discussion for the moment.
   The first point then we seek to make out is that even from a rigid positivist stand a form of knowledge that is not strictly positivist has to be accepted. Next, if we come to the content of the knowledge that is being gained, it is found one is being slowly and inevitably led into a world which is also hardly positivistic. We have in our study of the physical world come in close contact with two disconcerting facts or two ends of one fact the infinitely small and the infinitely large. They have disturbed considerably the normal view of things, the view that dominated Science till yesterday. The laws that hold good for the ordinary sensible magnitudes fail totally, in the case of the infinite magnitudes (whether big or small). In the infinite we begin squaring the circle.

05.17 - Evolution or Special Creation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   According to the Yogic or occult view of things, however, the two conceptions that human mind sets against each other need not be and are not contradictory. Indeed both are true and both are factors working out the progress of life. Evolution is a movement upward, the urge of consciousness to grow and expand and rise to a higher and greater articulation: the change follows a scale of degrees. But there comes a point in the progressive march when a change of degree means a change of kind and the phenomenon presents itself as a sudden, unforeseen mutation. This is due to the fact that there happens at the moment, in answer to a last call as it were from below, a descent of consciousness from the higher into the lower. All the grades of being or consciousness are always there in the cosmic infinity, only it is a matter of gradual manifestation in the physical world. The higher scales are kept in the background,the march of life starts from the lowest, the material rung. One by one they manifest or descend, formulate themselvesin the lower as these grow and rise and get ready to receive the descent. The gap or missing link means the irruptionof a new principle or mode of consciousness, the bursting of the cocoon, as it were, at the end of the period of gestation in the previous mode. Thus we can say that in the beginning there was only Matter and Matter was being churned until a point of tension or saturation was reached when Life precipitated and became embodied and evident in Matter. In the same way, out of a concentrated incubation that Life underwent,it brought down Mind from the hidden mind-plane and the vegetable kingdom gave birth to the animal. Latterly when Intelligence and self-consciousness descended, it was Man that appeared on earth.
   Looked at from below, as the lower marches forward and upward, the scene presents itself as Evolution, growth, Nature's gradual unfolding of herself: looked at from above, as the higher seems poised and descends when the time and occasion are ready, creation appears as a series of special intervention. Both movements are facts of Nature and implement each other.

05.22 - Success and its Conditions, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Yoga brings in a different line and scheme of life. For it is built upon soul-consciousness, upon Divine Nature which means another history of individual destiny. Even then tranquillity and self-confidence are at the basis of a Yogic life also and a new degree of modesty and humility.
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05.26 - The Soul in Anguish, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   It is very interesting to observe how in the modern epoch depths of consciousness are being dug up and laid bare to the common gaze, even like the archaeological finds of great antiquity and of immense value that are springing surprise after surprise upon our present-day civilisation. In our inner explorations too we have often come to strike psychological veins of unusual importance and significance. It is natural to the Yogin to do so; for it is the business of his life. But even thinkers and philosophers who do not ostensibly lead the mystic life are arriving at judgments and conclusions that are not normally warranted or covered by the unaided activities of the human reason. That proves once more that man is not reason alone, that he has other faculties to go by even in the field of ordinary knowledge.
   A range of mystics and philosophers or philosopher-mystics from Kierkegaard to Sartre have made much of the sentiment of "anguish". Naturally, it is not the usual feeling of grief or sorrow due to disappointment or frustration that they refer to, nor is it the "repentance" which is a cardinal virtue in the Christian spiritual discipline. Repentance or grief is for something amiss, for some wrong done, for some good not done. It has a definite cause that gives rise to it and determinate conditions that maintain and foster it: and therefore it has also an end, at least the possibility of an ending. It is not eternal and can be mastered and got over: it is of the category of the Sankhyan or Buddhistic dukhatrayabhighata for that matter even the lacrimae rerum(tears inherent in things) of Virgil1 are not eternal.

05.32 - Yoga as Pragmatic Power, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   People ask about the practical value of Yoga, but do not always wait for an answer. For, according to some, Yoga means "introversion", escapismillusion, delusion, hallucination. And yet the truth of the matter is that Yoga is nothing but a downright practical affair, that its proof is in the very eating of it. To judge a Yogin you are to ask, as did Arjuna, a very prince of pragmatic men, how he sits, how he walks aboutkim sta vrajeta kim. Indeed the very definition of Yoga is that it is skill in works. To do works and not to run away from them has always been the true and natural ideal even (and particularly, as we shall see), for the spiritual man: the ideal is as old as the Upanishadic injunction, "Doing verily works in this world one should wish to live a hundred years." The Yogi as a world-shunner was not always the only ideal or the highest ideal. To do works, yes; but, with skill, it is pointed out, that is to say, in the way in which they can be most effectively done. Sri Krishna teaches Arjuna the skill and shows how to apply it in the crudest and the most terrible action, viz ., a bloody battle. But the skill that he demands, that is demanded of a Yogi, is not mere cleverness, craftiness or business policy including deceit, duplicity, sharpness; it means quite another spirit and faculty.
   The ordinary man does works, achieves the object he aims at, through processes and means which, however powerful and effective, can be only moderately and approximately so. The amount of time and energy wasted is not proportionate to the result obtained. Man knows to utilise only a fraction of the energy collected in a system: the best of dispositions and organisation can harness just a modicum of the total stock, the rest is frittered away or locked up, whether it is vital energy or mental energy or even physical energy. That is because the central power that drives, the consciousness that controls the whole mechanism is of an inferior quality, of a lower potential. The Yogi views all energy as various forms and gradations of consciousness. So what he proposes, as a good scientist, is to lift up the consciousness and thus raise its potential and effectivity and minimise the waste. The higher the consciousness, the greater the effectivity, that is to say, the pragmatic value. As we rise in the scale there is less and less waste and greater and greater utilisation until we reach a climax, a critical degree, where there is absolutely no waste and where there is the utmost, the total utilisation of the whole energy. This supreme peak of consciousness that is absolute energy Sri Aurobindo names the Supermind. But on lesser levels too the spiritual consciousness is dynamic and effectivepragmatic in a way that the ordinary, limited, externally pragmatic consciousness cannot hope to be.
   Sometimes it is urged that in the worldly affairs we should move according to the worldly procedure, otherwise to import into mundane things spiritual values would merely confuse issues and end in failure in both the fieldsfallen from hence, lost from thence". Of course there are spiritual points of view that go ill with the mundane, as indeed there are mundane considerations that do not match with the spiritual. The two categories of view-point have been succinctly and luminously named by Sri Aurobindo as the Materialist Denial and the Ascetic Refusal.1 But there are other points of view, .other lines of approach which seek a harmony and union between Spirit and Matter, that envisage the marriage of Heaven and Earth.

05.34 - Light, more Light, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 01, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   This spontaneous recognition of the light in you is also called, in the Yogic language, openness. It means you are ready, at least, something in you is ready, to accept and admit the light when it presents itself before you. If you have any hesitation to receive it for its own sake, if you wish to corroborate your initial perception you can look for its sign manual: the peace, the freedom, the elevation, the quiet certitude, the exquisite sweetness or gladness it brings, its own luminosity which is found neither here nor elsewhere but in its own body of self.
   ***

06.01 - The End of a Civilisation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   We know of worldsvital worldswhich are made of the most unimaginable horror and ugliness and devilry. Many have contacted such domains either consciously in the course of their Yogic experiences or unconsciously in nightmare. They bear testimony to the stark monstrosity of these worlds the gloom, the fear, the pain and torture, the doom and damnation that reign there. That entire inner world seems to have precipitated itself upon earth and taken a body here. A radiant poet spoke of Paradise being transplanted upon earth in the shape of a happy city (the city of the Raghus): today we have done the opposite miracle, the devil's capital city is installed upon earth, or even something worse. For, in the subtler worlds there is a saving grace, after all. If you have within you somewhere an aspiration, a trust, a faith, a light the enemy cannot touch you or maul you badly. You may have also around you there beings who help you, a teacher, a guide who is near visibly or invisibly to give you the necessary warning or protection. But here below when the enemy has clothed himself in a material form and armed himself with material weapons, you are almost helpless. To save yourself from a physical blow, it is not always enough to have the proper inner consciousness only. Something more is needed.
   Therefore misery stalks large upon the earth. Nothing com-parable to it, either in quality or quantity, can history offer as an example. Man finds no remedy for his ills, he does not dare to hope for any. He feels he is being irretrievably drawn into the arms of the Arch-enemy.

06.08 - The Individual and the Collective, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   An integral sadhana cannot be confined to the individual alone; an element of collectivity must enter into it. An individual is not an isolated being in any way. There are, of course, schools of Yoga and philosophy that seek to isolate the individual, consider him as an entity hemmed in by his own consciousness; indeed they view the individuals as all distinct and separate, each a closed circle or sphere, they may barely touch each other but never interpenetrate or inter-communicate. Each stands as a solitary island, all together forming the vast archipelago of the universe. This is a position; no doubt, that can be acquired by a kind of discipline of the consciousness, though not to a great perfection; but it is not a natural or necessary poise. Normally, individuals do merge into each other and form one weft of give and take. A desire, an impulse, even a thought that rises in you, goes out of you, overflows you and spreads around even to the extreme limit of the earth, like a Hertzian wave. Again, any movement in any person anywhere in the world would come to you, penetrate you, raise a similar vibration in you, even though you may not so recognise it but consider it as something exclusively personal to you. You send out vibrations into the world and the world sends out vibrations into you. Individual life is the meeting-ground of these outgoing and incoming forces. It is precisely to avoid this circle or cycle of world-vibrations that the older Yogis used to leave the world, away from society, retire to mountain-tops, into the virgin forest where they hoped to find themselves alone and aloof, to be single with the Single Self. This is a way out, but it is not the only or the best solution. It is not the best solution, for although apparent-ly one is alone on the hill-top, in the desert crypt, or the forest womb, one always carries with oneself a whole world within, the normal nature with all its instincts and impulses, reactions, memories and hopes: you cut away the outside, run away from it, but what about the outside that is within you? The taste for a tasty thing does not drop with the removal of the object. Secondly, such an individual solution, even if it were possible, would still be a purely personal matter and, in the ultimate analysis, egoistic. It is why the Buddha refused to enter definitely into Nirvana and withdrew from the brink to work among men. Indeed, the real solution is else-where. It is not to withdraw or go away but to find within the orbit here a centre, a focus of consciousness which is not controlled by the outside forces but can control them, which is not coloured by them but can lend them its own luminosity. That is the soul or the psychic centre.
   And this centre is not an isolated entity in its nature: it is, as it were, a universal centre, that is to say, it links itself indissolubly in a secret sense of identity with all other centres. For this self is only one of the selves through which the One Self has multiplied itself for a varied self-objectification. The light that shines here, the fire that burns here and the delight that flows here illumine, purify and revitalise not only the individual in which it dwells, but move abroad and extend into the other individuals with which it lives in spiritual identity.

06.10 - Fatigue and Work, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Man usually chooses his work or is made to choose a work because of a vital preference, a prejudice or notion that it is the kind in which he can shine or succeed. This egoistic vanity or opportunism may be necessary or unavoidable in ordinary life; but when one wishes to go beyond the ordinary life and aspires for the true life, this attachment or personal choice is more an impediment than a help to progress, towards finding the way to the true life. The Yogic attitude to work therefore is that of absolute detachment, not to have any choice, but to accept and do whatever is given to you, whatever comes to you in your normal course of life and do it with the utmost perfection possible. It is in that way and that way alone that all work becomes supremely interesting, and all life a miracle of delight.
   This does not mean, however, that there is no work natural to you, for which you have a special aptitude, in and through which your soul, the Divine, can express itself fully and wholly in a special manner. But what is that work? The kartavyam karma the work that demands to be donederiving from your swadharmayour self-nature? Evidently, it is not that of your superficial nature, which the mind chooses, the vital prefers and the body finds convenient. To come by your true or soul work, you have to pass through a considerable discipline, a rigorous training.

06.14 - The Integral Realisation, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   In other ways that lead to an escape, you reach a state where you are happy and satisfied, you feel you have attained the highest, the utmost worth attaining and you need not move further or look for anything else. The integral Yogi is not so bound by one experience. He will find himself always getting away from the already attained status, however high it may be, and ranging beyond. Even if he tries to repeat an experience which he cherishes and considers worth repeating and so goes through the usual steps to recover it, he may find that instead of the experience wanted he is given quite a new experience.
   The problem for him is not to reject or minimise any experience or stick to some only as valuable but embrace all and to put them together, make a synthesis out of them. This synthesis is the very character of the Integral Yoga. And it can be reached only by rising beyond the experiences given for synthesis. A higher poise of consciousness only can find the point of union among different elements and the function and role of each one in a composite harmony. The supramental status is the highest synthetic centre; here all experiences and realisations rise into their original and true reality and find their perfect expression.

07.31 - Images of Gods and Goddesses, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Sincerity is Victory The Yogic Centres
   Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta Part Seven Images of Gods and Goddesses
  --
   Sincerity is Victory The Yogic Centres

07.32 - The Yogic Centres, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
  object:07.32 - The Yogic Centres
  author class:Nolini Kanta Gupta
  --
   Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta Part SevenThe Yogic Centres
   The Yogic Centres
   There are, of course, the seven well-known yoga-centres in the human body. They are, beginning from below, (1) the end of the spine, (2) the lower abdomen, (3) the navel, (4) the heart, (5) the throat, (6) between the eyebrows and (7) the crown of the head. But there are others extending from below the spine which are not so well known. It is true, however, that the centres in the individual being end with the spine; what is below belongs more to the universal nature. There is a centre above and beyond the crown; there is also, on the other side, a centre below and away from under the feet. The yoga-centres are centres of consciousness and energy; they are the sources of the various types and qualities of consciousness and energy they indicate the many planes of consciousness-energy. There are people who actually feel that their force and strength come from below, as if these stream into them like a spring from under the feet. This region from below the spine-end to the feet is that of the subconscient and what extends further down is the domain of the inconscient. We may distinguish five more centres in this lower or infra-spinal region apart from the spine-end itself (mldhra) (1) the knee, (2) the leg, (3) the feet, (4) the sole of the foot and (5) below the feet. That would make the total number of centres as twelve the mystic number for completeness or integrality.

07.33 - The Inner and the Outer, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The Yogic Centres And this Agile Reason
   Other Authors Nolini Kanta Gupta Part SevenThe Inner and the Outer
  --
   The Yogic Centres And this Agile Reason

07.38 - Past Lives and the Psychic Being, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Most people are not at all conscious of what is happening in them. Their consciousness or being is a mixture of mental, vital and physical elements, a kind of hotchpotch. There are a few, very few indeed, who are consciousconscious of what is beyond the three, viz, their psychic being. For it is only that element which endures, persists through successive lives. Certain people have known or learnt some rudiments of the matterwho believe in rebirth, but conceive it in the most childish manner. Their idea is as if the person changed his body like a robe. There are persons even who have written books describing seriously all the lives they had passed through since the time they were monkeys! As I have said, it is the psychic element alone that persists after death, all the rest gets dissolved. And in 999 cases out of 1,000, the psychic is a very small formation lying behind and taking little part in the actual life of the person. I speak of the average man, not of the Yogi, that is to say, one who has a developed psychic being to the extent that it is capable of controlling and guiding the outer life. How often does an ordinary man get in contact with his psychic being? Years and years pass for many or most to have just a passing taste of this movement. It is this moment that abides and is carried over to the next life, all other things are simply effaced. At a given point of our life, there comes a special circumstance, there is a call within, an absolute inner necessity that brings forward the psychic and the contact is made perhaps for an instant. That experience is preserved in the psychic memory. More than the outer circumstances and the physical events, however, what is cherished in the consciousness is the intimate emotion, the vibration that accompanied the perception at the time. At the most, a word said, a phrase heard, just a passing scene is all that is stored, net and clear, engraved as it were. But above all it is the soul's state that is the most important thing. I t is these scattered elements that serve as stepping-stones or sign-posts on the soul's forward journey. They are the constants that build up the personality of a man. On rare occasions there is a larger clearing, the circumstances preserved are sufficiently definite to point to a date and a historical person. Usually, however, one cannot say, I was such a person, I lived in such a country or did such things. These psychic flashes, more in some cases, less in others, are the only genuine and au thentic records of the story of a person's lives.
   It is a being who is completely identified with his psychic, who has organised his whole person, in all its parts, around this centre, in fact, a being of one piece, entirely and solely turned to the Divine that can alone remember or hold in his consciousness something like a totality of his personal history. For in his case even when the body drops, the other parts being integrated and taken up into the soul substance maintain their individual existence; the personality formed around the psychic continues to exist with its memory intact: even it can pass from one life to another without losing the consciousness.

07.41 - The Divine Family, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 03, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   At a given moment, when the time is ripe, they are called up. The souls are like children asleep, in the peace and repose of the psychic world, awaiting the urge or order for another birth. As soon as the order is given, they wake up and rush down towards the earth. When they drop thus into the earth's atmosphere, they are no longer together, they are scattered about all over the earth. One does not know even where one drops. Also once under the material conditions and circumstances here below, things take a very different aspect. For, the inner impulse, the original purpose gets veiled; the psychic forgets and is now surrounded and hedged in by forces, things and persons perhaps quite foreign and contradictory to its nature. Now comes the labour of the soul, to find itself, to look about for the lost end of the thread. The inner urge must be strong enough, the original will categorical enough for the being to surmount all obstacles, pass through all vicissitudes, work through all the windings of a labyrinthine journey and finally arrive. Some perhaps do not arrive at all in a particular life or arrive only to stop at a distance: others arrive not in a straight line, but, as I have said, after a tortuous and roundabout wandering. In other words, in their external mind and impulsion, they look for other things, they are interested in objects that are far other than the soul's interestlike the person who enquired of Yoga, as she thought a Yogi could give her back her spoilt beauty. And yet the soul makes use of such trivial or absurd means to turn the man towards itself, guide him gradually to the place or the family to which he really belongs.
   The material world is full of things that draw you away from your soul's quest, from approaching your home. Normally you are tossed about by the forces of ignorant Nature and you are driven even to do the worst stupidities. There is but one solution, to find your psychic being; and once you have found it, cling to it desperately and not to allow yourself to be drawn out by any temptation, any other impulsion whatsoever.

08.07 - Sleep and Pain, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   That requires some kind of Yogic power. The best way, the absolute one, is to get out of the body.
   When the body suffers, when you have high fever, for example, when you are sick, sick to the last degree, the only thing to do then is to come out of the body, come out with your vital being. If you are a Yogi and have the knowledge, you remain outside the body but just above it so that you are able to look at it. You can see your own body if the vital form in which you go out is sufficiently materialised. You see your body and with the consciousness and the power which you have then, you can direct the rays of the Force upon the spot where the body suffers. This is a top process, but it gives the absolutely sure means of getting cured. If the power and the knowledge are there, it is infallible. You can cure any disease with that and in a short time. Only it means a considerable education and training. You cannot improvise it. But as a matter off act men help themselves naturally and automatically when the pain becomes unbearable; they faint. To faint is to get out of the body. So persons who are not too much tied down to the body faint away when the bodily suffering becomes too strong. Only, when you go out of the body, leaving it as an inert mass, there must be someone near sensible and intelligent enough. The body must not be shaken violently to make you wake up. If people by the side are seized by a panic and hurl buckets of water upon your head, the result may be worse. Otherwise, the fainting fit passes quietly, little by little, into a restful condition as there is no longer the consciousness recording the bodily suffering. In the so-called fit the body becomes gradually quiet and immobile, so that it may rest in spite' of the suffering.
   There are lesser means with lesser results. These too are not very easy either. One is to cut the connection between the brain and the part that suffers. The brain not receiving the vibration, the pain is no longer felt. In fact, this is what doctors do when they operate under anaesthesia. The nervous connection round the affected part is made insensitive and the pain is not felt or it is reduced to a minimum. But here you have to do it with your will and consciousness; and that requires an occult power. Some can do it automatically, but their number is very few. If you are unable to go so far, there is another way which should be within your reach. Do not concentrate or dwell upon your pain and suffering; withdraw your attention and direct it elsewhere. The more you think of your pain, the worse it becomes. If you are busy observing its signs and signals, almost awaiting its attack, you surely welcome it in a way, you indulge it and help its continuance. That is why you are advised in that condition to do some light reading or hear things read out, so that the attention may be diverted.

08.14 - Poetry and Poetic Inspiration, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   If you mean by inspiration that the poet does not think when he writes a poem, that is to say, he has gone beyond all thought, has made his mind silent, silent and immobile, has opened himself to inner or higher regions and writes almost automatically, well, such a thing happens perhaps once a thousand years. It is not a common phenomenon. A Yogi has the power to do that. What you normally mean, however, by an inspired poet is something quite different. People who have some kind of genius, who have an opening into other and higher regions are called "inspired" ; persons who have made some discovery are also included in that category. Each time you are in relation with a thing belonging to a domain superior to the normal human consciousness, you are inspired. And when you are not totally bound to the very ordinary level you do receive "inspirations" from above. It is the same in the case of a poet. The source of his creation is elsewhere up above the ordinary mind; for that he need not possess an empty vacant mind.
   ***

09.13 - On Teachers and Teaching, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Teachers who do not possess perfect calm, endurance that can stand all test, tranquillity that cannot be shaken by anything, who have not cast off their amour propre, are not the kind that can ever succeed. You must be a saint, a hero in order to be a good teacher. You must be a great Yogi to be a good teacher. You must yourself have always the perfect attitude if you demand from your students a perfect attitude. You cannot ask of any person a thing which you cannot do yourself.
   So then look within yourself at the difference there is between what is and what should be; that will give you the measure of your lack of success in the class.

1.008 - The Principle of Self-Affirmation, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  These are things which cannot be learned theoretically by the study of books, because very few people have lost everything; we always have something with us. But to experience that moment of reckoning, we must lose everything, even our last strip of cloth; no one should want to even look at our face, as if we are the worst perhaps in the whole of creation. Such should be the condition to come upon us nothing to eat, no food of any kind, no place to lie down, no raiment on the body, everything is horrible at that moment the true nature of a person comes out. Otherwise, whatever self-analysis we will do, it will be an analysis of the false personality. Psychological analysis or Yogic investigation conducted by a false mind will produce only false results and, therefore, a very superior type of CID (Central Intelligence Division) agent, who is not involved in the case on hand, is necessary to investigate into the mind someone quite different from and outside the purview of the operation of the involved mind. Such a mind is called the higher mind, which is in us. It is this higher mind that has to do what is called the stock-taking of one's own condition.
  When a person seriously takes to the practice of yoga, a thorough analysis or stock-taking may have to be done, taking into consideration one's experiences during the past many years, of whose nature a little may be still present in one's current state of affairs. Memories of the past sometimes evoke present experiences, and we must also take note of those experiences and factors which can evoke memories of the past. According to Patanjali, memory is one of the obstacles in yoga. Many people think that memory is a very good thing, and even complain that they have no memory. Well, that is all right for the workaday world, but from another angle of vision memory is regarded as an obstacle because we are repeatedly made to think of something that has happened in the past, so that it goes on annoying us constantly even though that event has passed and has no connection with our present life. Both pleasures of the past and pains of the past can evoke conditions which may force us to repeat those experiences, positively or negatively.

1.00c - INTRODUCTION, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  rests, for the Yogis. It seems the consensus of opinion of the
  great minds of the world, and it has been nearly demonstrated

1.00 - INTRODUCTION, #The Alchemy of Happiness, #Al-Ghazali, #Sufism
  not only our human but our superhuman and divine possibilities, and not only to believe in them but to discover them ourselves, step by step, to see for ourselves and to become vast, as vast as the earth we love and all the lands and all the seas we hold within us? For there is Sri Aurobindo the explorer, who was also a Yogi; did he not say that Yoga is the art of conscious self-finding? 3 It is this exploration of consciousness that we would like to undertake with him. If we proceed calmly, patiently, and with sincerity, bravely facing the difficulties of the road and God knows it is rugged enough there is no reason that the window should not open at some point and let the sun shine on us forever. Actually, it is not one but several windows that open one after another, each time on a wider perspective, a new dimension of our own kingdom; and each time it means a change of consciousness as radical as going from sleep to the waking state. We are going to outline the main stages of these changes of consciousness,
  as Sri Aurobindo experienced them and described them to his disciples in his integral yoga, until they take us to the threshold of a new, still unknown experience that may have the power to change life itself.

10.17 - Miracles: Their True Significance, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Usually, the name 'miracle' is given to something that seems to us "unnatural", that is to say, something that does not, conform to the laws of nature or what we think to be the laws of nature. A man standing in the air without any support or squatting on the waterfeats familiar to the Yogisare termed veritable miracles. The famous rope trick is a legendary miracle. Some of these miracles done by Yogis are au thentic facts. They apparently seem to violate the prevailing so-called laws of nature, but if we knew the process, the mechanism behind the event because it is not apparent to the external logical mind, if we had a slightly different perception, the whole glamour of a miracle would fall to the ground.
   A miracle is nothing but the intervention of a force from another plane of consciousness. It must be recognised at the very outset that the physical plane of existence is not the only reality, there are many other planes superimposed' one upon another, each having its own special consciousness and power, its own laws of being and action. Obviously we all know apart from the material or physical being there is the vital being, the life-force and there is the mental being, the mind-force. And there are many other levels like these. A miracle happens, that is to say, a material formation behaves in an abnormal way because a force has come down from the vital region and has influenced or taken control of the material object. So the material object instead of obeying the material law is obliged to obey a vital law which is of a much greater potency. Yogis who do miracles possess this vital power, they have acquired it through a regular discipline and training. Spirit-calling, table-turning, even curing diseases and ailments in a moment and many other activities of the kind are manifestations of very elementary energies of life. From the occult point of view these are very crude and rudimentary examples of what a different kind of force can achieve on a different plane. Even the vital plane possesses deeper and higher energies whose action on the material plane is of deeper and higher category. A deeper or higher vital power can change radically your character and long-standing habits, help to mould them into a different, nobler and more beautiful pattern. The mind too is capable of performing miracles, a strong mental energy can dictate its terms to life and even to the body. Only the miracles here are not of a dazzling kind that astound or confound you. They have a subtler composition, yet they belong to the same category. In the mind itself miracles happen also when a higher light, a superior consciousness intuition, inspiration, revelationdescends into the normal mental working and creates there a thing that is abnormal in beauty and truth and reality. Thus for example, a matter of fact mind is seen turned into a fine poet or a workaday hand is transmuted into a consummate artist.
   A miracle can be said to be doubly a miracle; first of all, because it means an intervention from another plane, a superior level of being, and secondly because the process or the action of the intervention is not deployed or staged out but is occult and telescoped, the result being almost simultaneous with the pressure of the moving force. .

1.01 - About the Elements, #Initiation Into Hermetics, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
  The analysis of the elements will also be discussed and the great practical value of them underlined, so that every scientist, whether he be a chemist, a physician, a magnetizer, an occultist, a magician, a mystic, a quabbalist or a Yogi, etc., can derive his practical benefit from it. Should I succeed in teaching the reader so far that he is able to deal with the subject in the proper way and to find the practical key to the branch of knowledge most suitable for him, I will be glad to see that the purpose of my book has been fulfiled.

1.01 - Adam Kadmon and the Evolution, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  mystics, and what one would now call Yogis. Among them
  were, in those bygone times, our brothers and sisters in the
  --
  of seers, saints, Yogis and spiritual masters, and with their
  immense treasures of knowledge, they have no idea.

1.01 - Asana, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  The extreme of Asana is practised by those Yogis who remain in one position without moving, except in the case of absolute necessity, during their whole lives. One should not criticise such persons without a thorough knowledge of the subject. Such knowledge has not yet been published.
  However, one may safely assert that since the great men previously mentioned did not do this, it will not be necessary for their followers. Let us then choose a suitable position, and consider what happens. There is a sort of happy medium between rigidity and limpness; the muscles 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 of the practice. One may begin with half an hour or an hour. The student must not mind if the process of quitting the Asana involves several minutes of the acutest agony.

1.01 - Hatha Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
  7. Learn the Asanas, Pranayama, Bandhas, Mudras and the Shad Kriyas under an expert Hatha Yogi.
  8. Ida, Pingala and Sushumna are the three important Nadis in the body.

1.01 - Meeting the Master - Authors first meeting, December 1918, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   Sri Aurobindo became very serious. The Yogi in him came forward, his gaze was fixed at the sky that could be seen beyond the window. Then he looked at me and putting his fist on the table he said:
   "You can take it from me, it is as certain as the rising of the sun tomorrow. The decree has already gone forth it may not be long in coming."

1.01 - Prayer, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  In commenting on the Sutra of Patanjali, Ishvara pranidhndv, i.e. "Or by the worship of the Supreme Lord" Bhoja says, "Pranidhna is that sort of Bhakti in which, without seeking results, such as sense-enjoyments etc., all works are dedicated to that Teacher of teachers." Bhagavan Vysa also, when commenting on the same, defines Pranidhana as "the form of Bhakti by which the mercy of the Supreme Lord comes to the Yogi, and blesses him by granting him his desires". According to Shndilya, "Bhakti is intense love to God." The best definition is, however, that given by the king of Bhaktas, Prahlda:
  "That deathless love which the ignorant have for the fleeting objects of the senses as I keep meditating on Thee may not that love slip away from my heart!" Love! For whom? For the Supreme Lord Ishvara. Love for any other being, however great cannot be Bhakti; for, as Ramanuja says in his Shri Bhshya, quoting an ancient chrya, i.e. a great teacher:

1.01 - SAMADHI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  of reasoning, but the Yogi, the pure one, has gone beyond all
  this. Before his mind, the past, the present, and the future, are
  --
  concentration, which is the goal of the Yogi.
  21
  --
  of the universe. On the other hand the Yogis say, Not so,
  there is a God; there is one Soul separate from all other souls,
  --
  Teacher of all teachers. The Yogis admit that those the
  Sankhyas called merged in nature also exist. They are Yogis
  who have fallen short of perfection, and though, for a time
  --
  is no place for God, while with the Yogis God has a place. The
   Yogis, however, avoid many ideas about God, such as
  --
  the Isvara of the Yogis, although, according to the Vedas,
  Isvara is the Creator of the universe. Seeing that the universe
  --
  unlimited knowledge, and the Yogis call that unlimited
  knowledge God.
  --
  of knowledge can only be got, a Yogi maintains, through
  another knowledge. Dead, insentient matter, never calls out
  --
  to vanish. What are the obstacles to the Yogil
  30. ^fTF! -
  --
  persons cannot be Yogis. Mental laziness makes us lose all
  lively interest in the subject, without which there will neither
  --
  but later on other Yogis found out various things about this
  Pranayama, and made of it a great science. With Patanjali ist
  --
  will hear a little of what thoese later Yogis have to say. Some
  of this I have told you before, but a little repetition will serve
  --
  them. Now these later Yogis consider that there are three main
  currents of this Prana in the human body. One they call Ida ,
  --
  the Yogi. You must remember that the Yogi changes his body;
  as you go on practising your body changes; it is not the same
  --
  This naturally comes with Dharana, concentration; the Yogis
  say, if the mind becomes concentrated on the tip of the nose
  --
  The Yogi's mind thus meditating, becomes
  un-obstructed from the atomic to the Infinite.
  --
  The Yogi whose Vrttis have thus become powerless
  (controlled) obtains in the receiver, receiving, and
  --
  the fine as on the grosser objects. Here the Yogi sees the three
  things, the receiver, the received, and the receiving,
  --
  itself, but the egoism. By practice, the Yogi gets established in
  all these meditations. Whenever he meditates he can keep out
  --
  give liberation, but what they bring to the Yogi is stated in the
  following aphorisms.
  --
  who are competent, the Yogis always mean the Rishis, or the
  Seers of the thoughts recorded in the Scriptures the Vedas.
  --
  realisation, therefore, is beyond sense perception. The Yogis
  say that man can go beyond his direct sense perception, and

1.01 - Tara the Divine, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  against one of the eight great fears, Tara Yogini, and
  so on. These various forms are not, however, other

1.01 - The First Steps, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  Rja-Yoga is divided into eight steps. The first is Yama non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, and non-receiving of any gifts. Next is Niyama cleanliness, contentment, austerity, study, and self-surrender to God. Then comes sana, or posture; Prnyma, or control of Prna; Pratyhra, or restraint of the senses from their objects; Dhran, or fixing the mind on a spot; Dhyna, or meditation; and Samdhi, or superconsciousness. The Yama and Niyama, as we see, are moral trainings; without these as the basis no practice of Yoga will succeed. As these two become established, the Yogi will begin to realise the fruits of his practice; without these it will never bear fruit. A Yogi must not think of injuring anyone, by thought, word, or deed. Mercy shall not be for men alone, but shall go beyond, and embrace the whole world.
  The next step is Asana, posture. A series of exercises, physical and mental, is to be gone through every day, until certain higher states are reached. Therefore it is quite necessary that we should find a posture in which we can remain long. That posture which is the easiest for one should be the one chosen. For thinking, a certain posture may be very easy for one man, while to another it may be very difficult. We will find later on that during the study of these psychological matters a good deal of activity goes on in the body. Nerve currents will have to be displaced and given a new channel. New sorts of vibrations will begin, the whole constitution will be remodelled as it were. But the main part of the activity will lie along the spinal column, so that the one thing necessary for the posture is to hold the spinal column free, sitting erect, holding the three parts the chest, neck, and head in a straight line. Let the whole weight of the body be supported by the ribs, and then you have an easy natural postures with the spine straight. You will easily see that you cannot think very high thoughts with the chest in. This portion of the Yoga is a little similar to the Hatha-Yoga which deals entirely with the physical body, its aim being to make the physical body very strong. We have nothing to do with it here, because its practices are very difficult, and cannot be learned in a day, and, after all, do not lead to much spiritual growth. Many of these practices you will find in Delsarte and other teachers, such as placing the body in different postures, but the object in these is physical, not psychological. There is not one muscle in the body over which a man cannot establish a perfect control. The heart can be made to stop or go on at his bidding, and each part of the organism can be similarly controlled.
  --
  Those of you who can afford it will do better to have a room for this practice alone. Do not sleep in that room, it must be kept holy. You must not enter the room until you have bathed, and are perfectly clean in body and mind. Place flowers in that room always; they are the best surroundings for a Yogi; also pictures that are pleasing. Burn incense morning and evening. Have no quarrelling, nor anger, nor unholy thought in that room. Only allow those persons to enter it who are of the same thought as you. Then gradually there will be an atmosphere of holiness in the room, so that when you are miserable, sorrowful, doubtful, or your mind is disturbed, the very fact of entering that room will make you calm. This was the idea of the temple and the church, and in some temples and churches you will find it even now, but in the majority of them the very idea has been lost. The idea is that by keeping holy vibrations there the place becomes and remains illumined. Those who cannot afford to have a room set apart can practice anywhere they like. Sit in a straight posture, and the first thing to do is to send a current of holy thought to all creation. Mentally repeat, "Let all beings be happy; let all beings be peaceful; let all beings be blissful." So do to the east, south, north and west. The more you do that the better you will feel yourself. You will find at last that the easiest way to make ourselves healthy is to see that others are healthy, and the easiest way to make ourselves happy is to see that others are happy. After doing that, those who believe in God should pray not for money, not for health, nor for heaven; pray for knowledge and light; every other prayer is selfish. Then the next thing to do is to think of your own body, and see that it is strong and healthy; it is the best instrument you have. Think of it as being as strong as adamant, and that with the help of this body you will cross the ocean of life. Freedom is never to be reached by the weak. Throw away all weakness. Tell your body that it is strong, tell your mind that it is strong, and have unbounded faith and hope in yourself.

1.01 - The Four Aids, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  6:But usually the representative influence occupies a much larger place in the life of the Sadhaka. If the Yoga is guided by a received written Shastra, -- some Word from the past which embodies the experience of former Yogins, -- it may be practised either by personal effort alone or with the aid of a Guru. The spiritual knowledge is then gained through meditation on the truths that are taught and it is made living and conscious by their realisation in the personal experience; the Yoga proceeds by the results of prescribed methods taught in a Scripture or a tradition and reinforced and illumined by the instructions of the Master. This is a narrower practice, but safe and effective within its limits, because it follows a well-beaten track to a long familiar goal.
  7:For the Sadhaka of the Integral Yoga it is necessary to remember that no written Shastra, however great its authority or however large its spirit, can be more than a partial expression of the eternal Knowledge. He will use, but never bind himself even by the greatest Scripture. Where the Scripture is profound, wide, catholic, it may exercise upon him an influence for the highest good and of incalculable importance. It may be associated in his experience with his awakening to crowning verities and his realisation of the highest experiences. His Yoga may be governed for a long time by one Scripture or by several successively, -- if it is in the line of the great Hindu tradition, by the Gita, for example, the Upanishads, the Veda. Or it may be a good part of his development to include in its material a richly varied experience of the truths of many Scriptures and make the future opulent with all that is best in the past. But in the end he must take his station, or better still, if he can, always and from the beginning he must live in his own soul beyond the written Truth, -- sabdabrahmativartate -- beyond all that he has heard and all that he has yet to hear, -- srotaryasya srutasya ca. For he is not the Sadhaka of a book or of many books; he is a Sadhaka of the Infinite.
  8:Another kind of Shastra is not Scripture, but a statement of the science and methods, the effective principles and way of working of the path of Yoga which the Sadhaka elects to follow. Each path has its Shastra, either written or traditional, passing from mouth to mouth through a long line of Teachers. In India a great authority, a high reverence even is ordinarily attached to the written or traditional teaching. All the lines of the Yoga are supposed to be fixed and the Teacher who has received the Shastra by tradition and realised it in practice guides the disciple along the immemorial tracks. One often even hears the objection urged against a new practice, a new Yogic teaching, the adoption of a new formula, "It is not according to the Shastra." But neither in fact nor in the actual practice of the Yogins is there really any such entire rigidity of an iron door shut against new truth, fresh revelation, widened experience. The written or traditional teaching expresses the knowledge and experiences of many centuries systematised, organised, made attainable to the beginner. Its importance and utility are therefore immense. But a great freedom of variation and development is always practicable. Even so highly scientific a system as Rajayoga can be practised on other lines than the organised method of Patanjali. Each of the three paths, trimarga 51, breaks into many bypaths which meet again at the goal. The general knowledge on which the Yoga depends is fixed, but the order, the succession, the devices, the forms must be allowed to vary, for the needs and particular impulsions of the individual nature have to be satisfied even while the general truths remain firm and constant.
  9:An integral and synthetic Yoga needs especially not to be bound by any written or traditional Shastra; for while it embraces the knowledge received from the past, it seeks to organise it anew for the present and the future. An absolute liberty of experience and of the restatement of knowledge in new terms and new combinations is the condition of its self-formation. Seeking to embrace all life in itself, it is in the position not of a pilgrim following the highroad to his destination, but, to that extent at least, of a path-finder hewing his way through a virgin forest. For Yoga has long diverged from life and the ancient systems which sought to embrace it, such as those of our Vedic forefa thers, are far away from us, expressed in terms which are no longer accessible, thrown into forms which are no longer applicable. Since then mankind has moved forward on the current of eternal Time and the same problem has to be approached from a new starting-point.
  --
  21:This inner Guide is often veiled at first by the very intensity of our personal effort and by the ego's preoccupation with itself and its aims. As we gain in clarity and the turmoil of egoistic effort gives place to a calmer self-knowledge, we recognise the source of the growing light within us. We recognise it retrospectively as we realise how all our obscure and conflicting movements have been determined towards an end that we only now begin to perceive, how even before our entrance into the path of the Yoga the evolution of our life has been designedly led towards its turning point. For now we begin to understand the sense of our struggles and efforts, successes and failures. At last we are able to seize the meaning of our ordeals and sufferings and can appreciate the help that was given us by all that hurt and resisted and the utility of our very falls and stumblings. We recognise this divine leading afterwards, not retrospectively but immediately, in the moulding of our thoughts by a transcendent Seer, of our will and actions by an all-embracing Power, of our emotional life by an all-attracting and all-assimilating Bliss and Love. We recognise it too in a more personal relation that from the first touched us or at the last seizes us; we feel the eternal presence of a supreme Master, Friend, Lover, Teacher. We recognise it in the essence of our being as that develops into likeness and oneness with a greater and wider existence; for we perceive that this miraculous development is not the result of our own efforts; an eternal Perfection is moulding us into its own image. One who is the Lord or Ishwara of the Yogic philosophies, the Guide in the conscious being (caitya guru or antaryamin), the Absolute of the thinker, the Unknowable of the Agnostic, the universal Force of the materialist, the supreme Soul and the supreme shakti, the One who is differently named and imaged by the religions, is the Master of our Yoga.
  22:To see, know, become and fulfil this One in our inner selves and in all our outer nature, was always the secret goal and becomes now the conscious purpose of our embodied existence.

1.01 - The Unexpected, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  In addition to my medical work, I had to do some intellectual work as well. Reading aloud the daily newspapers to Sri Aurobindo was one. The Hindu naturally was the paper of choice. His way of reading which I had to follow at first amused me, but I realised that most of us also read in a similar way. His remarks were quite enjoyable. He would say, "Read out the prominent headlines." As I read them aloud successively, he would ask, "Yes, what does it say? Let us hear." Or, "That doesn't matter. Anything else?" Thus in 10 or 15 minutes all the news was served out. The Editorial had an occasional interest. One other paper that caught his fancy was The Daily Mail for its Curly Wee cartoon. He kept his interest in it till the end though he found it getting stale and dry. In the evening, the Weekly New Statesman and Nation, sometimes the Manchester Guardian, used to be read by Purani; later on it came to be my job, but it stopped after a while. It was probably through these media that he maintained his contact with the details of the fast-changing movements in the political and cultural world, whose general aspects he could be inwardly aware of by his universalised Yogic consciousness.
  ***

10.23 - Prayers and Meditations of the Mother, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   This wonder-lyre has three strings, giving out a triple note or strain: there is a strain of philosophy, there is a strain of yoga and there is a strain of poetry. We may also call them values and say there is a philosophical, a Yogic and a poetic value in these contemplations. The philosophical strain or value means that the things said are presented, explained to the intellect so that the human mind can seize them, understand them. The principles underlying the ideal, the fundamental ideas are elaborated in terms of reason and logical comprehension, although the subject-matter treated is in the last analysis' beyond reason and logic. For example, here is true philosophy expressed in a philosophic manner as neatly as possible.
   A quoi servirait l'homme s'il n'tait pas fait pour jeter un pont entre Ce qui est ternellement, mais qui n' est pas manifest, et ce qui est manifest, entre toutes les transcendances, toutes les splendeu-rs de la vie divine et toute l'obscure et douloureuse ignorance du monde matriel? L'homme est le lien entre ce qui doit tre et ce qui est; il est la passerelle jete sur l' abme, il est le grand X en croix, le trait d'union quaternaire. Son domicile vritable, le sige effectif de sa conscience doit tre dans le monde intermdiaire au point de jonction des quatre bras de la croix, l, o tout l'infini de l'impensable vient prendre forme prcise pour tre projet dans l'innombrable manifestation.1
  --
   However, we note that the philosophical strain merges into the Yogic, rather the Yogic strain is already involved in the philosophical. Here is an obvious and clear expression of this strain:
   Il faudrait que chaque jour, chaque instant, soil l'occasion d'une conscration nouvelle et plus complte; et non pas une de ces conscrations enthousiastes et trpidantes, suractives, Pleine de l'illusion de l'muvre, mais une conscration profonde et silencieuse qui n' est pas forcment apparente, mais qui pntre et transfigure toute action Il faudrait que notre esprit paisible et solitaire repose toujours en Toi, et que de ce pur sommet il ait la perception exacte des ralits, de la Ralit unique et temelle, derrire les instables et fugitives apparences.4

10.26 - A True Professor, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The mother says a professor, a true professor, must be truly a Yogi. That is to say, a teacher, even a schoolteacher, one imparting what is called secular education, has to be nothing less than a Yogi. The Indian term for teacher is 'guru' and 'guru' meant a teacher both spiritual and secular. This distinction of the two words is made by the modern spirit, it did not belong to the ancient culture. The secular knowledge was also considered a necessary part of the spiritual knowledge, that which prepared for it and led towards it. The 'apara vidya' or the 'vedangas' were but limbs of the supreme knowledge 'para vidya' and 'veda'.
   A teacher has to be a Yogi does not mean that he is to be a paragon of moral qualities, following, for example, the ten commandments scrupulously. Not to tell a lie, not to lose temper, to be patient, impartial, to be honest and unselfish, all these more or less social qualities have their values but something else is needed for the true teacher, something of another category and quality. I said social qualities, I might say also mental qualities. The consciousness of the teacher has to be other than mental, something deeper, more abiding, more constant, less relative, something absolute. Do we then prescribe the supreme Brahma-consciousness for the teacher? Not quite. We mean the consciousness of a soul, the living light that is within every aspiring human being. It is a glad luminousness in the heart that can exist with or without the brilliant riches of a cultivated brain. And one need not go so far as the vedantic Sachchidananda consciousness.
   That is the first and primary necessity. When the teacher approaches the pupil, he must know how to do it in and through that inner intimate consciousness. It means a fundamental attitude, a mode of being of the whole nature rather than a scientific procedure: all the manuals of education will not be able to procure you this treasure. It is an acquisition that develops or manifests spontaneously through an earnest desire, that is to say, aspiration for it. It is this that establishes a strange contact with the pupil, radiates or infuses the knowledge, even the learning that the teacher possesses, infallibly and naturally into the mind and brain of the pupil.
  --
   If the teacher is to be a Yogi, the pupil on his side must be at least an aspirant. But I suppose a pupil, so long as he is a child, is a born aspirant. For, as the Mother says, a child's consciousness retains generally something of the pure inner consciousness for sometime at least until it is overshadowed by the development of the body and the mind in the ordinary normal way. Something of this, we know, has been expressed in the famous lines of the visionary English poet:
   Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

1.028 - Bringing About Whole-Souled Dedication, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  The other point is that this practice will not bring results in only a few days. Sa tu drghakla nairantarya satkra sevita dhabhmi (I.14), says Patanjali. In many cases the result will not follow at all, due to obstructing prarabdhas. There were great seekers, sadhakas, who used to perform japa purascharana, the chanting of a mantra, for years and years together, with the hope of having the vision of the deity. But they had no vision of the deity. We hear of the story of the purascharanas performed by Sage Vidyaranya of yore, Yogi Sri Madhusudana Saraswati and others, but they had no vision. The reason mentioned is that they had obstructing prarabdhas.
  We have three kinds of prarabdha the tamasica, the rajasica and the sattvica. The tamasica and rajasica prarabdhas will not allow even the rise of aspiration for God. The tamasica prarabdha will always bring the most intense form of obstacles, including a mood of lethargy, indolence, sleepiness, and even doubt of the possibility of gaining any such realisation at all, as yoga promises. Atheism, materialism and lack of faith are due to the working of tamasica prarabdhas. As long as these types of prarabdha function, as long as the tamasica prarabdhas are active, there is no question of the practice of yoga we can do nothing.

10.28 - Love and Love, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   Of course, there was always in the ancient days also, in some disciplines or others, an aspiration, an urge to immortalise the body, but the means they adopted, the instruments they chose for the operation were indirect and secondary. It was either through the force of a luminous mind influencing the body or through the pressure of concentrated vital force making the body an obedient and docile instrument. The former was the process followed by the Vaishnavas who envisaged a luminous body, the second was the aim of the Tantriks who sought to rejuvenate the body, possess it youthful and vigorous indefinitely. The Hatha Yogis also in their turn through physico-vital exercises attempted to acquire a new body changing the modalities of the old. The ancient alchemists tried more material means, the use of alchemic substances for cleansing the body making it free from disease and, if possible, death. But the secret power lies in the body itself, that is, in the very self of the body, not anywhere else. The hidden consciousness lodged in the cell, the material cell, that is the key to the problem, that secret consciousness and its energy asleep in the cell, has to be awakened and brought into play. When the physical cell itself awakes and declares its purpose, the thing is done.
   This secret consciousness-energy appearing as a material form is also intrinsically the delight of existence. Its other name is Divine Grace and Love.

1.02 - Karmayoga, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   mountain-peaks above the common level, they have attracted all eyes and fixed this withdrawal as the highest and most commanding Hindu ideal. It is for this reason that Sri Krishna laid so much stress on the perfect Yogin's cleaving to life and human activity even after his need of them was over, lest the people, following, as they always do, the example of their best, turn away from their dharma and bastard confusion reign. The ideal
   Yogin is no withdrawn and pent-up force, but ever engaged in doing good to all creatures, either by the flood of the divine energy that he pours on the world or by himself standing in the front of humanity, its leader in the march and the battle, but unbound by his works and superior to his personality.
  --
  Yoga is communion with God for knowledge, for love or for work. The Yogin puts himself into direct relation with that which is omniscient and omnipotent within man and without him. He is in tune with the infinite, he becomes a channel for the strength of God to pour itself out upon the world whether through calm benevolence or active beneficence. When a man rises by putting from him the slough of self and lives for others and in the joys and sorrows of others; - when he works perfectly and with love and zeal, but casts away the anxiety for results and is neither eager for victory nor afraid of defeat; - when he devotes all his works to God and lays every thought, word and deed as an offering on the divine altar; - when he gets rid of fear and hatred, repulsion and disgust and attachment, and works like the forces of Nature, unhasting, unresting, inevitably, perfectly; - when he rises above the thought that he is the body or the heart or the mind or the sum of these and finds his own and true self; - when he becomes aware of his immortality and the unreality of death; - when he experiences the advent of knowledge and feels himself passive and the divine force working unresisted through his mind, his speech, his senses and all his organs; - when having thus abandoned whatever he is, does or has to the Lord of all, the Lover and Helper of mankind, he dwells permanently in
  Him and becomes incapable of grief, disquiet or false excitement,
  --
   man who has not strength or faith or love developed or latent in his nature, and any one of these is a sufficient staff for the Yogin.
  All cannot, indeed, reach in a single life the highest in this path, but all can go forward; and in proportion as a man advances he gets peace, strength and joy. And even a little of this dharma delivers man or nation out of great fear.

1.02 - Karma Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
  19. Cultivate amiable, loving, social nature, generosity, catholic nature. Kill selfishness. Control the senses, practise self-restraint, tolerance, sympathy and mercy. These are the qualifications of a Karma Yogi.
  20. Bear insult, injury, harsh words, criticism, heat and cold.

1.02 - Prana, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  This opens to us the door to almost unlimited power. Suppose, for instance, a man understood the Prana perfectly, and could control it, what power on earth would not be his? He would be able to move the sun and stars out of their places, to control everything in the universe, from the atoms to the biggest suns, because he would control the Prana. This is the end and aim of Pranayama. When the Yogi becomes perfect, there will be nothing in nature not under his control. If he orders the gods or the souls of the departed to come, they will come at his bidding. All the forces of nature will obey him as slaves. When the ignorant see these powers of the Yogi, they call them the miracles. One peculiarity of the Hindu mind is that it always inquires for the last possible generalisation, leaving the details to be worked out afterwards. The question is raised in the Vedas, "What is that, knowing which, we shall know everything?" Thus, all books, and all philosophies that have been written, have been only to prove that by knowing which everything is known. If a man wants to know this universe bit by bit he must know every individual grain of sand, which means infinite time; he cannot know all of them. Then how can knowledge be? How is it possible for a man to be all-knowing through particulars? The Yogis say that behind this particular manifestation there is a generalisation. Behind all particular ideas stands a generalised, an abstract principle; grasp it, and you have grasped everything. Just as this whole universe has been generalised in the Vedas into that One Absolute Existence, and he who has grasped that Existence has grasped the whole universe, so all forces have been generalised into this Prana, and he who has grasped the Prana has grasped all the forces of the universe, mental or physical. He who has controlled the Prana has controlled his own mind, and all the minds that exist. He who has controlled the Prana has controlled his body, and all the bodies that exist, because the Prana is the generalised manifestation of force.
  How to control the Prana is the one idea of Pranayama. All the trainings and exercises in this regard are for that one end. Each man must begin where he stands, must learn how to control the things that are nearest to him. This body is very near to us, nearer than anything in the external universe, and this mind is the nearest of all. The Prana which is working this mind and body is the nearest to us of all the Prana in this universe. This little wave of the Prana which represents our own energies, mental and physical, is the nearest to us of all the waves of the infinite ocean of Prana. If we can succeed in controlling that little wave, then alone we can hope to control the whole of Prana. The Yogi who has done this gains perfection; no longer is he under any power. He becomes almost almighty, almost all-knowing. We see sects in every country who have attempted this control of Prana. In this country there are Mind-healers, Faith-healers, Spiritualists, Christian Scientists, Hypnotists, etc., and if we examine these different bodies, we shall find at the back of each this control of the Prana, whether they know it or not. If you boil all their theories down, the residuum will be that. It is the one and the same force they are manipulating, only unknowingly. They have stumbled on the discovery of a force and are using it unconsciously without knowing its nature, but it is the same as the Yogi uses, and which comes from Prana.
  The Prana is the vital force in every being. Thought is the finest and highest action of Prana. Thought, again, as we see, is not all. There is also what we call instinct or unconscious thought, the lowest plane of action. If a mosquito stings us, our hand will strike it automatically, instinctively. This is one expression of thought. All reflex actions of the body belong to this plane of thought. There is again the other plane of thought, the conscious. I reason, I judge, I think, I see the pros and cons of certain things, yet that is not all. We know that reason is limited. Reason can go only to a certain extent, beyond that it cannot reach. The circle within which it runs is very very limited indeed. Yet at the same time, we find facts rush into this circle. Like the coming of comets certain things come into this circle; it is certain they come from outside the limit, although our reason cannot go beyond. The causes of the phenomena intruding themselves in this small limit are outside of this limit. The mind can exist on a still higher plane, the superconscious. When the mind has attained to that state, which is called Samdhi perfect concentration, superconsciousness it goes beyond the limits of reason, and comes face to face with facts which no instinct or reason can ever know. All manipulations of the subtle forces of the body, the different manifestations of Prana, if trained, give a push to the mind, help it to go up higher, and become superconscious, from where it acts.
  --
  Again, we know that motion which has become latent can be brought back to manifestation. By hard work and practice certain motions of the body which are most dormant can be brought back under perfect control. Reasoning thus we find there is no impossibility, but, on the other hand. every probability that each part of the body can be brought under perfect control. This the Yogi does through Pranayama. Perhaps some of you have read that in Pranayama, when drawing in the breath, you must fill your whole body with Prana. In the English translations Prana is given as breath, and you are inclined to ask how that is to be done. The fault is with the translator. Every part of the body can be filled with Prana, this vital force, and when you are able to do that, you can control the whole body. All the sickness and misery felt in the body will be perfectly controlled; not only so, you will be able to control another's body. Everything is infectious in this world, good or bad. If your body be in a certain state of tension, it will have a tendency to produce the same tension in others. If you are strong and healthy, those that live near you will also have the tendency to become strong and healthy, but if you are sick and weak, those around you will have the tendency to become the same. In the case of one man trying to heal another, the first idea is simply transferring his own health to the other. This is the primitive sort of healing. Consciously or unconsciously, health can be transmitted. A very strong man, living with a weak man, will make him a little stronger, whether he knows it or not. When consciously done, it becomes quicker and better in its action. Next come those cases in which a man may not be very healthy himself, yet we know that he can bring health to another. The first man, in such a case, has a little more control over the Prana, and can rouse, for the time being, his Prana, as it were, to a certain state of vibration, and transmit it to another person.
  There have been cases where this process has been carried on at a distance, but in reality there is no distance in the sense of a break. Where is the distance that has a break? Is there any break between you and the sun? It is a continuous mass of matter, the sun being one part, and you another. Is there a break between one part of a river and another? Then why cannot any force travel? There is no reason against it. Cases of healing from a distance are perfectly true. The Prana can be transmitted to a very great distance; but to one genuine case, there are hundreds of frauds. This process of healing is not so easy as it is thought to be. In the most ordinary cases of such healing you will find that the healers simply take advantage of the naturally healthy state of the human body. An allopath comes and treats cholera patients, and gives them his medicines. The homoeopath comes and gives his medicines, and cures perhaps more than the allopath does, because the homoeopath does not disturb his patients, but allows nature to deal with them. The Faith-healer cures more still, because he brings the strength of his mind to bear, and rouses, through faith, the dormant Prana of the patient.
  --
  In an ocean there are huge waves, like mountains, then smaller waves, and still smaller, down to little bubbles, but back of all these is the infinite ocean. The bubble is connected with the infinite ocean at one end, and the huge wave at the other end. So, one may be a gigantic man, and another a little bubble, but each is connected with that infinite ocean of energy, which is the common birthright of every animal that exists. Wherever there is life, the storehouse of infinite energy is behind it. Starting as some fungus, some very minute, microscopic bubble, and all the time drawing from that infinite store-house of energy, a form is changed slowly and steadily until in course of time it becomes a plant, then an animal, then man, ultimately God. This is attained through millions of aeons, but what is time? An increase of speed, an increase of struggle, is able to bridge the gulf of time. That which naturally takes a long time to accomplish can be shortened by the intensity of the action, says the Yogi. A man may go on slowly drawing in this energy from the infinite mass that exists in the universe, and, perhaps, he will require a hundred thousand years to become a Deva, and then, perhaps, five hundred thousand years to become still higher, and, perhaps, five millions of years to become perfect. Given rapid growth, the time will be lessened. Why is it not possible, with sufficient effort, to reach this very perfection in six months or six years? There is no limit. Reason shows that. If an engine, with a certain amount of coal, runs two miles an hour, it will run the distance in less time with a greater supply of coal. Similarly, why shall not the soul, by intensifying its action, attain perfection in this very life? All beings will at last attain to that goal, we know. But who cares to wait all these millions of aeons? Why not reach it immediately, in this body even, in this human form? Why shall I not get that infinite knowledge, infinite power, now?
  The ideal of the Yogi, the whole science of Yoga, is directed to the end of teaching men how, by intensifying the power of assimilation, to shorten the time for reaching perfection, instead of slowly advancing from point to point and waiting until the whole human race has become perfect. All the great prophets, saints, and seers of the world what did they do? In one span of life they lived the whole life of humanity, traversed the whole length of time that it takes ordinary humanity to come to perfection. In one life they perfect themselves; they have no thought for anything else, never live a moment for any other idea, and thus the way is shortened for them. This is what is meant by concentration, intensifying the power of assimilation, thus shortening the time. Raja-Yoga is the science which teaches us how to gain the power of concentration.
  What has Pranayama to do with spiritualism? Spiritualism is also a manifestation of Pranayama. If it be true that the departed spirits exist, only we cannot see them, it is quite probable that there may be hundreds and millions of them about us we can neither see, feel, nor touch. We may be continually passing and repassing through their bodies, and they do not see or feel us. It is a circle within a circle, universe within universe. We have five senses, and we represent Prana in a certain state of vibration. All beings in the same state of vibration will see one another, but if there are beings who represent Prana in a higher state of vibration, they will not be seen. We may increase the intensity of a light until we cannot see it at all, but there may be beings with eyes so powerful that they can see such light. Again, if its vibrations are very low, we do not see a light, but there are animals that may see it, as cats and owls. Our range of vision is only one plane of the vibrations of this Prana. Take this atmosphere, for instance; it is piled up layer on layer, but the layers nearer to the earth are denser than those above, and as you go higher the atmosphere becomes finer and finer. Or take the case of the ocean; as you go deeper and deeper the pressure of the water increases, and animals which live at the bottom of the sea can never come up, or they will be broken into pieces.

1.02 - Pranayama, Mantrayoga, #Liber ABA, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  The ultimate idea of meditation being to still the mind, it may be considered a useful preliminary to still consciousness of all the functions of the body. This has been dealt with in the chapter on Asana. One may, however, mention that some Yogis carry it to the point of trying to stop the beating of the heart. Whether this be desirable or no it would be useless to the beginner, so he will endeavour to make the breathing very slow and very regular. The rules for this practice are given in Liber CCVI.
  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.

1.02 - SADHANA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  studies at all. The Yogi is supposed to have finished his period
  of controversy. He has had enough of all that, and has become
  --
  blindly into anything. The Yogi has passed the argumentative
  stage, and has come to a conclusion, which is like the rocks,
  --
  senses; the Yogi wants to go beyond the senses; therefore the
  intellect is of no use to him. He is certain of this, and therefore
  --
  by. In the Yogi these impressions, the Samskaras left by past
  actions, are attenuated; that is, in a very fine state, and he can
  --
  language of the Yogi , instinct is involved reason.
  Discrimination becomes involved, and gets to be automatic
  --
  unhappy thoughts, because according to the Yogis , both, in the
  long run, bring pain. All happiness which comes from the
  --
  Therefore the Yogis regard the sum-total of the impressions,
  good or evil, as pain-bearing obstructions; they obstruct the
  --
  goodness, bring their fruits in this life. The Yogis even hold
  that men who are able to acquire a tremendous power of good
  --
  mentioned by the Yogis in their books. These men change the
  very material of their bodies; they re-arrange the molecules in
  --
  channels of those nerves. The Yogi says we need not be bound
  by that. Similary, we can send electricity to any part of the
  --
  not send the mental electricity without this aid? The Yogi
  says it is perfectly possible and practicable, and that when you
  --
  According to the philosophy of the Yogis all virtuous actions
  bring pleasure, and all vicious actions bring pain. Any man
  --
  The Yogis say that the man who has discriminating powers,
  the man of good sense, sees through all these various things,
  --
  love. How can that be? Even love is selfish, and the Yogi says
  that, in the end, we shall find that even the love of husbands
  --
  the Yogi tells you; have patience to learn it. And the Yogi
  shows how, by junction with this nature, and identifying itself
  --
  miserable. Then the Yogi goes on to show that the way out is
  through experience. You have to get all this experience, but
  --
  says, can be seen by the Yogi. We do not all see it, but we are
  all throwing out these Tanmatras, just as a flower is
  --
  the same basis consciousness. The Yogi says both are true;
  that we are bound so far as intelligence goes, that we are free
  --
  and bondage at the same time. The Yogi analyses both what is
  free and what is bound, and his ignorance vanishes. He finds
  --
  are caused by this nature itself, according to the Yogis', but
  nature has no purpose in view, except to free the PuruSa.
  --
  business to rise above this superstition, and the Yogi shows us
  how we can do this. It has been demonstrated that, under
  --
  so we must go. The Yogi claims that he who controls mind
  controls matter also. The internal nature is much higher that
  --
  and the Yogi will become peaceful and calm, never to feel any
  more pain, never to be again deluded, never to touch misery.
  --
  A man who wants to be a perfect Yogi must give up the sex
  idea. The Soul has no sex; why should it degrade itself with
  --
  will never become a Yogi. There must be internal purification
  also. That is obtained by the first-named virtues. Of course
  --
  By the establishment of truthfulness the Yogi gets the
  power of attaining for himself and others the fruits of
  --
  comes to the Yogi.
  The more you fly from nature the more she follows you, and if
  --
  this is what gave them power. Therefore the Yogi must be
  continent.
  --
  When the Yogi does not receive presents from others he does
  not become beholden to others, but becomes independent and
  --
  Then alone the Yogi becomes perfectly fixed in his ideal,
  because he sees that he has been coming and going so many
  --
  beautiful face to the Yogi will appear to be an animals face, if
  there is not intelligence behind it. What the world will call a
  --
  daring alone are fit to be Yogis. To the Yogi everything is bliss,
  every human face that he sees brings cheerfulness to him.
  --
  When the Yogi has succeeded in preventing the organs from
  taking the forms of external objects, and in making them
  --
  sensation. When the organs are controlled the Yogi can
  control all feeling and doing; the whole of the body will be

1.02 - Taras Tantra, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  behavior was slightly out of the norm but his Yogic
  - 57 -
  --
  The Yogini' s Message
  Tara appea red again to Atisha in a dream and
  --
  would meet a Yogini who had something impor tant to
  tell him. The next morning, he went to the temple and
  met the Yogini. Havin g offered her some flowers, he
  told her. "I was invite d to go to Tibet. Will my
  --
  answe red the Yogini. "Besides, you will meet a lay
  perso n (Drom Tonpa) there who will be a tremendous

1.02 - The Development of Sri Aurobindos Thought, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  year he met the Yogi Vishnu Bhaskar Lele and had with
  him his first great spiritual experience, the realization of
  --
  the Yogin is that he should leave all conventional formulas
  of belief and action, all fixed and external rules of conduct,
  --
  know. But its removal required a Yogic master-act: to go and
  work behind the veil of Matter, in other words to descend

1.02 - The Eternal Law, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  It was not metaphysical questions that preoccupied him, but questions of action. To act: we are in the world to act. But what action? And above all, what method of action would be the most effective? This very practical concern would remain with Sri Aurobindo from his very first days in India right up to his highest Yogic realizations. I
  personally recall (if you will excuse the digression) traveling to the Himalayas and enjoying a few wonderful days there in the company of a holy man, lost among the pines and the red laurels, with snow sparkling all around us between sky and valley. It was very beautiful,
  --
  illusionism, trance, the closed eyes of the Yogi were also often mistaken for God. It is therefore essential to define clearly the goal that religious India has in view, then we will better understand what she can or cannot do for we who seek an integral truth.
  To begin with, we must admit that we are faced with a surprising contradiction. India is a country that brought forth a great revelation:
  --
  countless others, like so many stages of our effort. We won't discuss here the great value of these methods, or the remarkable intermediate results they can lead to; we will examine only their goal, their final destination. The truth is, this "poise above" seems to have no relation with real life whatsoever; first, because all these disciplines are extremely demanding, requiring hours and hours of work every day, if not complete solitude; secondly, because their ultimate result is a state of trance or Yogic ecstasy, samadhi, perfect equilibrium, ineffable bliss, in which one's awareness of the world is dissolved, annihilated.
  Brahman, the Spirit, appears therefore to have absolutely nothing to do with our regular waking consciousness; He is outside all that we know; He is not of this world. Others who were not Indians have said the same.

