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A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga

by William Walker Atkinson · English · Gutenberg #13656 · 450,688 chars · public domain (US)

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Title: A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga

Author: William Walker Atkinson


        
Release date: October 6, 2004 [eBook #13656]
                Most recently updated: October 28, 2024

Language: English

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A SERIES OF LESSONS IN RAJA YOGA ***

                           A SERIES OF LESSONS

                              IN RAJA YOGA

                           By YOGI RAMACHARAKA

Author of "Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism"
"Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy, etc."; "Hatha Yoga"; "Psychic
Healing"; "Science of Breath." etc.

                                  1906




"_When the soul sees itself as a Center surrounded by its
circumference--when the Sun knows that it is a Sun, surrounded by its
whirling planets-then is it ready for the Wisdom and Power of the
Masters_."




PUBLISHERS' NOTICE

The lessons which compose this volume, originally appeared in the shape
of monthly lessons, the first of which was issued in October, 1905, and
the twelfth in September, 1906. These lessons met with a hearty and
generous response from the public, and the present volume is issued in
response to the demand for the lessons in a permanent and durable form.
There have been no changes made in the text.

The publishers take the liberty to call the attention of the reader to
the great amount of information condensed within the space given to each
lesson. Students have told us that they have found it necessary to read
and study each lesson carefully, in order to absorb the varied
information contained within its pages. They have also stated that they
have found it advisable to re-read the lessons several times, allowing an
interval between each reading and that at each re-reading they would
discover information that had escaped them during the course of the
previous study. This has been repeated to us so often that we feel
justified in mentioning it, that other readers might avail themselves of
the same course and plan of study.

Following his usual custom, the writer of the lessons has declined to
write a preface for this book, claiming that the lessons speak for
themselves, and that those for whom they are intended will receive the
message contained within them, without any prefatory talk.

THE YOGI PUBLICATION SOCIETY.




INDEX


    LESSON I.   The "I"

   LESSON II.  The Ego's Mental Tools

  LESSON III.  The Expansion of the Self

   LESSON IV.  Mental Control

    LESSON V.   The Cultivation of Attention

   LESSON VI.  Cultivation of Perception

  LESSON VII.  The Unfoldment of Consciousness

 LESSON VIII. The Highlands and Lowlands of Mind

   LESSON IX.  The Mental Planes

    LESSON X.  Sub-Consciousing

   LESSON XI.  Sub-Conscious Character Building

  LESSON XII.  Sub-Conscious Influences




THE FIRST LESSON.

THE "I."


In India, the Candidates for Initiation into the science of "Raja Yoga,"
when they apply to the Yogi Masters for instruction, are given a series
of lessons designed to enlighten them regarding the nature of the Real
Self, and to instruct them in the secret knowledge whereby they may
develop the consciousness and realization of the real "I" within them.
They are shown how they may cast aside the erroneous or imperfect
knowledge regarding their real identity.

Until the Candidate masters this instruction, or at least until the truth
becomes fixed in his consciousness, further instruction is denied him,
for it is held that until he has awakened to a conscious realization of
his Actual Identity, he is not able to understand the source of his
power, and, moreover, is not able to _feel_ within him the power of the
Will, which power underlies the entire teachings of "Raja Yoga."

The Yogi Masters are hot satisfied if the Candidate forms merely a clear
intellectual conception of this Actual Identity, but they insist that he
must _feel_ the truth of the same--must become _aware_ of the Real
Self--must enter into a consciousness in which the realization becomes a
part of his everyday self--in which the realizing consciousness becomes
the prevailing idea in his mind, around which his entire thoughts and
actions revolve.

To some Candidates, this realization comes like a lightning flash the
moment the attention is directed toward it, while in other cases the
Candidates find it necessary to follow a rigorous course of training
before they acquire the realization in consciousness.

The Yogi Masters teach that there are two degrees of this awakening
consciousness of the Real Self. The first, which they call "the
Consciousness of the 'I'," is the full consciousness of _real_ existence
that comes to the Candidate, and which causes him to _know_ that he is a
real entity having a life not depending upon the body--life that will go
on in spite of the destruction of the body--_real_ life, in fact. The
second degree, which they call "the Consciousness of the 'I AM'," is
the consciousness of one's identity with the Universal Life, and his
relationship to, and "in-touchness" with all life, expressed and
unexpressed. These two degrees of consciousness come in time to all who
seek "The Path." To some it comes suddenly; to others it dawns gradually;
to many it comes assisted by the exercises and practical work of "Raja
Yoga."

The first lesson of the Yogi Masters to the Candidates, leading up to the
first degree, above mentioned, is as follows: That the Supreme
Intelligence of the Universe--the Absolute--has manifested the being that
we call Man--the highest manifestation on this planet. The Absolute has
manifested an infinitude of forms of life in the Universe, including
distant worlds, suns, planets, etc., many of these forms being unknown to
us on this planet, and being impossible of conception by the mind of the
ordinary man. But these lessons have nothing to do with that part of the
philosophy which deals with these myriad forms of life, for our time will
be taken up with the unfoldment in the mind of man of his true nature and
power. Before man attempts to solve the secrets of the Universe without,
he should master the Universe within--the Kingdom of the Self. When he
has accomplished this, then he may, and should, go forth to gain the
outer knowledge as a Master demanding its secrets, rather than as a slave
begging for the crumbs from the table of knowledge. The first knowledge
for the Candidate is the knowledge of the Self.

Man, the highest manifestation of the Absolute, as far as this planet is
concerned, is a wonderfully organized being--although the average man
understands but little of his real nature. He comprises within his
physical, mental and spiritual make-up both the highest and the lowest,
as we have shown in our previous lessons (the "Fourteen Lessons" and the
"Advanced Course"). In his bones he manifests almost in the form of
mineral life, in fact, in his bones, body and blood mineral substances
actually exist. The physical life of the body resembles the life of the
plant. Many of the physical desires and emotions are akin to those of the
lower animals, and in the undeveloped man these desires and emotions
predominate and overpower the higher nature, which latter is scarcely in
evidence. Then Man has a set of mental characteristics that are his own,
and which are not possessed by the lower animals (See "Fourteen
Lessons"). And in addition to the mental faculties common to all men, or
rather, that are in evidence in a greater or lesser degree among all men,
there are still higher faculties latent within Man, which when manifested
and expressed render Man more than ordinary Man. The unfoldment of these
latent faculties is possible to all who have reached the proper stage of
development, and the desire and hunger of the student for this
instruction is caused by the pressure of these unfolding latent
faculties, crying to be born into consciousness. Then there is that
wonderful thing, the Will, which is but faintly understood by those
ignorant of the Yogi Philosophy--the Power of the Ego--its birthright
from the Absolute.

But while these mental and physical things _belong_ to Man, they are
_not_ the Man himself. Before the Man is able to master, control, and
direct the things belonging to him--his tools and instruments--he must
awaken to a realization of Himself. He must be able to distinguish
between the "I" and the "Not I." And this is the first task before the
Candidate.

That which is the Real Self of Man is the Divine Spark sent forth from
the Sacred Flame. It is the Child of the Divine Parent. It is
Immortal--Eternal--Indestructible--Invincible. It possesses within
itself Power, Wisdom, and Reality. But like the infant that contains
within itself the sometime Man, the mind of Man is unaware of its latent
and potential qualities, and does not know itself. As it awakens and
unfolds into the knowledge of its real nature, it manifests its
qualities, and realizes what the Absolute has given it. When the Real
Self begins to awaken, it sets aside from itself those things which
are but appendages to it, but which it, in its half-waking state, had
regarded as its Self. Setting aside first this, and then that, it finally
discards all of the "Not I," leaving the Real Self free and delivered
from its bondage to its appendages. Then it returns to the discarded
appendages, and makes use of them.

In considering the question: "What is the Real Self?" let us first stop
to examine what man usually means when he says "I."

The lower animals do not possess this "I" sense. They are conscious of
the outer world; of their own desires and animal cravings and feelings.
But their consciousness has not reached the Self-conscious stage. They
are not able to think of themselves as separate entities, and to reflect
upon their thoughts. They are not possessed of a consciousness of the
Divine Spark--the Ego--the Real Self. The Divine Spark is hidden in the
lower forms of life--even in the lower forms of human life--by many
sheaths that shut out its light. But, nevertheless, it is there, always.
It sleeps within the mind of the savage--then, as he unfolds, it begins
to throw out its light. In you, the Candidate, it is fighting hard to
have its beams pierce through the material coverings When the Real Self
begins to arouse itself from its sleep, its dreams vanish from it, and it
begins to see the world as it is, and to recognize itself in Reality and
not as the distorted thing of its dreams.

The savage and barbarian are scarcely conscious of the "I." They are but
a little above the animal in point of consciousness, and their "I" is
almost entirely a matter of the consciousness of the wants of the body;
the satisfaction of the appetites; the gratification of the passions; the
securing of personal comfort; the expression of lust, savage power, etc.
In the savage the lower part of the Instinctive Mind is the seat of the
"I." (See "Fourteen Lessons" for explanation of the several mental planes
of man.) If the savage could analyze his thoughts he would say that the
"I" was the physical body, the said body having certain "feelings,"
"wants" and "desires." The "I" of such a man is a physical "I," the body
representing its form and substance. Not only is this true of the savage,
but even among so-called "civilized" men of to-day we find many in this
stage. They have developed powers of thinking and reasoning, but they do
not "live in their minds" as do some of their brothers. They use their
thinking powers for the gratification of their bodily desires and
cravings, and really live on the plane of the Instinctive Mind. Such a
person may speak of "my mind," or "my soul," not from a high position
where he looks upon these things from the standpoint of a Master who
realizes his Real Self, but from below, from the point-of-view of the man
who lives on the plane of the Instinctive Mind and who sees above
_himself_ the higher attributes. To such people the body is the "I."
Their "I" is bound up with the senses, and that which comes to them
through the senses. Of course, as Man advances in "culture" and
"civilization," his senses become educated, and are satisfied only with
more refined things, while the less cultivated man is perfectly satisfied
with the more material and gross sense gratifications. Much that we call
"cultivation" and "culture" is naught but a cultivation of a more refined
form of sense gratification, instead of a real advance in consciousness
and unfoldment. It is true that the advanced student and Master is
possessed of highly developed senses, often far surpassing those of the
ordinary man, but in such cases the senses have been cultivated under the
mastery of the Will, and are made servants of the Ego instead of things
hindering the progress of the soul--they are made servants instead of
masters.

As Man advances in the scale, he begins to have a somewhat higher
conception of the "I." He begins to use his mind and reason, and he
passes on to the Mental Plane--his mind begins to manifest upon the plane
of Intellect. He finds that there is something within him that is higher
than the body. He finds that his mind seems more _real_ to him than does
the physical part of him, and in times of deep thought and study he is
able almost to forget the existence of the body.

In this second stage, Man soon becomes perplexed. He finds problems that
demand an answer, but as soon as he thinks he has answered them the
problems present themselves in a new phase, and he is called upon to
"explain his explanation." The mind, even although not controlled and
directed by the Will, has a wonderful range, but, nevertheless, Man finds
himself traveling around and around in a circle, and realizes that he is
confronted continually by the Unknown. This disturbs him, and the higher
the stage of "book learning" he attains, the more disturbed does he
become. The man of but little knowledge does not see the existence of
many problems that force themselves before the attention of the man of
more knowledge, and demand an explanation from him. The tortures of the
man who has attained the mental growth that enables him to see the new
problems and the impossibility of their answer, cannot be imagined by one
who has not advanced to that stage.

The man in this stage of consciousness thinks of his "I" as a mental
thing, having a lower companion, the body. He feels that he has advanced,
but yet his "I" does not give him the answer to the riddles and questions
that perplex him. And he becomes most unhappy. Such men often develop
into Pessimists, and consider the whole of life as utterly evil and
disappointing--a curse rather than a blessing. Pessimism belongs to this
plane, for neither the Physical Plane man or the Spiritual Plane man have
this curse of Pessimism. The former man has no such disquieting thoughts,
for he is almost entirely absorbed in gratifying his animal nature, while
the latter man recognizes his mind as an instrument of himself, rather
than as _himself_, and knows it to be imperfect in its present stage of
growth. He knows that he has in himself the key to all knowledge--locked
up in the Ego--and which the trained mind, cultivated, developed and
guided by the awakened Will, may grasp as it unfolds. Knowing this the
advanced man no longer despairs, and, recognizing his real nature, and
his possibilities, as he awakens into a consciousness of his powers and
capabilities, he laughs at the old despondent, pessimistic ideas, and
discards them like a worn-out garment. Man on the Mental Plane of
consciousness is like a huge elephant who knows not his own strength. He
could break down barriers and assert himself over nearly any condition or
environment, but in his ignorance of his real condition and power he may
be mastered by a puny driver, or frightened by the rustling of a piece of
paper.

When the Candidate becomes an Initiate--when he passes from the purely
Mental Plane on to the Spiritual Plane--he realizes that the "I," the
Real Self--is something higher than either body or mind, and that both of
the latter may be used as tools and instruments by the Ego or "I." This
knowledge is not reached by purely intellectual reasoning, although such
efforts of the mind are often necessary to help in the unfoldment, and
the Masters so use it. The real knowledge, however, comes as a special
form of consciousness. The Candidate becomes "aware" of the real "I," and
this consciousness being attained, he passes to the rank of the
Initiates. When the Initiate passes the second degree of consciousness,
and begins to grow into a realization of his relationship to the
Whole--when he begins to manifest the Expansion of Self--then is he on
the road to Mastership.

In the present lesson we shall endeavor to point out to the Candidate the
methods of developing or increasing the realization of this "I"
consciousness--this first degree work. We give the following exercises or
development drills for the Candidate to practice. He will find that a
careful and conscientious following of these directions will tend to
unfold in him a sufficient degree of the "I" consciousness, to enable him
to enter into higher stages of development and power. All that is
necessary is for the Candidate to feel within himself the dawn of the
awakening consciousness, or awareness of the Real Self. The higher stages
of the "I" consciousness come gradually, for once on the Path there is no
retrogression or going backward. There may be pauses on the journey, but
there is no such thing as actually losing that which is once gained on
The Path.

This "I" consciousness, even in its highest stages, is but a preliminary
step toward what is called "Illumination," and which signifies the
awakening of the Initiate to a realization of his actual connection with
and relation to the Whole. The full sight of the glory of the "I," is but
a faint reflected glow of "Illumination." The Candidate, once that he
enters fully into the "I" consciousness, becomes an "Initiate." And the
Initiate who enters into the dawn of Illumination takes his first step
upon the road to Mastery. The Initiation is the awakening of the soul to
a knowledge of its real existence--the Illumination is the revelation of
the real nature of the soul, and of its relationship with the Whole.
After the first dawn of the "I" consciousness has been attained, the
Candidate is more able to grasp the means of developing the consciousness
to a still higher degree--is more able to use the powers latent within
him; to control his own mental states; to manifest a Centre of
Consciousness and Influence that will radiate into the outer world which
is always striving and hunting for such centres around which it may
revolve.

Man must master himself before he can hope to exert an influence beyond
himself. There is no royal road to unfoldment and power--each step must
be taken in turn, and each Candidate must take the step himself, and by
his own effort. But he may, and will, be aided by the helping hand of the
teachers who have traveled The Path before him, and who know just when
that helping hand is needed to lift the Candidate over the rough places.

We bid the Candidate to pay strict attention to the following
instruction, as it is all important. Do not slight any part of it, for we
are giving you only what is necessary, and are stating it as briefly as
possible. Pay attention, and follow the instruction closely. This lesson
must be mastered before you progress. And it must be practiced not only
now, but at many stages of the journey, until full Initiation and
Illumination is yours.


RULES AND EXERCISES DESIGNED TO AID THE CANDIDATE IN HIS INITIATION.

The first instruction along the line of Initiation is designed to awaken
the mind to a full realization and consciousness of the individuality of
the "I." The Candidate is taught to relax his body, and to calm his mind
and to meditate upon the "I" until it is presented clearly and sharply
before the consciousness. We herewith give directions for producing the
desired physical and mental condition, in which meditation and
concentration are more readily practiced. This state of Meditation will
be referred to in subsequent exercises, so the Candidate is advised to
acquaint himself thoroughly with it.

STATE OF MEDITATION. If possible, retire to a quiet place or room, where
you do not fear interruption, so that your mind may feel secure and at
rest. Of course, the ideal condition cannot always be obtained, in which
case you must do the best you can. The idea is that you should be able to
abstract yourself, so far as is possible, from distracting impressions,
and you should be alone with yourself--in communion with your Real Self.

It is well to place yourself in an easy chair, or on a couch, so that you
may relax the muscles and free the tension of your nerves. You should be
able to "let go" all over, allowing every muscle to become limp, until a
feeling of perfect peace and restful calm permeates every particle of
your being. Rest the body and calm the mind. This condition is best in
the earlier stages of the practice, although after the Candidate has
acquired a degree of mastery he will be able to obtain the physical
relaxation and mental calm whenever and wherever he desires.

But he must guard against acquiring a "dreamy" way of going around,
wrapped in meditation when he should be attending to the affairs of life.
_Remember this_, the State of Meditation should be entirely under the
control of the Will, and should be entered into only deliberately and at
the proper times. The Will must be master of this, as well as of every
other mental state. The Initiates are not "day dreamers," but men and
women having full control of themselves and their moods. The "I"
consciousness while developed by meditation and consciousness, soon
becomes a fixed item of consciousness, and does not have to be produced
by meditation. In time of trial, doubt, or trouble, the consciousness may
be brightened by an effort of the Will (as we shall explain in subsequent
lessons) without going into the State of Meditation.

THE REALIZATION OF THE "I." The Candidate must first acquaint himself
with the reality of the "I," before he will be able to learn its real
nature. This is the first step. Let the Candidate place himself in the
State of Meditation, as heretofore described. Then let him concentrate
his entire attention upon his Individual Self, shutting out all thought
of the outside world, and other persons. Let him form in his mind the
idea of himself as a _real_ thing--an actual being--an individual
entity--a Sun around which revolves the world. He must see himself as the
Centre around which the whole world revolves. Let not a false modesty, or
sense of depreciation interfere with this idea, for you are not denying
the right of others to also consider themselves centres. You are, in
fact, a centre of consciousness--made so by the Absolute--and you are
awakening to the fact. Until the Ego recognizes itself as a Centre of
Thought, Influence and Power, it will not be able to _manifest_ these
qualities. And in proportion as it recognizes its position as a centre,
so will it be able to manifest its qualities. It is not necessary that
you should compare yourself with others, or imagine yourself greater or
higher than them. In fact, such comparisons are to be regretted, and are
unworthy of the advanced Ego, being a mark and indication of a lack of
development, rather than the reverse. In the Meditation simply ignore all
consideration of the respective qualities of others, and endeavor to
realize the fact that YOU are a great Centre of Consciousness--a Centre
of Power--a Centre of Influence--a Centre of Thought. And that like the
planets circling around the sun, so does your world revolve around YOU
who are its centre. It will not be necessary for you to argue out this
matter, or to convince yourself of its truth by intellectual reasoning.
The knowledge does not come in that way. It comes in the shape of a
realization of the truth gradually dawning upon your consciousness
through meditation and concentration. Carry this thought of yourself as a
"Centre of Consciousness--Influence--Power" with you, _for it is an
occult truth,_ and in the proportion that you are able, to realize it so
will be your ability to manifest the qualities named.

