Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism
BY
YOGI RAMACHARAKA
AUTHOR OF "SCIENCE OF BREATH," "HATHA YOGA,"
ETC.
Contents
FOURTEEN
LESSONS
IN YOGI PHILOSOPHY
AND ORIENTAL OCCULTISM
BY
YOGI
RAMACHARAKA
"Know,
O disciple, that those who have passed
through the silence, and felt its peace,
and retained its strength, they long that
you shall pass through it also. Therefore,
in the Hall of Learning, when he is
capable of entering there, the disciple
will always find his master."
- Light On
The Path
The Yogi Publication Society
Chicago 10, Illinois
The copyright
for this work has expired.
IT is
with no ordinary feelings that we address
ourselves to our students of the Yogi
class of 1904. We see, as they perhaps do
not, that to many of them this series of
lessons will be as seed planted in fertile
soil, which will in due time put forth
sprouts which will force their way
gradually into the sunlight of
consciousness, where they will put forth
leaves, blossom, and fruit. Many of the
fragments of truth which will be presented
to you will not be recognized by you at
this time, but in years to come you will
recognize the verity of the impressions
which will be conveyed to you in these
lessons, and then, and then only, will you
make these truths your own.
We
intend to speak to you just as if you were
gathered before us in person, and as if we
were standing before you in the flesh. We
feel sure that the bond of sympathy
between us will soon grow so strong and
real that as you read our words you will
feel our presence almost as strongly as if
we were with you in person. We will be
with you in spirit, and, according to our
philosophy, the student who is in
harmonious sympathy with his teachers
really establishes a psychic connection
with them, and is in consequence enabled
to grasp the "spirit" of the teaching and
to receive the benefit of the teacher's
thought in a degree impossible to one who
merely reads the words in cold print.
We are
sure that the members of the class of 1904
will get into harmony with each other, and
with us, from the very start, and that we
will obtain results that will surprise
even ourselves, and that the term of the
class will mark a wonderful spiritual
growth and unfoldment for many of the
class. This result would be impossible
were the class composed of the general
public, in which the adverse thought
vibrations of many would counteract, or at
least retard, the impelling force
generated in the minds of those who are in
sympathy with the work. But we will not
have this obstacle to overcome, as the
class has been recruited only from that
class of students who are interested in
the occult. The announcements sent out by
us have been worded in such a way as to
attract the attention only of those for
whom they were intended. The mere
sensation hunters and the "faddists" have
not been attracted by our call, while
those for whom the call was intended have
heard and have hastened to communicate
with us. As the poet has sung: "Where I
pass, all my children know me." The
members of the class having been attracted
to us, and we to them, will form a
harmonious body working with us to the
common end of self-improvement, growth,
development, and unfoldment. The spirit of
harmony and unity of purpose will do much
for us, and the united thought of the
class, coupled with our own, will be a
tower of strength, and each student will
receive the benefit of it, and will be
strengthened and sustained thereby.
We
will follow the system of instruction of
the East, rather than that of the Western
world. In the East, the teacher does not
stop to "prove" each statement or theory
as he makes or advances it; nor does he
make a blackboard demonstration of
spiritual truths; nor does he argue with
his class or invite discussion. On the
contrary, his teaching is authoritative,
and he proceeds to deliver his message to
his students as it was delivered to him,
without stopping to see whether they all
agree with him. He does not care whether
his statements are accepted as truth by
all, for he feels sure that those who are
ready for the truth which he teaches will
intuitively recognize it, and as for the
others, if they are not prepared to
receive the truth, no amount of argument
will help matters. When a soul is ready
for a spiritual truth, and that truth, or
a part of it, is uttered in its presence
or presented to its attention by means of
writings, it will intuitively recognize
and appropriate it. The Eastern teacher
knows that much of his teaching is but the
planting of seed, and that for every idea
which the student grasps at first there
will be a hundred which will come into the
field of conscious recognition only after
the lapse of time.