1.036 - The Rise of Obstacles in Yoga Practice, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  For a long time it may look as if nothing is happening in spiritual practice. This has been the experience of all Yogis, saints and sages. For years and years together we will have no experience whatsoever. It will look like everything is dead, there is no life in anything, that we are striking a brick wall or a hard stone with no effect whatsoever, that our japas produce no effect, our meditations mean nothing, our worships are perhaps not heard by God, and there is only suffering. This condition may persist for several years, and the number of years or the extent of their duration depends upon the nature of the case, just as the purifying medical effect of a medicine depends upon the nature of the disease, the intensity of the disease, and the particular case on hand, to give an instance. But, suddenly, there will be a miracle. This is always the case in spiritual experience it always comes like a miracle. It doesn't come very, very slowly with halting steps, giving previous notice. It will give no notice. When there is illumination, we will not know that it is coming; and when we are going to be opposed, we will not know that it is going to happen. Both things will happen without our having previous knowledge of what is happening.
  But there is a great and solacing admonition given by Sage Patanjali here in this sutra, a very beautiful phrase that says continued practice shall result in the revelation of the inner consciousness pratyakcetana adhigamah. 'Adhigamah' is a term that has many meanings. It means knowledge, or it may mean acquisition, attaining, contacting, facing, realising, entering all of these meanings are hidden in this peculiar phrase, adhigamah. Tata pratyakcetana adhigama then comes the revelation of the inner consciousness. The word 'pratyak' may be translated as inner, or the introverted one. Though this is a literal translation of the term 'pratyak', its connotation is more profound. We come in contact with, attain to, and enter into a new type of consciousness altogether, different from the one with which we have been acquainted and which we have been befriending as the sole endowment of perception and knowledge in empirical life. A new type of knowledge will be the result of this practice.
  --
  Adepts in yoga tell us that there is a gradual exhaustion of karma and a slow diminution of the intensity of obstacles; but others are of the opinion that there can be a sudden end to all this. It is something like the theories of creation whether God created the world item by item, step by step, gradually, stage by stage, or by a fiat, at one stroke. Is it krama srishti, or yugapat srishti? 'Yugapat' means God willed, 'Let there be light,' and there was light; 'Let there be trees,' and there were trees; 'Let there be man,' and there was man. Is it like that? Or, was there an evolutionary process, gradually manifesting form after form? There are two theories of creation, and they are not contradictory both are correct. Likewise, both these views held by Yogic adepts are correct. It is possible that obstacles may cease gradually, step by step, by the diminution of their intensity, or there can be a sudden burning up of everything and an instantaneous illumination. Individual logic or human understanding cannot probe into these mysteries. We have only to accept what comes, and to do our duty in the form of the practice prescribed. But, one thing is certain that whatever be the way in which the obstacles cease, they must cease, one day or the other.
  Enemies in the form of external forces become friendly at a particular stage. At one time it may appear to us that the whole world is our enemy that nobody wants us, and everything is against us. Everything that we do is thrown out of order by the forces outside us, and there is no success. And then it is that we get fed up with the world, become disgusted with everything, and it appears that nobody is cooperating with us anywhere and that everybody is trying to upset what we have done. This is one stage wherein we will have this type of experience and such feelings; but it will not be a permanent condition, because the world is not an enemy, ultimately.

1.037 - Preventing the Fall in Yoga, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  The impediments in the practice of yoga are more serious, unpleasant, painful and harassing than the obstacles that ordinary people may face in the world. The little difficulties that the common man has in his day-to-day life are not as painful, annoying or agonising as what the Yogi has to confront on his path. For this also, there is a reason why it is that a student of yoga should suffer much more than ordinary people in the world. The common man does not allow the whole of his personality to function at any time; only a partial personality functions. Not even the busiest person in the world can be said to be engaged in the totality of his being. Only some percentage of his being is active and, therefore, the reactions set up by the activity of a percentage of one's being are less potent than the reactions set up by the activities of the whole of one's being.
  The reason is simple. In the practice of yoga the whole being is active and, therefore, it starts waking up every blessed thing in this world whatever may be sleeping anywhere. Even invisible forces, even distant elements may feel that some strange activity is going on in some part of the universe. We must have heard in the Epics and Puranas that even the gods are distressed by the tapas of Yogis. It means that the meditative activity of a sincere seeker can tell upon even very far and distant regions like the heavens, and not merely the corners of the earth. But our ordinary little work that is going on in a shop, a factory or an office may not be felt at all in such regions. The reason is that these ordinary activities are shallow; they are not deep enough. They do not touch the bottom of things, and therefore the reactions set up are also mild.
  But in yoga, what actually moves is the very root of our being. Our soul itself is yearning in the aspiration for the Ultimate Reality. It is not a function of a part of the psychological organs like mentation, intellection, egoism, etc. It is every blessed thing that is in us that becomes active, and we may say there is a sort of conscription of every part of our personality in this warfare called the practice of yoga. Every individual is harnessed into the army. Everyone is a soldier when this war takes place. There is no civilian at all in the practice of yoga; everyone is active like an army man everyone, and no one is excluded. Every part of the personality becomes roused, and we can imagine what reactions this can set up. You may ask me why they should set up reactions. Can this noble activity called yoga not be carried on without any adverse reactions.

1.03 - Man - Slave or Free?, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The exclusive pursuit of Yoga by men who seclude themselves either physically or mentally from the contact of the world has led to an erroneous view of this science as something mystic, far-off and unreal. The secrecy which has been observed with regard to Yogic practices,a necessary secrecy in the former stages of human evolution,has stereotyped this error. Practices followed by men who form secret circles and confine the instruction in the mysteries strictly to those who have a certain preparatory fitness, inevitably bear the stamp to the outside world of occultism. In reality there is nothing intrinsically hidden, occult or mystic about Yoga. Yoga is based upon certain laws of human psychology, a certain knowledge about the power of the mind over the body and the inner spirit over the mind which are not generally realised and have hitherto been considered by those in the secret too momentous in their consequences for disclosure until men should be trained to use them aright. Just as a set of men who had discovered and tested the uttermost possibilities of mesmerism and hypnotism might hesitate to divulge them freely to the world lest the hypnotic power should be misused by ignorance or perversity or abused in the interests of selfishness and crime, so the Yogins have usually preserved the knowledge of these much greater forces within us in a secrecy broken only when they were sure of the previous ethical and spiritual training of the neophyte and his physical and moral fitness for the Yogic practices. It became therefore an established rule for the learner to observe strict reserve as to the inner experiences of Yoga and for the developed Yogin as far as possible to conceal himself. This has not prevented treatises and manuals from being published dealing with the physical or with the moral and intellectual sides of Yoga. Nor has it prevented great spirits who have gained their Yoga not by the ordinary careful and scientific methods but by their own strength and the special grace of God, from revealing themselves and their spiritual knowledge to mankind and in their intense love for humanity imparting something of their power to the world. Such were Buddha, Christ, Mahomed, Chaitanya, such have been Ramakrishna and Vivekananda. It is still the orthodox view that the experiences of Yoga must not be revealed to the uninitiated. But a new era dawns upon us in which the old laws must be modified Already the West is beginning to discover the secrets of Yoga. Some of its laws have revealed themselves however dimly and imperfectly to the scientists of Europe while others through Spiritualism, Christian Science, clairvoyance, telepathy and other modern forms of occultism are being almost discovered by accident as if by men groping in the dark and stumbling over truths they cannot understand. The time has almost come when India can no longer keep her light to herself but must pour it out upon the world. Yoga must be revealed to mankind because without it mankind cannot take the next step in the human evolution.
  The psychology of the human race has not yet been discovered by Science. All creation is essentially the same and proceeds by similar though not identical laws. If therefore we see in the outside material world that all phenomena proceed from and can be reduced to a single causal substance from which they were born, in which they move and to which they return, the same truth is likely to hold good in the psychical world. The unity of the material universe has now been acknowledged by the scientific intellect of Europe and the high priests of atheism and materialism in Germany have declared the ekam evdvityam in matter with no uncertain voice. In so doing they have merely reaffirmed the discovery made by Indian masters of the Yogic science thousands of years ago. But the European scientists have not discovered any sure and certain methods, such as they have in dealing with gross matter, for investigating psychical phenomena. They can only observe the most external manifestations of mind in action. But in these manifestations the mind is so much enveloped in the action of the outer objects and seems so dependent on them that it is very difficult for the observer to find out the springs of its action or any regularity in its workings. The European scientists have therefore come to the conclusion that it is the stimulations of outside objects which are the cause of psychical phenomena, and that even when the mind seems to act of itself and on its own material it is only associating, grouping together and manipulating the recorded experiences from outside objects. The very nature of mind is, according to them, a creation of past material experience transmitted by heredity with such persistence that we have grown steadily from the savage with his rudimentary mind to the civilised man of the twentieth century. As a natural result of these materialistic theories, science has found it difficult to discover any true psychical centre for the multifarious phenomena of mind and has therefore fixed upon the brain, the material organ of thought, as the only real centre. From this materialistic philosophy have resulted certain theories very dangerous to the moral future of mankind. First, man is a creation and slave of matter. He can only master matter by obeying it Secondly, the mind itself is a form of gross matter and not independent of and master of the senses. Thirdly, there is no real free will, because all our action is determined by two great forces, heredity and environment. We are the slaves of our nature, and where we seem to be free from its mastery, it is because we are yet worse slaves of our environment, worked on by the forces that surround and manipulate us.
  It is from these false and dangerous doctrines of materialism which tend to subvert mans future and hamper his evolution, that Yoga gives us a means of escape. It asserts on the contrary mans freedom from matter and gives him a means of asserting that freedom. The first great fundamental discovery of the Yogins was a means of analysing the experiences of the mind and the heart. By Yoga one can isolate mind, watch its workings as under a microscope, separate every minute function of the various parts of the antakaraa, the inner organ, every mental and moral faculty, test its isolated workings as well as its relations to other functions and faculties and trace backwards the operations of mind to subtler and ever subtler sources until just as material analysis arrives at a primal entity from which all proceeds, so Yoga analysis arrives at a primal spiritual entity from which all proceeds. It is also able to locate and distinguish the psychical centre to which all psychical phenomena gather and so to fix the roots of personality. In this analysis its first discovery is that mind can entirely isolate itself from external objects and work in itself and of itself. This does not, it is true, carry us very far because it may be that it is merely using the material already stored up by its past experiences. But the next discovery is that the farther it removes itself from objects, the more powerfully, surely, rapidly can the mind work with a swifter clarity, with a victorious and sovereign detachment. This is an experience which tends to contradict the scientific theory, that mind can withdraw the senses into itself and bring them to bear on a mass of phenomena of which it is quite unaware when it is occupied with external phenomena. Science will naturally challenge these as hallucinations. The answer is that these phenomena are related to each other by regular, simple and intelligible laws and form a world of their own independent of thought acting on the material world. Here too Science has this possible answer that this supposed world is merely an imaginative reflex in the brain of the material world and to any arguments drawn from the definiteness and unexpectedness of these subtle phenomena and their independence of our own will and imagination it can always oppose its theory of unconscious cerebration and, we suppose, unconscious imagination. The fourth discovery is that mind is not only independent of external matter, but its master; it can not only reject and control external stimuli, but can defy such apparently universal material laws as that of gravitation and ignore, put aside and make nought of what are called laws of nature and are really only the laws of material nature, inferior and subject to the psychical laws because matter is a product of mind and not mind a product of matter. This is the decisive discovery of Yoga, its final contradiction of materialism. It is followed by the crowning realisation that there is within us a source of immeasurable force, immeasurable intelligence, immeasurable joy far above the possibility of weakness, above the possibility of ignorance, above the possibility of grief which we can bring into touch with ourselves and, under arduous but not impossible conditions, habitually utilise or enjoy. This is what the Upanishads call the Brahman and the primal entity from which all things were born, in which they live and to which they return. This is God and communion with Him is the highest aim of Yogaa communion which works for knowledge, for work, for delight.
  ***

1.03 - Meeting the Master - Meeting with others, #Evening Talks With Sri Aurobindo, #unset, #Zen
   But ordinarily, we have not to do philanthropic work from the same motives. Philanthropy has an egoistic motive, however high it may be. We have to look beyond. For instance, we need not start schools for the Depressed Classes in order to serve humanity. We have to work as a sacrifice to God and we have therefore to go beyond mental ideals and constructions. When men begin work with these mental or ethical motives, they find them to be true and therefore they are not willing to leave them behind and go beyond. We have to take up the work from the Yogic point of view. For example, it is necessary to spread our literature because it spreads the new thought. Some men may receive it correctly and some incorrectly. A movement is set up on the universal mental plane. So also in social work the whole frame is shaken by the new thought and in-as-much as it moves men out of the old groove it is useful. But we have to act from the inner motives.
   9 AUGUST 1923
  --
   Sri Aurobindo: You need not do it now; it is a thing guaranteed. But you cannot make even that a condition for entering this Yoga. It is a high adventure, as I told you. It is not like the other Yogic systems where you get some touch of the Higher Reality and leave the rest untransformed. My Yoga makes demands that have to be met, it is a radical transition from the present state of human consciousness. We accept life but that does not mean that in this Yoga there is no renunciation. It only means we do not annul any of the faculties of the human being. What we put forth is not something mental, vital or physical but that which comes from the Supramental.
   Athavale: I would do as you suggest; but at present I do not know any working higher than the Mind. What is to be done till then?
  --
   The contents of a letter from a pleader of Wardha one Mr. Rajwade were read out to Sri Aurobindo. It showed signs of increasing mental disorder. He wanted to become a Yogi, a writer, and then an M.A. and Ll.M., if possible! He wanted to raise a loan of Rs. 3000/- if Sri Aurobindo promised him that he would finish the course.
   Sri Aurobindo: Which course? You mean the course to madness? He wants me to finish his course?

1.03 - Preparing for the Miraculous, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  Sri Aurobindo did not only rely on his Yogic insight,
  he followed the evolution of science, including physics,
  --
  which went through countless Yogic crises, struggles and
  reversals many years after the Arya and the Prayers and
  --
  Aurobindo gave some glimpses of his gigantic Yogic ef-
  fort in his correspondence with them. The important se-
  --
  What this Yogic, or rather avataric, master-act actually
  meant, we cannot even guess. But its result was that only
  --
  The evocation of this episode, of the extended Yogic
  battle on the verge of life and death of which so much de-

1.03 - The End of the Intellect, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  Sri Aurobindo had spent fourteen years traveling the Western path; it would take him almost as much time to travel India's path and to reach the "peak" of traditional Yogic realizations, the starting-point of his own work. What is most interesting for us, however, is that Sri Aurobindo traveled this traditional path, which we may therefore consider as a preparation, outside all customary rules, as a freelancer,
  as it were, or rather as an explorer who does not care about precautions and maps, and hence avoids many unnecessary detours simply because he has the courage to forge straight ahead. Thus, it was not in seclusion or in the lotus position or under the guidance of an enlightened Master that Sri Aurobindo undertook the journey, but just as we might do it ourselves, without any special knowledge, right in the midst of everyday life a life as busy and hectic as ours can be and all alone. Sri Aurobindo's first secret is probably a persistent refusal to cut life in two action vs. meditation, inner vs. outer, and the whole range of our false divisions; from the day he thought of yoga, he put everything into it, high and low, inside and outside, and he set out without ever looking back. Sri Aurobindo does not come to demonstrate exceptional qualities in an exceptional environment; he comes to show us what is possible for man, and to prove that the exceptional is only a normal possibility not yet mastered, just as the supernatural, as he said, is that the nature of which we have not attained or do not yet know, or the means of which we have not yet conquered.20 Ultimately, everything in this world is a matter of proper concentration; there is nothing that will not finally yield to a wellapplied concentration.
  --
  would see him seated there in the same posture for hours on end, his eyes fixed on his book, like a Yogi lost in the contemplation of the Divine, unaware of all that went on around him. Even if the house had caught fire, it would not have broken this concentration." He read English, Russian, German, and French novels, but also, in ever larger numbers, the sacred books of India, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Ramayana, although he had never been in a temple except as an observer. "Once, having returned from the College," one of his friends recalls, "Sri Aurobindo sat down, picked up a book at random and started to read, while Z and some friends began a noisy game of chess. After half an hour, he put the book down and took a cup of tea.
  We had already seen him do this many times and were waiting eagerly for a chance to verify whether he read the books from cover to cover or only scanned a few pages here and there. Soon the test began. Z

1.03 - The House Of The Lord, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  At the beginning all of us would make it a point to be present during his meal and watch the function as well as the Mother's part in it. When the time was announced, water was brought for Sri Aurobindo to wash his hands, then he started eating with a spoon and rarely with knife and fork. He would take off his ring, place it in Champaklal's hand and wash. Champakal would put it back on his finger afterwards. Sometimes when he forgot to take off the ring, Champaklal caught hold of the hand before it was dipped in the water. Then the Mother would come, prepare and lay the table, push it herself up to Sri Aurobindo and arrange the various foods in bowls or glass tumblers, in the order of savouries, sweets and fruit juices everything having an atmosphere of cleanliness, purity and beauty. Then she would offer, one by one, the dishes to the silent Deity who would take them slowly and silently as if the eating was not for the satisfaction of the palate but an act of self-offering. Steadiness and silence were the characteristic stamps of Sri Aurobindo. Dhra, according to him, was the ideal of Aryan culture. Hurry and hustle were words not found in his dictionary. Be it eating, drinking, walking or talking he did it always in a slow and measured rhythm, giving the impression that every movement was conscious and consecrated. The Mother would punctuate the silence with queries like, "How do you like that dish?" or such remarks as, "This mushroom is grown here, this is special brinjal sent from Benares, this is butterfruit." To all, Sri Aurobindo's reply would be, "Oh, I see! Quite good!" Typically English in manner and tone! His silence or laconic praise made us wonder if he had not lost all distinction in taste! Did rasagolla, bread and brinjal have the same taste in the Divine sense-experience? Making this vital point clear, he wrote in a letter: "Distinction is never lost, bread cannot be as tasty as a luchi, but a Yogi can enjoy bread with as much rasa as a luchi which is quite a different thing." He had a liking for sweets, particularly for rasagolla, sandesh and pantua. We could see that clearly: after the Mother had banned all sweets from his menu for medical reasons, one day some pantuas found their way in by chance. The Mother could not send them back from the table. She asked him if he would take some. He replied, "If it is pantua, I can try." Since then this became a spicy joke with all of us. He enjoyed, as a matter of fact, all kinds of good dishes, European or Indian. But whatever was not to his taste, he would just touch and put away. The pungent preparations of the South could not, however, receive his blessings, except the rasam[1]. When on his arrival in Pondicherry he was given rasam, he enjoyed it very much and said in our talks, "It has a celestial taste!" He was neither a puritan god nor an epicure; only, he had no hankering or attachment for anything. His meal ended with a big tumbler of orange juice which he sipped slowly, looking after each sip to see how much was left, and keeping a small quantity as prasd. Once the entire juice had slightly fermented and after one or two sips he left it at the Mother's prompting. We conspired to make good use of it as prasd, but Sri Aurobindo got the scent of our secret design and forewarned us! We had to check our temptation.
  One thing that we noticed was that unless the Mother served him in this way, he would lose all distinction between different preparations and would not know which to take first and in which order. Very probably he would have gone half-fed. On one occasion we saw him eating a whole cooked green chilly before we could cry halt! Of course, what was one chilly for him who is said in the old days to have taken a lump of opium with impunity! We have also seen him finishing his meal somehow, if for some reason the Mother could not be present and Champaklal had to serve instead. The story goes that once Mridu's dish went back without being touched by Sri Aurobindo, and she raised a storm. Sri Aurobindo had to quiet her with the plea that the Mother being absent he did not know what he had taken or what he had not. On another occasion Sri Aurobindo's meal being over earlier than usual, Mridu's dish arrived late and was left untouched. As soon as she heard about it she began to wail "like a new-born babe" as if she would bring down the whole Ashram by her lamentations. Dr. Manilal reported the fact to Sri Aurobindo and he asked, "How did she know about it?" I replied apologetically, "I told her." He said softly, "These things should not be said;" then he added with a smile, "but it is I who ought to lament for having missed her fine dish." We all had a good laugh.
  --
  "Did he sleep at night?" was the question very often asked. To all appearance he did sleep and quite sufficiently. The Mother and he always insist on observing normal rules of health. We must eat well and sleep well, So, if there was a physical need for food, there could be a need for sleep as with us, but with a difference. For our sleep is a heavy plunge into inconscience where we forget everything, whereas a Yogi sleeps awake. There is also a state in which the physical body is apparently asleep, while the subtle body goes out visiting various persons in their sleep. The Mother has said that she does most of the subtle work in this way at night. Sri Aurobindo wrote to me, "In former days when she was spending the night in a trance and out working in the Ashram, she brought back with her the knowledge of all that was happening to everybody... I often know from her what has happened before it is reported by anyone."
  This is the overall picture of Sri Aurobindo's outer life as we saw it and lived it together through his last twelve years. The programme remained, on the whole, constant till the end except for some minor variations due to exigencies of circumstances. I have said nothing about his inner life, for I was not given a vision or perception of that vast secret field; nor had I Arjuna's unique privilege of seeing his Vivarpa, except some glimpses of his God-like stature. Sri Aurobindo had reminded me again and again in his letters that my physical crust was too thick. All the same, the joy, peace, light and energy that constantly sustained us could come from his silent Presence alone. People used to remark that we seemed to be beings of another world. Unfortunately, that brightness and felicity gave place to a grave seriousness with the rolling of years and a shadow of gloom was over us all, though we could not account for it at the time. Besides, the dark underside of our human nature, I am talking particularly of myself also began to show its grisly face. "Mortality bears ill the Eternal's touch." Of course, Sri Aurobindo remained samam brahman. Our frailties and shortcomings he had already seen from above, and was prepared for them when he accepted us for his service; he had never shown any annoyance. On the contrary, he forgave us all. Though he was impersonal by nature, hardly looked at us while talking, rarely spoke our name while asking for something, there was an ineffable sweetness in his Presence. And during our pranam on our birthdays or Darshan days, he used to make up for all his want of expression by melting into fatherly or friendly love and affection. He would pat us on the head, press it long with his warm velvety hands and look into our eyes with the tenderness of his sweet personality. Satyendra told me that when on his birthday he used to rub some attar on Sri Aurobindo's hand, he would then put forward the other one. His constant silent love and compassion shine ever bright in the depths of our hearts.

1.03 - The Psychic Prana, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  According to the Yogis, there are two nerve currents in the spinal column, called Pingal and Id, and a hollow canal called Sushumn running through the spinal cord. At the lower end of the hollow canal is what the Yogis call the "Lotus of the Kundalini". They describe it as triangular in form in which, in the symbolical language of the Yogis, there is a power called the Kundalini, coiled up. When that Kundalini awakes, it tries to force a passage through this hollow canal, and as it rises step by step, as it were, layer after layer of the mind becomes open and all the different visions and wonderful powers come to the Yogi. When it reaches the brain, the Yogi is perfectly detached from the body and mind; the soul finds itself free. We know that the spinal cord is composed in a peculiar manner. If we take the figure eight horizontally () there are two parts which are connected in the middle. Suppose you add eight after eight, piled one on top of the other, that will represent the spinal cord. The left is the Ida, the right Pingala, and that hollow canal which runs through the centre of the spinal cord is the Sushumna. Where the spinal cord ends in some of the lumbar vertebrae, a fine fibre issues downwards, and the canal runs up even within that fibre, only much finer. The canal is closed at the lower end, which is situated near what is called the sacral plexus, which, according to modern physiology, is triangular in form. The different plexuses that have their centres in the spinal canal can very well stand for the different "lotuses" of the Yogi.
  The Yogi conceives of several centres, beginning with the Muldhra, the basic, and ending with the Sahasrra, the thousand-petalled Lotus in the brain. So, if we take these different plexuses as representing these lotuses, the idea of the Yogi can be understood very easily in the language of modern physiology. We know there are two sorts of actions in these nerve currents, one afferent, the other efferent; one sensory and the other motor; one centripetal, and the other centrifugal. One carries the sensations to the brain, and the other from the brain to the outer body. These vibrations are all connected with the brain in the long run. Several other facts we have to remember, in order to clear the way for the explanation which is to come. This spinal cord, at the brain, ends in a sort of bulb, in the medulla, which is not attached to the brain, but floats in a fluid in the brain, so that if there be a blow on the head the force of that blow will be dissipated in the fluid, and will not hurt the bulb. This is an important fact to remember. Secondly, we have also to know that, of all the centres, we have particularly to remember three, the Muladhara (the basic), the Sahasrara (the thousand-petalled lotus of the brain) and the Manipura (the lotus of the navel).
  Next we shall take one fact from physics. We all hear of electricity and various other forces connected with it. What electricity is no one knows, but so far as it is known, it is a sort of motion. There are various other motions in the universe; what is the difference between them and electricity? Suppose this table moves that the molecules which compose this table are moving in different directions; if they are all made to move in the same direction, it will be through electricity. Electric motion makes the molecules of a body move in the same direction. If all the air molecules in a room are made to move in the same direction, it will make a gigantic battery of electricity of the room. Another point from physiology we must remember, that the centre which regulates the respiratory system, the breathing system, has a sort of controlling action over the system of nerve currents.
  Now we shall see why breathing is practised. In the first place, from rhythmical breathing comes a tendency of all the molecules in the body to move in the same direction. When mind changes into will, the nerve currents change into a motion similar to electricity, because the nerves have been proved to show polarity under the action of electric currents. This shows that when the will is transformed into the nerve currents, it is changed into something like electricity. When all the motions of the body have become perfectly rhythmical, the body has, as it were, become a gigantic battery of will. This tremendous will is exactly what the Yogi wants. This is, therefore, a physiological explanation of the breathing exercise. It tends to bring a rhythmic action in the body, and helps us, through the respiratory centre, to control the other centres. The aim of Prnyma here is to rouse the coiled-up power in the Muladhara, called the Kundalini.
  Everything that we see, or imagine, or dream, we have to perceive in space. This is the ordinary space, called the Mahksha, or elemental space. When a Yogi reads the thoughts of other men, or perceives supersensuous objects he sees them in another sort of space called the Chittksha, the mental space. When perception has become objectless, and the soul shines in its own nature, it is called the Chidksha, or knowledge space. When the Kundalini is aroused, and enters the canal of the Sushumna, all the perceptions are in the mental space. When it has reached that end of the canal which opens out into the brain, the objectless perception is in the knowledge space. Taking the analogy of electricity, we find that man can send a current only along a wire, (The reader should remember that this was spoken before the discovery of wireless telegraphy. Ed.) but nature requires no wires to send her tremendous currents. This proves that the wire is not really necessary, but that only our inability to dispense with it compels us to use it.
  Similarly, all the sensations and motions of the body are being sent into the brain, and sent out of it, through these wires of nerve fibres. The columns of sensory and motor fibres in the spinal cord are the Ida and Pingala of the Yogis. They are the main channels through which the afferent and efferent currents travel. But why should not the mind send news without any wire, or react without any wire? We see this is done in nature. The Yogi says, if you can do that, you have got rid of the bondage of matter. How to do it? If you can make the current pass through the Sushumna, the canal in the middle of the spinal column, you have solved the problem. The mind has made this network of the nervous system, and has to break it, so that no wires will be required to work through. Then alone will all knowledge come to us no more bondage of body; that is why it is so important that we should get control of that Sushumna. If we can send the mental current through the hollow canal without any nerve fibres to act as wires, the Yogi says, the problem is solved, and he also says it can be done.
  This Sushumna is in ordinary persons closed up at the lower extremity; no action comes through it. The Yogi proposes a practice by which it can be opened, and the nerve currents made to travel through. When a sensation is carried to a centre, the centre reacts. This reaction, in the case of automatic centres, is followed by motion; in the case of conscious centres it is followed first by perception, and secondly by motion. All perception is the reaction to action from outside. How, then, do perceptions in dreams arise? There is then no action from outside. The sensory motions, therefore, are coiled up somewhere. For instance, I see a city; the perception of that city is from the reaction to the sensations brought from outside objects comprising that city. That is to say, a certain motion in the brain molecules has been set up by the motion in the incarrying nerves, which again are set in motion by external objects in the city. Now, even after a long time I can remember the city. This memory is exactly the same phenomenon, only it is in a milder form. But whence is the action that sets up even the milder form of similar vibrations in the brain? Not certainly from the primary sensations. Therefore it must be that the sensations are coiled up somewhere, and they, by their acting, bring out the mild reaction which we call dream perception.
  Now the centre where all these residual sensations are, as it were, stored up, is called the Muladhara, the root receptacle, and the coiled-up energy of action is Kundalini, "the coiled up". It is very probable that the residual motor energy is also stored up in the same centre, as, after deep study or meditation on external objects, the part of the body where the Muladhara centre is situated (probably the sacral plexus) gets heated. Now, if this coiled-up energy be roused and made active, and then consciously made to travel up the Sushumna canal, as it acts upon centre after centre, a tremendous reaction will set in. When a minute portion of energy travels along a nerve fibre and causes reaction from centres, the perception is either dream or imagination. But when by the power of long internal meditation the vast mass of energy stored up travels along the Sushumna, and strikes the centres, the reaction is tremendous, immensely superior to the reaction of dream or imagination, immensely more intense than the reaction of sense-perception. It is super-sensuous perception. And when it reaches the metropolis of all sensations, the brain, the whole brain, as it were, reacts, and the result is the full blaze of illumination, the perception of the Self. As this Kundalini force travels from centre to centre, layer after layer of the mind, as it were, opens up, and this universe is perceived by the Yogi in its fine, or causal form. Then alone the causes of this universe, both as sensation and reaction, are known as they are, and hence comes all knowledge. The causes being known, the knowledge of the effects is sure to follow.
  Thus the rousing of the Kundalini is the one and only way to attaining Divine Wisdom, superconscious perception, realisation of the spirit. The rousing may come in various ways, through love for God, through the mercy of perfected sages, or through the power of the analytic will of the philosopher. Wherever there was any manifestation of what is ordinarily called supernatural power or wisdom, there a little current of Kundalini must have found its way into the Sushumna. Only, in the vast majority of such cases, people had ignorantly stumbled on some practice which set free a minute portion of the coiled-up Kundalini. All worship, consciously or unconsciously, leads to this end. The man who thinks that he is receiving response to his prayers does not know that the fulfilment comes from his own nature, that he has succeeded by the mental attitude of prayer in waking up a bit of this infinite power which is coiled up within himself. What, thus, men ignorantly worship under various names, through fear and tribulation, the Yogi declares to the world to be the real power coiled up in every being, the mother of eternal happiness, if we but know how to approach her. And Rja-Yoga is the science of religion, the rationale of all worship, all prayers, forms, ceremonies, and miracles.

1.03 - VISIT TO VIDYASAGAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  It is She, the scriptures say, that is the Inner Self Of the Yogi, who in Self discovers all his joy; She that, of Her own sweet will, inhabits every living thing.
  The macrocosm and microcosm rest in the Mother's womb; Now do you see how vast it is? In the Muladhara The Yogi meditates on Her, and in the Sahasrara: Who but iva has beheld Her as She really is?
  Within the lotus wilderness She sports beside Her Mate, the Swan.
  --
  And, for that love, the mighty Yogis practise yoga from age to age;
  When love awakes, the Lord, like a magnet, draws to Him the soul.

1.03 - YIBHOOTI PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  bodies again; only when the seeds are, as the Yogi says,
  fried, do they lose the possibility of producing further
  --
  senses, and the Yogi tries to control it, that very control itself
  will be a modification. One wave will be checked by another
  --
  preceding aphorisms were to give the Yogi a voluntary control
  over the transformations of his mind- stuff which alone will
  --
  bring this wave up again, it becomes memory. So, if the Yogi
  can make a Samyama on these past impressions in the mind,
  --
  differentiate him from others; when the Yogi makes a
  Samyama on these signs peculiar to a certain man he knows
  --
  itself. The Yogi would then know everything that is in that
  106
  --
  A Yogi standing in the midst of this room can apparently
  vanish. He does not really vanish, but he will not be seen by
  --
  must remember that this can only be done when the Yogi has
  attained to that power of concentration when form and the
  --
  the signs called Aristha, portents, the Yogis know the
  exact time of separation from their bodies.
  When the Yogi makes a Samyama on his own Karma, upon
  those impressions in his mind which are now working, and
  --
  etc., that strength comes to the Yogi.
  When a Yogi has attained to this Samyama and wants strength,
  he makes a Samyama on the strength of the elephant, and gets
  --
  knows how to get it. The Yogi has discovered the science of
  getting it.
  --
  When the Yogi makes Samyama on that effulgent light in the
  heart he sees things which are very remote, things, for
  --
  the Yogi concentrates his mind on the sop of his head he will
  see these Siddhas. The word Siddha does not refer to those
  --
  the Yogi the enlightenment called Pratibha.
  37. cTcT:
  --
  If the Yogi knows all these enjoyments of the world it comes
  by the junction of the PuruSa and the mind. If he wants to
  --
  these are, as it were, to be met in the way, and if the Yogi
  rejects them, he attains the highest. If he is tempted to acquire
  --
  The Yogi can enter a dead body, and make it get up and move,
  even while he himself is working in another body. Or he can
  --
  man. That is done by the Yogi coming to this discrimination of
  PuruSa and nature. If he wants to enter anothers body he
  --
  the Yogi. It is one bit of the universal mind. Now, however, it
  can only work through the nerve currents in this body, but
  when the Yogi has loosened himself from these nerve
  currents, he will be able to work through other things.
  --
  By conquering the current called Udana the Yogi
  does not sink in water, or in swamps, and he can walk
  --
  making Sarny ama on them the Yogi gets divine hearing; he
  hears everything. Anything spoken or sounded miles away he
  --
  Akasa and the body the Yogi becoming light as cotton
  wool goes through the skies.
  --
  certain form that has become the body. If the Yogi makes
  Samyama on this Akasa material of his body, it acquires the
  --
  There is no reason why I should. The Yogi wants to feel the
  Ego wherever he likes. When he has succeeded in that all
  --
  The Yogi make Samyama on the elements, first on the gross,
  and then on the finer states. This Samyama is taken up more
  --
  So with all the elements, the Yogi can conquer them all.
  tatoanimadipradurbhavah kayasanpat
  --
  This means that the Yogi has attained the eight powers. He can
  116
  --
  Nothing can injure it. Nothing can destroy it until the Yogi
  wishes. Breaking the rod of time he lives in this universe
  --
  knowledge and egoism. When the Yogi makes Samyama on
  these by gradation he conquers the organs. Take up anything
  --
  indestructible, pure and perfect, when the Yogi has realised
  this, then comes omnipotence and omniscience.
  --
  the temptations from celestial beings. When the Yogi has seen
  all these wonderful powers, and rejected them, he reaches the
  --
  The Yogi should not feel allured or flattered by the
  overtures of celestial beings, for fear of evil again.
  --
  tempt the Yogi. They do not want anyone to be perfectly free.
  They are jealous, just as we are, and worse than we
  --
  Those Yogis who do not reach perfection die and become
  gods; leaving the direct road they go into one of the side
  --
  highest philosophy of the Yogi is based upon this fact, that the
  PuruSa is pure and perfect, and is the only simple that
  --
  Saving, because the knowledge takes the Yogi across the
  ocean of birth and death. The whole of Prakriti in all its states,

1.040 - Re-Educating the Mind, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  We have a subtle distractedness in our mind on account of the presence of an absence of friendliness with things. This will cut at the root of all the Yogic practice, because yoga is the attempt to contact Ultimate Reality. It is not a mere social contact that we are trying here, but a contact of utter being the basic reality that is in everything. So there is a requisition for a complete transformation of our personality, inwardly as well as outwardly, even on the unconscious level not merely outwardly so that we get attuned to the structure of anything and everything in the world, under every condition.
  There is nothing personal in us, if we become genuine seekers of Truth. We become like crystal, as the Samkhya philosophers would say, which has no colour of its own and appears to have a colour of everything that comes near it. Everything is okay. There is nothing wrong, erroneous, ugly or unwanted in this world from the point of view of the strange harmony that exists among things at the core. Ultimately, everything is harmonious. That is the meaning of the universe or cosmos. The moment we touch this secret of things by the practice of concentration of mind, we invoke the harmony that is at the back of all things. And harmony is nothing but the attunement of things with one another and the basic relatedness of things, rather than the so-called irreconcilability that is visible outside. The moment the mind concentrates on this fact, bereft of all inward distractions and tensions, there is an automatic summoning of the essential nature of things outside, and they come to us instead of getting repelled.

1.04 - ADVICE TO HOUSEHOLDERS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "Woman and gold" is the obstruction to yoga "Some are born with the characteristics of the Yogi; but they too should be careful. It is 'woman and gold' alone that is the obstacle; it makes them deviate from the path of yoga and drags them into worldliness. Perhaps they have some desire for enjoyment.
  After fulfilling their desire, they again direct their minds to God and thus recover their former state of mind, fit for the practise of yoga.
  --
  MASTER (to M.): "The mind of the Yogi is always fixed on God, always absorbed in the Self. You can recognize such a man by merely looking at him. His eyes are wide open, with an aimless look, like the eyes of the mother bird hatching her eggs. Her entire mind is fixed on the eggs, and there is a vacant look in her eyes. Can you show me such a picture?"
  M: "I shall try to get one."
  --
  The soft spring wind of the New Day raises fresh waves of joy; Gently it carries to the earth the fragrance of God's Love, Till all the Yogis, drunk with bliss, are lost in ecstasy.
  Upon the sea of the world unfolds the lotus of the New Day, And there the Mother sits enshrined in blissful majesty.
  --
  Everything is possible for Him. There lived at a certain place two Yogis who were practising spiritual discipline. The sage Narada was passing that way one day. Realizing who he was, one of the Yogis said: 'You have just come from God Himself. What is He doing now?' Narada replied, 'Why, I saw Him making camels and elephants pass and repass through the eye of a needle.' At this the Yogi said: 'Is that anything to wonder at?
  Everything is possible for God.' But the other Yogi said: 'What? Making elephants pass through the eye of a needle - is that ever possible? You have never been to the Lord's dwelling-place.' "
  At nine o'clock in the morning, while the Master was still sitting in his room, Manomohan arrived from Konnagar with some members of his family.
  --
  MASTER: "There are two classes of. Yogis: the bahudakas and the kutichakas. The bahudakas roam about visiting various holy places and have not yet found peace of mind. But the kutichakas, having visited all the sacred places, have quieted their minds. Feeling serene and peaceful, they settle down in one place and no longer move about. In that one place they are happy; they don't feel the need of going to any sacred place. If one of them ever visits a place of pilgrimage, it is only for the purpose of new inspiration.
  "I had to practise each religion for a time - Hinduism, Islam, Christianity. Furthermore, I followed the paths of the Saktas, Vaishnavas, and Vedantists. I realized that there is only one God toward whom all are travelling; but the paths are different.

1.04 - GOD IN THE WORLD, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  What is meant by the Dhyana practised by the ignorant? It is the one resorted to by the Yogins who exercise themselves in the disciplines of Sravakas and Pratyekabuddhas (contemplatives and solitary Buddhas of the Hinayana school), who perceiving that there is no ego substance, that the body is a shadow and a skeleton which is transient, impure and full of suffering, persistently cling to these notions, which are regarded as just so and not otherwise, and who, starting from them, advance by stages until they reach the cessation, where there are no thoughts. This is called the Dhyana practised by the ignorant.
  What then is the Dhyana devoted to the examination of meaning? It is the one practised by those who, having gone beyond the egolessness of things, beyond individuality and generality, beyond the untenability of such ideas as self, other and both, which are held by the philosophers, proceed to examine and follow up the meaning of the various aspects of Bodhisattvahood. This is the Dhyana devoted to the examination of meaning.
  What is the Dhyana with Ta thata (or Suchness) as its object? When the Yogin recognizes that the discrimination of the two forms of egolessness is mere imagination and that where he establishes himself in the reality of Suchness there is no rising of discriminationthis I call the Dhyana with Suchness for its object.
  What is the Dhyana of the Tathagata? When the Yogin, entering upon the stage of Tathagatahood and abiding in the triple bliss characterizing self-realization attained by noble wisdom, devotes himself for the sake of all beings to the accomplishment of incomprehensible worksthis I call the Dhyana of the Tathagata.
  Lankavatara Sutra

1.04 - KAI VALYA PADA, #Patanjali Yoga Sutras, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  The Yogis claim that these powers can be gained by chemical
  means. All of you know that chemistry originally began as
  --
  Certain sects of Yogis claim that many of their principal
  teachers are still living in their old bodies. Patanjali, the great
  --
  To-day the evolution theories of the Yogis will be better
  understood in the light of modern research. And yet the theory
  of the Yogis is a better explanation. The two causes of
  evolution advanced by the moderns, viz., sexual selection and
  --
  the Yogi will be manufactured. Therefore, when the Yogi has
  found the secret of these energies of nautre he can
  --
  karmashuklakrishnnam Yoginah trividham itaresham
  Works are neither black nor white for the Yogis', for
  others they are threefold, black, white, and mixed.
  When the Yogi has attained to that state of perfection, the
  actions of that man, and the Karma produced by those actions,
  --
  Through discrimination the Yogi knows that the PuruSa is not
  mind.
  --
  When the Yogi has attained to this discrimination, all these
  powers will come that were mentioned in the last chapter, but
  the true Yogi rejects them all. Unto him comes a peculiar
  knowledge, a particular light called the Dharma Megha, the
  --
  of falling, nothing can drag the Yogi down. No more will there
  be evils for him. No more pains.

1.04 - Narayana appearance, in the beginning of the Kalpa, as the Varaha (boar), #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  Nārāyaṇa's appearance, in the beginning of the Kalpa, as the Varṣa or boar: Prithivī (Earth) addresses him: he raises the world from beneath the waters: hymned by Sanandana and the Yogis. The earth floats on the ocean: divided into seven zones. The lower spheres of the universe restored. Creation renewed.
  Maitreya said:-
  --
  The Yogis.-Triumph, lord of lords supreme; Keśava, sovereign of the earth, the wielder of the mace, the shell, the discus, and the sword: cause of production, destruction, and existence. THOU ART, oh god: there is no other supreme condition, but thou. Thou, lord, art the person of sacrifice: for thy feet are the Vedas; thy tusks are the stake to which the victim is bound; in thy teeth are the offerings; thy mouth is the altar; thy tongue is the fire; and the hairs of thy body are the sacrificial grass. Thine eyes, oh omnipotent, are day and night; thy head is the seat of all, the place of Brahma; thy mane is all the hymns of the Vedas; thy nostrils are all oblations: oh thou, whose snout is the ladle of oblation; whose deep voice is the chanting of the Sāma veda; whose body is the hall of sacrifice; whose joints are the different ceremonies; and whose ears have the properties of both voluntary and obligatory rites[7]: do thou, who art eternal, who art in size a mountain, be propitious. We acknowledge thee, who hast traversed the world, oh universal form, to be the beginning, the continuance, and the destruction of all things: thou art the supreme god. Have pity on us, oh lord of conscious and unconscious beings. The orb of the earth is seen seated on the tip of thy tusks, as if thou hadst been sporting amidst a lake where the lotus floats, and hadst borne away the leaves covered with soil. The space between heaven and earth is occupied by thy body, oh thou of unequalled glory, resplendent with the power of pervading the universe, oh lord, for the benefit of all. Thou art the aim of all: there is none other than thee, sovereign of the world: this is thy might, by which all things, fixed or movable, are pervaded. This form, which is now beheld, is thy form, as one essentially with wisdom. Those who have not practised devotion, conceive erroneously of the nature of the world. The ignorant, who do not perceive that this universe is of the nature of wisdom, and judge of it as an object of perception only, are lost in the ocean of spiritual ignorance. But they who know true wisdom, and whose minds are pure, behold this whole world as one with divine knowledge, as one with thee, oh god. Be favourable, oh universal spirit: raise up this earth, for the habitation of created beings. Inscrutable deity, whose eyes are like lotuses, give us felicity. Oh lord, thou art endowed with the quality of goodness: raise up, Govinda, this earth, for the general good. Grant us happiness, oh lotus-eyed. May this, thy activity in creation, be beneficial to the earth. Salutation to thee. Grant us happiness, oh lotus-eyed. arāśara said:-
  The supreme being thus eulogized, upholding the earth, raised it quickly, and placed it on the summit of the ocean, where it floats like a mighty vessel, and from its expansive surface does not sink beneath the waters. Then, having levelled the earth, the great eternal deity divided it into portions, by mountains: he who never wills in vain, created, by his irresistible power, those mountains again upon the earth which had been consumed at the destruction of the world. Having then divided the earth into seven great portions or continents, as it was before, he constructed in like manner the four (lower) spheres, earth, sky, heaven, and the sphere of the sages (Maharloka). Thus Hari, the four-faced god, invested with the quality of activity, and taking the form of Brahmā, accomplished the creation: but he (Brahmā) is only the instrumental cause of things to be created; the things that are capable of being created arise from nature as a common material cause: with exception of one instrumental cause alone, there is no need of any other cause, for (imperceptible) substance becomes perceptible substance according to the powers with which it is originally imbued[8].

1.04 - Religion and Occultism, #Words Of The Mother III, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  Only a great Yogi can tell you your future correctly. But even then there is the Supreme Will which alone controls and decides everything.
  8 September 1961

1.04 - Te Shan Carrying His Bundle, #The Blue Cliff Records, #Yuanwu Keqin, #Zen
  complished Yogi is not subject to cause and effect. However, like
  all'turning words,' this expression also has a positive side, mean

1.04 - The Control of Psychic Prana, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  We have now to deal with the exercises in Prnyma. We have seen that the first step, according to the Yogis, is to control the motion of the lungs. What we want to do is to feel the finer motions that are going on in the body. Our minds have become externalised, and have lost sight of the fine motions inside. If we can begin to feel them, we can begin to control them. These nerve currents go on all over the body, bringing life and vitality to every muscle, but we do not feel them. The Yogi says we can learn to do so. How? By taking up and controlling the motion of the lungs; when we have done that for a sufficient length of time, we shall be able to control the finer motions.
  We now come to the exercises in Pranayama. Sit upright; the body must be kept straight. The spinal cord, although not attached to the vertebral column, is yet inside of it. If you sit crookedly you disturb this spinal cord, so let it be free. Any time that you sit crookedly and try to meditate you do yourself an injury. The three parts of the body, the chest, the neck, and the head, must be always held straight in one line. You will find that by a little practice this will come to you as easy as breathing. The second thing is to get control of the nerves. We have said that the nerve centre that controls the respiratory organs has a sort of controlling effect on the other nerves, and rhythmical breathing is, therefore, necessary. The breathing that we generally use should not be called breathing at all. It is very irregular. Then there are some natural differences of breathing between men and women.
  --
  The first effect of this practice is perceived in the change of expression of one's face; harsh lines disappear; with calm thought calmness comes over the face. Next comes beautiful voice. I never saw a Yogi with a croaking voice. These signs come after a few months' practice. After practicing the above mentioned breathing for a few days, you should take up a higher one. Slowly fill the lungs with breath through the Id, the left nostril, and at the same time concentrate the mind on the nerve current. You are, as it were, sending the nerve current down the spinal column, and striking violently on the last plexus, the basic lotus which is triangular in form, the seat of the Kundalini. Then hold the current there for some time. Imagine that you are slowly drawing that nerve current with the breath through the other side, the Pingal, then slowly throw it out through the right nostril. This you will find a little difficult to practice. The easiest way is to stop the right nostril with the thumb, and then slowly draw in the breath through the left; then close both nostrils with thumb and forefinger, and imagine that you are sending that current down, and striking the base of the Sushumn; then take the thumb off, and let the breath out through the right nostril. Next inhale slowly through that nostril, keeping the other closed by the forefinger, then close both, as before. The way the Hindus practice this would be very difficult for this country, because they do it from their childhood, and their lungs are prepared for it. Here it is well to begin with four seconds, and slowly increase. Draw in four seconds, hold in sixteen seconds, then throw out in eight seconds. This makes one Pranayama. At the same time think of the basic lotus, triangular in form; concentrate the mind on that centre. The imagination can help you a great deal. The next breathing is slowly drawing the breath in, and then immediately throwing it out slowly, and then stopping the breath out, using the same numbers. The only difference is that in the first case the breath was held in, and in the second, held out. This last is the easier one. The breathing in which you hold the breath in the lungs must not be practiced too much. Do it only four times in the morning, and four times in the evening. Then you can slowly increase the time and number. You will find that you have the power to do so, and that you take pleasure in it. So very carefully and cautiously increase as you feel that you have the power, to six instead of four. It may injure you if you practice it irregularly.
  Of the three processes for the purification of the nerves, described above, the first and the last are neither difficult nor dangerous. The more you practice the first one the calmer you will be. Just think of "Om," and you can practice even while you are sitting at your work. You will be all the better for it. Some day, if you practice hard, the Kundalini will be aroused. For those who practice once or twice a day, just a little calmness of the body and mind will come, and beautiful voice; only for those who can go on further with it will Kundalini be aroused, and the whole of nature will begin to change, and the book of knowledge will open. No more will you need to go to books for knowledge; your own mind will have become your book, containing infinite knowledge. I have already spoken of the Ida and Pingala currents, flowing through either side of the spinal column, and also of the Sushumna, the passage through the centre of the spinal cord. These three are present in every animal; whatever being has a spinal column has these three lines of action. But the Yogis claim that in an ordinary man the Sushumna is closed; its action is not evident while that of the other two is carrying power to different parts of the body.
  The Yogi alone has the Sushumna open. When this Sushumna current opens, and begins to rise, we get beyond the sense, our minds become supersensuous, superconscious we get beyond even the intellect, where reasoning cannot reach. To open that Sushumna is the prime object of the Yogi. According to him, along this Sushumna are ranged these centres, or, in more figurative language, these lotuses, as they are called. The lowest one is at the lower end of the spinal cord, and is called Muldhra, the next higher is called Svdhishthna, the third Manipura, the fourth Anhata, the fifth Vishuddha, the sixth jn and the last, which is in the brain, is the Sahasrra, or "the thousand-petalled". Of these we have to take cognition just now of two centres only, the lowest, the Muladhara, and the highest, the Sahasrara. All energy has to be taken up from its seat in the Muladhara and brought to the Sahasrara. The Yogis claim that of all the energies that are in the human body the highest is what they call "Ojas". Now this Ojas is stored up in the brain, and the more Ojas is in a man's head, the more powerful he is, the more intellectual, the more spiritually strong. One man may speak beautiful language and beautiful thoughts, but they, do not impress people; another man speaks neither beautiful language nor beautiful thoughts, yet his words charm. Every movement of his is powerful. That is the power of Ojas.
  Now in every man there is more or less of this Ojas stored up. All the forces that are working in the body in their highest become Ojas. You must remember that it is only a question of transformation. The same force which is working outside as electricity or magnetism will become changed into inner force; the same forces that are working as muscular energy will be changed into Ojas. The Yogis say that that part of the human energy which is expressed as sex energy, in sexual thought, when checked and controlled, easily becomes changed into Ojas, and as the Muladhara guides these, the Yogi pays particular attention to that centre. He tries to take up all his sexual energy and convert it into Ojas. It is only the chaste man or woman who can make the Ojas rise and store it in the brain; that is why chastity has always been considered the highest virtue. A man feels that if he is unchaste, spirituality goes away, he loses mental vigour and moral stamina. That is why in all the religious orders in the world which have produced spiritual giants you will always find absolute chastity insisted upon. That is why the monks came into existence, giving up marriage. There must be perfect chastity in thought, word, and deed; without it the practice of Raja-Yoga is dangerous, and may lead to insanity. If people practice Raja-Yoga and at the same time lead an impure life, how can they expect to become Yogis?

1.04 - The Divine Mother - This Is She, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  Now we come to a different field of activity altogether, one whose place in Yoga will be strongly challenged, especially when the Mother herself used it as a means of sadhana: her playing tennis. I won't discuss the issue, for the quotation cited above gives the answer. Before she started playing tennis the Mother joined our young group in playing table-tennis. When a young boy asked her if he could install a table in his house for the game, the Mother replied, "Why not at Nanteuil?[4] then I can come and play too." He was much surprised and delighted at the divine proposal! She must have found it a good light exercise as well as an admirable means of contact with the young set which was gradually increasing; it was perhaps also her Yogic means of action upon them. After a year or so the Mother decided to have a tennis court. She might have felt that she needed some more brisk exercise in the open air. She often talked of her project to Sri Aurobindo. One day we heard that the entire wasteland along the north-eastern seaside was taken on a long lease from the Government and a part of it would be made into tennis courts and the rest into a playground. One cannot imagine now what this place was like before. It was one of the filthiest spots of Pondicherry, full of thistles and wild undergrowth, an open place for committing nuisance as well as a pasture for pigs! The stink and the loathsome sight made the place a Stygian sore and a black spot on the colonial Government. The Mother changed this savage wasteland into a heavenly playground, almost a supramental transformation of Matter. The sea-front was clothed in a vision of beauty and delight. If for nothing else, for this transformation at least, Pondicherry should be eternally grateful to the Mother. But who remembers the past? Gratitude is a rare human virtue. I was particularly very happy, first, because I was fond of tennis; secondly, I fancied that Yoga would be now made easy. Who could ever think of tennis in Yoga! But woe to me, how it completely upset my balance!
  All this, however, is by the way. My point was to demonstrate the Mother's method of working. As soon as the plot was acquired, she went about the work in her usual one-pointed manner. And what a job it was! To build a long rampart against the surges of the sea was itself a gigantic enterprise for a private institution like our Ashram without any income of its own. But I shall confine myself to the construction of the tennis courts only. She did not count the expense; men and money were freely employed, for the courts had to be made ready within a minimum period of time. We have observed that when the Mother feels the need for a work to be done, she goes ahead, confident that the required resources will come. In the present case, there was also the question of the right worker to see the project through. The Mother said to Sri Aurobindo, "I know there is one man who can do it." It was Monoranjan Ganguli, a sadhak. I saw him at this work and was really amazed at his wonderful devotion to the Mother, his determination to fulfil the trust she had placed in him. He supervised the operation with unfailing love and duty and cool temper, making the tennis ground his home and passing many sleepless nights sitting on a stool. When I asked him why he should be in such a hurry, he replied, "Mother wants it so. I must finish it within the appointed time." "Is it possible? Only a few days are left!" I voiced my doubt. "Oh, I must!" and he did. A singular feat indeed, and again the Mother's right choice.
  --
  Now to finish the medical story with one or two positive examples. A striking case of cure by the Yogic force was that of Champaklal's. He had corneal ulcer and iritis. I took him to the local eye-specialist who advised him complete rest. He was obliged to stop his service of the Master, a blow much more painful to him than the illness. Awfully dejected, he passed his days in an inert resignation in bed showing no sign of improvement. The Mother and Sri Aurobindo would listen quietly to my report till one day the Mother paid him a visit. On her return, she told Sri Aurobindo, "The case is serious; he must not remain in bed one moment longer; he should resume work." I was speechless. I could not make out on what ground she made that observation. Subjective or objective? I knew of course from my previous medical experience that she sees beyond our sight. The bandage was removed and he rejoined work. Curiously enough, he became all right in two or three days without any treatment whatsoever. Apart from the Divine Force, the psychological factor, the sense of active physical nearness to Sri Aurobindo, must have counted a lot.
  It will not be out of place to mention a minor instance of Yogic cure in my own case. While in actual attendance on Sri Aurobindo, I was gripped by a sudden violent colic pain. I had to leave the work and lie down. Sri Aurobindo was informed about it. I was simply tossing on the floor when suddenly I heard a voice within me, "Keep absolutely quiet." Straining all my will, I lay stiff on my back in a board-like rigidity. Insusceptibly sleep came, as if I had been given a morphia injection and I woke up in a normal state.
  We have seen cases in which the lack of proper psychological conditions prevented the effective intervention by the Divine Force. Now I shall cite a serious case where, Sri Aurobindo himself declared, the divine intervention had its full effect.
  --
  There were two small occasions when I attended on the Mother. Usually, she was not in the habit of consulting doctors. Her doctor was Sri Aurobindo. But once when her hand had swollen for no apparent reason, Sri Aurobindo asked me to have a look at it. I examined it in his presence with a certain amount of shy hesitation. Here lay the difference between myself and Dr. Manilal. He would have done the job in quite a business-like manner. The case was simple, however, and got cured with hot fomentation. The next occasion was when she was having much pain in the ear, perhaps from an insect bite. Sri Aurobindo asked if I could do something. I examined the ear and found a tiny spot of haemorrhage inside. The Mother inquired if the insect was still there. I said no, but when I suggested some ear-drops for the pain, she replied, "No, no medicine for me!" Medicines were an anathema to both the Mother and Sri Aurobindo. Throughout their long Yogic life they cured all their own ailments by applying the Force. Medicines were accepted only during the later stage of Sri Aurobindo's last illness and in the recent illness of the Mother. There were special reasons for this. I have given some of them in Sri Aurobindo's case in the chapter 'God Departs'.
  Sri Aurobindo wrote to me about the action of medicine on the Mother's body: "Medicines have quite a different action on the Mother's body than they would have on yours or X's or anybody else's and the reaction is not usually favourable. Her physical consciousness is not the same as that of ordinary people though even in ordinary people it is not so identical in all cases as 'science' would have us believe."
  Now I shall pass on to another field of the Mother's activity which can be called Yogic, though it would not be quite the right term to use. For, according to the Mother there is no Yogic or un Yogic activity, all life is Yoga. This does not mean, as is frequently misinterpreted, that everything can pass as Yogic. It refers to the fact that the whole of Nature's evolution is secretly a slow and gradual preparation for the spiritual life. Thus every earthly activity has a divine purpose behind it. So the Mother and Sri Aurobindo accept the whole field of Nature as the field of Yoga, but they aim at transforming life's common movement, rejecting the ignorant turn it mostly takes and bringing out the divine truth which is secret within it. To achieve this, they want us always to be in the spiritual consciousness so that whatever life-activity is accepted becomes a part of Yoga and undergoes transformation. I have said that Sri Aurobindo's accident had upset all her previous programme: Pranam, interviews and meditation had to be given up or suspended for a time. It was almost a break with the past. And with the arrival of the children and their parents, our way of life also had to undergo a considerable change. The old things came back, but in a new form. No more seven-or-eight-hour Darshans, two or three hour Pranams, evening meditations, etc. Now, for instance, for Pranam, the Mother used to come and stand at the top of the main staircase at about 10.00 a.m. and a whole crowd would go up to her, the ceremony lasting for nearly two or three hours, the Mother remaining on her feet all the time! From Sri Aurobindo's room we used to hear people holding long talks with her on personal or departmental matters. The Mother would be quite oblivious of time and space or of persons. She would go on hearing the various complaints, reports and sometimes discussing some points, no matter for how long, while the queue behind would wait and wait jammed on the narrow and packed staircase. This was, as I have pointed out, her method of working, one-pointed concentration. The business in hand must be first attended to. We have seen this characteristic of hers in many instances. During Christmas, it was her custom to send 'baskets' to the European and American inmates, out of consideration for their national sentiments, I suppose. On its eve she would sit down in a chair or on a low stool and with the help of some sadhikas arrange each basket, consider each individual's taste, necessity, fancy, giving cheese, chocolate, fruits, etc., etc. while time would stop flowing for her. We were waiting in Sri Aurobindo's room for his meal, but we knew and would joke with one another that the Mother was in her element, for though Divine, her human motherly instinct could not be forgotten.
  After the Pranam was over actually there was no pranam, for people would receive only a flower and could talk to her of their need, then at about 1.00 p.m. she would hold a class in the Darshan hall, in the form of questions and answers, somewhat on the lines of Sri Aurobindo's talks with us, very probably inspired by them. But only those who knew French were allowed to attend it, questions and answers being conducted in French. Here again exceptions were made afterwards. Some people who did not know French attended and asked questions in English. I too was very keen on attending it, partly because we had no work at that time. It was Sri Aurobindo's silent period, to be broken only when the Mother brought his food after the talks. I managed to write a few lines in French asking her permission. She read the note before Sri Aurobindo and said smiling, "He wants to show his knowledge of French!"