No matter how humble may be your position--no matter how hard may be your
lot--no matter how deficient in educational advantages you may be--still
you would not change your "I" with the most fortunate, wisest and highest
man or woman in the world. You may doubt this, but think for a moment and
you will see that we are right. When you say that you "would like to be"
this person or that, you really mean that _you_ would like to have their
degree of intelligence, power, wealth, position, or what not. What you
want is something that is theirs, or something akin to it. But you would
not for a moment wish to merge your _identity_ with theirs, or to
exchange _selves_. Think of this for a moment To _be_ the other person
you would have to let _yourself_ die, and instead of _yourself_ you would
be the other person. The real _you_ would be wiped out of existence, and
you would not be _you_ at all, but would be _he_.

If you can but grasp this idea you will see that not for a moment would
you be willing for such an exchange. Of course such an exchange is
impossible. The "I" of you cannot be wiped out. It is eternal, and will
go on, and on, and on, to higher and higher states--but it always will be
the same "I." Just as you, although a far different sort of person from
your childhood self, still you recognize that the same "I" is there, and
always has been there. And although you will attain knowledge,
experience, power and wisdom in the coming years, the same "I" will be
there. The "I" is the Divine Spark and cannot be extinguished.

The majority of people in the present stage of the race development have
but a faint conception of the reality of the "I." They accept the
statement of its existence, and are conscious of themselves as an eating,
sleeping, living creature--something like a higher form of animal. But
they have not awakened to an "awareness" or realization of the "I," which
must come to all who become real centres of Influence and Power. Some men
have stumbled into this consciousness, or a degree of it, without
understanding the matter. They have "felt" the truth of it, and they have
stepped out from the ranks of the commonplace people of the world, and
have become powers for good or bad. This is unfortunate to some extent,
as this "awareness" without the knowledge that should accompany it may
bring pain to the individual and others.

The Candidate must meditate upon the "I," and recognize it--_feel_ it--to
be a Centre. This is his first task. Impress upon your mind the word "I,"
in this sense and understanding, and let it sink deep down into your
consciousness, so that it will become a part of you. And when you say
"I," you must accompany the word with the picture of your Ego as a Centre
of Consciousness, and Thought, and Power, and Influence. See yourself
thus, surrounded by your world. Wherever you go, there goes the Centre of
your world. YOU are the Centre, and all outside of you revolves around
that Centre. This is the first great lesson on the road to Initiation.
Learn it!

The Yogi Masters teach the Candidates that their realization of the "I"
as a Centre may be hastened by going into the Silence, or State of
Meditation, and repeating their first name over slowly, deliberately and
solemnly a number of times. This exercise tends to cause the mind to
centre upon the "I," and many cases of dawning Initiation have resulted
from this practice. Many original thinkers have stumbled upon this
method, without having been taught it. A noted example is that of Lord
Tennyson, who has written that he attained a degree of Initiation in this
way. He would repeat his own name, over and over, and the same time
meditating upon his identity, and he reports that he would become
conscious and "aware" of his reality and immortality--in short would
recognize himself as a _real_ center of consciousness.

We think we have given you the key to the first stage of meditation and
concentration. Before passing on, let us quote from one of the old Hindu
Masters. He says, regarding this matter: "When the soul sees itself as a
Centre surrounded by its circumference--when the Sun knows that it is a
Sun, and is surrounded by its whirling planets--then is it ready for the
Wisdom and Power of the Masters."

THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE INDEPENDENCE OF THE "I" FROM THE BODY. Many of the
Candidates find themselves prevented from a full realization of the "I"
(even after they have begun to grasp it) by the confusing of the reality
of the "I" with the sense of the physical body. This is a stumbling block
that is easily overcome by meditation and concentration, the independence
of the "I" often becoming manifest to the Candidate in a flash, upon the
proper thought being used as the subject of meditation.

The exercise is given as follows: Place yourself in the State of
Meditation, and think of YOURSELF--the Real "I"--as being independent of
the body, but using the body as a covering and an instrument. Think of
the body as you might of a suit of clothes. Realize that you are able to
leave the body, and still be the same "I." Picture yourself as doing
this, and looking down upon your body. Think of the body as a shell from
which you may emerge without affecting your identity. Think of yourself
as mastering and controlling the body that you occupy, and using it to
the best advantage, making it healthy, strong and vigorous, but still
being merely a shell or covering for the real "You." Think of the body as
composed of atoms and cells which are constantly changing, but which are
held together by the force of your Ego, and which you can improve at
Will. Realize that you are merely inhabiting the body, and using it for
your convenience, just as you might use a house.

In meditating further, ignore the body entirely, and place your thought
upon the Real "I" that you are beginning to feel to be "you," and you
will find that your identity--your "I"--is something entirely apart from
the body. You may now say "my body" with a new meaning. Divorce the idea
of your being a physical being, and realize that you are above body. But
do not let this conception and realization cause you to ignore the body.
You must regard the body as the Temple of the Spirit, and care for it,
and make it a fit habitation for the "I." Do not be frightened if, during
this meditation, you happen to experience the sensation of being out of
the body for a few moments, and of returning to it when you are through
with the exercise. The Ego is able (in the case of the advanced Initiate)
of soaring above the confines of the body, but it never severs its
connection at such times. It is merely as if one were to look out of the
window of a room, seeing what was going on outside, and drawing in his
head when he wishes. He does not leave the room, although he may place
his head outside in order to observe what is doing in the street. We do
not advise the Candidate to try to cultivate this sensation--but if it
comes naturally during meditation, do not fear.

REALIZING THE IMMORTALITY AND INVINCIBILITY OF THE EGO. While the
majority accept on faith the belief in the Immortality of the Soul, yet
but few are aware that it may be demonstrated by the soul itself. The
Yogi Masters teach the Candidates this lesson, as follows: The Candidate
places himself in the State of Meditation, or at least in a thoughtful
frame of mind, and then endeavors to "imagine" himself as "dead"--that
is, he tries to form a mental conception of himself as dead. This, at
first thought, appears a very easy thing to imagine, but as a matter of
fact it is _impossible_ to do so, for the Ego refuses to entertain the
proposition, and finds it impossible to imagine it. Try it for yourself.
You will find that you may be able to imagine your _body_ as lying still
and lifeless, but the same thought finds that in so doing _You_ are
standing and looking at the body. So you see that _You_ are not dead at
all, even in imagination, although the body may be. Or, if you refuse to
disentangle yourself from your body, in imagination, you may think of
your body as dead but _You_ who refuse to leave it are still _alive_ and
recognize the dead body as a thing apart from your Real Self. No matter
how you may twist it you _cannot_ imagine yourself as dead. The Ego
insists upon being _alive_ in any of these thoughts, and thus finds that
it has within itself the sense and assurance of Immortality. In case of
sleep or stupor resulting from a blow, or from narcotics or anaesthetics,
the mind is apparently blank, but the "I" is conscious of a continuity of
existence. And so one may imagine himself as being in an unconscious
state, or asleep, quite easily, and sees the possibility of such a state,
but when it comes to imagining the "I" as dead, the mind utterly refuses
to do the work. This wonderful fact that the soul carries within itself
the evidence of its own immortality is a glorious thing, but one must
have reached a degree of unfoldment before he is able to grasp its full
significance.

The Candidate is advised to investigate the above statement for himself,
by meditation and concentration, for in order that the "I" may know its
true nature and possibilities, it must realize that it cannot be
destroyed or killed. It must know what it is before it is able to
manifest its nature. So do not leave this part of the teaching until you
have mastered it. And it is well occasionally to return to it, in order
that you may impress upon the mind the fact of your immortal and eternal
nature. The mere glimmering of this conception of truth will give you an
increased sense of strength and power, and you will find that your Self
has expanded and grown, and that you are more of a power and Centre than
you have heretofore realized.

The following exercises are useful in bringing about a realization of the
invincibility of the Ego--its superiority to the elements.

Place yourself in the State of Meditation, and imagine the "I" as
withdrawn from the body. See it passing through the tests of air, fire
and water unharmed. The body being out of the way, the soul is seen to
be able of passing through the air at will--of floating like a bird--of
soaring--of traveling in the ether. It may be seen as able to pass
through fire without harm and without sensation, for the elements affect
only the physical body, not the Real "I." Likewise it may be seen as
passing through water without discomfort or danger or hurt.

This meditation will give you a sense of superiority and strength, and
will show you something of the nature of the real "I." It is true that
you are confined in the body, and the body may be affected by the
elements, but the knowledge that the Real "I" is superior to the
body--superior to the elements that affect the body--and cannot be
injured any more than it can be killed, is wonderful, and tends to
develop the full "I" consciousness within you. For You--the Real "I"--are
not body. You are Spirit. The Ego is Immortal and Invincible, and cannot
be killed and harmed. When you enter into this realization and
consciousness, you will feel an influx of strength and power impossible
to describe. Fear will fall from you like a worn-out cloak, and you will
feel that you are "born again." An understanding of this thought, will
show you that the things that we have been fearing cannot affect the Real
"I," but must rest content with hurting the physical body. And they may
be warded off from the physical body by a proper understanding and
application of the Will.

In our next lesson, you will be taught how to separate the "I" from the
mechanism of the mind--how you may realize your mastery of the mind, just
as you now realize your independence of the body. This knowledge must be
imparted to you by degrees, and you must place your feet firmly upon one
round of the ladder before you take the next step.

The watchword of this First Lesson is "I." And the Candidate must enter
fully into its meaning before he is able to progress. He must realize his
real existence--independent of the body. He must see himself as
invincible and impervious to harm, hurt, or death. He must see himself as
a great Centre of Consciousness--a Sun around which his world revolves.
Then will come to him a new strength. He will feel a calm dignity and
power, which will be apparent to those with whom he comes in contact. He
will be able to look the world in the face without flinching, and without
fear, for he will realize the nature and power of the "I." He will
realize that he is a Centre of Power--of Influence. He will realize that
nothing can harm the "I," and that no matter how the storms of life may
dash upon the personality, the real "I"--the Individuality--is unharmed.
Like a rock that stands steadfast throughout the storm, so does the "I"
stand through the tempests of the life of personality. And he will know
that as he grows in realization, he will be able to control these storms
and bid them be still.

In the words of one of the Yogi Masters: "The 'I' is eternal. It passes
unharmed through the fire, the air, the water. Sword and spear cannot
kill or wound it. It cannot die. The trials of the physical life are but
as dreams to it. Resting secure in the knowledge of the 'I,' Man may
smile at the worst the world has to offer, and raising his hand he may
bid them disappear into the mist from which they emerged.
Blessed is he who can say (understandingly) 'I'."

So dear Candidate, we leave you to master the First Lesson. Be not
discouraged if your progress be slow. Be not cast down if you slip back a
step after having gained it. You will gain two at the next step. Success
and realization will be yours. Mastery is before. You will Attain. You
will Accomplish. Peace be with you.


MANTRAMS (AFFIRMATIONS) FOR THE FIRST LESSON.

"I" am a Centre. Around me revolves my world.

"I" am a Centre of Influence and Power.

"I" am a Centre of Thought and Consciousness.

"I" am Independent of the Body.

"I" am Immortal and cannot be Destroyed.

"I" am Invincible and cannot be Injured.

[Illustration: "I"]




THE SECOND LESSON.

THE EGO'S MENTAL TOOLS.


In the First Lesson we gave instruction and exercises designed to awaken
the consciousness of the Candidate to a realization of the real "I." We
confined our instructions to the preliminary teachings of the reality of
the "I," and the means whereby the Candidate might be brought to a
realization of his real Self, and its independence from the body and the
things of the flesh. We tried to show you how you might awaken to a
consciousness of the reality of the "I"; its real nature; its
independence of the body; its immortality; its invincibility and
invulnerability. How well we have succeeded may be determined only by
the experience of each Candidate, for we can but point out the way, and
the Candidate must do the real work himself.

But there is more to be said and done in this matter of awakening to a
realization of the "I." So far, we have but told you how to distinguish
between the material coverings of the Ego and the "I" itself. We have
tried to show you that you had a real "I," and then to show you what it
was, and how it was independent of the material coverings, etc. But there
is still another step in this self analysis--a more difficult step. Even
when the Candidate has awakened to a realization of his independence of
the body, and material coverings, he often confounds the "I" with the
lower principles of the mind. This is a mistake. The Mind, in its various
phases and planes, is but a tool and instrument of the "I," and is far
from being the "I" itself. We shall try to bring out this fact in this
lesson and its accompanying exercises. We shall avoid, and pass by, the
metaphysical features of the case, and shall confine ourselves to the
Yogi Psychology. We shall not touch upon theories, nor attempt to
explain the cause, nature and purpose of the Mind--the working tool of
the Ego--but instead shall attempt to point out a way whereby you may
analyze the Mind and then determine which is the "not I" and which is the
real "I." It is useless to burden you with theories or metaphysical talk,
when the way to prove the thing is right within your own grasp. By using
the mind, you will be able to separate it into its parts, and force it to
give you its own answer to the questions touching itself.

In the second and third lessons of our "_Fourteen Lessons_," we pointed
out to you the fact that man had three Mental Principles, or subdivisions
of mind, all of which were below the plane of Spirit. The "I" is Spirit,
but its mental principles are of a lower order. Without wishing to unduly
repeat ourselves, we think it better to run hastily over these three
Principles in the mind of Man.

First, there is what is known as the Instinctive Mind, which man shares
in common with the lower animals. It is the first principle of mind that
appears in the scale of evolution. In its lowest phases, consciousness
is but barely perceptible, and mere sensation is apparent. In its higher
stages it almost reaches the plane of Reason or Intellect, in fact, they
overlap each other, or, rather, blend into each other. The Instinctive
Mind does valuable work in the direction of maintaining animal life in
our bodies, it having charge of this part of our being. It attends to the
constant work of repair; replacement; change; digestion; assimilation;
elimination, etc., all of which work is performed below the plane of
consciousness.

But this is but a small part of the work of the Instinctive Mind. For
this part of the mind has stored up all the experiences of ourselves and
ancestors in our evolution from the lower forms of animal life into the
present stage of evolution. All of the old animal instincts (which were
all right in their place, and quite necessary for the well-being of the
lower forms of life) have left traces in this part of the mind, which
traces are apt to come to the front under pressure of unusual
circumstances, even long after we think we have outgrown them. In this
part of the mind are to be found traces of the old fighting instinct of
the animal; all the animal passions; all the hate, envy, jealousy, and
the rest of it, which are our inheritances from the past. The Instinctive
Mind is also the "habit mind" in which is stored up all the little, and
great, habits of many lives, or rather such as have not been entirely
effaced by subsequent habits of a stronger nature. The Instinctive Mind
is a queer storehouse, containing quite a variety of objects, many of
them very good in their way, but others of which are the worst kind of
old junk and rubbish.

This part of the mind also is the seat of the appetites; passions;
desires; instincts; sensations; feelings and emotions of the lower order,
manifested in the lower animals; primitive man; the barbarian; and the
man of today, the difference being only in the degree of control over
them that has been gained by the higher parts of the mind. There are
higher desires, aspirations, etc., belonging to a higher part of the
mind, which we will describe in a few minutes, but the "animal nature"
belongs to the Instinctive Mind. To it also belong the "feelings"
belonging to our emotional and passional nature. All animal desires, such
as hunger and thirst; sexual desires (on the physical plane); all
passions, such as physical love; hatred; envy; malice; jealousy; revenge,
etc., are part of this part of the mind. The desire for the physical
(unless a means of reaching higher things) and the longing for the
material, belong to this region of the mind. The "lust of the flesh; the
lust of the eyes; the pride of life," belong to the Instinctive Mind.

Take note, however, that we are not condemning the things belonging to
this plane of the mind. All of them have their place--many were necessary
in the past, and many are still necessary for the continuance of physical
life. All are right in their place, and to those in the particular plane
of development to which they belong, and are wrong only when one is
mastered by them, or when he returns to pick up an unworthy thing that
has been cast off in the unfoldment of the individual. This lesson has
nothing to do with the right and wrong of these things (we have treated
of that elsewhere) and we mention this part of the mind that you may
understand that you have such a thing in your mental make-up, and that
you may understand the thought, etc., coming from it, when we start in to
analyze the mind in the latter part of this lesson. All we will ask you
to do at this stage of the lesson is to realize that this part of the
mind, while _belonging_ to you, is _not_ You, yourself. It is _not_ the
"I" part of you.

Next in order, above the Instinctive Mind, is what we have called the
Intellect, that part of the mind that does our reasoning, analyzing;
"thinking," etc. You are using it in the consideration of this lesson.
But note this: You are _using_ it, but it is _not_ You, any more than was
the Instinctive Mind that you considered a moment ago. You will begin to
make the separation, if you will think but a moment. We will not take up
your time with a consideration of Intellect or Reason. You will find a
good description of this part of the mind in any good elementary work on
Psychology. Our only idea in mentioning it is that you may make the
classification, and that we may afterward show you that the Intellect is
but a tool of the Ego, instead of being the real "I" itself, as so many
seem to imagine.

The third, and highest, Mental Principle is what is called the Spiritual
Mind, that part of the mind which is almost unknown to many of the race,
but which has developed into consciousness with nearly all who read this
lesson, for the fact that the subject of this lesson attracts you is a
proof that this part of your mental nature is unfolding into
consciousness. This region of the mind is the source of that which we
call "genius," "inspiration," "spirituality," and all that we consider
the "highest" in our mental make-up. All the great thoughts and ideas
float into the field of consciousness from this part of the mind. All the
great unfoldment of the race comes from there. All the higher mental
ideas that have come to Man in his upward evolutionary journey, that tend
in the direction of nobility; true religious feeling; kindness; humanity;
justice; unselfish love; mercy; sympathy, etc., have come to him through
his slowly unfolding Spiritual Mind. His love of God and of his fellow
man have come in this way. His knowledge of the great occult truths reach
him through this channel. The mental realization of the "I," which we are
endeavoring to teach in these lessons, must come to him by way of the
Spiritual Mind unfolding its ideas into his field of consciousness.

But even this great and wonderful part of the mind is but a tool--a
highly finished one, it is true, but still a tool--to the Ego, or "I."

We propose to give you a little mental drill work, toward the end that
you may be able more readily to distinguish the "I" from the mind, or
mental states. In this connection we would say that every part, plane,
and function of the mind is good, and necessary, and the student must not
fall into the error of supposing that because we tell him to set aside
first this part of the mind and then that part, that we are undervaluing
the mind, or that we regard it as an encumbrance or hindrance. Far from
this, we realize that it is _by the use of_ the mind that Man is enabled
to arrive at a knowledge of his true nature and Self, and that his
progress through many stages yet will depend upon the unfolding of his
mental faculties.

Man is now using but the lower and inferior parts of his mind, and he has
within his mental world great unexplored regions that far surpass
anything of which the human mind has dreamed. In fact, it is part of the
business of "Raja Yoga" to aid in unfolding these higher faculties and
mental regions. And so far from decrying the Mind, the "Raja Yoga"
teachers are chiefly concerned in recognizing the Mind's power and
possibilities, and directing the student to avail himself of the latent
powers that are inherent in his soul.