We do
not mean that the Eastern teachers insist
upon the student blindly accepting every
truth that is presented to him. On the
contrary, they instruct the pupil to
accept as truth only that which he can
prove for himself, as no truth is truth to
one until he can prove it by his own
experiments. But the student is taught
that before many truths may be so proven
he must develop and unfold. The teacher
asks only that the student have confidence
in him as a pointer-out of the way, and he
says, in effect, to the student: "This is
the way; enter upon it, and on the path
you will find the things of which I have
taught you; handle them, weigh them,
measure them, taste them, and know for
yourself. When you reach any point of the
path you will know as much of it as did I
or any other soul at that particular stage
of the journey; but until you reach a
particular point, you must either accept
the statements of those who have gone
before or reject the whole subject of that
particular point. Accept nothing as final
until you have proven it; but, if you are
wise, you will profit by the advice and
experience of those who have gone before.
Every man must learn by experience, but
men may serve others as pointers of the
way. At each stage of the journey it will
be found that those who have progressed a
little further on the way have left signs
and marks and guideposts for those who
follow. The wise man will take advantage
of these signs. I do not ask for blind
faith, but only for confidence until you
are able to demonstrate for yourselves the
truths I am passing on to you, as they
were passed on to me, by those who went
before.
We ask
the student to have patience. Many things
which will appear dark to him at first
will be made clear as we progress.
The
Constitution
Of Man.
Man is
a far more complete being than is
generally imagined. He has not only a body
and a soul, but he is a spirit possessing
a soul, which soul has several vehicles
for expression, these several vehicles
being of different degrees of density, the
body being the lowest form of expression.
These different Vehicles manifest upon
different "planes," such as the "physical
plane," the "astral plane," etc., all of
which will be explained as we proceed.
The
real self is pure spirit-a spark of the
divine fire. This spirit is encased within
numerous sheaths, which prevent its full
expression. As man advances in
development, his consciousness passes from
the lower planes to the higher, and he
becomes more and more aware of his higher
nature. The spirit contains within it all
potentialities, and as man progresses he
unfolds new powers, new qualities, into
the light.
The
Yogi philosophy teaches that man is
composed of seven principles - is a
sevenfold creature. The best way to think
of man is to realize that the spirit is
the real self, and that the lower
principles are but confining sheaths. Man
may manifest upon seven planes, that is,
the highly developed man, as the majority
of men of this age can manifest only upon
the lower planes, the higher planes not
having as yet been reached by them,
although every man, no matter how
undeveloped, possesses the seven
principles potentially. The first five
planes have been attained by many, the
sixth by a few, the seventh by practically
none of this race at this time.
The
Seven
Principles Of Man.
The
seven principles of man, as known to the
Yogi philosophy, are herewith stated,
English terms being substituted for
Sanskrit 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.
We
will briefly run over the general nature
of each of these seven principles, that
the student may understand future
references to them; but we will defer our
detailed treatment of the subject until
later on in the lessons.
(1)
The
Physical Body.