1.04 - The Gods of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The immediate or at any rate the earliest known successors of the Rishis, the compilers of the Brahmanas, the writers of theUpanishads give a clear & definite answer to this question.The Upanishads everywhere rest their highly spiritual & deeply mystic doctrines on the Veda.We read in the Isha Upanishad of Surya as the Sun God, but it is the Sun of spiritual illumination, of Agni as the Fire, but it is the inner fire that burns up all sin & crookedness. In the Kena Indra, Agni & Vayu seek to know the supreme Brahman and their greatness is estimated by the nearness with which they touched him,nedistham pasparsha. Uma the daughter of Himavan, the Woman, who reveals the truth to them is clearly enough no natural phenomenon. In the Brihadaranyaka, the most profound, subtle & mystical of human scriptures, the gods & Titans are the masters, respectively, of good and of evil. In the Upanishads generally the word devah is used as almost synonymous with the forces & functions of sense, mind & intellect. The element of symbolism is equally clear. To the terms of the Vedic ritual, to their very syllables a profound significance is everywhere attached; several incidents related in the Upanishads show the deep sense then & before entertained that the sacrifices had a spiritual meaning which must be known if they were to be conducted with full profit or even with perfect safety. The Brahmanas everywhere are at pains to bring out a minute symbolism in the least circumstances of the ritual, in the clarified butter, the sacred grass, the dish, the ladle. Moreover, we see even in the earliest Upanishads already developed the firm outlines and minute details of an extraordinary psychology, physics, cosmology which demand an ancient development and centuries of Yogic practice and mystic speculation to account for their perfect form & clearness. This psychology, this physics, this cosmology persist almost unchanged through the whole history of Hinduism. We meet them in the Puranas; they are the foundation of the Tantra; they are still obscurely practised in various systems of Yoga. And throughout, they have rested on a declared Vedic foundation. The Pranava, the Gayatri, the three Vyahritis, the five sheaths, the five (or seven) psychological strata, (bhumi, kshiti of the Vedas), the worlds that await us, the gods who help & the demons who hinder go back to Vedic origins.All this may be a later mystic misconception of the hymns & their ritual, but the other hypothesis of direct & genuine derivation is also possible. If there was no common origin, if Greek & Indian separated during the naturalistic period of the common religion supposed to be recorded in the Vedas it is surprising that even the little we know of Greek rites & mysteries should show us ideas coincident with those of Indian Tantra & Yoga.
  When we go back to the Veda itself, we find in the hymns which are to us most easily intelligible by the modernity of their language, similar & decisive indications. The moralistic conception of Varuna, for example, is admitted even by the Europeans. We even find the sense of sin, usually supposed to be an advanced religious conception, much more profoundly developed in prehistoric India than it was in any other old Aryan nation even in historic times. Surely, this is in itself a significant indication. Surely, this conception cannot have become so clear & strong without a previous history in the earlier hymns. Nor is it psychologically possible that a cult capable of so advanced an idea, should have been ignorant of all other moral & intellectual conceptions reverencing only natural forces & seeking only material ends. Neither can there have been a sudden leap filled up only by a very doubtful henotheism, a huge hiatus between the naturalism of early Veda and the transcendentalism of the Vedic Brahmavada admittedly present in the later hymns. The European interpretation in the face of such conflicting facts threatens to become a brilliant but shapeless monstrosity. And is there no symbolism in the details of the Vedic sacrifice? It seems to me that the peculiar language of the Veda has never been properly studied or appreciated in this connection. What are we to say of the Vedic anxiety to increase Indra by the Soma wine? Of the description of Soma as the amritam, the wine of immortality, & of its forces as the indavah or moon powers? Of the constant sense of the attacks delivered by the powers of evil on the sacrifice? Of the extraordinary powers already attri buted to the mantra & the sacrifice? Have the neshtram potram, hotram of the Veda no symbolic significance? Is there no reason for the multiplication of functions at the sacrifice or for the subtle distinctions between Gayatrins, Arkins, Brahmas? These are questions that demand a careful consideration which has never yet been given for the problems they raise.
  --
  But we have first one more step in our evidence to notice,the final & conclusive link. In the Taittiriya Upanishad we are told that there are three vyahritis, Bhur, Bhuvar, Swar, but the Rishi Mahachamasya insisted on a fourth, Mahas. What is this fourth vyahriti? It is evidently some old Vedic idea and can hardly fail to be our maho arnas. I have already, in my introduction, outlined briefly the Vedic, Vedantic & Puranic system of the seven worlds and the five bodies. In this system the three vyahritis constitute the lower half of existence which is in bondage to Avidya. Bhurloka is the material world, our dwelling place, in which Annam predominates, in which everything is subject to or limited by the laws of matter & material consciousness. Bhuvar are the middle worlds, antariksha, between Swar & Bhur, vital worlds in which Prana, the vital principle predominates and everything is subject to or limited by the laws of vitality & vital consciousness. Swarloka is the supreme world of the triple system, the pure mental kingdom in which manasei ther in itself or, as one goes higher, uplifted & enlightened by buddhipredominates & by the laws of mind determines the life & movements of the existences which inhabit it. The three Puranic worlds Jana, Tapas, Satya,not unknown to the Vedaconstitute the Parardha; they are the higher ranges of existence in which Sat, Chit, Ananda, the three mighty elements of the divine nature predominate respectively, creative Ananda or divine bliss in Jana, the power of Chit (Chich-chhakti) or divine Energy in Tapas, the extension [of] Sat or divine being in Satya. But these worlds are hidden from us, avyaktalost for us in the sushupti to which only great Yogins easily attain & only with the Anandaloka have we by means of the anandakosha some difficult chance of direct access. We are too joyless to bear the surging waves of that divine bliss, too weak or limited to move in those higher ranges of divine strength & being. Between the upper hemisphere & the lower is Maharloka, the seat of ideal knowledge & pure Truth, which links the free spirits to the bound, the gods who deliver to the gods who are in chains, the wide & immutable realms to these petty provinces where all shifts, all passes, all changes. We see therefore that Mahas is still vijnanam and we can no longer hesitate to identify our subjective principle of mahas, source of truth & right thinking awakened by Saraswati through the perceptive intelligence, with the Vedantic principle of vijnana or pure buddhi, instrument of pure Truth & ideal knowledge.
  We do not find that the Rishi Mahachamasya succeeded in getting his fourth vyahriti accepted by the great body of Vedantic thinkers. With a little reflection we can see the reason why. The vijnana or mahat is superior to reasoning. It sees and knows, hears and knows, remembers & knows by the ideal principles of drishti, sruti and smriti; it does not reason and know.Or withdrawing into the Mahan Atma, it is what it exercises itself upon and therefore knowsas it were, by conscious identity; for that is the nature of the Mahan Atma to be everything separately and collectively & know it as an object of his Knowledge and yet as himself. Always vijnana knows things in the whole & therefore in the part, in the mass & therefore in the particular. But when ideal knowledge, vijnana, looks out on the phenomenal world in its separate details, it then acquires an ambiguous nature. So long as it is not assailed by mind, it is still the pure buddhi and free from liability to errors. The pure buddhi may assign its reasons, but it knows first & reasons afterwards,to explain, not to justify. Assailed by mind, the ideal buddhi ceases to be pure, ceases to be ideal, becomes sensational, emotional, is obliged to found itself on data, ends not in knowledge but in opinion and is obliged to hold doubt with one hand even while it tries to grasp certainty by the other. For it is the nature of mind to be shackled & frightened by its data. It looks at things as entirely outside itself, separate from itself and it approaches them one by one, groups them & thus arrives at knowledge by synthesis; or if [it] looks at things in the mass, it has to appreciate them vaguely and then take its parts and qualities one by one, arriving at knowledge by a process of analysis. But it cannot be sure that the knowledge it acquires, is pure truth; it can never be safe against mixture of truth & error, against one-sided knowledge which leads to serious misconception, against its own sensations, passions, prejudices and false associations. Such truth as it gets can only be correct even so far as it goes, if all the essential data have been collected and scrupulously weighed without any false weights or any unconscious or semi-conscious interference with the balance. A difficult undertaking! So we can form reliable conclusions, and then too always with some reserve of doubt,about the past & the present.Of the future the mind can know nothing except in eternally fixed movements, for it has no data. We try to read the future from the past & present and make the most colossal blunders. The practical man of action who follows there his will, his intuition & his instinct, is far more likely to be correct than the scientific reasoner. Moreover, the mind has to rely for its data on the outer senses or on its own inner sensations & perceptions & it can never be sure that these are informing it correctly or are, even, in their nature anything but lying instruments. Therefore we say we know the objective world on the strength of a perpetual hypothesis. The subjective world we know only as in a dream, sure only of our own inner movements & the little we can learn from them about others, but there too sure only of this objective world & end always in conflict of transitory opinions, a doubt, a perhaps. Yet sure knowledge, indubitable Truth, the Vedic thinkers have held, is not only possible to mankind, but is the goal of our journey. Satyam eva jayate nanritam satyena pantha vitato devayanah yenakramantyrishayo hyaptakama yatra tat satyasya paramam nidhanam. Truth conquers and not falsehood, by truth the path has been extended which the gods follow, by which sages attaining all their desire arrive where is that Supreme Abode of Truth. The very eagerness of man for Truth, his untameable yearning towards an infinite reality, an infinite extension of knowledge, the fact that he has the conception of a fixed & firm truth, nay the very fact that error is possible & persistent, mare indications that pure Truth exists.We follow no chimaera as a supreme good, nor do the Powers of Darkness fight against a mere shadow. The ideal Truth is constantly coming down to us, constantly seeking to deliver us from our slavery to our senses and the magic circle of our limited data. It speaks to our hearts & creates the phenomenon of Faith, but the heart has its lawless & self-regarding emotions & disfigures the message. It speaks to the Imagination, our great intellectual instrument which liberates us from the immediate fact and opens the mind to infinite possibility; but the imagination has her pleasant fictions & her headlong creative impulse and exaggerates the truth & distorts & misplaces circumstances. It speaks to the intellect itself, bids it criticise its instruments by vichara and creates the critical reason, bids it approach the truth directly by a wide passionless & luminous use of the pure judgment, and creates shuddha buddhi or Kants pure reason; bids it divine truth & learn to hold the true divination & reject the counterfeit, and creates the intuitive reason & its guardian, intuitive discrimination or viveka. But the intellect is impatient of error, eager for immediate results and hurries to apply what it receives before it has waited & seen & understood. Therefore error maintains & even extends her reign. At last come the logician & modern rationalist thinker; disgusted with the exaggeration of these movements, seeing their errors, unable to see their indispensable utility, he sets about sweeping them away as intellectual rubbish, gets rid of faith, gets rid of flexibility of mind, gets rid of sympathy, pure reason & intuition, puts critical reason into an ill lightened dungeon & thinks now, delivered from these false issues, to compass truth by laborious observation & a rigid logic. To live on these dry & insufficient husks is the last fate of impure vijnanam or buddhi confined in the data of the mind & sensesuntil man wronged in his nature, cabined in his possibilities revolts & either prefers a luminous error or resumes his broadening & upward march.
  --
  We can now understand the intention of the Rishi in his last verse and the greatness of the climax to which he has been leading us. Saraswati is able to give impulsion to Truth and awaken to right thinking because she has access to the Maho Arnas, the great ocean. On that level of consciousness, we are usually it must be remembered asleep, sushupta. The chetana or waking consciousness has no access; it lies behind our active consciousness, is, as we might say, superconscious, for us, asleep. Saraswati brings it forward into active consciousness by means of the ketu or perceptive intelligence, that essential movement of mind which accepts & realises whatever is presented to it. To focus this ketu, this essential perception on the higher truth by drawing it away from the haphazard disorder of sensory data is the great aim of Yogic meditation. Saraswati by fixing essential perception on the satyam ritam brihat above makes ideal knowledge active and is able to inform it with all those plentiful movements of mind which she, dhiyavasu, vajebhir vajinivati, has prepared for the service of the Master of the sacrifice. She is able to govern all the movements of understanding without exception in their thousand diverse movements & give them the single impression of truth and right thinkingvisva dhiyo vi rajati. A governed & ordered activity of soul and mind, led by the Truth-illuminated intellect, is the aim of the sacrifice which Madhuchchhanda son of Viswamitra is offering to the Gods.
  For we perceive at once that the yajna here can be no material sacrifice, no mere pouring out of the Soma-wine on the sacred flame to the gods of rain & cloud, star & sunshine.
  --
  The master word of the address to the Aswins is the verb chanasyatam, take your delight. The Aswins, as I understand them, are the masters of strength, youth, joy, swiftness, pleasure, rapture, the pride and glory of existence, and may almost be described as the twin gods of youth and joy. All the epithets applied to them here support this view. They are dravatpani subhaspati, the swift-footed masters of weal, of happiness and good fortune; they are purubhuja, much enjoying; their office is to take and give delight, chanasyatam. So runs the first verse, Aswin yajwaririsho dravatpani subhaspati, Purubhuja chanasyatam. O Aswins, cries Madhuchchhanda, I am in the full rush, the full ecstasy of the sacrificial action, O swift-footed, much-enjoying masters of happiness, take in me your delight. Again they are purudansasa, wide-distributing, nara, strong. O strong wide-distributing Aswins, continues the singer, with your bright-flashing (or brilliantly-forceful) understanding take pleasure in the words (of the mantra) which are now firmly settled (in the mind). Aswina purudansasa nara shaviraya dhiya, Dhishnya vanatam girah. Again we have the stress on things subjective, intellectual and spiritual. The extreme importance of the mantra, the inspired & potent word in the old Vedic religion is known nor has it diminished in later Hinduism. The mantra in Yoga is only effective when it has settled into the mind, is asina, has taken its seat there and become spontaneous; it is then that divine power enters into, takes possession of it and the mantra itself becomes one with the god of the mantra and does his works in the soul and body. This, as every Yogin knows, is one of the fundamental ideas not only in the Raja Yogic practice but in almost all paths of spiritual discipline. Here we have the very word that can most appropriately express this settling in of the mantra, dhishnya, combined with the word girah. And we know that the gods in the Veda are called girvanah, those who delight in the mantra; Indra, the god of mental force, is girvahas, he who supports or bears the mantra. Why should Nature gods delight in speech or the god of thunder & rain be the supporter or bearer of any kind of speech? The hymns? But what is meant by bearing the hymns? We have to give unnatural meanings to vanas & vahas, if we wish to avoid this plain indication. In the next verse the epithets are dasra, bountiful, which, like wide-distributing is again an epithet appropriate to the givers of happiness, weal and youth, rudravartani, fierce & impetuous in all their ways, and Nasatya, a word of doubtful meaning which, for philological reasons, I take to mean gods of movement.As the movement indicated by this and kindred words n, (natare), especially meant a gliding, floating, swimming movement, the Aswins came to be especially the protectors of ships & sailors, and it is in this capacity that we find Castor & Polydeuces (Purudansas) acting, their Western counterparts, the brothers of Helen (Sarama), the swift riders of the Roman legend. O givers, O lords of free movement, runs the closing verse of this invocation, come to the outpourings of my nectar, be ye fierce in action;I feel full of youthful vigour, I have prepared the sacred grass,if that indeed be the true & early meaning of barhis. Dasra yuvakavah suta nasatya vriktabarhishah, Ayatam rudravartani. It is an intense rapture of the soul (rudravartani) which Madhuchchhandas asks first from the gods.Therefore his first call is to the Aswins.
  Next, it is to Indra that he turns. I have already said that in my view Indra is the master of mental force. Let us see whether there is anything here to contradict the hypothesis. Indra yahi chitrabhano suta ime tu ayavah, Anwibhis tana putasah. Indrayahi dhiyeshito viprajutah sutavatah Upa brahmani vaghatah. Indrayahi tutujana upa brahmani harivah Sute dadhishwa nas chanah. There are several important words here that are doubtful in their sense, anwi, tana, vaghatah, brahmani; but none of them are of importance for our present purpose except brahmani. For reasons I shall give in the proper place I do not accept Brahma in the Veda as meaning speech of any kind, but as either soul or a mantra of the kind afterwards called dhyana, the object of which was meditation and formation in the soul of the divine Power meditated on whether in an image or in his qualities. It is immaterial which sense we take here. Indra, sings the Rishi, arrive, O thou of rich and varied light, here are these life-streams poured forth, purified, with vital powers, with substance. Arrive, O Indra, controlled by the understanding, impelled forward in various directions to my soul faculties, I who am now full of strength and flourishing increase. Arrive, O Indra, with protection to my soul faculties, O dweller in the brilliance, confirm our delight in the nectar poured. It seems to me that the remarkable descriptions dhiyeshito viprajutah are absolutely conclusive, that they prove the presence of a subjective Nature Power, not a god of rain & tempest, & prove especially a mind-god. What is it but mental force which comes controlled by the understanding and is impelled forward by it in various directions? What else is it that at the same time protects by its might the growing & increasing soul faculties from impairing & corrupting attack and confirms, keeps safe & continuous the delight which the Aswins have brought with them? The epithets chitrabhano, harivas become at once intelligible and appropriate; the god of mental force has indeed a rich and varied light, is indeed a dweller in the brilliance. The progress of the thought is clear. Madhuchchhanda, as a result of Yogic practice, is in a state of spiritual & physical exaltation; he has poured out the nectar of vitality; he is full of strength & ecstasy This is the sacrifice he has prepared for the gods. He wishes it to be prolonged, perhaps to be made, if it may now be, permanent. The Aswins are called to give & take the delight, Indra to supply & preserve that mental force which will sustain the delight otherwise in danger of being exhausted & sinking by its own fierceness rapidly consuming its material in the soul faculties. The state and the movement are one of which every Yogin knows.
  But he is not content with the inner sacrifice. He wishes to pour out this strength & joy in action on the world, on his fellows, on the peoples, therefore he calls to the Visve Devah to come, A gata!all the gods in general who help man and busy themselves in supporting his multitudinous & manifold action. They are kindly, omasas, they are charshanidhrito, holders or supporters of all our actions, especially actions that require effort, (it is in this sense that I take charshani, again on good philological grounds), they are to distribute this nectar to all or to divide it among themselves for the action,dasvanso may have either force,for Madhuchchhanda wishes not only to possess, but to give, to distribute, he is dashush. Omasas charshanidhrito visve devasa a gata, daswanso dashushah sutam. He goes on, Visve devaso apturah sutam a ganta turnayah Usra iva swasarani. Visve devaso asridha ehimayaso adruhah, Medham jushanta vahnayah. O you all-gods who are energetic in works, come to the nectar distilled, ye swift ones, (or, come swiftly), like calves to their own stalls,(so at least we must translate this last phrase, till we can get the real meaning, for I do not believe this is the real or, at any rate, the only meaning). O you all-gods unfaltering, with wide capacity of strength, ye who harm not, attach yourselves to the offering as its supporters. And then come the lines about Saraswati. For although Indra can sustain for a moment or for a time he is at present a mental, not an ideal force; it is Saraswati full of the vijnana, of mahas, guiding by it the understanding in all its ways who can give to all these gods the supporting knowledge, light and truth which will confirm and uphold the delight, the mental strength & supply inexhaustibly from the Ocean of Mahas the beneficent & joy-giving action,Saraswati, goddess of inspiration, the flowing goddess who is the intermediary & channel by which divine truth, divine joy, divine being descend through the door of knowledge into this human receptacle. In a word, she is our inspirer, our awakener, our lurer towards Immortality. It is immortality that Madhuchchhandas prepares for himself & the people who do sacrifice to Heaven, devayantah. The Soma-streams he speaks of are evidently no intoxicating vegetable juices; he calls them ayavah, life-forces; & elsewhere amritam, nectar of immortality; somasah, wine-draughts of bliss & internal well being. It is the clear Yogic idea of the amritam, the divine nectar which flows into the system at a certain stage of Yogic practice & gives pure health, pure strength & pure physical joy to the body as a basis for a pure mental & spiritual vigour and activity.
  We have therefore as a result of a long and careful examination the clear conviction that certainly in this poem of Madhuchchhanda, probably in others of his hymns, perhaps in all we have an invocation to subjective Nature powers, a symbolic sacrifice, a spiritual, moral & subjective effort & purpose. And if many other suktas in this & other Mandalas confirm the evidence of this third hymn of the Rigveda, shall we not say that here we have the true Veda as the Rishis understood it and that this was the reason why all the ancient thinkers looked on the hymns with so deep-seated a reverence that even after they came to be used merely as ceremonial liturgies at a material sacrifice, even after the Buddha impatiently flung them aside, the writer of the Gita had to look beyond them & Shankara respectfully put them on the shelf of neglect as useless for spiritual purposes, even after they have ceased to be used and almost to be read, the most spiritual nation on the face of the earth still tenaciously, by a sort of divine instinct, clings to them as its supreme Scriptures & refers back all its spirituality and higher knowledge to the Vedas? Let us proceed and see whether this is not the truest as well as the noblest reading of the riddle the real root of Gods purpose in maintaining this our ancient faith and millennial tradition.
  --
  We see the results & the conditions of the action ofVaruna in the four remaining verses. By their protection we have safety from attack, sanema, safety for our shansa, our rayah, our radhas, by the force of Indra, by the protecting greatness of Varuna against which passion & disturbance cast themselves in vain, only to be destroyed. This safety & this settled ananda or delight, we use for deep meditation, ni dhimahi, we go deep into ourselves and the object we have in view in our meditation is prarechanam, the Greek katharsis, the cleansing of the system mental, bodily, vital, of all that is impure, defective, disturbing, inharmonious. Syad uta prarechanam! In this work of purification we are sure to be obstructed by the powers that oppose all healthful change; but Indra & Varuna are to give us victory, jigyushas kritam. The final result of the successful purification is described in the eighth sloka. The powers of the understanding, its various faculties & movements, dhiyah, delivered from self-will & rebellion, become obedient to Indra & Varuna; obedient to Varuna, they move according to the truth & law, the ritam; obedient to Indra they fulfil with that passivity in activity, which we seek by Yoga, all the works to which mental force can apply itself when it is in harmony with Varuna & the ritam. The result is sharma, peace. Nothing is more remarkable in the Veda than the exactness with which hymn after hymn describes with a marvellous simplicity & lucidity the physical & psychological processes through which Indian Yoga proceeds. The process, the progression, the successive movements of the soul here described are exactly what the Yogin experiences today so many thousands of years after the Veda was revealed. No wonder, it is regarded as eternal truth, not the expression of any particular mind, not paurusheya but impersonal, divine & revealed.
  This hymn differs greatly, interestingly & instructively, from the hymn in which Varuna first appears. There the object is to ensure the ananda, the rayah & radhas spoken of in this hymn by the advent of the gods of Vitality & Mind-Force, Indra & Vayu, to protect from the attack of disintegrating forces the Soma or Amrita, the juice of immortality expressed in the Yogins system. Varuna & Mitra are then called for a particular & restricted purpose to perfect the discernment & to uphold it in its works by the sustaining force of a calm, wide, comprehensive self-expression full of peace & love. The Rishi of that sukta is using the amrita to feed the activity of a sattwic state of mind for acquiring added knowledge. The present hymn belongs to a more advanced state of the Yoga. It is sadhastuti, a hymn of fulfilment or for fulfilment, in which peace & a calm, assured, untroubled activity of the soul are very near. Varuna here leads. He is here for Indras purposes, but his activity predominates; it is his spirit that pervades the action and purpose of the hymn.
  ***

1.04 - The Sacrifice the Triune Path and the Lord of the Sacrifice, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  These are the three fundamental realisations, so fundamental that to the Yogin of the way of Knowledge they seem ultimate, sufficient in themselves, destined to overtop and replace all others. And yet for the integral seeker, whether accorded to him at an early stage suddenly and easily by a miraculous grace or achieved with difficulty after a long progress and endeavour, they are neither the sole truth nor the full and only clues to the integral truth of the Eternal, but rather the unfilled beginning, the vast foundation of a greater divine Knowledge. Other realisations there are that are imperatively needed and must be explored to the full limit of their possibilities; and if some of them appear to a first sight to cover only Divine Aspects that are instrumental to the activity of existence but not inherent in its essence, yet, when followed to their end through that activity to its everlasting Source, it is found that they lead to a disclosure of the Divine without which our knowledge of the Truth behind things would be left bare and incomplete. These seeming Instrumentals are the key to a secret without which the Fundamentals themselves would not unveil all their mystery. All the revelatory aspects of the Divine must be caught in the wide net of the integral Yoga.
  ***

1.04 - The Silent Mind, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  by a rapid intervention or manifestation of Silence with an effect out of all proportion to the means used at the beginning. One commences with a method, but the work it taken up by a Grace from above, from That to which one aspires or an irruption of the infinitudes of the Spirit. It was in this last way that I myself came by the mind's absolute silence, unimaginable to me before I had its actual experience. 31 This is a most important point indeed. For we might think that these Yogic experiences are all very nice and interesting, but that they are far beyond our ordinary human grasp; how could we, such as we are, ever get there? Our mistake is in judging with our present self possibilities that belong to another self. By the simple fact of setting out on the path, the yoga automatically awakens a whole range of latent faculties and invisible forces that far exceed the possibilities of our outer being and can do for us things that we are normally incapable of doing: One had to have the passage clear between the outer mind and something in the inner being . . . for they (the Yogic consciousness and its powers) are already there within you,32 and the best way of "clearing"
  the passage is to silence the mind. We do not know who we are, and still less what we are capable of.
  --
  upon the fundamental difference between Sri Aurobindo's integral yoga (purna yoga) and the other yogas. If one has practiced other methods of yoga before Sri Aurobindo's, one experiences an ascending Force (called kundalini in India), which awakens rather brutally at the base of the spine and rises from level to level until it reaches the top of the head, where it blossoms into a sort of luminous and radiating pulsation, bringing a sensation of immensity (and often a loss of consciousness called ecstasy), as if one had forever emerged Elsewhere. All Yogic methods, which might be called thermogenetic
  the asanas of hatha yoga, the concentrations of raja yoga, the breathing exercises of pranayama, etc. aim at arousing that ascending Force; they can be dangerous and cause profound perturbations, which make the presence and protection of an enlightened Master indispensable. We will return to this later. The difference in the direction of the current, ascending vs. descending,
  --
  the experience as he first had it with another Yogi, Bhaskar Lele, who spent three days with him: All developed mental men, those who get beyond the average, have in one way or other, or at least at certain times and for certain purposes to separate the two parts of the mind,
  the active part, which is a factory of thoughts and the quiet masterful part which is at once a Witness and a Will, observing them, judging,
  --
  The Yogi goes still further, he is not only a master there but even while in mind in a way, he gets out of it as it were, and stands above or quite back from it and free. For him the image of the factory of thoughts is no longer quite valid; for he sees that thoughts come from outside, from the universal Mind, or universal Nature, sometimes formed and distinct, sometimes unformed and then they are given shape somewhere in us. The principal business of our mind is either a response of acceptance or a refusal to these thought waves (as also vital waves, subtle physical energy waves) or this giving a personalmental form to thought-stuff (or vital movements) from the environing Nature-Force. It was my great debt to Lele that he showed me this.
  "Sit in meditation," he said, "but do not think, look only at your mind;

1.04 - What Arjuna Saw - the Dark Side of the Force, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  Years before he performed the Yogic Master Act of con-
  sciously descending into death to purify and change the

1.05 - 2010 and 1956 - Doomsday?, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  The Yogic effort of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother con-
  sisted in preparing humanity and the Earth for the descent

1.057 - The Four Manifestations of Ignorance, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  But this is precisely what has happened. All our so-called endeavours are backed up by a misconception. Because of the misconception, there is erroneous movement of the mind in its activities. Therefore, the expected results do not follow. It does not matter if we sit for meditation for hours together nothing will happen. No fruit is going to drop from the trees, because this meditation may be like the meditation of the crane for catching fish. That is also meditation. The crane keeps quiet for hours together, without doing anything, and we call it meditation. We call it bahula dhyana in Hindi. Bahula dhyana is a peculiar kind of meditation practised by the crane. It stands on one leg. It is also a great tapasvi and does not budge an inch from that place. We think that the crane is a great Yogi but its mind is on the fish. It wants to see where the fish comes up, and then darts upon it immediately and catches it.
  This ignorance is like this peculiar sleeping crane which is ready to pounce upon its objects, and it will not allow us to be in peace. As was mentioned previously, unless the cause is tackled properly and treated, there is no use merely catching hold of the effects. These effects are like ambassadors who have come merely to convey the message of the government to which they belong. There is no use in talking to the ambassador with a wry face or in language which is unbecoming, as he is only a representative of the force that is there behind him. The force is something different, and what we see with our eyes is a different thing altogether. But yet, we are likely to mistake these effects for the causes, and then it is that we practise wrong tapas. We may stand on one leg but it will not help us, though it is a tapas, no doubt. We may sit in the sun, we may drink cold water and take a bath in cold water in winter. All these treatments of the effects will produce only a temporary suppression of their manifestations. But suppressing the effects is not the treatment of the cause, because the cause pushes the effect, and as long as the living force of the cause is present, the possibility of the effects getting projected on to the surface again and again is always there.

1.05 - Adam Kadmon, #A Garden of Pomegranates - An Outline of the Qabalah, #Israel Regardie, #Occultism
  Sheath ; the Raja Yogis include with it- several of the
  ADAM KADMON 101

1.05 - Buddhism and Women, #Tara - The Feminine Divine, #unset, #Zen
  the Yogi to be burned alive. However,
  Padmasambhava transformed the blazing fire into a
  --
  dakini rather than the famous Yogini. Niguma made
  a high mountain appear and from the summit four
  --
  nearby forest, the great Yogi Virupa was dwelling. The
   Yoginis who served him often visited the market and
  --
  "It is for our master, the Yogi Virupa," the buyers
  said.
  --
  In the life of Milarepa, the great Yogi of the Land
  of Snow, we encounter a great number of women

1.05 - Consciousness, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  in the metal, in the atom, in electricity, in everything that belongs to physical nature; we shall find even that it is not really in all respects a lower or more limited mode than the mental; on the contrary, it is in many "inanimate" forms more intense, rapid, poignant, though less evolved towards the surface.43 The task of the beginning Yogi is therefore to become conscious in every way, at all the levels of his being and all the degrees of universal existence, not just mentally; to become conscious in himself and in others and in all things, while awake and in sleep; and finally, to learn to become conscious in what people call "death," because, to the extent that we have been conscious in our life, we shall be conscious in our death.
  But we do not have to take Sri Aurobindo's word for it. On the contrary, he strongly urges us to see for ourselves. We must therefore strive to unravel that in us which connects all our modes of being
  --
  he does not see other people or things but himself in others, himself in things, himself in everything, interminably. With yoga, the centers open. They can open in two ways: from bottom to top or from top to bottom, depending on whether we practice traditional Yogic and spiritual methods, or Sri Aurobindo's yoga. As mentioned earlier,
  through concentration and exercises, we can eventually feel a Force awakening at the bottom of the spine and ascending from level to level up to the top of the head, with an undulating movement, just like a snake. At each level this Force pierces (rather violently) through the corresponding center, which opens up, thereby putting us in contact with all the universal vibrations or energies associated with the frequency of that particular center. With Sri Aurobindo's yoga, the descending Force opens the same centers, slowly and gently, from top to bottom. Often, the lower centers do not even fully open until much later. This process has a distinct advantage if we appreciate that each center corresponds to a universal mode of consciousness or energy.
  --
  we even start noticing it as a current or inner force before realizing it is a consciousness. Consciousness is force, consciousness-force, as Sri Aurobindo calls it, for the two terms are truly inseparable and interchangeable. The ancient wisdom of India knew this well, and never spoke of consciousness, Chit, without adjoining to it the term Agni, heat, flame, energy: Chit-Agni (sometimes also called Tapas, a synonym of Agni: Chit-Tapas). The Sanskrit word for spiritual or Yogic discipline is tapasya, that which produces heat or energy, or,
  more correctly, consciousness-heat or consciousness-energy. Agni, or Chit-Agni, is the same everywhere. We speak of descending or ascending Force, of inner force, of mental, vital, or material force, but there are not a hundred different kinds of forces; there is only one Force in the world, a single current that circulates through us as it circulates through all things, and takes on one attribute or another,
  --
  and perceive or understand the consciousness there, and even act upon it, since the same current of consciousness is everywhere with only different modes of vibration, whether in a plant or in the thoughts of a human mind, whether in the luminous superconscient or the instincts of an animal, whether in metal or in our deepest meditations. If a piece of wood were not conscious, no Yogi could displace it through concentration, because there would be no possibility of contact with it.
  If a single point of the universe were totally unconscious, the whole universe would be totally unconscious, because there cannot be two things. With Einstein we have learned a great discovery indeed
  --
  as the plant is absorbed in its photosyn thesis, as our own consciousness can be absorbed in a book or a desire, oblivious to all the other levels of its own reality. All evolutionary progress is ultimately measured by the capacity to extricate and free the element of consciousness from its element of force this is what is meant by "individualization of consciousness." At the spiritual or Yogic stage of evolution, consciousness is completely freed, released from its mental,
  vital, and physical turmoil; it is its own master and can move through the entire range of vibrations of consciousness, from the atom to the Spirit; the Force has totally become Consciousness, totally remembered Itself. Finally, to remember oneself is to remember everything, because it is the Spirit in us remembering the Spirit in everything.
  --
  erect a circle or wall of consciousness around oneself, direct an idea so that it shall enter somebody's head in America, etc. etc. 54 He further explains: The Invisible Force producing tangible results both inward and outward is the whole meaning of the Yogic consciousness. . . . If we had not had thousands of experiences showing that the Power within could alter the mind, develop its powers, add new ones, bring in new ranges of knowledge, master the vital movements, change the character, influence men and things, control the conditions and 54
  Correspondence with Sri Aurobindo, Vol. II, 83
  --
  watch its movements, be conscious of its mass and intensity and in the same way as of other opposing forces. 55 Later we will see that Consciousness can act upon Matter and transform it. This ultimate conversion of Matter into Consciousness, and perhaps one day even of Consciousness into Matter, is the aim of the supramental yoga, which we will discuss later. There are many degrees of development of the consciousness-force, from the seeker or aspirant just awakening to his inner need, to the Yogi; even among Yogis there are many degrees
  that is where the true hierarchy begins.

1.05 - Pratyahara and Dharana, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  The Yogi must always practice. He should try to live alone; the companionship of different sorts of people distracts the mind; he should not speak much, because to speak distracts the mind; not work much, because too much work distracts the mind; the mind cannot be controlled after a whole day's hard work. One observing the above rules becomes a Yogi. Such is the power of Yoga that even the least of it will bring a great amount of benefit. It will not hurt anyone, but will benefit everyone. First of all, it will tone down nervous excitement, bring calmness, enable us to see things more clearly. The temperament will be better, and the health will be better. Sound health will be one of the first signs, and a beautiful voice. Defects in the voice will be changed. This will be among the first of the many effects that will come. Those who practise hard will get many other signs. Sometimes there will be sounds, as a peal of bells heard at a distance, commingling, and falling on the ear as one continuous sound. Sometimes things will be seen, little specks of light floating and becoming bigger and bigger; and when these things come, know that you are progressing fast.
  Those who want to be Yogis, and practice hard, must take care of their diet at first. But for those who want only a little practice for everyday business sort of life, let them not eat too much; otherwise they may eat whatever they please. For those who want to make rapid progress, and to practice hard, a strict diet is absolutely necessary. They will find it advantageous to live only on milk and cereals for some months. As the organisation becomes finer and finer, it will be found in the beginning that the least irregularity throws one out of balance. One bit of food more or less will disturb the whole system, until one gets perfect control, and then one will be able to eat whatever one likes.
  When one begins to concentrate, the dropping of a pin will seem like a thunderbolt going through the brain. As the organs get finer, the perceptions get finer. These are the stages through which we have to pass, and all those who persevere will succeed. Give up all argumentation and other distractions. Is there anything in dry intellectual jargon? It only throws the mind off its balance and disturbs it. Things of subtler planes have to be realised. Will talking do that? So give up all vain talk. Read only those books which have been written by persons who have had realisation.
  --
  Those who really want to be Yogis must give up, once for all, this nibbling at things. Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success, and this is the way great spiritual giants are produced. Others are mere talking machines. If we really want to be blessed, and make others blessed, we must go deeper. The first step is not to disturb the mind, not to associate with persons whose ideas are disturbing. All of you know that certain persons, certain places, certain foods, repel you. Avoid them; and those who want to go to the highest, must avoid all company, good or bad. Practise hard; whether you live or die does not matter. You have to plunge in and work, without thinking of the result. If you are brave enough, in six months you will be a perfect Yogi. But those who take up just a bit of it and a little of everything else make no progress. It is of no use simply to take a course of lessons. To those who are full of Tamas, ignorant and dull those whose minds never get fixed on any idea, who only crave for something to amuse them religion and philosophy are simply objects of entertainment. These are the unpersevering. They hear a talk, think it very nice, and then go home and forget all about it. To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. "I will drink the ocean," says the persevering soul, "at my will mountains will crumble up." Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal.
  previous chapter: 1.04 - The Control of Psychic Prana

1.05 - The Ascent of the Sacrifice - The Psychic Being, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
     A Yoga turned towards an all-embracing realisation of the Supreme will not despise the works or even the dreams, if dreams they are, of the Cosmic Spirit or shrink from the splendid toil and many-sided victory which he has assigned to himself In the human creature. But its first condition for this liberality is that our works in the world too must be part of the sacrifice offered to the Highest and to none else, to the Divine shakti and to no other Power, in the right spirit and with the right knowledge, by the free soul and not by the hypnotised bondslave of material Nature. If a division of works has to be made, it is between those that are nearest to the heart of the sacred flame and those that are least touched or illumined by it because they are more at a distance, or between the fuel that burns strongly or brightly and the logs that if too thickly heaped on the altar may impede the ardour of the fire by their damp, heavy and diffused abundance. But otherwise, apart from this division, all activities of knowledge that seek after or express Truth are in themselves rightful materials for a complete offering; none ought necessarily to be excluded from the wide framework of the divine life. The mental and physical sciences which examine into the laws and forms and processes of things, those which concern the life of men and animals, the social, political, linguistic and historical and those which seek to know and control the labours and activities by which man subdues and utilises his world and environment, and the noble and beautiful Arts which are at once work and knowledge, -- for every well-made and significant poem, picture, statue or building is an act of creative knowledge, a living discovery of the consciousness, a figure of Truth, a dynamic form of mental and vital self-expression or world-expressions-all that seeks, all that finds, all that voices or figures is a realisation of something of the play of the Infinite and to that extent can be made a means of God-realisation or of divine formation. But the Yogin has to see that it is no longer done as part of an ignorant mental life; it can be accepted by him only if by the feeling, the remembrance, the dedication within it, it is turned into a movement of the spiritual consciousness and becomes a part of its vast grasp of comprehensive illuminating knowledge.
     For all must be done as a sacrifice, all activities must have the One Divine for their object and the heart of their meaning. The Yogin's aim in the sciences that make for knowledge should be to discover and understand the workings of the Divine Consciousness-Puissance in man and creatures and things and forces, her creative significances, her execution of the mysteries, the symbols in which she arranges the manifestation. The Yogin's aim in the practical sciences, whether mental and physical or occult and psychic, should be to enter into the ways of the Divine and his processes, to know the materials and means for the work given to us so that we may use that knowledge for a conscious and faultless expression of the spirit's mastery, joy and self-fulfilment. The Yogin's aim in the Arts should not be a mere aesthetic, mental or vital gratification, but, seeing the Divine everywhere, worshipping it with a revelation of the meaning of its works, to express that One Divine in gods and men and creatures and objects. The theory that sees an intimate connection between religious aspiration and the truest and greatest Art is in essence right; but we must substitute for the mixed and doubtful religious motive a spiritual aspiration, vision, interpreting experience. For the wider and more comprehensive the seeing, the more it contains in itself the sense of the hidden Divine in humanity and in all things and rises beyond a superficial religiosity into the spiritual life, the more luminous, flexible, deep and powerful will the Art be that springs from the high motive. The Yogin's distinction from other men is this that he lives in a higher and vaster spiritual consciousness; all his work of knowledge or creation must then spring from there: it must not be made in the mind, -- for it is a greater truth and vision than mental man's that he has to express or rather that presses to express itself through him and mould his works, not for his personal satisfaction, but for a divine purpose.
     At the same time the Yogin who knows the Supreme is not subject to any need or compulsion in these activities; for to him they are neither a duty nor a necessary occupation for the mind nor a high amusement, nor imposed by the loftiest human purpose. He is not attached, bound and limited by any nor has he any personal motive of fame, greatness or personal satisfaction in these works; he can leave or pursue them as the Divine in him wills, but he need not otherwise abandon them in his pursuit of the higher integral knowledge. He will do these things just as the supreme Power acts and creates, for a certain spiritual joy in creation and expression or to help in the holding together and right ordering or leading of this world of God's workings. The Gita teaches that the man of knowledge shall by his way of life give to those who have not yet the spiritual consciousness, the love and habit of all works and not only of actions recognised as pious, religious or ascetic in their character; he should not draw men away from the world-action by his example. For the world must proceed in its great upward aspiring; men and nations must not be led to fall away from even an ignorant activity into a worse ignorance of inaction or to sink down into that miserable disintegration and tendency of dissolution which comes upon communities and peoples when there predominates the tamasic principle, the principle whether of obscure confusion and error or of weariness and inertia. "For I too," says the Lord in the Gita, "have no need to do works, since there is nothing I have not or must yet gain for myself; yet I do works in the world; for if I did not do works, all laws would fall into confusion, the worlds would sink towards chaos and I would be the destroyer of these peoples." The spiritual life does not need, for its purity, to destroy interest in all things except the Inexpressible or to cut at the roots of the Sciences, the Arts and Life. It may well be one of the effects of an integral spiritual knowledge and activity to lift them out of their limitations, substitute for our mind's ignorant, limited, tepid or trepidant pleasure in them a free, intense and uplifting urge of delight and supply a new source of creative spiritual power and illumination by which they can be carried more swiftly and profoundly towards their absolute light in knowledge and their yet undreamed possibilities and most dynamic energy of content and form and practice. The one thing needful must be pursued first and always, but all things else come with it as its outcome and have not so much to be added to us as recovered and reshaped in its self-light and as portions of its self-expressive force.
     This then is the true relation between divine and human knowledge; it is not a separation into disparate fields, sacred and profane, that is the heart of the difference, but the character of the consciousness behind the working. All is human knowledge that proceeds from the ordinary mental consciousness interested in the outside or upper layers of things, in process, in phenomena for their own sake or for the sake of some surface utility or mental or vital satisfaction of Desire or of the Intelligence. But the same activity of knowledge can become part of the Yoga if it proceeds from the spiritual or spiritualising consciousness which seeks and finds in all that it surveys or penetrates the presence of the timeless Eternal and the ways of manifestation of Eternal in Time. It is evident that the need of a concentration indispensable for the transition out of the Ignorance may make it necessary for the seeker to gather together his energies and focus them only on that which will help the transition and to leave aside or subordinate for the time all that is not directly turned towards the one object. He may find that this or that pursuit of human knowledge with which he was accustomed to deal by the surface power of the mind still brings him, by reason of this tendency or habit, out of the depths to the surface or down from the heights which he has climbed or is nearing, to lower levels. These activities then may have to be intermitted or put aside until secure in a higher consciousness he is able to turn its powers on all the mental fields; then, subjected to that light or taken up into it, they are turned, by the transformation of his consciousness, into a province of the spiritual and divine. All that cannot be so transformed or refuses to be part of a divine consciousness he will abandon without hesitation, but not from any preconceived prejudgment of its emptiness or its incapacity to be an element of the new inner life. There can be no fixed mental test or principle for these things; he will therefore follow no unalterable rule, but accept or repel an activity of the mind according to his feeling, insight or experience until the greater Power and Light are there to turn their unerring scrutiny on all that is below and choose or reject their material out of what the human evolution has prepared for the divine labour.
  --
     If knowledge is the widest power of the consciousness and its function is to free and illumine, yet love is the deepest and most intense and its privilege is to be the key to the most profound and secret recesses of the Divine Mystery. Man, because he is a mental being, is prone to give the highest importance to the thinking mind and its reason and will and to its way of approach and effectuation of Truth and, even, he is inclined to hold that there is no other. The heart with its emotions and incalculable movements is to the eye of his intellect an obscure, uncertain and often a perilous and misleading power which needs to be kept in control by the reason and the mental will and intelligence. And yet there is in the heart or behind it a profounder mystic light which, if not what we call intuition -- for that, though not of the mind, yet descends through the mind -- has yet a direct touch upon Truth and is nearer to the Divine than the human intellect in its pride of knowledge. According to the ancient teaching the seat of the immanent Divine, the hidden Purusha, is in the mystic heart, -- the secret heart-cave, hrdaye gunayam, as the Upanishads put it, -- and, according to the experience of many Yogins, it is from its depths that there comes the voice or the breath of the inner oracle.
     This ambiguity, these opposing appearances of depth and blindness are created by the double character of the human emotive being. For there is in front in men a heart of vital emotion similar to the animal's, if more variously developed; its emotions are governed by egoistic passion, blind instinctive affections and all the play of the life-impulses with their imperfections, perversions, often sordid degradations, -- heart besieged and given over to the lusts, desires, wraths, intense or fierce demands or little greeds and mean pettinesses of an obscure and fallen life-force and debased by its slavery to any and every impulse. This mixture of the emotive heart and the sensational hungering vital creates in man a false soul of desire; it is this that is the crude and dangerous element which the reason rightly distrusts and feels a need to control, even though the actual control or rather coercion it succeeds in establishing over our raw and insistent vital nature remains always very uncertain and deceptive. But the true soul of man is not there; it is in the true invisible heart hidden in some luminous cave of the nature: there under some infiltration of the divine Light is our soul, a silent inmost being of which few are even aware; for if all have a soul, few are conscious of their true soul or feel its direct impulse. There dwells the little spark of the Divine which supports this obscure mass of our nature and around it grows the psychic being, the formed soul or the real Man within us. It is as this psychic being in him grows and the movements of the heart reflect its divinations and impulsions that man becomes more and more aware of his soul, ceases to be a superior animal, and, awakening to glimpses of the godhead within him, admits more and more its intimations of a deeper life and consciousness and an impulse towards things divine. It is one of the decisive moments of the integral Yoga when this psychic being liberated, brought out from the veil to the front, can pour the full flood of its divinations, seeings and impulsions on the mind, life and body of man and begin to prepare the upbuilding of divinity in the earthly nature.

1.05 - THE MASTER AND KESHAB, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "He who is called Brahman by the jnanis is known as tman by the Yogis and as Bhagavan by the bhaktas. The same brahmin is called priest, when worshipping in the temple, and cook, when preparing a meal in the kitchen. The jnani sticking to the path of knowledge, always reasons about the Reality, saying, 'Not this, not this'. Brahman is neither 'this' nor 'that'; It is neither the universe nor its living beings. Reasoning in this way, the mind becomes steady. Then it disappears and the aspirant goes into samdhi.
  This is the knowledge of Brahman. It is the unwavering conviction of the jnani that Brahman alone is real and the world illusory. All these names and forms are illusory, like a dream. What Brahman is cannot be described. One cannot even say that Brahman is a Person. This is the opinion of the jnanis, the followers of Vedanta philosophy.
  --
  Attitude of Yogis
  "The Yogi seeks to realize the Paramatman, the Supreme Soul. His ideal is the union of the embodied soul and the Supreme Soul. He withdraws his mind from sense-objects and tries to concentrate it on the Paramatman. Therefore, during the first stage of his spiritual discipline, he retires into solitude and with undivided attention practises meditation in a fixed posture.
  "But the Reality is one and the same. The difference is only in name. He who is Brahman is verily tman, and again, He is the Bhagavan. He is Brahman to the followers of the path of knowledge, Paramatman to the Yogis, and Bhagavan to the lovers of God."
  The steamer had been going toward Calcutta; but the passengers, with their eyes fixed on the Master and their ears given to his nectar-like words, were oblivious of its motion.
  Dakshineswar, with its temples and gardens, was left behind. The paddles of the boat churned the waters of the Ganges with a murmuring sound. But the devotees were indifferent to all this. Spellbound, they looked on a great Yogi, his face lighted with a divine smile, his countenance radiating love, his eyes sparkling with joy-a man who had renounced all for God and who knew nothing but God. Unceasing words of wisdom flowed from his lips.
  Reasoning of jnanis

1.05 - Vishnu as Brahma creates the world, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  kṣipya is not 'repandant,' but 'restraining;' and Tiṣṭhatah being in the dual number, relates of course to only two of the series. The correct rendering is, 'These seven (Prajāpatis) created progeny, and so did Rudra; but Skanda and Sanatkumāra, restraining their power, abstained (from creation).' So the commentator: ###. These sages, however, live as long as Brahmā, and they are only created by him in the first Kalpa, although their generation is very commonly, but inconsistently, introduced in the Vārāha or Pādma Kalpas. This creation, says the text, is both primary (Prākrita) and secondary (Vaikrita). It is the latter, according to the commentator, as regards the origin of these saints from Brahmā: it is the former as affects Rudra, who, though proceeding from Brahmā, in a certain form was in essence equally an immediate production of the first principle. These notions, the birth of Rudra and the saints, seem to have been borrowed from the Saivas, and to have been awkwardly engrafted upon the Vaiṣṇava system. Sanatkumāra and his brethren are always described in the Saiva Purāṇas as Yogis: as the Kūrma, after enumerating them, adds, 'These five, oh Brahmans, were Yogis, p. 39 who acquired entire exemption from passion:' and the Hari Vaṃśa, although rather Vaiṣṇava than Saiva, observes, that the Yogis celebrate these six, along with Kapila, in Yoga works. The idea seems to have been amplified also in the Saiva works; for the Li
  ga P. describes the repeated birth of Śiva, or Vāmadeva, as a Kumāra, or boy, from Brahmā, in each Kalpa, who again becomes four. Thus in the twenty-ninth Kalpa Swetalohita is the Kumāra, and he becomes Sananda, Nandana, Viswananda, Upanandana; all of a white complexion: in the thirtieth the Kumāra becomes Virajas, Vivāhu, Visoka, Vīswabhāvana; all of a red colour: in the thirty-first he becomes four youths of a yellow colour: and in the thirty-second the four Kumāras were black. All these are, no doubt, comparatively recent additions to the original notion of the birth of Rudra and the Kumāras; itself obviously a sectarial innovation upon the primitive doctrine of the birth of the Prajāpatis, or will-born sons of Brahmā.
  [14]: These reiterated, and not always very congruous accounts of the creation are explained by the Purāṇas as referring to different Kalpas, or renovations of the world, and therefore involving no incompatibility. A better reason for their appearance is the probability that they have been borrowed from different original authorities. The account that follows is evidently modified by the Yogi Saivas, by its general mysticism, and by the expressions with which it begins: 'Collecting his mind into itself,' according to the comment, is the performance of the Yoga (Yūyuje). The term Ambhānsi, lit. 'waters,' for the four orders of beings, gods, demons, men, and Pitris, is also a peculiar, and probably mystic term. The commentator says it occurs in the Vedas as a synonyme of gods. The Vāyu Purāṇa derives it from 'to shine,' p. 40 because the different orders of beings shine or flourish severally by moonlight, night, day, and twilight: &c.
  [15]: This account is given in several other Purāṇas: in the Kūrma with more simplicity; in the Padma, Li

1.05 - War And Politics, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  An account of what was said and done in Sri Aurobindo's room during this period will be revelatory in many respects. First of all, it will dispel the prevailing universal misconception that Sri Aurobindo was a world-shunning Yogi immersed in his own sadhana. It will show, on the contrary, how much he was concerned with the "good of humanity". Far from taking only a passive interest in the vast conflict, the modern Kurukshetra, where the fate of the entire world was being decided, he actively participated in it with his spiritual Force and directed that very fate to a victorious consummation. The account will also bring to light Sri Aurobindo's acute political insight and wide knowledge of military affairs. Although he had left public life in 1910 and lived thereafter in seclusion for nearly half a century, he always kept in touch with all world-movements through outer and inner means. Perhaps people will find it difficult to believe and many will flatly deny that such a spiritual force exists; and it will be hard for them to swallow that, if at all it exists, a man acquiring and possessing it can apply it to an individual or cosmic purpose. But fortunately we have Sri Aurobindo's own word for it and our personal experience in its support. In fact his integral Yoga aims at nothing less than bringing down the supramental consciousness and changing the present terrestrial consciousness by its dynamic power and light. We shall also witness Sri Aurobindo's vital interest in India's struggle for freedom, for which he had himself launched the first movement, awakening the country to her birthright and aiding her later by his decisive spiritual force towards its achievement.
  Though we in the Ashram are not supposed to take part in politics, we are not at all indifferent to world affairs. In fact, Sri Aurobindo has said that we are immensely interested in them. The journal Mother India which was a semi-political fortnightly, and came out two years after India's Independence, was edited by one of the sadhaks who was living in Bombay and the editorials were sent to Sri Aurobindo for approval before publication. Sri Aurobindo gave many long and regular interviews to a political leader of Bengal and gave him advice and directions regarding the contemporary situation. The Mother too has said that the Supermind cannot but include in its ultimate work for world-change the political administration, since all secular well-being rests in the hands of the governing power of the country. Besides, the War was not a simple political issue among the big nations. The Nazi aggression meant "the peril of black servitude and a revived barbarism threatening India and the world". It was a life-and-death question for the spiritual evolution of the new man, for the emergence of a new race which the Mother and Sri Aurobindo had come to initiate and establish on the earth. And the victory of Hitler's Germany would mean not only the end of civilisation, but also the death of that great possibility. It is in this sense I have called this War a modern Kurukshetra.
  --
  "P reported to the Mother my reactions to Sri Aurobindo's recent contribution to the War Fund. I did not know about it. Suddenly I saw the Mother quite unmindful of me, I thought it might be because She was very busy in those days. But I observed Her for three days, and was convinced that something was amiss. I approached Her and asked, 'Why are you ignoring me?' She said, 'You know it very well.' But I was puzzled. I guessed every other reason than the true one, which according to Her was serious. I did not think that P would report to Her my talks with him. So I begged her to tell me what I had done, because I was sure to rectify my grave error. To this She said, with severity, 'There are things that were settled long before you were even born. We have been working on them for a long time. Now you with your infinitesimally small mind believe that all that is nothing, that Sri Aurobindo and I are wrong, and that you are right in your judgment!' I was taken aback; it flashed before me, 'What could be the reason?' Being nonplussed, I expressed my surprise, 'Is it something about the War that I spoke to P?' The Mother made the sign of Yes. I felt relieved and said, 'Oh, it was nothing. I just spoke to him casually; it was not at all serious.' But the Mother's face was stern and She said, 'Not serious? It was almost unbelievable that you of all persons could speak like that about Sri Aurobindo! Haven't you read all that He has given out to the Press?' I said, 'Yes, Mother, I have. But have not the British done anything wrong to India?' The Mother replied, 'We never said that they had not, nor do we say that in the future they will not do so any more. But today the question is not that; don't you understand it? When you see your neighbour's house on fire, and yet you do not go to help to put it out because he has done wrong to you, you risk the burning of your own house and the loss of your own life. Do you not see the difference between the forces that are fighting for the Divine and those for the Asuras?' I said, 'Yes, Mother, I do see; only what baffles me is that Churchill, whom you and Sri Aurobindo have chosen as your direct instrument, wants today India's help for his own country's existence; and yet says that His Majesty's government has no intention of liquidating its Empire!' The Mother said, 'But leave all that to the Divine. Churchill is a human being. He is not a Yogi aspiring to transform his nature, Today he represents the Soul of the Nation that is fighting against the Asuras. He is being guided by the Divine directly and his soul is responding magnificently. All concentration must be now to help the Allies for the victory that is ultimately assured, but there must be no looseness, not the slightest opening to the Asuras. After the battle is won, if Churchill's soul can remain still in front and he continues to be guided by the Divine, he will go very fast in the line of evolution. But generally on earth it doesn't happen like that. His human mind and vital will take the lead after the crisis is over, and then he will come down to the level of the ordinary human being, though of a higher order.'"
  When Dr. Rao, one of the consultant physicians attending on Sri Aurobindo, said that a lot of people in Madras were wondering how Sri Aurobindo, who had been so anti-British, could contribute to the War Fund, the Master explained to him at great length why he had taken that step. His intention was that Dr. Rao should speak about it to others when the occasion arose. Among the points already known, Sri Aurobindo disclosed his own occult action in the War. He said, "Do you know that Hitler is trying to get a foothold in South America and doing extensive propaganda there? It can lead to an attack against the U.S.A. He is now practically master of Europe. If he had invaded England after the collapse of France, he could have been in Asia by this time.... Now another force has been set up against his. Still the danger has not passed. He has a 50% chance of success. Up to the time when France collapsed, he was remarkably successful because he had behind him an Asuric Power which guided him; from that Power he received remarkably correct messages."
  --
  Today the achievement of India's freedom is attributed to various factors: the August movement, Non-cooperation, the Terrorist movement, the I. N. A. and others; the factor that played the decisive part is either not admitted or ignored altogether. From Sri Aurobindo's pronouncements we can assert that his Force was principally responsible for the success of the Allies and the defeat of the Japanese, thereby helping India to gain her freedom. In fact, India's freedom had been his constant dream from his very boyhood. Even during his intense sadhana in Pondicherry, it was always in his mind and he indefatigably worked for it in the Yogic way till he became convinced that freedom was inevitable. As far back as 1935, when I asked him if he was working for India's freedom, he replied, "That is all settled, it is a question of working out only.... It is what she will do with her independence that is not arranged for and so it is that about which I have to bother."
  The other causes then could be considered no more than contributory, even if indispensable factors. Out of all these, I may make some comment on the claims of the I. N. A. Whatever significance there may be in its claims, the role it played was fraught with most dangerous consequences. I wonder how our countrymen had no apprehension of them. It was a fatal game the I.N.A. played, thinking that the Japanese, after the conquest of India, would peacefully leave the country letting the I.N.A. enjoy the fruit of its victory, or that India would be able to fight and drive them out. Sri Aurobindo pointing out what would have been our condition, had Japan entered India, said, "Japan's imperialism being young and based on industrial and military power and moving westward, was a greater menace to India than the British imperialism which was old, which the country had learnt to deal with and which was on the way to elimination."

1.05 - Yoga and Hypnotism, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The difference between Yoga and hypnotism is that what hypnotism does for a man through the agency of another and in the sleeping state, Yoga does for him by his own agency and in the waking state. The hypnotic sleep is necessary in order to prevent the activity of the subjects mind full of old ideas and associations from interfering with the operator. In the waking state he would naturally refuse to experience sweetness in vinegar or sourness in sugar or to believe that he can change from disease to health, cowardice to heroism by a mere act of faith; his established associations would rebel violently and successfully against such contradictions of universal experience. The force which transcends matter would be hampered by the obstruction of ignorance and attachment to universal error. The hypnotic sleep does not make the mind a tabula rasa but it renders it passive to everything but the touch of the operator. Yoga similarly teaches passivity of the mind so that the will may act unhampered by the saskras or old associations. It is these saskras, the habits formed by experience in the body, heart or mind, that form the laws of our psychology. The associations of the mind are the stuff of which our life is made. They are more persistent in the body than in the mind and therefore harder to alter. They are more persistent in the race than in the individual; the conquest of the body and mind by the individual is comparatively easy and can be done in the space of a single life, but the same conquest by the race involves the development of ages. It is conceivable, however, that the practice of Yoga by a great number of men and persistence in the practice by their descendants might bring about profound changes in human psychology and, by stamping these changes into body and brain through heredity, evolve a superior race which would endure and by the law of the survival of the fittest eliminate the weaker kinds of humanity. Just as the rudimentary mind of the animal has been evolved into the fine instrument of the human being so the rudiments of higher force and faculty in the present race might evolve into the perfect buddhi of the Yogin.
  Yo yacchraddha sa eva sa. According as is a mans fixed and complete belief, that he is,not immediately always but sooner or later, by the law that makes the psychical tend inevitably to express itself in the material. The will is the agent by which all these changes are made and old saskras replaced by new, and the will cannot act without faith. The question then arises whether mind is the ultimate force or there is another which communicates with the outside world through the mind. Is the mind the agent or simply the instrument? If the mind be all, then it is only animals that can have the power to evolve; but this does not accord with the laws of the world as we know them. The tree evolves, the clod evolves, everything evolves Even in animals it is evident that mind is not all in the sense of being the ultimate expression of existence or the ultimate force in Nature. It seems to be all only because that which is all expresses itself in the mind and passes everything through it for the sake of manifestation. That which we call mind is a medium which pervades the world. Otherwise we could not have that instantaneous and electrical action of mind upon mind of which human experience is full and of which the new phenomena of hypnotism, telepathy etc. are only fresh proofs. There must be contact, there must be interpenetration if we are to account for these phenomena on any reasonable theory. Mind therefore is held by the Hindus to be a species of subtle matter in which ideas are waves or ripples, and it is not limited by the physical body which it uses as an instrument. There is an ulterior force which works through this subtle medium called mind. An animal species develops, according to the modern theory, under the subtle influence of the environment. The environment supplies a need and those who satisfy the need develop a new species which survives because it is more fit. This is not the result of any intellectual perception of the need nor of a resolve to develop the necessary changes, but of a desire, often though not always a mute, inarticulate and unthought desire. That desire attracts a force which satisfies it What is that force? The tendency of the psychical desire to manifest in the material change is one term in the equation; the force which develops the change in response to the desire is another. We have a will beyond mind which dictates the change, we have a force beyond mind which effects it. According to Hindu philosophy the will is the Jiva, the Purusha, the self in the nandakoa acting through vijna, universal or transcendental mind; this is what we call spirit. The force is Prakriti or Shakti, the female principle in Nature which is at the root of all action. Behind both is the single Self of the universe which contains both Jiva and Prakriti, spirit and material energy. Yoga puts these ultimate existences within us in touch with each other and by stilling the activity of the saskras or associations in mind and body enables them to act swiftly, victoriously, and as the world calls it, miraculously. In reality there is no such thing as a miracle; there are only laws and processes which are not yet understood.

1.06 - Being Human and the Copernican Principle, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  all climes called seers, great souls, Yogis or mystics, even
  when their mentality was restricted by the knowledge and

1.06 - Dhyana and Samadhi, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  The Yogi teaches that the mind itself has a higher state of existence, beyond reason, a superconscious state, and when the mind gets to that higher state, then this knowledge, beyond reasoning, comes to man. Metaphysical and transcendental knowledge comes to that man. This state of going beyond reason, transcending ordinary human nature, may sometimes come by chance to a man who does not understand its science; he, as it were, stumbles upon it. When he stumbles upon it, he generally interprets it as coming from outside. So this explains why an inspiration, or transcendental knowledge, may be the same in different countries, but in one country it will seem to come through an angel, and in another through a Deva, and in a third through God. What does it mean? It means that the mind brought the knowledge by its own nature, and that the finding of the knowledge was interpreted according to the belief and education of the person through whom it came. The real fact is that these various men, as it were, stumbled upon this superconscious state.
  The Yogi says there is a great danger in stumbling upon this state. In a good many cases there is the danger of the brain being deranged, and, as a rule, you will find that all those men, however great they were, who had stumbled upon this superconscious state without understanding it, groped in the dark, and generally had, along with their knowledge, some quaint superstition. They opened themselves to hallucinations. Mohammed claimed that the Angel Gabriel came to him in a cave one day and took him on the heavenly horse, Harak, and he visited the heavens. But with all that, Mohammed spoke some wonderful truths. If you read the Koran, you find the most wonderful truths mixed with superstitions. How will you explain it? That man was inspired, no doubt, but that inspiration was, as it were, stumbled upon. He was not a trained Yogi, and did not know the reason of what he was doing. Think of the good Mohammed did to the world, and think of the great evil that has been done through his fanaticism! Think of the millions massacred through his teachings, mothers bereft of their children, children made orphans, whole countries destroyed, millions upon millions of people killed!
  So we see this danger by studying the lives of great teachers like Mohammed and others. Yet we find, at the same time, that they were all inspired. Whenever a prophet got into the superconscious state by heightening his emotional nature, he brought away from it not only some truths, but some fanaticism also, some superstition which injured the world as much as the greatness of the teaching helped. To get any reason out of the mass of incongruity we call human life, we have to transcend our reason, but we must do it scientifically, slowly, by regular practice, and we must cast off all superstition. We must take up the study of the superconscious state just as any other science. On reason we must have to lay our foundation, we must follow reason as far as it leads, and when reason fails, reason itself will show us the way to the highest plane. When you hear a man say, "I am inspired," and then talk irrationally, reject it. Why? Because these three states instinct, reason, and superconsciousness, or the unconscious, conscious, and superconscious states belong to one and the same mind. There are not three minds in one man, but one state of it develops into the others. Instinct develops into reason, and reason into the transcendental consciousness; therefore, not one of the states contradicts the others. Real inspiration never contradicts reason, but fulfils it. Just as you find the great prophets saying, "I come not to destroy but to fulfil," so inspiration always comes to fulfil reason, and is in harmony with it.
  All the different steps in Yoga are intended to bring us scientifically to the superconscious state, or Samadhi. Furthermore, this is a most vital point to understand, that inspiration is as much in every man's nature as it was in that of the ancient prophets. These prophets were not unique; they were men as you or I. They were great Yogis. They had gained this superconsciousness, and you and I can get the same. They were not peculiar people. The very fact that one man ever reached that state, proves that it is possible for every man to do so. Not only is it possible, but every man must, eventually, get to that state, and that is religion. Experience is the only teacher we have. We may talk and reason all our lives, but we shall not understand a word of truth, until we experience it ourselves. You cannot hope to make a man a surgeon by simply giving him a few books. You cannot satisfy my curiosity to see a country by showing me a map; I must have actual experience. Maps can only create curiosity in us to get more perfect knowledge. Beyond that, they have no value whatever. Clinging to books only degenerates the human mind. Was there ever a more horrible blasphemy than the statement that all the knowledge of God is confined to this or that book? How dare men call God infinite, and yet try to compress Him within the covers of a little book! Millions of people have been killed because they did not believe what the books said, because they would not see all the knowledge of God within the covers of a book. Of course this killing and murdering has gone by, but the world is still tremendously bound up in a belief in books.
  In order to reach the superconscious state in a scientific manner it is necessary to pass through the various steps of Raja-Yoga I have been teaching. After Pratyhra and Dhran, we come to Dhyna, meditation. When the mind has been trained to remain fixed on a certain internal or external location, there comes to it the power of flowing in an unbroken current, as it were, towards that point. This state is called Dhyana. When one has so intensified the power of Dhyana as to be able to reject the external part of perception and remain meditating only on the internal part, the meaning, that state is called Samadhi. The three Dharana, Dhyana, and Samadhi together, are called Samyama. That is, if the mind can first concentrate upon an object, and then is able to continue in that concentration for a length of time, and then, by continued concentration, to dwell only on the internal part of the perception of which the object was the effect, everything comes under the control of such a mind.
  --
  When, by the previous preparations, it becomes strong and controlled, and has the power of finer perception, the mind should be employed in meditation. This meditation must begin with gross objects and slowly rise to finer and finer, until it becomes objectless. The mind should first be employed in perceiving the external causes of sensations, then the internal motions, and then its own reaction. When it has succeeded in perceiving the external causes of sensations by themselves, the mind will acquire the power of perceiving all fine material existences, all fine bodies and forms. When it can succeed in perceiving the motions inside by themselves, it will gain the control of all mental waves, in itself or in others, even before they have translated themselves into physical energy; and when he will be able to perceive the mental reaction by itself, the Yogi will acquire the knowledge of everything, as every sensible object, and every thought is the result of this reaction. Then will he have seen the very foundations of his mind, and it will be under his perfect control. Different powers will come to the Yogi, and if he yields to the temptations of any one of these, the road to his further progress will be barred. Such is the evil of running after enjoyments. But if he is strong enough to reject even these miraculous powers, he will attain to the goal of Yoga, the complete suppression of the waves in the ocean of the mind. Then the glory of the soul, undisturbed by the distractions of the mind, or motions of the body, will shine in its full effulgence; and the Yogi will find himself as he is and as he always was, the essence of knowledge, the immortal, the all-pervading.
  Samadhi is the property of every human being nay, every animal. From the lowest animal to the highest angel, some time or other, each one will have to come to that state, and then, and then alone, will real religion begin for him. Until then we only struggle towards that stage. There is no difference now between us and those who have no religion, because we have no experience. What is concentration good for, save to bring us to this experience? Each one of the steps to attain Samadhi has been reasoned out, properly adjusted, scientifically organised, and, when faithfully practiced, will surely lead us to the desired end. Then will all sorrows cease, all miseries vanish; the seeds for actions will be burnt, and the soul will be free for ever.

1.06 - Origin of the four castes, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  gu is the seventh, and kulattha, pulse, the eighth: the others are, Syāmāka, a sort of panic; Nīvāra, uñcultivated rice; Jarttila, wild sesamum; Gavedukā (coix); Markata, wild panic; and (a plant called) the seed or barley of the Bambu (Venu-yava). These, cultivated or wild, are the fourteen grains that were produced for purposes of offering in sacrifice; and sacrifice (the cause of rain) is their origin also: they again, with sacrifice, are the great cause of the perpetuation of the human race, as those understand who can discriminate cause and effect. Thence sacrifices were offered daily; the performance of which, oh best of Munis, is of essential service to mankind, and expiates the offences of those by whom they are observed. Those, however, in whose hearts the dross of sin derived from Time (Kāla) was still more developed, assented not to sacrifices, but reviled both them and all that resulted from them, the gods, and the followers of the Vedas. Those abusers of the Vedas, of evil disposition and conduct, and seceders from the path of enjoined duties, were plunged in wickedness[8]. The means of subsistence having been provided for the beings he had created, Brahmā prescribed laws suited to their station and faculties, the duties of the several castes and orders[9], and the regions of those of the different castes who were observant of their duties. The heaven of the Pitris is the region of devout Brahmans. The sphere of Indra, of Kṣetriyas who fly not from the field. The region of the winds is assigned to the Vaisyas who are diligent in their occupations and submissive. Śūdras are elevated to the sphere of the Gandharvas. Those Brahmans who lead religious lives go to the world of the eighty-eight thousand saints: and that of the seven Ṛṣis is the seat of pious anchorets and hermits. The world of ancestors is that of respectable householders: and the region of Brahmā is the asylum of religious mendicants[10]. The imperishable region of the Yogis is the highest seat of Viṣṇu, where they perpetually meditate upon the supreme being, with minds intent on him alone: the sphere where they reside, the gods themselves cannot behold. The sun, the moon, the planets, shall repeatedly be, and cease to be; but those who internally repeat the mystic adoration of the divinity, shall never know decay. For those who neglect their duties, who revile the Vedas, and obstruct religious rites, the places assigned after death are the terrific regions of darkness, of deep gloom, of fear, and of great terror; the fearful hell of sharp swords, the hell of scourges and of a waveless sea[11].
  Footnotes and references:

1.06 - Quieting the Vital, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  increasing the pain tenfold. On the contrary, the seeker who has established some immobility within himself will find that this immobility dissolves all shocks, because it is wide; because the seeker is no longer a small constricted person, but a consciousness overflowing the limits of its body. Like the silent mind, the quieted vital universalizes itself spontaneously: In yoga experience the consciousness widens in every direction, around, below, above, in each direction stretching to infinity. When the consciousness of the Yogi becomes liberated, it is not in the body but in this infinite height,
  depth and wideness that he lives always. Peace, Freedom, Power,

1.06 - Raja Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
  3. Hatha Yogi starts his Sadhana with his body and Prana. He practises Asanas and Pranayama and through control of Prana, tries to control the mind.
  4. A Raja Yogi starts his Sadhana with the mind. He starts meditation and tries to control the mind.
  5. The eight limbs of Raja Yoga are: Yama (self-restraint), Niyama (religious observances), Asana (posture), Pranayama (regulation of breath), Pratyahara (abstraction of the senses), Dharana (concentration), Dhyana (meditation) and Samadhi (superconscious state).
  --
  26. A Raja Yogi practises Samyama or the combined practice of Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi at one and the same time and gets detailed knowledge of an object.
  27. Control the mind by Abhyasa (practice) and Vairagya (dispassion).
  --
  39. A Bhakta gets Bhava-Samadhi, a Jnani gets Badha-Samadhi, a Raja Yogi gets Nirodha Samadhi.
  THUS ENDS RAJA YOGA

1.06 - The Ascent of the Sacrifice 2 The Works of Love - The Works of Life, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   aware of in himself and finds all around him and has to struggle and combat incessantly to be rid of their grip and dislodge the long-entrenched mastery they have exercised over his own being as over the environing human existence. The difficulty is great; for their hold is so strong, so apparently invincible that it justifies the disdainful dictum which compares human nature to a dog's tail, - for, straighten it never so much by force of ethics, religion, reason or any other redemptive effort, it returns in the end always to the crooked curl of Nature. And so great is the vim, the clutch of that more agitated Life-Will, so immense the peril of its passions and errors, so subtly insistent or persistently invasive, so obstinate up to the very gates of Heaven the fury of its attack or the tedious obstruction of its obstacles that even the saint and the Yogin cannot be sure of their liberated purity or their trained self-mastery against its intrigue or its violence. All labour to straighten out this native crookedness strikes the struggling will as a futility; a flight, a withdrawal to happy Heaven or peaceful dissolution easily finds credit as the only wisdom and to find a way not to be born again gets established as the only remedy for the dull bondage or the poor shoddy delirium or the blinded and precarious happiness and achievement of earthly existence.
  A remedy yet there should be and is, a way of redress and a chance of transformation for this troubled vital nature; but for that the cause of deviation must be found and remedied at the heart of Life itself and in its very principle, since Life too is a power of the Divine and not a creation of some malignant

1.06 - The Greatness of the Individual, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Who could resist the purpose of the Zeitgeist? There were strong men in India then by the hundred, great philosophers and Yogins, subtle statesmen, leaders of men, kings of thought and action, the efflorescence of a mighty intellectual civilisation at its height. A little turning to the right instead of to the left on the part of a few of these would, it might seem, have averted the whole catastrophe. So Arjuna thought when he flung aside his bow. He was the whole hope of the Pandavas and without him their victory must seem a mere dream and to fight an act of madness. Yet it is to him that the Zeitgeist proclaims the utter helplessness of the mightiest and the sure fulfilment of Gods decree. Even without thee all they shall not be, the men of war who stand arrayed in the opposing squadrons. For these men are only alive in the body; in that which stands behind and fulfils itself they are dead men. Whom God protects who shall slay? Whom God has slain who shall protect? The man who slays is only the occasion, the instrument by which the thing done behind the veil becomes the thing done on this side of it. That which was true of the great slaying at Kurukshetra is true of all things that are done in this world, of all the creation, destruction and preservation that make up the ll.
  The greatness of this teaching is for the great. Those who are commissioned to bring about mighty changes are full of the force of the Zeitgeist. Kali has entered into them and Kali when she enters into a man cares nothing for rationality and possibility. She is the force of Nature that whirls the stars in their orbits, lightly as a child might swing a ball, and to that force there is nothing impossible. She is aghaana-ghaana-payas, very skilful in bringing about the impossible. She is the devtmaakti svaguair nigh, the Power of the Divine Spirit hidden in the modes of its own workings, and she needs nothing but time to carry out the purpose with which she is commissioned. She moves in Time and the very movement fulfils itself, creates its means, accomplishes its ends. It is not an accident that she works in one man more than in another. He is chosen because he is a likely vessel, and having chosen him she neither rejects him till the purpose is fulfilled nor allows him to reject her. Therefore Sri Krishna tells Arjuna:

1.06 - THE MASTER WITH THE BRAHMO DEVOTEES, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  And, for that love, the mighty Yogis practise yoga from age to age;
  When love awakes, the Lord, like a magnet, draws to Him the soul.