It is only by the mind that the teachings we are now giving you may be
grasped and understood, and used to your advantage and benefit. We are
talking direct to your mind now, and are making appeals to it, that it
may be interested and may open itself to what is ready to come into it
from its own higher regions. We are appealing to the Intellect to direct
its attention to this great matter, that it may interpose less resistance
to the truths that are waiting to be projected from the Spiritual Mind,
which knows the Truth.


MENTAL DRILL.

Place yourself in a calm, restful condition, that you may be able to
meditate upon the matters that we shall place before you for
consideration. Allow the matters presented to meet with a hospitable
reception from you, and hold a mental attitude of willingness to receive
what may be waiting for you in the higher regions of your mind.

We wish to call your attention to several mental impressions or
conditions, one after another, in order that you may realize that they
are merely something _incident_ to you, and _not_ YOU yourself--that you
may set them aside and consider them, just as you might anything that you
have been using. You cannot set the "I" aside and so consider it, but the
various forms of the "not I" may be so set aside and considered.

In the First Lesson you gained the perception of the "I" as independent
from the body, the latter merely being an instrument for use. You have
now arrived at the stage when the "I" appears to you to be a mental
creature--a bundle of thoughts, feelings, moods, etc. But you must go
farther. You must be able to distinguish the "I" from these mental
conditions, which are as much tools as is the body and its parts.

Let us begin by considering the thoughts more closely connected with the
body, and then work up to the higher mental states.

The sensations of the body, such as hunger; thirst; pain; pleasurable
sensations; physical desires, etc., etc., are not apt to be mistaken for
essential qualities of the "I" by many of the Candidates, for they have
passed beyond this stage, and have learned to set aside these sensations,
to a greater or lesser extent, by an effort of the Will, and are no
longer slaves to them. Not that they do not experience these sensations,
but they have grown to regard them as incidents of the physical
life--good in their place--but useful to the advanced man only when he
has mastered them to the extent that he no longer regards them as close
to the "I." And yet, to some people, these sensations are so closely
identified with their conception of the "I" that when they think of
themselves they think merely of a bundle of these sensations. They are
not able to set them aside and consider them as things apart, to be used
when necessary and proper, but as things not fastened to the "I." The
more advanced a man becomes the farther off seem these sensations. Not
that he does not feel hungry, for instance. Not at all, for he recognizes
hunger, and satisfies it within reason, knowing that his physical body is
making demands for attention, and that these demands should be heeded.
But--mark the difference--instead of feeling that the "_I_" is hungry the
man feels that "_my body_" is hungry, just as he might become conscious
that his horse or dog was crying for food insistently. Do you see what
we mean? It is that the man no longer identifies himself--the "I"--with
the body, consequently the thoughts which are most closely allied to the
physical life seem comparatively "separate" from his "I" conception. Such
a man thinks "my stomach, this," or "my leg, that," or "my body, thus,"
instead of "'I,' this," or "'I' that." He is able, almost automatically,
to think of the body and its sensations as things _of_ him, and
_belonging to_ him, which require attention and care, rather than as real
parts of the "I." He is able to form a conception of the "I" as existing
without any of these things--without the body and its sensations--and so
he has taken the first step in the realization of the "I."

Before going on, we ask the students to stop a few moments, and mentally
run over these sensations of the body. Form a mental image of them, and
realize that they are merely incidents to the present stage of growth and
experience of the "I," and that they form no real part of it. They may,
and will be, left behind in the Ego's higher planes of advancement. You
may have attained this mental conception perfectly, long since, but we
ask that to give yourself the mental drill at this time, in order to
fasten upon your mind this first step.

In realizing that you are able to set aside, mentally, these
sensations--that you are able to hold them out at arm's length and
"consider" them as an "outside" thing, you mentally determine that they
are "not I" things, and you set them down in the "not I" collection--the
first to be placed there. Let us try to make this still plainer, even at
the risk of wearying you by repetitions (for you must get this idea
firmly fixed in your mind). To be able to say that a thing is "not I,"
you must realize that there are two things in question (1) the "not I"
thing, and (2) the "I" who is regarding the "not I" thing just as the "I"
regards a lump of sugar, or a mountain. Do you see what we mean? Keep at
it until you do.

Next, consider some of the emotions, such as anger; hate; love, in its
ordinary forms; jealousy; ambition; and the hundred and one other
emotions that sweep through our brains. You will find that you are able
to set each one of these emotions or feelings aside and study it; dissect
it; analyze it; consider it. You will be able to understand the rise,
progress and end of each of these feelings, as they have come to you, and
as you recall them in your memory or imagination, just as readily as you
would were you observing their occurrence in the mind of a friend. You
will find them all stored away in some parts of your mental make-up, and
you may (to use a modern American slang phrase) "make them trot before
you, and show their paces." Don't you see that they are not "You"--that
they are merely something that you carry around with you in a mental bag.
You can imagine yourself as living without them, and still being "I," can
you not?

And the very fact that you are able to set them aside and examine and
consider them is a proof that they are "not I" things--for there are two
things in the matter (1) _You_ who are examining and considering them,
and (2) the thing itself which is the _object_ of the examination and
consideration at mental arm's length. So into the "not I" collection go
these emotions, desirable and undesirable. The collection is steadily
growing, and will attain quite formidable proportions after a while.

Now, do not imagine that this is a lesson designed to teach you how to
discard these emotions, although if it enables you to get rid of the
undesirable ones, so much the better. This is not our object, for we bid
you place the desirable (at this time) ones in with the opposite kind,
the idea being to bring you to a realization that the "I" is higher,
above and independent of these mental somethings, and then when you have
realized the nature of the "I," you may return and use (as a Master) the
things that have been using you as a slave. So do not be afraid to throw
these emotions (good and bad) into the "not I" collection. You may go
back to them, and use the good ones, after the Mental Drill is over. No
matter how much you may think that you are bound by any of these
emotions, you will realize, by careful analysis, that it is of the "not
I" kind, for the "I" existed before the emotion came into active play,
and it will live long after the emotion has faded away. The principal
proof is that you are able to hold it out at arm's length and examine
it--a proof that it is "not I."

Run through the entire list of your feelings; emotions; moods; and what
not, just as you would those of a well-known friend or relative, and you
will see that each one--every one--is a "not I" thing, and you will lay
it aside for the time, for the purpose of the scientific experiment, at
least.

Then passing on to the Intellect, you will be able to hold out for
examination each mental process and principle. You don't believe it, you
may say. Then read and study some good work on Psychology, and you will
learn to dissect and analyze every intellectual process--and to classify
it and place it in the proper pigeon-hole. Study Psychology by means of
some good text-book, and you will find that one by one every intellectual
process is classified, and talked about and labeled, just as you would a
collection of flowers. If that does not satisfy you, turn the leaves of
some work on Logic, and you will admit that you may hold these
intellectual processes at arm's length and examine them, and talk about
them to others. So that these wonderful tools of Man--the Intellectual
powers may be placed in the "not I" collection, for the "I" is capable of
standing aside and viewing them--it is able to detach them from itself.
The most remarkable thing about this is that in admitting this fact, you
realize that the "I" is using these very intellectual faculties to pass
upon themselves. Who is the Master that compels these faculties to do
this to themselves? The Master of the Mind--The "I."

And reaching the higher regions of the mind--even the Spiritual Mind, you
will be compelled to admit that the things that have come into
consciousness from that region may be considered and studied, just as may
be any other mental thing, and so even these high things must be placed
in the "not I" collection. You may object that this does not prove that
all the things in the Spiritual Mind may be so treated--that there may be
"I" things there that can not be so treated. We will not discuss this
question, for you know nothing about the Spiritual Mind except as it has
revealed itself to you, and the higher regions of that mind are like the
mind of a God, when compared to what _you_ call mind. But the evidence of
the Illumined--those in whom the Spiritual Mind has wonderfully unfolded
tell us that even in the highest forms of development, the Initiates,
yea, even the Masters, realize that above even their highest mental
states there is always that eternal "I" brooding over them, as the Sun
over the lake; and that the highest conception of the "I" known even to
advanced souls, is but a faint reflection of the "I" filtering through
the Spiritual Mind, although that Spiritual Mind is as clear as the
clearest crystal when compared with our comparatively opaque mental
states. And the highest mental state is but a tool or instrument of the
"I," and is not the "I" itself.

And yet the "I" is to be found in the faintest forms of consciousness,
and animates even the unconscious life. The "I" is always the same, but
its apparent growth is the result of the mental unfoldment of the
individual. As we described it in one of the lessons of the "_Advanced
Course_" it is like an electric lamp that is encased in many wrappings of
cloth. As cloth after cloth is removed, the light seems to grow brighter
and stronger, and yet it has changed not, the change being in the removal
of the confining and bedimming coverings. We do not expect to make you
realize the "I" in all its fullness--that is far beyond the highest known
to man of to-day--but we do hope to bring you to a realization of the
highest conception of the "I," possible to each of you in your present
stage of unfoldment, and in the process we expect to cause to drop from
you some of the confining sheaths that you have about outgrown. The
sheaths are ready for dropping, and all that is required is the touch of
a friendly hand to cause them to fall fluttering from you. We wish to
bring you to the fullest possible (to you) realization of the "I," in
order to make an Individual of you--in order that you may understand, and
have courage to take up the tools and instruments lying at your hand, and
do the work before you.

And now, back to the Mental Drill. After you have satisfied yourself that
about everything that you are capable of thinking about is a "not I"
thing--a tool and instrument for your use--you will ask, "And now, what
is there left that should not be thrown in the "not I" collection." To
this question we answer "THE 'I' ITSELF." And when you demand a proof
we say, "Try to set aside the 'I' for consideration!" You may try from
now until the passing away of infinities of infinities, and you will
never be able to set aside the real "I" for consideration. You may think
you can, but a little reflection will show you that you are merely
setting aside some of your mental qualities or faculties. And in this
process what is the "I" doing? Simply setting aside and considering
things. Can you not see that the "I" cannot be both the _considerer_ and
the thing considered--the _examiner_ and the thing examined? Can the sun
shine upon itself by its own light? You may consider the "I" of some
other person, but it is _your_ "I" that is considering. But you cannot,
as an "I," stand aside and see yourself as an "I." Then what evidence
have we that there is an "I" to us? This: that you are always conscious
of being the considerer and examiner, instead of the considered and
examined thing--and then, you have the evidence of your consciousness.
And what report does this consciousness give us? Simply this, and nothing
more: "I AM." That is all that the "I" is conscious of, regarding its
true self: "I AM," but that consciousness is worth all the rest, for the
rest is but "not I" tools that the "I" may reach out and use.

And so at the final analysis, you will find that there is something that
refuses to be set aside and examined by the "I." And that something is
the "I" itself--that "I" eternal, unchangeable--that drop of the Great
Spirit Ocean--that spark from the Sacred Flame.

Just as you find it impossible to imagine the "I" as dead, so will you
find it impossible to set aside the "I" for consideration--all that comes
to you is the testimony: "I AM."

If you were able to set aside the "I" for consideration, who would be the
one to consider it? Who could consider except the "I" itself, and if it
be _here_, how could it be _there?_ The "I" cannot be the "not I" even in
the wildest flights of the imagination--the imagination with all its
boasted freedom and power, confesses itself vanquished when asked to do
this thing.

Oh, students, may you be brought to a realization of what you are. May
you soon awaken to the fact that you are sleeping gods--that you have
within you the power of the Universe, awaiting your word to manifest
in action. Long ages have you toiled to get this far, and long must you
travel before you reach even the first Great Temple, but you are now
entering into the conscious stage of Spiritual Evolution. No longer will
your eyes be closed as you walk the Path. From now on you will begin to
see clearer and clearer each step, in the dawning light of consciousness.

You are in touch with all of life, and the separation of your "I" from
the great Universal "I" is but apparent and temporary. We will tell you
of these things in our Third Lesson, but before you can grasp that you
must develop the "I" consciousness within you. Do not lay aside this
matter as one of no importance. Do not dismiss our weak explanation as
being "merely words, words, words," as so many are inclined to do. We are
pointing out a great truth to you. Why not follow the leadings of the
Spirit which even now--this moment while you read--is urging you to walk
The Path of Attainment? Consider the teachings of this lesson, and
practice the Mental Drill until your mind has grasped its significance,
then let it sink deep down into your inner consciousness. Then will you
be ready for the next lessons, and those to follow.

Practice this Mental Drill until you are fully assured of the _reality_
of the "I" and the _relativity_ of the "not "I" in the mind. When you
once grasp this truth, you will find that you will be able to use the
mind with far greater power and effect, for you will recognize that it is
your tool and instrument, fitted and intended to do your bidding. You
will be able to master your moods, and emotions when necessary, and will
rise from the position of a slave to a Master.

Our words seem cheap and poor, when we consider the greatness of the
truth that we are endeavoring to convey by means of them. For who can
find words to express the inexpressible? All that we may hope to do is to
awaken a keen interest and attention on your part, so that you will
practice the Mental Drill, and thus obtain the evidence of your own
mentality to the truth. Truth is not truth to you until you have proven
it in your own experience, and once so proven you cannot be robbed of it,
nor can it be argued away from you.

You must realize that in every mental effort You--the "I"--are behind it.
You bid the Mind work, and it obeys your Will. You are the Master, and
not the slave of your mind. You are the Driver, not the driven. Shake
yourself loose from the tyranny of the mind that has oppressed you for so
long. Assert yourself, and be free. We will help you in this direction
during the course of these lessons, but you must first assert yourself as
a Master of your Mind. Sign the mental Declaration of Independence from
your moods, emotions, and uncontrolled thoughts, and assert your Dominion
over them. Enter into your Kingdom, thou manifestation of the Spirit!

While this lesson is intended primarily to bring clearly into your
consciousness the fact that the "I" is a reality, separate and distinct
from its Mental Tools, and while the control of the mental faculties by
the Will forms a part of some of the future lessons, still, we think that
this is a good place to point out to you the advantages arising from a
realization of the true nature of the "I" and the relative aspect of the
Mind.

Many of us have supposed that our minds were the masters of ourselves,
and we have allowed ourselves to be tormented and worried by thoughts
"running away" with us, and presenting themselves at inopportune moments.
The Initiate is relieved from this annoyance, for he learns to assert his
mastery over the different parts of the mind, and controls and regulates
his mental processes, just as one would a fine piece of machinery. He is
able to control his conscious thinking faculties, and direct their work
to the best advantage, and he also learns how to pass on orders to the
subconscious mental region and bid it work for him while he sleeps, or
even when he is using his conscious mind in other matters. These subjects
will be considered by us in due time, during the course of lessons.

In this connection it may be interesting to read what Edward Carpenter
says of the power of the individual to control his thought processes. In
his book "_From Adam's Peak to Eleplumta_," in describing his experience
while visiting a Hindu Gnani Yogi, he says:

"And if we are unwilling to believe in this internal mastery over the
body, we are perhaps almost equally unaccustomed to the idea of mastery
over our own inner thoughts and feelings. That a man should be a prey to
any thought that chances to take possession of his mind, is commonly
among us assumed as unavoidable. It may be a matter of regret that he
should be kept awake all night from anxiety as to the issue of a lawsuit
on the morrow, but that he should have the power of determining whether
he be kept awake or not seems an extravagant demand. The image of an
impending calamity is no doubt odious, but its very odiousness (we say)
makes it haunt the mind all the more pertinaciously and it is useless to
try to expel it.

"Yet this is an absurd position--for man, the heir of all the ages:
hag-ridden by the flimsy creatures of his own brain. If a pebble in our
boot torments us, we expel it. We take off the boot and shake it out.
And once the matter is fairly understood it is just as easy to expel an
intruding and obnoxious thought from the mind. About this there ought to
be no mistake, no two opinions. The thing is obvious, clear and
unmistakable. It should be as easy to expel an obnoxious thought from
your mind as it is to shake a stone out of your shoe; and till a man can
do that it is just nonsense to talk about his ascendancy over Nature, and
all the rest of it. He is a mere slave, and prey to the bat-winged
phantoms that flit through the corridors of his own brain.

"Yet the weary and careworn faces that we meet by thousands, even among
the affluent classes of civilization, testify only too clearly how seldom
this mastery is obtained. How rare indeed to meet a _man_! How common
rather to discover a creature hounded on by tyrant thoughts (or cares or
desires), cowering, wincing under the lash--or perchance priding himself
to run merrily in obedience to a driver that rattles the reins and
persuades him that he is free--whom we cannot converse with in careless
_tete-a-tete_ because that alien presence is always there, on the watch.

"It is one of the most prominent doctrines of Raja Yoga that the power of
expelling thoughts, or if need be, killing them dead on the spot, _must_
be attained. Naturally the art requires practice, but like other arts,
when once acquired there is no mystery or difficulty about it. And it is
worth practice. It may indeed fairly be said that life only begins when
this art has been acquired. For obviously when instead of being ruled by
individual thoughts, the whole flock of them in their immense multitude
and variety and capacity is ours to direct and dispatch and employ where
we list ('for He maketh the winds his messengers and the flaming fire His
minister'), life becomes a thing so vast and grand compared with what it
was before, that its former condition may well appear almost antenatal.

"If you can kill a thought dead, for the time being, you can do anything
else with it that you please. And therefore it is that this power is so
valuable. And it not only frees a man from mental torment (which is
nine-tenths at least of the torment of life), but it gives him a
concentrated power of handling mental work absolutely unknown to him
before. The two things are co-relative to each other. As already said
this is one of the principles of Raja Yoga.

"While at work your thought is to be absolutely concentrated in it,
undistracted by anything whatever irrelevant to the matter in
hand--pounding away like a great engine, with giant power and perfect
economy--no wear and tear of friction, or dislocation of parts owing to
the working of different forces at the same time. Then when the work is
finished, if there is no more occasion for the use of the machine, it
must stop equally, absolutely--stop entirely--no _worrying_ (as if a
parcel of boys were allowed to play their devilments with a locomotive as
soon as it was in the shed)--and the man must retire into that region of
his consciousness where his true self dwells.

"I say the power of the thought-machine itself is enormously increased by
this faculty of letting it alone on the one hand, and of using it singly
and with concentration on the other. It becomes a true tool, which a
master-workman lays down when done with, but which only a bungler carries
about with him all the time to show that he is the possessor of it."

We ask the students to read carefully the above quotations from Mr.
Carpenter's book, for they are full of suggestions that may be taken up
to advantage by those who are emancipating themselves from their slavery
to the unmastered mind, and who are now bringing the mind under control
of the Ego, by means of the Will.

Our next lesson will take up the subject of the relationship of the "I"
to the Universal "I," and will be called the "Expansion of the Self." It
will deal with the subject, not from a theoretical standpoint, but from
the position of the teacher who is endeavoring to make his students
actually _aware_ in their consciousness of the truth of the proposition.
In this course we are not trying to make our students past-masters of
_theory_, but are endeavoring to place them in a position whereby they
may _know_ for themselves, and actually experience the things of which we
teach.

Therefore we urge upon you not to merely rest content with reading this
lesson, but, instead, to study and meditate upon the teachings mentioned
under the head of "Mental Drill," until the distinctions stand out
clearly in your mind, and until you not only _believe_ them to be true,
but actually are _conscious_ of the "I" and its Mental Tools. Have
patience and perseverance. The task may be difficult, but the reward is
great. To become conscious of the greatness, majesty, strength and power
of your real being is worth years of hard study. Do you not think so?
Then study and practice hopefully, diligently and earnestly.

Peace be with you.