Of all
the seven principles of man, the physical
body is of course the most apparent. It is
the lowest in the scale, and is the
crudest manifestation of the man. But this
does not mean that the physical should be
despised or neglected. On the contrary, it
is a most necessary principle for the
growth of man in his present stage of
development--the temple of the living
Spirit--and it should be carefully tended
and cared for in order to render it a more
perfect instrument. We have but to look
around us and see how the physical bodies
of different men show the different
degrees of development under mental
control. It is a duty of each developed
man to train his body to the highest
degree of perfection in order that it may
be used to advantage. The body should be
kept in good health and condition and
trained to obey the orders of the mind,
rather than to rule the mind, as is so
often the case. 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." We are
preparing a little text-book upon "Hatha
Yoga," which will soon be ready for the
press, that will give the Yogi teachings
upon this most important branch of
self-development. The Yogi philosophy
teaches that the physical body is built up
of cells, each cell containing within it a
miniature "life," which controls its
action. These "lives" are really bits of
intelligent mind of a certain degree of
growth, which enable the cells to perform
their work properly. These bits of
intelligence are, of course, subordinate
to the control of the central mind of the
man, and will readily obey orders from
headquarters, given either subconsciously
or consciously. These cell intelligences
manifest a perfect adaptation for their
particular work. The selective action of
the cells, extracting from the blood the
nourishment needed and rejecting that
which is not required, is an instance of
this intelligence. The process of
digestion, assimilation, etc., shows the
intelligence of the cells, either
separately or collectively in groups. The
healing of wounds, the rush of the cells
to the points where they are most needed,
and hundreds of other examples known to
the student of physiology, all mean to the
Yogi student examples of the "life" within
each atom. Each atom is to the Yogi a
living thing, leading its own independent
life. These atoms combine into groups for
some end, and the group manifests a
group-intelligence as long as it remains a
group; these groups again combining in
turn, and forming bodies of a more complex
nature, which serve as vehicles for higher
forms of consciousness. When death comes
to the physical body the cells separate
and scatter, and that which we call decay
sets in. The force which has held the
cells together is withdrawn, and it
becomes free to go its own way and form
new combinations. Some go into the body of
the plants in the vicinity, and eventually
find themselves again in the body of an
animal; others remain in the organism of
the plant; others remain in the ground for
a time, but the life of the atom means
incessant and constant change. As a
leading writer has said: "Death is but an
aspect of life, and the destruction of one
material form is but a prelude to the
building up of another."
We
will not devote further space to the
consideration of the physical, as that is
a subject by itself, and, then, our
students are no doubt anxious to be led
into subjects with which they are not
quite so familiar. So we will leave this
first principle and pass on to the second,
wishing, however, again to remind the
student that the first step in Yogi
development consists of the mastery of the
physical body and its care and attention.
We will have more to say of this subject
before we are through with this course.
(2)
The
Astral Body.
This
second principle of man is not nearly so
well known as its physical brother,
although it is closely connected with the
latter and is its exact counterpart in
appearance. The astral body has been known
to people in all ages, and has given rise
to many superstitions and mysteries, owing
to a lack of knowledge of its nature. It
has been called the "ethereal body"; the
"fluidic body"; the "double"; the
"wraith"; the "Doppelganger," etc. It is
composed of matter of a finer quality than
that composing our physical bodies, but
matter none the less.
In
order to give you a clearer idea of what
we mean, we will call your attention to
water, which manifests in several
well-known forms. Water at a certain
temperature is known as ice, a hard, solid
substance; at a little higher temperature
it assumes its best-known form, which we
call "water"; at a still higher
temperature it escapes in the form of a
vapor which we call "steam," although the
real steam is invisible to the human eye,
and becomes apparent only when it mixes
with the air and has its temperature
lowered a little, when it becomes vapor
visible to the eye, and which vapor we
call "steam."
The
astral body is the best counterpart of the
physical body and may be separated from it
under certain circumstances. Ordinarily,
conscious separation is a matter of
considerable difficulty, but in persons of
a certain degree of psychical development
the astral body may be detached and often
goes on long journeys. To the clairvoyant
vision the astral body is seen looking
exactly like its counterpart, the physical
body, and united to it by a slender silken
cord. The astral body exists some time
after the death of the person to whom it
belongs, and under certain circumstances
it is visible to living persons, and is
called a "ghost." There are other means
whereby the spirits of those who have
passed on may become manifest, and the
astral shell which is sometimes seen after
it has been sloughed off by the soul which
has passed on is in such cases nothing
more than a corpse of finer matter than
its physical counterpart. In such cases it
is possessed of no life or intelligence,
and is nothing more than a cloud seen in
the sky bearing a resemblance to a human
form. It is a shell, nothing more. The
astral body of a dying person is sometimes
projected by an earnest desire, and is at
such times seen by friends and relatives
with whom he is in sympathy. There are
many cases of this kind on record, and the
student probably is aware of occurrences
of this kind. We will have more to say
about the astral body and astral shells in
other lessons in this course. We will have
occasion to go into further detail when we
reach the subject of the astral plane,
and, in fact, the astral body will form a
part of several lessons.