1.070 - The Seven Stages of Perfection, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  The powers that are mentioned in the Yoga Sutras, which a Yogi is supposed to attain by practice, are the experiences one passes through on account of the ascent of consciousness to higher degrees of perfection. One does not meditate merely for the sake of powers. They automatically arise. They are the spontaneous reactions that follow from nature outside due to the harmony one establishes with nature as a whole. Powers are nothing but the outcome of harmony with nature. When there is disharmony, there is weakness; when there is harmony, there is strength, because it is nature that is powerful. Nobody else can be strong; and the strength of nature comes to us when we are in harmony with it.
  At present, our body, our mind everything is in disharmony with nature. The earth, fire, water, air, ether every element is in disharmony with us. Thus we have hunger, thirst, heat, cold, fear of death, and all sorts of things. All these troubles arise on account of a dissonant attitude which the body-mind complex has adopted in respect of natural forces.

1.07 - A Song of Longing for Tara, the Infallible, #How to Free Your Mind - Tara the Liberator, #Thubten Chodron, #unset
  Verse 13: A Humble Yogi
  Outwardly, let me be simple in my practice, while inwardly, actualize the
  --
  oneself: Look, Im a great tantric Yogi, capable of practicing the completion stage. Truly great practitioners are not ostentatious, but are simple in
  their behavior and dress. In the Seven-Point Thought Transformation, Geshe
  --
  For a highly realized Yogi, living on Planet Earth is like being in a pure land.
  To a person with a pure mind, the surrounding environment appears pure.

1.07 - Note on the word Go, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The word Go in the Vedas appears to bear two ordinary meanings, first, cow, secondly, ray, light or lustre. In the hymns of Madhuchchhanda it occurs 6 times, in five hymns. It occurs twice in the fourth hymn addressed to Indra in the first three verses which are all of them important for the discovery of the proper sense of the word as it is used in this passage. In the third verse which is the key to the passage, we find the prayer Then may we know (of) thy ultimate good thoughts. Then may we know. When? as a consequence to what? Obviously as a consequence to the result of the second verse, which I translate Come to us, O bringer out of the nectar (savana), thou the Soma-drinker; drink of the ecstatic Soma wine, a giver of illumination, enraptured or in better English bringing out the sense & association of the words, Come to us, O thou who art a distiller of the nectar, thou, the Soma-drinker, drink of the impetuously ecstatic Soma wine & be in the rapture of its intoxication our giver of illuminating light. Then may we know thy ultimate perceptions of the intellect. Pass us not byO come! Id lays emphasis on goda as the capacity in which, the purpose for which Indra is to drink. Revato and madah give the conditions under which Indra becomes a giver of illumination, the rushing & impetuous ecstasy produced by the Soma wine. It is then that men know the ultimate perceptions of mind, the highest realisations that can be given by the intellect when Indra, lord of mental force & power, is full of the ecstasy of the immortalising juice. This clear & easy sense being fixed for these two verses, we can return to the first & discover its connection with what follows. From sky to sky, its Rishi says to Indra, thou callest forth for uti, (for favour or kindness, as the ordinary interpretation would have it or for manifestation, expansion in being, as I suggest), the maker of beautiful forms, (who, being compared with a cow, must be some goddess), who is like one that gives milk freely to the milker of the cows, or, as I suggest, who milks freely to the milker of the rays. Undoubtedly, sudugham goduhe may be translated, a good milch cow to the milker of the cows; undoubtedly the poet had this idea in his mind when he wrote. The goddess is in the simile a milch cow, Indra is the milker. In each of the skies (the lower, middle & higher) he calls to her & makes her bring out the beautiful forms which she reveals to the drinker of the Soma. But it is impossible, when we take the connection with the two following verses, to avoid seeing that he is taking advantage of the double sense of go, and that while in the simile Indra is goduh the cow-milker, in the subject of the comparison he is goduh, the bringer out of the illumination, the flashes of higher light which produce the beautiful forms by the power of the goddess. The goddess herself must be one who is habitually associated with illumination, either Ila or Mahi. To anyone acquainted with the processes of Yoga, the whole passage at once becomes perfectly clear & true. The forms are those beautiful & myriad images of things in all the three worlds, the three akashas, dyavi dyavi, which appear to the eye of the Yogin when mental force in the Yoga is at its height, the impetuous & joyous activity (revato madah) of the mingled Ananda and Mahas fills the brain with Ojas and the highest intellectual perceptions, those akin to the supra-rational revelation, become not only possible, but easy, common & multitudinous. The passage describes the condition in which the mind, whether by drinking the material wine, the Karanajal of the Tantrics, or, as I hold, by feeding on the internal amrita, is raised to its highest exalted condition, before it is taken up into mahas or karanam, (whether in the state of Samadhi or in the waking state of the man who has realised his mahan atma, his ideal self), a state in which it is full of revealing thoughts & revealing visions which descend to it from the supra-rational level of the mahat, luminous & unerring, sunrita gomati mahi, where all is Truth & Light. Uti is the state of manifestation in Sat, in being, when that conscious existence which we are is stimulated into intensity & produces easily to the waking consciousness states of existence, movements of knowledge, outpourings of bliss which ordinarily it holds guha, in the secret parts of being.
  The next passage to which I shall turn is the eighth verse of the eighth hymn, also to Indra, in which occurs the expression , a passage which when taken in the plain and ordinary sense of the epithets sheds a great light on the nature of Mahi. Sunrita means really true and is opposed to anrita, false for in the early Aryan speech su and s would equally signify, well, good, very; and the euphonic n is of a very ancient type of sandhioriginally, it was probably no more than a strong anuswartraces of which can still be found in Tamil; in the case of su this n euphonic seems to have been dropped after the movement of the literary Aryan tongue towards the modern principle of Sandhi,a movement the imperfect progress of which we see in the Vedas; but by that time the form an, composed of privative a and the euphonic n, had become a recognised alternative form to a and the omission of the n would have left the meaning of words very ambiguous; therefore n was preserved in the negative form, omitted from the affirmative where its omission caused no inconvenience,for to write gni instead of anagni would be confusing, but to write svagni instead of sunagni would create no confusion. In the pair sunrita and anrita it is probable that the usage had become so confirmed, so much of an almost technical phraseology, that confirmed habit prevailed over new rule. The second meaning of the word is auspicious, derived from the idea good or beneficent in its regular action. The Vedic scholars give a third sense, quick, active; but this is probably due to confusion with an originally distinct word derived from the root , to move on rapidly, to be strong, swift, active from which we have to dance, & strong and a number of other derivatives, for although ri means to go, it does not appear that rita was used in the sense of motion or swiftness. In any case our choice (apart from unnecessary ingenuities) lies here between auspicious and true. If we take Mahi in the sense of earth, the first is its simplest & most natural significance.We shall have then to translate the earth auspicious (or might it mean true in the sense observing the law of the seasons), wide-watered, full of cows becomes like a ripe branch to the giver. This gives a clear connected sense, although gross and pedestrian and open to the objection that it has no natural and inevitable connection with the preceding verses. My objection is that sunrita and gomati seem to me to have in the Veda a different and deeper sense and that the whole passage becomes not only ennobled in sense, but clearer & more connected in sense if we give them that deeper significance. Gomatir ushasah in Kutsas hymn to the Dawn is certainly the luminous dawns; Saraswati in the third hymn who as chodayitri sunritanam chetanti sumatinam shines pervading all the actions of the understanding, certainly does so because she is the impeller to high truths, the awakener to right thoughts, clear perceptions and not because she is the impeller of things auspiciousa phrase which would have no sense or appropriateness to the context. Mahi is one of the three goddesses Ila, Saraswati and Mahi who are described as tisro devir mayobhuvah, the three goddesses born of delight or Ananda, and her companions being goddesses of knowledge, children of Mahas, she also must be a goddess of knowledge, not the earth; the word mahi also bears the sense of knowledge, intellect, and Mahas undoubtedly refers in many passages to the vijnana or supra-rational level of consciousness, the fourth Vyahriti of the Taittiriya Upanishad. What then prevents us from taking Mahi, here as there, in the sense of the goddess of suprarational knowledge or, if taken objectively, the world of Mahat? Nothing, except a tradition born in classical times when mahi was the earth and the new Nature-worship theory. In this sense I shall take it. I translate the line For thus Mahi the true, manifest in action, luminous becomes like a ripe branch to the giveror, again in better English, For thus Mahi the perfect in truth, manifesting herself in action, full of illumination, becomes as a ripe branch to the giver. For the Yogin again the sense is clear. All things are contained in the Mahat, derived from the Mahat, depend on theMahat, but we here in the movement of the alpam, have not our desire, are blinded & confined, enjoy an imperfect, erroneous & usually baffled & futile activity. It is only when we regain the movement of the Mahat, the large & uncontracted consciousness that comes from rising to the infinite,it is only then that we escape from this limitation. She is perfect in truth, full of illumination; error and ignorance disappear; she manifests herself virapshi in a wide & various activity; our activities are enlarged, our desires are fulfilled. The connection with the preceding stanzas becomes clear. The Vritras, the great obstructors & upholders of limitation, are slain by the help of Indra, by the result of the yajnartham karma, by alliance with the armed gods in mighty internal battle; Indra, the god within our mental force, manifests himself as supreme and full of the nature of ideal truth from which his greatness weaponed with the vajra, vidyut or electric principle, derives (mahitwam astu vajrine). The mind, instinct with amrita, is then full of equality, samata; it drinks in the flood of activity of all kinds as the sea takes in the rivers. For the condition then results in which the ideal consciousness Mahi is like a ripe branch to the giver, when all powers & expansions of being at once (without obstacle as the Vritras are slain) become active in consciousness as masterful and effective knowledge or awareness (chit). This is the process prayed for by the poet. The whole hymn becomes a consecutive & intelligible whole, a single thought worked out logically & coherently and relating with perfect accuracy of ensemble & detail to one of the commonest experiences of Yogic fulfilment. In both these passages the faithful adherence to the intimations of language, Vedantic idea & Yogic experience have shed a flood of light, illuminating the obscurity of the Vedas, bringing coherence into the incoherence of the naturalistic explanation, close & strict logic, great depth of meaning with great simplicity of expression, and, as I shall show when I take up the final interpretation of the separate hymns, a rational meaning & reason of existence in that particular place for each word & phrase and a faultless & inevitable connection with what goes before & with what goes after. It is worth noticing that by the naturalistic interpretation one can indeed generally make out a meaning, often a clear or fluent sense for the separate verses of the Veda, but the ensemble of the hymn has almost always about it an air bizarre, artificial, incoherent, almost purposeless, frequently illogical and self-contradictoryas in Max Mullers translation of the 39th hymn, Kanwas to the Maruts,never straightforward, self-assured & easy. One would expect in these primitive writers,if they are primitive,crudeness of belief perhaps, but still plainness of expression and a simple development of thought. One finds instead everything tortuous, rugged, gnarled, obscure, great emptiness with great pretentiousness of mind, a labour of diction & development which seems to be striving towards great things & effecting a nullity. The Vedic singers, in the modern version, have nothing to say and do not know how to say it. I sacrifice, you drink, you are fine fellows, dont hurt me or let others hurt me, hurt my enemies, make me safe & comfortablethis is practically all that the ten Mandalas have to say to the gods & it is astonishing that they should be utterly at a loss how to say it intelligibly. A system which yields such results must have at its root some radical falsity, some cardinal error.
  I pass now to a third passage, also instructive, also full of that depth and fine knowledge of the movements of the higher consciousness which every Yogin must find in the Veda. It is in the 9th hymn of the Mandala and forms the seventh verse of that hymn. Sam gomad Indra vajavad asme prithu sravo brihat, visvayur dhehi akshitam. The only crucial question in this verse is the signification of sravas.With our modern ideas the sentence seems to us to demand that sravas should be translated here fame. Sravas is undoubtedly the same word as the Greek xo (originally xFo); it means a thing heard, rumour, report, & thence fame. If we take it in that sense, we shall have to translate Arrange for us, O universal life, a luminous and solid, wide & great fame unimpaired. I dismiss at once the idea that go & vaja can here signify cattle and food or wealth. A herded & fooded or wealthy fame to express a fame for wealth of cattle & food is a forceful turn of expression we might expect to find in Aeschylus or in Shakespeare; but I should hesitate, except in case of clear necessity, to admit it in the Veda or in any Sanscrit style of composition; for such expressions have always been alien to the Indian intellect. Our stylistic vagaries have been of another kind. But is luminous & solid fame much better? I shall suggest another meaning for sravas which will give as usual a deeper sense to the whole passage without our needing to depart by a hairs breadth from the etymological significance of the words. Sruti in Sanscrit is a technical term, originally, for the means by which Vedic knowledge is acquired, inspiration in the suprarational mind; srutam is the knowledge of Veda. Similarly, we have in Vedic Sanscrit the forms srut and sravas. I take srut to mean inspired knowledge in the act of reception, sravas the thing acquired by the reception, inspired knowledge. Gomad immediately assumes its usual meaning illuminated, full of illumination. Vaja I take throughout the Veda as a technical Vedic expression for that substantiality of being-consciousness which is the basis of all special manifestation of being & power, all utayah & vibhutayahit means by etymology extended being in force, va or v to exist or move in extension and the vocable j which always gives the idea of force or brilliance or decisiveness in action or manifestation or contact. I shall accept no meaning which is inconsistent with this fundamental significance. Moreover the tendency of the old commentators to make all possible words, vaja, ritam etc mean sacrifice or food, must be rejected,although a justification in etymology might always be made out for the effort. Vaja means substance in being, substance, plenty, strength, solidity, steadfastness. Here it obviously means full of substance, just as gomad full of luminousness,not in the sense arthavat, but with another & psychological connotation. I translate then, O Indra, life of all, order for us an inspired knowledge full of illumination & substance, wide & great and unimpaired. Anyone acquainted with Yoga will at once be struck by the peculiar & exact appropriateness of all these epithets; they will admit him at once by sympathy into the very heart of Madhuchchhandas experience & unite him in soul with that ancient son of Visvamitra. When Mahas, the supra-rational principle, begins with some clearness to work in Yoga, not on its own level, not swe dame, but in the mind, it works at first through the principle of Srutinot Smriti or Drishti, but this Sruti is feeble & limited in its range, it is not prithu; broken & scattered in its working even when the range is wide, not unlimited in continuity, not brihat; not pouring in a flood of light, not gomat, but coming as a flash in the darkness, often with a pale glimmer like the first feebleness of dawn; not supported by a strong steady force & foundation of being, Sat, in manifestation, not vajavad, but working without foundation, in a void, like secondh and glimpses of Sat in nothingness, in vacuum, in Asat; and, therefore, easily impaired, easily lost hold of, easily stolen by the Panis or the Vritras. All these defects Madhuchchhanda has noticed in his own experience; his prayer is for an inspired knowledge which shall be full & free & perfect, not marred even in a small degree by these deficiencies.
  The combination of go & vaja occurs again in the eleventh hymn where the seer writes Purvir Indrasya ratayo na vi dasyanti utayah, yadi vajasya gomatah stotribhyo manhate magham. The former delights of Indra, those first established his (new &larger) expansions of being do not destroy or scatter, when to his praisers he enlarges the mass of their illuminated substance or strength of being. Here again we have Madhuchchhandas deep experience & his fine & subtle knowledge. It is a common experience in Yoga that the ananda and siddhi first established, is destroyed in the effort or movement towards a larger fullness of being, knowledge or delight, and a period of crisis intervenes in which there is a rending & scattering of joy & light, a period of darkness, confusion & trouble painful to all & dangerous except to the strongest. Can these crises, difficulties, perilous conditions of soul be avoided? Yes, says Madhuchchhandas in effect, when you deliver yourself with devotion into the care of Indra, he comes to your help, he removes that limitation, that concentration in detail, in the alpam, the little, that consequent necessity of losing hold of one thing in order to give yourself to another, he increases the magha, the vijnanamay state of mahattwa or relative non-limitation in the finite which shows itself by an increase of fundamental force of being filled with higher illumination. That support of vaja prevents us from falling from what we have gained; there is sufficient substance of being expressed in us to provide for the new utayah without sacrificing the joys already established; there is sufficient luminousness of mind to prevent darkness, obscuration & misery supervening. Thus we see still the same symbolic sense, the same depth, the same experience as true to the Yogin today as to Madhuchchhandas thousands of years ago.
  Now that we have thus substantially fixed the meaning of go and gomat, we can go back to a passage already to some extent discussed, the third verse of the seventh hymn. Indro dirghaya chakshasa a suryam rohayad divi, vi gobhir adrim airayat; Indra for far vision ascended to the sun in heaven; he sent him abroad over all the mountain with his rays. This is so plainly the meaning of the verse that I cannot understand, once it is perceived & understood, how we can accept any other rendering. I have already discussed the relations of Indra, Surya & the Mountain of our graded ascent in beingSri Ramakrishnas staircase to the Sad Brahman. The far vision is the unlimited knowledge acquired in Mahas, in the wide supra-rational movement of our consciousness as opposed to the contracted rational or infrarational vision which works only on details or from & by details, the alpam; for that Mind has to ascend to the Sun in Heaven, the principle of Mahas on the higher levels of mind itself, not on the supra-rational level, not swe dame. Because it is not swe dame, the full illumination is not possible, we cannot become practically omniscient; all Indra can do is to send down the sun, not in itself, but in its rays to various parts of the mountain of being, all over it, it is true, but still revealing only the higher truth in its parts, not in its full sum of knowledge. The language is so precise, once we understand the Vedic terminology, that I do not think we can be mistaken in this interpretation, which, moreover, agrees perfectly with Yogic experience and the constant theme of Madhuchchhandas. He is describing the first dawn & development of the higher knowledge in the mind, still liable to attack & obstruction, (yujam vritreshu vajrinam), still uncertain in quantity (Indram vayam mahadhane indram arbhe havamahe). Irayat is naturally transitive, bears the meaning it has in prerana, prerita, and can have no object but Surya, unless we suppose, which is less natural, that it is Surya who sends Indra to the mountain accompanied by his rays.
  There is only one other passage we have now left for examination but it is of considerable importance & interest. It is in the hymn ascribed to the son of Madhuchchhanda, though very probably it isMadhuchchhandas own, the eleventh hymn and the fifth verse. Twam Valasya gomato apavar adrivo bilam, Twam deva abibhyushas tujyamanasa avishuh. Thou, O dweller on the mountain, didst uncover the lair of Vala the luminous, Thee the gods entered unfearing & protected. Indra, the dweller on the mountain of being, he who established in Swarga looks ever upward, has, to assist the strivings of man, uncovered the lair of Vala the luminous. Who is Vala the luminous? Does gomat mean the fellow who has the cows & is Vala a demon of cloud or darkness afflicted with the cow-stealing propensities, the Titanic bovi-kleptomania attributed by tradition to the Panis? He is, I suggest, one of the Titans who deny a higher ascent to man, a Titan who possesses but withholds & hides the luminous realms of ideal truth from man,interposing the hiranmayam patram of the Isha Upanishad, the golden cover or lid, by which the face of truth is concealed, satyasyapihitam mukham. Tat twam Pushan apavrinu, cries the Vedantic sage, using the same word apavri, but he calls to Surya, not to Indra, because he seeks the possession of the Vedanta, the sight of the rupam kalyanatamam which belongs to those who can meet Surya in his own home. The Vedic seer, at an earlier stage of the struggle, is satisfied with the minor conquests of Indra. He does not yet rise to those heights where Indra working in the mind is no longer a supreme helper, but may even be, as the Puranas tell us, an obstacle and an opponentbecause activity of mind even the highest, so long as it is not abandoned and overpassed, interferes with a yet higher attainment. It is only by rejecting Indra that we can dwell with Surya in his luminous halls, Tena tyaktena bhunjithah. Nevertheless the conquest over Bala is for humanity in its present stage a great conquest, and when & because it is accomplished the other gods can enter safely into the mental force & work in it, fearless because protected by Indras victorious might. For he is now Balabhid; he has pierced Bala & is no longer liable to that fear which overtook him when Vritra only had been overthrowna fear due to his perceiving the immensity of the task that still remained & the more formidable enemies beyond. We shall come again to Bala & the Titans & the meaning of these divine battles,viryani yani chakara prathamani vajri.

1.07 - Raja-Yoga in Brief, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  The fire of Yoga burns the cage of sin that is around a man. Knowledge becomes purified and Nirvna is directly obtained. From Yoga comes knowledge; knowledge again helps the Yogi. He who combines in himself both Yoga and knowledge, with him the Lord is pleased. Those that practice Mahyoga, either once a day, or twice a day, or thrice, or always, know them to be gods. Yoga is divided into two parts. One is called Abhva, and the other, Mahayoga. Where one's self is meditated upon as zero, and bereft of quality, that is called Abhava. That in which one sees the self as full of bliss and bereft of all impurities, and one with God, is called Mahayoga. The Yogi, by each one, realises his Self. The other Yogas that we read and hear of, do not deserve to be ranked with the excellent Mahayoga in which the Yogi finds himself and the whole universe as God. This is the highest of all Yogas.
  Yama, Niyama, sana, Prnyma, Pratyhra, Dhrna, Dhyna, and Samdhi are the steps in Raja-Yoga, of which non-injury, truthfulness, non-covetousness, chastity, not receiving anything from another are called Yama. This purifies the mind, the Chitta. Never producing pain by thought, word, and deed, in any living being, is what is called Ahims, non-injury. There is no virtue higher than non-injury. There is no happiness higher than what a man obtains by this attitude of non-offensiveness, to all creation. By truth we attain fruits of work. Through truth everything is attained. In truth everything is established. Relating facts as they are this is truth. Not taking others' goods by stealth or by force, is called Asteya, non-covetousness. Chastity in thought, word, and deed, always, and in all conditions, is what is called Brahmacharya. Not receiving any present from anybody, even when one is suffering terribly, is what is called Aparigraha. The idea is, when a man receives a gift from another, his heart becomes impure, he becomes low, he loses his independence, he becomes bound and attached.
  The following are helps to success in Yoga and are called Niyama or regular habits and observances; Tapas, austerity; Svdhyya, study; Santosha, contentment; Shaucha, purity; Ishvara-pranidhna, worshipping God. Fasting, or in other ways controlling the body, is called physical Tapas. Repeating the Vedas and other Mantras, by which the Sattva material in the body is purified, is called study, Svadhyaya. There are three sorts of repetitions of these Mantras. One is called the verbal, another semi-verbal, and the third mental. The verbal or audible is the lowest, and the inaudible is the highest of all. The repetition which is loud is the verbal; the next one is where only the lips move, but no sound is heard. The inaudible repetition of the Mantra, accompanied with the thinking of its meaning, is called the "mental repetition," and is the highest. The sages have said that there are two sorts of purification, external and internal. The purification of the body by water, earth, or other materials is the external purification, as bathing etc. Purification of the mind by truth, and by all the other virtues, is what is called internal purification. Both are necessary. It is not sufficient that a man should be internally pure and externally dirty. When both are not attainable the internal purity is the better, but no one will be a Yogi until he has both. Worship of God is by praise, by thought, by devotion.
  We have spoken about Yama and Niyama. The next is Asana (posture). The only thing to understand about it is leaving the body free, holding the chest, shoulders, and head straight. Then comes Pranayama. Prana means the vital forces in one's own body, yma means controlling them. There are three sorts of Pranayama, the very simple, the middle, and the very high. Pranayama is divided into three parts: filling, restraining, and emptying. When you begin with twelve seconds it is the lowest Pranayama; when you begin with twenty-four seconds it is the middle Pranayama; that Pranayama is the best which begins with thirty-six seconds. In the lowest kind of Pranayama there is perspiration, in the medium kind, quivering of the body, and in the highest Pranayama levitation of the body and influx of great bliss. There is a Mantra called the Gyatri. It is a very holy verse of the Vedas. "We meditate on the glory of that Being who has produced this universe; may He enlighten our minds." Om is joined to it at the beginning and the end. In one Pranayama repeat three Gayatris. In all books they speak of Pranayama being divided into Rechaka (rejecting or exhaling), Puraka (inhaling), and Kurnbhaka (restraining, stationary). The Indriyas, the organs of the senses, are acting outwards and coming in contact with external objects. Bringing them under the control of the will is what is called Pratyahara or gathering towards oneself. Fixing the mind on the lotus of the heart, or on the centre of the head, is what is called Dharana. Limited to one spot, making that spot the base, a particular kind of mental waves rises; these are not swallowed up by other kinds of waves, but by degrees become prominent, while all the others recede and finally disappear. Next the multiplicity of these waves gives place to unity and one wave only is left in the mind. This is Dhyana, meditation. When no basis is necessary, when the whole of the mind has become one wave, one-formedness, it is called Samadhi. Bereft of all help from places and centres, only the meaning of the thought is present. If the mind can be fixed on the centre for twelve seconds it will be a Dharana, twelve such Dharanas will be a Dhyana, and twelve such Dhyanas will be a Samadhi.
  Where there is fire, or in water or on ground which is strewn with dry leaves, where there are many ant-hills, where there are wild animals, or danger, where four streets meet, where there is too much noise, where there are many wicked persons, Yoga must not be practiced. This applies more particularly to India. Do not practice when the body feels very lazy or ill, or when the mind is very miserable and sorrowful. Go to a place which is well hidden, and where people do not come to disturb you. Do not choose dirty places. Rather choose beautiful scenery, or a room in your own house which is beautiful. When you practice, first salute all the ancient Yogis, and your own Guru, and God, and then begin.
  Dhyana is spoken of, and a few examples are given of what to meditate upon. Sit straight, and look at the tip of your nose. Later on we shall come to know how that concentrates the mind, how by controlling the two optic nerves one advances a long way towards the control of the arc of reaction, and so to the control of the will. Here are a few specimens of meditation. Imagine a lotus upon the top of the head, several inches up, with virtue as its centre, and knowledge as its stalk. The eight petals of the lotus are the eight powers of the Yogi. Inside, the stamens and pistils are renunciation. If the Yogi refuses the external powers he will come to salvation. So the eight petals of the lotus are the eight powers, but the internal stamens and pistils are extreme renunciation, the renunciation of all these powers. Inside of that lotus think of the Golden One, the Almighty, the Intangible, He whose name is Om, the Inexpressible, surrounded with effulgent light. Meditate on that. Another meditation is given. Think of a space in your heart, and in the midst of that space think that a flame is burning. Think of that flame as your own soul and inside the flame is another effulgent light, and that is the Soul of your soul, God. Meditate upon that in the heart. Chastity, non-injury, forgiving even the greatest enemy, truth, faith in the Lord, these are all different Vrittis. Be not afraid if you are not perfect in all of these; work, they will come. He who has given up all attachment, all fear, and all anger, he whose whole soul has gone unto the Lord, he who has taken refuge in the Lord, whose heart has become purified, with whatsoever desire he comes to the Lord, He will grant that to him. Therefore worship Him through knowledge, love, or renunciation.
  "He who hates none, who is the friend of all, who is merciful to all, who has nothing of his own, who is free from egoism, who is even-minded in pain and pleasure, who is forbearing, who is always satisfied, who works always in Yoga, whose self has become controlled, whose will is firm, whose mind and intellect are given up unto Me, such a one is My beloved Bhakta. From whom comes no disturbance, who cannot be disturbed by others, who is free from joy, anger, fear, and anxiety, such a one is My beloved. He who does not depend on anything, who is pure and active, who does not care whether good comes or evil, and never becomes miserable, who has given up all efforts for himself; who is the same in praise or in blame, with a silent, thoughtful mind, blessed with what little comes in his way, homeless, for the whole world is his home, and who is steady in his ideas, such a one is My beloved Bhakta." Such alone become Yogis.
  - - -
  There was a great god-sage called Nrada. Just as there are sages among mankind, great Yogis, so there are great Yogis among the gods. Narada was a good Yogi, and very great. He travelled everywhere. One day he was passing through a forest, and saw a man who had been meditating until the white ants had built a huge mound round his body so long had he been sitting in that position. He said to Narada, "Where are you going?" Narada replied, "I am going to heaven." "Then ask God when He will be merciful to me; when I shall attain freedom." Further on Narada saw another man. He was jumping about, singing, dancing, and said, "Oh, Narada, where are you going?" His voice and his gestures were wild. Narada said, "I am going to heaven." "Then, ask when I shall be free." Narada went on. In the course of time he came again by the same road, and there was the man who had been meditating with the ant-hill round him. He said, "Oh, Narada, did you ask the Lord about me?" "Oh, yes." "What did He say?" "The Lord told me that you would attain freedom in four more births." Then the man began to weep and wail, and said, "I have meditated until an ant-hill has grown around me, and I have four more births yet!" Narada went to the other man. "Did you ask my question?" "Oh, yes. Do you see this tamarind tree? I have to tell you that as many leaves as there are on that tree, so many times, you shall be born, and then you shall attain freedom." The man began to dance for joy, and said, "I shall have freedom after such a short time!" A voice came, "My child, you will have freedom this minute." That was the reward for his perseverance. He was ready to work through all those births, nothing discouraged him. But the first man felt that even four more births were too long. Only perseverance, like that of the man who was willing to wait aeons brings about the highest result.

1.07 - Savitri, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  Then, with regard to hard labour on Savitri, he wrote: "That is very simple. I used Savitri as a means of ascension. I began with it on a certain mental level, each time I could reach a higher level I rewrote from that level. Moreover I was particular if part seemed to me to come from any lower levels I was not satisfied to leave it because it was good poetry. All had to be as far as possible of the same mint. In fact, Savitri has not been regarded by me as a poem to be written and finished; but as a field of experimentation to see how far poetry could be written from one's own Yogic consciousness and how that could be made creative. I did not rewrite Rose of God or the sonnets except for two or three verbal alterations made at the moment."
  All this was written to me in 1936. Since then the work proceeded slowly and gradually until between 1939 and 1950 he succeeded to a great extent in achieving what he aimed at, as stated in the letter above. I am sure if he had more time at his disposal and could work by himself, he would have raised it to his ideal of perfect perfection. As it is, Savitri is, I suppose, the example par excellence of the Future Poetry he speaks of in his book The Future Poetry. Founder of the New Age, pioneer in the field of poetry, as in many others, he has left us an inexhaustible heritage of words, images, ideas, suggestions and hints about which we can only say here is God's plenty. Rameshwar Gupta very aptly calls it Eternity in Words.[5] Generation after generation will drink in its soul's nectar from this perennial source. The life span of the English language itself has increased a thousandfold. Shakespeare, it is said, increased the life span of the English language by centuries. Sri Aurobindo said about Shakespeare, "That kind of spear does not shake everywhere." Now we find another far greater that will shake the world to its very roots. If for no other reason, the English speaking races ought to be eternally grateful to the supreme poet of the grand epic for this miracle.

1.07 - The Farther Reaches of Human Nature, #Sex Ecology Spirituality, #Ken Wilber, #Philosophy
  First and foremost, if this higher unfolding is to be called "religious" or "spiritual," it is a very far cry from what is ordinarily meant by those terms. We have spent several chapters painstakingly reviewing the earlier developments of the archaic, magic, and mythic structures (which are usually associated with the world's great religions), precisely because those structures are what transpersonal and contemplative development is not. And here we can definitely agree with Campbell: if 99.9 percent of people want to call magic and mythic "real religion," then so be it for them (that is a legitimate use);10 but that is not what the world's greatest Yogis, saints, and sages mean by mystical or "really religious" development, and in any event is not what I have in mind. Campbell, however, is quite right that a very, very few individuals, during the magic and mythic and rational eras, were indeed able to go beyond magic, beyond mythic, and beyond rational-into the transrational and transpersonal domains. And even if their teachings (such as those of Buddha, Christ, Patanjali, Padmasambhava, Rumi, and Chih-i) were snapped up by the masses and translated downward into magic and mythic and egoic terms-"the salvation of the individual soul"-that is not what their teachings clearly and even blatantly stated, nor did they intentionally lend any support to such endeavors. Their teachings were about the release from individuality, and not about its everlasting perpetuation, a grotesque notion that was equated flat-out with hell or samsara. Their teachings, and their contemplative endeavors, were (and are) transrational through and through. That is, although all of the contemplative traditions aim at going within and beyond reason, they all start with reason, start with the notion that truth is to be established by evidence, that truth is the result of experimental methods, that truth is to be tested in the laboratory of personal experience, that these truths are open to all those who wish to try the experiment and thus disclose for themselves the truth or falsity of the spiritual claims-and that dogmas or given beliefs are precisely what hinder the emergence of deeper truths and wider visions.
  Thus, each of these spiritual or transpersonal endeavors (which we will carefully examine) claims that there exist higher domains of awareness, embrace, love, identity, reality, self, and truth. But these claims are not dogmatic; they are not believed in merely because an authority proclaimed them, or because sociocentric tradition hands them down, or because salvation depends upon being a "true believer." Rather, the claims about these higher domains are a conclusion based on hundreds of years of experimental introspection and communal verification. False claims are rejected on the basis of consensual evidence, and further evidence is used to adjust and fine-tune the experimental conclusions.
  --
  But one must be adequate to the experience, or it remains an invisible other world. When the Yogis and sages and contemplatives make a statement like, "The entire world is a manifestation of one Self," that is not a merely rational statement that we are to think about and see if it makes logical sense. It is rather a description, often poetic, of a direct apprehension or a direct experience, and we are to test this direct experience, not by mulling it over philosophically, but by taking up the experimental method of contemplative awareness, developing the requisite cognitive tools, and then directly looking for ourselves.
  As Emerson put it, "What we are, that only can we see."

1.07 - THE MASTER AND VIJAY GOSWAMI, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  Who is attained by Yogis in the depths of their meditation; The Scatterer of the fear of birth and death,
  The Essence of Knowledge and Truth, the Primal Seed of the world.

1.07 - The Process of Evolution, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Sayama is unseasonable and would be fruitless when a force, quality or tendency is in its infancy or vigour, before it has had the enjoyment and full activity which is its due. When once a thing is born it must have its youth, growth, enjoyment, life and final decay and death; when once an impetus has been given by Prakriti to her creation, she insists that the velocity shall spend itself by natural exhaustion before it shall cease. To arrest the growth or speed unseasonably by force is nigraha, which can be effective for a time but not in perpetuity. It is said in the Gita that all things are ruled by their nature, to their nature they return and nigraha or repression is fruitless. What happens then is that the thing untimely slain by violence is not really dead, but withdraws for a time into the Prakriti which sent it forth, gathers an immense force and returns with extraordinary violence ravening for the rightful enjoyment which it was denied. We see this in the attempts we make to get rid of our evil saskras or associations when we first tread the path of Yoga. If anger is a powerful element in our nature, we may put it down for a time by sheer force and call it self-control, but eventually unsatisfied Nature will get the better of us and the passion return upon us with astonishing force at an unexpected moment. There are only two ways by which we can effectively get the better of the passion which seeks to enslave us. One is by substitution, replacing it whenever it rises by the opposite quality, anger by thoughts of forgiveness, love or forbearance, lust by meditation on purity, pride by thoughts of humility and our own defects or nothingness; this is the method of Rajayoga, but it is a difficult, slow and uncertain method; for both the ancient traditions and the modern experience of Yoga show that men who had attained for long years the highest self-mastery have been suddenly surprised by a violent return of the thing they thought dead or for ever subject. Still this substitution, slow though it be, is one of the commonest methods of Nature and it is largely by this means, often unconsciously or half-consciously used, that the character of a man changes and develops from life to life or even in the bounds of a single lifetime. It does not destroy things in their seed and the seed which is not reduced to ashes by Yoga is always capable of sprouting again and growing into the complete and mighty tree. The second method is to give bhoga or enjoyment to the passion so as to get rid of it quickly. When it is satiated and surfeited by excessive enjoyment, it becomes weak and spent and a reaction ensues which establishes for a time the opposite force, tendency or quality. If that moment is seized by the Yogin for nigraha, the nigraha so repeated at every suitable opportunity becomes so far effective as to reduce the strength and vitality of the vtti sufficiently for the application of the final sayama. This method of enjoyment and reaction is also a favourite and universal method of Nature, but it is never complete in itself and, if applied to permanent forces or qualities, tends to establish a see-saw of opposite tendencies, extremely useful to the operations of Prakriti but from the point of view of self-mastery useless and inconclusive. It is only when this method is followed up by the use of sayama that it becomes effective. The Yogin regards the vtti merely as a play of Nature with which he is not concerned and of which he is merely the spectator; the anger, lust or pride is not his, it is the universal Mothers and she works it and stills it for her own purposes. When, however, the vtti is strong, mastering and unspent, this attitude cannot be maintained in sincerity and to try to hold it intellectually without sincerely feeling it is mithycra, false discipline or hypocrisy. It is only when it is somewhat exhausted by repeated enjoyment and coercion that Prakriti or Nature at the comm and of the soul or Purusha can really deal with her own creation. She deals with it first by vairgya in its crudest form of disgust, but this is too violent a feeling to be permanent; yet it leaves its mark behind in a deep-seated wish to be rid of its cause, which survives the return and temporary reign of the passion. Afterwards its return is viewed with impatience but without any acute feeling of intolerance. Finally supreme indifference or udsnat is gained and the final going out of the tendency by the ordinary process of Nature is watched in the true spirit of the sayam who has the knowledge that he is the witnessing soul and has only to dissociate himself from a phenomenon for it to cease. The highest stage leads either to mukti in the form of laya or disappearance, the vtti vanishing altogether and for good, or else to another kind of freedom when the soul knows that it is Gods ll and leaves it to Him whether He shall throw out the tendency or use it for His own purposes. This is the attitude of the Karma Yogin who puts himself in Gods hands and does work for His sake only, knowing that it is Gods force that works in him. The result of that attitude of self-surrender is that the Lord of all takes charge and according to the promise of the Gita delivers His servant and lover from all sin and evil, the vttis working in the bodily machine without affecting the soul and working only when He raises them up for His purposes. This is nirliptat, the state of absolute freedom within the ll.
  The law is the same for the mass as for the individual. The process of human evolution has been seen by the eye of inspired observation to be that of working out the tiger and the ape. The forces of cruelty, lust, mischievous destruction, pain-giving, folly, brutality, ignorance were once rampant in humanity, they had full enjoyment; then by the growth of religion and philosophy they began in periods of satiety such as the beginning of the Christian era in Europe to be partly replaced, partly put under control. As is the law of such things, they have always reverted again with greater or less virulence and sought with more or less success to re-establish themselves. Finally in the nineteenth century it seemed for a time as if some of these forces had, for a time at least, exhausted themselves and the hour for sayama and gradual dismissal from the evolution had really arrived. Such hopes always recur and in the end they are likely to bring about their own fulfilment, but before that happens another recoil is inevitable. We see plenty of signs of it in the reeling back into the beast which is in progress in Europe and America behind the fair outside of Science, progress, civilisation and humanitarianism, and we are likely to see more signs of it in the era that is coming upon us. A similar law holds in politics and society. The political evolution of the human race follows certain lines of which the most recent formula has been given in the watchwords of the French Revolution, freedom, equality and brotherhood. But the forces of the old world, the forces of despotism, the forces of traditional privilege and selfish exploitation, the forces of unfraternal strife and passionate self-regarding competition are always struggling to reseat themselves on the thrones of the earth. A determined movement of reaction is evident in many parts of the world and nowhere perhaps more than in England which was once one of the self-styled champions of progress and liberty. The attempt to go back to the old spirit is one of those necessary returns without which it cannot be so utterly exhausted as to be blotted out from the evolution. It rises only to be defeated and crushed again. On the other hand the force of the democratic tendency is not a force which is spent but one which has not yet arrived, not a force which has had the greater part of its enjoyment but one which is still vigorous, unsatisfied and eager for fulfilment. Every attempt to coerce it in the past reacted eventually on the coercing force and brought back the democratic spirit fierce, hungry and unsatisfied, joining to its fair motto of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity the terrible addition or Death. It is not likely that the immediate future of the democratic tendency will satisfy the utmost dreams of the lover of liberty who seeks an anarchist freedom, or of the lover of equality who tries to establish a socialistic dead level, or of the lover of fraternity who dreams of a world-embracing communism. But some harmonisation of this great ideal is undoubtedly the immediate future of the human race. On the old forces of despotism, inequality and unbridled competition, after they have been once more overthrown, a process of gradual sayama will be performed by which what has remained of them will be regarded as the disappearing vestiges of a dead reality and without any further violent coercion be transformed slowly and steadily out of existence.

1.07 - The Psychic Center, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  while other, rare souls seem replete with a consciousness as vast as the earth. Indeed, a man can be a luminous Yogi or a saint living in his soul, yet still possess a crude mind, a repressed vital, a body he ignores or crassly mistreats, and a completely virgin superconscient.
  "Salvation" may be achieved, but not the fullness of an integral life.

1.081 - The Application of Pratyahara, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  A sentiment or a prejudice cannot be rationally analysed. It will not be subject to analysis, and it will not agree to it either that is the force that is behind it. So there is a need to completely isolate the mind in its individual aspect as well as its externally related social aspect. The mind may not think of an object when it does not like it. This is one kind of pratyahara. Suppose we are averse to a thing; we will not think of that thing. But this is not Yogic pratyahara, because the spontaneous dislike that arises in the mind on account of that particular object being an obstructing factor to its satisfactions is not a healthy condition.
  The pratyahara process is a healthy and positive process. It is not brought about by compulsion, or due to certain impediments that present themselves in the form of those things which are other than the ones which are desired by the mind. The mind sometimes does not think of objects when it is not concerned with them. This is another kind of pratyahara, but it is different from Yogic pratyahara which is a philosophical withdrawal and not a negative kick that the mind receives or a complete oblivion or ignorance of the presence of a thing. It is a conscious attitude, and nothing unconscious should be allowed to interfere with it. We are aware of everything that is happening in the process of pratyahara. We are not ignorant of any aspect, and are not unconscious of anything. Even the things that we like and the things that we do not like both these are objects of analysis. The withdrawal is not merely from the negative side of experience namely, the objects which one does not like but also from the positive objects which one really likes. Both the likes and the dislikes of the mind are two aspects of an involvement, and what pratyahara endeavours to accomplish is precisely the relief of the mind from involvement. Involvement is a kind of illness that has taken possession of the mind, from which it has to be freed, of which it has to be cured. Whether we have a positive like for a thing or a negative dislike for a thing, we are equally involved in either case. And both these are defects very serious impediments from the point of view of yoga.
  Why this involvement has taken place, and what is the defect that is there behind it, cannot be understood as long as the mind is impinging upon the object and clinging to it. The proper direction of the mind in a requisite manner can be effected only in a higher stage, which is called dharana, or concentration. But prior to this there is the need for bringing the mind back from the wrong direction that it has taken. Before we direct it in a proper way, we have to bring it back from the improper way it has taken. This is the meaning of pratyahara the mind has taken a wrong direction of action, and so we have to bring it back from that direction. It has taken a wrong course, and after we bring it back to the point from where it started on the wrong course, we direct it on a proper course.

1.08 - Adhyatma Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
  46. Worship the Gods, the preceptor, the wise, sages, Yogis, Munis, saints and Sannyasins, learned Brahmins. Be straightforward. Be pure. Observe Brahmacharya. Practise Ahimsa. This is austerity of body.
  47. Speak the truth. Speak that which generates love. Speak that which is beneficent. This is austerity of speech.

1.08 - Independence from the Physical, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  submerged in Matter, has grown accustomed to depending upon outer organs and antennas to perceive the world; and since we have seen the antennas appear before the master of the antennas, we have childishly concluded that the antennas have created the master, and that without antennas there is no master, no perception of the world. But this is an illusion. Our dependence upon the senses is merely a habit true, a millenary one, but no more inescapable than the flintstone implements of the Chellean man: It is possible for the mind and it would be natural for it, if it could be persuaded to liberate itself from its consent to the domination of matter, to take direct cognizance of the objects of sense without the aid of the sense-organs.91 We can see and feel across continents as if distances did not exist, because distance is an obstacle only to the body and its organs, not to consciousness, which can reach anywhere it wishes in a second, provided it has learned to expand itself; there is another, lighter space where all is together in a flash point. Here we might expect to receive some "recipe" for clairvoyance or ubiquity, but recipes are just another kind of machinery, which is why we are so fond of them. True, hatha yoga can be effective, as can many other kinds of Yogic exercises, such as concentrating on a lighted candle (tratak), evolving infallible diets,
  doing breathing exercises and choking scientifically (pranayama).
  --
  Three comments might be made. First, because of a rather amusing lack of experience this boy was trying to reenter his body "through the legs"; no wonder he had trouble! It is generally through the heart center that one leaves and reenters. One can also go out through the top of the head, but this is scarcely recommended. When Yogis leave their bodies for good (what is called iccha-mrityu in India, or willed death), they go out through the top of the head. Secondly, during the exteriorization,
  the body grows cold, and the circulation is reduced to a minimum; this temperature drop can even become complete catalepsy with all the outer signs of death,

1.08 - Introduction to Patanjalis Yoga Aphorisms, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  Before going into the Yoga aphorisms I shall try to discuss one great question, upon which rests the whole theory of religion for the Yogis. It seems the consensus of opinion of the great minds of the world, and it has been nearly demonstrated by researches into physical nature, that we are the outcome and manifestation of an absolute condition, back of our present relative condition, and are going forward, to return to that absolute. This being granted, the question is: Which is better, the absolute or this state? There are not wanting people who think that this manifested state is the highest state of man. Thinkers of great calibre are of the opinion that we are manifestations of undifferentiated being and the differentiated state is higher than the absolute. They imagine that in the absolute there cannot be any quality; that it must be insensate, dull, and lifeless; that only this life can be enjoyed, and, therefore, we must cling to it. First of all we want to inquire into other solutions of life. There was an old solution that man after death remained the same; that all his good sides, minus his evil sides, remained for ever. Logically stated, this means that man's goal is the world; this world carried a stage higher, and eliminated of its evils, is the state they call heaven. This theory, on the face of it, is absurd and puerile, because it cannot be. There cannot be good without evil, nor evil without good. To live in a world where it is all good and no evil is what Sanskrit logicians call a "dream in the air". Another theory in modern times has been presented by several schools, that man's destiny is to go on always improving, always struggling towards, but never reaching the goal. This statement, though apparently very nice, is also absurd, because there is no such thing as motion in a straight line. Every motion is in a circle. If you can take up a stone, and project it into space, and then live long enough, that stone, if it meets with no obstruction, will come back exactly to your hand. A straight line, infinitely projected must end in a circle. Therefore, this idea that the destiny of man is progressing ever forward and forward, and never stopping, is absurd. Although extraneous to the subject, I may remark that this idea explains the ethical theory that you must not hate, and must love. Because, just as in the case of electricity the modern theory is that the power leaves the dynamo and completes the circle back to the dynamo, so with hate and love; they must come back to the source. Therefore do not hate anybody, because that hatred which comes out from you, must, in the long run, come back to you. If you love, that love will come back to you, completing the circle. It is as certain as can be, that every bit of hatred that goes out of the heart of a man comes back to him in full force, nothing can stop it; similarly every impulse of love comes back to him.
  On other and practical grounds we see that the theory of eternal progression is untenable, for destruction is the goal of everything earthly. All our struggles and hopes and fears and joys, what will they lead to? We shall all end in death. Nothing is so certain as this. Where, then, is this motion in a straight line this infinite progression? It is only going out to a distance, and coming back to the centre from which it started. See how, from nebulae, the sun, moon, and stars are produced; then they dissolve and go back to nebulae. The same is being done everywhere. The plant takes material from the earth, dissolves, and gives it back. Every form in this world is taken out of surrounding atoms and goes back to these atoms. It cannot be that the same law acts differently in different places. Law is uniform. Nothing is more certain than that. If this is the law of nature, it also applies to thought. Thought will dissolve and go back to its origin. Whether we will it or not, we shall have to return to our origin which is called God or Absolute. We all came from God, and we are all bound to go back to God. Call that by any name you like, God, Absolute, or Nature, the fact remains the same. "From whom all this universe comes out, in whom all that is born lives, and to whom all returns." This is one fact that is certain. Nature works on the same plan; what is being worked out in one sphere is repeated in millions of spheres. What you see with the planets, the same will it be with this earth, with men, and with all. The huge wave is a mighty compound of small waves, it may be of millions; the life of the whole world is a compound of millions of little lives, and the death of the whole world is the compound of the deaths of these millions of little beings.

1.08 - Origin of Rudra: his becoming eight Rudras, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  [1]: The creation of Rudra has been already adverted to, and that seems to be the primitive form of the legend. We have here another account, grounded apparently upon Śaiva or Yogi mysticism.
  [2]: The appearance of Rudra as a Kumāra, 'a boy,' is described as of repeated occurrence in the Li

1.08 - Sri Aurobindos Descent into Death, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  sidered his Yogic effort to be that of an Avatar, and even the
  most decisive of all avataric missions. On the other hand,
  --
  One reads of many masters in several Yogic disciplines
  who possessed the power to lay down their body at will.

1.08 - Stead and the Spirits, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  From this point of view Mr. Steads bizarre experiments are to be deprecated. The one redeeming feature about them is that, as conducted, they seem to remove the first elementary difficulty in the way of investigation, the possibility of human deceit and imposture. We presume that he has got rid of professional mediums and allows only earnest-minded and honourable investigators to be present. But the other elements of error and confusion are encouraged rather than obviated by the spirit and methods of Mr. Steads Bureau. First, there is the error and self-deception of the sitters. The spirit does not express himself directly but has to give his thoughts at third hand; they come first to the intermediary spirit, Julia or another, by her they are conveyed to the human medium and through him conveyed by automatic or conscious speech or writing to the listeners. It is obvious how largely the mind of the medium and, to a smaller but still great extent, the thought-impressions of the other sitters must interfere, and this without the least intention on their part, rather in spite of a strong wish in the opposite direction. Few men really understand how the human mind works or are fitted to watch the processes of their own conscious and half-conscious thought even when the mind is disinterested, still less when it is active and interested in the subject of communication. The sitters interfere, first, by putting in their own thoughts and expressions suggested by the beginnings of the communication, so that what began as a spirit conversation ends in a tangle of the mediums or sitters ideas with the little of his own that the spirit can get in now and then. They interfere not only by suggesting what they themselves think or would say on the subject, but by suggesting what they think the spirit ought dramatically to think or say, so that Mr. Gladstone is made to talk in interminable cloudy and circumambient periods which were certainly his oratorical style but can hardly have been the staple of his conversation, and Lord Beaconsfield is obliged to be cynical and immoral in the tone of his observations. They interfere again by eagerness, which sometimes produces replies according to the sitters wishes and sometimes others which are unpleasant or alarming, but in neither case reliable. This is especially the case in answers to questions about the future, which ought never to be asked. It is true that many astonishing predictions occur which are perfectly accurate, but these are far outweighed by the mass of false and random prediction. These difficulties can only be avoided by rigidly excluding every question accompanied by or likely to raise eagerness or expectation and by cultivating entire mental passivity. The last however is impossible to the medium unless he is a practised Yogin, or in a trance, or a medium who has attained the habit of passivity by an unconscious development due to long practice. In the sitters we do not see how it is to be induced. Still, without unemotional indifference to the nature of the answer and mental passivity the conditions for so difficult and delicate a process of communication cannot be perfect.
  Error and self-deception from the other side of the veil cannot be obviated by any effort on this side; all that we can do is to recognise that the spirits are limited in knowledge and cabined by character, so that we have to allow for the mental and moral equation in the communicant when judging the truth and value of the communication. Absolute deception and falsehood can only be avoided by declining to communicate with spirits of a lower order and being on guard against their masquerading under familiar or distinguished names. How far Mr. Stead and his circle have guarded against these latter errors we cannot say, but the spirit in which the sittings are conducted, does not encourage us to suppose that scrupulous care is taken in these respects. It is quite possible that some playful spirit has been enacting Mr. Gladstone to the too enthusiastic circle and has amused himself by elaborating those cloudy-luminous periods which he saw the sitters expected from the great deceased Opportunist. But we incline to the view that what we have got in this now famous spirit interview, is a small quantity of Gladstone, a great deal of Stead and a fair measure of the disembodied Julia and the assistant psychics.

1.08 - The Four Austerities and the Four Liberations, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  The question of mental austerity immediately brings to mind long meditations leading to control of thought and culminating in inner silence. This aspect of Yogic discipline is too well known to need dwelling upon. But there is another aspect of the subject which is usually given less attention, and that is control of speech. Apart from a very few exceptions, only absolute silence is set in opposition to loose talk. And yet it is a far greater and far more fruitful austerity to control ones speech than to abolish it altogether.
  Man is the first animal on earth to be able to use articulate sounds. Indeed, he is very proud of this capacity and exercises it without moderation or discernment. The world is deafened with the sound of his words and sometimes one almost misses the harmonious silence of the plant kingdom.

1.08 - The Gods of the Veda - The Secret of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  What then is maho arnas? Is it the great sea of general being, substance of general existence out of which the substance of thought & speech are formed? It is possible; but such an interpretation is not entirely in consonance with the context of this passage. The suggestion I shall advance will therefore be different. Mahas, as a neuter adjective, means great,maho arnas, the great water; but mahas may be equally a noun and then maho arnas will mean Mahas the sea. In some passages again, mahas is genitive singular or accusative plural of a noun mah; maho arnas may well be the flowing stream or flood of Mah, as in the expression vasvo arnavam, the sea of substance, in a later Sukta.We are therefore likely to remain in doubt unless we can find an actual symbolic use of either word Mah or Mahas in a psychological sense which would justify us in supposing this Maho Arnas to be a sea of substance of knowledge rather than vaguely the sea of general substance of being. For this is the significance which alone entirely suits the actual phraseology of the last Rik of the Sukta. We find our clue in the Taittiriya Upanishad. It is said there that there are three recognised vyahritis of the Veda, Bhur, Bhuvar, Swah, but the Rishi Mahachamasya affirmed a fourth. The name of this doubtful fourth vyahriti is Mahas. Now the mystic vyahritis of the Veda are the shabdas or sacred words expressing objectively the three worlds, subjectively mentalised material being, mentalised vital being & pure mental being, the three manifest states of our phenomenal consciousness. Mahas, therefore, must express a fourth state of being, which is so much superior to the other three or so much beyond the ordinary attainment of our actual human consciousness that it is hardly considered in Vedic thought a vyahriti, whatever one or two thinkers may have held to the contrary. What do we know of this Mahas from Vedantic or later sources? Bhuh, Bhuvah, Swar of the Veda rest substantially upon the Annam, Prana, Manas, matter, life & mind of the Upanishads. But the Upanishads speak of a fourth state of being immediately aboveManas, preceding it therefore & containing it, Vijnanam, ideal knowledge, and a fifth immediately above Vijnanam, Ananda or Bliss. Physically, these five are the pancha kshitayah, five earths or dwelling-places, of the Rig Veda and they are the pancha koshas, five sheaths or bodies of the Upanishads. But in our later Yogic systems we recognise seven earths, seven standing grounds of the soul on which it experiences phenomenal existence. The Purana gives us their names [the names of the two beyond the five already mentioned], Tapas and Satya, Energy&Truth. They are the outward expressions of the two psychological principles, Self-Awareness &Self-Being (Chit&Sat) which with Ananda, Self-Bliss, are the triune appearance in the soul of the supreme Existence which the Vedanta calls Brahman. Sat, Chit & Ananda constitute to Vedantic thought the parardha or spiritual higher half [of] our existence; in less imaginative language, we are in our supreme existence self-existence, self-awareness & self-delight. Annam, Prana & Manas constitute to Vedantic thought the aparardha or lower half; again, in more abstract speech, we are in our lower phenomenal existence mind, life & matter. Vijnana is the link; standing in ideal knowledge we are aware, looking upward, of our spiritual existence, looking downward, we pour it out into the three vyahritis, Bhur, Bhuvah & Swar, mental, vital & material existence, the phenomenal symbols of our self-expression. Objectively vijnana becomes mahat, the great, wide or extended state of phenomenal being,called also brihat, likewise signifying vast or great,into which says the Gita, the Self or Lord casts his seed as into a womb in order to engender all these objects & creatures. The Self, standing in vijnanam or mahat, is called the Mahan Atma, the great Self; so that, if we apply the significance [of] these terms to the Vedic words mah, mahas, mahi, mahn, then, even accepting mahas as an adjective and maho arnas in the sense of the great Ocean, it may very well be the ocean of the ideal or pure ideative state of existence in true knowledge which is intended, the great ocean slumbering in our humanity and awakened by the divine inspiration of Saraswati. But have we at all the right to read these high, strange & subtle ideas of a later mysticism into the primitive accents of the Veda? Let us at least support for a while that hypothesis. We may very well ask, if not from the Vedic forefa thers, whence did the Aryan thinkers get these striking images, this rich & concrete expression of the most abstract ideas and persist in them even after the Indian mind had rarefied & lifted its capacity to the height of the most difficult severities & abstractions known to any metaphysical thinking? Our hypothesis of a Vedic origin remains not only a possible suggestion but the one hypothesis in lawful possession of the field, unless a foreign source or a later mixed ideation can be proved. At present this later ideation may be assumed, it has not been & cannot be proved. The agelong tradition of India assigns the Veda as the source & substance of our theosophies; Brahmana, Aranyaka, Upanishad & Purana as only the interpretation & later expression; the burden of disproof rests on those who negative the tradition.
  Vjebhir vjinvat and maho arnas are therefore fixed in their significance. The word vashtu in the tenth Rik offers a difficulty. It is equivalent to vahatu, says the Brahmana; to kmayatu, says Sayana; but, deferring to the opinion of the Brahmana, he adds that it means really kmayitw vahatu. Undoubtedly the root va means in classical Sanscrit to desire; but from the evidence of the classical Sanscrit we have it established that in more ancient times its ordinary meaning must have been to subdue or control; for although the verb has lost this sense in the later language, almost all its derivatives bear that meaning & the sense of wish, will or desire only persists in a few of them, va, wish and possibly va, a woman. It is this sense which agrees best with the context of the tenth rik and is concealed in the vahatu of the Brahmanas. There is no other difficulty of interpretation in the passage.
  What then is it that Madhuchchhanda, son of Viswamitra, has to say in this Sukta of the goddess of inspiration, speech and knowledge? He does not directly address her, but he assigns to this deity the general control, support and illumination of the sacrifice he is performing. Let Saraswati he says control our Yajna. The epithets which fill the Rik must express either the permanent & characteristic qualities in her which fit her for this high office of control or the possible & suitable qualities with which he wishes her to be equipped in the performance of that office. First, pvak. She is the great purifier. It is as we shall see not a literary inspiration he invokes, but a divine inspiration, an inspiration of truths and right thoughts and, it may be, right feelings. Saraswati by this inspiration, by this inspired truth & knowledge & right feeling, is asked to purify, first, the mental state of the Yogin; for a mind unpurified cannot hold the light from on high. Knowledge purifies, says the Gita, meaning the higher spiritual knowledge which comes by ruti, divine inspiration; there is nothing in the whole world so pure as knowledge: Saraswati who purifies, Pvak Saraswat. Vjebhir vjin vat. She is full of substantial energy, stored with a great variety in substance of knowledge, chitraravastama, as is said in another hymn of the strong god Agni. The inspiration & resultant knowledge prayed for is not that of any isolated truth or slight awakening, but a great substance of knowledge & a high plenty of inspiration; the mental state has to be filled with this strong & copious substance of Saraswati.Dhiyvasuh. She is rich in understanding. Dh in the Veda is the buddhi, the faculty of reason that understands, discerns & holds knowledge. This inspiration has to be based on a great intellectual capacity which supports & holds the flood of the inspiration. Thus rich, thus strong & plenteous, thus purifying the divine inspiration has to hold & govern the Sacrifice.
  The thought passes on in the eleventh Rik from the prayer to the fulfilment. Yajnam dadhe Saraswat. Saraswati upholds the Yajna; she has accepted the office of governance & already upbears in her strength the action of the sacrifice. In that action she is Chodayitr unritnm, chetant sumatnm. That great luminous impulse of inspiration in which the truths of being start to light of themselves and are captured and possessed by the mind, that spiritual enlightenment and awakening in which right thoughts & right seeing become spontaneously the substance of our purified mental state, proceed from Saraswati & are already being poured by her into the system, like the Aryan stream into the Indus. Mati means any activity of the mind; right thoughts in the intellect, right feelings in the heart, right perceptions in the sensational mind, sumati may embrace any or all of these associations; in another context, by a different turn of the prefix, it may express kindly thoughts, friendly feelings, happy perceptions.
  --
  Brahmni therefore may mean either the soul-activities, as dhiyas means the mental activities, or it may mean the words of the mantra which express the soul. If we take it in the latter sense, we must refer it to the girah of the second rik, the mantras taken up by the Aswins into the understanding in order to prepare for action & creation. Indra is to come to these mantras and support them by the brilliant substance of a mental force richly varied in its effulgent manifestation, controlled by the understanding and driven forward to its task in various ways. But it seems to me that the rendering is not quite satisfactory. The main point in this hymn is not the mantras, but the Soma wine and the power that it generates. It is in the forces of the Soma that the Aswins are to rejoice, in that strength they are to take up the girah, in that strength they are to rise to their fiercest intensity of strength & delight. Indra, as mental power, arrives in his richly varied lustre; yhi chitrabhno. Here says the Rishi are these life-forces in the nectar-wine; they are purified in their minute parts & in their whole extent, for so I understand anwbhis tan ptsah; that is to say the distillings of Ananda or divine delight whether in the body as nectar, [or] in the subjective system as streams of life-giving delight are purified of all that impairs & weakens the life forces, purified both in their little several movements & in the whole extent of their stream. These are phenomena that can easily be experienced & understood in Yoga, and the whole hymn like many in the Veda reads to those who have experience like a practical account of a great Yogic internal movement accurate in its every detail. Streng thened, like the Aswins, by the nectar, Indra is to prepare the many-sided activity supported by the Visve devah; therefore he has to come not only controlled by the understanding, dhishnya, like the Aswins, but driven forward in various paths. For an energetic & many-sided activity is the object & for this there must be an energetic and many-sided but well-ordered action of the mental power. He has to come, thus manifold, thus controlled, to the spiritual activities generated by the Soma & the Aswins in the increasing soul (vghatah) full of the life-giving nectar, the immortalising Ananda, sutvatah. He has to come to those soul-activities, in this substance of mental brilliancy, yhi upa brahmni harivas. He has to come, ttujna, with a protective force, or else with a rapidly striving force & uphold by mind the joy of the Sacrificer in the nectar-offering, the offering of this Ananda to the gods of life & action & thought, sute dadhishwa na chanah. Protecting is, here, the best sense for ttujna. For Indra is not only to support swift & energetic action; that has already been provided for; he has also to uphold or bear in mind and by the power of mind the great & rapid delight which the Sacrificer is about to pour out into life & action, jvayja. The divine delight must not fail us in our activity; hostile shocks must not be allowed to disturb our established pleasure in the great offering. Therefore Indra must be there in his light & power to uphold and to protect.
  We have gained, therefore, another great step in the understanding of the Veda. The figure of the mighty Indra, in his most essential quality & function, begins to appear to us as in a half-luminous silhouette full of suggestions. We have much yet to learn about him, especially his war with Vritra, his thunderbolt & his dealings with the seven rivers. But the central or root idea is fixed. The rest is the outgrowth, foliage & branchings.
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  We have gathered much from this brief hymn, one of the deepest in thought in the Veda. If our construction is correct, then this at least appears that the Veda is no loose, empty & tawdry collection of vague images & shallow superstitions, but there are some portions of it at least which present a clear, well-knit writing full of meaning & stored with ideas. We have the work of sages & thinkers, rishayah, kavayah, manshinah, subtle practical psychologists & great Yogins, not the work of savage medicine-men evolving out of primitive barbarism the first glimpses of an embryonic culture in the half-coherent fumble, the meaningless ritual of a worship of personified rain, wind, fire, sun & constellations. The gods of the Veda have a clear & fixed personality & functions & its conceptions are founded on a fairly advanced knowledge & theory at least of our subjective nature. Nor when we look at the clearness, fixity & frequently psychological nature of the functions of the Greek gods, Apollo, Hermes, Pallas, Aphrodite, [have we] the right to expect anything less from the ancestors of the far more subtle-minded, philosophical & spiritual Indian nation.
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1.096 - Powers that Accrue in the Practice, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  Thus, this grahsya samapatti, or the mastery one acquires over the object, brings such powers as these. Incidentally, it has a result on the body of the person also. There is a perfection that follows in respect of ones own body, which is described in another sutra: rpa lvaya bala vajra sahananatvni kyasapat (III.47). It appears that one becomes very handsome in ones personality, beautiful in complexion, radiant in the skin, and so on; these are qualities described. Apart from that, great strength follows. One becomes vajrasamhana adamantine in ones energy so that one will become indefatigable and unapproachable by the forces of nature. These perfections of the body are subsidiary consequences that follow the mastery one gains over the elements. The third result that follows, as the sutra tells us, is that the elements do not any more obstruct the person. We will not sink into water, or get burnt by fire, etc. These are the non-obstructing characters revealed by the elements. One can pierce through a wall and pass through it, by the entry of the subtle body through these apparently gross objects. The non-obstructive character of the elements in respect of the Yogi is the third aspect.
  These are, generally speaking, the objective powers that one gains. The subjective powers are mastery over the senses and the mind. Just as there are five aspects mentioned in connection with the control of the elements, five aspects are also mentioned in respect of the control of the senses. Grahaa svarpa asmit anvaya arthavattva sayamt indriyajaya (III.48). The senses can be controlled if we can understand their structure. Just as the five gradations of the manifestation of prakriti through the elements were mentioned, similar gradations are mentioned in respect of the senses.
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  Then the sutra, tata manojavitva vikaraabhva pradhnajaya ca (III.49), tells us that the mind becomes powerful and it can carry the body, like a rocket, to any place. That is called manojavitvam: one can fly as fast as the mind flies. Vikranabhava is another perfection that is said to follow. Vikranabhava means the capacity to reach any object, at any distance, and manipulate it in the manner required, according to the wish of the Yogi. Again, this is another part of grahsya samapatti, or the power that one gains over the elements.
  These powers, objective as well as subjective, are incidental to a greater or more noble purpose that is the very aim of the practice of yoga. The intention of the practice of yoga, says the sutra, is not to gain mastery over anybody. These masteries follow as a matter of course. When we go to Rishikesh, which is our intention, on the way we will see so many things. We will see Yoga Niketan on the way; we will see Brahmananda Ashram; we see will Kailash Ashram. We may be seeing them, we may even be looking at them, we may be touching them, but our intention is something else: we want to go to Rishikesh. Likewise, when the aim is clear before ones mind, these powers which are incidental acquisitions come of their own accord, even without ones asking.
  The powers are not really miracles as most people think. They are revelations of the forces of nature which are hidden, through which one passes when one rises from one realm to another realm. In each realm a particular law operates, just as different laws operate in different countries. When one gains entry into a particular realm, one becomes one with the law that operates in that realm; and to a lower realm, that upper law looks like a miracle. The aim of yoga is the liberation of the spirit. The highest perfections are not control of the elements, or bodily perfection, etc., as mentioned. The eight siddhis etc. are not the aim of yoga. Rather, they are obstacles if they are independently aimed at. The purpose is Cosmic-consciousness, which also is an incidental experience to the last stage which is called liberation, or moksha. Omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence are the last powers that come to a person. That is Ishvara shakti: entering into the mind of a Yogi. That is the last perfection, and is connected with the Pure Spirit, or the purusha.
  These perfections come in various ways: sometimes without ones knowing that they have come, or sometimes they become objects of ones mental awareness. All people are not of the same kind. Every Yogi is a specific character by himself or herself, so we cannot compare one with the other. Though many people may practise a similar technique of meditation, the experiences will not be uniform; they will vary because of the peculiarity or novelty of the physical and the mental strain of the individual concerned. These powers and experiences are the reactions set up in the personality of the Yogi by the powers of nature as a whole, and inasmuch as the individualities of the Yogis vary in the structure and the makeup of their organism, the reactions also vary in nature. Hence, experiences vary. Sometimes we may see light, sometimes we may not see light, and so on.
  It is not the intention of the Yoga Shastra to describe what powers come to a Yogi when he concentrates or practises samyama, as these are temptations and sidetracking issues. But anyhow, for the purpose of giving an idea of the greatness of the practice, and also to give some sort of an enthusiasm to the practitioners, the Yoga Sutra has gone into some detail as to the nature of these powers.
  Our main point is samyama. There is no use merely counting the number of rich persons in the world and trying to find out the means by which they have become rich. Well, that may be a good science as a kind of theoretical pursuit, but what do we gain by knowing how many rich people are there in this world and how they have become rich? We will not become rich by knowing these methods, because it is a science by itself and not merely a historical study or a survey that we make statistically. The science is a more important aspect of the matter than merely a statement of the consequences or results that follow by the pursuit of the science. What is the science? That is samyama, the subject that we have been studying all along. How are we able to concentrate the mind? For this purpose the author has taken great pains in some of the sutras to explain how the mind can be made to agree, wholeheartedly, with the pursuit of yoga, and how distractions can be eliminated. It is this that is the intention of the sutras, right from those which dealt with the nirodha parinama, etc., onwards.
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  Aurangzeb did not know what was happening. People were crying and complaining about the ravage that had been effected in the whole city by unknown monsters coming as huge monkeys. Then someone told him, We have made a mistake in imprisoning Tulsidas. Release him. He is a devotee of Rama, and so Ramas army must have come. Then Aurangzeb said, Let him off. Let him off! Go, ask him to leave. What this anecdote shows is, when we oppose a man of power, his power is seen. Otherwise, we cannot see the power. Even a lions power cannot be seen unless we oppose it. The lion will be sitting or lying down, crouching on the ground as if it has no strength at all. If we want to see the strength of a lion, we must attack it, and then its power will be seen immediately. Similarly, often the powers of a Yogin are not known, as they are hidden.
  There were great Yogis such as Suka and Jadabharata. Jadabharatas case was very marvellous. He never exhibited powers, and there is no indication anywhere that he was even aware that he had powers. He was like an idiot. Some dacoits caught hold of him and took him to Mother Kali to offer him as a victim in the worship, and he said nothing. He kept quiet and did not open his mouth. He did not behave like a Yogi. When the archaka raised his sword to offer the victim to Mother Kali, a miracle took place. That image, which was apparently made of stone, assumed life, and suddenly a force emerged. The real Kali came out, and she simply laid waste the entire gang of the dacoits. They were offered as victims, not this old man.
  We have stories and stories of this kind, where great masters lived hidden, unknown to the public eye, unseen not only not known to the public eye, but sometimes not known even to themselves, inasmuch as they were absorbed in something else altogether. They had no time to think of their own powers and even their own needs. Janaka was one type of Yogi, Sri Krishna was another type, Rama was a third type, Suka was another, and so on. There are various kinds of Yogis who lived in different conditions and circumstances, all wielding the same powers some exhibiting, some not exhibiting.
  We, as little beginners in the practice of yoga, need not go into these miracles of the magnificent achievements of the great masters. We have to find out how they became masters; that is what is more important. How did Suka become Suka? What was the secret behind it? What was the power of Vasishtha? He could simply stun all the celestial weapons of Visvamitra by a mere wooden stick that he had in front of him. Even the brahmastra would not work before that yogadanda. What is that secret? From where did he get that power? And Bharadvaja simply snapped his fingers and celestials dropped from the skies with golden plates of delicacies and served the millions and millions of soldiers of Bharata, who was in the forest in search of Rama. Merely a snap of the fingers would do, and celestials start dropping from the skies. From where is all this possible?