MANTRAMS (AFFIRMATIONS) FOR THE SECOND LESSON.

"I" am an entity--my mind is my instrument of expression.

"I" exist independent of my mind, and am not dependent upon it for
existence or being.

"I" am Master of my mind, not its slave.

"I" can set aside my sensations, emotions, passions, desires,
intellectual faculties, and all the rest of my mental collection of
tools, as "not I" things--and still there remains something--and that
something is "I," which cannot be set aside by me, for it is my very
self; my only self; my real self--"I." That which remains after all that
may be set aside _is_ set aside is the "I"--Myself--eternal, constant,
unchangeable.

[Illustration: "I am"]




THE THIRD LESSON.

THE EXPANSION OF THE SELF.


In the first two lessons of this course we have endeavored to bring to
the candidate a realization in consciousness of the reality of the "I,"
and to enable him to distinguish between the Self and its sheaths,
physical and mental. In the present lesson we will call his attention to
the relationship of the "I" to the Universal "I," and will endeavor to
give him an idea of a greater, grander Self, transcending personality
and the little self that we are so apt to regard as the "I."

The keynote of this lesson will be "The Oneness of All," and all of its
teachings will be directed to awakening a realization in consciousness of
that great truth. But we wish to impress upon the mind of the Candidate
that we are _not_ teaching him that he is the Absolute. We are not
teaching the "I Am God" belief, which we consider to be erroneous and
misleading, and a perversion of the original Yogi teachings. This false
teaching has taken possession of many of the Hindu teachers and people,
and with its accompanying teaching of "Maya" or the complete illusion or
non-existence of the Universe, has reduced millions of people to a
passive, negative mental condition which undoubtedly is retarding their
progress. Not only in India is this true, but the same facts may be
observed among the pupils of the Western teachers who have embraced this
negative side of the Oriental Philosophy. Such people confound the
"Absolute" and "Relative" aspects of the One, and, being unable to
reconcile the facts of Life and the Universe with their theories of "I Am
God," they are driven to the desperate expedient of boldly denying the
Universe, and declaring it to be all "an illusion" or "Maya."

You will have no trouble in distinguishing the pupils of the teachers
holding this view. They will be found to exhibit the most negative mental
condition--a natural result of absorbing the constant suggestion of
"nothingness"--the gospel of negation. In marked contrast to the mental
condition of the students, however, will be observed the mental attitude
of the teachers, who are almost uniformly examples of vital, positive,
mental force, capable of hurling their teaching into the minds of the
pupils--of driving in their statements by the force of an awakened Will.
The teacher, as a rule, has awakened to a sense of the "I" consciousness,
and really develops the same by his "I Am God" attitude, because by
holding this mental attitude he is enabled to throw off the influence of
the sheaths of the lower mental principles, and the light of the Self
shows forth fiercely and strongly, sometimes to such an extent that it
fairly scorches the mentality of the less advanced pupil. But,
notwithstanding this awakened "I" consciousness, the teacher is
handicapped by his intellectual misconception and befogging metaphysics,
and is unable to impart the "I" consciousness to his pupils, and, instead
of raising them up to shine with equal splendor with himself, he really
forces them into a shadow by reason of his teachings.

Our students, of course, will understand that the above is not written in
the spirit of carping criticism or fault-finding. We hold no such mental
attitude, and indeed could not if we remain true to our conception of
Truth. We are mentioning these matters simply that the student may avoid
this "I Am God" pitfall which awaits the Candidate just as he has well
started on the Path. It would not be such a serious matter if it were
merely a question of faulty metaphysics, for that would straighten itself
out in time. But it is far more serious than this, for the teaching
inevitably leads to the accompanying teaching that all is Illusion or
_Maya_, and that Life is but a dream--a false thing--a lie--a nightmare;
that the journey along the Path is but an illusion; that everything is
"nothing"; that there is no soul; that You are God in disguise, and that
He is fooling Himself in making believe that He is You; that Life is but
a Divine masquerade or sleight-of-hand performance; that You are God, but
that You (God) are fooling Yourself (God) in order to amuse Yourself
(God). Is not this horrible? And yet it shows to what lengths the human
mind will go before it will part with some pet theory of metaphysics with
which it has been hypnotized. Do you think that we have overdrawn the
picture? Then read some of the teachings of these schools of the Oriental
Philosophy, or listen to some of the more radical of the Western teachers
preaching this philosophy. The majority of the latter lack the courage of
the Hindu teachers in carrying their theories to a logical conclusion,
and, consequently they veil their teachings with metaphysical subtlety.
But a few of them are more courageous, and come out into the open and
preach their doctrine in full.

Some of the modern Western teachers of this philosophy explain matters by
saying that "God is masquerading as different forms of life, including
Man, in order that he may gain the experience resulting therefrom, for
although He has Infinite and Absolute Wisdom and Knowledge, he lacks the
experience that comes only from actually living the life of the lowly
forms, and therefore He descend thus in order to gain the needed
experience." Can you imagine the Absolute, possessed of all possible
Knowledge and Wisdom, feeling the need of such petty "experience," and
living the life of the lowly forms (including Man) in order "to gain
experience?" To what Depths do these vain theories of Man drive us?
Another leading Western teacher, who has absorbed the teaching of certain
branches of the Oriental Philosophy, and who possesses the courage of his
convictions, boldly announces that "You, yourself, are the _totality_ of
being, and with your mind alone create, preserve and destroy the
universe, which is your own mental product." And again the last mentioned
teacher states: "the entire universe is a bagatelle illustration of your
own creative power, which you are now exhibiting for your own
inspection." "By their fruits shall you know them," is a safe rule to
apply to all teachings. The philosophy that teaches that the Universe is
an illusion perpetrated by you (God) to amuse, entertain or fool yourself
(God), can have but one result, and that is the conclusion that
"everything is nothing," and all that is necessary to do is to sit down,
fold your hands and enjoy the Divine exhibition of legerdemain that you
are performing for your own entertainment, and then, when the show is
over, return to your state of conscious Godhood and recall with smiles
the pleasant memories of the "conjure show" that you created to fool
yourself with during several billions of ages. That is what it amounts
to, and the result is that those accepting this philosophy thrust upon
them by forceful teachers, and knowing in their hearts that they are
_not_ God, but absorbing the suggestions of "nothingness," are driven
into a state of mental apathy and negativeness, the soul sinking into a
stupor from which it may not be roused for a long period of time.

We wish you to avoid confounding our teaching with this just mentioned.
We wish to teach you that You are a real Being--_not_ God Himself, but a
manifestation of Him who is the Absolute. You are a Child of the
Absolute, if you prefer the term, possessed of the Divine Heritage, and
whose mission it is to unfold qualities which are your inheritances from
your Parent. Do not make the great mistake of confounding the Relative
with the Absolute. Avoid this pitfall into which so many have fallen. Do
not allow yourself to fall into the "Slough of Despond," and wallow in
the mud of "nothingness," and to see no reality except in the person of
some forceful teacher who takes the place of the Absolute in your mind.
But raise your head and assert your Divine Parentage, and your Heritage
from the Absolute, and step out boldly on the Path, asserting the "I."

(We must refer the Candidate back to our "Advanced Course," for our
teachings regarding the Absolute and the Relative. The last three lessons
of that course will throw light upon what we have just said To repeat the
teaching at this point would be to use space which is needed for the
lesson before us.)

And yet, while the "I" is _not_ God, the Absolute, it is infinitely
greater than we have imagined it to be before the light dawned upon us.
It extends itself far beyond what we had conceived to be its limits. It
touches the Universe at all its points, and is in the closest union with
all of Life. It is in the closest touch with all that has emanated from
the Absolute--all the world of Relativity. And while it faces the
Relative Universe, it has its roots in the Absolute, and draws
nourishment therefrom, just as does the babe in the womb obtain
nourishment from the mother. It is verily a manifestation of God, and
God's very essence is in it. Surely this is almost as "high" a statement
as the "I Am God" of the teachers just mentioned,--and yet how different.
Let us consider the teaching in detail in this lesson, and in portions of
others to follow.

Let us begin with a consideration of the instruments of the Ego, and the
material with which and through which the Ego works. Let us realize that
the physical body of man is identical in substance with all other forms
of matter, and that its atoms are continually changing and being
replaced, the material being drawn from the great storehouse of matter,
and that there is a Oneness of matter underlying all apparent differences
of form and substance. And then let us realize that the vital energy or
_Prana_ that man uses in his life work is but a portion of that great
universal energy which permeates everything and everywhere, the portion
being used by us at any particular moment being drawn from the universal
supply, and again passing out from us into the great ocean of force or
energy. And then let us realize that even the mind, which is so close to
the real Self that it is often mistaken for it--even that wonderful thing
Thought--is but a portion of the Universal Mind, the highest emanation of
the Absolute beneath the plane of Spirit, and that the Mind--substance or
_Chitta_ that we are using this moment, is not ours separately and
distinctly, but is simply a portion from the great universal supply,
which is constant and unchangeable. Let us then realize that even this
thing that we feel pulsing within us--that which is so closely bound up
with the Spirit as to be almost inseparable from it--that which we call
Life--is but a bit of that Great Life Principle that pervades the
Universe, and which cannot be added to, nor subtracted from. When we have
realized these things, and have begun to feel our relation (in these
particulars) to the One Great Emanation of the Absolute, then we may
begin to grasp the idea of the Oneness of Spirit, and the relation of the
"I" to every other "I," and the merging of the Self into the one great
Self, which is not the extinction of Individuality, as some have
supposed, but the enlargement and extension of the Individual
Consciousness until it takes in the Whole.

In Lessons X and XI, of the "Advanced Course" we called your attention to
the Yogi teachings concerning _Akasa_ or Matter, and showed you that all
forms of what we know as Matter are but different forms of manifestation
of the principle called _Akasa_, or as the Western scientists call it,
"Ether." This Ether or _Akasa_ is the finest, thinnest and most tenuous
form of Matter, in fact it is Matter in its ultimate or fundamental form,
the different forms of what we call Matter being but manifestations of
this _Akasa_ or Ether, the apparent difference resulting from different
rates of vibration, etc. We mention this fact here merely to bring
clearly before your mind the fact of the Universality of Matter, to the
end that you may realize that each and every particle of your physical
body is but a portion of this great principle of the Universe, fresh from
the great store-house, and just about returning to it again, for the
atoms of the body are constantly changing. That which appears as your
flesh to-day, may have been part of a plant a few days before, and may be
part of some other living thing a few days hence. Constant change is
going on, and what is yours to-day was someone's else yesterday, and
still another's to-morrow. You do not own one atom of matter
_personally_, it is all a part of the common supply, the stream flowing
through you and through all Life, on and on forever.

And so it is with the Vital Energy that you are using every moment of
your life. You are constantly drawing upon the great Universal supply of
_Prana_, then using what is given you, allowing the force to pass on to
assume some other form. It is the property of all, and all you can do is
to use what you need, and allow it to pass on. There is but one Force or
Energy, and that is to be found everywhere at all times.

And even the great principle, Mind-substance, is under the same law. It
is hard for us to realize this. We are so apt to think of our mental
operations as distinctively our own--something that belongs to us
personally--that it is difficult for us to realize that Mind-substance is
a Universal principle just as Matter or Energy, and that we are but
drawing upon the Universal supply in our mental operations. And more than
this, the particular portion of Mind-substance that we are using,
although separated from the Mind-substance used by other individuals by a
thin wall of the very finest kind of Matter, is really in touch with the
other apparently separated minds, and with the Universal Mind of which it
forms a part. Just as is the Matter of which our physical bodies are
composed really in touch with all Matter; and just as is the Vital Force
used by us really in touch with all Energy; so is our Mind-substance
really in touch with all Mind-substance. It is as if the Ego in its
progress were moving through great oceans of Matter, Energy, or
Mind-substance, making use of that of each which it needed and which
immediately surrounded it, and leaving each behind as it moved on through
the great volume of the ocean. This illustration is clumsy, but it may
bring to your consciousness a realization that the Ego is the only thing
that is really _Yours_, unchangeable and unaltered, and that all the rest
is merely that portion of the Universal supply that you draw to yourself
for the wants of the moment. It may also bring more clearly before your
mind the great Unity of things--may enable you to see things as a Whole,
rather than as separated parts. Remember, _You_--the "I"--are the only
Real thing about and around you--all that has permanence--and Matter,
Force and even Mind-substance, are but your instruments for use and
expression. There are great oceans of each surrounding the "I" as it
moves along.

It is well for you also to bear in mind the Universality of Life. All of
the Universe is alive, vibrating and pulsating with life and energy and
motion. There is nothing dead in the Universe. Life is everywhere, and
always accompanied by intelligence. There is no such thing as a dead,
unintelligent Universe. _Instead of being atoms of Life floating in a sea
of death, we are atoms of Life surrounded by an ocean of Life, pulsating,
moving, thinking, living._ Every atom of what we call Matter is alive. It
has energy or force with it, and is always accompanied by intelligence
and life. Look around us as we will--at the animal world--at the plant
world--yes, even at the world of minerals and we see life, life,
life--all alive and having intelligence. When we are able to bring this
conception into the realm of actual consciousness--when we are able not
only to intellectually accept this fact, but to even go still further and
_feel_ and be conscious of this Universal Life on all sides, then are we
well on the road to attaining the Cosmic Consciousness.

But all these things are but steps leading up to the realization of
the Oneness in Spirit, on the part of the Individual. Gradually there
dawns upon him the realization that there is a Unity in the manifestation
of Spirit from the Absolute--a unity with itself, and a Union with the
Absolute. All this manifestation of Spirit on the part of the
Absolute--all this begetting of Divine Children--was in the nature of a
single act rather than as a series of acts, if we may be permitted
to speak of the manifestation as an _act_. Each Ego is a Centre of
Consciousness in this great ocean of Spirit--each is a Real Self,
apparently separate from the others and from its source, but the
separation is only apparent in both cases, for there is the closest
bond of union between the Egos of the Universe of Universes--each is knit
to the other in the closest bond of union, and each is still attached to
the Absolute by spiritual filaments, if we may use the term. In time we
shall grow more conscious of this mutual relationship, as the sheaths are
outgrown and cast aside, and in the end we will be withdrawn into the
Absolute--shall return to the Mansion of the Father.

It is of the highest importance to the developing soul to unfold into a
realization of this relationship and unity, _for when this conception is
once fully established the soul is enabled to rise above certain of the
lower planes, and is free from the operation of certain laws that bind
the undeveloped soul_. Therefore the Yogi teachers are constantly leading
the Candidates toward this goal. First by this path, and then by that
one, giving them different glimpses of the desired point, until finally
the student finds a path best fitted for his feet, and he moves along
straight to the mark, and throwing aside the confining bonds that have
proved so irksome, he cries aloud for joy at his new found Freedom.

The following exercises and Mental Drills are intended to aid the
Candidate in his work of growing into a realization of his relationship
with the Whole of Life and Being.


MENTAL DRILL.

(1) Read over what we have said in the "Advanced Course" regarding
the principle known as Matter. Realize that all Matter is One at the
last--that the real underlying substance of Matter is _Akasa_ or
Ether, and that all the varying forms evident to our senses are but
modifications and grosser forms of that underlying principle. Realize
that by known chemical processes all forms of Matter known to us, or
rather all combinations resulting in "forms," may be resolved into their
original elements, and that these elements are merely _Akasa_ in
different states of vibration. Let the idea of the Oneness of the visible
Universe sink deeply into your mind, until it becomes fixed there. The
erroneous conception of diversity in the material world must be replaced
by the consciousness of Unity--Oneness, at the last, in spite of the
appearance of variety and manifold forms. You must grow to see behind the
world of forms of Matter, and see the great principle of Matter (_Akasa_
or Ether) back of, within, and under it all. You must grow to _feel_
this, as well as to intellectually see it.

(2) Meditate over the last mentioned truths, and then follow the matter
still further. Read what we have said in the "Advanced Course" (Lesson
XI) about the last analysis of Matter showing it fading away into Force
or Energy until the dividing line is lost, and Matter merges into Energy
or Force, showing them both to be but the same thing, Matter being a
grosser form of Energy or Force. This idea should be impressed upon the
understanding, in order that the complete edifice of the Knowing of the
Oneness may be complete in all of its parts.

(3) Then read in the "Advanced Lessons" about Energy or Force, in the
oneness underlying its various manifestations. Consider how one form of
Energy may be transformed into another, and so on around the circle, the
one principle producing the entire chain of appearances. Realize that the
energy within you by which you move and act, is but one of the forms of
this great Principle of Energy with which the Universe is filled, and
that you may draw to you the required Energy from the great Universal
supply. But above all endeavor to grasp the idea of the Oneness pervading
the world of Energy or Force, or Motion. See it in its entirety, rather
than in its apparent separateness. These steps may appear somewhat
tedious and useless, but take our word for it, they are all helps in
fitting the mind to grasp the idea of the Oneness of All. Each step is
important, and renders the next higher one more easily attained. In this
mental drill, it will be well to mentally picture the Universe in
perpetual motion--everything is in motion--all matter is moving and
changing its forms, and manifesting the Energy within it. Suns and worlds
rush through space, their particles constantly changing and moving.
Chemical composition and decomposition is constant and unceasing,
everywhere the work of building up and breaking down is going on. New
combinations of atoms and worlds are constantly being formed and
dissolved. And after considering this Oneness of the principle of Energy,
reflect that through all these changes of form the Ego--the Real
Self--YOU--stand unchanged and unharmed--Eternal, Invincible,
Indestructible, Invulnerable, _Real_ and Constant among this changing
world of forms and force. You are above it all, and it revolves around
and about you--Spirit.

(4) Read what we have said in the "Advanced Course" about Force or
Energy, shading into Mind-substance which is its parent. Realize that
Mind is back of all this great exhibition of Energy and Force that you
have been considering. Then will you be ready to consider the Oneness of
Mind.

(5) Read what we have said in the "Advanced Lessons" about
Mind-substance. Realize that there is a great world of Mind-substance,
or an Universal Mind, which is at the disposal of the Ego. All Thought is
the product of the Ego's use of this Mind-substance, its tool and
instrument. Realize that this Ocean of Mind is entire and Whole, and that
the Ego may draw freely from it. Realize that _You_ have this great ocean
of Mind at your command, when you unfold sufficiently to use it. Realize
that Mind is back of and underneath all of the world of form and names
and action, and that in that sense: "All is Mind," although still higher
in the scale than even Mind are _You_, the Real Self, the Ego, the
Manifestation of the Absolute.