The
astral body is invisible to the ordinary
eye, but is readily perceived by those
having clairvoyant power of a certain
degree. Under certain circumstances the
astral body of a living person may be seen
by friends and others, the mental
condition of the persons and the observer
having much to do with the matter. Of
course, the trained and developed
occultist is able to project his astral
body consciously, and may make it appear
at will; but such powers are rare and are
acquired only after a certain stage of
development is reached.
The
adept sees the astral body rising from the
physical body as the hour of death
approaches. It is seen hovering over the
physical body, to which it is bound by a
slender thread. When the thread snaps the
person is dead, and the soul passes on
carrying with it the astral body, which in
turn is discarded as the physical body has
been before. It must be remembered that
the astral body is merely a finer grade of
matter, and that it is merely a vehicle
for the soul, just as is the physical, and
that both are discarded at the proper
time. The astral body, like the physical,
disintegrates after the death of the
person, and persons of a psychic nature
sometimes see the dissolving fragments
around cemeteries, in the shape of violet
light.
We are
merely calling attention to the different
vehicles of the soul of man, his seven
principles, and we must hasten on to the
next principle. We would like to speak to
you of the interesting phenomenon of the
ego leaving the physical body in the
astral body while one is "asleep." We
would like to tell you just what occurs
during sleep, and how one may give orders
to his astral self to gain certain
information or to work out certain
problems while he is wrapped in sleep, but
that belongs to another phase of our
subject, and we must pass on after merely
whetting your appetite. We wish you to get
these seven principles well fixed in your
mind, so that you may be able to
understand the terms when we use them
later on.
(3)
Prana,
or Vital Force.
We
have said something of Prana in our little
book, "The Science of Breath," which many
of you have read. As we said in that book,
Prana is universal energy, but in our
consideration of it we will confine
ourselves to that manifestation of Prana
which we call vital force. This vital
force is found in all forms of life--from
the amoeba to man--from the most
elementary form of plant life to the
highest form of animal life. Prana is
all-pervading. It is found in all things
having life, and as the occult philosophy
teaches that life is in all things--in
every atom-the apparent lifelessness of
some things being only a lesser degree of
manifestation, we may understand that
Prana is everywhere, in everything. Prana
is not the Ego, but is merely a form of
energy used by the Ego in its material
manifestation. When the Ego departs from
the physical body, in what we call
"death," the Prana, being no longer under
the control of the Ego, responds only to
the orders of the individual atoms or
their groups, which have formed the
physical body, and as the physical body
disintegrates and is resolved back to its
original elements, each atom takes with it
sufficient Prana to enable it to form new
combinations, the unused Prana returning
to the great universal storehouse from
whence it came. Prana is in all forms of
matter, and yet it is not matter--it is
the energy or force which animates matter.
We have gone into the matter of Prana in
our little book previously referred to,
and we do not wish to take up the
students' time in repeating what we said
there.
But
before taking up the next principle, we
wish to direct the student's attention to
the fact that Prana is the force
underlying magnetic healing, much of
mental healing, absent treatment, etc.
That which has been spoken of by many as
human magnetism is really Prana.
In
"Science of Breath," we have given you
directions for increasing the Prana in
your system; distributing it over the
body, strengthening each part and organ
and stimulating every cell. It may be
directed toward relieving pain in one's
self and others by sending to the affected
part a supply of Prana extracted from the
air. It may be projected to a distance so
far as to affect other persons. The
thought of the projector sends forth and
colors the Prana gathered for the purpose,
and finds lodgment in the psychic organism
of the patient. Like the Marconi waves it
is invisible to the eye of man (with the
exception of certain persons who have
attained a high degree of clairvoyant
power); it passes through intervening
obstacles and seeks the person attuned to
receive it.
This
transferring of Prana under the direction
of the will is the underlying principle of
thought transference, telepathy, etc. One
may surround himself with an aura of
Prana, colored with strong positive
thought, which will enable him to resist
the adverse thought waves of others, and
which will enable him to live serene in an
atmosphere of antagonistic and
inharmonious thought.