1.098 - The Transformation from Human to Divine, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  Thus, great caution is given by Patanjali himself that one who is not sufficiently equipped with the requisites of vairagya will not be able to go even one step in yoga. When we open the eyes of Yogic perception even as a student of yoga, and not necessarily as an adept we will begin to see new meanings in things. When we talk to our friends, they will not be friends with whom we are talking. They will be some significances which we are encountering and facing. We will begin to see the meaning within the forms of the world, which we missed in the forms commonly encountered by the senses in ordinary life. There are no such things as friends and enemies in this world. They do not exist. For Yogic vision, there are no such things as humans, animals, trees, stones, etc. They do not exist. They are something extraordinary in this world. Even the things that we see with our eyes, even just now, are extraordinary things. We miss their meaning due to a habituation of the mind through this gross perception of personalities.
  The personalities are not personalities at all for Yogic vision. They are not persons. They are only configurations of a cosmical significance, which has to be grasped very well before we are able to face anything. We have to guard ourselves well in every respect. The beginning of Yogic perception is the recognition of the fact that we are citizens of the universe, not citizens of India or America or any country nothing of the kind. We are not even inhabitants of this earth; we are something more than that. We are denizens of the whole cosmos, and the laws of the universe will act upon us, and they will subject us to obedience. They are the forces that we are facing.
  In yoga, we are not facing crows and cows and trees and persons. We are facing the whole cosmos in front of us. One has to be prepared for the consequences before one actually enters into this arduous enterprise; this is a great caution meted out to us by the Yoga Shastra. When this vision is kept up clearly, continuously, without break, we will be able to understand even the meaning of the oppositions and impediments that come before us. And when they are detected, they cease to be impediments they become friends. The dismal look that may appear to be there at the beginning will put on a new face altogether, and a new contour. The darkness will be dispelled, and light will manifest itself. These are hard things for the mind to grasp.

1.09 - Concentration - Its Spiritual Uses, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  When two of our perceptions do not contradict each other, we call it proof. I hear something, and if it contradicts something already perceived, I begin to fight it out, and do not believe it. There are also three kinds of proof. Pratyaksha, direct perception; whatever we see and feel, is proof, if there has been nothing to delude the senses. I see the world; that is sufficient proof that it exists. Secondly, Anumna, inference; you see a sign, and from the sign you come to the thing signified. Thirdly, ptavkya, the direct evidence of the Yogis, of those who have seen the truth. We are all of us struggling towards knowledge. But you and I have to struggle hard, and come to knowledge through a long tedious process of reasoning, but the Yogi, the pure one, has gone beyond all this. Before his mind, the past, the present, and the future are alike, one book for him to read; he does not require to go through the tedious processes for knowledge we have to; his words are proof, because he sees knowledge in himself. These, for instance, are the authors of the sacred scriptures; therefore the scriptures are proof. If any such persons are living now their words will be proof. Other philosophers go into long discussions about Aptavakya and they say, "What is the proof of their words?" The proof is their direct perception. Because whatever I see is proof, and whatever you see is proof, if it does not contradict any past knowledge. There is knowledge beyond the senses, and whenever it does not contradict reason and past human experience, that knowledge is proof. Any madman may come into this room and say he sees angels around him; that would not be proof. In the first place, it must be true knowledge, and secondly, it must not contradict past knowledge, and thirdly, it must depend upon the character of the man who gives it out. I hear it said that the character of the man is not of so much importance as what he may say; we must first hear what he says. This may be true in other things. A man may be wicked, and yet make an astronomical discovery, but in religion it is different, because no impure man will ever have the power to reach the truths of religion. Therefore we have first of all to see that the man who declares himself to be an pta is a perfectly unselfish and holy person; secondly, that he has reached beyond the senses; and thirdly, that what he says does not contradict the past knowledge of humanity. Any new discovery of truth does not contradict the past truth, but fits into it. And fourthly, that truth must have a possibility of verification. If a man says, "I have seen a vision," and tells me that I have no right to see it, I believe him not. Everyone must have the power to see it for himself. No one who sells his knowledge is an Apta. All these conditions must be fulfilled; you must first see that the man is pure, and that he has no selfish motive; that he has no thirst for gain or fame. Secondly, he must show that he is superconscious. He must give us something that we cannot get from our senses, and which is for the benefit of the world. Thirdly, we must see that it does not contradict other truths; if it contradicts other scientific truths reject it at once. Fourthly, the man should never be singular; he should only represent what all men can attain. The three sorts of proof are, then, direct sense-perception, inference, and the words of an Apta. I cannot translate this word into English. It is not the word "inspired", because inspiration is believed to come from outside, while this knowledge comes from the man himself. The literal meaning is "attained".
  8. Indiscrimination is false knowledge not established in real nature.
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  It is the highest manifestation of the power of Vairagya when it takes away even our attraction towards the qualities. We have first to understand what the Purusha, the Self, is and what the qualities are. According to Yoga philosophy, the whole of nature consists of three qualities or forces; one is called Tamas, another Rajas, and the third Sattva. These three qualities manifest themselves in the physical world as darkness or inactivity, attraction or repulsion, and equilibrium of the two. Everything that is in nature, all manifestations, are combinations and recombinations of these three forces. Nature has been divided into various categories by the Snkhyas; the Self of man is beyond all these, beyond nature. It is effulgent, pure, and perfect. Whatever of intelligence we see in nature is but the reflection of this Self upon nature. Nature itself is insentient. You must remember that the word nature also includes the mind; mind is in nature; thought is in nature; from thought, down to the grossest form of matter, everything is in nature, the manifestation of nature. This nature has covered the Self of man, and when nature takes away the covering, the self appears in Its own glory. The non-attachment, as described in aphorism 15 (as being control of objects or nature) is the greatest help towards manifesting the Self. The next aphorism defines Samadhi, perfect concentration which is the goal of the Yogi.
  17. The concentration called right knowledge is that which is followed by reasoning, discrimination bliss, unqualified egoism.
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  What is the result of constant practice of this higher concentration? All old tendencies of restlessness and dullness will be destroyed, as well as the tendencies of goodness too. The case is similar to that of the chemicals used to take the dirt and alloy off gold. When the ore is smelted down, the dross is burnt along with the chemicals. So this constant controlling power will stop the previous bad tendencies, and eventually, the good ones also. Those good and evil tendencies will suppress each other, leaving alone the Soul, in its own splendour untrammelled by either good or bad, the omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. Then the man will know that he had neither birth nor death, nor need for heaven or earth. He will know that he neither came nor went, it was nature which was moving, and that movement was reflected upon the soul. The form of the light reflected by the glass upon the wall moves, and the wall foolishly thinks it is moving. So with all of us; it is the Chitta constantly moving making itself into various forms, and we think that we are these various forms. All these delusions will vanish. When that free Soul will comm and not pray or beg, but comm and then whatever It desires will be immediately fulfilled; whatever It wants It will be able to do. According to the Sankhya philosophy, there is no God. It says that there can be no God of this universe, because if there were one, He must be a soul, and a soul must be either bound or free. How can the soul that is bound by nature, or controlled by nature, create? It is itself a slave. On the other hand, why should the Soul that is free create and manipulate all these things? It has no desires, so it cannot have any need to create. Secondly, it says the theory of God is an unnecessary one; nature explains all. What is the use of any God? But Kapila teaches that there are many souls, who, though nearly attaining perfection, fall short because they cannot perfectly renounce all powers. Their minds for a time merge in nature, to re-emerge as its masters. Such gods there are. We shall all become such gods, and, according to the Sankhyas, the God spoken of in the Vedas really means one of these free souls. Beyond them there is not an eternally free and blessed Creator of the universe. On the other hand, the Yogis say, "Not so, there is a God; there is one Soul separate from all other souls, and He is the eternal Master of all creation, the ever free, the Teacher of all teachers." The Yogis admit that those whom the Sankhyas call "the merged in nature" also exist. They are Yogis who have fallen short of perfection, and though, for a time, debarred from attaining the goal, remain as rulers of parts of the universe.
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  22. The success of Yogis differs according as the means they adopt are mild, medium, or intense.
  23. Or by devotion to Ishvara.
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  We must again remember that the Ptanjala Yoga philosophy is based upon the Sankhya philosophy; only in the latter there is no place for God, while with the Yogis God has a place. The Yogis, however, do not mention many ideas about God, such as creating. God as the Creator of the universe is not meant by the Ishvara of the Yogis. According to the Vedas, Ishvara is the Creator of the universe; because it is harmonious, it must be the manifestation of one will. The Yogis want to establish a God, but they arrive at Him in a peculiar fashion of their own. They say:
  
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  The mind must always travel between two extremes. You can think of limited space, but that very idea gives you also unlimited space. Close your eyes and think of a little space; at the same time that you perceive the little circle, you have a circle round it of unlimited dimensions. It is the same with time. Try to think of a second; you will have, with the same act of perception, to think of time which is unlimited. So with knowledge. Knowledge is only a germ in man, but you will have to think of infinite knowledge around it, so that the very constitution of our mind shows us that there is unlimited knowledge, and the Yogis call that unlimited knowledge God.
    
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  It is true that all knowledge is within ourselves, but this has to be called forth by another knowledge. Although the capacity to know is inside us, it must be called out, and that calling out of knowledge can only be done, a Yogi maintains, through another knowledge. Dead, insentient matter never calls out knowledge, it is the action of knowledge that brings out knowledge. Knowing beings must be with us to call forth what is in us, so these teachers were always necessary. The world was never without them, and no knowledge can come without them. God is the Teacher of all teachers, because these teachers, however great they may have been gods or angels were all bound and limited by time, while God is not. There are two peculiar deductions of the Yogis. The first is that in thinking of the limited, the mind must think of the unlimited; and that if one part of that perception is true, so also must the other be, for the reason that their value as perceptions of the mind is equal. The very fact that man has a little knowledge shows that God has unlimited knowledge. If I am to take one, why not the other? Reason forces me to take both or reject both. If I believe that there is a man with a little knowledge, I must also admit that there is someone behind him with unlimited knowledge. The second deduction is that no knowledge can come without a teacher. It is true, as the modern philosophers say, that there is something in man which evolves out of him; all knowledge is in man, but certain environments are necessary to call it out. We cannot find any knowledge without teachers. If there are men teachers, god teachers, or angel teachers, they are all limited; who was the teacher before them? We are forced to admit, as a last conclusion, one teacher who is not limited by time; and that One Teacher of infinite knowledge, without beginning or end, is called God.
  
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  The first manifestation of the repetition and thinking of Om is that the introspective power will manifest more and more, all the mental and physical obstacles will begin to vanish. What are the obstacles to the Yogi?
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  Disease. This body is the boat which will carry us to the other shore of the ocean of life. It must be taken care of. Unhealthy persons cannot be Yogis. Mental laziness makes us lose all lively interest in the subject, without which there will neither be the will nor the energy to practise. Doubts will arise in the mind about the truth of the science, however strong one's intellectual conviction may be, until certain peculiar psychic experiences come, as hearing or seeing at a distance, etc. These glimpses streng then the mind and make the student persevere. Falling away ... when obtained. Some days or weeks when you are practicing, the mind will be calm and easily concentrated, and you will find yourself progressing fast. All of a sudden the progress will stop one day, and you will find yourself, as it were, stranded. Persevere. All progress proceeds by such rise and fall.
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  The word used is Prna. Prana is not exactly breath. It is the name for the energy that is in the universe. Whatever you see in the universe, whatever moves or works, or has life, is a manifestation of this Prana. The sum-total of the energy displayed in the universe is called Prana. This Prana, before a cycle begins, remains in an almost motionless state; and when the cycle begins, this Prana begins to manifest itself. It is this Prana that is manifested as motion as the nervous motion in human beings or animals; and the same Prana is manifesting as thought, and so on. The whole universe is a combination of Prana and ksha; so is the human body. Out of Akasha you get the different materials that you feel and see, and out of Prana all the various forces. Now this throwing out and restraining the Prana is what is called Pranayama. Patanjali, the father of the Yoga philosophy, does not give very many particular directions about Pranayama, but later on other Yogis found out various things about this Pranayama, and made of it a great science. With Patanjali it is one of the many ways, but he does not lay much stress on it. He means that you simply throw the air out, and draw it in, and hold it for some time, that is all, and by that, the mind will become a little calmer. But, later on, you will find that out of this is evolved a particular science called Pranayama. We shall hear a little of what these later Yogis have to say.
  Some of this I have told you before, but a little repetition will serve to fix it in your minds. First, you must remember that this Prana is not the breath; but that which causes the motion of the breath, that which is the vitality of the breath, is the Prana. Again, the word Prana is used for all the senses; they are all called Pranas, the mind is called Prana; and so we see that Prana is force. And yet we cannot call it force, because force is only the manifestation of it. It is that which manifests itself as force and everything else in the way of motion. The Chitta, the mind-stuff, is the engine which draws in the Prana from the surroundings, and manufactures out of Prana the various vital forces those that keep the body in preservation and thought, will, and all other powers. By the abovementioned process of breathing we can control all the various motions in the body, and the various nerve currents that are running through the body. First we begin to recognise them, and then we slowly get control over them.
  Now, these later Yogis consider that there are three main currents of this Prana in the human body. One they call Id, another Pingal, and the third Sushumn. Pingala, according to them, is on the right side of the spinal column, and the Ida on the left, and in the middle of the spinal column is the Sushumna, an empty channel. Ida and Pingala, according to them, are the currents working in every man, and through these currents, we are performing all the functions of life. Sushumna is present in all, as a possibility; but it works only in the Yogi. You must remember that Yoga changes the body. As you go on practising, your body changes; it is not the same body that you had before the practice. That is very rational, and can be explained, because every new thought that we have must make, as it were, a new channel through the brain, and that explains the tremendous conservatism of human nature. Human nature likes to run through the ruts that are already there, because it is easy. If we think, just for example's sake, that the mind is like a needle, and the brain substance a soft lump before it, then each thought that we have makes a street, as it were, in the brain, and this street would close up, but for the grey matter which comes and makes a lining to keep it separate. If there were no grey matter, there would be no memory, because memory means going over these old streets, retracing a thought as it were. Now perhaps you have marked that when one talks on subjects in which one takes a few ideas that are familiar to everyone, and combines and recombines them, it is easy to follow because these channels are present in everyone's brain, and it is only necessary to recur to them. But whenever a new subject comes, new channels have to be made, so it is not understood readily. And that is why the brain (it is the brain, and not the people themselves) refuses unconsciously to be acted upon by new ideas. It resists. The Prana is trying to make new channels, and the brain will not allow it. This is the secret of conservatism. The fewer channels there have been in the brain, and the less the needle of the Prana has made these passages, the more conservative will be the brain, the more it will struggle against new thoughts. The more thoughtful the man, the more complicated will be the streets in his brain, and the more easily he will take to new ideas, and understand them. So with every fresh idea, we make a new impression in the brain, cut new channels through the brain-stuff, and that is why we find that in the practice of Yoga (it being an entirely new set of thoughts and motives) there is so much physical resistance at first. That is why we find that the part of religion which deals with the world-side of nature is so widely accepted, while the other part, the philosophy, or the psychology, which clears with the inner nature of man, is so frequently neglected.
  We must remember the definition of this world of ours; it is only the Infinite Existence projected into the plane of consciousness. A little of the Infinite is projected into consciousness, and that we call our world. So there is an Infinite beyond; and religion has to deal with both with the little lump we call our world, and with the Infinite beyond. Any religion which deals with one only of these two will be defective. It must deal with both. The part of religion which deals with the part of the Infinite which has come into the plane of consciousness, got itself caught, as it were, in the plane of consciousness, in the cage of time, space, and causation, is quite familiar to us, because we are in that already, and ideas about this world have been with us almost from time immemorial. The part of religion which deals with the Infinite beyond comes entirely new to us, and getting ideas about it produces new channels in the brain, disturbing the whole system, and that is why you find in the practice of Yoga ordinary people are at first turned out of their grooves. In order to lessen these disturbances as much as possible, all these methods are devised by Patanjali, that we may practice any one of them best suited to us.
  --
  This naturally comes with Dhran, concentration; the Yogis say, if the mind becomes concentrated on the tip of the nose, one begins to smell, after a few days, wonderful perfumes. If it becomes concentrated at the root of the tongue, one begins to hear sounds; if on the tip of the tongue, one begins to taste wonderful flavours; if on the middle of the tongue, one feels as if one were coming in contact with something. If one concentrates one's mind on the palate, one begins to see peculiar things. If a man whose mind is disturbed wants to take up some of these practices of Yoga, yet doubts the truth of them, he will have his doubts set at rest when, after a little practice, these things come to him, and he will persevere.
  
  --
  40. The Yogi's mind thus meditating, becomes unobstructed from the atomic to the infinite.
  The mind, by this practice, easily contemplates the most minute, as well as the biggest thing. Thus the mindwaves become fainter.
  --
  41. The Yogi whose Vrittis have thus become powerless (controlled) obtains in the receiver, (the instrument of) receiving, and the received (the Self, the mind, and external objects), concentratedness arid sameness like the crystal (before different coloured objects).
  What results from this constant meditation? We must remember how in a previous aphorism Patanjali went into the various states of meditation, how the first would be the gross, the second the fine, and from them the advance was to still finer objects. The result of these meditations is that we can meditate as easily on the fine as on the gross objects. Here the Yogi sees the three things, the receiver, the received, and the receiving instrument, corresponding to the Soul, external objects, and the mind. There are three objects of meditation given us. First, the gross things, as bodies, or material objects; second, fine things, as the mind, the Chitta; and third, the Purusha qualified, not the Purusha itself, but the Egoism. By practice, the Yogi gets established in all these meditations. Whenever he meditates he can keep out all other thoughts; he becomes identified with that on which he meditates. When he meditates, he is like a piece of crystal. Before flowers the crystal becomes almost identified with the flowers. If the flower is red, the crystal looks red, or if the flower is blue, the crystal looks blue.
    
  --
  These do not destroy the seeds of past actions, and thus cannot give liberation, but what they bring to the Yogi is stated in the following aphorism.
  47. The concentration "without discrimination" being purified, the Chitta becomes firmly fixed.
  --
  The idea is that we have to get our knowledge of ordinary objects by direct perception, and by inference therefrom, and from testimony of people who are competent. By "people who are competent," the Yogis always mean the Rishis, or the Seers of the thoughts recorded in the scriptures the Vedas. According to them, the only proof of the scriptures is that they were the testimony of competent persons, yet they say the scriptures cannot take us to realisation. We can read all the Vedas, and yet will not realise anything, but when we practise their teachings, then we attain to that state which realises what the scriptures say, which penetrates where neither reason nor perception nor inference can go, and where the testimony of others cannot avail. This is what is meant by the aphorism.
  Realisation is real religion, all the rest is only preparation hearing lectures, or reading books, or reasoning is merely preparing the ground; it is not religion. Intellectual assent and intellectual dissent are not religion. The central idea of the Yogis is that just as we come in direct contact with objects of the senses, so religion even can be directly perceived in a far more intense sense. The truths of religion, as God and Soul, cannot be perceived by the external senses. I cannot see God with my eyes, nor can I touch Him with my hands, and we also know that neither can we reason beyond the senses. Reason leaves us at a point quite indecisive; we may reason all our lives, as the world has been doing for thousands of years, and the result is that we find we are incompetent to prove or disprove the facts of religion. What we perceive directly we take as the basis, and upon that basis we reason. So it is obvious that reasoning has to run within these bounds of perception. It can never go beyond. The whole scope of realisation, therefore, is beyond sense-perception. The Yogis say that man can go beyond his direct sense-perception, and beyond his reason also. Man has in him the faculty, the power, of transcending his intellect even, a power which is in every being, every creature. By the practice of Yoga that power is aroused, and then man transcends the ordinary limits of reason, and directly perceives things which are beyond all reason.
  50. The resulting impression from this Samadhi obstructs all other impressions.

1.09 - Kundalini Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
  12. Learn the Asanas, Pranayama, Bandhas and Mudras under an expert, Siddha Yogi Guru.
  13. A Guru is one who has full illumination, who is endowed with all divine virtues, who is able to remove the doubts of his disciples and guide them in the path of Yoga.
  --
  30. The Yogi attains different Siddhis at each Chakra and experiences Ananda or bliss in various degrees.
  31. Anima, Mahima, Laghima, Garima, Prapti, Prakamya, Vasitvam, Ishatvam are the major eight Siddhis.
  --
  33. During the ascent of Kundalini layer after layer of the mind becomes fully opened. The Yogi experiences various visions, knowledge and bliss.
  34. When it reaches the Sahasrara, he gets the highest knowledge and bliss. He reaches the highest rung in the ladder of Yoga. He becomes free in all respects. He is a full-blown Yogi.
  35. Eventually the Yogi attains Nirvikalpa Samadhi, the state of superconsciousness. He gets intuition. Real knowledge flashes in him.
  36. These are the signs that indicate that Kundalini has been awakenedviz., dispassion, fearlessness, joy, ecstasy, peace, unruffled state of mind, Siddhis or powers, contentment.
  --
  38. A Kundalini Yogi attains Bhukti (enjoyment) and Mukti (liberation).
  THUS ENDS KUNDALINI YOGA

1.09 - Legend of Lakshmi, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  kara apprehend; that nature which the Yogis, after incessant effort, effacing both moral merit and demerit, behold to be contemplated in the mystical monosyllable Om: the supreme glory of Viṣṇu, who is the first of all; of whom, one only god, the triple energy is the same with Brahmā, Viṣṇu, and Śiva: oh lord of all, great soul of all, asylum of all, undecayable, have pity upon thy servants; oh Viṣṇu, be manifest unto us."
  Parāśara continued:-

1.09 - Saraswati and Her Consorts, #The Secret Of The Veda, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Yamuna and Saraswati and their confluence are in the Tantric imagery Yogic symbols, and they are used, though in a different way, in Yogic symbolism generally.
  Saraswati and Her Consorts

1.09 - Sleep and Death, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  utterly free of the clatter and sensational happenings of the lower planes. To come into contact with that Light, if only for a few minutes, is to feel as rested as after eight hours of sleep. This is how Yogis can live without sleep, and also how a few minutes of concentration in the day can refresh us as much as a long walk in the countryside. Our body is unbelievably resilient; psychological turmoil is what tires us.
  Aside from participating in events of a universal character, we find that sleep is a gold mine of information about our own individual condition. All the levels of our being stand out during sleep, as if we had been deaf and dumb, made of cardboard, during our waking hours, and suddenly everything in us awakens to a life truer than life.

1.09 - Talks, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  Those who have read Talks with Sri Aurobindo or Evening Talks must have realised that Sri Aurobindo was not a world-averse Yogi lost in rapturous silence of the Brahman like the Maharshi, nor talked, when he did, mostly of spiritual matters as did Ramakrishna. In fact our talks covered a vast range of subjects, they had almost a global dimension. We wondered at his enormous knowledge in so many fields. Considering the shortness of the period during which he lived in strenuous contact with the external world, one would be tempted to ask how much of this knowledge was the outcome of his practical worldly experience and how much a result of Yoga? In a letter to me he had said, "Don't try to throw allopathic dust in my eyes, sir! I have lived a fairly long time and seen something of the world before my retirement and much more after it." So Yoga must have opened to his vision "thoughts that wander through eternity" and made him the possessor of infinite knowledge, secular as well as spiritual: "World after world bursts on the awakened sight", he says in one of his sonnets. He has attributed all that he had become to the effect of Yoga. In one of our talks we were staggered to hear him profess that even if he had written ten times more than he had done, his knowledge would have remained unexhausted. And when we murmured in a sad protest that such a vast amount of knowledge would be lost to us, he replied, "Practise first what I have written." On another occasion when he was asked by a sadhak how he could manage to write on seven subjects at a time in the Arya,he replied that he could write seven issues of the Arya every month for 70 years and still the knowledge that came from above would hardly be exhausted. The Mother also said that he wrote the Arya from a completely silent mind; everything came right down on the typewriter. Otherwise it would not have been possible to write 64 pages every month. Strictly speaking, it was only in the last week of the month that he would get down to writing. Amrita had been asked to remind him about the Arya, a week before its time for the Press. When he gave the signal, Sri Aurobindo would start the "Herculean labour" and finish it with utmost ease. Those words from a sonnet of his "I have drunk the Infinite like a giant's wine", are a testimony to this bewildering fact.
  Now at this fountainhead of wisdom and Yogic illumination we had the rare opportunity to drink day arid night for a number of years. If we could not get more it was not because he had closed the channel, but rather that our small vessels could not contain more. One can then understand that next to his; silent human-divine Presence, his talks were the most coveted feature of our close association with him.
  Yet they came so unexpectedly, for Sri Aurobindo, as we had come to know and see him during the Darshan, had succeeded in building in our minds a picture of him high-poised as his Life Divine, far-moving as his Synthesis of Yoga, unapproachable, except perhaps by the gods, not at all close and intimate like his Essays on the Gita or accessible to our mortal longings. Of course, few of us had the extraordinary good fortune of knowing his human side through his inestimable correspondence, on the strength of which I wrote to him, "You thrashed me for calling you grave and austere at the Darshan time. But see, when we go to the Mother, how seraphically she smiles, while your noble Self being near, appears still far away at some Olympian height. It is difficult to discern the gravity or the jollity of a face at such a height. I suppose our conception of the gods was formed from the vision of such a figure." He replied, "Neither gravity nor jollity, but a large, easy, quiet, amiable condition. The gods can't be amiable?" And it was this amiable aspect that came to the forefront in our talks. We came to know much later that Sri Aurobindo used to hold "table-talks" in the pre-Ashram days, with his few young followers. But I believe ours were an advance on those talks by the ease, the informality, the natural diversity and intimacy of communication due to the exceptional circumstances in which they were held. Sri Aurobindo had no need of vocal self-expression, either in our time or before. It is my conviction that the interchange with us was an act of compassion to entertain us in return for the medical attendance we had been called upon to render him. I may add here that any personal service offered to the Divine, however small, brings an ample reward.
  --
  People who read our Correspondence were under the impression that our days bubbled with "jest and jollity, quips and cranks" all the while. In fact, a friend did not believe me when I said that the bubbling lasted only for a short time. Sri Aurobindo was, after all, a Yogi. All who knew him knew that. In one of his letters to Dilip, when Dilip complained that Sri Aurobindo would not laugh or even smile, he replied that since his childhood, he had been estranged from his family and accustomed to live a solitary life. His nature had therefore become reserved, somewhat remote and he felt shy of too much personal emotion. The English racial climate may have, I suppose, added its own large share to it. Moreover, the Yoga he had practised, beginning with the transcendental nirvanic experience, must have crowned the natural disposition. Buddha, I believe, for all his compassion, could not but have been impersonal in his daily communication. This vast impersonality even in personal relations, is it not the basis of his Yoga? I have often wondered what his state of consciousness was, for instance, when he was talking with us or dictating Savitri. Now I have learnt that the three states of consciousness: transcendent, cosmic and individual can operate at the same time. I also used to wonder how he could take interest even in the most trivial, "unspiritual" amusing talk or incidents, and joke with us, say on snoring or baldness! He had found the rasa,the delight of Brahman in everything. So his jokes were never trivial; they could be playful but always had an intellectual element in them.
  I have already given some examples of his humour in the previous chapters; let me now quote something to show his light mood. One day suddenly breaking his silence, he addressed Purani and said, "There is something nice for you, Purani." (For once he used his name!)

1.1.02 - Sachchidananda, #Letters On Yoga I, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   were no impact of forces and no reactions, the consciousness would still be there, but static and inactive. But again this activity of consciousness might not be limited to an interpretation or a passive reaction to forces; it might also, if it chose, be the creator or determinant of its reactions - as for instance to a blow on the body or the vital it might refuse the natural reactions of pain or anger and remain still and immobile or it might return an unusual reaction of love or pleasure. Also this consciousness might not be only a recipient and seer of forces, but a creator or putter out of forces - it might be not only a knower, but an energy, a dynamis. In this view, your definition becomes totally inadequate. Farther, the word personality is misleading; for what we usually know as personality is itself only a formation of consciousness. Behind it we are aware of a Person or Purusha who puts forward the mutable surface formation we call personality and who may even have many personalities at a time or different personalities at different times. This Purusha would be then a being and consciousness, would be not a result or an activity, but a constant reality, an intrinsic power of awareness and action inherent in the being, - as the being is self-existent, so the consciousness self-existent in the being, the Purusha. This is the realisation we have of it in Yogic experience, eternal reality of consciousness inherent in the eternal reality of existence, as in the concept and experience of Sachchidananda.
  This is the crucial point in the question, what is consciousness, whether it is a temporary phenomenon of Nature or a reality in itself fundamental to existence. The first is the conclusion that is drawn, and must be drawn, from normal experience on the surface. The other is at best a metaphysical speculation or an instinctive feeling in humanity unless we go beyond the normal experience, deepen and widen the range of our present consciousness and test its inner depths and inferior abysses and supernormal heights, until we can touch its fundamental or its ultimate or its total reality as is done in Yoga. To judge from only normal and superficial experience as the ordinary mind does with phenomena is to miss the truth of things - we have to go behind the surface phenomenon to find the reality of what a
  --
   concealed in things so that it has to emerge out of an apparent unconsciousness and organise itself in individual life. But this is only on the surface which is all of which we are aware because we live on the surface of ourselves. This surface (the ordinary waking mind of man) is what we think to be ourselves, the whole of us, because living awake on the surface we are conscious of that only. But within, with a sort of wall of obscurity or oblivion between it and the outer being, there is an inner being, an inner mind, vital, physical and an inmost or psychic being of which we are not aware. We are only aware of what comes up from there to the surface and do not know its source or how it comes. By Yoga the wall is slowly broken down and we become aware of this inner and inmost being - by doing so we build up a new, a Yogic, consciousness which is able to communicate direct with the universal consciousness around and the higher spiritual above.
  As the individual has a consciousness of his own, so too there is a universal consciousness, a cosmic Being, a universal

1.1.02 - The Aim of the Integral Yoga, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The aim of the Yoga is to open the consciousness to the Divine, to live in the inner consciousness more and more while acting from it on the external life, to bring the inmost psychic into the front and by the power of the psychic to purify and change the being so that it may become ready for transformation and in union with the Divine Knowledge, Will and Love. Secondly, to develop the Yogic consciousness - i.e. to universalise the being on all the planes, become aware of the cosmic being and cosmic forces and be in union with the Divine on all the planes up to the Overmind. Thirdly, to come into contact with the transcendent Divine, beyond the Overmind, through the supramental consciousness, supramentalise the consciousness and the nature and make oneself an instrument for the realisation of the dynamic Divine Truth and its transforming descent into the earth-nature.
  A Yoga Not for Ourselves
  --
  Divine"], however, means that the object of the Yoga is to enter into and be possessed by the Divine Presence and Consciousness, to love the Divine for the Divine's sake alone, to be turned in our nature into nature of the Divine and in our will and works and life to be the instrument of the Divine. Its object is not to be a great Yogi or a superman (although that may come) or to grab at the Divine for the sake of the ego's power, pride or pleasure.
  It is not for salvation though liberation comes by it and all else may come; but these must not be our objects. The Divine alone is our object.
  --
  (3) The object of Yoga is not to be a great Yogi or a superman. This is an egoistic way of taking the Yoga and can lead to no good; avoid it altogether.
  (4) To talk about the supramental and think of bringing it down in yourself is the most dangerous of all. It may bring an entire megalomania and loss of balance. What the sadhak has to seek is the full opening to the Divine, the psychic change of his consciousness, the spiritual change. Of that change of consciousness, selflessness, desirelessness, humility, bhakti, surrender, calm, equality, peace, quiet, sincerity are necessary constituents. Until he has the psychic and spiritual change, to think of being supramental is an absurdity and an arrogant absurdity.
  --
  To be in full union with the Divine is the final aim. When one has some kind of constant union, one can be called a Yogi, but the union has to be made complete. There are Yogis who have only the union on the spiritual plane, others who are united in mind and heart, others in the vital also. In our Yoga our aim is to be united too in the physical consciousness and on the supramental plane.

1.1.05 - The Siddhis, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  I do not wish to argue the question of the existence or nonexistence of Yogic siddhis; for it is not with me a question of debate, or of belief and disbelief, since I know by daily experience that they exist. I am concerned rather with their exact nature and utility. And here one is met by the now fashionable habit, among people presuming to be Vedantic and spiritual, of a denunciation and holy horror of the Yogic siddhis. They are, it seems, Tantric, dangerous, immoral, delusive as conjuring tricks, a stumbling block in the path of the soul's liberation. Swami Vivekananda did much to encourage this attitude by his eagerness to avoid all mention of them at the outset of his mission in order not to
  The Siddhis
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  Siddhis, but recognised them as a part, though not the most important part of Yogic accomplishment, and used them with an abundant and unhesitating vigour. They are recognised in our sacred books, formally included in Yoga by so devotional a Purana as the Bhagawat, noted and some of their processes carefully tabled by Patanjali. Even in the midnight of the Kali great Siddhas and saints have used them more sparingly, but with power and effectiveness. It would be difficult for many of them to do otherwise than use the siddhis since by the very fact of their spiritual elevation, these powers have become not exceptional movements, but the ordinary processes of their thought and action. It is by the use of the siddhis that the Siddhas sitting on the mountains help the world out of the heart of their solitude and silence. Jesus Christ made the use of the siddhis a prominent feature of his pure, noble and spiritual life, nor did he hesitate to communicate them to his disciples - the laying of hands, the healing of the sick, the ashirvada, the abhishap, the speaking with many tongues were all given to them. The day of Pentecost is still kept holy by the Christian Church. Joan of Arc used her siddhis to liberate France. Socrates had his siddhis, some of them of a very material nature. Men of great genius are usually born with some of them and use them unconsciously. Even in natures far below the power and clarity of genius we see their occasional or irregular operation. The West, always avid of knowledge, is struggling, sadly hampered by misuse and imposture, to develop them and gropes roughly for the truth about them in the phenomena of hypnotism, clairvoyance, telepathy, vouched for by men and women of great intellectuality and sincerity. Returning
  Eastwards, where only their right practice has been understood, the lives of our saints northern and southern are full of the record of Siddhis. Sri Ramakrishna, whose authority is quoted against
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  And even that wonder ceases when we know God and realise that the most wonderful movements of the cosmos are but trifles and "conjuring-tricks" compared with His infinite Reality. And as it is with this siddhi of science which we call wireless telegraphy and with this other siddhi of nature which is exampled in the momentary or rapid spread of a single thought or emotion in a mob, a nation, an army, so it is with the Yogic siddhis. Explain
  & master their processes, put them in their proper relation to the rest of the economy of the universe and we shall find that they are neither miraculous nor marvellous nor supernatural. They are supernormal only in the way in which aviation is supernormal or motoring or the Chinese alphabet. Nor is there anything magical in them except in so far as magic, the science of the Persian Magi, means originally & properly the operations of superior power or superior knowledge. And in that sense the occultism of the

1.107 - The Bestowal of a Divine Gift, #The Study and Practice of Yoga, #Swami Krishnananda, #Yoga
  A very important aphorism now comes before us which points out that even at an advanced stage, one cannot be too confident that obstacles may not recur. This is the meaning of the sutra, tat cchidreu pratyayntari saskrebhya (IV.27), which is a very small statement with a very large significance and meaning. The movement on the path of yoga is not a smooth and unobstructed, unimpeded progress. Sometimes there are retrogressions, and even in highly advanced conditions of yoga the previously existent samskaras in the mind may come up to the surface and prevent the continuous flow of consciousness. This is the reason why we find, many a time, in the lives of saints, sages and Yogis, that novel features and behaviours manifest themselves which cannot be understood by the public eye. It is not that they have turned back from the path of yoga; it is because they have to face that which was already inside but had been kept controlled by hard thinking and strenuous meditation.
  Very powerful acts of concentration of mind keep the vrittis in respect of objects under subjection. If the practice is continuous, done daily without any break, and the meditation becomes a habit with us, these vrittis in respect of objects of sense will never be allowed to come to the surface, so that it may appear that there is a continuous flow of consciousness in the direction of the aim of yoga. That may be so for a time for such time as opportunities do not arise for those subjected vrittis to rise to the surface. It is impossible for even a Hercules in yoga to keep up this continuity of consciousness in meditation, because it is a labour and an effort of the mind which has to be exerted against the normal tendencies in respect of physical objects.
  --
  The exhaustion of a karma is effected by various ways, and these samskaras or vrittis that come up confronting the Yogin are nothing but the powers of karma, forces of karma the potencies, or apurvas, of previous karmas which have not yet been undergone by experience. Some of the karmas have to be undergone by direct experience, as they cannot be opposed. It is not that everything must be opposed; that cannot succeed. Certain things have to be undergone by direct experience, whether they are pleasurable or miserable. They can be either way. When they are very powerful there is no other go than to bear the brunt of the onslaught, and then they diminish in their intensity. It is at that time that we have to practise this method of the recession of the effect into the cause not when the flood is upon the head. Only when it subsides can we can try to exercise our discrimination as to what has happened.
  The bringing of the effect into the cause means the diverting of the mind from the gross to the subtler phases of this situation that has arisen in the form of the vrittis coming up to the consciousness. It is ultimately a lack of grasp of the idea of the goal of yoga that brings about this unfortunate circumstance. One cannot keep this grasp always, because who can be in a meditative mood all twenty-four hours? No human being can. That which will save us at the times when we are not meditating is the impression created in the mind by the power of the meditation which we have been practising at other times. If the meditation has been strong, protracted, practised for a long period, the atmosphere that this practice creates in the mind will ward off, to a large extent, the invasion of these vrittis in terms of their satisfaction. Otherwise, who will help us when we are not in a state of meditation? Nobody can guard us all twenty-four hours. How can we keep the police with us wherever we go? Such a thing is impossible. And it is at that time when we are unguarded, which is of course common in anyones life, that these samskaras will come up.
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  We have to move gradually, with a tremendous caution with regard to our strengths and weaknesses. It is something like striking a balance sheet. The profit and loss account is struck with great care, and we know where we stand financially at the end of any particular year. Likewise, it is necessary to strike a psychological balance sheet of our life almost every day, towards the end of the day, we may say, and find out where we stand in spiritual life. It is no use imagining that we are seekers and Yogins everyone can imagine that. Our actual condition will be known only to us. Many a time there are very difficult situations inwardly which cannot be explained, nor can they be observed by other people; only we can know. But, due to being busy in extraneous activities, and sometimes due to an incorrect idea of ones own strength, which may not be a real strength a kind of wrong estimation of oneself one may be led into erroneous corners and slacken the effort at concentration.
  Apart from the prescription of the recession of the effect into the cause, the great method prescribed by Patanjali as the remedy for this problem of the vrittis is the sutra: dhynahey tadvttaya (II.11). We cannot do anything with them, except do meditation once again. Meditation is the only remedy for the difficulty that has arisen due to lack of meditation. There is no other remedy. Then we have to set ourselves up once again and gird up our loins, and know where we stand without any complacency in respect of our achievements. It is not possible to face the powers of nature. Always it is wisdom on the part of every individual to be friendly with nature and never oppose the forces of nature. Even in the name of God, we should not directly face and confront the powers of nature. That is no use because, after all, nature is the face of God. The forces of nature are the laws of God operating in a particular manner.

11.08 - Body-Energy, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The release of energy, material energy, in matter, is the business of Science and the scientist; the release of consciousness, the energy of consciousness in matter is the business of yoga and the Yogi. The tantrik discipline was in a large way occupied with this mystery. It found and developed -its own method and process and its success in its own field is also well recognised.
   The body-content thus is essentially consciousness consolidated, crystallised. The problem then is how to release it. The first thing is that you must be conscious, you, that is to say, your body must be conscious, must be aware always of what it is doing: living, moving, acting; the body must be doing all that consciously, almost voluntarily: there shall be no in voluntary movements. Each physical gesture must know itself by feeling itself in the act. It is not that the mind should know, the mind can have only a memory, but that the limb itself has to pursue its function knowingly, in full awareness. At the beginning there is inevitably a mixture of mental knowing but that is to be cleaned out and over passed

1.10 - Concentration - Its Practice, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  Those Samdhis with which we ended our last chapter are very difficult to attain; so we must take them up slowly. The first step, the preliminary step, is called Kriya-yoga. Literally this means work, working towards Yoga. The organs are the horses, the mind is the rein, the intellect is the charioteer, the soul is the rider, and the body is the chariot. The master of the household, the King, the Self of man, is sitting in this chariot. If the horses are very strong and do not obey the rein, if the charioteer, the intellect, does not know how to control the horses, then the chariot will come to grief. But if the organs, the horses, are well controlled, and if the rein, the mind, is well held in the hands of the charioteer, the intellect, the chariot reaches the goal. What is meant, therefore, by this mortification? Holding the rein firmly while guiding the body and the organs; not letting them do anything they like, but keeping them both under proper control. Study. What is meant by study in this case? No study of novels or story books, but study of those works which teach the liberation of the Soul. Then again this study does not mean controversial studies at all. The Yogi is supposed to have finished his period of controversy. He has had enough of that, and has become satisfied. He only studies to intensify his convictions. Vda and Siddhnta these are the two sorts of scriptural knowledge Vada (the argumentative) and Siddhanta (the decisive). When a man is entirely ignorant he takes up the first of these, the argumentative fighting, and reasoning pro and con; and when he has finished that he takes up the Siddhanta, the decisive, arriving at a conclusion. Simply arriving at this conclusion will not do. It must be intensified. Books are infinite in number, and time is short; therefore the secret of knowledge is to take what is essential. Take that and try to live up to it. There is an old Indian legend that if you place a cup of milk and water before a Rja-Hamsa (swan), he will take all the milk and leave the water. In that way we should take what is of value in knowledge, and leave the dross. Intellectual gymnastics are necessary at first. We must not go blindly into anything. The Yogi has passed the argumentative state, and has come to a conclusion, which is, like the rocks, immovable. The only thing he now seeks to do is to intensify that conclusion. Do not argue, he says; if one forces arguments upon you, be silent. Do not answer any argument, but go away calmly, because arguments only disturb the mind. The only thing necessary is to train the intellect, what is the use of disturbing it for nothing? The intellect is but a weak instrument, and can give us only knowledge limited by the senses. The Yogi wants to go beyond the senses, therefore intellect is of no use to him. He is certain of this and, therefore, is silent, and does not argue. Every argument throws his mind out of balance, creates a disturbance in the Chitta, and a disturbance is a drawback. Argumentations and searchings of the reason are only by the way. There are much higher things beyond them. The whole of life is not for schoolboy fights and debating societies. "Surrendering the fruits of work to God" is to take to ourselves neither credit nor blame, but to give up both to the Lord and be at peace.
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  Ignorance is the cause of egoism, attachment, aversion, and clinging to life. These impressions exist in different states. They are sometimes dormant. You often hear the expression "innocent as a baby," yet in the baby may be the state of a demon or of a god, which will come out by degrees. In the Yogi, these impressions, the Samskras left by past actions, are attenuated, that is, exist in a very fine state, and he can control them, and not allow them to become manifest. "Overpowered" means that sometimes one set of impressions is held down for a while by those that are stronger, but they come out when that repressing cause is removed. The last state is the "expanded," when the Samskaras, having helpful surroundings, attain to a great activity, either as good or evil.
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  This clinging to life you see manifested in every animal. Upon it many attempts have been made to build the theory of a future life, because men are so fond of life that they desire a future life also. Of course it goes without saying that this argument is without much value, but the most curious part of it is, that, in Western countries, the idea that this clinging to life indicates a possibility of future life applies only to men, but does not include animals. In India this clinging to life has been one of the arguments to prove past experience and existence. For instance, if it be true that all our knowledge has come from experience, then it is sure that that which we never experienced we cannot imagine or understand. As soon as chickens are hatched they begin to pick up food. Many times it has been seen, where ducks have been hatched by hens, that, as soon as they came out of the eggs they flew to water, and the mother thought they would be drowned. If experience be the only source of knowledge, where did these chickens learn to pick up food, or the ducklings that the water was their natural element? If you say it is instinct, it means nothing it is simply giving a word, but is no explanation. What is this instinct? We have many instincts in ourselves. For instance, most of you ladies play the piano, and remember, when you first learned, how carefully you had to put your fingers on the black and the white keys, one after the other, but now, after long years of practice, you can talk with your friends while your fingers play mechanically. It has become instinct. So with every work we do; by practice it becomes instinct, it becomes automatic; but so far as we know, all the cases which we now regard as automatic are degenerated reason. In the language of the Yogi, instinct is involved reason. Discrimination becomes involved, and gets to be automatic Samskaras. Therefore it is perfectly logical to think that all we call instinct in this world is simply involved reason. As reason cannot come without experience, all instinct is, therefore, the result of past experience. Chickens fear the hawk, and ducklings love the water; these are both the results of past experience. Then the question is whether that experience belongs to a particular soul, or to the body simply, whether this experience which comes to the duck is the duck's forefa thers' experience, or the duck's own experience. Modern scientific men hold that it belongs to the body, but the Yogis hold that it is the experience of the mind, transmitted through the body. This is called the theory of reincarnation.
  We have seen that all our knowledge, whether we call it perception, or reason, or instinct, must come through that one channel called experience, and all that we now call instinct is the result of past experience, degenerated into instinct and that instinct regenerates into reason again. So on throughout the universe, and upon this has been built one of the chief arguments for reincarnation in India. The recurring experiences of various fears, in course of time, produce this clinging to life. That is why the child is instinctively afraid, because the past experience of pain is there in it. Even in the most learned men, who know that this body will go, and who say "never mind, we have had hundreds of bodies, the soul cannot die" even in them, with all their intellectual convictions, we still find this clinging on to life. Why is this clinging to life? We have seen that it has become instinctive. In the psychological language of the Yogis it has become a Samskara. The Samskaras, fine and hidden, are sleeping in the Chitta. All this past experience of death, all that which we call instinct, is experience become subconscious. It lives in the Chitta, and is not inactive, but is working underneath.
  The Chitta-Vrittis, the mind-waves, which are gross, we can appreciate and feel; they can be more easily controlled, but what about the finer instincts? How can they be controlled? When I am angry, my whole mind becomes a huge wave of anger. I feel it, see it, handle it, can easily manipulate it, can fight with it; but I shall not succeed perfectly in the fight until I can get down below to its causes. A man says something very harsh to me, and I begin to feel that I am getting heated, and he goes on till I am perfectly angry and forget myself, identify myself with anger. When he first began to abuse me, I thought, "I am going to be angry". Anger was one thing, and I was another; but when I became angry, I was anger. These feelings have to be controlled in the germ, the root, in their fine forms, before even we have become conscious that they are acting on us. With the vast majority of mankind the fine states of these passions are not even known the states in which they emerge from subconsciousness. When a bubble is rising from the bottom of the lake, we do not see it, nor even when it is nearly come to the surface; it is only when it bursts and makes a ripple that we know it is there. We shall only be successful in grappling with the waves when we can get hold of them in their fine causes, and until you can get hold of them, and subdue them before they become gross, there is no hope of conquering any passion perfectly. To control our passions we have to control them at their very roots; then alone shall we be able to burn out their very seeds. As fried seeds thrown into the ground will never come up, so these passions will never arise.
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  By the "receptacle of works" is meant the sum-total of Samskaras. Whatever work we do, the mind is thrown into a wave, and after the work is finished, we think the wave is gone. No. It has only become fine, but it is still there. When we try to remember the work, it comes up again and becomes a wave. So it was there; if not, there would not have been memory. Thus every action, every thought, good or bad, just goes down and becomes fine, and is there stored up. Both happy and unhappy thoughts are called pain-bearing obstructions, because according to the Yogis, they, in the long run, bring pain. All happiness which comes from the senses will, eventually, bring pain. All enjoyment will make us thirst for more, and that brings pain as its result. There is no limit to man's desires; he goes on desiring, and when he comes to a point where desire cannot be fulfilled, the result is pain. Therefore the Yogis regard the sum-total of the impressions, good or evil, as pain-bearing obstructions; they obstruct the way to freedom of the Soul.
  It is the same with the Samskaras, the fine roots of all our works; they are the causes which will again bring effects, either in this life, or in the lives to come. In exceptional cases when these Samskaras are very strong, they bear fruit quickly; exceptional acts of wickedness, or of goodness, bring their fruits even in this life. The Yogis hold that men who are able to acquire a tremendous power of good Samskaras do not have to die, but, even in this life, can change their bodies into god-bodies. There are several such cases mentioned by the Yogis in their books. These men change the very material of their bodies; they re-arrange the molecules in such fashion that they have no more sickness, and what we call death does not come to them. Why should not this be? The physiological meaning of food is assimilation of energy from the sun. The energy has reached the plant, the plant is eaten by an animal, and the animal by man. The science of it is that we take so much energy from the sun, and make it part of ourselves. That being the case, why should there be only one way of assimilating energy? The plant's way is not the same as ours; the earth's process of assimilating energy differs from our own. But all assimilate energy in some form or other. The Yogis say that they are able to assimilate energy by the power of the mind alone, that they can draw in as much of it as they desire without recourse to the ordinary methods. As a spider makes its web out of its own substance, and becomes bound in it, and cannot go anywhere except along the lines of that web, so we have projected out of our own substance this network called the nerves, and we cannot work except through the channels of those nerves. The Yogi says we need not be bound by that.
  Similarly, we can send electricity to any part of the world, but we have to send it by means of wires. Nature can send a vast mass of electricity without any wires at all. Why cannot we do the same? We can send mental electricity. What we call mind is very much the same as electricity. It is clear that this nerve fluid has some amount of electricity, because it is polarised, and it answers all electrical directions. We can only send our electricity through these nerve channels. Why not send the mental electricity without this aid? The Yogis say it is perfectly possible and practicable, and that when you can do that, you will work all over the universe. You will be able to work with any body anywhere, without the help of the nervous system. When the soul is acting through these channels, we say a man is living, and when these cease to work, a man is said to be dead. But when a man is able to act either with or without these channels, birth and death will have no meaning for him. All the bodies in the universe are made up of Tanmtras, their difference lies in the arrangement of the latter. If you are the arranger, you can arrange a body in one way or another. Who makes up this body but you? Who eats the food? If another ate the food for you, you would not live long. Who makes the blood out of food? You, certainly. Who purifies the blood, and sends it through the veins? You. We are the masters of the body, and we live in it. Only we have lost the knowledge of how to rejuvenate it. We have become automatic, degenerate. We have forgotten the process of arranging its molecules. So, what we do automatically has to be done knowingly. We are the masters and we have to regulate that arrangement; and as soon as we can do that, we shall be able to rejuvenate just as we like, and then we shall have neither birth nor disease nor death.
    
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  The roots, the causes, the Samskaras being there, they manifest and form the effects. The cause dying down becomes the effect; the effect getting subtler becomes the cause of the next effect. A tree bears a seed, which becomes the cause of another tree, and so on. All our works now are the effects of past Samskaras; again, these works becoming Samskaras will be the causes of future actions, and thus we go on. So this aphorism says that the cause being there, the fruit must come, in the form of species of beings: one will be a man, another an angel, another an animal, another a demon. Then there are different effects of Karma in life. One man lives fifty years, another a hundred, another dies in two years, and never attains maturity; all these differences in life are regulated by past Karma. One man is born, as it were, for pleasure; if he buries himself in a forest, pleasure will follow him there. Another man, wherever he goes, is followed by pain; everything becomes painful for him. It is the result of their own past. According to the philosophy of the Yogis, all virtuous actions bring pleasure, and all vicious actions bring pain. Any man who does wicked deeds is sure to reap their fruit in the form of pain.
  
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  The Yogis say that the man who has discriminating powers, the man of good sense, sees through all that are called pleasure and pain, and knows that they come to all, and that one follows and melts into the other; he sees that men follow an ignis fatuus all their lives, and never succeed in fulfilling their desires. The great king Yudhishthira once said that the most wonderful thing in life is that every moment we see people dying around us, and yet we think we shall never die. Surrounded by fools on every side, we think we are the only exceptions, the only learned men. Surrounded by all sorts of experiences of fickleness, we think our love is the only lasting love. How can that be? Even love is selfish, and the Yogi says that in the end we shall find that even the love of husbands and wives, and children and friends, slowly decays. Decadence seizes everything in this life. It is only when everything, even love, fails, that, with a flash, man finds out how vain, how dream-like is this world. Then he catches a glimpse of Vairgya (renunciation), catches a glimpse of the Beyond. It is only by giving up this world that the other comes; never through holding on to this one. Never yet was there a great soul who had not to reject sense-pleasures and enjoyments to acquire his greatness. The cause of misery is the clash between the different forces of nature, one dragging one way, and another dragging another, rendering permanent happiness impossible.
  16. The misery which is not yet come is to be avoided.
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  Thus is it with us all in this My, this dream world, where it is all misery, weeping and crying, where a few golden balls are rolled, and the world scrambles after them. You were never bound by laws, nature never had a bond for you. That is what the Yogi tells you. Have patience to learn it. And the Yogi shows how, by junction with nature, and identifying itself with the mind and the world, the Purusha thinks itself miserable. Then the Yogi goes on to show you that the way out is through experience. You have to get all this experience, but finish it quickly. We have placed ourselves in this net, and will have to get out. We have got ourselves caught in the trap, and we will have to work out our freedom. So get this experience of husbands, and wives, and friends, and little loves; you will get through them safely if you never forget what you really are. Never forget this is only a momentary state, and that we have to pass through it. Experience is the one great teacher experience of pleasure and pain but know it is only experience. It leads, step by step, to that state where all things become small, and the Purusha so great that the whole universe seems as a drop in the ocean and falls off by its own nothingness. We have to go through different experiences, but let us never forget the ideal.
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  Now we shall understand the aphorism that the states of the qualities are defined, undefined, indicated only, and signess. By the "defined" are meant the gross elements, which we can sense. By the "undefined" are meant the very fine materials, the Tanmatras, which cannot be sensed by ordinary men. If you practise Yoga, however, says Patanjali, after a while your perceptions will become so fine that you will actually see the Tanmatras. For instance, you have heard how every man has a certain light about him; every living being emits a certain light, and this, he says, can be seen by the Yogi. We do not all see it, but we all throw out these Tanmatras, just as a flower continuously sends out fine particles which enable us to smell it. Every day of our lives we throw out a mass of good or evil, and everywhere we go the atmosphere is full of these materials. That is how there came to the human mind, unconsciously, the idea of building temples and churches. Why should man build churches in which to worship God? Why not worship Him anywhere? Even if he did not know the reason, man found that the place where people worshipped God became full of good Tanmatras. Every day people go there, and the more they go the holier they get, and the holier that place becomes. If any man who has not much Sattva in him goes there, the place will influence him and arouse his Sattva quality. Here, therefore, is the significance of all temples and holy places, but you must remember that their holiness depends on holy people congregating there. The difficulty with man is that he forgets the original meaning, and puts the cart before the horse. It was men who made these places holy, and then the effect became the cause and made men holy. If the wicked only were to go there, it would become as bad as any other place. It is not the building, but the people that make a church, and that is what we always forget. That is why sages and holy persons, who have much of this Sattva quality, can send it out and exert a tremendous influence day and night on their surroundings. A man may become so pure that his purity will become tangible. Whosoever comes in contact with him becomes pure.
  Next "the indicated only" means the Buddhi, the intellect. "The indicated only" is the first manifestation of nature; from it all other manifestations proceed. The last is "the signless". There seems to be a great difference between modern science and all religions at this point. Every religion has the idea that the universe comes out of intelligence. The theory of God, taking it in its psychological significance, apart from all ideas of personality, is that intelligence is first in the order of creation, and that out of intelligence comes what we call gross matter. Modern philosophers say that intelligence is the last to come. They say that unintelligent things slowly evolve into animals, and from animals into men. They claim that instead of everything coming out of intelligence, intelligence itself is the last to come. Both the religious and the scientific statements, though seeming directly opposed to each other are true. Take an infinite series, ABAB AB. etc. The question is which is first, A or B? If you take the series as AB. you will say that A is first, but if you take it as BA, you will say that B is first. It depends upon the way we look at it. Intelligence undergoes modification and becomes the gross matter, this again merges into intelligence, and thus the process goes on. The Sankhyas, and other religionists, put intelligence first, and the series becomes intelligence, then matter. The scientific man puts his finger on matter, and says matter, then intelligence. They both indicate the same chain. Indian philosophy, however, goes beyond both intelligence and matter, and finds a Purusha, or Self, which is beyond intelligence, of which intelligence is but the borrowed light.
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  This is, again, Sankhya philosophy. We have seen from the same philosophy that from the lowest form up to intelligence all is nature; beyond nature are Purushas (souls), which have no qualities. Then how does the soul appear to be happy or unhappy? By reflection. If a red flower is put near a piece of pure crystal, the crystal appears to be red, similarly the appearances of happiness or unhappiness of the soul are but reflections. The soul itself has no colouring. The soul is separate from nature. Nature is one thing, soul another, eternally separate. The Sankhyas say that intelligence is a compound, that it grows and wanes, that it changes, just as the body changes, and that its nature is nearly the same as that of the body. As a finger-nail is to the body, so is body to intelligence. The nail is a part of the body, but it can be pared off hundreds of times, and the body will still last. Similarly, the intelligence lasts aeons, while this body can be "pared off," thrown off. Yet intelligence cannot be immortal because it changes growing and waning. Anything that changes cannot be immortal. Certainly intelligence is manufactured, and that very fact shows us that there must be something beyond that. It cannot be free, everything connected with matter is in nature, and, therefore, bound for ever. Who is free? The free must certainly be beyond cause and effect. If you say that the idea of freedom is a delusion, I shall say that the idea of bondage is also a delusion. Two facts come into our consciousness, and stand or fall with each other. These are our notions of bondage and freedom. If we want to go through a wall, and our head bumps against that wall, we see we are limited by that wall. At the same time we find a willpower, and think we can direct our will everywhere. At every step these contradictory ideas come to us. We have to believe that we are free, yet at every moment we find we are not free. If one idea is a delusion, the other is also a delusion, and if one is true, the other also is true, because both stand upon the same basis consciousness. The Yogi says, both are true; that we are bound so far as intelligence goes, that we are free so far as the soul is concerned. It is the real nature of man, the soul, the Purusha, which is beyond all law of causation. Its freedom is percolating through layers of matter in various forms, intelligence, mind, etc. It is its light which is shining through all. Intelligence has no light of its own. Each organ has a particular centre in the brain; it is not that all the organs have one centre; each organ is separate. Why do all perceptions harmonise? Where do they get their unity? If it were in the brain, it would be necessary for all the organs, the eyes, the nose, the ears, etc., to have one centre only, while we know for certain that there are different centres for each. Both a man can see and hear at the same time, so a unity must be there at the back of intelligence. Intelligence is connected with the brain, but behind intelligence even stands the Purusha, the unit, where all different sensations and perceptions join and become one. The soul itself is the centre where all the different perceptions converge and become unified. That soul is free, and it is its freedom that tells you every moment that you are free. But you mistake, and mingle that freedom every moment with intelligence and mind. You try to attribute that freedom to the intelligence, and immediately find that intelligence is not free; you attri bute that freedom to the body, and immediately nature tells you that you are again mistaken. That is why there is this mingled sense of freedom and bondage at the same time. The Yogi analyses both what is free and what is bound, and his ignorance vanishes. He finds that the Purusha is free, is the essence of that knowledge which, coming through the Buddhi, becomes intelligence, and, as such, is bound.
  