(6) Realize your identity with and relationship to All of Life. Look
around you at Life in all its forms, from the lowest to the highest, all
being exhibitions of the great principle of Life in operation along
different stages of The Path. Scorn not the humblest forms, but look
behind the form and see the reality--Life. Feel yourself a part of the
great Universal Life. Let your thought sink to the depths of the ocean,
and realize your kinship with the Life back of the forms dwelling there.
Do not confound the forms (often hideous from your personal point of
view) with the principle behind them. Look at the plant-life, and the
animal life, and seek to see behind the veil of form into the real Life
behind and underneath the form. Learn to feel your Life throbbing and
thrilling with the Life Principle in these other forms, and in the forms
of those of your own race. Gaze into the starry skies and see there the
numerous suns and worlds, all peopled with life in some of its myriad
forms, and feel your kinship to it. If you can grasp this thought and
consciousness, you will find yourself at-one-ment with those whirling
worlds, and, instead of feeling small and insignificant by comparison,
you will be conscious of an expansion of Self, until you feel that in
those circling worlds is a part of yourself--that You are there also,
while standing upon the Earth--that you are akin to all parts of the
Universe--nay, more, that they are as much your home as is the spot upon
which you are standing. You will find sweeping upon you a sense of
consciousness that the Universe is your home--not merely a part of it, as
you had previously thought. You will experience a sense of greatness, and
broadness and grandness such as you have never dreamed of. You will begin
to realize at least a part of your Divine inheritance, and to know indeed
that you are a Child of the Infinite, the very essence of your Divine
Parent being in the fibres of your being, At such times of realization
one becomes conscious of what lies before the soul in its upward path,
and how small the greatest prizes that Earth has to offer are when
compared to some of these things before the soul, as seen by the eyes of
the Spiritual Mind in moments of clear vision.

You must not dispute with these visions of the greatness of the soul, but
must treat them hospitably, for they are your very own, coming to you
from the regions of your Spiritual Mind which are unfolding into
consciousness.

(7) The highest step in this dawning consciousness of the Oneness of All,
is the one in which is realized that there is but One Reality, and at the
same time the sense of consciousness that the "I" is in that Reality. It
is most difficult to express this thought in words for it is something
that must be felt, rather than seen by the Intellect. When the Soul
realizes that the Spirit within it is, at the last, the only _real_ part
of it, and that the Absolute and its manifestation as Spirit is the only
_real_ thing in the Universe, a great step has been taken. But there is
still one higher step to be taken before the full sense of the Oneness
and Reality comes to us. That step is the one in which we realize the
Identity of the "I" with the great "I" of the Universe. The mystery of
the manifestation of the Absolute in the form of the Spirit, is veiled
from us--the mind confesses its inability to penetrate behind the veil
shielding the Absolute from view, although it will give us a report of
its being conscious of the presence of the Absolute just at the edge of
the boundary line. But the highest region of the Spiritual Mind, when
explored by the advanced souls who are well along the Path, reports that
it sees beyond the apparent separation of Spirit from Spirit, and
realizes that there is but one Reality of Spirit, and that all the "I"'s
are really but different views of that One--Centres of Consciousness upon
the surface of the One Great "I," the Centre of which is the Absolute
Itself. This certainly penetrates the whole region of the Spiritual Mind,
and gives us all the message of Oneness of the Spirit, just as the
Intellect satisfies us with its message of the Oneness of Matter, Energy,
and Mind. The idea of Oneness permeates all planes of Life.

The sense of Reality of the "I" that is apparent to You in the moments of
your clearest mental vision, is really the reflection of the sense of
Reality underlying the Whole--it is the consciousness of the Whole,
manifesting through your point or Centre of Consciousness. The advanced
student or Initiate finds his consciousness gradually enlarging until it
realizes its identity with the Whole. He realizes that under all the
forms and names of the visible world, there is to be found One Life--One
Force--One Substance--One Existence--One Reality--ONE. And, instead of
his experiencing any sense of the loss of identity or individuality, he
becomes conscious of an enlargement of an expansion of individuality or
identity--instead of feeling himself absorbed in the Whole, he feels that
he is spreading out and embracing the Whole. This is most hard to express
in words, for there are no words to fit the conception, and all that we
can hope to do is to start into motion, by means of our words, the
vibrations that will find a response in the minds of those who read the
words, to the end that they will experience the consciousness which will
bring its own understanding. This consciousness cannot be transmitted by
words proceeding from the Intellect, but vibrations may be set up that
will prepare the mind to receive the message from its own higher planes.

Even in the early stages of this dawning consciousness, one is enabled to
identify the _real_ part of himself with the _real_ part of all the other
forms of life that pass before his notice. In every other man--in every
animal--in every plant--in every mineral--he sees behind the sheath and
form of appearance, an evidence of the presence of the Spirit which is
akin to his own Spirit--yea, more than akin, for the two are One. He sees
Himself in all forms of life, in all time in all places. He realizes that
the Real Self is everywhere present and everlasting, and that the Life
within himself is also within all the Universe--in everything, for there
is nothing dead in the Universe, and all Life, in all of its varying
phases, is simply the One Life, held, used and enjoyed in common by all.
Each Ego is a Centre of Consciousness in this great ocean of Life, and
while apparently separate and distinct, is yet really in touch with the
Whole, and with every apparent part.

It is not our intention, in this lesson, to go into the details of this
great mystery of Life, or to recite the comparatively little of the Truth
that the most advanced teachers and Masters have handed down. This is not
the place for it--it belongs to the subject of Gnani Yoga rather than to
Raja Yoga--and we touch upon it here, not for the purpose of trying to
explain the scientific side of it to you, but merely in order that your
minds may be led to take up the idea and gradually manifest it in
conscious realization. There is quite a difference between the
scientific, intellectual teaching of Gnani Yoga, whereby the metaphysical
and scientific sides of the Yogi teachings are presented to the minds of
the students, in a logical, scientific manner, and the methods of Raja
Yoga, in which the Candidate is led by degrees to a _consciousness_
(outside of mere intellectual belief) of his real nature and powers. We
are following the latter plan, for this course is a Course in _Raja_
Yoga. We are aiming to present the matter to the mind in such a manner
that it may prepare the way for the dawning consciousness, by brushing
away the preconceived notions and prejudices, and allowing a clean
entrance for the new conception. Much that we have said in this lesson
may appear, on the one hand, like useless repetition, and, on the other
hand, like an incomplete presentation of the scientific side of the Yogi
teachings. But it will be found, in time, that the effect has been that
the mind of the student has undergone a change from the absorbing of the
idea of the Oneness of Life, and the Expansion of the Self. The Candidate
is urged not to be in too much of a hurry. Development must not be
forced. Read what we have written, and practice the Mental Drills we have
given, even if they may appear trifling and childish to some of you--we
know what they will do for you, and you will agree with us in time. Make
haste slowly. You will find that the mind will work out the matter, even
though you be engaged in your ordinary work, and have forgotten the
subject for the time. The greater portion of mental work is done in this
way, while you are busy with something else, or even asleep, for the
sub-conscious portion of the mind works along the lines pointed out for
it, and performs its task.

As we have said, the purpose of this lesson is to bring you in the way of
the unfoldment of consciousness, rather than to teach you the details of
the scientific side of the Yogi teachings. Development is the keynote of
Raja Yoga. And the reason that we wish to develop this sense of the
Reality of the "I," and the Expansion of the Self, at this place is that
thereby you may assert your Mastery over Matter, Energy and Mind. Before
you may mount your throne as King, you must fully realize in
consciousness that you _are_ the _Reality_ in this world of appearances.
You must realize that you--the _real_ You--are not only existent, and
real, but that you are in touch with all else that is real, and that the
roots of your being are grounded in the Absolute itself. You must realize
that instead of being a separate atom of Reality, isolated and fixed in a
narrow space, you are a Centre of Consciousness in the Whole of Reality,
and that the Universe of Universes is your home--that your Centre of
Consciousness might be moved on to a point trillions of miles from the
Earth (which distance would be as nothing in Space) and still you--the
awakened soul--would be just as much at home there as here--that even
while you are here, your influence extends far out into space. Your real
state, which will be revealed to you, gradually, throughout the ages, is
so great and grand, that your mind in its present state of development
cannot grasp even the faint reflection of that glory.

We wish you to try to form at least a faint idea of your Real State of
Being, in order that you may control the lower principles by the force of
your awakened Will, which Will depends upon your degree of consciousness
of the Real Self.

As man grows in understanding and consciousness of the Real Self, so does
his ability to use his Will grow. Will is the attribute of the Real Self.
It is well that this great realization of the Real Self brings with it
Love for all of Life, and Kindness, for, were it not so, the Will that
comes to him who grows into a realization of his real being could be used
to the great hurt of those of the race who had not progressed so far
(their _relative_ hurt, we mean, for in the end, and at the last, no soul
is ever really _hurt_). But the dawning power brings with it greater Love
and Kindness, and the higher the soul mounts the more is it filled with
the higher ideals and the more does it throw from it the lower animal
attributes. It is true that some souls growing into a consciousness of
their real nature, without an understanding of what it all means, may
commit the error of using the awakened Will for selfish ends, as may be
seen in the cases of the Black Magicians spoken of in the occult
writings, and also in the cases of well known characters in history and
in modern life, who manifest an enormous Will which they misuse. All of
this class of people of great Will have stumbled or grown blindly into a
consciousness (or partial consciousness) of the real nature, but lack the
restraining influence of the higher teachings. But such misuse of the
Will brings pain and unrest to the user, and he is eventually driven into
the right road.

We do not expect our students to grasp fully this idea of the Expansion
of Self. Even the highest grasp it only partially. But until you get a
glimmering of the consciousness you will not be able to progress far
on the path of Raja Yoga. You must understand _what you are_, before you
are able to use the power that lies dormant within you. You must realize
that you are the Master, before you can claim the powers of the Master,
and expect to have your commands obeyed. So bear patiently with us, your
Teachers, while we set before you the lessons to be learned--the tasks to
be performed. The road is long, and is rough in places--the feet may
become tired and bruised, but the reward is great, and there are resting
places along the path. Be not discouraged if your progress seem slow, for
the soul must unfold naturally as does the flower, without haste, without
force.

And be not dismayed nor affrighted if you occasionally catch a glimpse
of your higher self. As "M.C." says, in her notes on "Light on the Path"
(see "Advanced Course," page 95): "To have seen thy soul in its bloom, is
to have obtained a momentary glimpse in thyself of the transfiguration
which shall eventually make thee more than man; to recognize, is to
achieve the great task of gazing upon the blazing light without dropping
the eyes, and not falling back in terror as though before some ghastly
phantom. This happens to some, and so, when the victory is all but won,
it is lost."

Peace be with thee.


MANTRAM (AFFIRMATION) FOR THE THIRD LESSON.

There is but one ultimate form of Matter; one ultimate form of Energy;
one ultimate form of Mind. Matter proceeds from Energy, and Energy from
Mind, and all are an emanation of the Absolute, threefold in appearance
but One in substance. There is but One Life, and that permeates the
Universe, manifesting in various forms, but being, at the last, but One.
My body is one with Universal Matter; My energy and vital force is one
with the Universal Energy; My Mind is one with the Universal Mind; My
Life is one with the Universal Life. The Absolute has expressed and
manifested itself in Spirit, which is the real "I" overshadowing and
embracing all the apparently separate "I"s. "I" feel my identity with
Spirit and realize the Oneness of All Reality. I feel my unity with all
Spirit, and my Union (through Spirit) with the Absolute. I realize that
"I" am an Expression and Manifestation of the Absolute, and that its
very essence is within me. I am filled with Divine Love. I am filled with
Divine Power. I am filled with Divine Wisdom. I am conscious of identity
in spirit, in substance; and in nature; with the One Reality.




THE FOURTH LESSON.

MENTAL CONTROL.


In our first three lessons of this series, we have endeavored to bring
into realization within your mind (1) the consciousness of the "I"; its
independence from the body; its immortality; its invincibility and
invulnerability; (2) the superiority of the "I" over the mind, as well as
over the body; the fact that the mind is not the "I," but is merely an
instrument for the expression of the "I"; the fact that the "I" is master
of the mind, as well as of the body; that the "I" is behind all thought;
that the "I" can set aside for consideration the sensations, emotions,
passions, desires, and the rest of the mental phenomena, and still
realize that it, the "I," is apart from these mental manifestations, and
remains unchanged, real and fully existent; that the "I" can set aside
any and all of its mental tools and instruments, as "not I" things, and
still consciously realize that after so setting them aside there remains
something--itself--the "I" which cannot be set aside or taken from; that
the "I" is the master of the mind, and not its slave; (3) that the "I" is
a much greater thing than the little personal "I" we have been
considering it to be; that the "I" is a part of that great One Reality
which pervades all the Universe; that it is connected with all other
forms of life by countless ties, mental and spiritual filaments and
relations; that the "I" is a Centre of Consciousness in that great One
Reality or Spirit, which is behind and back of all Life and Existence,
the Centre of which Reality or Existence, is the Absolute or God; that
the sense of Reality that is inherent in the "I," is really the
reflection of the sense of Reality inherent in the Whole--the Great "I"
of the Universe.

The underlying principle of these three lessons is the Reality of the
"I," in itself, over and above all Matter, Force, or Mind--positive to
all of them, just as they are positive or negative to each other--and
negative only to the Centre of the One--the Absolute itself. And this is
the position for the Candidate or Initiate to take: "I am positive to
Mind, Energy, and Matter, and control them all--I am negative only to the
Absolute, which is the Centre of Being, of which Being I Am. And, as I
assert my mastery over Mind, Energy, and Matter, and exercise my Will
over them, so do I acknowledge my subordination to the Absolute, and
gladly open my soul to the inflow of the Divine Will, and partake of its
Power, Strength, and Wisdom."

In the present lesson, and those immediately following it, we shall
endeavor to assist the Candidate or Initiate in acquiring a mastery of
the subordinate manifestations, Matter, Energy, and Mind. In order to
acquire and assert this mastery, one must acquaint himself with the
nature of the thing to be controlled.

In our "Advanced Course" we have endeavored to explain to you the nature
of the Three Great Manifestations, known as _Chitta_, or Mind-Substance;
_Prana_, or Energy; and _Akasa_, or the Principle of Matter. We also
explained to you that the "I" of man is superior to these three, being
what is known as _Atman_ or Spirit. Matter, Energy, and Mind, as we have
explained, are manifestations of the Absolute, and are relative things.
The Yogi philosophy teaches that Matter is the grossest form of
manifested substance, being below Energy and Mind, and consequently
negative to, and subordinate to both. One stage higher than Matter, is
Energy or Force, which is positive to, and has authority over, Matter
(Matter being a still grosser form of substance), but which is negative
to and subordinate to Mind, which is a still higher form of substance.
Next in order comes the highest of the three--Mind--the finest form of
substance, and which dominates both Energy and Matter, being positive to
both. Mind, however is negative and subordinate to the "I," which is
Spirit, and obeys the orders of the latter when firmly and intelligently
given. The "I" itself is subordinate only to the Absolute--the Centre of
Being--the "I" being positive and dominant over the threefold
manifestation of Mind, Energy, and Matter.

The "I," which for the sake of the illustration must be regarded as a
separate thing (although it is really only a Centre of Consciousness in
the great body of Spirit), finds itself surrounded by the triple-ocean of
Mind, Energy and Matter, which ocean extends into Infinity. The body is
but a physical form through which flows an unending stream of matter,
for, as you know the particles and atoms of the body are constantly
changing; being renewed; replaced; thrown off, and supplanted. One's body
of a few years ago, or rather the particles composing that body, have
passed off and now form new combinations in the world of matter. And
one's body of to-day is passing away and being replaced by new particles.
And one's body of next year is now occupying some other portion of space,
and its particles are now parts of countless other combinations, from
which space and combinations they will later come to combine and form the
body of next year. There is nothing permanent about the body--even the
particles of the bones are being constantly replaced by others. And
so it is with the Vital Energy, Force, or Strength of the body (including
that of the brain). It is constantly being used up, and expended, a fresh
supply taking its place. And even the Mind of the person is changeable,
and the Mind-substance or _Chitta_, is being used up and replenished, the
new supply coming from the great Ocean of Mind, into which the discarded
portion slips, just as is the case with the matter and energy.

While the majority of our students, who are more or less familiar with
the current material scientific conceptions, will readily accept the
above idea of the ocean of Matter, and Energy, and the fact that there
is a continual using up and replenishing of one's store of both, they may
have more or less trouble in accepting the idea that Mind is a substance
or principle amenable to the same general laws as are the other two
manifestations, or attributes of substance. One is so apt to think of his
Mind as "himself"--the "I." Notwithstanding the fact that in our Second
Lesson of this series we showed you that the "I" is superior to the
mental states, and that it can set them aside and regard and consider
them as "not-I" things, yet the force of the habit of thought is very
strong, and it may take some of you considerable time before you "get
into the way" of realizing that your Mind is "something that you use,"
instead of being You--yourself. And yet, you must persevere in attaining
this realization, for in the degree that you realize your dominance over
your mind, so will be your control of it, and its amenability to that
control. And, as is the degree of that dominance and control, so will
be the character, grade and extent of the work that your Mind will do for
you. So you see: _Realization brings Control_--_and Control brings
results_. This statement lies at the base of the science of _Raja Yoga_.
And many of its first exercises are designed to acquaint the student with
that realization, and to develop the realization and control by habit and
practice.

The Yogi Philosophy teaches that instead of Mind being the "I." it is
the thing through and by means of which the "I" _thinks_, at least so
far as is concerned the knowledge concerning the phenomenal or outward
Universe--that is the Universe of Name and Form. There is a higher
Knowledge locked up in the innermost part of the "I," that far transcends
any information that it may receive about or from the outer world, but
that is not before us for consideration at this time, and we must concern
ourselves with the "thinking" about the world of things.

Mind-substance in Sanscrit is called "_Chitta_," and a wave in the
_Chitta_ (which wave is the combination of Mind and Energy) is called
"_Vritta_," which is akin to what we call a "thought." In other words it
is "mind in action," whereas _Chitta_ is "mind in repose." _Vritta_, when
literally translated means "a whirlpool or eddy in the mind," which is
exactly what a thought really is.

But we must call the attention of the student, at this point, to the fact
that the word "Mind" is used in two ways by the Yogis and other
occultists, and the student is directed to form a clear conception of
each meaning, in order to avoid confusion, and that he may more clearly
perceive the two aspects of the things which the word is intended to
express. In the first place the word "Mind" is used as synonymous
with _Chitta_, or Mind-substance, which is the Universal Mind Principle.
From this _Chitta_, Mind-substance, or Mind, all the material of the
millions of personal minds is obtained. The second meaning of the word
"Mind" is that which we mean when we speak of the "mind" of anyone,
thereby meaning the mental faculties of that particular person--that
which distinguishes his mental personality from that of another. We have
taught you that this "mind" in Man, functions on three planes, and have
called the respective manifestations (1) the Instinctive Mind; (2) the
Intellect; and (3) the Spiritual Mind. (_See "Fourteen Lessons in Yogi
Philosophy," etc._) These three mental planes, taken together, make up
the "mind" of the person, or to be more exact they, clustered around the
"I" form the "soul" of the individual. The word "soul" is often used as
synonymous with "spirit" but those who have followed us will distinguish
the difference. The "soul" is the Ego surrounded by its mental
principles, while the Spirit is the "soul of the soul"--the "I," or Real
Self.