We
advise students to re-read that portion of
"Science of Breath" which deals with the
use of Prana. We propose going into great
detail regarding this phase of the
subject, during the course of these
lessons, but "Science of Breath" gives a
good fundamental idea of the nature of
Prana and the methods of its use, and
students will do well to refresh their
minds on this subject.
We do
not wish to weary you by this description
of each of the seven principles, and we
are aware that you are impatient to enter
into the more interesting phases of the
subject. But it is absolutely necessary
that you obtain a clear idea of these
seven principles, in order that you may
understand that which follows, and to
obviate the necessity of your being "sent
back" to relearn the lesson which you have
"skipped." We had this idea in mind when
we started this class in November, 1903,
instead of waiting until January, 1904,
and we give you the November and December
lessons as "good measure," so as to be
able to reach the more interesting part of
the subject by the January lesson.
We
will leave the subject of Prana and will
pass on to the next principle; but we
trust that you will not leave this part of
the lesson until you have acquired a clear
idea of Prana and its qualities and uses.
Study your "Science of Breath" until you
understand something of Prana.
The
Western reader who has studied the
writings of some of the recent Western
will recognize in the Instinctive Mind
certain attributes of the so-called
"subjective" or "subconscious" minds
spoken of so frequently by the said
writers. These writers discovered in man
these characteristics, as well as certain
higher phases of the mind (coming from the
Spiritual Mind), and without stopping to
investigate further, they advanced a "new"
theory that man is possessed of two minds,
i.e., the "objective" and "subjective," or
as some have termed them, the "conscious
and "subconscious." This was all very well
so far as it went, but these set the
"conscious" mind aside and bundled all the
rest into their "subconscious" or
"subjective" mind, ignoring the fact that
they were mixing the highest and lowest
qualities of mind and putting them in the
same class, and leaving the middle quality
by itself. The "subjective mind" and the
"subconscious" theories are very
confusing, as the student finds grouped
together the most sublime flashes of
genius and the silliest nothings of the
man of low development, the mind of the
latter being almost altogether
"subjective."
To
those who have read up on these theories,
we would say that such reading will
materially help them to understand the
three mental principles of man, if they
will remember that the "conscious" or
"objective" mind corresponds very nearly
with the "Intellect" principle in the Yogi
philosophy; and that the lowest portions
of the "subjective" or "subconscious mind
are what the Yogis term the "Instinctive
Mind" principle; while the higher and
sublime qualities, which the Western
writers have noticed and have grouped with
the lower qualities in forming their
"subjective mind" and "subconscious mind"
theories, is the "Spiritual Mind"
principle of the Yogis, with the
difference that the "Spiritual Mind" has
additional properties and qualities of
which these Western theorists have never
dreamed. As we touch upon each of these
three mental principles, you will see the
points of resemblance and the points of
difference between the Yogi teachings and
the Western theories.
We
wish it distinctly understood, however,
that we do not desire to detract from the
praise justly earned by these Western
investigators; in fact, the Yogis owe them
a debt of gratitude for preparing the
Western mind for the fuller teachings. The
student who has read the works of the
writers referred to will find it very much
easier to grasp the idea of the three
mental principles in man than if he had
never heard of any division in the
functioning of the mind of man. Our
principal reason for calling attention to
the mistake of the Western dual-mind
theories was that to the mind of the Yogi
it is painful to see that which he knows
to be the highest manifestation of mind,
that which is the seat of inspiration and
flashes of genius, that which touches the
pure Spirit (the Spiritual Mind), which is
just beginning to awaken in men of
development and growth-confused and
confounded with and placed in the same
class with the lowest mental principle
(the Instinctive Mind) which, while most
necessary and useful to man, under the
direction of his higher principle is still
something which is common to the most
undeveloped man, even to the lower form of
the animal kingdom--yea, even to the plant
life. We trust that the student will free
his mind of preconceived ideas on this
important subject, and will listen to what
we say before forming his final opinion.
In our next lesson, we will go into detail
regarding each of the three Mental
Principles.