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  Nature has no light of its own. As long as the Purusha is present in it, it appears as light. But the light is borrowed; just as the moon's light is reflected. According to the Yogis, all the manifestations of nature are caused by nature itself, but nature has no purpose in view, except to free the Purusha.
    
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  Through ignorance we have joined ourselves with a particular body, and thus opened ourselves to misery. This idea of body is a simple superstition. It is superstition that makes us happy or unhappy. It is superstition caused by ignorance that makes us feel heat and cold, pain and pleasure. It is our business to rise above this superstition, and the Yogi shows us how we can do this. It has been demonstrated that, under certain mental conditions, a man may be burned, yet he will feel no pain. The difficulty is that this sudden upheaval of the mind comes like a whirlwind one minute, and goes away the next. If, however, we gain it through Yoga, we shall permanently attain to the separation of Self from the body.
    
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  According to Yoga philosophy, it is through ignorance that the soul has been joined with nature. The aim is to get rid of nature's control over us. That is the goal of all religions. Each soul is potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy by one or more or all of these and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details. The Yogi tries to reach this goal through psychic control. Until we can free ourselves from nature, we are slaves; as she dictates so we must go. The Yogi claims that he who controls mind controls matter also. The internal nature is much higher than the external and much more difficult to grapple with, much more difficult to control. Therefore he who has conquered the internal nature controls the whole universe; it becomes his servant. Raja-Yoga propounds the methods of gaining this control. Forces higher than we know in physical nature will have to be subdued. This body is just the external crust of the mind. They are not two different things; they are just as the oyster and its shell. They are but two aspects of one thing; the internal substance of the oyster takes up matter from outside, and manufactures the shell. In the same way the internal fine forces which are called mind take up gross matter from outside, and from that manufacture this external shell, the body. If, then, we have control of the internal, it is very easy to have control of the external. Then again, these forces are not different. It is not that some forces are physical, and some mental; the physical forces are but the gross manifestations of the fine forces, just as the physical world is but the gross manifestation of the fine world.
  26. The means of destruction of ignorance is unbroken practice of discrimination.
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  When this knowledge comes; it will come, as it were, in seven grades, one after the other; and when one of these begins, we know that we are getting knowledge. The first to appear will be that we have known what is to be known. The mind will cease to be dissatisfied. While we are aware of thirsting after knowledge, we begin to seek here and there, wherever we think we can get some truth, and failing to find it we become dissatisfied and seek in a fresh direction. All search is vain, until we begin to perceive that knowledge is within ourselves, that no one can help us, that we must help ourselves. When we begin to practise the power of discrimination, the first sign that we are getting near truth will be that that dissatisfied state will vanish. We shall feel quite sure that we have found the truth, and that it cannot be anything else but the truth. Then we may know that the sun is rising, that the morning is breaking for us, and taking courage, we must persevere until the goal is reached. The second grade will be the absence of all pains. It will be impossible for anything in the universe, external or internal, to give us pain. The third will be the attainment of full knowledge. Omniscience will be ours. The fourth will be the attainment of the end of all duty through discrimination. Next will come what is called freedom of the Chitta. We shall realise that all difficulties and struggles, all vacillations of the mind, have fallen down, just as a stone rolls from the mountain top into the valley and never comes up again. The next will be that the Chitta itself will realise that it melts away into its causes whenever we so desire. Lastly we shall find that we are established in our Self, that we have been alone throughout the universe, neither body nor mind was ever related, much less joined, to us. They were working their own way, and we, through ignorance, joined ourselves to them. But we have been alone, omnipotent, omnipresent, ever blessed; our own Self was so pure and perfect that we required none else. We required none else to make us happy, for we are happiness itself. We shall find that this knowledge does not depend on anything else; throughout the universe there can be nothing that will not become effulgent before our knowledge. This will be the last state, and the Yogi will become peaceful and calm, never to feel any more pain, never to be again deluded, never to be touched by misery. He will know he is ever blessed, ever perfect, almighty.
  28. By the practice of the different parts of Yoga the impurities being destroyed, knowledge be comes effulgent up to discrimination.
  --
  A man who wants to be a perfect Yogi must give up the sex idea. The soul has no sex; why should it degrade itself with sex ideas? Later on we shall understand better why these ideas must be given up. The mind of the man who receives gifts is acted on by the mind of the giver, so the receiver is likely to become degenerated. Receiving gifts is prone to destroy the independence of the mind, and make us slavish. Therefore, receive no gifts.
   ---
  --
  External purification is keeping the body pure; a dirty man will never be a Yogi. There must be internal purification also. That is obtained by the virtues named in I.33. Of course, internal purity is of greater value than external, but both are necessary, and external purity, without internal, is of no good.
  33. To obstruct thoughts which are inimical to Yoga, contrary thoughts should be brought.
  --
  If a man gets the ideal of non-injuring others, before him even animals which are by their nature ferocious will become peaceful. The tiger and the lamb will play together before that Yogi. When you have come to that state, then alone you will understand that you have become firmly established in non-injuring.
  36. By the establishment of truthfulness the Yogi gets the power of attaining for himself and others the fruits of work without the works.
  When this power of truth will be established with you, then even in dream you will never tell an untruth. You will be true in thought, word, and deed. Whatever you say will be truth. You may say to a man, "Be blessed," and that man will be blessed. If a man is diseased, and you say to him, "Be thou cured," he will be cured immediately.
  37. By the establishment of non-stealing all wealth comes to the Yogi.
  The more you fly from nature, the more she follows you; and if you do not care for her at all, she becomes your slave.
  --
  The chaste brain has tremendous energy and gigantic will-power. Without chastity there can be no spiritual strength. Continence gives wonderful control over mankind. The spiritual leaders of men have been very continent, and this is what gave them power. Therefore the Yogi must be continent.
  39. When he is fixed in non-receiving, he gets the memory of past life.
  When a man does not receive presents, he does not become beholden to others, but remains independent and free. His mind becomes pure. With every gift, he is likely to receive the evils of the giver. If he does not receive, the mind is purified, and the first power it gets is memory of past life. Then alone the Yogi becomes perfectly fixed in his ideal. He sees that he has been coming and going many times, so he becomes determined that this time he will be free, that he will no more come and go, and be the slave of Nature.
  40. Internal and external cleanliness being established, there arises disgust for one's own body, and non-intercourse with others.
  When there is real purification of the body, external and internal, there arises neglect of the body, and the idea of keeping it nice vanishes. A face which others call most beautiful will appear to the Yogi as merely animal, if there is not intelligence behind it. What the world calls a very common face he regards as heavenly, if the spirit shines behind it. This thirst after body is the great bane of human life. So the first sign of the establishment of purity is that you do not care to think you are a body. It is only when purity comes that we get rid of the body idea.
  --
  --
  By the practice of cleanliness, the Sattva material prevails, and the mind becomes concentrated and cheerful. The first sign that you are becoming religious is that you are becoming cheerful. When a man is gloomy, that may be dyspepsia, but it is not religion. A pleasurable feeling is the nature of the Sattva. Everything is pleasurable to the Sttvika man, and when this comes, know that you are progressing in Yoga. All pain is caused by Tamas, so you must get rid of that; moroseness is one of the Exults of Tamas. The strong, the well knit, the young, the healthy, the daring alone are fit to be Yogis. To the Yogi everything is bliss, every human face that he sees brings cheerfulness to him. That is the sign of a virtuous man. Misery is caused by sin, and by no other cause. What business have you with clouded faces? It is terrible. If you have a clouded face, do not go out that day, shut yourself up in your room. What right have you to carry this disease out into the world? When your mind has become controlled, you have control over the whole body; instead of being a slave to this machine, the machine is your slave. Instead of this machine being able to drag the soul down, it becomes its greatest helpmate.
  42. From contentment comes superlative happiness.
  --
  When the Yogi has succeeded in preventing the organs from taking the forms of external objects, and in making them remain one with the mind-stuff, then comes perfect control of the organs. When the organs are perfectly under control, every muscle and nerve will be under control, because the organs are the centres of all the sensations, and of all actions. These organs are divided into organs of work and organs of sensation. When the organs are controlled, the Yogi can control all feeling and doing; the whole of the body comes under his control. Then alone one begins to feel joy in being born; then one can truthfully say, "Blessed am I that I was born." When that control of the organs is obtained, we feel how wonderful this body really is.

1.10 - Foresight, #On Education, #The Mother, #Integral Yoga
  Here again the solution is to be found in Yoga. And by Yogic discipline one can not only foresee destiny but modify it and change it almost totally. First of all, Yoga teaches us that we are not a single being, a simple entity which necessarily has a single destiny that is simple and logical. Rather we have to acknowledge that the destiny of most men is complex, often to the point of incoherence. Is it not this very complexity which gives us the impression of unexpectedness, of indeterminacy and consequently of unpredictability?
  To solve the problem one must know that, to begin with, all living creatures, and more especially human beings, are made up of a combination of several entities that come together, interpenetrate, sometimes organising themselves and completing each other, sometimes opposing and contradicting one another. Each one of these beings or states of being belongs to a world of its own and carries within it its own destiny, its own determinism. And it is the combination of all these determinisms, which is sometimes very heterogeneous, that results in the destiny of the individual. But as the organisation and relationship of all these entities can be altered by personal discipline and effort of will, as these various determinisms act on each other in different ways according to the concentration of the consciousness, their combination is nearly always variable and therefore unforeseeable.

1.10 - Laughter Of The Gods, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  The old ide fixe that Sri Aurobindo was an anchorite who did not know how to smile or laugh is by now dead. A new fixed notion may swing to the other extreme that he smiled or laughed too much for a Yogi. But a sensible estimate, after a reading of his letters, talks and creative works, will confirm the view that his Yoga instead of drying up the fountain of laughter made it flow like the Ganges. For his consciousness grew as vast as the universe; it sounded the uttermost depths and heights of existence. He read the "wonder-book of Common things" as well as the supernal mysteries of God and found the very rasa which is at the root of things. His love and compassion flowed towards all men and creatures like a life-giving ocean. He said in one of his letters: "It is only divine Love which can bear the burden I have to bear, that all have to bear who have sacrificed everything else to the one aim of uplifting earth out of its darkness towards the Divine. The Gallio-like 'Je m'en fiche'-ism (I do not care) would not carry me one step; it would certainly not be divine. It is quite another thing that enables me to walk unweeping and unlamenting towards the goal." In his own Ashram which is composed, on the one hand, of unlettered villagers and, on the other, of the intellectual lite, with what patience and forbearance, love and sympathy he, like a grand patriarch, guided and led us all towards the goal! Humour that springs from a heart of sympathy made him smile at our follies and foibles and the numerous eccentricities of our human nature. The readers of Talks with Sri Aurobindo must have observed how Sri Aurobindo threw aside his mantle of gravity and enjoyed with us pure fun and frolic, as if we had been his close playmates. In the preceding chapter we have already touched upon one instance. In the period after the accident to his right leg, when he failed to carry out Dr. Manilal's instructions about hanging the leg, he would exclaim as if out of fear, "Oh, Manilal is coming, I must hang my leg." And one of us, piqued by his fear, would remark, "Sir, you seem to be afraid of Dr. Manilal." When Manilal arrived and enquired about the leg, he replied, "The leg is still hanging."
   Yogis and great men there were, who used to joke with their disciples and friends; but it seems to me that there was always a barrier of awe and reverence between them. And though Sri Aurobindo allowed us to forget that and we cut jokes with him on equal terms, the sense of his being our Guru was there.

1.10 - Mantra Yoga, #Amrita Gita, #Swami Sivananda Saraswati, #Hinduism
  17. May you all become Mantra Yogis with Mantra Siddhi! May you all become real benefactors of the world by becoming divine healers through Mantra cure! May Mantra cure, divine healing centres be started all over the world!
  THUS ENDS MANTRA YOGA

1.10 - The Methods and the Means, #Bhakti-Yoga, #Swami Vivekananda, #Hinduism
  The test of Ahimsa is absence of jealousy. Any man may do a good deed or make a good gift on the spur of the moment or under the pressure of some superstition or priestcraft; but the real lover of mankind is he who is jealous of none. The so-called great men of the world may all be seen to become jealous of each other for a small name, for a little fame, and for a few bits of gold. So long as this jealousy exists in a heart, it is far away from the perfection of Ahimsa. The cow does not eat meat, nor does the sheep. Are they great Yogis, great non-injurers (Ahimsakas)? Any fool may abstain from eating this or that; surely that gives him no more distinction than to herbivorous animals. The man who will mercilessly cheat widows and orphans and do the vilest deeds for money is worse than any brute even if he lives entirely on grass. The man whose heart never cherishes even the thought of injury to any one, who rejoices at the prosperity of even his greatest enemy, that man is the Bhakta, he is the Yogi, he is the Guru of all, even though he lives every day of his life on the flesh of swine. Therefore we must always remember that external practices have value only as helps to develop internal purity. It is better to have internal purity alone when minute attention to external observances is not practicable.
  But woe unto the man and woe unto the nation that forgets the real, internal, spiritual essentials of religion and mechanically clutches with death-like grasp at all external forms and never lets them go.
  --
  The mentally weak also cannot succeed in attaining the Atman. The person who aspires to be a Bhakta must be cheerful. In the Western world the idea of a religious man is that he never smiles, that a dark cloud must always hang over his face, which, again, must be long drawn with the jaws almost collapsed. People with emaciated bodies and long faces are fit subjects for the physician, they are not Yogis. It is the cheerful mind that is persevering. It is the strong mind that hews its way through a thousand difficulties. And this, the hardest task of all, the cutting of our way out of the net of Maya, is the work reserved only for giant wills.
  Yet at the same time excessive mirth should be avoided (Anuddharsha). Excessive mirth makes us unfit for serious thought. It also fritters away the energies of the mind in vain. The stronger the will, the less the yielding to the sway of the emotions. Excessive hilarity is quite as objectionable as too much of sad seriousness, and all religious realisation is possible only when the mind is in a steady, peaceful condition of harmonious equilibrium.

1.10 - Theodicy - Nature Makes No Mistakes, #Preparing for the Miraculous, #George Van Vrekhem, #Integral Yoga
  rishis, seers, Yogis, mystics. According to this affirmation
  all is God, all is the Brahman, all is That, all is the Self, and
  --
  Yoga has turned the arrow of the Yogic aspiration around,
  from exclusively upwards to also downwards, aimed at the
  --
  one of his bouts of Yogic depression and doubt about the
  meaning of it all. Sri Aurobindo answered him: In the be-

1.10 - The Revolutionary Yogi, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  object:1.10 - The Revolutionary Yogi
  class:chapter
  --
  Such are the mental, vital, physical and psychic discoveries that Sri Aurobindo pursued alone, step by step, between the ages of twenty and thirty, simply by following the thread of consciousness. The remarkable thing is that he practiced yoga in circumstances and places where one would usually not do yoga: while giving his lectures in French or English at the State College of Baroda, during his work at the court of the Maharaja, and more and more in the midst of his secret revolutionary activities. The hours of the night that were not devoted to studying his mother tongue or Sanskrit or to political work were spent writing poetry. "Aurobindo had the habit of writing poetry till late into the night," his Bengali teacher recalls, "and consequently he did not get up very early in the morning. . . . He would concentrate for a minute before starting, then the poetry would flow from his pen like a stream." From writing poetry, Sri Aurobindo would pass to his experimental sleep. In 1901, at the age of twenty-nine, he married Mrinalini Devi and tried to share his spiritual life with her. I am experiencing all the signs and symptoms, he wrote to her in a letter found in the archives of the British police. I should like to take you with me along this path. But Mrinalini did not understand him, and Sri Aurobindo would remain alone. We could search Sri Aurobindo's life in vain for those moving or miraculous anecdotes that adorn the lives of great sages and mystics, in vain for sensational Yogic methods;
  everything seemed so ordinary, apparently, that nothing attracted one's attention, just as in life itself. Perhaps he had found more miracles in the ordinary than in the extraordinary: With me all is different, all is uncommon, he wrote in a letter to Mrinalini. All is deep and strange to the eyes that see.103 And perhaps that is what he wants us to discover through his example, his work, his yoga all those unknown riches beneath the ordinary crust. Our lives [are] a deeper mystery than we 103
  --
  depression of the body which they animate is a small matter, for they know well how to transmigrate. Germany overthrew the Napoleonic spirit in France in 1813 and broke the remnants of her European leadership in 1870; the same Germany became the incarnation of that which it had overthrown. The phenomenon is easily capable of renewal on a more formidable scale.7 We now know that the old gods are capable of transmigrating. Seeing all the years of nonviolence ending in the terrible violence that marked the partition of India in 1947, Gandhi himself said with a touch of sadness just before his death, "The attitude of violence we have secretly harbored comes back on us, and we fly at each other's throats when the question of distribution of power arises. . . . Now that the yoke of subjection is lifted, all the forces of evil have come to the surface." For neither violence nor nonviolence goes to the root of Evil. Right in the middle of the Second World War, while Sri Aurobindo was taking a public stand in favor of the Allies,109 because it was the only practical thing to do, he wrote to a disciple: You write as if what is going on in Europe were a war between the powers of the Light and the powers of Darkness but that is no more so than during the Great War. It is a fight between two kinds of Ignorance. . . . The eye of the Yogin sees not only the outward events and persons and causes, but the enormous forces which precipitate them into action. If the men who fought were instruments in the hands of rulers and financiers, etc.,
  these in turn were mere puppets in the clutch of these forces. When one is habituated to see the things behind, one is no longer prone to be touched by the outward aspects or to expect any remedy from political, institutional or social changes.110 Sri Aurobindo had become aware of these "enormous forces" behind, of the constant infiltration of the supraphysical into the physical. His energies were not focused on a moral problem violence versus nonviolence which after all would be rather superficial, but on a problem of effectiveness. He saw clearly, again through experience, that in order to cure the world's evil it is first necessary to cure "what is at its roots in man." Nothing can 109
  --
  But it would be wrong to imagine Sri Aurobindo as a fanatic; all his contemporaries were struck by this "calm young man who with a single word could silence a tumultuous meeting." It was in the midst of this external turmoil, between political meetings and the newspaper to get out every morning (and under constant threat from the secret police) that, on December 30, 1907, Sri Aurobindo met a Yogi by the name of Vishnu Bhaskar Lele, who was to bring a paradoxical experience into his already paradoxical life.
  It was the first time, after thirteen years in India, that Sri Aurobindo voluntarily met a Yogi! It shows how much he distrusted asceticism and spiritualists. His first question to Lele was typical: I
  want to do Yoga but for work, for action, not for sannyasa (renouncing the world) and Nirvana.114 Lele's reply was strange and deserves attention: "It would be easy for you as you are a poet." The two men retired to a quiet room for three days. From then on, Sri Aurobindo's yoga would assume a different direction, seemingly away from action, but actually to the secret of action and of changing the world. The first result, Sri Aurobindo wrote, was a series of tremendously powerful experiences and radical changes of consciousness which he had never intended . . . and which were quite contrary to my own ideas, for they made me see with a stupendous intensity the world as a cinematographic play of vacant forms in the impersonal universality of the Absolute Brahman.115
  --
  with going into another state, but with the quality or poise of our consciousness within a given state. Hence, Nirvana is not the top of the ladder, any more than sleep or death are. It can be experienced at any level of our consciousness through concentration in the mind, in the vital, and even in the physical consciousness. The hatha Yogi bent over his navel, or the Basuto dancing around his totem, can suddenly pass elsewhere, if such is their destiny, into another, transcendental dimension where all this world is reduced to nothingness. The same can happen to the mystic concentrated in his heart, or to the Yogi concentrated in his mind. For one does not actually go higher as one enters Nirvana; one merely opens a passageway and goes out. Sri Aurobindo had not gone beyond the mental plane when he experienced Nirvana: I myself had my experience of Nirvana and silence in the Brahman long before there was any knowledge of the overhead spiritual planes.119 It is after ascending to higher,
  superconscious planes that he had experiences superior to Nirvana,

1.10 - The Secret of the Veda, #Vedic and Philological Studies, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The modern world cares little for orthodox Hindu opinion, for the opinion of its Pandits or for the ancient authority of its received guides; putting these things aside as the heavy and now useless baggage of the dead past it moves on free and unhampered to its objective, seeking ever fresh vistas of undiscovered knowledge. But a Hindu writer, still holding the faith of his ancestors, owes a certain debt to the immediate past, not so much as to hamper his free enquiry and outlook upon truth, but enough to demand from him a certain respect for whatever in it is really respectworthy and some attempt to satisfy his coreligionists that in opening out a fresh outlook on ancient knowledge he is not uprooting truths that are essential to their common religion. Nothing in those truths compels us to accept the plenary authority of Sayana or the ritualistic interpretation of the Vedas. The hymns of the Veda are, for us, inspired truth and therefore infallible; it follows that the only interpretative authority on them which can claim also to be infallible is one which itself works by the faculty of divine inspiration. The only works for which the ordinary tradition claims this equal authority are the Brahmanas, Aranyakas & Upanishads. Even among these authorities, if we accept them as all and equally inspired and authoritative, and on this point Hindus are not in entire agreement,the Brahmanas which deal with the ceremonial detail of Vedic sacrifice, are authoritative for the ritual only; for the inner sense the Upanishads are the fit authority. Sayana can lay claim to no such sanctity for his opinions. He is no ancient Rishi, nor even an inspired religious teacher, but a grammarian and scholar writing in the twelfth century after Christ several millenniums subsequent to the Rishis to whom Veda was revealed. By his virtues & defects as a scholar his interpretation must be judged. His erudition is vast, his industry colossal; he has so occupied the field that everyone who approaches the Veda must pass to it under his shadow; his commentary is a mine of knowledge about Vedic Sanscrit and full of useful hints for the interpretation of Veda. But there the tale of his merits ends. Other qualities are needed for a successful Vedic commentary which in Sayana are conspicuous by their absence; and his defects as a critic are almost as colossal as his industry and erudition. He is not a disinterested mind seeking impartially the truth of Veda but a professor of the ritualistic school of interpretation intent upon reading the traditional ceremonial sense into the sacred hymns; even so he is totally wanting in consistency, coherence and settled method. Not only is he frequently uncertain of himself, halts and qualifies his interpretation with an alternative or not having the full courage of his ritualistic rendering introduces it as a mere possibility,these would be meritorious failings,but he wavers in a much more extraordinary fashion, forcing the ritualistic sense of a word or passage where it cannot possibly hold, abandoning it unaccountably where it can well be sustained. The Vedas are masterpieces of flawless literary style and logical connection. But Sayana, like many great scholars, is guiltless of literary taste and has not the least sense of what is or is not possible to a good writer. His interpretation of any given term is seldom consistent even in similar passages of different hymns, but he will go yet farther and give two entirely different renderings to the same word though occurring in successive riks & in an obviously connected strain of thought. The rhythm and balance of a sentence is nothing to him, he will destroy it ruthlessly in order to get over a difficulty of interpretation; he will disturb the arrangement of a sentence sometimes in the most impossible manner, connecting absolutely disconnected words, breaking up inseparable connections, inserting a second and alien sentence in between the head & tail of the first, and creating a barbarous complexity & confusion where the symbolic movement of the Rishis, unequalled in its golden ease, lucidity and straightforwardness, demands an equal lucidity & straightforwardness in the commentator. A certain rough coherence of thought he attempts to keep, but his rendering makes oftenest a clumsy sense & not unoften no ascertainable sense at all; while he has no scruple in breaking up the coherence entirely in favour of his ritualism. These are, after all, faults common in a scholastic mentality, but even were they less prominent & persistent in him than I have found them to be, they liberate us from all necessity for an exaggerated deference to his authority as an interpreter. Nor, indeed, were Sayana an ideal commentator, could he possibly be relied upon to give us the true sense of Veda; for the language of these hymns, whatever the exact date of their Rishis, goes back to an immense antiquity and long before Sayana the right sense of many Vedic words and the right clue to many Vedic allusions and symbols were lost to the scholars of India. Much indeed survived in tradition, but more had been lost or disfigured, and the two master clues, intellectual & spiritual, on which we can yet rely for the recovery of these losses, a sound philology and the renewal in ourselves of the experiences which form the subject of the Vedic hymns, were the one entirely wanting, the other grown more & more inaccessible with time not only to the Pandit but to the philosopher. Even in our days the sound philology is yet wanting, though the seeds have been sown & even the first beginnings made; nor are the Vedic experiences any longer pursued in their entirety by the Indian Yogins who have learned to follow in this Kali Yuga less difficult paths and more modern systems.
  But the ritualistic interpretation of the Rigveda does not stand on the authority of Sayana alone. It is justified by Shankaracharyas rigid division of karmakanda and jnanakanda and by a long tradition dating back to the propaganda of Buddha which found in the Vedic hymns a great system of ceremonial or effective sacrifice and little or nothing more. Even the Brahmanas in their great mass & minuteness seem to bear unwavering testimony to the pure ritualism of the Veda. But the Brahmanas are in their nature rubrics of directions to the priests for the right performance of the outward Vedic sacrifice,that system of symbolic & effective offerings to the gods of Soma-wine, clarified butter or consecrated animals in which the complex religion of the Veda embodied itself for material worship,rubrics accompanied by speculative explanations of old ill-understood details & the popular myths & traditions that had sprung up from obscure allusions in the hymns. Whatever we may think of the Brahmanas, they merely affirm the side of outward ritualism which had grown in a huge & cumbrous mass round the first simple rites of the Vedic Rishis; they do not exclude the existence of deeper meanings & higher purposes in the ancient Scripture. Not only so, but they practically affirm them by including in the Aranyakas compositions of a wholly different spirit & purpose, the Upanishads, compositions professedly intended to bring out the spiritual gist and drift of the earlier Veda. It is clear therefore that to the knowledge or belief of the men of those times the Vedas had a double aspect, an aspect of outward and effective ritual, believed also to be symbolical,for the Brahmanas are continually striving to find a mystic symbolism in the most obvious details of the sacrifice, and an aspect of highest & divine truth hidden behind these symbols. The Upanishads themselves have always been known as Vedanta. This word is nowadays often used & spoken of as if it meant the end of Veda, in the sense that here historically the religious development commenced in the Rigveda culminated; but obviously it means the culmination of Veda in a very different sense, the ultimate and highest knowledge & fulfilment towards which the practices & strivings of the Vedic Rishis mounted, extricated from the voluminous mass of the Vedic poems and presented according to the inner realisation of great Rishis like Yajnavalkya & Janaka in a more modern style and language. It is used much in the sense in which Madhuchchhandas, son of Viswamitra, says of Indra, Ath te antamnm vidyma sumatnm, Then may we know something of thy ultimate right thinkings, meaning obviously not the latest, but the supreme truths, the ultimate realisations. Undoubtedly, this was what the authors of the Upanishads themselves saw in their work, statements of supreme truth of Veda, truth therefore contained in the ancient mantras. In this belief they appeal always to Vedic authority and quote the language of Veda either to justify their own statements of thought or to express that thought itself in the old solemn and sacred language. And with regard to this there are spoken these Riks.
  --
  The distinction is of the greatest importance; for not only does it show that the substance of our religious mentality and discipline goes back to the prehistoric antiquity of the Upanishads, but it justifies the hypothesis that the Vedantins of the Upanishads themselves held it as an inheritance from their Vedic forefa thers. If the Upanishads were only a record of intellectual speculations, the theory of a progression from Vedic materialism to new modes of thought would be entirely probable and no other hypothesis could hold the field without first destroying the rationalistic theory by new and unsuspected evidence. But the moment we perceive that the Upanishads are the result of this ancient & indigenous system of truth-finding, we are liberated from the burden of European examples. Evidently, we have here to deal with phenomena of thought which do not fall within the European scheme of a rapid transition from gross savage superstition to subtle metaphysical speculation. We have phenomena which are either sui generis or, if at any time common to humanity both within and outside India, then more ancient or at any rate earlier in the progression of mind than the modern intellectual methods first universalised by the Hellenic & Latin races; we have an intuitive and experiential method of truth finding, a fixed psychological theory and discipline, a system in which observation & comparison of subjective experiences forms the basis of fixed & verifiable psychological truth, just as nowadays in Europe observation & comparison of objective experiences forms the basis of fixed and verifiable physical truth. The difference between the speculative method and the experiential is that the speculative aims only at logical harmony and, due to the rigid abstract tendency, drives towards new blocks of thought and new mental attitudes; the experiential aims at verification by experience and drives towards the progressive discovery or restatement of eternal truths and their application to varying conditions. The indispensable basis of all Science is the invariability of the same result from the same experiment, given the same conditions; the same experiment with oxygen & hydrogen will always, in whatever age or clime it is applied, have one invariable result, the appearance of water. The indispensable basis of all Yoga is the same invariability in psychological experiments & their results. The same experiment with the limited waking or manifest consciousness and the unlimited unmanifest consciousness from which it is a selection and formation will always, in whatever age or clime it is applied, have the same result, the dissolution, gradual or rapid, complete or partial according to the instruments and conditions of the experiment, of the waking ego into the cosmic consciousness. In each method, physical Science or psychological Science, different Scientists or different teachers may differ as to some of the final generalisations to be drawn from the facts & the most appropriate terms to be used, or invent different instruments in the hope of arriving at a more rapid or a more delicate process, but the facts and the fundamental truths remain common to all, even if stated in different terms, because they are the subjects of a common experience. Now the facts discovered by the Indian method, the duality of Purusha and Prakriti, the triple states of conscious being, the relation between the macrocosm & the microcosm, the fivefold and sevenfold principles of consciousness, the existence of more than one bodily case in which, simultaneously, we dwell, these and a number of other fixed ideas which the modern Yogins hold not as speculative propositions but as observable and verifiable facts of experience, are to be found in the Upanishads already enounced in more ancient formulae and in a slightly different language. The question arises, when did they originate? If they are facts, when were they first discovered? If they are hallucinations, when were the methods of subjective experiment which result so persistently in these hallucinations, first evolved and fixed? Not at the time of the Upanishads, for the Upanishads professedly record the traditional knowledge of older Rishis which is still verifiable by the moderns, prvebhir rishibhir dyo ntanair uta.Then, some time before the composition of the Upanishads, either by the earlier or later Vedic Rishis or by predecessors of the Vedic Rishis or in the interval between the Vedic hymns and the first Vedantic compositions. But for the period between Veda & Vedanta we have no documents, no direct & plain evidence. The question therefore can only be decided by an examination of the Vedic hymns themselves. Only by settling the meaning of Veda can we decide whether the early Vedantins were right in supposing that they were merely restating in more modern terms the substantial ideas & experiences of Vedic Rishis or whether this grand assumption of the Upanishads must take its rank among those pious fictions or willing & half honest errors which have often been immensely helpful to the advance of human knowledge but are none the less impostures upon posterity.
  European scholars believe that they have fixed finally the meaning of Veda. Using as their tools the Sciences of Comparative Philology & Comparative Mythology, itself a part of the strangely termed Science of Comparative Religion, they have excavated for us out of the ancient Veda a buried world, a forgotten civilisation, lost names of kings and nations, wars & battles, institutions, social habits & cultural ideas which the men of Vedantic times & their forerunners never dreamed were lying concealed in the revered & sacred words used daily by them in their worship and the fount and authority for their richest spiritual experiences deepest illuminated musings. The picture these discoveries constitute is a remarkable composition, imposing in its mass, brilliant and attractive in its details. The one lingering objection to them is a possible doubt of the truth of these discoveries, the soundness of the methods used to arrive at them. Are the conclusions of Vedic scholarship so undoubtedly true or so finally authoritative as to preclude a totally different hypothesis even though it may lead possibly to an interpretation which will wash out every colour & negative every detail of this great recovery? We must determine, first, whether the foundations of the European theory of Veda are solid & certain fact or whether it has been reared upon a basis of doubtful inference and conjecture. If the former, the question of the Veda is closed, its problem solved; if the latter, the European results may even then be true, but equally they may be false and replaceable by a more acceptable theory and riper conclusions.

1.10 - The Yoga of the Intelligent Will, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  "Yoga is skill in works." But all action directed towards life leads away from the universal aim of the Yogin which is by common consent to escape from bondage to this distressed and sorrowful human birth? Not so, either; the sages who do works without desire for fruits and in Yoga with the Divine are liberated from the bondage of birth and reach that other perfect status in which there are none of the maladies which afflict the mind and life of a suffering humanity.
  The status he reaches is the Brahmic condition; he gets to firm standing in the Brahman, brahm sthiti. It is a reversal of the whole view, experience, knowledge, values, seeings of earthbound creatures. This life of the dualities which is to them their day, their waking, their consciousness, their bright condition of activity and knowledge, is to him a night, a troubled sleep and darkness of the soul; that higher being which is to them a night, a sleep in which all knowledge and will cease, is to the self-mastering sage his waking, his luminous day of true being, knowledge and power. They are troubled and muddy waters disturbed by every little inrush of desire; he is an ocean of wide being and consciousness which is ever being filled, yet ever motionless in its large poise of his soul; all the desires of the

11.14 - Our Finest Hour, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 04, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   The new truth, the new capacity you have to acquire in and through the activities of the normal life. It was what Sri Krishna taught to Arjuna. Arjuna was a representative of the common man, Arjuna was thought to be always in the Yogic consciousness even while he was engaged in battle.
   Thus we are at the world's finest hour, for it shall find its soul.

1.11 - Correspondence and Interviews, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  Let me quote an instance to illustrate how Yogis have more insight into politics than politicians themselves. Surendra Mohan writes, "When I came here in October or November 1949, he asked me, 'Why have you not asked me anything about the communal situation in Bengal?' I said, 'There is nothing to report, it is all very quiet.' 'No, no, be careful. Something may happen.' And something terrible did happen the communal killings." Yet, not even great leaders paid any heed to it; they thought it impossible even when Surendra Mohan apprised them of Sri Aurobindo's warning. Sri Aurobindo predicted also "the Russo-Chinese rift and the disintegration of China one day".
  We ridicule the idea of Yogis having any knowledge of affairs outside their own "limited" spiritual field. Sri Aurobindo's intervention during the Cripps' Proposals was stigmatised as such an ignorant and illegitimate interference. More than once he demonstrated how false this notion is. Not only are Yogis aware of world-affairs, but those who ordinarily claim cognizance of them are actually ignorant and incompetent. For, according to Sri Aurobindo, unless one knows the domain of the Spirit, one's knowledge of the world remains incomplete.
  The Mother too gives directions to those who seek for them, whether they listen to them or not is their affair. Quite often they come to grief if they do not. Yet, are not Yogis supposed to have trikla drsti?
  Apropos of the integration of French India and the other French possessions with India, Surendra Mohan writes: "...All of us had to suffer for not having listened to Sri Aurobindo's direction or advice. He sent me back saying, 'Go and tell Gandhi, Nehru, Maulana, Sardar and Rajendra Prasad that it is for the good of India and ultimately for the good of the world that they should act on these lines and here is an opportunity I am giving them, let them accept and work on it.' I went to Delhi there was a meeting of the Working Committee of the Congress, everybody said, 'A very good thing, very good,' but it was never implemented.... The draft which Sri Aurobindo had made about the integration was on this basis that all the French possessions should immediately merge with India, with a right for Pondicherry to maintain its cultural contact with France. Because we did not implement it, a serious problem arose afterwards. To solve it I was again asked to go to Pondicherry after Sri Aurobindo had passed away in 1950." And with the Mother's help and intervention the whole plan of integration with India was finalised here. Yet the Mother was not at all willing at first to meddle in politics; she said she was not interested in it. Political problems were Sri Aurobindo's field. When Surendra Mohan asked for an interview with her, she enquired, "Is he interested in seeing me?" The interview granted, he pressed upon the Mother to take up Sri Aurobindo's cause and won his case.
  I have purposely given long quotations in order to dispel our ignorant notions that Yogis live in a rarefied atmosphere of the Spirit and are indifferent to what passes on this plane of Matter; we forget that Spirit and Matter are two ends of existence. I shall give another minor, even humorous, instance of Matter's reality to Sri Aurobindo the Yogi, the poet and the philosopher. Sri Aurobindo was taking his meal, the Mother was serving him and we were standing nearby. She said, "X promised to offer us a big sum, but he has given only Rs.100 with a promise that the rest will follow. Shall we accept or refuse, Lord?" Sri Aurobindo quietly replied "Accept it and hope for the best." All of us, including the Mother, burst out laughing.
  Another interview with Sri Aurobindo, which Surendra Mohan almost succeeded in bringing about, but which did not materialise, was with Mahatma Gandhi, in spite of both the parties' willingness to meet. Sri Aurobindo said, "He can come now. You may tell him this." Fate stepped in and foiled what could have been a momentous meeting!
  Apart from these discussions on politics in which Sri Aurobindo gave a prophetic warning about China's intention and about the Hindu-Moslem situation in Bengal, Surendra Mohan speaks of some astrological reading regarding Sri Aurobindo, which vitally concerned us. According to Bhrigu astrology, he says, Sri Aurobindo after his 78th year, would develop a loathing towards his body and then would leave it; otherwise death was in his control, he was such a great Yogi.... It was also mentioned there that the Mother or he himself could perform a particular yaja, a sacrificial ceremony following elaborate instructions and repeating certain mantras. On hearing this Surendra Mohan immediately came here and informed the Mother about it. When Sri Aurobindo heard of it, he consoled him saying, "Don't worry." The Mother asked him to send a copy of those instructions but due to some misunderstanding they arrived too late to be of any possible use. Now, this reading took place probably in October 1950. I remember very well the Mother having a talk with Sri Aurobindo on this point. That the reading was unhappily true has been borne out by later developments. Sri Aurobindo's answer to Surendra Mohan was equivocal; we now know that he had already decided to leave a year before. Had the instructions arrived earlier and the yaja been performed, it is still improbable that Sri Aurobindo would have changed his decision. The whole thing still remains a baffling mystery. We can only quote the Mother's words on the subject, uttered on 28.12.50: "Our Lord has sacrificed himself totally for us.... He was not compelled to leave his body, he chose to do so for reasons so sublime that they are beyond the reach of human mentality.... And when one cannot understand, the only thing is to keep a respectful silence." Another utterance on 18.1.51: "We stand in the Presence of Him who has sacrificed his physical life in order to help more fully his work of transformation.
  "He is always with us, aware of what we are doing, of all our thoughts, of all our feelings and all our actions."

1.11 - Oneness, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  Indeed, any experience, any knowledge, of whatever order, from the most physical level to metaphysical heights, is secretly a knowledge through identity: we know because we are what we know. True knowledge, Sri Aurobindo said, is not attained by thinking. It is what you are; it is what you become.157 Without that secret identity, that underlying total oneness, we would be unable to know anything about the world and beings. Ramakrishna crying out in pain and bleeding from the cuts of the whip that lashed the ox nearby, the psychic knowing that an object is hidden in a particular place, the Yogi curing a sick disciple hundreds of miles away, or Sri Aurobindo preventing the cyclone from entering his room, are only a few striking illustrations of a natural phenomenon. What is natural is not separation, not differentiation, but the indivisible and nonexistent to us. Only like can know and feel like; only like can act upon like. We can know only what we are: Nothing can be taught to the mind which is not already concealed as potential knowledge in the unfolding soul of the creature. So also all perfection of which the outer man is capable, is only a realizing of the eternal perfection of the Spirit within him. We know the Divine and become the Divine, because we are That already in our secret nature. All teaching is a revealing, all becoming is an unfolding. Self-attainment is the secret; selfknowledge and an increasing consciousness are the means and the process.158
  We have become separated from the world and other beings through the millennia of our evolution. We have formed egos, have hardened a few atoms of the Great Body, and have proclaimed "I"

1.11 - Powers, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  When one has succeeded in making this Samyama, all powers come under his control. This is the great instrument of the Yogi. The objects of knowledge are infinite, and they are divided into the gross, grosser, grossest and the fine, finer, finest and so on. This Samyama should be first applied to gross things, and when you begin to get knowledge of this gross, slowly, by stages, it should be brought to finer things.
  
  --
  Before these we had the Pratyhra, the Prnyma, the sana, the Yama and Niyama; they are external parts of the three Dharana, Dhyana and Samadhi. When a man has attained to them, he may attain to omniscience and omnipotence, but that would not be salvation. These three would; not make the mind Nirvikalpa, changeless, but would leave the seeds for getting bodies again. Only when the seeds are, as the Yogi says, "fried", do they lose the possibility of producing further plants. These powers cannot fry the seed.
  
  --
  That is to say, in this first state of Samadhi the modifications of the mind have been controlled, but not perfectly, because if they were, there would be no modifications. If there is a modification which impels the mind to rush out through the senses, and the Yogi tries to control it, that very control itself will be a modification. One wave will be checked by another wave, so it will not be real Samadhi in which all the waves subside, as control itself will be a wave. Yet this lower Samadhi is very much nearer to the higher Samadhi than when the mind comes bubbling out.
  
  --
  By the threefold changes in the mind-stuff as to form, time and state are explained the corresponding changes in gross and subtle matter and in the organs. Suppose there is a lump of gold. It is transformed into a bracelet and again into an ear-ring. These are changes as to form. The same phenomena looked at from the standpoint of time give us change as to time. Again, the bracelet or the ear-ring may be bright or dull, thick or thin, and so on. This is change as to state. Now referring to the aphorisms 9, l1 and 12, the mind-stuff is changing into Vrittis this is change as to form. That it passes through past, present and future moments of time is change as to time. That the impressions vary as to intensity within one particular period, say, present, is change as to state. The concentrations taught in the preceding aphorisms were to give the Yogi a voluntary control over the transformations of his mind-stuff, which alone will enable him to make the Samyama named in III. 4.
  14. That which is acted upon by transformations, either past, present, or yet to be manifested is the qualified.
  --
  The word represents the external cause, the meaning represents the internal vibration that travels to the brain through the channels of the Indriyas, conveying the external impression to the mind, and knowledge represents the reaction of the mind, with which comes perception. These three, confused, make our sense-objects. Suppose I hear a word; there is first the external vibration, next the internal sensation carried to the mind by the organ of hearing, then the mind reacts, and I know the word. The word I know is a mixture of the three vibration, sensation, and reaction. Ordinarily these three are inseparable; but by practice the Yogi can separate them. When a man has attained to this, if he makes a Samyama on any sound, he understands the meaning which that sound was intended to express, whether it was made by man or be any other animal.
  18. By perceiving the impressions, (comes) the knowledge of past life.
  Each experience that we have, comes in the form of a wave in the Chitta, and this subsides and becomes finer and finer, but is never lost. It remains there in minute form, and if we can bring this wave up again, it becomes memory. So, if the Yogi can make a Samyama on these past impressions in the mind, he will begin to remember all his past lives.
  19. By making Samyama on the signs in another's body, knowledge of his mind comes.
  Each man has particular signs on his body, which differentiate him from others; when the Yogi makes a Samyama on these signs he knows the nature of the mind of that person.
    
  --
  He would not know the contents of the mind by making a Samyama on the body. There would be required a twofold Samyama, first on the signs in the body, and then on the mind itself. The Yogi would then know everything that is in that mind.
  -
  21. By making Samyama on the form of the body, the perceptibility of the form being obstructed and the power of manifestation in the eye being separated, the Yogi's body becomes unseen.
  A Yogi standing in the midst of this room can apparently vanish. He does not really vanish, but he will not be seen by anyone. The form and the body are, as it were, separated. You must remember that this can only be done when the Yogi has attained to that power of concentration when form and the thing formed have been separated. Then he makes a Samyama on that, and the power to perceive forms is obstructed, because the power of perceiving forms comes from the junction of form and the thing formed.
  22. By this the disappearance or concealment of words which are being spoken and such other things are also explained.
  --
  23. Karma is of two kinds soon to be fructified and late to be fructified. By making Samyana on these, or by the signs called Arishta, portents, the Yogis know the exact time of separation from their bodies.
  When a Yogi makes a Samyama on his own Karma, upon those impressions in his mind which are now working, and those which are just waiting to work, he knows exactly by those that are waiting when his body will fall. He knows when he will die, at what hour, even at what minute. The Hindus think very much of that knowledge or consciousness of the nearness of death, because it is taught in the Gita that the thoughts at the moment of departure are great powers in determining the next life.
  24. By making Samyama on friendship, mercy, etc. (I. 33 ), the Yogi excels in the respective qualities.
  25. By making Samyama on the strength of the elephant and others, their respective strength comes to the Yogi.
  When a Yogi has attained to this Samyama and wants strength, he makes a Samyama on the strength of the elephant and gets it. Infinite energy is at the disposal of everyone if he only knows how to get it. The Yogi has discovered the science of getting it.
   --
  --
  When the Yogi makes Samyama on that Effulgent Light in the heart, he sees things which are very remote, things, for instance, that are happening in a distant place, and which are obstructed by mountain barriers, and also things which are very fine.
  
  --
  The Siddhas are beings who are a little above ghosts. When the Yogi concentrates his mind on the top of his head, he will see these Siddhas. The word Siddha does not refer to those men who have become free a sense in which it is often used.
  34. Or by the power of Prtibha, all knowledge.
  --
  To the Yogi knowledge of the enjoyments of the world comes by the junction of the Purusha and the mind. If he wants to make Samyama on the knowledge that they are two different things, nature and soul, he gets knowledge of the Purusha. From that arises discrimination. When he has got that discrimination, he gets the Pratibha, the light of supreme genius. These powers, however, are obstructions to the attainment of the highest goal, the knowledge of the pure Self, and freedom. These are, as it were, to be met in the way; and if the Yogi rejects them, he attains the highest. If he is tempted to acquire these, his further progress is barred.
    
  39. When the cause of bondage of the Chitta has become loosened, the Yogi, by his knowledge of its channels of activity (the nerves), enters another's body.
  The Yogi can enter a dead body and make it get up and move, even while he himself is working in another body. Or he can enter a living body and hold that man's mind and organs in check, and for the time being act through the body of that man. That is done by the Yogi coming to this discrimination of Purusha and nature. If he wants to enter another's body, he makes a Samyama on that body and enters it, because, not only is his soul omnipresent, but his mind also, as the Yogi teaches. It is one bit of the universal mind. Now, however, it can only work; through the nerve currents in this body, but when the Yogi has loosened himself from these nerve currents, he can work through other things.
  40. By conquering the current called Udna the Yogi does not sink in water or in swamps, he can walk on thorns etc., and can, die at will.
  Udana is the name of the nerve current that governs the lungs and all the upper parts of the body, and when he is master of it, he becomes light in weight. He does not sink in water; he can walk on thorns and sword blades, and stand in fire, and can depart this life whenever he likes.
  --
  There is the Akasha, the ether, and the instrument, the ear. By making Samyama on them the Yogi gets supernormal hearing; he hears everything. Anything spoken or sounded miles away he can hear.
  43. By making Samyama on the relation between the Akasha and the body and becoming light as cotton-wool etc., through meditation on them, the Yogi goes through the skies.
  This Akasha is the material of this body; it is only Akasha in a certain form that has become the body. If the Yogi makes a Sanyama on this Akasha material of his body, it acquires the lightness of Akasha, and he can go anywhere through the air. So in the other case also.
    
  --
  The mind in its foolishness thinks that it is working in this body. Why should I be bound by one system of nerves, and put the Ego only in one body, if the mind is omnipresent? There is no reason why I should. The Yogi wants to feel the Ego wherever he likes. The mental waves which arise in the absence of egoism in the body are called "real modifications" or "great disembodiedness". When he has succeeded in making Samyama on these modifications, all covering to light goes away, and all darkness and ignorance vanish. Everything appears to him to be full of knowledge.
  --
  --
  The Yogi makes Samyama on the elements, first on the gross, and then on the finer states. This Samyama is taken up more by a sect of the Buddhists. They take a lump of clay and make Samyama on that, and gradually they begin to see the fine materials of which it is composed, and when they have known all the fine materials in it, they get power over that element. So with all the elements. The Yogi can conquer them all.
  46. From that comes minuteness and the rest of the powers, "glorification of the body," and indestructibleness of the bodily qualities.
  This means that the Yogi has attained the eight powers. He can make himself as minute as a particle, or as huge as a mountain, as heavy as the earth, or as light as the air; he can reach anything he likes, he can rule everything he wants, he can conquer everything he wants, and so on. A lion will sit at his feet like a lamb, and all his desires will be fulfilled at will.
  ---
  --
  The body becomes indestructible. Nothing can injure it. Nothing can destroy it until the Yogi wishes. "Breaking the rod of time he lives in this universe with his body." In the Vedas it is written that for that man there is no more disease, death or pain.
  48. By making Samyama on the objectivity and power of illumination of the organs, on egoism, the inherence of the Gunas in them and on their contri buting to the experience of the soul, comes the conquest of the organs.
  In the perception of external objects the organs leave their place in the mind and go towards the object; this is followed by knowledge. Egoism also is present in the act. When the Yogi makes Samyama on these and the other two by gradation, he conquers the organs. Take up anything that you see or feel, a book for instance; first concentrate the mind on it, then on the knowledge that is in the form of a book, and then on the Ego that sees the book, and so on. By that practice all the organs will be conquered.
    
  --
  He attains aloneness, independence, and becomes free. When one gives up even the ideas of omnipotence and omniscience, there comes entire rejection of enjoyment, of the temptations from celestial beings. When the Yogi has seen all these wonderful powers, and rejected them, he reaches the goal. What are all these powers? Simply manifestations. They are no better than dreams. Even omnipotence is a dream. It depends on the mind. So long as there is a mind it can be understood, but the goal is beyond even the mind.
  
  52. The Yogi should not feel allured or flattered by the overtures of celestial beings for fear of evil again.
  There are other dangers too; gods and other beings come to tempt the Yogi. They do not want anyone to be perfectly free. They are jealous, just as we are, and worse than us sometimes. They are very much afraid of losing their places. Those Yogis who do not reach perfection die and become gods; leaving the direct road they go into one of the side streets, and get these powers. Then, again, they have to be born. But he who is strong enough to withstand these temptations and go straight to the goal, becomes free.
  -
  --
  The misery that we suffer comes from ignorance, from non-discrimination between the real and the unreal. We all take the bad for the good, the dream for the reality. Soul is the only reality, and we have forgotten it. Body is an unreal dream, and we think we are all bodies. This non-discrimination is the cause of misery. It is caused by ignorance. When discrimination comes, it brings strength, and then alone can we avoid all these various ideas of body, heavens, and gods. This ignorance arises through differentiating by species, sign, and place. For instance, take a cow. The cow is differentiated from the dog by species. Even with the cows alone how do we make the distinction between one cow and another? By signs. If two objects are exactly similar, they can be distinguished if they are in different places. When objects are so mixed up that even these differential will not help us, the power of discrimination acquired by the above-mentioned practice will give us the ability to distinguish them. The highest philosophy of the Yogi is based upon this fact, that the Purusha is pure and perfect, and is the only "simple" that exists in this universe. The body and mind are compounds, and yet we are ever identifying ourselves with them This is the great mistake that the distinction has been lost. When this power of discrimination has been attained, man sees that everything in this world, mental and physical, is a compound, and, as such, cannot be the Purusha.
    
  --
  Saving, because the knowledge takes the Yogi across the ocean of birth and death. The whole of Prakriti in all its states, subtle and gross, is within the grasp of this knowledge. There is no succession in perception by this knowledge; it takes in all things simultaneously, at a glance.
  

1.11 - The Master of the Work, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
     After the removal of the veil of ego, the removal of the veil of Nature and her inferior modes that govern our mind, life and body. As soon as the limits of the ego begin to fade, we see how that veil is constituted and detect the action of cosmic Nature in us, and in or behind cosmic Nature we sense the presence of the cosmic Self and the dynamisms of the world-pervading Ishwara. The Master of the instrument stands behind all this working, and even within the working there is his touch and the drive of a great guiding or disposing Influence. It is no longer ego or ego-force that we serve; we obey the World-Master and his evolutionary impulse. At each step we say in the language of the Sanskrit verse, "Even as I am appointed by Thee seated in my heart, so, 0 Lord, I act." But still this action may be of two very different kinds, one only illumined, the other transformed and uplifted into a greater supernature. For we may keep on in the way of action upheld and followed by our nature when by her and her illusion of egoism we were "turned as if mounted on a machine," but now with a perfect understanding of the mechanism and its utilisation for his world purposes by the Master of works whom we feel behind it. This is indeed as far as even many great Yogis have reached on the levels of spiritualised mind; but it need not be so always, for there is a greater supramental possibility. It is possible to rise beyond spiritualised mind and to act spontaneously in the living presence of the original divine Truth-Force of the Supreme Mother Our motion one with her motion and merged in it, our will one with her will, our energy absolved
     in her energy, we shall feel her working through us as the Divine manifest in a supreme Wisdom-Power, and we shall be aware of the transformed mind, life and body only as the channels of a supreme Light and Force beyond them, infallible in its steps because transcendent and total in its knowledge. Of this Light and Force we shall not only be the recipients, channels, instruments, but become a part of it in a supreme uplifted abiding experience.

1.1.1 - The Mind and Other Levels of Being, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  When it [ones inner perception] is at the heart, it is probable that the psychic or at least the psychic mental thought is replacing the ordinary mental. Yogic thought comes from two sources, the psychic behind the heart and the higher consciousness from above the head.
  ***

1.11 - WITH THE DEVOTEES AT DAKSHINEWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "That which is Brahman is also the Primal Energy. Once a king asked a Yogi to impart Knowledge to him in one word. The Yogi said, 'All right; you will get Knowledge in one word.' After a while a magician came to the king. The king saw the magician moving two of his fingers rapidly and heard him exclaim, 'Behold, O King! Behold.' The king looked at him amazed when, after a few minutes, he saw the two fingers becoming one.
  The magician moved that one finger rapidly and said, 'Behold, O King! Behold.' The implication of the story is that Brahman and the Primal Energy at first appear to be two.
  --
  "There is much similarity between the seven 'planes' described in the Vednta and the six 'centres' of Yoga. The first three planes of the Vedas may be compared to the first three Yogic centres, namely, Muladhara, Svadhisthana, and Manipura. With ordinary people the mind dwells in these three planes, at the organs of evacuation and generation and at the navel. When the mind ascends to the fourth plane, the centre designated in Yoga as Anahata, it sees the individual soul as a flame. Besides, it sees light. At this the aspirant cries: 'Ah! What is this? Ah! What is this?'
  "When the mind rises to the fifth plane, the aspirant wants to hear only about God. This is the Visuddha centre of Yoga. The sixth plane and the centre known by the Yogi as Ajna are one and the same. When the mind rises there, the aspirant sees God. But still there is a barrier between God and the devotee. It is like the barrier of glass in a lantern, which keeps one from touching the light. King Janaka used to give instruction about Brahmajnana from the fifth plane. Sometimes he dwelt on the fifth plane, and sometimes on the sixth.
  "After passing the six centres the aspirant arrives at the seventh plane. Reaching it, the mind merges in Brahman. The individual soul and the Supreme Soul become one. The aspirant goes into samadhi. His consciousness of the body disappears. He loses the knowledge of the outer world. He does not see the manifold any more. His reasoning comes to a stop.
  --
  "The upshot of the whole thing is that, no matter what path you follow, yoga is impossible unless the mind becomes quiet. The mind of a Yogi is under his control; he is not under the control of his mind. When the mind is quiet the prana stops functioning.
  Then one gets kumbhaka. One may have the same kumbhaka through bhaktiyoga as well; the prana stops functioning through love of God too. In the kirtan the musician sings, 'Nitai amar mata hati!' Repeating this, he goes into a spiritual mood and cannot sing the whole sentence. He simply sings, 'Hati! Hati' When the mood deepens he sings only, 'Ha! Ha!' Thus his prana stops through ecstasy, and kumbhaka follows.

1.1.2 - Commentary, #Kena and Other Upanishads, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  purposes. In proportion, therefore, as the Yogin gets back to the
  control of the Prana, and by the direction of its batteries opens
  --
  experience. The so-called occult powers of Yoga are such faculties which thus open up of themselves as the Yogin advances
  in the control of the Pranic force and, purifying the channels

1.12 - God Departs, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  One day taking courage in both hands, Dr. Satyendra asked, "Why are you so serious, Sir?" Sri Aurobindo answered gravely, "The time is very serious." The answer left us more mystified; we could not probe further. This would mean that, as we will see later, he had taken the decision to leave his body and that was the first and last verbal indication of the gravity of the situation, not that he could be attached to his own personal existence in the body no Yogi is but there were vaster issues connected with the decision and demanded attention.
  Meanwhile, urinary symptoms were worsening and now a trace of albumin was detected. He was informed, but made no comment. Then acetone appeared, a grave signal. He heard it in silence and said, "Tell the Mother." The Mother too heard it quietly. It all seemed so terribly mysterious. I was perplexed by their seeming indifference as compared with their former concern. Something must have gone amiss, surely. The mystery was too deep for my plummet to fathom, but I had faith that everything would turn out all right in the end.
  --
  The Darshan was now upon us. A letter had arrived from an astrologer stating that Sri Aurobindo would be subject to a grave malady which might even threaten his life. We simply pooh-poohed the idea, but Sri Aurobindo did not pass it off so lightly. He asked, "Will you enquire what exactly he has written? I feel that he has caught some truth." Sometime previously Dr. Manilal was also told by an astrologer that Sri Aurobindo was going to leave his body and if Dr. Manilal wanted to see his Guru, he had better rush to Pondicherry. When he reported this prediction to Sri Aurobindo, he simply smiled. There were quite a number of predictions about this time to the same effect. Surendra Mohan Ghose has narrated a similar one published in Mother India which I have already described at some length in the previous chapter. Still, I was not a little surprised to find Sri Aurobindo giving credence to such seemingly wild forecasts. For his view with regard to astrology was that its predictions were often uncertain, more especially about the Yogis, since they can change their own and others' destiny. The predictions of Narayan Jyotishi, a famous astrologer of Calcutta, about him had all come true, except the one about a serious illness at the age of 63. But that too, it was said, would be overcome by his Yogic force, and he would live up to a ripe old age. Sri Aurobindo writes in Savitri,
  Nature and Fate compel his free-will's choice.
  --
  I need not add that the Samadhi of Sri Aurobindo is not just a conventional place of pilgrimage. Every part of it is vibrant with the Consciousness-Force that the Master embodied during his unparalleled lifelong sadhana. From the oldest to the youngest, devotees see his glorious face, hear his ethereal voice, receive his answer to their prayers and become filled with something that cannot be mathematically proved, but subjectively apprehended. Yogis, saints and sadhus through the ages have done miracles; the Samadhi does the same in a different way; it is a Presence that radiates a constant stream of Peace, Light, Force, and responds to all our soul-needs when we approach it with faith and devotion.
  [1]Savitri, The Book of Fate, Canto II.

1.12 - Independence, #Raja-Yoga, #Swami Vivkenanda, #unset
  The Yogis claim that these powers can be gained by chemical means. All of you know that chemistry originally began as alchemy; men went in search of the philosopher's stone and elixirs of life, and so forth. In India there was a sect called the Rsyanas. Their idea was that ideality, knowledge, spirituality, and religion were all very right, but that the body was the only instrument by which to attain to all these. If the body came to an end every now and again, it would take so much more time to attain to the goal. For instance, a man wants to practice Yoga, or wants to become spiritual. Before he has advanced very far he dies. Then he takes another body and begins again, then dies, and so on. In this way much time will be lost in dying and being born again. If the body could be made strong and perfect, so that it would get rid of birth and death, we should have so much more time to become spiritual. So these Rasayanas say, first make the body very strong. They claim that this body can be made immortal. Their idea is that if the mind manufactures the body, and if it be true that each mind is only one outlet to the infinite energy, there should be no limit to each outlet getting any amount of power from outside. Why is it impossible to keep our bodies all the time? We have to manufacture all the bodies that we ever have. As soon as this body dies, we shall have to manufacture another. If we can do that, why cannot we do it just here and now, without getting out of the present body? The theory is perfectly correct. If it is possible that we live after death, and make other bodies, why is it impossible that we should have the power of making bodies here, without entirely dissolving this body, simply changing it continually? They also thought that in mercury and in sulphur was hidden the most wonderful power, and that by certain preparations of these a man could keep the body as long as he liked. Others believed that certain drugs could bring powers, such as flying through the air. Many of the most wonderful medicines of the present day we owe to the Rasayanas, notably the use of metals in medicine. Certain sects of Yogis claim that many of their principal teachers are still living in their old bodies. Patanjali, the great authority on Yoga, does not deny this.
  The power of words. There are certain sacred words called Mantras, which have power, when repeated under proper conditions, produce these extraordinary powers. We are living in the midst of such a mass of miracles, day and night, that we do not think anything of them. There is no limit to man's power, the power of words and the power of mind.
  --
  Today the evolution theory of the ancient Yogis will be better understood in the light of modern research. And yet the theory of the Yogis is a better explanation. The two causes of evolution advanced by the moderns, viz sexual selection and survival of the fittest, are inadequate. Suppose human knowledge to have advanced so much as to eliminate competition, both from the function of acquiring physical sustenance and of acquiring a mate. Then, according to the moderns, human progress will stop and the race will die. The result of this theory is to furnish every oppressor with an argument to calm the qualms of conscience. Men are not lacking, who, posing as philosophers, want to kill out all wicked and incompetent persons (they are, of course, the only judges of competency) and thus preserve the human race! But the great ancient evolutionist, Patanjali, declares that the true secret of evolution is the manifestation of the perfection which is already in every being; that this perfection has been barred and the infinite tide behind is struggling to express itself. These struggles and competitions are but the results of our ignorance, because we do not know the proper way to unlock the gate and let the water in. This infinite tide behind must express itself; it is the cause of all manifestation. Competitions for life or sex-gratification are only momentary, unnecessary, extraneous effects, caused by ignorance. Even when all competition has ceased, this perfect nature behind will make us go forward until everyone has become perfect. Therefore there is no reason to believe that competition is necessary to progress. In the animal the man was suppressed, but as soon as the door was opened, out rushed man. So in man there is the potential god, kept in by the locks and bars of ignorance. When knowledge breaks these bars, the god becomes manifest.
  4. From egoism alone proceed the created minds.
  --
  With a view to exhausting their Karma quickly, Yogis create Kya-vyuha, or groups of bodies, in which to work it out. For all these bodies they create minds from egoism. These are called "created minds", in contradistinction to their original minds.
  
  --
  These different minds, which act in these different bodies are called made-minds, and the bodies, made-bodies; that is, manufactured bodies and minds. Matter and mind are like two inexhaustible storehouses. When you become a Yogi, you learn the secret of their control. It was yours all the time, but you had forgotten it. When you become a Yogi, you recollect it. Then you can do anything with it, manipulate it in every way you like. The material out of which a manufactured mind is created is the very same material which is used for the macrocosm. It is not that mind is one thing and matter another, they are different aspects of the same thing. Asmit, egoism, is the material, the fine state of existence out of which these made-minds and made-bodies of the Yogi are manufactured. Therefore, when the Yogi has found the secret of these energies of nature, he can manufacture any number of bodies or minds out of the substance known as egoism.
  6. Among the various Chittas, that which is attained by Samadhi is desireless.
  --
  7. Works are neither black nor white for the Yogis; for others they are threefold black, white, and mixed.
  When the Yogi has attained perfection, his actions, and the Karma produced by those actions, do not bind him, because he did not desire them. He just works on; he works to do good, and he does good, but does not care for the result, and it will not come to him. But, for ordinary men, who have not attained to the highest state, works are of three kinds, black (evil actions), white (good actions), and mixed.
  8. From these threefold works are manifested in each state only those desires (which are) fitting to that state alone. (The others are held in abeyance for the time being.)
  --
  Through discrimination the Yogi knows that the Purusha is not mind.
    
  --
  When the Yogi has attained to this discrimination, all the powers mentioned in the last chapter come to him, but the true Yogi rejects them all. Unto him comes a peculiar knowledge, a particular light, called the Dharma-megha, the cloud of virtue. All the great prophets of the world whom history has recorded had this. They had found the whole foundation of knowledge within themselves. Truth to them had become real. Peace and calmness, and perfect purity became their own nature, after they had given up the vanities of powers.
  29. From that comes cessation of pain and works.
  When that cloud of virtue has come, then no more is there fear of falling, nothing can drag the Yogi down. No more will there be evils for him. No more pains.
  