The Science of _Raja Yoga_, to which this series of lessons is devoted,
teaches, as its basic principle, the Control of the Mind. It holds that
the first step toward Power consists in obtaining a control of one's
own mind. It holds that the internal world must be conquered before the
outer world is attacked. It holds that the "I" manifests itself in
Will, and that that Will may be used to manipulate, guide, govern and
direct the mind of its owner, as well as the physical world. It aims to
clear away all mental rubbish, and encumbrances--to conduct a "mental
house-cleaning," as it were, and to secure a clear, clean, healthy mind.
Then it proceeds to control that mind intelligently, and with effect,
saving all waste-power, and by means of concentration bringing the Mind
in full harmony with the Will, that it may be brought to a focus and its
power greatly increased and its efficiency fully secured. Concentration
and Will-power are the means by which the Yogis obtain such wonderful
results, and by which they manage and direct their vigorous, healthy
minds, and master the material world, acting positively upon Energy and
Matter. This control extends to all planes of the Mind and the Yogis not
only control the Instinctive Mind, holding in subjection its lower
qualities and making use of its other parts, but they also develop and
enlarge the field of their Intellect and obtain from it wonderful
results. Even the Spiritual Mind is mastered, and aided in its
unfoldment, and urged to pass down into the field of consciousness some
of the wonderful secrets to be found within its area. By means of _Raja
Yoga_ many of the secrets of existence and Being--many of the Riddles of
the Universe--are answered and solved. And by it the latent powers
inherent in the constitution of Man are unfolded and brought into action.
Those highly advanced in the science are believed to have obtained such a
wonderful degree of power and control over the forces of the universe,
that they are as gods compared with the ordinary man.

_Raja Yoga_ teaches that not only may power of this kind be secured, but
that a wonderful field of Knowledge is opened out through its practice.
It holds that when the concentrated mind is focused upon thing or
subject, the true nature and inner meaning, of, and concerning, that
thing or subject will be brought to view. The concentrated mind passes
through the object or subject just as the X-Ray passes through a block of
wood, and the thing is seen by the "I" as it _is_--in truth--and not as
it had appeared before, imperfectly and erroneously. Not only may the
outside world be thus explored, but the mental ray may be turned inward,
and the secret places of the mind explored. When it is remembered that
the bit of mind that each man possesses, is like a drop of the ocean
which contains within its tiny compass all the elements that make up the
ocean, and that to know perfectly the drop is to know perfectly the
ocean, then we begin to see what such a power really means.

Many in the Western world who have attained great results in the
intellectual and scientific fields of endeavor, have developed these
powers more or less unconsciously. Many great inventors are practical
Yogis, although they do not realize the source of their power. Anyone who
is familiar with the personal mental characteristics of Edison, will see
that he follows some of the _Raja Yoga_ methods, and that Concentration
is one of his strongest weapons. And from all reports, Prof. Elmer Gates,
of Washington, D.C., whose mind has unfolded many wonderful discoveries
and inventions, is also a practical Yogi although he may repudiate the
assertion vigorously, and may not have familiarized himself with the
principles of this science, which he has "dropped into" unconsciously.
Those who have reported upon Prof. Gates' methods, say that he fairly
"digs out" the inventions and discoveries from his mind, after going
into seclusion and practicing concentration, and what is known as the
Mental Vision.

But we have given you enough of theory for one lesson, and must begin to
give you directions whereby you may aid yourself in developing these
latent powers and unfolding these dormant energies. You will notice that
in this series we first tell you something about the theory, and then
proceed to give you "something to do." This is the true Yogi method as
followed and practiced by their best teachers. Too much theory is
tiresome, and sings the mind to sleep, while too much exercise tires one,
and does not give the inquiring part of his mind the necessary food. To
combine both in suitable proportions is the better plan, and one that we
aim to follow.


MENTAL DRILL AND EXERCISES.

Before we can get the mind to do good work for us, we must first "tame"
it, and bring it to obedience to the Will of the "I." The mind, as a
rule, has been allowed to run wild, and follow its own sweet will and
desires, without regard to anything else. Like a spoiled child or badly
trained domestic animal, it gets into much trouble, and is of very little
pleasure, comfort or use. The minds of many of us are like menageries
of wild animals, each pursuing the bent of its own nature, and going its
own way. We have the whole menagerie within us--the tiger, the ape, the
peacock, the ass, the goose, the sheep the hyena, and all the rest. And
we have been letting these animals rule us. Even our Intellect is
erratic, unstable, and like the quicksilver to which the ancient
occultists compared it, shifting and uncertain. If you will look around
you you will see that those men and women in the world who have really
accomplished anything worth while have trained their minds to obedience.
They have asserted the Will over their own minds, and learned Mastery and
Power in that way. The average mind chafes at the restraint of the Will,
and is like a frisky monkey that will not be "taught tricks." But taught
it must be, if it wants to do good work. And teach it you must if you
expect to get any use from it--if you expect to use it, instead of having
it use you.

And this is the first thing to be learned in _Raja Yoga_--this control of
the mind. Those who had hoped for some royal road to mastery, may be
disappointed, but there is only one way and that is to master and control
the mind by the Will. Otherwise it will run away when you most need it.
And so we shall give you some exercise designed to aid you in this
direction.

The first exercise in _Raja Yoga_ Is what is called _Pratyahara_ or the
art of making the mind introspective or turned inward upon itself. It is
the first step toward mental control. It aims to turn the mind from
going outward, and gradually turning it inward upon itself or inner
nature. The object is to gain control of it by the Will. The following
exercises will aid in that direction:


EXERCISE I.

(a) Place yourself in a comfortable position, and so far as possible free
from outside disturbing influences. Make no violent effort to control
the mind, but rather allow it to run along for a while and exhaust its
efforts. It will take advantage of the opportunity, and will jump around
like an unchained monkey at first, until it gradually slows down and
looks to you for orders. It may take some time to tame down at first
trial, but each time you try it will come around to you in shorter time.
The Yogis spend much time in acquiring this mental peace and calm, and
consider themselves well paid for it.

(b) When the mind is well calmed down, and peaceful, fix the thought on
the "I Am," as taught in our previous lessons. Picture the "I" as an
entity independent of the body; deathless; invulnerable; immortal; real.
Then think of it as independent of the body, and able to exist without
its fleshly covering. Meditate upon this for a time, and then gradually
direct the thought to the realization of the "I" as independent and
superior to the mind, and controlling same. Go over the general ideas of
the first two lessons, and endeavor to calmly reflect upon them and
to see them in the "mind's eye." You will find that your mind is
gradually becoming more and more peaceful and calm, and that the
distracting thoughts of the outside world are farther and farther removed
from you.

(c) Then let the mind pass on to a calm consideration of the Third
Lesson, in which we have spoken of the Oneness of All, and the
relationship of the "I" to the One Life; Power; Intelligence; Being. You
will find that you are acquiring a mental control and calm heretofore
unknown to you. The exercises in the first three lessons will have
prepared you for this.

(d) The following is the most difficult of the variations or degrees of
this exercise, but the ability to perform it will come gradually. The
exercise consists in gradually shutting out all thought or impression
of the outside world; of the body; and of the thoughts themselves, the
student concentrating and meditating upon the word and idea "I AM," the
idea being that he shall concentrate upon the idea of mere "being" or
"existence," symbolized by the words "I Am." Not "I am _this_," or "I am
_that_," or "I _do_ this," or "I _think_ that," but simply: "I _AM_."
This exercise will focus the attention at the very centre of Being within
oneself, and will gather in all the mental energies, instead of allowing
them to be scattered upon outside things. A feeling of Peace, Strength,
and Power will result, for the affirmation, and the thought back of it,
is the most powerful and strongest that one may make, for it is a
statement of Actual Being, and a turning of the thought inward to that
truth. Let the mind first dwell upon the word "I," identifying it with
the Self, and then let it pass on to the word "AM," which signifies
Reality, and Being. Then combine the two with the meanings thereof, and
the result a most powerful focusing of thought inward, and most potent
Statement of Being.

It is well to accompany the above exercises with a comfortable and easy
physical attitude, so as to prevent the distraction of the attention by
the body. In order to do this one should assume an easy attitude and then
relax every muscle, and take the tension from every nerve, until a
perfect sense of ease, comfort and relaxation is obtained. You should
practice this until you have fully acquired it. It will be useful to you
in many ways, besides rendering Concentration and Meditation easier. It
will act as a "rest cure" for tired body, nerves, and mind.


EXERCISE II.

The second step in _Raja Yoga_ is what is known as _Dharana_, or
Concentration. This is a most wonderful idea in the direction of focusing
the mental forces, and may be cultivated to an almost incredible degree,
but all this requires work, time, and patience. But the student will be
well repaid for it. Concentration consists in the mind focusing upon a
certain subject, or object, and being held there for a time. This, at
first thought seems very easy, but a little practice will show how
difficult it is to firmly fix the attention and hold it there. It will
have a tendency to waver, and move to some other object or subject, and
much practice will be needed in order to hold it at the desired point.
But practice will accomplish wonders, as one may see by observing people
who have acquired this faculty, and who use it in their everyday life.
But the following point should be remembered. Many persons have acquired
the faculty of concentrating their attention, but have allowed it to
become almost involuntary, and they become a slave to it, forgetting
themselves and everything else, and often neglecting necessary affairs.
This is the ignorant way of concentrating, and those addicted to it
become slaves to their habits, instead of masters of their minds. They
become day-dreamers, and absent-minded people, instead of Masters. They
are to be pitied as much as those who cannot concentrate at all. The
secret is in a mastery of the mind. The Yogis can concentrate at will,
and completely bury themselves in the subject before them, and extract
from it every item of interest, and can then pass the mind from the thing
at will, the same control being used in both cases. They do not allow
fits of abstraction, or "absent-mindedness" to come upon them, nor are
they day-dreamers. On the contrary they are very wide awake individuals;
close observers; clear thinkers; correct reasoners. They are masters of
their minds, not slaves to their moods. The ignorant concentrator buries
himself in the object or subject, and allows it to master and absorb
himself, while the trained Yogi thinker asserts the "I," and then directs
his mind to concentrate upon the subject or object, keeping it well under
control and in view all the time. Do you see the difference? Then heed
the lesson.

The following exercises may be found useful in the first steps of
Concentration:

(a) Concentrate the attention upon some familiar object--a pencil, for
instance. Hold the mind there and consider the pencil to the exclusion of
any other object. Consider its size; color; shape; kind of wood. Consider
its uses, and purposes; its materials; the process of its manufacture,
etc., etc., etc. In short think as many things about the pencil as
possible allowing the mind to pursue any associated by-paths, such as a
consideration of the graphite of which the "lead" is made; the forest
from which came the wood used in making the pencil; the history of
pencils, and other implements used for writing, etc. In short exhaust
the subject of "Pencils." In considering a subject under concentration,
the following plan of synopsis will be found useful. Think of the thing
in question from the following view-points:

(1) The thing itself.

(2) The place from whence it came.

(3) Its purpose or use.

(4) Its associations.

(5) Its probable end.

Do not let the apparently trivial nature of the inquiry discourage you,
for the simplest form of mental training is useful, and will help to
develop your Will and Concentration. It is akin to the process of
developing a physical muscle by some simple exercise, and in both cases
one loses sight of the unimportance of the exercise itself, in view of
the end to be gained.

(b) Concentrate the attention upon some part of the body--the hand for
instance, and fixing your entire attention upon it, shut off or inhibit
all sensation from the other parts of the body. A little practice will
enable you to do this. In addition to the mental training, this exercise
will stimulate the part of the body concentrated upon, for reasons that
will appear in future lessons. Change the parts of the body concentrated
upon, and thus give the mind a variety of exercises, and the body the
effect of a general stimulation.

(c) These exercises may be extended indefinitely upon familiar objects
about you. Remember always, that the thing in itself is of no importance,
the whole idea being to train the mind to obey the Will, so that when you
really wish to use the mental forces upon some important object, you may
find them well trained and obedient. Do not be tempted to slight this
part of the work because it is "dry" and uninteresting, for it leads up
to things that are most interesting, and opens a door to a fascinating
subject.

(d) Practice focusing the attention upon some abstract subject--that is
upon some subject of interest that may offer a field for mental
exploration. Think about the subject in all its phases and branches,
following up one by-path, and then another, until you feel that you know
all about the subject that your mind has acquired. You will be surprised
to find how much more you know about any one thing or subject than you
had believed possible. In hidden corners of your mind you will find some
useful or interesting information about the thing in question, and when
you are through you will feel well posted upon it, and upon the things
connected with it. This exercise will not only help, to develop your
intellectual powers, but will strengthen your memory, and broaden your
mind, and give you more confidence in yourself. And, in addition, you
will have taken a valuable exercise in Concentration or _Dharana_.


_The Importance of Concentration._

Concentration is a focusing of the mind. And this focusing of the mind
requires a focusing, or bringing to a center, of the Will. The mind is
concentrated because the Will is focused upon the object. The mind flows
into the mould made by the Will. The above exercises are designed not
only to accustom the mind to the obedience and direction of the Will, but
also tend to accustom the Will to command. We speak of strengthening the
Will, when what we really mean is training the mind to obey, and
accustoming the Will to command. Our Will is strong enough, but we do not
realize it. The Will takes root in the very center of our being--in the
"I," but our imperfectly developed mind does not recognize this tact.
We are like young elephants that do not recognize their own strength, but
allow themselves to be mastered by puny drivers, whom they could brush
aside with a movement. The Will is back of all action--all doing--mental
and physical.

We shall have much to say touching the Will, in these lessons and the
student should give the matter his careful attention. Let him look around
him, and he will see that the great difference between the men who have
stepped forward from the ranks, and those who remain huddled up in the
crowd, consists in Determination and Will. As Buxton has well said:
"The longer I live, the more certain I am that the great difference
between men, the feeble and the powerful; the great and the
insignificant; is Energy and Invincible Determination." And he might have
added that the thing behind that "energy and invincible determination"
was Will.

The writers and thinkers of all ages have recognized the wonderful and
transcendent importance of the Will. Tennyson sings: "O living Will thou
shalt endure when all that seems shall suffer shock." Oliver Wendell
Holmes says: "The seat of the Will seems to vary with the organ through
which it is manifested; to transport itself to different parts of the
brain, as we may wish to recall a picture, a phrase, a melody; to throw
its force on the muscles or the intellectual processes. Like the
general-in-chief, its place is everywhere in the field of action. It is
the least like an instrument of any of our faculties; the farthest
removed from our conceptions of mechanism and matter, as we commonly
define them." Holmes was correct in his idea, but faulty in his details.
The Will does not change its seat, which is always in the center of the
Ego, but the Will forces the mind to all parts, and in all directions,
and it directs the _Prana_ or vital force likewise. The Will is indeed
the general-in-chief, but it does not rush to the various points of
action, but sends its messengers and couriers there to carry out its
orders. Buxton has said: "The Will will do anything that can be done in
this world. And no talents, no circumstances, no opportunities will
make a two-legged creature a Man without it." Ik Marvel truly says:
"Resolve is what makes a man manifest; not puny resolve, not crude
determinations, not errant purpose--but that strong and indefatigable
Will which treads down difficulties and danger, as a boy treads down the
heaving frost-lands of winter; which kindles his eye and brain with a
proud pulse-beat toward the unattainable. Will makes men giants."

The great obstacle to the proper use of the Will, in the case of the
majority of people, is the lack of ability to focus the attention. The
Yogis clearly understand this point, and many of the _Raja Yoga_
exercises which are given to the students by the teachers, are designed
to overcome this difficulty. Attention is the outward evidence of the
Will. As a French writer has said: "The attention is subject to the
superior authority of the Ego. I yield it, or I withhold it, as I please.
I direct it in turn to several points. I concentrate it upon each point
as long as my Will can stand the effort." Prof. James has said: "The
essential achievement of the Will, when it is most voluntary, is to
attend to a difficult object, and hold it fast before the mind. Effort of
Attention is the essential phenomenon of the Will." And Prof. Halleck
says: "The first step toward the development of Will lies in the exercise
of Attention. Ideas grow in distinctness and motor-power as we attend to
them. If we take two ideas of the same intensity and center the attention
upon one, we shall notice how much it grows in power." Prof. Sully says:
"Attention may be roughly defined as the active self-direction of the
mind to any object which presents itself at the moment." The word
"Attention" is derived from two Latin words, _ad tendere_, meaning "to
stretch towards," and this is just what the Yogis know it to be. By means
of their psychic or clairvoyant sight, they see the thought of the
attentive person stretched out toward the object attended to, like a
sharp wedge, the point of which is focused upon the object under
consideration, the entire force of the thought being concentrated at that
point. This is true not only when the person is considering an object,
but when he is earnestly impressing his ideas upon another, or upon some
task to be accomplished. Attention means reaching the mind out to and
focusing it upon something.

The trained Will exhibits itself in a tenacious Attention, and this
Attention is one of the signs of the trained Will. The student must not
hastily conclude that this kind of Attention is a common faculty among
men. On the contrary it is quite rare, and is seen only among those of
"strong" mentality. Anyone may fasten his Attention upon some passing,
_pleasing_ thing, but it takes a trained will to fasten it upon some
unattractive thing, and hold it there. Of course the trained occultist is
able to throw interest into the most unattractive thing upon which it
becomes advisable to focus his Attention, but this, in itself, comes with
the trained Will, and is not the possession of the average man. Voluntary
Attention is rare, and is found only among strong characters. But it may
be cultivated and grown, until he who has scarcely a shade of it to-day,
in time may become a giant. It is all a matter of practice, exercise, and
Will.

It is difficult to say too much in favor of the development of the
faculty of tenacious Attention. One possessing this developed faculty is
able to accomplish far more than even a much "brighter" man who lacks
it. And the best way to train the Attention, under the direction of the
Will, is to practice upon _uninteresting_ objects, and ideas, holding
them before the mind until they begin to assume an Interest. This is
difficult at first, but the task soon begins to take on a pleasant
aspect, for one finds that his Will-power and Attention are growing, and
he feels himself acquiring a Force and Power that were lacking before--he
realizes that he is growing Stronger. Charles Dickens said that the
secret of his success consisted in his developing a faculty of throwing
his entire Attention into whatever he happened to be doing at the moment
and then being able to turn that same degree of Attention to the next
thing coming before him for consideration. He was like a man behind a
great searchlight, which was successively turned upon point after point,
illuminating each in turn. The "I" is the man behind the light, and the
Will is the reflector, the light being the Attention.

This discussion of Will and Attention may seem somewhat "dry" to the
student, but that is all the more reason that he should attend to it. It
is the secret that lies at the basis of the Science of _Raja Yoga_, and
the Yogi Masters have attained a degree of Concentrated Will and
Attention that would be inconceivable to the average "man on the street."
By reason of this, they are able to direct the mind here and there,
outward or inward, with an enormous force. They are able to focus the
mind upon a small thing with remarkable intensity, just as the rays of
the sun may be focused through a "sun-glass" and caused to ignite linen,
or, on the other hand, they are able to send forth the mind with intense
energy, illuminating whatever it rests upon, just as happens in the case
of the strong electric searchlight, with which many of us are familiar.
By all means start in to cultivate the Attention and Will. Practice on
the unpleasant tasks--do the things that you have before you, and from
which you have been shrinking because they were unpleasant. Throw
interest into them, and the difficulty will vanish, and you will come out
of it much stronger, and filled with a new sense of Power.


MANTRAM (AFFIRMATION).

"I" have a Will--it is my inalienable property and right. I determine to
cultivate and develop it by practice and exercise. My mind is obedient to
my Will. I assert my Will over my Mind. I am Master of my mind and body.
I _assert_ my Mastery. My Will is Dynamic--full of Force and Energy, and
Power. I feel my strength. I am Strong. I am Forceful. I am Vital. I am
Center of Consciousness, Energy, Strength, and Power, and I claim my
birthright.




THE FIFTH LESSON.

THE CULTIVATION OF ATTENTION.


In our last lesson we called your attention to the fact that the Yogis
devote considerable time and practice to the acquirement of
Concentration. And we also had something to say regarding the relation
of Attention to the subject of Concentration. In this lesson we shall
have more to say on the subject of Attention, for it is one of the
important things relating to the practice of _Raja Yoga_, and the Yogis
insist upon their students practicing systematically to develop and
cultivate the faculty. Attention lies at the base of Will-power, and the
cultivation of one makes easy the exercise of the other.

To explain why we lay so much importance to the cultivation of Attention,
would necessitate our anticipating future lessons of this series, which
we do not deem advisable at this time. And so we must ask our students to
take our word for it, that all that we have to say regarding the
importance of the cultivation of Attention, is occasioned by the relation
of that subject to the use of the mind in certain directions as will
appear fully later on.

In order to let you know that we are not advancing some peculiar theory
of the Yogis, which may not be in harmony with modern Western Science, we
give you in this article a number of quotations, from Western writers and
thinkers, touching upon this important faculty of the mind, so that you
may see that the West and East agree upon this main point, however
different may be their explanations of the fact, or their use of the
power gained by the cultivation of Attention.

As we said in our last lesson, the word Attention is derived from two
Latin words "_ad tendere_," meaning "to stretch toward," which is really
what Attention is. The "I" wills that the mind be focused on some
particular object or thing, and the mind obeys and "stretches toward"
that object or thing, focusing its entire energy upon it, observing every
detail, dissecting, analyzing, consciously and sub-consciously, drawing
to itself every possible bit of information regarding it, both from
within and from without. We cannot lay too much stress upon the
acquirement of this great faculty, or rather, the development of it, for
it is necessary for the intelligent study of _Raja Yoga_.

In order to bring out the importance of the subject, suppose we start in
by actually giving our Attention to the subject of Attention, and see how
much more there is in it than we had thought. We shall be well repaid for
the amount of time and trouble expended upon it.

Attention has been defined as a focusing of consciousness, or, if one
prefers the form of expression, as "detention in consciousness." In the
first case, we may liken it to the action of the sun-glass through which
the sun's rays are concentrated upon an object, the result being that the
heat is gathered together at a small given point, the intensity of the
same being raised many degrees until the heat is sufficient to burn a
piece of wood, or evaporate water. If the rays were not focused, the same
rays and heat would have been scattered over a large surface, and the
effect and power lessened. And so it is with the mind. If it is allowed
to scatter itself over the entire field of a subject, it will exert but
little power and the results will be weak. But if it is passed through
the sun-glass of attention, and focused first over one part, and then
over another, and so on, the matter may be mastered in detail, and a
result accomplished that will seem little less than marvelous to those
who do not know the secret.

_Thompson_ has said: "The experiences most permanently impressed upon
consciousness, are those upon which the greatest amount of attention has
been fixed."

Another writer upon the subject has said that "Attention is so
essentially necessary to understanding, that without some degree of it
the ideas and perceptions that pass through the mind seem to leave no
trace behind them."

_Hamilton_ has said: "An act of attention, that is, an act of
concentration, seems thus necessary to every exertion of consciousness,
as a certain contraction of the pupil is requisite to every exertion of
vision. Attention then is to consciousness what the contraction of the
pupil is to sight, or, to the eye of the mind what the microscope or
telescope is to the bodily eye. It constitutes the better half of all
intellectual power."

And _Brodie_ adds, quite forcibly: "It is Attention much more than any
difference in the abstract power of reasoning, which constitutes the vast
difference which exists between minds of different individuals."

_Butler_ gives us this important testimony: "The most important
intellectual habit I know of is the habit of attending exclusively to the
matter in hand. It is commonly said that genius cannot be infused by
education, yet this power of concentrated attention, which belongs as a
part of his gift to every great discoverer, is unquestionably capable of
almost indefinite augmentation by resolute practice."

And, concluding this review of opinions, and endorsements of that which
the Yogis have so much to say, and to which they attach so much
importance, let us listen to the words of _Beattie_, who says: "The
force wherewith anything strikes the mind, is generally in proportion to
the degree of attention bestowed upon it. Moreover, the great art of
memory is attention, and inattentive people always have bad memories."

There are two general kinds of Attention. The first is the Attention
directed within the mind upon mental objects and concepts. The other is
the Attention directed outward upon objects external to ourselves. The
same general rules and laws apply to both equally.

Likewise there may be drawn another distinction and division of attention
into two classes, _viz._, Attenion attracted by some impression coming
into consciousness without any conscious effort of the Will--this is
called Involuntary Attention, for the Attention and Interest is caught by
the attractiveness or novelty of the object. Attention directed to some
object by an effort of the Will, is called Voluntary Attention.
Involuntary Attention is quite common, and requires no special training.
In fact, the lower animals, and young children seem to have a greater
share of it than do adult men. A great percentage of men and women never
get beyond this stage to any marked degree. On the other hand, Voluntary
Attention requires effort, will, and determination--a certain mental
training, that is beyond the majority of people, for they will not "take
the trouble" to direct their attention in this way. Voluntary Attention
is the mark of the student and other thoughtful men. They focus their
minds on objects that do not yield immediate interest or pleasure, in
order that they may learn and accomplish. The careless person will not
thus fasten his Attention, at least not more than a moment or so, for his
Involuntary Attention is soon attracted by some passing object of no
matter how trifling a nature, and the Voluntary Attention disappears and
is forgotten. Voluntary Attention is developed by practice and
perseverance, and is well worth the trouble, for nothing in the mental
world is accomplished without its use.

The Attention does not readily fasten itself to uninteresting objects,
and, unless interest can be created it requires a considerable degree of
Voluntary Attention in order that the mind may be fastened upon such an
object. And, more than this, even if the ordinary attention is attracted
it will soon waver, unless there is some interesting change in the aspect
of the object, that will give the attention a fresh hold of interest, or
unless some new quality, characteristic or property manifests itself in
the object. This fact occurs because the mind mechanism has not been
trained to bear prolonged Voluntary Attention, and, in fact, the physical
brain is not accustomed to the task, although it may be so trained by
patient practice.

It has been noticed by investigators that the Attention may be rested and
freshened, either by withdrawing the Voluntary Attention from the object,
and allowing the Attention to manifest along Involuntary lines toward
passing objects, etc.; or, on the other hand, by directing the Voluntary
Attention into a new field of observation--toward some new object.
Sometimes one plan will seem to give the best results, and again the
other will seem preferable.

We have called your attention to the fact that Interest develops
Attention, and holds it fixed, while an uninteresting object or subject
requires a much greater effort and application. This fact is apparent to
anyone. A common illustration may be found in the matter of reading a
book. Nearly everyone will give his undivided attention to some bright,
thrilling story, while but few are able to use sufficient Voluntary
Attention to master the pages of some scientific work. But, right here,
we wish to call your attention to the other side of the case, which is
another example of the fact that Truth is composed of paradoxes.

Just as Interest develops Attention, so it is a truth that Attention
develops Interest. If one will take the trouble to give a little
Voluntary Attention to an object, he will soon find that a little
perseverance will bring to light points of Interest in the object. Things
before unseen and unsuspected, are quickly brought to light. And many new
phases, and aspects of the subject or object are seen, each one of which,
in turn, becomes an object of Interest. This is a fact not so generally
known, and one that it will be well for you to remember, and to use in
practice. _Look_ for the interesting features of an uninteresting thing,
and they will appear to your view, and before long the uninteresting
object will have changed into a thing having many-sided interests.

Voluntary Attention is one of the signs of a developed Will. That is, of
a mind that has been well trained by the Will, for the Will is always
strong, and it is the mind that has to be trained, not the Will. And on
the other hand, one of the best ways to train the mind by the Will, is by
practice in Voluntary Attention. So you see how the rule works both ways.
Some Western psychologists have even advanced theories that the Voluntary
Attention is the _only_ power of the Will, and that that power is
sufficient, for if the Attention be firmly fixed, and held upon an object
the mind will "do the rest." We do not agree with this school of
philosophers, but merely mention the fact as an illustration of the
importance attributed by psychologists to this matter of Voluntary
Attention.

A man of a strongly developed Attention often accomplishes far more than
some much brighter man who lacks it. Voluntary Attention and Application
is a very good substitute for Genius, and often accomplishes far more in
the long run.

Voluntary Attention is the fixing of the mind earnestly and intently upon
some particular object, at the same time shutting out from consciousness
other objects pressing for entrance. _Hamilton_ has defined it as
"consciousness voluntarily applied under its law of limitations to some
determinate object." The same writer goes on to state that "the greater
the number of objects to which our consciousness is simultaneously
extended, the smaller is the intensity with which it is able to consider
each, and consequently the less vivid and distinct will be the
information it contains of the several objects. When our interest in any
particular object is excited, and when we wish to obtain all the
knowledge concerning it in our power, it behooves us to limit our
consideration to that object to the exclusion of others."

The human mind has the power of attending to only one object at a time,
although it is able to pass from one object to another with a marvelous
degree of speed, so rapidly, in fact, that some have held that it could
grasp several things at once. But the best authorities, Eastern and
Western, hold to the "single idea" theory as being correct. On this point
we may quote a few authorities.

_Jouffroy_ says that "It is established by experience that we cannot give
our attention to two different objects at the same time." And _Holland_
states that "Two thoughts, however closely related to one another,
cannot be presumed to exist at the same time." And _Lewes_ has told us
that "The nature of our organism prevents our having more than one aspect
of an object at each instant presented to consciousness." _Whateley_
says: "The best philosophers are agreed that the mind cannot actually
attend to more than one thing at a time, but, when it appears to be doing
so it is really shifting with prodigious rapidity backward and forward
from one to the other."

By giving a concentrated Voluntary Attention to an object, we not only
are able to see and think about it with the greatest possible degree of
clearness, but the mind has a tendency, under such circumstances, to
bring into the field of consciousness all the different ideas associated
in our memory with that object or subject, and to build around the object
or subject a mass of associated facts and information. And at the same
time the Attention given the subject makes more vivid and clear all that
we learn about the thing at the time, and, in fact, all that we may
afterwards learn about it. It seems to cut a channel, through which
knowledge flows.

Attention magnifies and increases the powers of perception, and greatly
aids the exercise of the perceptive faculties. By "paying attention" to
something seen or heard, one is enabled to observe the details of the
thing seen or heard, and where the inattentive mind acquires say three
impressions the attentive mind absorbs three times three, or perhaps
three times "three times three," or twenty-seven. And, as we have just
said, Attention brings into play the powers of association, and gives us
the "loose end" of an almost infinite chain of associated facts, stored
away in our memory, forming new combinations of facts which we had never
grouped together before, and bring out into the field of consciousness
all the many scraps of information regarding the thing to which we are
giving attention. The proof of this is within the experience of everyone.
Where is the one who does not remember sitting down to some writing,
painting, reading, etc., with interest and attention, and finding, much
to his surprise, what a flow of facts regarding the matter in hand was
passing through his mind. Attention seems to focus all the knowledge of a
thing that you possess, and by bringing it to a point enables you to
combine, associate, classify, etc., and thus create new knowledge.
_Gibbon_ tells us that after he gave a brief glance and consideration to
a new subject, he suspended further work upon it, and allowed his mind
(under concentrated attention) to bring forth all his associated
knowledge regarding the subject, after which he renewed the task with
increased power and efficiency.

The more one's attention is fixed upon a subject under consideration, the
deeper is the impression which the subject leaves upon the mind. And the
easier will it be for him to afterwards pursue the same train of thought
and work.

Attention is a prerequisite of good memory, and in fact there can be no
memory at all unless some degree of attention is given. The degree of
memory depends upon the degree of attention and interest. And when it is
considered that the work of today is made efficient by the memory of
things learned yesterday, the day before yesterday, and so on, it is seen
that the degree of attention given today regulates the quality of the
work of tomorrow.

Some authorities have described Genius as the result of great powers of
attention, or, at least, that the two seem to run together. Some writer
has said that "possibly the best definition of genius is the power of
concentrating upon some one given subject until its possibilities are
exhausted and absorbed." _Simpson_ has said that "The power and habit of
thinking closely and continuously upon the subject at hand, to the
exclusion, for the time, of all other subjects, is one of the principal,
if, indeed, not the principal, means of success." _Sir Isaac Newton_ has
told us his plan of absorbing information and knowledge. He has stated
that he would keep the subject under consideration before him
continually, and then would wait till the first dawning of perception
gradually brightened into a clear light, little by little. A mental
sunrise, in fact.

That sage observer, _Dr. Abercrombie_, has written that he considered
that he knew of no more important rule for rising to eminence in any
profession or occupation than the Ability to do one thing at a time,
avoiding all distracting and diverting objects or subjects, and keeping
the leading matter continually before the mind. And others have added
that such a course will enable one to observe relations between the
subject and other things that will not be apparent to the careless
observer or student.

The degree of Attention cultivated by a man is the degree of his capacity
for intellectual work. As we have said, the "great" men of all walks of
life have developed this faculty to a wonderful degree, and many of them
seem to get results "intuitively," whereas, in truth, they obtain them by
reason of their concentrated power of Attention, which enables them to
see right into the center of a subject or proposition--and all around it,
back and front, and all sides, in a space of time incredible to the man
who has not cultivated this mighty power. Men who have devoted much
attention to some special line of work or research, are able to act
almost as if they possessed "second sight," providing the subject is
within their favorite field of endeavor. Attention quickens every one of
the faculties--the reasoning faculties--the senses--the deriding
qualities--the analytical faculties, and so on, each being given a "fine
edge" by their use under a concentrated Attention.

And, on the other hand, there is no surer indication of a weak mind than
the deficiency in Attention. This weakness may arise from illness or
physical weakness reacting upon the brain, in which case the trouble is
but temporary. Or it may arise from a lack of mental development.
Imbeciles and idiots have little or no Attention. The great French
psychologist, _Luys_, speaking of this fact, says "Imbeciles and idiots
see badly, hear badly, feel badly, and their sensorium is, in
consequence, in a similar condition of sensitive poverty. Its
impressionability for the things of the external world is at a minimum,
its sensibility weak, and consequently, it is difficult to provoke the
physiological condition necessary for the absorption of the external
impression."

In old age the Attention is the first faculty to show signs of decay.
Some authorities have held that the Memory was the first faculty to be
affected by the approach of old age, but this is incorrect, for it is a
matter of common experience that the aged manifest a wonderfully clear
memory of events occurring in the far past. The reason that their memory
of recent events is so poor is because their failing powers of Attention
has prevented them from receiving strong, clear mental impressions, and
as is the impression so is the memory. Their early impressions having
been clear and strong, are easily recalled, while their later ones,
being weak, are recalled with difficulty. If the Memory were at fault, it
would be difficult for them to recall any impression, recent or far
distant in time.

But we must stop quoting examples and authorities, and urging upon you
the importance of the faculty of Attention. If you do not now realize it,
it is because you have not given the subject the Attention that you
should have exercised, and further repetition would not remedy matters.

Admitting the importance of Attention, from the psychological point
of view, not to speak of the occult side of the subject, is it not a
matter of importance for you to start in to cultivate that faculty? We
think so. And the only way to cultivate any mental or physical part or
faculty is to Exercise it. Exercise "uses up" a muscle, or mental
faculty, but the organism makes haste to rush to the scene additional
material--cell-stuff, nerve force, etc., to repair the waste, and it
always sends a little more than is needed. And this "little more,"
continually accruing and increasing, is what increases the muscles and
brain centers. And improved and strengthened brain centers give the mind
better instruments with which to work.

One of the first things to do in the cultivation of Attention is to learn
to think of, and do, one thing at a time. Acquiring the "knack" or habit
of attending closely to the things before us, and then passing on to the
next and treating it in the same way, is most conducive to success, and
its practice is the best exercise for the cultivation of the faculty of
Attention. And on the contrary, there is nothing more harmful from the
point of view of successful performance--and nothing that will do more to
destroy the power of giving Attention--than the habit of trying to do one
thing while thinking of another. The thinking part of the mind, and the
acting part should work together, not in opposition.

_Dr. Beattie_, speaking of this subject, tells us "It is a matter of no
small importance that we acquire the habit of doing only one thing at a
time; by which I mean that while attending to any one object, our
thoughts ought not to wander to another." And _Granville_ adds, "A
frequent cause of failure in the faculty of Attention is striving to
think of more than one thing at a time." And _Kay_ quotes, approvingly, a
writer who says: "She did things easily, because she attended to them in
the doing. When she made bread, she thought of the bread, and not of the
fashion of her next dress, or of her partner at the last dance." _Lord
Chesterfield said,_ "There is time enough for everything in the course of
the day, if you do but one thing at a time; but there is not time enough
in the year if you try to do two things at a time."

To attain the best results one should practice concentrating upon the
task before him, shutting out, so far as possible, every other idea or
thought. One should even forget self--personality--in such cases, as
there is nothing more destructive of good thinking than to allow morbid
self-consciousness to intrude. One does best when he "forgets himself" in
his work, and sinks his personality in the creative work. The "earnest"
man or woman is the one who sinks personality in the desired result, or
performance of the task undertaken. The actor, or preacher, or orator,
or writer, must lose sight of himself to get the best results. Keep the
Attention fixed on the thing before you, and let the self take care of
itself.

In connection with the above, we may relate an anecdote of _Whateley_
that may be interesting in connection with the consideration of this
subject of "losing one's self" in the task. He was asked for a recipe for
"bashfulness," and replied that the person was bashful simply because he
was thinking of himself and the impression he was making. His recipe was
that the young man should think of others--of the pleasure he could give
them--and in that way he would forget all about himself. The prescription
is said to have effected the cure. The same authority has written, "Let
both the extemporary speaker, and the reader of his own compositions,
study to avoid as far as possible all thoughts of self, earnestly fixing
the mind on the matter of what is delivered; and they will feel less
that embarrassment which arises from the thought of what opinion the
hearers will form of them."

The same writer, _Whateley_, seems to have made quite a study of
Attention and has given us some interesting information on its details.
The following may be read with interest, and if properly understood may
be employed to advantage. He says, "It is a fact, and a very curious one.
that many people find that they can best attend to any serious matter
when they are occupied with something else which requires a little, and
but a little, attention, such as working with the needle, cutting open
paper leaves, or, for want of some such employment, fiddling anyhow with
the fingers." He does not give the reason for this, and at first sight
it might seem like a contradiction of the "one thing at a time" idea. But
a closer examination will show us that the minor work (the cutting
leaves, etc.) is in the nature of an involuntary or automatic movement,
inasmuch as it requires little or no voluntary attention, and seems to
"do itself." It does not take off the Attention from the main subject,
but perhaps acts to catch the "waste Attention" that often tries to
divide the Attention from some voluntary act to another. The habit mind
may be doing one thing, while the Attention is fixed on another. For
instance, one may be writing with his attention firmly fixed upon the
thought he wishes to express, while at the time his hand is doing the
writing, apparently with no attention being given it. But, let a boy, or
person unaccustomed to writing, try to express his thoughts in this way,
and you will find that he is hampered in the flow of his thoughts by the
fact that he has to give much attention to the mechanical act of writing.
In the same way, the beginner on the typewriter finds it difficult to
compose to the machine, while the experienced typist finds the mechanical
movements no hindrance whatever to the flow of thought and focusing of
Attention; in fact, many find that they can compose much better while
using the typewriter than they can by dictating to a stenographer. We
think you will see the principle.

And now for a little Mental Drill in Attention, that you may be started
on the road to cultivate this important faculty.