1.1.2 - Intellect and the Intellectual, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Its [the intellects] function is to reason from the perceptions of the mind and senses, to form conclusions and to put things in logical relation with each other. A well-trained intellect is a good preparation of the mind for greater knowledge, but it cannot itself give the Yogic knowledge or know the Divineit can only have ideas about the Divine, but having ideas is not knowledge. In the course of the sadhana intellect has to be transformed into the higher mind which is itself a passage towards the true knowledge.
  ***

1.12 - The Divine Work, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  our hearts. The supreme and final word of the Gita for the Yogin
  is that he should leave all conventional formulas of belief and

1.12 - THE FESTIVAL AT PNIHTI, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  The Yogis meditate on Thee as Uma, great Himalaya's daughter.
  Thou who art the Power of iva! Put to death my ceaseless cravings;

1.12 - The Significance of Sacrifice, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  But all even of the Yogins have not attained to this knowledge. "Some Yogins follow after the sacrifice which is of the gods; others offer the sacrifice by the sacrifice itself into the
  Brahman-fire." The former conceive of the Divine in various forms and powers and seek him by various means, ordinances, dharmas, laws or, as we might say, settled rites of action, selfdiscipline, consecrated works; for the latter, those who already know, the simple fact of sacrifice, of offering whatever work to the Divine itself, of casting all their activities into the unified divine consciousness and energy, is their one means, their one dharma. The means of sacrifice are various; the offerings are of many kinds. There is the psychological sacrifice of self-control and self-discipline which leads to the higher self-possession and self-knowledge. "Some offer their senses into the fires of control, others offer the objects of sense into the fires of sense, and others offer all the actions of the sense and all the actions of the vital force into the fire of the Yoga of self-control kindled by knowledge." There is, that is to say, the discipline which receives the objects of sense-perception without allowing the mind to be disturbed or affected by its sense-activities, the senses themselves becoming pure fires of sacrifice; there is the discipline which stills the senses so that the soul in its purity may appear from behind the veil of mind-action, calm and still; there is the discipline by which, when the self is known, all the actions of the senseperceptions and all the action of the vital being are received into that one still and tranquil soul. The offering of the striver after perfection may be material and physical, dravya-yajna, like that consecrated in worship by the devotee to his deity, or it may be the austerity of his self-discipline and energy of his soul directed to some high aim, tapo-yajna, or it may be some form of Yoga like the Pranayama of the Raja Yogins and Hatha Yogins, or any other yoga-yajna. All these tend to the purification of the being; all sacrifice is a way towards the attainment of the highest.

1.12 - The Strength of Stillness, #Essays In Philosophy And Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  The greatest exertions are made with the breath held in; the faster the breathing, the more the dissipation of energy. He who in action can cease from breathing,naturally, spontaneously,is the master of Prana, the energy that acts and creates throughout the universe. It is a common experience of the Yogin that when thought ceases, breathing ceases,the entire kumbhak effected by the Hatha Yogin with infinite trouble and gigantic effort, establishes itself easily and happily,but when thought begins again, the breath resumes its activity. But when the thought flows without the resumption of the inbreathing and outbreathing, then the Prana is truly conquered. This is a law of Nature. When we strive to act, the forces of Nature do their will with us; when we grow still, we become their master. But there are two kinds of stillness the helpless stillness of inertia, which heralds dissolution, and the stillness of assured sovereignty which commands the harmony of life. It is the sovereign stillness which is the calm of the Yogin. The more complete the calm, the mightier the Yogic power, the greater the force in action.
  In this calm, right knowledge comes. The thoughts of men are a tangle of truth and falsehood, satyam and antam. True perception is marred and clouded by false perception, true judgment lamed by false judgment, true imagination distorted by false imagination, true memory deceived by false memory. The activity of the mind must cease, the chitta be purified, a silence fall upon the restlessness of Prakriti, then in that calm, in that voiceless stillness illumination comes upon the mind, error begins to fall away and, so long as desire does not stir again, clarity establishes itself in the higher stratum of the consciousness compelling peace and joy in the lower. Right knowledge becomes the infallible source of right action. Yoga karmasu kaualam.
  The knowledge of the Yogin is not the knowledge of the average desire-driven mind. Neither is it the knowledge of the scientific or of the worldly-wise reason which anchors itself on surface facts and leans upon experience and probability. The Yogin knows Gods way of working and is aware that the improbable often happens, that facts mislead. He rises above reason to that direct and illuminated knowledge which we call vijnam. The desire-driven mind is emmeshed in the intricate tangle of good and evil, of the pleasant and the unpleasant, of happiness and misfortune. It strives to have the good always, the pleasant always, the happiness always. It is elated by fortunate happenings, disturbed and unnerved by their opposite. But the illuminated eye of the seer perceives that all leads to good; for God is all and God is sarvama
  galam. He knows that the apparent evil is often the shortest way to the good, the unpleasant indispensable to prepare the pleasant, misfortune the condition of obtaining a more perfect happiness. His intellect is delivered from enslavement to the dualities.
  Therefore the action of the Yogin will not be as the action of the ordinary man. He will often seem to acquiesce in evil, to avoid the chance of relieving misfortune, to refuse his assent to the efforts of the noble-hearted who withstand violence and wickedness; he will seem to be acting picavat. Or men will think him jaa, inert, a stone, a block, because he is passive, where activity appears to be called for; silent, where men expect voicefulness; unmoved, where there is reason for deep and passionate feeling. When he acts, men will call him unmatta, a madman, eccentric or idiot; for his actions will often seem to have no definite result or purpose, to be wild, unregulated, regardless of sense and probability or inspired by a purpose and a vision which is not for this world. And it is true that he follows a light which other men do not possess or would even call darkness; that what is a dream to them, is to him a reality; that their night is his day. And this is the root of the difference that, while they reason, he knows.
  To be capable of silence, stillness, illuminated passivity is to be fit for immortalityamtatvya kalpate. It is to be dhra, the ideal of our ancient civilisation, which does not mean to be tamasic, inert and a block. The inaction of the tamasic man is a stumbling-block to the energies around him, the inaction of the Yogin creates, preserves and destroys; his action is dynamic with the direct, stupendous driving-power of great natural forces. It is a stillness within often covered by a ripple of talk and activity without,the ocean with its lively surface of waves. But even as men do not see the reality of Gods workings from the superficial noise of the world and its passing events, for they are hidden beneath that cover, so also shall they fail to understand the action of the Yogin, for he is different within from what he is outside. The strength of noise and activity is, doubtless, great,did not the walls of Jericho fall by the force of noise? But infinite is the strength of the stillness and the silence, in which great forces prepare for action.
  ***

1.12 - The Superconscient, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  A triple change of consciousness, then, charts our journey on earth: the discovery of the psychic being or immanent Spirit, the discovery of Nirvana or transcendent Spirit, and the discovery of the central being of cosmic Spirit. This is probably the real meaning of the Father-Son-Holy Ghost trinity of the Christian tradition. Our purpose is not to decide which experience is better than the other, but to verify them for ourselves. Philosophies and religions dispute about the priority of different aspects of God and different Yogins, Rishis and Saints have preferred this or that philosophy or religion. Our business is not to dispute any of them, but to realize and become all of them, not to follow after any aspect to the exclusion of the rest, but to embrace God in all His aspects and beyond aspect 161 this is the very meaning of an integral yoga. Still, we wonder if there is nothing beyond this triple discovery, because however supreme each of them may seem when we experience it, none gives us the integral fulfillment to which we aspire, at least if we consider that both the earth and the individual must participate in this fulfillment.
  Discovering the psychic being, for instance, is a great realization we become aware of our divinity but it remains limited to the individual and does not extend beyond the personal walls that confine us.
  --
  the so-called natural laws that rule our life and the world, and if we want to implement this change through a power of consciousness, then two conditions are required. First, we must work in our own individual body without seeking any escape in the beyond, since this body is the very point of insertion of consciousness into Matter; and secondly, we must seek to discover the principle of consciousness that will have the power to transform Matter. So far, as we can readily see, none of the forms of consciousness or levels of consciousness known to humanity has had the power to bring about this change, neither mental consciousness nor vital consciousness nor physical consciousness. True, through sheer discipline some individuals have managed to defy natural laws and to overcome gravity, cold, hunger, illness, etc. But, first, these were individual changes that could never be passed along, and secondly, they do not really transform Matter: the laws governing the body remain essentially the same, while certain special effects, supernatural in appearance, are superimposed more or less temporarily over nature. Here we can recall the example of another revolutionary Yogi, a companion of Sri Aurobindo's, who was once bitten by a rabid dog. Using his power of consciousness, he immediately blocked the effects of the virus and went on with his life as if nothing had happened (let us note in passing that had this Yogi been in a perfect state of consciousness, he could not have been bitten in the first place). But one day, during a particularly stormy political meeting, he lost his temper and flew into a rage at one of the speakers.
  A few hours later he was dying in the terrible throes of rabies. His power came only from the control of his consciousness, and the instant his consciousness faltered, everything returned as it was before, because the laws of the body had not been changed, only muzzled. Therefore, the kind of change Sri Aurobindo and Mother envision has nothing to do with acquiring more or less temporary "supernatural" powers and draping them over our natural powers, but with changing man's very nature as well as his physical conditioning; it is not control but actual transformation. Furthermore, if we seek an earth-wide realization, this new principle of existence, which Sri Aurobindo calls supramental, must definitively establish itself among us, at first in a few individuals, then, by contagion, in all those who are ready much as the mental principle and the life principle have become naturally and definitively established on earth. In other words, it involves creating a divine superhumanity on earth, which will no longer be subject to the laws of ignorance, suffering, and decay.
  --
  First, it is not enough to attain higher powers of consciousness; there must be someone to embody them, otherwise we are like a hunter discovering fabulous creatures through binoculars. Where is the "someone" in the cosmic consciousness? There is no one left. A present-day analogy may explain this better: we can send a rocket into the sun, thus reaching the apex of the world, but not the apex of man, who has not moved an inch in the process. The rocket has gone out of the earth's range. Similarly, the Yogi concentrates on one point of his being, gathers all his energies like the cone of a rocket, breaks through his outer carapace, and emerges elsewhere, in another cosmic or nirvanic dimension.
  He mounted burning like a cone of fire.168
  But who has realized cosmic consciousness? Not the Yogi; the Yogi goes on drinking, eating, sleeping, being ill at times like all human animals, and dying. It is not he, but a tiny point of his being that is experiencing cosmic consciousness, the very one on which he so earnestly concentrated to break through his carapace. The rest of his being, all the human and earthly nature that he has excluded from the experience, which he has repressed or mortified in order to better concentrate on that single point of escape, does not share in his cosmic consciousness, except through indirect radiation. Sri Aurobindo was therefore making this first important observation, that a linear realization, in one point, is not enough, but that a global realization, in all points one that embraces the individual's entire being is necessary. If you want to transform your nature and your being, and participate in the creation of a new world, the Mother says, that aspiration, that one-pointed and linear push is no longer enough; you must embrace everything and contain everything in your consciousness. Hence the integral yoga or "full yoga," purna yoga.
  We sought to get rid of the individuality as a burden preventing us from fluttering at will in the spiritual and cosmic expanses, but without it we can do nothing for the earth; we cannot draw below the treasures from above: There is something more than the mere selfbreaking of an illusory shell of individuality in the Infinite. 169 Thus, with Sri Aurobindo, we are led to this first conclusion: The stifling of the individual may well be the stifling of the god in man.170
  A second, even more important observation commands our attention. To return to the rocket analogy: the rocket can break through the earth's atmosphere at any point, taking off either from New York or from the equator, and still reach the sun. There is no need to climb Mt. Everest to set up the launching pad! Similarly, the Yogi can realize cosmic consciousness in any point, or at any level, of his being in his mind, in his heart, and even in his body because the cosmic Spirit is everywhere, in every point of the universe. The experience can begin anywhere, at any level, by concentrating on a rock or a sparrow, an idea, a prayer, a feeling, or what people scornfully call an idol. Cosmic consciousness is not the highest point of human consciousness; we do not go above the individual to reach it, but outside. It is hardly necessary to ascend in consciousness, or to become Plotinus, in order to attain the universal Spirit. On the contrary, the less mental one is, the easier it is to experience it; a shepherd beneath the stars or a fisherman of Galilee has a better chance at it than all the philosophers of the world put together. What, then, is the use of all this development of consciousness if folk-like mysticism works better? We must admit that either we are all on the wrong track, or else those mystical escapades do not represent the whole meaning of evolution. On the other hand, if we accept that the proper evolutionary course is that of the peak figures of earthly consciousness Leonardo da Vinci, Beethoven, Alexander the Great, Dante we are still forced to acknowledge that none of these great men has been able to transform life. Thus, the summits of the mind or the heart do not give us, any more than the cosmic summits, the key to the riddle and the power to change the world: another principle of consciousness is required. But it must be another principle without any break in continuity with the others, because if the line is broken or if the individual is lost, we fall back into cosmic or mystical dispersion, thereby losing our link with the earth. To be conscious of Oneness and of the Transcendent is certainly an indispensable basis for any realization (without which we might as well try to build a house without foundations), but it must be done in ways that respect evolutionary continuity; it must be an evolution, not a revolution. In other words, we must get out without getting out. Instead of a rocket that ends up crashing on the sun, we need a rocket that harpoons the Sun of the supreme consciousness and is able to bring it down to all points of our earthly consciousness: The ultimate knowledge is that which perceives and accepts God in the universe as well as beyond the universe and the integral Yoga is that which, having found the Transcendent, can return upon the universe and possess it, retaining the power freely to descend as well as ascend the great stair of existence.171 This double movement of ascent and descent of the individual consciousness is the basic principle of the supramental discovery. But in the process Sri Aurobindo was to touch an unknown spring which would change everything.
  

1.13 - Conclusion - He is here, #Twelve Years With Sri Aurobindo, #Nirodbaran, #Integral Yoga
  Again the unexpected! All of a sudden the curtain dropped on the divine drama that had been unrolled for twelve years. Who could have foreseen it? The Supreme Actor who had apparently been quite well and given darshan to the bhaktas on his birthday, August 15, as well as on November 24, most unexpectedly left the stage! When the news was announced on the radio, it came as a heart-rending to the devotees all over the world and just at a time when his name spelt a word of hope to aspiring humanity, as a Yogi, Rishi, poet, philosopher, lover of mankind and bringer of new Light. It was hard to believe and many rushed to Pondicherry by whatever means available to have the last darshan of the Sage.
  It is now twenty-two years since he left us; His Birth Centenary in which the Government of India is taking a significant part as a modest recognition of Sri Aurobindo's greatness, is going to be observed all over India and in many parts of the world. Meanwhile the Supramental Manifestation has taken place and the Ashram in consequence has come to be regarded by the world as a spiritual institution from which a new Light is radiating upon earth. Politically, India is gaining a world-status and a serious obstacle to her greatness has been partially removed fulfilling his prophecy. We see then the purpose for which Sri Aurobindo took birth and the dreams he cherished and worked for are on their way to realisation. He did not come for a few individuals only, or for a single nation or race; he came for the transformation of earth-nature which had been abandoned to herself by God and man. God-men came to give some relief to the suffering humanity or to show it a door of escape from suffering, but none before Sri Aurobindo, the Supramental Avatar, accepting Matter as essentially Brahman, came to divinise it. When the work was going apace the curtain dropped, all of a sudden.
  --
  Along with his mysterious self-immolation another question which is also somewhat mysterious puzzles us: Why did he choose the "natural way" to leave his body when he could have easily left it in the Yogic way, as Yogis usually do? The answer that I have found is that Sri Aurobindo's life has respected the rules and laws of Nature, what he has called the conditions of the game. But even these conditions are adapted to a new direction of which Nature, though not pursuing it, is secretly capable. Thus Nature is put to a supernatural use. Whenever any directly miraculous or special intervention has been made either in his own case or in the case of others, then too it is not by utter flouting of those rules and laws, a freakish and ultimately inconsequential movement. A process is still followed. Sri Aurobindo sums up the several sides of the Divine's action thus: "The Divine also acts according to the conditions of the game. He may change them, but he has to change them first, not proceed, while maintaining the conditions, to act by a series of miracles." In following this course of Nature, he probably wanted to have the concrete experience of Death which would help him in the conquest of the Power of Death for the world from across the barrier. Also this natural way created conditions of crisis which would bring about an urgent and extraordinary response from the spiritual Force so that side by side with the progression towards death there would be the precipitation of the Supramental Light. A sign of what was being done may be seen from the Mother's statement: "As soon as Sri Aurobindo withdrew from his body, what he had called the Mind of Light got realised in me." We can understand also how after death and as a result of it, the Supramental Light suffused his body for several days.
  The shock and desolation, however, that we felt can be more imagined than described. Though we could see the Master only four times a year, his Presence was vibrant in the very air we breathed, in our sleep, in every moment of our life; particularly after the accident, even physically he seemed to have come nearer. So the sudden absence was felt like a yawning abyss ready to engulf our very existence. I wonder what would have happened to the vast life qf the Ashram, if the Mother was not there to envelop all of us, the whole earth, in the embrace of her infinite love and compassion. Yet, have we any measure of knowing what she must have felt, though she is the Divine? Just as he "worked, struggled, suffered", so did she suffer and bear. We witnessed it in the early period of the accident; but the command was upon her from the Lord to carry on his work. And the immense vacuum that was created could be filled by her alone. From these verses in Savitri in a different context we get such an indication:

1.1.3 - Mental Difficulties and the Need of Quietude, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Then for the tumultuous activity of the mind which prevents your concentration. But that or else a more tiresome obstinate grinding mechanical activity is always the difficulty when one tries to concentrate and it takes a long time to get the better of it. That or the habit of sleep which prevents either the waking concentration or the conscious samadhi or the absorbed and all-excluding trance which are the three forms that Yogic concentration takes. But it is surely ignorance of Yoga, its processes and its difficulties that makes you feel desperate and pronounce yourself unfit for ever because of this quite ordinary obstacle. The insistence of the ordinary mind and its wrong reasonings, sentiments and judgments, the random activity of the thinking mind in concentration or its mechanical activity, the slowness of response to the veiled or the initial touch are the ordinary obstacles the mind imposes just as pride, ambition, vanity, sex, greed, grasping of things for ones own ego are the difficulties and obstacles offered by the vital. As the vital difficulties can be fought down and conquered, so can the mental. Only one has to see that these are the inevitable obstacles and neither cling to them nor be terrified or overwhelmed because they are there. One has to persevere till one can stand back from the mind as from the vital and feel the deeper and larger mental and vital Purushas within one which are capable of silence, capable of a straight receptivity of the true Word and Force as of the true silence. If the nature takes the way of fighting down the difficulties first, then the first half of the way is long and tedious and the complaint of the want of the response of the Divine arises. But really the Divine is there all the time, working behind the veil as well as waiting for the recognition of his response and for the response to the response to be possible.
  ***

1.13 - The Supermind and the Yoga of Works, #The Synthesis Of Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  It must also be kept in mind that the supramental change is difficult, distant, an ultimate stage; it must be regarded as the end of a far-off vista; it cannot be and must not be turned into a first aim, a constantly envisaged goal or an immediate objective. For it can only come into the view of possibility after much arduous self-conquest and self-exceeding, at the end of many long and trying stages of a difficult self-evolution of the nature. One must first acquire an inner Yogic consciousness and replace by it our ordinary view of things, natural movements, motives of life; one must revolutionise the whole present build of our being. Next, we have to go still deeper, discover our veiled psychic entity and
   sadharmya mukti.

1.14 - INSTRUCTION TO VAISHNAVS AND BRHMOS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  Shorn of his locks, he has put on the Yogi's ochre robe; Even the hardest heart must melt
  To see his pure and heavenly love.

1.14 - The Secret, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  The last steps of the descent take place beyond the subconscient, in our evolutionary past, in our former, prehistorical consciousness, at the level where, for the first time in the world, life emerged from what seemed to be death; that is, at the border between the material inconscient and the physical consciousness the witness and residue of that original birth in our body. The organs and cells of our body have their own type of highly organized, efficient consciousness, which knows how to choose, to receive or to reject, and which can be manipulated once we have reached a sufficient Yogic development. If it were merely a question of improving life's present conditions, the ordinary Yogic consciousness would be enough: extension of life at will, immunity against diseases, and even a lasting youth are but some of the frequent results of that discipline. But, as we have said, we seek to change life, not just to improve its facade. Beneath our present physical consciousness lies a physical subconscient, the product of life's evolution in Matter, which keeps a record of all the old habits of life, of which the worst is the habit of dying its reflexes, its fears, its contractions, and above all its habits of closure, as if it had retained the memory of the many protective shells it had to build around itself in order to protect its growth. In the very depths of this physical subconscient, where every form of consciousness or memory seems to die out, one reaches the bedrock, the initial Shell, the underlying Death from which life wrenched itself free. It is something very hard and very vast, so vast and so hard that the Vedic rishis called it "the infinite rock." This is the Inconscient. It is a wall or perhaps a door.
  It is the bottom, or perhaps merely a crust. Moreover, it may not be completely dead or unconscious, for it does not feel like something negatively inert, but like something positively negative, as it were, something that refuses, that says No to life:

1.15 - The Possibility and Purpose of Avatarhood, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Sun-God, Vivasvan gave it to Manu, the father of men, Manu gave it to Ikshvaku, head of the Solar line, and so it came down from royal sage to royal sage till it was lost in the great lapse of Time and is now renewed for Arjuna, because he is the lover and devotee, friend and comrade of the Avatar. For this, he says, is the highest secret, - thus claiming for it a superiority to all other forms of Yoga, because those others lead to the impersonal Brahman or to a personal Deity, to a liberation in actionless knowledge or a liberation in absorbed beatitude, but this gives the highest secret and the whole secret; it brings us to divine peace and divine works, to divine knowledge, action and ecstasy unified in a perfect freedom; it unites into itself all the Yogic paths as the highest being of the Divine reconciles and makes one in itself all the different and even contrary powers and principles of its manifested being. Therefore this Yoga of the Gita is not, as some contend, only the Karmayoga, one and the lowest, according to them, of the three paths, but a highest
  Yoga synthetic and integral directing Godward all the powers of our being.

1.15 - The Supramental Consciousness, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  What, then, is this Power? Any concentration releases a subtle heat; this is well known to those who have practiced yoga disciplines (tapasya, or Yogic discipline, means literally "that which produces heat"). The supramental power is a heat of this kind, only infinitely more intense, within the cells of the body. It is the heat released by the awakening of the Consciousness-Force in Matter: It's as if our spiritual life were made of silver, explains the Mother, while the supramental life is made of gold; as if the whole spiritual life here 279
  280

1.15 - The world overrun with trees; they are destroyed by the Pracetasas, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  [22]: The Nakṣatra Yoginis, or chief stars of the lunar mansions, or asterisms in the moon's path.
  [23]: None of the authorities are more specific on the subject of Aṛṣṭanemis' progeny. In the Mahābhārata this is said to be another name of Kaśyapa. The Bhāgavata substitutes Tārkṣa for this personage, said by the commentator to be likewise another name of Kaśyapa. His wives are, Kadru, Vinatā, Patangi, and Yāminī, mothers of snakes, birds, grasshoppers, and locusts.

1.1.5 - Thought and Knowledge, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  To reject doubts means control of ones thoughtsvery certainly so. But the control of ones thoughts is as necessary as the control of ones vital desires and passions or the control of the movements of ones body for the Yoga, and not for the Yoga only. One cannot be a fully developed mental being even, if one has not a control of the thoughts, is not their observer, judge, master,the mental Purusha, manomaya purua, ak, anumant, vara. It is no more proper for the mental being to be the tennis ball of unruly and uncontrollable thoughts than to be a rudderless ship in the storm of the desires and passions or a slave of either the inertia or the impulses of the body. I know it is more difficult because man being primarily a creature of mental Prakriti identifies himself with the movements of his mind and cannot at once dissociate himself and stand free from the swirl and eddies of the mind whirlpool. It is comparatively easy for him to put a control on his body, at least a certain part of its movements: it is less easy but still very possible after a struggle to put a mental control on his vital impulsions and desires; but to sit, like the Tantrik Yogi on the river, above the whirlpool of his thoughts is less facile. Nevertheless it can be done; all developed mental men, those who get beyond the average, have in one way or other or at least at certain times and for certain purposes to separate the two parts of the mind, the active part which is a factory of thoughts and the quiet masterful part which is at once a Witness and a Will, observing them, judging, rejecting, eliminating, accepting, ordering corrections and changes, the Master in the House of Mind, capable of self-empire, svrjya.
  The Yogi goes still farther; he is not only a master there, but even while in mind in a way, he gets out of it, as it were, and stands above or quite back from it and free. For him the image of the factory of thoughts is no longer quite valid; for he sees that thoughts come from outside, from the universal Mind or universal Nature, sometimes formed and distinct, sometimes unformed and then they are given shape somewhere in us. The principal business of our mind is either a response of acceptance or refusal to these thought-waves (as also vital waves, subtle physical energy waves) or this giving a personal-mental form to thought-stuff (or vital movements) from the environing NatureForce. It was my great debt to Lele that he showed me this. Sit in meditation, he said, but do not think, look only at your mind; you will see thoughts coming into it; before they can enter throw them away from you till your mind is capable of entire silence. I had never heard before of thoughts coming visibly into the mind from outside, but I did not think of either questioning the truth or the possibility, I simply sat down and did it. In a moment my mind became silent as a windless air on a high mountain summit and then I saw a thought and then another thought coming in a concrete way from outside; I flung them away before they could enter and take hold of the brain and in three days I was free. From that moment, in principle, the mental being in me became a free Intelligence, a universal Mind, not limited to the narrow circle of personal thought or a labourer in a thought-factory, but a receiver of knowledge from all the hundred realms of being and free too to choose what it willed in this vast sight-empire and thought-empire.
  I mention this only to emphasise that the possibilities of the mental being are not limited and that it can be the free Witness and Master in its own house. It is not to say that everybody can do it in the way I did and with the same rapidity of the decisive movement (for of course the later fullest development of this new untrammelled mental Power took time, many years); but a progressive freedom and mastery over ones mind is perfectly within the possibilities of anyone who has the faith and will to undertake it.

1.16 - Man, A Transitional Being, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  managed to do it and why? First, because Paul Richard proposed to me to cooperate in a philosophic review and as my theory was that a Yogi ought to be able to turn his hand to anything, I could not very well refuse; and then he had to go to the war and left me in the lurch with sixty-four pages a month of philosophy all to write by my lonely self. Secondly, because I had only to write down in the terms of the intellect all that I had observed and come to know in practising Yoga daily and the philosophy was there automatically. But that is not being a philosopher!301 And so it was that Sri Aurobindo became a writer. He was forty-two. Typically, he himself had decided nothing:
  "outer" circumstances had launched him upon his path.
  --
  such as The Life Divine, his fundamental "philosophical" work and spiritual vision of evolution; The Synthesis of Yoga, in which he describes the various stages and experiences of the integral yoga, and surveys all the past and present Yogic disciplines; the Essays on the Gita, which expounds his philosophy of action; The Secret of the Veda, with a study of the origins of language; and The Ideal of Human Unity and The Human Cycle, which approach evolution from its sociological and psychological standpoints and examine the future possibilities of human societies. He had found
  301
  --
  write whatever comes ready-shaped from above.303 Often, those among his disciples who were writers or poets would ask him to explain the Yogic process of literary creation. He would explain it at great length, knowing that creative activities are a powerful means of pushing back the superconscious boundary and precipitating into Matter the luminous possibilities of the future. His letters are quite instructive: The best relief for the brain, he writes in one of them, is when the thinking takes place outside the body and above the head (or in space or at other levels but still outside the body). At any rate it was so in my case; for as soon as that happened there was an immense relief; I have felt body strain since then but never any kind of brain fatigue.304 Let us stress that "thinking outside the body" is not at all a supramental phenomenon, but a very simple experience accessible with the onset of mental silence. The true method,
  according to Sri Aurobindo, is to reach a state devoid of any personal effort, to step aside as completely as one can and simply let the current pass through. There are two ways of arriving at the Grand Trunk Road. One is to climb and struggle and effortise (like the pilgrim who traverses India prostrating and measuring the way with his body: that is the way of effort). One day you suddenly find yourself on the G.T.R.
  --
  At the end of six years, in 1920, Sri Aurobindo felt he had said enough, for the time being, and the Arya drew to a close. The rest of his written work would be comprised almost entirely of letters to his disciples thousands upon thousands of them, containing all kinds of practical indications about Yogic experiences, difficulties, and progress. But most importantly, over a period of thirty years, he would write and rewrite his extraordinary 28,813-line epic poem, Savitri, like a fifth Veda his message, in which he describes the experiences of the higher and lower worlds, his own battles in the Subconscient and Inconscient, the whole occult history of evolution on the earth and in the universe, and his vision of the future:
  Interpreting the universe by soul signs He read from within the text of the without.310

1.16 - WITH THE DEVOTEES AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  (To the devotees) "One cannot renounce by the mere wish. There are prarabdha karma-inherited tendencies-and the like. Once a Yogi said to a king, 'Live with me in the forest and think of God.' The king replied: 'That I cannot very well do. I could live with you, but I still have the desire for enjoyment. If I live in this forest, perhaps I shall create a kingdom even here. I still have desires.'
  "Natabar Panja used to look after his cows in this garden during his boyhood. He had many desires. Hence he has established a castor-oil factory and earned a great deal of money. He has a prosperous castor-oil business at Alambazar.
  --
  Perfection in yoga is samdhi. A man achieves kumbhaka without any Yogic exercise if he but weeps for God. The next stage is samdhi.
  "There is another method -that of meditation. In the Sahasrara, iva manifests Himself in a special manner. The aspirant should meditate on Him. The body is like a tray; the mind and buddhi are like water. The Sun of Satchidananda is reflected in this water.

1.17 - God, #Initiation Into Hermetics, #Franz Bardon, #Occultism
  The pure mystic wishes to approach his God only in the all-embracing love. The Yogi, too, walks toward one single aspect of God. The bhakti- Yogi keeps to the road of love and devotion, the raja and hatha Yogi choose the path of self-control or volition, the jnana Yogi will follow that of wisdom and cognition.
  Now let us regard the idea of God from the magic standpoint, according to the four elements, the so-called tetragrammaton, the unspeakable, the supreme: the fiery principle involves the almightiness and the omnipotence, the airy principle owns the wisdom, purity and clarity, from which aspect proceeds the universal lawfulness.

1.17 - M. AT DAKSHINEWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  MASTER: "Yes. It is the sudden withdrawal of the dispersed mind to the Ideal. But that samdhi does not last long. Worldly thoughts intrude and destroy it. The Yogi slips down from his yoga.
  "At Kamarpukur I have seen the mongoose living in its hole up in the wall. It feels snug there. Sometimes people tie a brick to its tail; then the pull of the brick makes it come out of its hole. Every time the mongoose tries to be comfortable inside the hole, it has to come out because of the pull of the brick. Such is the effect of brooding on worldly objects that it makes the Yogi stray from the path of yoga.
  "Worldly people may now and then experience samdhi. The lotus blooms, no doubt, when the sun is up; but its petals close again when the sun is covered by a cloud.
  --
  "You see, Narayan Shastri developed a spirit of intense renunciation. He was a great scholar. He gave up his wife and went away. A man attains yoga when he completely effaces 'woman and gold' from his mind. With some, the characteristics of the Yogi are well marked.
  "I shall have to tell you something of the six centres. The mind of the Yogi passes through these, and he realizes God through His grace. Have you heard of the six centres?"
  M: "These are the 'seven planes' of the Vednta."
  --
  They are the 'lotuses' in the subtle body. The Yogis see them. They are like the fruits and leaves of a wax tree."
  M: "Yes, sir. The Yogis can perceive them. I have read that there is a kind of glass through which a tiny object looks very big. Likewise, through yoga one can see those subtle lotuses."
  Following Sri Ramakrishna's direction, M. spent the night in the hut at the Panchavati.
  --
  I shall put on the ochre robe and ear-rings made of conchshell; Thus, in the garb of a Yogini, from place to place I shall wander,
  Till I have found my cruel Hari. . . .

1.17 - The Transformation, #Sri Aurobindo or the Adventure of Consciousness, #Satprem, #Integral Yoga
  This "true movement" behind our breathing is, according to Sri Aurobindo, the same as the one governing electromagnetic fields, what the ancient Yogis termed vayu, the Life-Energy. The well-known breathing exercises (pranayama) are simply one system (among others) of controlling vayu, which eventually enables one to escape gravity.
  347
  --
  Sri Aurobindo continued: According to the experience of ancient Yogis . . . Agni is threefold:
  1) ordinary fire, jada Agni 2) electric fire, vaidyuta Agni 3) solar fire, saura Agni Science has only entered upon the first and second of these fires.
  --
  etc., but it only touches the effects, never the true cause. The Yogi sees the cause before the effect. A scientist can deduce a certain cause from the effects produced, whereas a Yogi deduces the effects from the cause; he can even deduce effects that do not yet exist from a cause that already exists (e.g., the accident will happen tomorrow from the force of the accident that is already there in the background). The scientist manipulates effects, at times bringing about catastrophes; the Yogi sees the cause, or, rather, identifies with the Cause, and thereby he can alter the effects, or as Sri Aurobindo puts it, the "habits" we call laws. Ultimately, all our physical effects, which we have codified into laws, are nothing more than a convenient support for the manifestation of forces that are behind, exactly as a performance of magic requires certain ritualistic diagrams, certain ingredients or formulas, so that the forces invoked can manifest themselves. This whole world is a gigantic magical performance, a constant act of magic. But the earthly diagram, all the ingredients we have so earnestly and unchangeably codified, all our infallible formulas, are merely conventions. The earthly ritual can change if, instead of remaining mesmerized by the effects, we go back to the cause behind them on the side of the Magician. There is a tale about a Hindu Brahmin who, every day at the hour of his worship, had the family cat tied up so that he would not be disturbed in his ritual. Eventually, both the Brahmin and the cat died, and the Brahmin's son, now in charge of the worship ceremony, procured a new cat, which he then conscientiously tied up during the sacrifice! From father to son, the cat had become an indispensable element in the effective performance of
  the ritual. Our own unassailable laws, too, may contain a few little cats. If we go back to the original force concealed behind the physical support, to the "true movement," as the Mother describes it, then we begin to witness the Great Play, and to realize just how different it is from the rigid notions we have of it. Behind the phenomenon of gravitation, to take one of the rituals, there is what the ancient Yogis called Vayu, which causes gravitation and the electromagnetic fields (as Sri Aurobindo mentioned also during that conversation of 1926),
  and this is how a Yogi can eventually defy gravity. Behind the solar or nuclear fire there is the fundamental Agni, "the child of the waters, the child of the forests, the child of things stable and the child of things that move. Even in the stone he is there," says the Rig Veda. (I.70.2)
  This is the "warm gold dust" the Mother speaks of, the real cause behind the effect, the original force behind the material, atomic support; "other flames are only branches of thy stock." (I.59) It is because Sri Aurobindo and the rishis saw this spiritual Agni in Matter,
  --
  Physical light, the extreme combination of speed and immobility, is a remarkable symbol of the supreme Consciousness. Similarly, the physical sun is another symbol of the supreme Power, as many ancient traditions, which were less childish than we might suppose, have seen. "But the Hindu Yogis who had realized these experiences did not elaborate them and turn them into scientific knowledge," remarked Sri Aurobindo. "Other fields of action and sources of knowledge being open before them, they neglected what for them was the most exterior aspect of the manifestation."
  current of Consciousness-Force or consciousness-energy or consciousness-heat taking on different intensities at different levels.
  --
  It is possible, however, to have some idea in advance of the major problems confronting the seeker. When Agni burns in our mind, in our moments of inspiration, we know it creates a great tension, an almost physical heat. When it burns in our heart, in our soul-moments, we know that our breast feels like a red-hot hearth, hot enough for the skin to change color and to such a degree that even an inexperienced eye can perceive a kind of glowing radiance around the Yogi. When Agni burns in our vital, and as we call the force or open to the cosmic world, there is likewise a kind of concentrated pulsation at the level of the navel, almost a tremor of fever throughout the body (since a large amount of force is entering through a tiny channel). But what about the warm gold dust, this wine of lightning,368 in the cells of the body?
  It begins to boil everywhere, says the Mother in her simple language,
  --
  We are now approaching the real problem. In this new physical transparency the seeker makes yet another, rather brutal discovery: all his Yogic achievements and powers are falling to pieces. He had achieved a control of illness, of the body's functions, perhaps even of gravity, had even been able to swallow poison with impunity; he was the master of his house, because his consciousness was in control. But the moment he decides to transform the body, all his powers vanish,
  like water receding into the sand. Diseases assail him as if he were a mere beginner; the bodily organs begin to deteriorate. Everything goes awry. It would seem that the body has to forget its old false, decaycausing operation for it to learn everything in a new way. Then death enters the picture. Between the old mode of functioning of the body and the new one, in which the symbolic organs will be replaced by the true Vibration, the line separating life from death is often very thin indeed; perhaps one must even be able to cross the line and come back for the conquest to be complete and real. This is what Mother called dying to death, after having undergone an experience from which she almost did not return. In other words, one has to face everything, and everything resists. We are already aware of the same phenomenon at the higher levels of consciousness. As the seeker set out on his path,
  --
  not on any plane, is it a matter of cutting off evil from the rest, but of convincing it of its own light. The Yogi who with his power had done away with illnesses had not really solved the problem; he had only muzzled the forces of those illnesses. It is perfectly understandable that no transformation is possible as long as there forces are simply muzzled, prowling around in the dark and awaiting their hour.
  Moreover, since nothing can be subtracted from the universe, they must be converted. But how? Death and diseases are everywhere, in the subconscient of our bodies and in all the bodies in the world. The Yogi who had conquered diseases and defied death (though not indefinitely, of course) had conquered only for himself, and that is why he could not fully conquer. How wise is the Law! He had built a protective shell, shut himself up in it like an embryo of light, and let everything beyond it swarm around as usual. But if the shell opens,
  everything rushes back in! There is only one body! The example of Ramakrishna lashed by the whip that struck the bullock beside him, or of the Mother struggling against a hemorrhage afflicting a disciple several hundred miles away, without her even knowing about it,
  --
  concentration, and Yogic practices in order to attain "liberation." As we might imagine, though, Sri Aurobindo's Ashram had little to do with this particular definition, except for the fact that the disciples were indeed gathered around Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. It was not an exotic kind of monastery, and still less a place for refuge and peace; it was more like a forge: This Ashram has been created . . . not for the renunciation of the world but as a centre and a field of practice for the evolution of another kind and form of life. 380 Even before his arrest in Bengal, at a time when he was not even remotely dreaming of founding an ashram, Sri Aurobindo had said: The spiritual life finds its most potent expression in the man who lives the ordinary life of men in the strength of the Yoga. . . . It is by such a union of the inner life and the outer that mankind will eventually be lifted up and become mighty and divine. 381 Hence, Sri Aurobindo wanted his Ashram to be fully involved in everyday life, right in the midst of the world-at-large, since that is where the transformation had to take place, and not upon some Himalayan peak. Except for the main building, where the Mother lived and where Sri Aurobindo's monument is located, the 1,200-odd disciples of all nationalities and all social classes (men, women and four to five hundred children)
  were scattered throughout the city of Pondicherry in more than three hundred different houses. There were no protective walls in the Ashram, except for one's own inner light; the bustle of the bazaar was just next door.

1.18 - M. AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  MASTER (to Jaygopal): "One should not harbour malice toward any person or any opinion. The believers in the formless God and the worshippers of God with form are all, without exception, going toward God alone. The Jnni, the Yogi, the bhakta-all, without exception, are seeking Him alone. The follower of the path of knowledge calls Him 'Brahman'. The Yogi calls Him 'tman' or 'Paramatman'. The bhakta calls Him 'Bhagavan'. Further, it is said that there is the Eternal Lord and His Eternal Servant."
  JAYGOPAL: "How can we know that all paths are true?"

1.18 - The Divine Worker, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Impersonal from whom all action proceeds without disturbing his peace. The true Sannyasa of action is the reposing of all works on the Brahman. "He who, having abandoned attachment, acts reposing (or founding) his works on the Brahman, brahman.yadhaya karman.i, is not stained by sin even as water clings not to the lotus-leaf." Therefore the Yogins first "do works with the body, mind, understanding, or even merely with the organs of action, abandoning attachment, for self-purification, sangam tyaktvatmasuddhaye. By abandoning attachment to the fruits of works the soul in union with Brahman attains to peace of rapt foundation in Brahman, but the soul not in union is attached to the fruit and bound by the action of desire." The foundation, the purity, the peace once attained, the embodied soul perfectly controlling its nature, having renounced all its actions by the mind, inwardly, not outwardly, "sits in its ninegated city neither doing nor causing to be done." For this soul is the one impersonal Soul in all, the all-pervading Lord, prabhu, vibhu, who, as the impersonal, neither creates the works of the world, nor the mind's idea of being the doer, na kartr.tvam na karman.i, nor the coupling of works to their fruits, the chain of cause and effect. All that is worked out by the Nature in the man, svabhava, his principle of self-becoming, as the word literally means. The all-pervading Impersonal accepts neither the sin nor the virtue of any: these are things created by the ignorance in the creature, by his egoism of the doer, by his ignorance of his highest self, by his involution in the operations of Nature, and
  186

1.19 - Equality, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  To be freed from wrath and passion and fear and attraction is repeatedly stressed as a necessary condition of the liberated status, and for this we must learn to bear their shocks, which cannot be done without exposing ourselves to their causes. "He who can bear here in the body the velocity of wrath and desire, is the Yogin, the happy man." Titiks.a, the will and power to endure, is the means. "The material touches which cause heat and cold, happiness and pain, things transient which come and go, these learn to endure. For the man whom these do not trouble nor pain, the firm and wise who is equal in pleasure and suffering, makes himself apt for immortality." The equalsouled has to bear suffering and not hate, to receive pleasure and not rejoice. Even the physical affections are to be mastered by endurance and this too is part of the Stoic discipline. Age, death, suffering, pain are not fled from, but accepted and vanquished by a high indifference.1 Not to flee appalled from Nature in her
  Dhras tatra na muhyati, says the Gita; the strong and wise soul is not perplexed, troubled or moved by them. But still they are accepted only to be conquered, jara-maran.a-moks.aya yatanti.
  --
  He sees, as the Gita puts it, that he is himself his own enemy and his own friend, and therefore he takes care not to dethrone himself by casting his being into the hands of desire and passion, natmanam avasadayet, but delivers himself out of that imprisonment by his own inner power, uddhared atmanatmanam; for whoever has conquered his lower self, finds in his higher self his best friend and ally. He becomes satisfied with knowledge, master of his senses, a Yogin by sattwic equality, - for equality is
  Yoga, samatvam yoga ucyate, - regarding alike clod and stone and gold, tranquil and self-poised in heat and cold, suffering and happiness, honour and disgrace. He is equal in soul to friend and enemy and to neutral and indifferent, because he sees that these are transitory relations born of the changing conditions of life.
  --
  And the philosopher's equality is like the Stoic's, like the world-fleeing ascetic's, inwardly a lonely freedom, remote and aloof from men; but the man born to the divine birth has found the Divine not only in himself, but in all beings. He has realised his unity with all and his equality is therefore full of sympathy and oneness. He sees all as himself and is not intent on his lonely salvation; he even takes upon himself the burden of their happiness and sorrow by which he is not himself affected or subjected. The perfect sage, the Gita more than once repeats, is ever engaged with a large equality in doing good to all creatures and makes that his occupation and delight, sarvabhutahite ratah.. The perfect Yogin is no solitary musing on the Self in his ivory tower of spiritual isolation, but yuktah. kr.tsna-karma-kr.t, a many-sided universal worker for the good of the world, for
  God in the world. For he is a bhakta, a lover and devotee of the Divine, as well as a sage and a Yogin, a lover who loves
  God wherever he finds Him and who finds Him everywhere; and what he loves, he does not disdain to serve, nor does action carry him away from the bliss of union, since all his acts proceed from the One in him and to the One in all they are directed. The equality of the Gita is a large synthetic equality in which all is lifted up into the integrality of the divine being and the divine nature.

1.19 - THE MASTER AND HIS INJURED ARM, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  And the Yogis who have attained samesightedness Behold Him everywhere.
  No sooner did the Master hear the words "the Yogis who have attained samesightedness"
  than he stood up and went into samdhi, his arm supported by the splint and bandage.
  Speechless, the devotees looked at this Yogi who had himself attained the state of samesightedness.
  After a long time the Master regained consciousness of the outer world and took his seat. He asked Mahima to recite verses describing the love of God. The latter recited from the Nrada Pancharatra:
  --
  Mahima read a few more verses and also a description of the six psychic centres of the body. He said that in Benares he had witnessed the death of a Yogi in the state of yoga.
  MAHIMA: "There are fine passages in the Rma Git."
  --
  "But the Yogi's path is different. He does not come back after reaching the Paramatman, the Supreme Soul. He becomes united with It.
  "The 'partial knower' limits God to one object only. He thinks that God cannot exist in anything beyond that.

1.200-1.224 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  The Yogis are said to see photisms of colours and lights preliminary to Self-Realisation by the practice of yoga.
  Once before Goddess Parvati practised austerities for realising the
  --
  There are also others who extol their own pet theories as the best, e.g., late Venkaswami Rao of Kumbakonam, Brahmananda Yogi of Cuddappah, etc.
  The fact is: There is Reality. It is not affected by any discussions.
  --
  Sara and visited several saints, sadhus and Yogis, probably 1,500 as he puts their number. A sadhu in Trimbak has told him that he has still debts to pay which, if done, will enable him to have realisation. His only debt, as he conceived it, was the marriage of his son. It has since been performed and he now feels himself free from karmic indebtedness.
  He therefore seeks Sri Bhagavans guidance for freedom from mental unhappiness which persists in spite of his not being indebted.

1.2.01 - The Call and the Capacity, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  I repeat what I said before (though your physical mind does not yet believe) that these experiences show at once that your inner being is a Yogi capable of trance, ecstasy, intensest bhakti, fully aware of Yoga and Yoga consciousness, and showing himself the very moment you get inside yourself, even as the outer man is very much the other way round, modernised, externalised, vigorously outward-vital (for the Yogi is inward-vital and psychic) and knowing nothing of Yoga or the world of inner experience.
  I could see at once when I saw you that there was this inner
   Yogin and your former experiences here were quite convincing to anyone who knows anything at all about these things. When there is this inner Yogin inside, the coming to the way of Yoga is sure and not even the most externalised surface consciousness
  - not even a regular homo Russelicus outside and you are not that, only a little Russelicatus on the surface, - can prevent final success in the Yoga. But the tussle between the inward and the outward man can create a lot of trouble, because the inward man pushes towards the Divine and will not let go and the outward man regrets, repines, pulls back, asks what is this shadowy thing to which he is being brought, this Unknown, this (to him) far-off Ineffable. That, and not merely sex, food or society, is the genesis of the struggle and trouble in you. And yet it is all a misunderstanding - for if the outer gave way entirely to the inner Yogi, he would find that what he lost or thought he was losing would be repaid a hundredfold - though he would get it in another spirit and consciousness, not any longer the transient and deceptive delight of the world for its own sake, but the delight of the Divine in the world, a thousand times more intense, sweet and desirable.
  The vision of the Light and the vision of the Lord in the form of

1.2.04 - Sincerity, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  - and to do it needs a severity of introspective self-vision, an unsparing scrutiny of self-observation of which many sadhaks or Yogins even are not capable and it is only by an illumining
  Grace that reveals the sadhak to himself and transforms what is deficient in him that it can be done. And even then only if he himself consents and lends himself wholly to the divine working.

12.05 - Beauty, #The Integral Yoga, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  There is a certain state of Yogic consciousness in which all things become beautiful to the eye of the seer, simply because they spiritually are - because they are a rendering in line and form of the quality and force of existence, of the consciousness, of the Ananda that rules the worlds, - of the hidden Divine. What a thing is to the exterior sense may not be, often is not beautiful for the ordinary aesthetic vision, but the Yogin sees in it the something More which the external does not see, he sees the soul behind, the self and spirit, he sees to the lines, hues, harmonies and expressive dispositions which are not to the first surface sight visible or something that is in himself, transmutes it by adding out of his own being to it - as the artist too does something of the same kind but in another way. It is not quite that however, - what the Yogin sees, what the artist sees, is there - his is a transmuting vision because it is a revealing vision; he discovers behind what the object appears to be the something More that it is. And so from this point of view of a realised supreme harmony all is or can be subject-matter for the artist because in all he can discover and reveal the Beauty that is everywhere. Again we land ourselves in a devastating catholicity; for here too one cannot pull up short at any given line. It may be a hard saying that one must or may discover and reveal beauty in a pig or its poke or in a parish pump or an advertisement of somebody's pills, and yet something like that seems to be what modern Art and literature are trying with vigour and a conscientious labour to do. By extension one ought to be able to extract beauty equally well out of morality or social reform or a political caucus or allow at least that all these things can, if he wills, become legitimate subjects for the artist. Here too one cannot say that it is on condition he thinks of beauty only and does not make moralising or social reform or a political idea his main object. For if with that idea foremost in his mind he still produces a great work of art, discovering Beauty as he moves to his aim, proving himself in spite of his unaesthetic preoccupations a great artist, it is all we can justly ask from him - whatever his starting point - to be a creator of Beauty. Art is discovery and revelation of Beauty and we can say nothing more by way of prohibition or limiting rule.
    But there is one thing more that can be said, and it makes a big difference. In the Yogin's vision of universal beauty all becomes beautiful, but all is not reduced to a single level. There are gradations, there is a hierarchy in this All-Beauty and we see that it depends on the ascending power (vibhuti) of consciousness and Ananda that expresses itself in the object. All is the Divine, but some things are more divine than others. In the artist's vision too there are or can be gradations, a hierarchy of values.

1.2.07 - Surrender, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  When the will and energy are concentrated and used to control the mind, vital and physical and change them or to bring down the higher consciousness or for any other Yogic purpose or high purpose, that is called Tapasya.
  Tapasya has predominated in your sadhana, for you have a fervour and active energy which predisposes you to that. No way is entirely easy, and in that of surrender the difficulty is to make a true and complete surrender. Once it is made, it certainly makes things easier - not that things are all done in no time or that there are no difficulties, but there is an assurance, a support, an absence of tension which gives the consciousness rest as well

1.20 - Equality and Knowledge, #Essays On The Gita, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Always in this sense of a supreme self-knowledge is this word jnana used in Indian philosophy and Yoga; it is the light by which we grow into our true being, not the knowledge by which we increase our information and our intellectual riches; it is not scientific or psychological or philosophic or ethical or aesthetic or worldly and practical knowledge. These too no doubt help us to grow, but only in the becoming, not in the being; they enter into the definition of Yogic knowledge only when we use them as aids to know the Supreme, the Self, the
  Divine, - scientific knowledge, when we can get through the veil of processes and phenomena and see the one Reality behind which explains them all; psychological knowledge, when we use it to know ourselves and to distinguish the lower from the higher, so that this we may renounce and into that we may grow; philosophical knowledge, when we turn it as a light upon the essential principles of existence so as to discover and live in that which is eternal; ethical knowledge, when by it having distinguished sin from virtue we put away the one and rise above the other into the pure innocence of the divine Nature; aesthetic knowledge, when we discover by it the beauty of the Divine;
  --
  "Equal-visioned everywhere, he sees the Self in all existences and all existences in the Self. He who sees Me everywhere and all and each in Me, is never lost to Me nor I to him. He who has reached oneness and loves Me in all beings, that Yogin, howsoever he lives and acts, is living and acting in Me. O Arjuna, he who sees all equally everywhere as himself, whether it be happiness or suffering, I hold him to be the supreme Yogin." That is the old Vedantic knowledge of the Upanishads which the Gita holds up constantly before us; but it is its superiority to other later formulations of it that it turns persistently this knowledge into a great practical philosophy of divine living. Always it insists on the relation between this knowledge of oneness and Karmayoga, and therefore on the knowledge of oneness as the basis of a liberated action in the world. Whenever it speaks of knowledge, it turns at once to speak of equality which is its result; whenever it speaks of equality, it turns to speak too of the knowledge which is its basis. The equality it enjoins does not begin and end in a static condition of the soul useful only for self-liberation; it is always a basis of works. The peace of the Brahman in the liberated soul is the foundation; the large, free, equal, worldwide action of the Lord in the liberated nature radiates the power which proceeds from that peace; these two made one synthesise divine works and God-knowledge.
  We see at once what a profound extension we get here for the ideas which otherwise the Gita has in common with other systems of philosophic, ethical or religious living. Endurance, philosophic indifference, resignation are, we have said, the foundation of three kinds of equality; but the Gita's truth of knowledge not only gathers them all up together, but gives them an infinitely profound, a magnificently ample significance.
  --
  The Stoic kingship is maintained by a force put upon self and environment; the entirely liberated kingship of the Yogin exists naturally by the eternal royalty of the divine nature, a union with its unfettered universality, a finally unforced dwelling in its superiority to the instrumental nature through which it acts.
  His mastery over things is because he has become one soul with all things. To take an image from Roman institutions, the Stoic freedom is that of the libertus, the freedman, who is still really a dependent on the power that once held him enslaved; his is a freedom allowed by Nature because he has merited it. The freedom of the Gita is that of the freeman, the true freedom of the birth into the higher nature, self-existent in its divinity.

1.20 - RULES FOR HOUSEHOLDERS AND MONKS, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  MASTER: "I should like to have two pictures. One of a Yogi seated before a lighted log, and another of a Yogi smoking hemp and the charcoal blazing up as he pulls. Such pictures kindle my spiritual consciousness, as an imitation fruit awakens the idea of a real one.
  Obstacles to Yoga
  --
  A hatha Yogi was staying in the hut at the Panchavati. Ramprasanna, the son of Krishnakishore of Ariadh, and several other men had become his devotees: The Yogi needed twenty-five rupees a month for his milk and opium; so Ramprasanna had requested Sri Ramakrishna to speak to his devotees about the Yogi and get some money. The Master said to several devotees: "A hatha Yogi has come to the Panchavati.
  Go and visit him. See what sort of man he is."
  --
  I shall become a Yogi and dwell in Love's mountain cave; I shall be lost in yoga beside the Fountain-head of Bliss.
  I shall appease my hunger for Knowledge with the fruit of Truth;
  --
  (To Mahima) "Ramprasanna asked me to speak to you about the hatha Yogi. The Yogi's daily expenses are six and a half nns. But he won't tell you about it himself."
  MAHIMA: "Who will listen to him even if he does?"

1.2.1.03 - Psychic and Esoteric Poetry, #Letters On Poetry And Art, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  I dont think your poetry is more esoteric than in the earlier poems for esoteric means something that only the initiated in the mysteries can understand; to be concerned with spiritual aspiration does not make a poem esoteric, such poems can be perfectly well understood by those who are not mystics or Yogis. Yours are certainly not more esoteric or Yogic than Nishikantas with his frequent incursions into the occult and if Tagore could be knocked over by the Rajahansa poem, that shows that Yogic poetry can be appreciated by him and by others. I take it that it is a transition to a new style of writing that meets with so much opposition and these are only excuses for the refusal of the mind to appreciate what is new. On the other hand those who have not the prejudice have not the difficulty. With time the obstacle will disappear.
  24 July 1936

1.2.11 - Patience and Perseverance, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
   calm and steady. Full Yogic realisation does not come all at once, it comes after a long preparation of the Adhara which may take a long time.
  In a more deep and spiritual sense a concrete realisation is that which makes the thing realised more real, dynamic, intimately present to the consciousness than any physical thing can be.
  --
  That I consider extraordinarily quick, an express train speed almost - though there may no doubt have been several quicker achievements. But to expect and demand it so soon and get fed up because it does not come and declare Yoga impossible except for two or three in the ages would betoken in the eyes of any experienced Yogi or sadhaka a rather rash and abnormal impatience. Most would say that a slow development is the best one can hope for in the first years and only when the nature is ready and fully concentrated towards the Divine can the definitive experience come. To some rapid preparatory experiences can come at a comparatively early stage, but even they cannot escape the labour of the consciousness which will make these experiences culminate in the realisation that is enduring and complete. It is not a question of my liking or disliking your demand or attitude.
  It is a matter of fact and truth and experience, not of liking or disliking, two things which do not usually sway me. It is the fact that people who are grateful and cheerful and ready to go step by step, even by slow steps, if need be, do actually march faster and more surely than those who are impatient and in haste and at each step despair or murmur. It is what I have always seen - there may be instances to the contrary and I have no objection to your being one, - none at all. I only say that if you could maintain "hope and fervour and faith", there would be a much bigger chance - that is all.
  --
  Yoga." Of course when you come to the point where you make a resolution of that kind, immediately all that stands in the way does rise up - it invariably happens. The thing to be done is to stand back, observe and reject, not to allow these things to get hold of you, to keep your central will separate from them and call in the Mother s Force to meet them. If one does get involved as often happens, then to get disinvolved as soon as possible and go forward again. That is what everybody, every Yogin does - to be depressed because one cannot do everything in a rush is quite contrary to the truth of the matter. A stumble does not mean that one is unfit, nor does prolonged difficulty mean that for oneself the thing is impossible.
  The fact that you have to give up your ordinary work when

1.2.12 - Vigilance, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Yes, the vigilance is very necessary - to remain jagrat and apramatta was always considered as a main requisite by the Yogins.
  Openness and, whenever needed, passivity, but to the highest consciousness, not to anything that comes.

1.21 - A DAY AT DAKSHINESWAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  MASTER: "It is a spontaneous sound constantly going on by itself. It is the sound of the Pranava, Om. It originates in the Supreme Brahman and is heard by Yogis. People immersed in worldliness do not hear it. A Yogi alone knows that this sound originates both from his navel and from the Supreme Brahman resting on the Ocean of Milk."
  Reincarnation
  --
  MASTER: "I said that I would ask some rich visitors to help you. But (to Prankrishna) you, perhaps, do not like these Yogis?"
  Prankrishna remained silent. The hatha Yogi left the room and the conversation went on.

1.2.1 - Mental Development and Sadhana, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  If the power to meditate long is there, a sadhak will naturally do it and care little for readingunless he has reached the stage when everything is part of the Yogic consciousness because that is permanent. Sadhana is the aim of a sadhak, not mental development. But if he has spare time, those who have the mental turn will naturally spend it in reading or study of some kind.
  ***
  --
  If by passivity of the mind you mean laziness and inability to use it, then what Yoga makes that its basis? The mind has to be quieted and transformed, not made indolent and useless. Is there any old Yoga that makes it a rule not to allow those who practise it to study Sanskrit or philosophy? Did that prevent the Yogis from attaining mental quietude? Do you think that the Mother and myself never read anything and have to sit all day inactive in order to make our minds quiet? Are you not aware that the principle of this Yoga is to arrive at an inner silence in which all activities can take place without disturbing the inner silence?
  ***
  --
  If novels touch the lower vital or raise it, they ought not to be read by the sadhak. One can read them only if one can look at them from the literary point of view as a picture of human life and nature which one can observe, as the Yogi looks at life itself, without being involved in it or having any reaction.
  ***
  --
  It is not against the principle of Yogic life to know what is happening in the worldwhat is un Yogic is to be attached to these things [such as newspaper reading] and not able to do without them or to think of them as a matter of main importance. The all-important thing must be the sadhana, the growth into a new consciousness and a new inner life. The rest must be done with detachment and without getting absorbed in them. The feeling must be such that if the Mother were to tell you never to see a newspaper at all, it would be no deprivation to you and you would not even feel the difference.
  ***

1.2.2.01 - The Poet, the Yogi and the Rishi, #Letters On Poetry And Art, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  object:1.2.2.01 - The Poet, the Yogi and the Rishi
  author class:Sri Aurobindo
  --
  It is quite natural for the poets to vaunt their mtier as the highest reach of human capacity and themselves as the top of creation; it is also natural for the intellectuals to run down the Yogi or the Rishi who claims to reach a higher consciousness than that which they conceive to be the summit of human achievement. The poet indeed lives still in the mind and is not yet a spiritual seer, but he represents to the human intellect the highest point of mental seership where the imagination tries to figure and embody in words its intuition of things, though that stands far below the vision of things that can be grasped only by spiritual experience. It is for that the poet is exalted as the real seer and prophet. There is too, helping the idea, the error of the modern or European mentality which so easily confuses the mentalised vital or life being with the soul and the idealising mind with spirituality. The poet imaging mental or physical beauty is for the outer mind something more spiritual than the seer or the God-lover experiencing the eternal peace or the ineffable ecstasy. Yet the Rishi or Yogi can drink of a deeper draught of Beauty and Delight than the imagination of the poet at its highest can conceive. ( The Divine is Delight.) And it is not only the unseen Beauty that he can see but the visible and tangible also has for him a face of the All-Beautiful which the mind cannot discover.
  10 November 1934
  --
  A Rishi may be a Yogi, but also he may not; a Yogi too may be a Rishi, but also he may not. Just as a philosopher may or may not be a poet and a poet may or may not be a philosopher.
  Poetic intuition and illumination is not the same thing as Rishi intuition and illumination.

1.22 - ADVICE TO AN ACTOR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  Narendra told the story of two Yogis in Bhutan who used to drink daily a pound of the bitter juice of neem-leaves. He had also visited the hermitage of a holy man on the bank of the Narmada. At the sight of the Bengali Babu dressed in European clothes, the sdhu had remarked, "He has a knife hidden under his clothes, next to his belly."
  Keeping the pictures of holy persons
  --
  Who is attained by Yogis in the depths of their meditation; The Scatterer of the fear of birth and death,
  The Essence of Knowledge and Truth, the Primal Seed of the world.

1.22 - Dominion over different provinces of creation assigned to different beings, #Vishnu Purana, #Vyasa, #Hinduism
  That, Maitreya, which is the cause of a thing is called the means of effecting it; and that which it is the desire of the soul to accomplish is the thing to be effected. The operations of the Yogi who is desirous of liberation, as suppression of breath and the like, are his means: the end is the supreme Brahma, whence he returns to the world no more. Essentially connected with, and dependant upon, the means employed for emancipation by the Yogi, is discriminative knowledge; and this is the first variety of the condition of Brahma[5]. The second sort is the knowledge that is to be acquired by the Yogi whose end is escape from suffering, or eternal felicity. The third kind is the ascertainment of the identity of the end and the means, the rejection of the notion of duality. The last kind is the removal of whatever differences may have been conceived by the three first varieties of knowledge, and the consequent contemplation of the true essence of soul. The supreme condition of Viṣṇu, who is one with wisdom, is the knowledge of truth; which requires no exercise; which is not to be taught; which is internally diffused; which is unequalled; the object of which is self-illumination; which is simply existent, and is not to be defined; which is tranquil, fearless, pure; which is not the theme of reasoning; which stands in need of no support[6]. Those Yogis who, by the annihilation of ignorance, are resolved into this fourfold Brahma, lose the seminal property, and can no longer germinate in the ploughed field of worldly existence. This is the supreme condition, that is called Viṣṇu, perfect, perpetual, universal, undecaying, entire, and uniform: and the Yogi who attains this supreme spirit (Brahma) returns not to life again; for there he is freed from the distinction of virtue and vice, from suffering, and from soil.
  There are two states of this Brahma; one with, and one without shape; one perishable, and one imperishable; which are inherent in all beings. The imperishable is the supreme being; the perishable is all the world. The blaze of fire burning on one spot diffuses light and heat around; so the world is nothing more than the manifested energy of the supreme Brahma: and inasmuch, Maitreya, as the light and heat are stronger or feebler as we are near to the fire, or far off from it, so the energy of the supreme is more or less intense in the beings that are less or more remote from him. Brahma, Viṣṇu, and Śiva are the most powerful energies of god; next to them are the inferior deities, then the attendant spirits, then men, then animals, birds, insects, vegetables; each becoming more and more feeble as they are farther from their primitive source. In this way, illustrious Brahman, this whole world, although in essence imperishable and eternal, appears and disappears, as if it was subject to birth and death.
  The supreme condition of Brahma, which is meditated by the Yogis in the commencement of their abstraction, as invested with form, is Viṣṇu, composed of all the divine energies, and the essence of Brahma, with whom the mystic union that is sought, and which is accompanied by suitable elements, is effected[7] by the devotee whose whole mind is addressed to that object. This Hari, who is the most immediate of all the energies of Brahma, is his embodied shape, composed entirely of his essence; and in him therefore is the whole world interwoven; and from him, and in him, is the universe; and he, the supreme lord of all, comprising all that is perishable and imperishable, bears upon him all material and spiritual existence, identified in nature with his ornaments and weapons.
  Maitreya said:-
  --
  [9]: We have in the text a representation of one mode of Dhyāna, or contemplation, in which the conception of a thing is attempted to be rendered more definite by thinking upon its types; or in which, at least, the thoughts are more readily concentrated by being addressed to a sensible emblem, instead of an abstract truth. Thus the Yogi here says to himself, "I meditate upon the jewel on Viṣṇu's brow, as the soul of the world; upon the gem on his breast, as the first principle of things;" and so on: and thus through a perceptible substance proceeds to an imperceptible idea.
  [10]: Ākhyānāni is said to denote the Purāṇas, and Anuvāda the Kalpa, Sara, and similar works, containing directions for supplementary rites.

1.240 - Talks 2, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  (5) Sri Bhagavan said, A frog is often compared to a Yogi. It remains quiet for a long time, the only sign of life being the rhythmic movement of the under-skin below the neck.
  Again frogs can remain for extraordinary long periods with their animation suspended. They are said to swallow their tongues.
  Swallowing the tongue is a Yogic practice. The animation is suspended.
  The Yogi does not die but the tongue must be drawn out by someone else before life-activity is resumed. It is a wonder how the frog brings out the already swallowed tongue and resumes activity.
  11th January, 1937
  --
  Sri Bhagavan said that he felt no sensation in His legs though they were massaged. If they serve the purpose of walking what does it matter if sensation is lost? he asked. Then in the course of conversation he related that a ray of light has been found which, when projected, does not reveal the operator but enables him to witness the scene. So it is with siddhas. They are only pure light and can see others, whereas, they cannot be seen by others. For example Prabhulinga, while touring in the North, came across Goraknath. The latter displayed his Yogic
  Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi powers e.g., when his arm was cut by a sword, the sword was blunted without inflicting injury on him. This is making the body proof against injury (kayasiddhi). Prabhulinga offered himself to be cut. When the sword was thrust, it passed through and through his body as if it was air and there was no injury on the body. Gorak was astonished and offered himself as the disciple of Prabhulinga.
  --
  M.: He is an accomplished Yogi. There is no question about him.
  D.: People cite disasters, e.g., earthquakes, famines, etc., to disprove
  --
  M.: The Yogis call it Kundalini Sakti. It is the same as vritti 1 of the form of God (Bhagavatakara vritti) of the bhaktas and vritti of the form of Brahman (Brahmakara vritti) of the jnanis. It must be preliminary to Realisation. The sensation produced may be said to be hot.
  D.: Kundalini is said to be of the shape of a serpent but vrittis cannot be so.
  --
  M.: The yoga marga speaks of the six centres each of which must be reached by practice and transcended until one reaches sahasrara where nectar is found and thus immortality. The Yogis say that one enters into the paranadi which starts from the sacral plexus whereas the jnanis say that the same nadi starts from the heart. Reconciliation between the seeming]y contradictory statements is effected in the secret doctrine which distinctly states the Yogic paranadi is from muladhara and the jnana paranadi is from the Heart. The truth is that the paranadi should be entered. By Yogic practice one goes down, then rises up, wanders all through until the goal is reached; by jnana abhyas one settles down directly in the centre.
  D.: Is not para followed by pasyanti, etc.?
  --
  The Yogis attach the highest importance to going up to sahasrara i.e., the brain centre or the thousand-petalled-lotus. Some Yogis say that there are other centres higher up with greater involutions e.g.,
  100,000 (100) petalled or 100,000,000 (108) petalled ones. Let us omit them for the present. They point out the scriptural statement that the life-current enters the body through the fontanelle and argue that, viyoga (separation) having come about that way, yoga
  (union) must also be effected in the reverse way. Therefore we must by yoga practice, gather up the pranas and enter the fontanelle for the consummation of yoga. The jnanis point out that the Yogi assumes the existence of the body, its separateness from the Self, and therefore advises effort for reunion by the practice of yoga.
  In fact, the body is in the mind which has the brain for its seat, which again functions by light borrowed from another source as admitted by the Yogis themselves in their fontanelle theory.
  The Jnani further argues: if the light is borrowed it must come from its native source. Go to the source direct and do not depend on borrowed resources. Just as an iron ball comes into being separate from the mass of iron, gets fiery, in fire, later cools down giving up the fire, but must again be made fiery to reunite with the original mass, so also the cause of separation must also form the factor of reunion.
  Again if there is an image reflected there must be a source and also accessories like the Sun and a pot of water for reflection. To do away with the reflection either the surface is covered up corresponding to reaching the fontanelle according to the Yogis or the water is drained away which is called tapas (Tapo Brahmeti - tapas is Brahman).
  That is to say, the thoughts or the brain activities are made to cease.
  --
  A gentleman asked if the Yogis also reach the anahata and thus realise the Heart-centre as is done by the jnanis but in a different way.
  M.: Anahata is not the same as the Heart-centre. If so, why should they wander further on to Sahasrara? Moreover, the question arises because of the sense of separateness persisting in us. We are never away from the Heart-centre. Before reaching anahata or after passing it, one is only in the centre. Whether one understands it or not, one is not away from the centre. Practice of yoga or vichara is done, always remaining in the centre only.
  --
  It is Yoga! It is Bliss! Or the Yogi or the Bliss incarnate! (12)
  (8) Karma Yoga also is Bhakti:

1.24 - PUNDIT SHASHADHAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  "When the fruit appears the blossom drops off. Love of God is the fruit, and rituals are the blossom. When the daughter-in-law of the house becomes pregnant, she cannot do much work. Her mother-in-law gradually lessens her duties in the house. When her time arrives she does practically nothing. And after the child is born her only work is to play with it. She doesn't do any household duties at all. The sandhya merges in the Gayatri, the Gayatri in Om, and, Om in samdhi. It is like the sound of a bell: t-a-m. The Yogi, by following in the trail of the sound Om, gradually merges himself in the Supreme Brahman. His sandhya and other ritualistic duties disappear in samdhi. Thus the duties of the Jnni come to an end."
  As the Master talked of samdhi, he himself went into that state. His face radiated a heavenly light. Bereft of outer consciousness, he could not utter another word. His gaze was indrawn and transfixed in communion with the Self. After a long time the Master began to recognize the world around him and said, like a child, "I shall have a drink of water." Whenever after samdhi the Master asked for a drink of water, his devotees knew that he was gradually becoming conscious of the outer world.

1.2.4 - Speech and Yoga, #Letters On Yoga IV, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Xs talk is certainly not very helpful to his sadhana and I think he knows it but he has not made any real attempt to control his tongue as yet. Talkof the usual kinddoes very easily disperse or bring down the inner condition because it usually comes out of the lower vital and the physical mind only and expresses that part of the consciousness it has a tendency to externalise the being. That is of course why so many Yogis take refuge in silence.
  ***
  --
  Yes, it would be better to get full control of the speechit is an important step towards going inward and developing a true inner and Yogic consciousness.
  ***
  --
  The difficulty you experience exists because speech is a function which in the past has worked much more as an expression of the vital in man than of the mental will. Speech breaks out as the expression of the vital and its habits without caring to wait for the control of the mind; the tongue has been spoken of as the unruly member. In your case the difficulty has been increased by the habit of talk about others,gossip, to which your vital was very partial, so much that it cannot even yet give up the pleasure in it. It is therefore this tendency that must cease in the vital itself. Not to be under the control of the impulse to speech, to be able to do without it as a necessity and to speak only when one sees that it is right to do so and only what one sees to be right to say, is a very necessary part of Yogic self-control.
  It is only by perseverance and vigilance and a strong resolution that this can be done, but if the resolution is there, it can be done in a short time by the aid of the Force behind.
  --
  Hastiness of speech and action(in excess, because to a certain extent it exists in everybody)is a matter of temperament. I do not suppose it is more in you than in many others here. Of course it has to be got rid of, but it is one of the lesser, not one of the major imperfections of nature with which the Yogic Force has to deal. It is the externalising mind that has to be disciplined so that it may not leap too soon to conclusions or rush immediately from thought to speech and action.
  ***

1.25 - ADVICE TO PUNDIT SHASHADHAR, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  The prince of Yogis, the king of the gods, meditate on Her feet in vain
  Yet worthless kamalakanta yearns for the Mother's blessed feet!

1.25 - Fascinations, Invisibility, Levitation, Transmutations, Kinks in Time, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
    There is no doubt whatever about this phenomenon; it is quite common. But the Yogis claim that the lateral motion is due to lack of balance, and that if one were in perfect spiritual equilibrium one would rise directly in the air. I have never seen any case of levitation, and hesitate to say that it has happened to me, thought I have actually been seen by others, on several occasions, apparently poised in the air. For the first three phenomena I have found no difficulty in devising quite simple physiological explanations. But I can form no theory as to how the practice could counteract the force of gravitation, and I am unregenerate enough to allow this to make me sceptical about the occurrence of levitation. Yet, after all, the stars are suspended in space. There is no priori reason why the forces which prevent them rushing together should not come into operation in respect of the earth and the body.
  The Allan part of this is the best evidence at my disposal. He couldn't have got where he did by hopping, and he couldn't have got into that position intentionally; he must have been levitated, lost balance, and dropped upside down. In any case, there is no trace of fascination about it, as there may have been in Soror Virakam's observation.

1.25 - SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, #The Perennial Philosophy, #Aldous Huxley, #Philosophy
  In his exercise the Yogin sees (imaginatively) the form of the sun or moon, or something looking like a lotus, or the underworld, or various forms, such as sky, fire and the like. All these appearances lead him in the way of the philosophers; they throw him down into the state of Sravakahood, into the realm of the Pratyekabuddhas. When all these are put aside and there is a state of imagelessness, then a condition in conformity with Suchness presents itself, and the Buddhas will come together from all their countries and with their shining hands will touch the head of this benefactor.
  Lankavatara Sutra
  --
  Introversion is the process condemned in the Lankavatara Sutra as the way of the Yogin, the way that leads at worst to idolatry, at best to a partial knowledge of God in the heights within, never to complete knowledge in the fulness without as well as within, Annihilation (of which Father Benet distinguishes two kinds, passive and active) is for the Mahayanist the state of imagelessness in contemplation and, in active life, the state of total non-attachment, in which eternity can be apprehended within time, and Samsara is known to be one with Nirvana.
  And therefore, if thou wilt stand and not fall, cease never in thine intent, but beat overmore on this cloud of unknowing that is betwixt thee and thy God, with a sharp dart of longing love. And loa the to think of aught under God. And go not thence for anything that befalleth. For this only is that work that destroyeth the ground and the root of sin.

1.26 - FESTIVAL AT ADHARS HOUSE, #The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, #Sri Ramakrishna, #Hinduism
  MASTER: "Yoga is not possible if the mind dwells on 'woman and gold'. The mind of a worldly man generally moves among the three lower centres: those at the navel, at the sexual organ, and at the organ of evacuation. After great effort and spiritual practice the Kundalini is awakened. According to the Yogis there are three nerves in the spinal column: Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna. Along the Sushumna are six lotuses, or centres, the lowest being known as the Muladhara. Then come successively Svadhisthana, Manipura, Anhata, Visuddha, and jn. These are the six centres. The Kundalini, when awakened, passes through the lower centres and comes to the Anhata, which is at the heart. It stays there. At that time the mind of the aspirant is withdrawn from the three lower centres. He feels the awakening of Divine Consciousness and sees Light. In mute wonder he sees that radiance and cries out: 'What is this? What is this?'
  "After passing through the six centres, the Kundalini reaches the thousand petalled lotus known as the Sahasrara, and the aspirant goes into samdhi.

1.28 - Need to Define God, Self, etc., #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  Then the Vedantists define God as "having neither quality nor quantity;" and some Yogis have a practice of setting up images to knock them down at once with "Not that! Not that!"
  And the Buddhists won't admit any God at all in anything at all like the sense in which you use the word.[AC34]

1.300 - 1.400 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  (5) Sri Bhagavan said, "A frog is often compared to a Yogi. It remains quiet for a long time, the only sign of life being the rhythmic movement of the under-skin below the neck."
  "Again frogs can remain for extraordinary long periods with their animation suspended. They are said to swallow their tongues.
  Swallowing the tongue is a Yogic practice. The animation is suspended.
  The Yogi does not die but the tongue must be drawn out by someone else before life-activity is resumed. It is a wonder how the frog brings out the already swallowed tongue and resumes activity."
  11th January, 1937
  --
  Sri Bhagavan said that he felt no sensation in His legs though they were massaged. "If they serve the purpose of walking what does it matter if sensation is lost?" he asked. Then in the course of conversation he related that a ray of light has been found which, when projected, does not reveal the operator but enables him to witness the scene. So it is with siddhas. They are only pure light and can see others, whereas, they cannot be seen by others. For example Prabhulinga, while touring in the North, came across Goraknath. The latter displayed his Yogic
  312
  --
  M.: He is an accomplished Yogi. There is no question about him.
  D.: People cite disasters, e.g., earthquakes, famines, etc., to disprove
  --
  M.: The Yogis call it Kundalini Sakti. It is the same as vritti 1 of the form of God (Bhagavatakara vritti) of the bhaktas and vritti of the form of Brahman (Brahmakara vritti) of the jnanis. It must be preliminary to Realisation. The sensation produced may be said to be hot.
  D.: Kundalini is said to be of the shape of a serpent but vrittis cannot be so.
  --
  M.: The yoga marga speaks of the six centres each of which must be reached by practice and transcended until one reaches sahasrara where nectar is found and thus immortality. The Yogis say that one enters into the paranadi which starts from the sacral plexus whereas the jnanis say that the same nadi starts from the heart. Reconciliation between the seeming]y contradictory statements is effected in the secret doctrine which distinctly states the Yogic paranadi is from muladhara and the jnana paranadi is from the Heart. The truth is that the paranadi should be entered. By Yogic practice one goes down, then rises up, wanders all through until the goal is reached; by jnana abhyas one settles down directly in the centre.
  D.: Is not para followed by pasyanti, etc.?
  --
  The Yogis attach the highest importance to going up to sahasrara i.e., the brain centre or the thousand-petalled-lotus. Some Yogis say that there are other centres higher up with greater involutions e.g.,
  100,000 (100) petalled or 100,000,000 (108) petalled ones. Let us omit them for the present. They point out the scriptural statement that the life-current enters the body through the fontanelle and argue that, viyoga (separation) having come about that way, yoga
  (union) must also be effected in the reverse way. Therefore we must by yoga practice, gather up the pranas and enter the fontanelle for the consummation of yoga. The jnanis point out that the Yogi assumes the existence of the body, its separateness from the Self, and therefore advises effort for reunion by the practice of yoga.
  In fact, the body is in the mind which has the brain for its seat, which again functions by light borrowed from another source as admitted by the Yogis themselves in their fontanelle theory.
  The Jnani further argues: if the light is borrowed it must come from its native source. Go to the source direct and do not depend on borrowed resources. Just as an iron ball comes into being separate from the mass of iron, gets fiery, in fire, later cools down giving up the fire, but must again be made fiery to reunite with the original mass, so also the cause of separation must also form the factor of reunion.
  Again if there is an image reflected there must be a source and also accessories like the Sun and a pot of water for reflection. To do away with the reflection either the surface is covered up corresponding to reaching the fontanelle according to the Yogis or the water is drained away which is called tapas (Tapo Brahmeti - tapas is Brahman).
  That is to say, the thoughts or the brain activities are made to cease.
  --
  A gentleman asked if the Yogis also reach the anahata and thus realise the Heart-centre as is done by the jnanis but in a different way.
  M.: Anahata is not the same as the Heart-centre. If so, why should they wander further on to Sahasrara? Moreover, the question arises because of the sense of separateness persisting in us. We are never away from the Heart-centre. Before reaching anahata or after passing it, one is only in the centre. Whether one understands it or not, one is not away from the centre. Practice of yoga or vichara is done, always remaining in the centre only.

13.01 - A Centurys Salutation to Sri Aurobindo The Greatness of the Great, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   In other words, the Yogi, the Divine, the Impersonal man in Sri Aurobindo was the real person always there from the very birth. Thus we see him starting life exactly with the thing where every one ends. In his inner being he had not to pass through the gradations that lead an ordinary person gradually towards the widening ranges of consciousness and existence. In all the stations of his life, in every sphere and status Sri Aurobindo was doing his duties, that is, his workkartavyam karmaselflessly, which means with no sense of self, or perhaps we should say, with supreme Selfhoodness; for such is the character, the very nature of the born Yogi, the Godman. The duties done for and within a frame of life tend always to overflow, as it were, the boundaries and do not always strictly follow the norm of the limited frame. For example, even while in the family life, in the midst of relatives and close friends he was never moved by mere attachment or worldly ties, he was impelled to do what he had to in the circumstances, unattached, free, under another command. Again, when he chose the larger field of national life, here too, he was not limited to that frame, his patriotism was not chauvinism or a return to the parochialism of the past; his patriotism was broad-based upon the sense of human solidarity and even the broad-based humanity was not broad enough for the consciousness in him; for humanity does not mean mere humanitarianism, charity, benevolence, or service to mankind. True humanity can be or is to be reached by pushing it still farther into the Divinity where men are not merely brothers or even portions of the Divine but one with Him, the self-same being and personality.
   Thus, Sri Aurobindo was an ideal worker, the perfect workman doing the work appropriate to the field of work according to its norm, faultless in execution. As a family man, as a citizen, as a patriot, he carried out his appointed function not in any personal sense with the feeling or consciousness of any individual personality but a large impersonal personality free from ego-sense which is the hallmark of a luminous cosmic consciousness, based upon a still higher and transcendent standing.

1.3.01 - Peace The Basis of the Sadhana, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Equanimity and peace in all conditions in all parts of the being is the first foundation of the Yogic status. Either Light (bringing with it knowledge) or Force (bringing strength and dynamism of many kinds) or Ananda (bringing love and joy of existence) can come next according to the trend of the nature. But peace is the first condition without which nothing else can be stable.
  The first thing that you have to bring down is a positive, complete and enduring peace from above - that is the only foundation on which the rest can be done, i.e. the development of the higher consciousness, force, knowledge, love, Ananda.
  --
  Wideness and calmness are the foundation of the Yogic consciousness and the best condition for inner growth and experience. If a wide calm can be established in the physical consciousness, occupying and filling the very body and all its cells, that can become the basis for its transformation; in fact, without this wideness and calmness the transformation is hardly possible.
  Difficulties, Disturbances and Peace

1.3.02 - Equality The Chief Support, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  No doubt hatred and cursing are not the proper attitude. It is true also that to look upon all things and all people with a calm and clear vision, to be uninvolved and impartial in one's judgments is a quite proper Yogic attitude. A condition of perfect samata can be established in which one sees all as equal, friends and enemies included, and is not disturbed by what men do or by what happens. The question is whether this is all that is
  132
  --
  As for the detachment of which you speak, it comes by attaining the poise of the Spirit, the equality of which the Gita speaks always, but also by sight, by knowledge. For instance, looking at what happened in 1914 - or for that matter at all that is and has been happening in human history - the eye of the Yogin sees not only outward events and persons and causes, but the enormous forces which precipitate them into action. If the men who fought were instruments in the hands of rulers and financiers etc., these in turn were mere puppets in the clutch of these forces. When one is habituated to see the things behind, one is no longer prone to be touched by the outward aspects - or to expect any remedy from political, institutional or social changes; the only way out is through the descent of a consciousness which is not the puppet of these forces but is greater than they are and can force them either to change or disappear.
  134
  --
  The Yogic attitude consists in calm, detachment, equality, universality - added to this the psychic element, bhakti, love, devotion to the Divine.
  Equality in Times of Trouble and Difficulty
  --
   has to be acquired and the very basis on which a sound Yogic consciousness full of the Mother can be built up. If it can be fixed, then most of the trouble and difficulty of sadhana disappears - all necessary changes can proceed quietly without these disturbances and upsettings which break and hamper the progress.
  Also in it there can grow a right and clear understanding of people and things and how to deal with them without friction which can make work and action much more easy. Once this consciousness has come, it is bound to return and increase.

1.3.03 - Quiet and Calm, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  These [tranquillity and stillness] are general words, of a general and not a special Yogic significance. Quiet, calm and peace can all be described as tranquillity, silence is akin to what is meant by stillness.
  Quietude
  --
  This state of emptiness and quietude and absence of reactions is regarded by Yogins as a great step in advance, especially the equality and indifference to what is said or done. For the moment it is a neutral condition only, but that it is usually at first.
  Afterwards it changes into peace or even into an equal Ananda undisturbed by anything that can happen.

1.3.04 - Peace, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  [imaginations about old enjoyments] can float on the surface and try to come in - only then they do not occupy the consciousness but touch it merely. It is what was regarded by the old Yogis as a mechanical remnant of Prakriti, a continuation of its blind habit which remained after the essential liberation of the self. It was treated lightly as of no importance - but that view is not tenable in our sadhana which aims not only at a liberation of the
  Purusha but at a complete transformation of the Prakriti also.
  --
  It is quite usual to feel an established peace in the inner being even if there is disturbance on the surface. In fact that is the usual condition of the Yogi before he has attained the absolute samata in all the being.
  When the peace is deep or wide, it is usually in the inner being.
  --
  Yes, the inward move is the right one. To live within in the peace and silence is the first necessity. I spoke of the wideness because in the wideness of silence and peace (which the Yogins recognise as the realisation of self at once individual and universal) is the basis for harmonising the inward and the outward. It will come.
  Peace is never easy to get in the life of the world and never constant, unless one lives deep within and bears the external activities as only a surface front of our being.
  --
  A peaceful state is the basis of the Yogic consciousness. It is only when that is complete and fully established that the true intensity and energy can come.
  The greater the quietude, the greater the energy that can be received.

1.3.05 - Silence, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  I have read again the message of the Yogi quoted in X's letter but apart from the context nothing much or very definite can be made out of it. There are two statements which are clear enough -
  "In Silence is wisdom" - it is in the inner silence of the mind that true knowledge can come; for the ordinary activity of the mind only creates surface ideas and representations which are not true knowledge. Speech is usually only the expression of the superficial nature - therefore to throw oneself out too much in such speech wastes the energy and prevents the inward listening which brings the word of true knowledge.

1.3.1.02 - The Object of Our Yoga, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  There are two paths set for the feet of the Yogin, withdrawal from the universe and perfection in the Universe; the first comes by asceticism, the second is effected by tapasya; the first receives us when we lose God in Existence, the second is attained when we fulfil existence in God. Let ours be the path of perfection, not of abandonment; let our aim be victory in the battle, not the escape from all conflict.
  Buddha and Shankara supposed the world to be radically false and miserable; therefore escape from the world was to them the only wisdom. But this world is Brahman, the world is God, the world is Satyam, the world is Ananda; it is our misreading of the world through mental egoism that is a falsehood and our wrong relation with God in the world that is a misery. There is no other falsity and no other cause of sorrow.

1.3.2.01 - I. The Entire Purpose of Yoga, #Essays Divine And Human, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Divine Perfection is the purna Yogin.
  Our aim must be to be perfect as God in His being and bliss is perfect, pure as He is pure, blissful as He is blissful, and, when we are ourselves siddha in the purna Yoga, to bring all mankind to the same divine perfection. It does not matter if for the present we fall short of our aim, so long as we give ourselves whole-heartedly to the attempt and by living constantly in it and for it move forward even two inches upon the road; even that will help to lead humanity out of the struggle and twilight in which it now dwells into the luminous joy which God intends for us. But whatever our immediate success, our unvarying aim must be to perform the whole journey and not lie down content in any wayside stage or imperfect resting place.
  --
  Philosophies & religions dispute about the priority of different aspects of God & different Yogins, Rishis & Saints have preferred this or that philosophy or religion. Our business is not to dispute about any of them, but to realise & become all of them, not to follow after any aspect to the exclusion of the rest, but to embrace God in all His aspects and beyond aspect.
  God descending into world in various forms has consummated on this earth the mental and bodily form which we call humanity.

1.32 - How can a Yogi ever be Worried?, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  object:1.32 - How can a Yogi ever be Worried?
  class:chapter
  --
  How can a Yogi ever be Worried?
  Cara Soror,
  --
  I admit that it looks like a strong case. Here (you put it in your more elegant prose) we have a Yogi, nay more, a Paramahamsa, a Bodhisattva of the best: yea, further, we have a Master of the Temple and is not his Motto "Vi veri vniversom vivus vici?" and yet we find him fussing like an old hen over the most trivial of troubles; we find him wrapped in the lacustrine vapours of Avernus, fretting himself into a fever about imaginary misfortunes at which no normal person would do more than cast a contemptuous glance, and get on with the job.
  Yes, although you can scarcely evade indictment for unnecessarily employing the language of hyperbole, I see what you mean. Yet the answer is adequate; the very terms of his Bargain with Destiny not only allow for, but imply, some such reaction on the part of the Master to the Bludgeonings of Fate. (W. E. Henley*[AC36])

1.400 - 1.450 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  It is Yoga! It is Bliss! Or the Yogi or the Bliss incarnate! (12)
  413

1.4.01 - The Divine Grace and Guidance, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  What you describe in your letter as the response of the Divine would not be called that in the language of Yogic experience
  - this feeling of greater peace, light, ease, trust, difficulties lessening, certitude would rather be called a response of your own nature to the Divine. There is a Peace or a Light which is the response of the Divine, but that is a wide Peace, a great

1.4.02 - The Divine Force, #Letters On Yoga II, #Sri Aurobindo, #Integral Yoga
  Yoga force, spiritual force, Yoga Shakti, then also there can be no effectivity in Yoga. A Yoga consciousness or spiritual consciousness which has no power or force in it, may not be dead or unreal but it is evidently something inert and without effect or consequence. Equally a man who sets out to be a Yogi or Guru and has no spiritual consciousness or no power in his spiritual consciousness - a Yoga force or spiritual force - is making a false claim and is either a charlatan or a self-deluded imbecile; still more is he so if having no spiritual force he claims to have made a path others can follow. If Yoga is a reality, if spirituality is anything better than a delusion, there must be such a thing as
  Yoga force or spiritual force.
  --
  The invisible Force producing tangible results both inward and outward is the whole meaning of the Yogic consciousness. Your question about Yoga bringing merely a feeling of Power without any result was really very strange. Who would be satisfied with such a meaningless hallucination and call it Power? If we had not had thousands of experiences showing that the Power within could alter the mind, develop its powers, add new ones, bring in new ranges of knowledge, master the vital movements, change the character, influence men and things, control the conditions and functionings of the body, work as a concrete dynamic Force on other forces, modify events, etc. etc., we would not speak of it as we do. Moreover, it is not only in its results but in its movements that the Force is tangible and concrete. When I speak of feeling Force or Power, I do not mean simply having a vague sense of it, but feeling it concretely and consequently being able
  182
  --
   worth a cent, that is for others to pronounce). That is sufficient to blow the rest of your Jeremiad into smithereens; it proves that the force was and is there and at work and it is only your sweating Herculean labour that prevents you feeling it. Also it is the trickle that gives assurance of the possibility of the downpour. One has only to go on and by one's patience deserve the downpour or else, without deserving, stick on till one gets it. In Yoga itself the experience that is a promise and foretaste but gets shut off till the nature is ready for the fulfilment is a phenomenon familiar to every Yogin when he looks back on his past experience. Such were the brief visitations of Ananda you had some time before. It does not matter if you have not a leechlike tenacity - leeches are not the only type of Yogins.
  If you can stick anyhow or get stuck that is sufficient. The fact that you are not Sri Aurobindo (who said you were?) is an inept irrelevance. One needs only to be oneself in a reasonable way and shake off the hump when it is there or allow it to be shaken off without clinging to it with a "leechlike tenacity" worthy of a better cause.
  --
  If I write about these questions [of spiritual force] from the Yogic point of view, even though on a logical basis, there is bound to be much that is in conflict with your own settled and perhaps cherished opinions, e.g. about "miracles", persons, the limits of judgment by sense data etc. I have avoided as much as possible writing about these subjects because I would have to propound things that cannot be understood except by reference to other data than those of the physical senses or of reason founded on these alone. I might have to speak of laws and forces not recognised by physical reason or science. In my public writings and my writings to sadhaks I have not dwelt on these because they go out of the range of ordinary knowledge and the understanding founded on it. These things are known to some, but they do not usually speak about it, while the public view of such of them as are known is either credulous or incredulous, but in both cases without experience or knowledge. So if the views founded on them are likely to upset, shock or bewilder, the better way is silence.
  If I was annoyed, it was with myself for speaking of things which ought to be kept under a cover. I put the whole thing in a light form, no doubt, but the substance was perfectly serious, the intention being to point out that even in ordinary non-spiritual things the action of invisible or of subjective forces was open to doubt and discussion in which there could be no material

1.439, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  A few advise seeking realisation in the head (Sahasrara); a few between the eyebrows; a few in the heart; others in the solar plexus. If realisation amounts to gaining the Paranadi, one might enter it from the Heart. But the Yogi is engaged in cleansing the nadis; then Kundalini is awakened which is said to rise up from the coccyx to the head. The Yogi is later advised to come down to the Heart as the final step.
  The Vedas say: The Heart is like a lotus turned down, or a plantain bud.
  --
  M.: There are some medicines. Yogic asanas and satvic food are also useful.
  D.: Some young persons have taken a vow of brahmacharya. They repent of the vow after the lapse of ten or twelve years. Under these circumstances should we encourage young persons to take the vow of brahmacharya?
  --
  Sanandana, Sanathkumara and Sanatsujata. They asked their creator why they were brought into existence. Brahma said: I must create the universe. But I want to go to do tapas for realising the Self. You are brought forth in order that you may create the universe. That will be by multiplying yourselves. They did not like the idea. They wondered why they should take the trouble on themselves. It is natural for one to seek the source. They therefore wanted to regain their source and be happy. So they did not obey the commands of Brahma but left him. They desired guidance for realisation of the Self. They were the best equipped individuals for Self-Realisation. Guidance should be only from the best of Masters. Who could it be but Siva - the Yogiraja. Siva appeared before them sitting under the sacred banyan tree. Being Yogiraja should
  He practise yoga? He went into samadhi as He sat; He was in Perfect
  --
  D.: Is a Jnani different from a Yogi? What is the difference?
  M.: Srimad Bhagavad Gita says that a Jnani is the true Yogi and also a true bhakta. Yoga is only a sadhana and jnana is the siddhi.
  D.: Is yoga necessary?
  --
  M.: The Yogis say that there is a nadi called the jivanadi, atmanadi or
  paranadi. The Upanishads speak of a centre from which thousands
  --
  order to regain his source. Pranayama is said to help the Yogi to
  rouse the Kundalini Sakti which lies coiled in the solar plexus. The
  --
  destroyed. The Yogi is therefore bound to wake up from the samadhi,
  because release from bondage has not yet been accomplished. He
  --
  the heart. When the Yogi has reached the heart, the samadhi becomes
  permanent. Thus we see that the heart is the final centre.
  --
  gets reflected in the brain, as the Yogis say, there must be a reflecting
  surface in action. That must also be capable of limiting the Infinite
  --
  in jagrat; man has all the three states; but the clear-sighted Yogi abides
  only in turiya, and the highest Yogi remains in turyatita alone.
  The three states alternate involuntarily for the average man. The last
  --
  M.: The hatha Yogis claim to keep the body fit so that the enquiry
  may be effected without obstacles. They also say that life must be
  --
  At night, after supper, Sri Bhagavan spoke of one Govinda Yogi, a
  Malayali Brahmin pandit of some repute, who used to extol yoga and
  --
  But here the mind is strong if it is free from thoughts. The Yogis
  say that realisation can be had only before the age of thirty, but not

1.450 - 1.500 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  A few advise seeking realisation in the head (Sahasrara); a few between the eyebrows; a few in the heart; others in the solar plexus. If realisation amounts to gaining the Paranadi, one might enter it from the Heart. But the Yogi is engaged in cleansing the nadis; then Kundalini is awakened which is said to rise up from the coccyx to the head. The Yogi is later advised to come down to the Heart as the final step.
  The Vedas say: "The Heart is like a lotus turned down, or a plantain bud."
  --
  M.: There are some medicines. Yogic asanas and satvic food are also useful.
  D.: Some young persons have taken a vow of brahmacharya. They repent of the vow after the lapse of ten or twelve years. Under these circumstances should we encourage young persons to take the vow of brahmacharya?

15.05 - Twin Prayers, #Collected Works of Nolini Kanta Gupta - Vol 05, #Nolini Kanta Gupta, #Integral Yoga
   At present when the Mother too is no more thereapparentlywe seem to be abandoned children, what are we to do or be? It is no longer sufficient to be a warrior, not sufficient even to be a hero. What should we be? Something greater than the hero. One must be a Yogi. The Yogi is one who has the Divine Consciousness or the Mother's consciousness. If you find that it is not so easy for one to be a Yogi, even if one tries sincerely, I suggest to you another alternative. It is to leap into another dimension: to be a child, a child of the Mother.
   I give you this subject for meditation: on becoming. . . a child, an ideal child of the Mother.

1.550 - 1.600 Talks, #Talks, #Sri Ramana Maharshi, #Hinduism
  Sanandana, Sanathkumara and Sanatsujata. They asked their creator why they were brought into existence. Brahma said: "I must create the universe. But I want to go to do tapas for realising the Self. You are brought forth in order that you may create the universe. That will be by multiplying yourselves." They did not like the idea. They wondered why they should take the trouble on themselves. It is natural for one to seek the source. They therefore wanted to regain their source and be happy. So they did not obey the commands of Brahma but left him. They desired guidance for realisation of the Self. They were the best equipped individuals for Self-Realisation. Guidance should be only from the best of Masters. Who could it be but Siva - the Yogiraja. Siva appeared before them sitting under the sacred banyan tree. Being Yogiraja should
  546
  --
  D.: Is a Jnani different from a Yogi? What is the difference?
  M.: Srimad Bhagavad Gita says that a Jnani is the true Yogi and also a true bhakta. Yoga is only a sadhana and jnana is the siddhi.
  D.: Is yoga necessary?

1.64 - Magical Power, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  Here is another of those Eastern stories for you! A certain Yogi thought it would be an admirable achievement to walk across the Ganges. After forty years he succeeded, and went off to his Guru to demonstrate his power, and receive his due meed of praise. It so happened that this Guru was rather like myself, at least in he matter of his Nasty Temper; and when the disciple came gaily striding back across the Sacred Stream, expecting compliments, he was met with: "Well, I think you're a perfect fool all these years, your neighbours have been going to and fro on a raft for a couple of pice!"
  The moral, dear child, is that such powers are never to be considered as the main object; it ought in fact to be obvious from the start that any one's True Will must be deeper and more comprehensive than any mere technical achievement. I will go further and say that any such endeavour must be a magical mistake, like cherishing a gun or a clock or a fishing-rod for its own sake, and not for the use that one can make of it. Indeed, that remark goes to the root of the matter; for all these powers, if we understand them properly, are natural by-products of one's real Great Work. My own experience was very convincing on this point; for one power after another came popping up when it was least wanted, and I saw at once that they represented so many leaks in my boat. They argued imperfect insulation.

1.70 - Morality 1, #Magick Without Tears, #Aleister Crowley, #Philosophy
  But what you want to know is the difference between (a) common or area morality, (b) Yogin or "holy man's" morality, and (c) the Magical Morality of the New Aeon of Thelema.
  1. Area Morality: This is the code of the "Slave-Gods," very thorougly analysed, pulverized, and de-loused by Nietzsche in Antichrist. It consists of all the meanest vices, especially envy, cowardice, cruelty and greed: all based on over-mastering Fear. Fear of the nightmare type. With this incubus, the rich and powerful have devised an engine to keep down the poor and the weak. They are lavish alike with threats and promises in Ogre Bogey's Castle and Cloud-Cuckoo-Land. "Religion is the opium of the people," when they flinch no longer from the phantom knout.

WORDNET



--- Overview of noun yogi

The noun yogi has 2 senses (no senses from tagged texts)
                    
1. Berra, Lawrence Peter Berra, Yogi, Yogi Berra ::: (United States baseball player (born 1925))
2. yogi ::: (one who practices yoga and has achieved a high level of spiritual insight)


--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun yogi

2 senses of yogi                            

Sense 1
Berra, Lawrence Peter Berra, Yogi, Yogi Berra
   INSTANCE OF=> ballplayer, baseball player
     => athlete, jock
       => contestant
         => person, individual, someone, somebody, mortal, soul
           => organism, being
             => living thing, animate thing
               => whole, unit
                 => object, physical object
                   => physical entity
                     => entity
           => causal agent, cause, causal agency
             => physical entity
               => entity
     => player, participant
       => contestant
         => person, individual, someone, somebody, mortal, soul
           => organism, being
             => living thing, animate thing
               => whole, unit
                 => object, physical object
                   => physical entity
                     => entity
           => causal agent, cause, causal agency
             => physical entity
               => entity

Sense 2
yogi
   => philosopher
     => scholar, scholarly person, bookman, student
       => intellectual, intellect
         => person, individual, someone, somebody, mortal, soul
           => organism, being
             => living thing, animate thing
               => whole, unit
                 => object, physical object
                   => physical entity
                     => entity
           => causal agent, cause, causal agency
             => physical entity
               => entity


--- Hyponyms of noun yogi
                                    


--- Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun yogi

2 senses of yogi                            

Sense 1
Berra, Lawrence Peter Berra, Yogi, Yogi Berra
   INSTANCE OF=> ballplayer, baseball player

Sense 2
yogi
   => philosopher




--- Coordinate Terms (sisters) of noun yogi

2 senses of yogi                            

Sense 1
Berra, Lawrence Peter Berra, Yogi, Yogi Berra
  -> ballplayer, baseball player
   => base runner, runner
   => batter, hitter, slugger, batsman
   => fielder
   => little leaguer
   => major leaguer, big leaguer
   => minor leaguer, bush leaguer
   => pitcher, hurler, twirler
   => utility man
   HAS INSTANCE=> Aaron, Henry Louis Aaron, Hank Aaron
   HAS INSTANCE=> Berra, Lawrence Peter Berra, Yogi, Yogi Berra
   HAS INSTANCE=> DiMaggio, Joe DiMaggio, Joseph Paul DiMaggio
   HAS INSTANCE=> Gehrig, Lou Gehrig, Henry Louis Gehrig
   HAS INSTANCE=> Mantle, Mickey Mantle, Mickey Charles Mantle
   HAS INSTANCE=> Mays, Willie Mays, Willie Howard Mays Jr., Say Hey Kid
   HAS INSTANCE=> McGraw, John McGraw, John Joseph McGraw
   HAS INSTANCE=> Musial, Stan Musial, Stanley Frank Musial, Stan the Man
   HAS INSTANCE=> Paige, Satchel Paige, Leroy Robert Paige
   HAS INSTANCE=> Robinson, Jackie Robinson, Jack Roosevelt Robinson
   HAS INSTANCE=> Ruth, Babe Ruth, George Herman Ruth, Sultan of Swat
   HAS INSTANCE=> Williams, Ted Williams, Theodore Samuel Williams
   HAS INSTANCE=> Yastrzemski, Carl Yastrzemski
   HAS INSTANCE=> Young, Cy Young, Danton True Young

Sense 2
yogi
  -> philosopher
   => nativist
   => Cynic
   => eclectic, eclecticist
   => empiricist
   => epistemologist
   => esthetician, aesthetician
   => ethicist, ethician
   => existentialist, existentialist philosopher, existential philosopher
   => gymnosophist
   => libertarian
   => mechanist
   => moralist
   => naturalist
   => necessitarian
   => nominalist
   => pluralist
   => pre-Socratic
   => realist
   => Scholastic
   => Sophist
   => Stoic
   => transcendentalist
   => yogi
   HAS INSTANCE=> Abelard, Peter Abelard, Pierre Abelard
   HAS INSTANCE=> Anaxagoras
   HAS INSTANCE=> Anaximander
   HAS INSTANCE=> Anaximenes
   HAS INSTANCE=> Arendt, Hannah Arendt
   HAS INSTANCE=> Aristotle
   HAS INSTANCE=> Averroes, ibn-Roshd, Abul-Walid Mohammed ibn-Ahmad Ibn-Mohammed ibn-Roshd
   HAS INSTANCE=> Avicenna, ibn-Sina, Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina
   HAS INSTANCE=> Bacon, Francis Bacon, Sir Francis Bacon, Baron Verulam, 1st Baron Verulam, Viscount St. Albans
   HAS INSTANCE=> Bentham, Jeremy Bentham
   HAS INSTANCE=> Bergson, Henri Bergson, Henri Louis Bergson
   HAS INSTANCE=> Berkeley, Bishop Berkeley, George Berkeley
   HAS INSTANCE=> Boethius, Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
   HAS INSTANCE=> Bruno, Giordano Bruno
   HAS INSTANCE=> Buber, Martin Buber
   HAS INSTANCE=> Cassirer, Ernst Cassirer
   HAS INSTANCE=> Cleanthes
   HAS INSTANCE=> Comte, Auguste Comte, Isidore Auguste Marie Francois Comte
   HAS INSTANCE=> Condorcet, Marquis de Condorcet, Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas Caritat
   HAS INSTANCE=> Confucius, Kongfuze, K'ung Futzu, Kong the Master
   HAS INSTANCE=> Democritus
   HAS INSTANCE=> Derrida, Jacques Derrida
   HAS INSTANCE=> Descartes, Rene Descartes
   HAS INSTANCE=> Dewey, John Dewey
   HAS INSTANCE=> Diderot, Denis Diderot
   HAS INSTANCE=> Diogenes
   HAS INSTANCE=> Empedocles
   HAS INSTANCE=> Epictetus
   HAS INSTANCE=> Epicurus
   HAS INSTANCE=> Haeckel, Ernst Heinrich Haeckel
   HAS INSTANCE=> Hartley, David Hartley
   HAS INSTANCE=> Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
   HAS INSTANCE=> Heraclitus
   HAS INSTANCE=> Herbart, Johann Friedrich Herbart
   HAS INSTANCE=> Herder, Johann Gottfried von Herder
   HAS INSTANCE=> Hobbes, Thomas Hobbes
   HAS INSTANCE=> Hume, David Hume
   HAS INSTANCE=> Husserl, Edmund Husserl
   HAS INSTANCE=> Hypatia
   HAS INSTANCE=> James, William James
   HAS INSTANCE=> Kant, Immanuel Kant
   HAS INSTANCE=> Kierkegaard, Soren Kierkegaard, Soren Aabye Kierkegaard
   HAS INSTANCE=> Lao-tzu, Lao-tse, Lao-zi
   HAS INSTANCE=> Leibniz, Leibnitz, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz
   HAS INSTANCE=> Locke, John Locke
   HAS INSTANCE=> Lucretius, Titus Lucretius Carus
   HAS INSTANCE=> Lully, Raymond Lully, Ramon Lully
   HAS INSTANCE=> Mach, Ernst Mach
   HAS INSTANCE=> Machiavelli, Niccolo Machiavelli
   HAS INSTANCE=> Maimonides, Moses Maimonides, Rabbi Moses Ben Maimon
   HAS INSTANCE=> Malebranche, Nicolas de Malebranche
   HAS INSTANCE=> Marcuse, Herbert Marcuse
   HAS INSTANCE=> Marx, Karl Marx
   HAS INSTANCE=> Mead, George Herbert Mead
   HAS INSTANCE=> Mill, John Mill, John Stuart Mill
   HAS INSTANCE=> Mill, James Mill
   HAS INSTANCE=> Montesquieu, Baron de la Brede et de Montesquieu, Charles Louis de Secondat
   HAS INSTANCE=> Moore, G. E. Moore, George Edward Moore
   HAS INSTANCE=> Nietzsche, Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
   HAS INSTANCE=> Occam, William of Occam, Ockham, William of Ockham
   HAS INSTANCE=> Origen
   HAS INSTANCE=> Ortega y Gasset, Jose Ortega y Gasset
   HAS INSTANCE=> Parmenides
   HAS INSTANCE=> Pascal, Blaise Pascal
   HAS INSTANCE=> Peirce, Charles Peirce, Charles Sanders Peirce
   HAS INSTANCE=> Perry, Ralph Barton Perry
   HAS INSTANCE=> Plato
   HAS INSTANCE=> Plotinus
   => Popper, Karl Popper, Sir Karl Raimund Popper
   HAS INSTANCE=> Pythagoras
   HAS INSTANCE=> Quine, W. V. Quine, Willard Van Orman Quine
   HAS INSTANCE=> Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
   HAS INSTANCE=> Reid, Thomas Reid
   HAS INSTANCE=> Rousseau, Jean-Jacques Rousseau
   HAS INSTANCE=> Russell, Bertrand Russell, Bertrand Arthur William Russell, Earl Russell
   HAS INSTANCE=> Schopenhauer, Arthur Schopenhauer
   HAS INSTANCE=> Schweitzer, Albert Schweitzer
   HAS INSTANCE=> Seneca, Lucius Annaeus Seneca
   HAS INSTANCE=> Socrates
   HAS INSTANCE=> Spencer, Herbert Spencer
   HAS INSTANCE=> Spengler, Oswald Spengler
   HAS INSTANCE=> Spinoza, de Spinoza, Baruch de Spinoza, Benedict de Spinoza
   HAS INSTANCE=> Steiner, Rudolf Steiner
   HAS INSTANCE=> Stewart, Dugald Stewart
   HAS INSTANCE=> Tagore, Rabindranath Tagore, Sir Rabindranath Tagore
   HAS INSTANCE=> Teilhard de Chardin, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
   HAS INSTANCE=> Thales, Thales of Miletus
   HAS INSTANCE=> Theophrastus
   HAS INSTANCE=> Weil, Simone Weil
   HAS INSTANCE=> Whitehead, Alfred North Whitehead
   HAS INSTANCE=> Williams, Sir Bernard Williams, Bernard Arthur Owen Williams
   HAS INSTANCE=> Wittgenstein, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Ludwig Josef Johan Wittgenstein
   HAS INSTANCE=> Xenophanes
   HAS INSTANCE=> Zeno, Zeno of Citium
   HAS INSTANCE=> Zeno, Zeno of Elea




--- Grep of noun yogi
yogi
yogi berra



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https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25386169-autobiography-of-a-yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/258541.Maharishi_Mahesh_Yogi_on_the_Bhagavad_Gita
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25896019-an-autobiography-of-a-yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26515548-autobiography-of-a-yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2797947-autobiography-of-a-yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28273037-the-yogic-view-of-consciousness
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2962482-the-yogi-of-cockroach-court
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30099730-autobiography-of-a-yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3037154-tibet-s-great-yogi-milarepa
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/30759516-the-autobiography-of-a-yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3130051-meditations-of-maharishi-mahesh-yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33225377-shrimanyogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33231075-autobiography-of-a-yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34118223-adiyogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36465690-the-yogi-entrepreneur
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/38895563-yogic-life-a-cure-for-asthma-bronchitis
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39282690-the-great-yogis-of-the-millennium
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4462839-yogic-management-of-common-diseases
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/45170094-a-yogic-path-oracle-deck-and-guidebook
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/560922.Christ_the_Yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5954335-yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/639864.Autobiography_of_a_Yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6727757-shriman-yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6970592-yogi-berra-s-baseball-book
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7102403-sinister-yogis
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/808152.The_Yogi_Book_
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/808154.The_Amazing_Secrets_of_the_Yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/104986.Maharishi_Mahesh_Yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13493051.Yogi_Cameron_Alborzian
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/158319.Yoginder_Sikand
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1738281.Mahesh_Yogi_Maharishi
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18313729.Kaviyogi_Maharishi_Shuddhananda_Bharatiar
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2779452.Jaimal_Yogis
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/349412.Yogi_Swatmarama
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/392219.Stan_Yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5471113.Holiness_Maharishi_Mahesh_Yogi
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/79014.Yogi_Berra
Goodreads author - Maharishi_Mahesh_Yogi
Goodreads author - Shama_Churn_Lahiree_Yogiraj
Goodreads author - Yogi_Bhajan
Goodreads author - Yogi_Berra
https://religion.wikia.org/nl/wiki/Yogi
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Tibetan_Buddhist_yogi
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Category:Yogis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/File:Painted_19th_century_Tibetan_mandala_of_the_Naropa_tradition,_Vajrayogini_stands_in_the_center_of_two_crossed_red_triangles,_Rubin_Museum_of_Art.jpg
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/File:Varjayogini.jpg
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/File:Yogisculpture.JPG
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Mudra#Yogic_mudr.C4.81s
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Special:Search/Yogis
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Talk:Yogi
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Vajrayogini
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Yogi
https://religion.wikia.org/wiki/Yogini
Kheper - meta-yogi -- 46
Kheper - Yogi_Ramsuratkumar -- 54
auromere - how-to-eat-like-a-yogi
auromere - similarity-neurological-yogic-model-of-human-memory
auromere - how-to-eat-like-a-yogi
auromere - a-case-of-yogic-illness
auromere - priti-ghosh-auro
Integral World - The Skeptical Yogi, Yogananda's Autobiography Under a Critical Microscope, Introduction, David Lane
Integral World - The Skeptical Yogi, Part Two: Mystic Amulets and Bilocations, David Lane
Integral World - The Skeptical Yogi, Part Three: Flying Yogis, Sacred Healing, and Divine Perfume, David Lane
Integral World - The Skeptical Yogi, Part Four: Cosmic Consciousness And Sleepless nights, David Lane
Integral World - The Skeptical Yogi, Part Five: Missing Train Times, Astrological Armlets, and Physically Charged Guru Manifestations, David Lane
Integral World - The Skeptical Yogi, Part Six: Overcoming Death, A Blue Sapphire, and Muslim Wonder Worker, David Lane
Integral World - The Skeptical Yogi, Part Seven: Karma, Conversion, and the Science of Yoga, David Lane
Integral World - The Skeptical Yogi, Part Eight: Kriya Yoga, Reincarnation, and Lahiri Mahasaya's Miracles, David Lane
Integral World - The Skeptical Yogi, Part Nine: Raising the Dead, The Immortal Babaji, and the Non-Eating Saint, David Lane
Integral World - The Skeptical Yogi, Part Ten: Conclusion, David Lane
Integral World - The Enchanted Land, The Yogi: Yogananda, David Lane
Integral World - The Enchanted Land, The Mother: Yogini Mataji, David Lane
Integral World - The Red Pill Overlap, Why New Age Yogis Have Swallowed QAnon Conspiracies, Julian Walker
selforum - our many selves practical yogic
selforum - integral yogi who philosophises
selforum - compendium of yogic wisdom that is
selforum - in savitri sri aurobindo yogi has
selforum - yogi poet is travelling simultaneously
selforum - uttarpara to uttara yogi
selforum - roundabouts can help develop two yogic
https://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.com/2012/10/shiva-bala-yogi.html
https://thoughtsandvisions-searle88.blogspot.com/2012/10/shivabala-yogi.html
dedroidify.blogspot - ripped-off-yogi
dedroidify.blogspot - autobiography-of-yogi
https://esotericotherworlds.blogspot.com/2013/11/maharishi-mahesh-yogi.html
https://esotericotherworlds.blogspot.com/2013/12/yogic-philosophy-of-saints.html
wiki.auroville - Karmayogin
wiki.auroville - Yogi
Dharmapedia - Adiyogi_Shiva_statue
Dharmapedia - Autobiography_of_a_Yogi
Dharmapedia - Category:Indian_yogis
Dharmapedia - Category:Yogis
Dharmapedia - Gopi_Krishna_(yogi
Dharmapedia - Yogi_Adityanath
Psychology Wiki - Yoga#Notable_Yogis
Psychology Wiki - Yogic_Enlightenment
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Anime/BattleSpiritsSaikyoGingaUltimateZero
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/DarbyOGillAndTheLittlePeople
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/YogiBear
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/YogiBearAndTheMagicalFlightOfTheSpruceGoose
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Manga/TokyoGirlsDestruction
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/TabletopGame/AgainstTheDarkYogi
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/UsefulNotes/YogiBerra
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/VideoGame/YogiBearsMathAdventures
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/HeyThereItsYogiBear
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/YogiBear
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/YogisArkLark
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/YogisFirstChristmas
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/YogisGang
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/YogisSpaceRace
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/YogisTreasureHunt
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/YogiTheEasterBear
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WesternAnimation/YoYogi
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/File:Durga_riding_on_a_tiger_in_triumph_with_Hanuman_and_yogi._Co_Wellcome_V0044985.jpg
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/File:Puja_by_a_Bhakti_Yogi.jpg
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/File:Vajrayogini_from_Thangka.jpg
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Gopi_Krishna_(yogi)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harbhajan_Singh_Yogi
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Maharishi_Mahesh_Yogi
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yogi
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yogi_Adityanath
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Yogi_Berra
The Littl' Bits (1991 - 1995) - The Littl' Bits premeired in 1980 in Japan under the name "Mori no Yogi na Shojintachi: Berufi to Rirubitto"
The Paw-Paws (1985 - 1987) - The Paw-Paws was the 3rd cartoon of The Funtastic World Of Hanna-Barbera alongside with The Challenge Of The GoBots, The Jetsons, Yogi's Treasure Hunt, and Galtar And The Golden Lance.
Yogi's Treasure Hunt (1985 - 1988) - Yogi's Treasure Hunt was the 4th cartoon on The Funtastic World Of Hanna-Barbera, it was a combination of both Hanna-Barbera's series Yogi's Gang and Popeye's Treasure Hunt. The characters pair off into a couple of different groups and each group tries to find the treasure first. Top Cat gives clue...
The Tom & Jerry Show (1975) (1975 - 1977) - The 1975 Hanna-Barbera version of the series of cat & mouse duo Tom & Jerry. Here, in a much toned down, non-violent, Yogi Bear/Boo Boo-esque format (in order to satisfy ABC-TV Broadcast Standards and Practices), the long-popular Tom & Jerry, after years of rivalry, have become the best of friends (...
Yo Yogi! (1991 - 1992) - Yo Yogi! featured the gang as young teenagers (Yogi, Boo Boo, Huck, Snagglepuss & Cindy). They worked for the LAF (Lost & Found) detective agency which was run by head security agent John Smith (later the park ranger), over @ Jellystone Mall (owned by Doggie Daddy & Augie Doggie).
Yogi's Gang (1973 - 1975) - Yogi bear is back in this 1973 installment of Yogi's adventures. He is accompanied by the whole gang: Huckelberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, Touche' Turtle, Snagglepuss, Wally Gator, Magilla Gorilla, and the rest, even Boo Boo! They fly on Yogi's Ark, a ship that flies in the air battling villians...
The New Yogi Bear Show (1988 - 1990) - The New Yogi Bear Show (produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1988) was an update of one of the Hanna-Barbera's most classical characters, Yogi Bear, in a new cartoon series. Pared down from some of the other, recent incarnations of the adventures of Yogi and friends, this series featured only Yogi, Boo Boo,...
Yogi's Space Race (1978 - 1979) - Yogi is back in this installment inspired by Star Wars and the Laff-a-Lympics. Yogi (minus Boo Boo) is joined by new characters: Scare Bear, Quack Up, Buford, Jabberjaw, Nugget Nose, Wendy, Rita, and a slasher of a pure/good/perfect guy named Captain Good who is really a front for a villian named...
Buford and the Galloping Ghost (1978 - 1979) - Buford and the Galloping Ghost was a 1978 Saturday morning cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, spun off from Yogi's Space Race. It consisted of two segments: The Buford Files and The Galloping Ghost. Taking place in Pendike County, Buford featured teens Cindy Mae and Woody doing what all...
Fred Flintstone & Friends (1977 - 1978) - Daily-strip reruns of classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon series in rotating format, including "The Flintstone Comedy Hour," "Pebbles & Bamm Bamm," "Yogi's Gang," "Goober and the Ghost Chasers," "Jeannie," and "The Partridge Family 2200 A.D."
Galaxy Goof-Ups (1978 - 1979) - Galaxy Goof-Ups was a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series, spin-off of Yogi's Space Race and fourth incarnation of the Yogi Bear saga produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 9, 1978 to September 1, 1979.
Yogi Bear & Friends (1967 - 1968) - Yogi Bear & Friends is a syndicated animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions that aired between 1967 and 1968. The show mainly consisted of reruns of classic shorts from The Yogi Bear Show and The Huckleberry Hound Show featuring Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Hokey Wolf, Pixie and Dixie, Yakky D...
The Yogi Bear Show (1961 - 1962) - The Yogi Bear Show is an animated television series and the first incarnation of Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear saga about the misadventures of picnic basket stealing bear Yogi in Jellystone Park. The show debuted in syndication on January 30, 1961, and ran for 33 episodes until January 6, 1962, and incl...
The Huckleberry Hound Show (1958 - 1961) - The Huckleberry Hound Show is a 1958 syndicated animated series and the second from the Hanna-Barbera studios following The Ruff and Reddy Show, sponsored by Kellogg's. Three segments were included in the program: one featuring Huckleberry Hound, another starring Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo,...
The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones(1987) - This was a TV movie which was shown as part of Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10, which featured characters from Yogi Bear, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo an
Scooby-Doo and The Reluctant Werewolf(1988) - This was a TV movie by Hanna-Barbera made in the late 80s, it was part of a series of movies including Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear and Th
Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers(1995) - Scooby and The Boo Brothers is a TV movie which was part of a series of Hanna-Barbera based movies of the late 80s including Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear and Th
Scooby-Doo and The Ghoul School(1988) - Part of a series of Hanna-Barbera TV movies created in the late 80s, it featured popular franchises like Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear and Th
The Good, The Bad and the Huckleberry Hound(1988) - Another part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars series which is a series of TV movies shown in the late 80s featuring Scooby Doo, Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound an
Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose(1987) - Another part of the Hanna-Barbera Superstars, which was a series of movies including Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons and man
Yogi's First Christmas(1980) - Telefilm released November 22, 1980 by Hanna-Barbera Productions and Operation Prime Time in the United States. It was directed by Ray Patterson; and produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Characters include Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Ranger John Francis Smith, Snagglepuss, Huckleberry Hound, Augie...
Yogi the Easter Bear(1996) - "Yogi and Boo-Boo must save the Easter Bunny, who's been kidnapped by thugs out to ruin Easter. Can they do it before Mister Ranger ships them off to the Siberian Circus? Well, he is smarter than the average bear
Yogi's Great Escape(1987) - This movie was part of a series of Hanna-Barbera TV movies which featured movies based on Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo, The Jetsons an
Hey There, It's Yogi Bear(1964) - The animated musical film was produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, with a story by Hanna, Barbera, and former Warner Bros. Cartoons storyman Warren Foster. When the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio closed in May 1963, several of its animators, including Gerry Chiniquy, Friz Freleng...
Yogi Bear(2010) - Yogi Bear is a 2010 American 3D live-action/computer-animated comedy film directed by Eric Brevig and written for the screen by Brad Copeland, Joshua Sternin and Jeffrey Ventimilia. Based on the 1961 animated television series The Yogi Bear Show and the character of the same name created by William...
https://myanimelist.net/anime/13969/Thermae_Romae_x_Yoyogi_Animation_Gakuin_Collaboration -- Comedy, Historical, Seinen
The Yogi Bear Show ::: TV-G | 30min | Animation, Comedy, Family | TV Series (19611988) Yogi, a smooth, talkative forest bear looks to raid park goers picnic baskets, while Park Ranger Smith tries to stop him. Stars: Daws Butler, Don Messick, Jimmy Weldon Available on Amazon
https://akb48.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Keira
https://boomerang-from-cartoon-network.fandom.com/wiki/The_New_Yogi_Bear_Show
https://boomerang-from-cartoon-network.fandom.com/wiki/Yo_Yogi!
https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/The_New_Yogi_Bear_Show
https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/The_Yogi_Bear_Show
https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear
https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_Gang
https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_Space_Race
https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_Treasure_Hunt
https://cartoonnetwork.fandom.com/wiki/Yo_Yogi!
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Bruno_(Yogi_Bear)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Corn_Pone_(Hey_There,_It%27s_Yogi_Bear!)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Corn_Pone_(Hey_There,_It's_Yogi_Bear!)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Easter_Bunny_(Yogi_the_Easter_Bear)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Ernest_(Yogi_the_Easter_Bear)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Frog-Mouthed_Turtle_(Yogi_Bear)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Leroy_(Yo_Yogi!)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Yogi_Bear_Heroes
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Lou_(Yo_Yogi!)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Mugger_(Hey_There,_It%27s_Yogi_Bear)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Mugger_(Hey_There,_It's_Yogi_Bear)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Paulie_(Yogi_the_Easter_Bear)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Sheriff_(Hey_There,_It's_Yogi_Bear)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Snively_(Hey_There,_It%27s_Yogi_Bear!)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Snively_(Hey_There,_It's_Yogi_Bear!)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Snulu_(Yogi_and_the_Invasion_of_the_Space_Bears)
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear_and_Boo_Boo_Bear_Clones
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Boo_Boo
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_Gang
https://characters.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_Treasure_Hunters
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/An_American_Tail:_Yogi_the_Easter_Bear
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Bugs_Bunny_and_Daffy_Duck_in_Yogi_Bear_and_the_Magical_Flight_of_the_Spruce_Goose
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Bugs_Bunny_and_Daffy_Duck_Meet_Yogi_Bear_and_Company
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Bugs_Bunny_and_Daffy_Duck_Meet_Yogi_Bear_and_Friends
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Come_For_The_Ride_(Yogi_Bear_and_Friends_Album)
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/DARE_Bear_Yogi_Plush's_Birthday
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Flip_Flops_Hound_in_Yogi_Bear_and_the_Magical_Flight_of_the_Spruce_Goose
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/How_Sheriff_Yogi_Won_the_West
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/If_I_Had_Words_(Yogi_Bear_album)
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Judge_Judith_in_the_Dalton_Gang_Meet_Yo_Yogi
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Scooby_2.0_and_Super_Yogi
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Scooby_2.0_and_Super_Yogi_Meet_The_Jetsons
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Scooby_2.0_and_Super_Yogi/Trailer_transcripts
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Sheriff_Yogi_and_the_Invasion_of_the_Space_Bears
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Sheriff_Yogi_Goes_West
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Sheriff_Yogi_on_Zombie_Island
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Yogi's_Great_Escape
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/The_Best_Days_of_Yogi_Bear
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/The_Genie_of_Yogi_Bear
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/The_Good,_the_Bad,_and_Huckleberry_Hound:_Sheriff_Yogi_Goes_West
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/The_Good,_the_Bad,_and_Sheriff_Yogi:_Stinky,_We_Shrunk_Ourselves!
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/The_Good,_the_Bad,_and_Sheriff_Yogi/Trailer_transcripts
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/The_Jetsons_in_Yogi's_First_Christmas
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Tom_and_Jerry_Meet_Yogi_Bear_and_Company
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Top_Cat_and_Yogi
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Top_Cat_in_Cinderyogi
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Top_Cat_in_Yogi_and_the_Invasion_of_the_Space_Bears
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Top_Cat_in_Yogi's_First_Christmas
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear_and_Boo_Boo_(1990_film)/Trailer_transcripts
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear_and_the_Magic_Lamp/Trailer_transcripts
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear_in_Casper's_First_Christmas
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear_in_Casper's_First_Christmas/Trailer_transcripts
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear's_Honey_Fried_Chicken_(Eruowood)
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_Exercise
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_Sea_World_Adventure
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_the_Genie_Bear
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Yo_Yogi_in_Arabian_Nights
https://dreamfiction.fandom.com/wiki/Yo_Yogi_in_Yogi's_First_Christmas
https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Oren_Yogilvy
https://hanna-barbera.fandom.com/wiki/The_New_Yogi_Bear_Show
https://hanna-barbera.fandom.com/wiki/The_Yogi_Bear_Show
https://hanna-barbera.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear
https://hanna-barbera.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear_(1994_video_game)
https://hanna-barbera.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear_and_the_Cranky_Magician
https://hanna-barbera.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_Gang
https://hanna-barbera.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_Space_Race
https://hanna-barbera.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_Treasure_Hunt
https://hanna-barbera.fandom.com/wiki/Yo_Yogi!
https://initiald.fandom.com/wiki/Myogi
https://initiald.fandom.com/wiki/Myogi_NightKids
https://jstart.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi
https://kobato.fandom.com/wiki/Ioryogi
https://logos.fandom.com/wiki/Gyana_Yogi_TV
https://maditsmadfunny.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear
https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/Maha_Yogi_(Earth-616)
https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi
https://newyorkyankees.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Berra
https://nintendo.fandom.com/wiki/Adventures_of_Yogi_Bear
https://scratchpad.fandom.com/wiki/Thomas/Yogi_Bear
https://soundeffects.fandom.com/wiki/The_Yogi_Bear_Show
https://soundeffects.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_Bear's_All-Star_Comedy_Christmas_Caper_(1982)
https://soundeffects.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi's_First_Christmas_(1980)
https://soundeffects.fandom.com/wiki/Yogi_the_Easter_Bear_(1994)
https://strike-the-blood.fandom.com/wiki/Yuuma_Tokoyogi
https://tokyomewmewpower.fandom.com/wiki/Shizuka_Yoyogi
https://yogibear.fandom.com/wiki/
Kobato. -- -- Madhouse -- 24 eps -- Manga -- Comedy Drama Fantasy Romance -- Kobato. Kobato. -- The friendly and sincere Kobato Hanato has a wish to go to a particular place no matter what. To fulfill this desire, she is tasked with helping people in their times of distress. For each mended broken heart, a small candy-like fragment is produced and fills a special bottle. Once the bottle is full, her wish will be granted. -- -- As Kobato carries out her mission alongside her stuffed toy companion, Ioryogi, she encounters various people troubled by their different situations. From a child struggling with his parents, a high school girl troubled about romance, and everything in between, Kobato's naturally sweet smile and outgoing personality are ready to brighten their day! -- -- -- Licensor: -- Sentai Filmworks -- TV - Oct 6, 2009 -- 142,415 7.97
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Autobiography_of_a_Yogi
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Yogi
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Yogini
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Adiyogi Shiva statue
Adventures of Yogi Bear
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Autobiography of a Yogi
Bajrayogini Temple
Balayogini
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Bharat Bhushan (yogi)
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Chausath Yogini Temple, Khajuraho
Chausath Yogini Temple, Mitaoli
Count Yogi
Dadang Suprayogi
Dharendra Yogi Goswami
Draft:Yogita Bali (field hockey)
G. M. C. Balayogi
G.M.C Balayogi Athletic Stadium
G.M.C. Balayogi SATS Indoor Stadium
Gopi Krishna (yogi)
Hariram (yogi)
Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!
Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy
Jazz at the Philharmonic Yoyogi National Stadium, Tokyo 1983: Return to Happiness
Jzsef Tunyogi
Kapitolina Seryogina
Karmayogi
Karmayogi (2012 film)
Kunwar Viyogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic University
Marmayogi
MC Yogi
Mr. Yogi (TV series)
Nijaguna Shivayogi
Niyogi
Niyogi Committee Report on Christian Missionary Activities
Niyogi (disambiguation)
NTT Docomo Yoyogi Building
N. Yogish Bhat
Pierre Bernard (yogi)
Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Mandhan
Pratiyogita Darpan
Pratiyogitvam
Prologue of F.T. Island: Soyogi
Przyogi
Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya
Sangeetha Sagara Ganayogi Panchakshara Gavai
Seven stages (Yogi)
Shivabalayogi
Shivarudra Balayogi
The Yogi
The Yogi and the Commissar
The Yogi Bear Show
Thiruvisanallur Sivayoginathar Temple
Timothy "Yogi" Watts
Upanishad Brahmayogin
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Yogi
Yogi's Ark Lark
Yogi's Gang
Yogi's Great Escape
Yogi's Space Race
Yogi's Treasure Hunt
Yogi Adityanath
Yogi Adityanath ministry
Yogi Adityanath: The Rise of a Saffron Socialist
Yogi Aeron
Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear's Gold Rush
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Yogi Bear (disambiguation)
Yogi Bear (film)
Yogi Berra
Yogi Berra Museum and Learning Center
Yogi (disambiguation)
Yogie
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Yogi Gita
Yogi Huyghebaert
Yogiji Maharaj
Yoginder K Alagh
Yoginder Sikand
Yogini
Yogini temples
Yogi Rock
Yogi Tea
Yogi Vemana (film)
Yogi Vemana University
Yo Yogi!
Yoyogi
Yoyogi National Gymnasium
Yoyogi Park



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