MENTAL DRILL IN ATTENTION.

_Exercise I._ Begin by taking some familiar object and placing it before
you, try to get as many impressions regarding it as is possible for you.
Study its shape, its color, its size, and the thousand and one little
peculiarities about it that present themselves to your attention. In
doing this, reduce the thing to its simplest parts--analyze it as far as
is possible--dissect it, mentally, and study its parts in detail. The
more simple and small the part to be considered, the more clearly will
the impression be received, and the more vividly will it be recalled.
Reduce the thing to the smallest possible proportions, and then examine
each portion, and mastering that, then pass on to the next part, and so
on, until you have covered the entire field. Then, when you have
exhausted the object, take a pencil and paper and put down as nearly as
possible all the things or details of the object examined. When you have
done this, compare the written description with the object itself, and
see how many things you have failed to note.

The next day take up the same object, and after re-examining it, write
down the details and you will find that you will have stored away a
greater number of impressions regarding it, and, moreover, you will have
discovered many new details during your second examination. This exercise
strengthens the memory as well as the Attention, for the two are closely
connected, the memory depending largely upon the clearness and strength
of the impressions received, while the impressions depend upon the amount
of attention given to the thing observed. Do not tire yourself with this
exercise, for a tired Attention is a poor Attention. Better try it by
degrees, increasing the task a little each time you try it. Make a game
of it if you like, and you will find it quite interesting to notice the
steady but gradual improvement.

It will be interesting to practice this in connection with some friend,
varying the exercise by both examining the object, and writing down their
impressions, separately, and then comparing results. This adds interest
to the task, and you will be surprised to see how rapidly both of you
increase in your powers of observation, which powers, of course, result
from Attention.

_Exercise II._ This exercise is but a variation of the first one. It
consists in entering a room, and taking a hasty glance around, and then
walking out, and afterward writing down the number of things that you
have observed, with a description of each. You will be surprised to
observe how many things you have missed at first sight, and how you will
improve in observation by a little practice. This exercise, also, may be
improved by the assistance of a friend, as related in our last exercise.
It is astonishing how many details one may observe and remember, after a
little practice. It is related of Houdin, the French conjurer, that he
improved and developed his faculty of Attention and Memory by playing
this game with a young relative. They would pass by a shop window,
taking a hasty, attentive glance at its contents. Then they would go
around the corner and compare notes. At first they could remember only a
few prominent articles--that is, their Attention could grasp only a few.
But as they developed by practice, they found that they could observe and
remember a vast number of things and objects in the window. And, at last,
it is related that Houdin could pass rapidly before any large shop
window, bestowing upon it but one hasty glance, and then tell the names
of, and closely describe, nearly every object in plain sight in the
window. The feat was accomplished by the fact that the cultivated
Attention enabled Houdin to fasten upon his mind a vivid mental image of
the window and its contents, and then he was able to describe the
articles one by one from the picture in his mind.

Houdin taught his son to develop Attention by a simple exercise which may
be interesting and of value to you. He would lay down a domino before the
boy--a five-four, for example. He would require the boy to tell him the
combined number at once, without allowing him to stop to count the spots,
one by one. "Nine" the boy would answer after a moment's hesitation.
Then another domino, a three-four, would be added. "That makes sixteen,"
cried the boy. Two dominoes at a time was the second day's task. The
next day, three was the standard. The next day, four, and so on, until
the boy was able to handle twelve dominoes--that is to say, give
instantaneously the total number of spots on twelve dominoes, after a
single glance. This was Attention, in earnest, and shows what practice
will do to develop a faculty. The result was shown by the wonderful
powers of observation, memory and attention, together with instantaneous
mental action, that the boy developed. Not only was he able to add
dominoes instantaneously, but he had powers of observation, etc., that
seemed little short of miraculous. And yet it is related that he had poor
attention, and deficient memory to begin with.

If this seems incredible, let us remember how old whist players note and
remember every card in the pack, and can tell whether they have been
played or not, and all the circumstances attending upon them. The same is
true of chess players, who observe every move and can relate the whole
game in detail long after it has been played. And remember, also, how
one woman may pass another woman on the street, and without seeming to
give her more than a careless glance, may be able to relate in detail
every feature of the other woman's apparel, including its color, texture,
style of fashioning, probable price of the material, etc., etc. And a
mere man would have noticed scarcely anything about it--because he would
not have given it any attention. But how soon would that man learn to
equal his sister in attention and observation of women's wearing apparel,
if his business success depended upon it, or if his speculative instinct
was called into play by a wager with some friend as to who could remember
the most about a woman's clothing, seen in a passing glance? You see it
is all a matter of Interest and Attention.

But we forget that the Attention may be developed and cultivated, and we
complain that we "cannot remember things," or that we do not seem to be
able to "take notice." A little practice will do wonders in this
direction.

Now, while the above exercises will develop your memory and powers of
observation, still that is not the main reason that we have given them to
you. We have an ulterior object, that will appear in time. We aim to
develop your Will-power, and we know that Attention stands at the gate of
Will-power. In order to be able to use your Will, you must be able to
focus the Attention forcibly and distinctly. And these childish exercises
will help you to develop the mental muscles of the Attention. If you
could but realize the childish games the young Yogi students are required
to play, in order to develop the mental faculties, you would change your
minds about the Yogi Adepts whom you have been thinking about as mere
dreamers, far removed from the practical. These men, and their students,
are intensely practical. They have gained the mastery of the Mind, and
its faculties, and are able to use them as sharp edged tools, while the
untrained man finds that he has but a dull, unsharpened blade that will
do nothing but hack and hew roughly, instead of being able to produce the
finished product.

The Yogi believes in giving the "I" good tools with which to work, and he
spends much time in tempering and sharpening these tools. Oh, no, the
Yogi are not idle dreamers. Their grasp of "practical things" would
surprise many a practical, matter-of-fact Western business man, if he
could but observe it.

And so, we ask you to practice "observing things." The two exercises we
have given are but indications of the general line. We could give you
thousands, but you can prepare them yourselves as well as could we.
The little Hindu boy is taught Attention by being asked to note and
remember the number, color, character and other details of a number of
colored stones, jewelry, etc., shown for an instant in an open palm,
the hand being closed the moment after. He is taught to note and
describe passing travelers, and their equipages--houses he sees on his
journeys--and thousands of other everyday objects. The results are almost
marvelous. In this way he is prepared as a _chela_ or student, and he
brings to his _guru_ or teacher a brain well developed--a mind thoroughly
trained to obey the Will of the "I"--and with faculties quickened to
perceive instantly that which others would fail to see in a fortnight. It
is true that he does not turn these faculties to "business" or other
so-called "practical" pursuits, but prefers to devote them to abstract
studies and pursuits outside of that which the Western man considers to
be the end and aim of life. But remember that the two civilizations are
quite different--following different ideals--having different economic
conditions--living in different worlds, as it were. But that is all a
matter of taste and ideals--the faculty for the "practical life" of the
West is possessed by the _chela_, if he saw fit to use it. But all Hindu
youths are not _chelas_, remember--nor are all Western youths "captains
of industry," or Edisons.


MANTRAM (AFFIRMATION).

I am using my Attention to develop my mental faculties, so as to give the
"I" a perfect instrument with which to work. The mind is _My_ instrument
and I am bringing it to a state of capacity for perfect work.


MANTRAM (OR AFFIRMATION).

There is but One Life--One Life Underlying. This Life is manifesting
through ME, and through every other shape, form, and thing. I am resting
on the bosom of the Great Ocean of Life, and it is supporting me, and
will carry me safely, though the waves rise and fall--though the storms
rage and the tempests roar. I am safe on the Ocean of Life, and rejoice
as I feel the sway of its motion. Nothing can harm me--though changes may
come and go, I am Safe. I am One with the All Life, and its Power,
Knowledge, and Peace are behind, underneath, and within Me. O! One Life!
express Thyself through me--carry me now on the crest of the wave, now
deep down in the trough of the ocean--supported always by Thee--all is
good to me, as I feel Thy life moving in and through me. I am Alive,
through thy life, and I open myself to thy full manifestation and inflow.




THE SIXTH LESSON.

CULTIVATION OF PERCEPTION.


Man gains his knowledge of the outside world through his senses. And,
consequently, many of us are in the habit of thinking of these senses as
if _they_ did the sensing, instead of being merely carriers of the
vibrations coming from the outside world, which are then presented to the
Mind for examination. We shall speak of this at greater length a little
later on in this lesson. Just now we wish to impress upon you the fact
that it is the Mind that perceives, not the senses. And, consequently, a
development of Perception is really a development of the Mind.

The Yogis put their students through a very arduous course of practice
and exercises designed to develop their powers of perception. To many
this would appear to be merely a development of the Senses, which might
appear odd in view of the fact that the Yogis are constantly preaching
the folly of being governed and ruled by the senses. But there is nothing
paradoxical about all this, for the Yogis, while preaching the folly of
sense life, and manifesting the teaching in their lives, nevertheless
believe in any and all exercises calculated to "sharpen" the Mind, and
develop it to a keen state and condition.

They see a great difference between having a sharpened perception, on the
one hand, and being a slave to the senses on the other. For instance,
what would be thought of a man who objected to acquiring a keen eyesight,
for fear it would lead him away from higher things, by reason of his
becoming attached to the beautiful things he might see. To realize the
folly of this idea, one may look at its logical conclusion, which would
be that one would then be much better off if all their senses were
destroyed. The absurdity, not to say wickedness, of such an idea will be
apparent to everyone, after a minute's consideration.

The secret of the Yogi theory and teachings regarding the development of
the Mental powers, lies in the word "_Mastery_." The Yoga student
accomplishes and attains this mastery in two ways. The first way is by
subordinating all the feelings, sense-impressions, etc., to the Mastery
of the "I," or Will, the Mastery being obtained in this way by the
assertion of the dominancy of the "I" over the faculties and emotions,
etc. The second step, or way, lies in the Yogi, once having asserted the
mastery, beginning to develop and perfect the Mental instrument, so as to
get better work and returns from it. In this way he increases his kingdom
and is Master over a much larger territory.

In order for one to gain knowledge, it is necessary to use to the best
advantage the mental instruments and tools that he finds at his disposal.
And again, one must develop and improve such tools--put a keen edge upon
them, etc. Not only does one gain a great benefit from a development of
the faculties of perception, but he also acquires an additional benefit
from the training of the whole mind arising from the mental discipline
and training resulting from the former exercises, etc. In our previous
lessons we have pointed out some of the means by which these faculties
might be greatly improved, and their efficiency increased. In this lesson
we shall point out certain directions in which the Perceptive faculties
may be trained. We trust that the simplicity of the idea may not cause
any of our students to lose interest in the work. If they only knew just
what such development would lead to they would gladly follow our
suggestions in the matter. Every one of the ideas and exercises given by
us are intended to lead up to the strengthening of the Mind, and the
attainment of powers and the unfoldment of faculties. There is no royal
road to Raja Yoga, but the student will be well repaid for the work of
climbing the hill of Attainment.

In view of the above, let us examine the question of The Senses. Through
the doors of the senses Man receives all his information regarding the
outside world. If he keeps these doors but half open, or crowded up with
obstacles and rubbish, he may expect to receive but few messages from
outside. But if he keeps his doorways clear, and clean, he will obtain
the best that is passing his way.

If one were born without sense-organs--no matter how good a Mind he might
have--he would be compelled to live his life in a dreamy plant-life stage
of existence, with little or no consciousness. The Mind would be like a
seed in the earth, that for some reason was prevented from growing.

One may object that the highest ideas do not come to us through the
senses, but the reply is that the things obtained through the senses are
the "raw material" upon which the mind works, and fashions the beautiful
things that it is able to produce in its highest stages. Just as is the
body dependent for growth upon the nourishment taken into it, so is the
mind dependent for growth upon the impressions received from the
Universe--and these impressions come largely through the senses. It may
be objected to that we know many things that we have not received through
our senses. But, does the objector include the impressions that came
through his senses in some previous existence, and which have been
impressed upon his instinctive mind, or soul-memory? It is true that
there are higher senses than those usually recognized, but Nature insists
upon one learning the lessons of the lower grades before attempting those
of the higher.

Do not forget that all that we know we have "worked for." There is
nothing that comes to the idler, or shirker. What we know is merely the
result of "stored-up accumulations of previous experience," as Lewes has
so well said.

So it will be seen that the Yogi idea that one should develop all parts
of the Mind is strictly correct, if one will take the trouble to examine
into the matter. A man sees and knows but very little of what is going
on about him. His limitations are great. His powers of vision report only
a few vibrations of light, while below and above the scale lie an
infinity of vibrations unknown to him. The same is true of the powers of
hearing, for only a comparatively small portion of the sound-waves reach
the Mind of Man--even some of the animals hear more than he does.

If a man had only one sense he would obtain but a one-sense idea of the
outside world. If another sense is added his knowledge is doubled. And so
on. The best proof of the relation between increased sense perception and
development is had in the study of the evolution of animal forms. In the
early stages of life the organism has only the sense of feeling--and very
dim at that--and a faint sense of taste. Then developed smell, hearing
and sight, each marking a distinct advance in the scale of life, for a
new world has been opened out to the advancing forms of life. And, when
man develops new senses--and this is before the race--he will be a much
wiser and greater being.

Carpenter, many years ago, voiced a thought that will be familiar to
those who are acquainted with the Yogi teachings regarding the unfoldment
of new senses. He said: "It does not seem at all improbable that there
are properties of matter of which none of our senses can take immediate
cognizance, and which other beings might be formed to perceive in the
same manner as we are sensible to light, sound, etc."

And Isaac Taylor said: "It may be that within the field observed by the
visible and ponderable universe there is existing and moving another
element fraught with another species of life--corporeal, indeed, and
various in its orders, but not open to cognizance of those who are
confined to the conditions of animal organization. Is it to be thought
that the eye of man is the measure of the Creator's power?--and that He
created nothing but that which he has exposed to our present senses? The
contrary seems much more than barely possible; ought we not to think it
almost certain?"

Another writer. Prof. Masson, has said: "If a new sense or two were added
to the present normal number, in man, that which is now the phenomenal
world for all of us might, for all that we know, burst into something
amazingly different and wider, in consequence of the additional
revelations of these new senses."

But not only is this true, but Man may increase his powers of knowledge
and experience if he will but develop the senses he has to a higher
degree of efficiency, instead of allowing them to remain comparatively
atrophied. And toward this end, this lesson is written.

The Mind obtains its impressions of objects of the outside world by means
of the brain and sense organs. The sensory organs are the instruments of
the Mind, as is also the brain and the entire nervous system. By means of
the nerves, and the brain, the Mind makes use of the sensory organs in
order that it may obtain information regarding external objects.

The senses are usually said to consist of five different forms, _viz._,
sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste.

The Yogis teach that there are higher senses, undeveloped, or
comparatively so, in the majority of the race, but toward the unfoldment
of which the race is tending. But we shall not touch upon these latent
senses in this lesson, as they belong to another phase of the subject. In
addition to the five senses above enumerated, some physiologists and
psychologists have held that there were several others in evidence. For
instance, the sense by which the inner organs revealed their presence and
condition, The muscular system reports to the mind through some sense
that is not that of "touch," although closely allied to it. And the
feelings of hunger, thirst, etc., seem to come to us through an unnamed
sense.

Bernstein has distinguished between the five senses and the one just
referred to as follows: "The characteristic distinction between these
common sensations and the sensations of the senses is that by the latter
we gain knowledge of the occurrences and objects which belong to the
external world (and which sensations we refer to external objects),
whilst by the former we only feel conditions of our own body."

A sensation is the internal, mental conception, resulting from an
external object or fact exciting the sense organs and nerves, and the
brain, thus making the mind "aware" of the external object or fact. As
Bain has said, it is the "mental impression, feeling, or conscious state,
resulting from the action of external things on some part of the body,
called on that account, sensitive."

Each channel of sense impressions has an organ, or organs, peculiarly
adapted for the excitation of its substance by the particular kind of
vibrations through which it receives impressions. The eye is most
cunningly and carefully designed to receive the light-waves; and
sound-waves produce no effect upon it. And, likewise, the delicate
mechanism of the ear responds only to sound-waves; light-waves failing to
register upon it. Each set of sensations is entirely different, and the
organs and nerves designed to register each particular set are peculiarly
adapted to their own special work. The organs of sense, including their
special nervous systems, may be compared to a delicate instrument that
the mind has fashioned for itself, that it may investigate, examine and
obtain reports from the outside world.

We have become so accustomed to the workings of the senses that we take
them as a "matter of course," and fail to recognize them as the delicate
and wonderful instruments that they are--designed and perfected by the
mind for its own use. If we will think of the soul as designing,
manufacturing and using these instruments, we may begin to understand
their true relations to our lives, and, accordingly treat them with more
respect and consideration.

We are in the habit of thinking that we are aware of all the sensations
received by our mind. But this is very far from being correct. The
unconscious regions of the mind are incomparably larger than the small
conscious area that we generally think of when we say "my mind." In
future lessons we shall proceed to consider this wonderful area, and
examine what is to be found there. Taine has well said, "There is going
on within us a subterranean process of infinite extent; its products
alone are known to us, and are only known to us in the mass. As to
elements, and their elements, consciousness does not attain to them. They
are to sensations what secondary molecules and primitive molecules are to
bodies. We get a glance here and there at obscure and infinite worlds
extending beneath our distinct sensations. These are compounds and
wholes. For their elements to be perceptible to consciousness, it is
necessary for them to be added together, and so to acquire a certain bulk
and to occupy a certain time, for if the group does not attain this bulk,
and does not last this time, we observe no changes in our state.
Nevertheless, though it escapes us, there is one."

But we must postpone our consideration of this more than interesting
phase of the subject, until some future lesson, when we shall take a trip
into the regions of Mind, under and above Consciousness. And a most
wonderful trip many of us will find it, too.

For the present, we must pay our attention to the channels by which the
material for knowledge and thought enter our minds. For these sense
impressions, coming to us from without, are indeed "material" upon which
the mind works in order to manufacture the product called "Thought."

This material we obtain through the channels of the senses, and then
store in that wonderful storehouse, the Memory, from whence we bring out
material from time to time, which we proceed to weave into the fabric of
Thought. The skill of the worker depends upon his training, and his
ability to select and combine the proper materials. And the acquiring of
good materials to be stored up is an important part of the work.

A mind without stored-up material of impressions and experiences would be
like a factory without material. The machinery would have nothing upon
which to work, and the shop would be idle. As Helmholtz has said,
"Apprehension by the senses supplies directly or indirectly, the material
of all human knowledge, or at least the stimulus necessary to develop
every inborn faculty of the mind." And Herbert Spencer, has this to say
of this phase of the subject, "It is almost a truism to say that in
proportion to the numerousness of the objects that can be distinguished,
and in proportion to the variety of coexistences and sequences that can
be severally responded to, must be the number and rapidity and variety of
the changes within the organism--must be the amount of vitality."

A little reflection upon this subject will show us that the greater
degree of exercise and training given the senses, the greater the degree
of mental power and capability. As we store our mental storehouse with
the materials to be manufactured into thought, so is the quality and
quantity of the fabric produced.

It therefore behooves us to awaken from our "lazy" condition of mind, and
to proceed to develop our organs of sense, and their attendant mechanism,
as by doing so we increase our capacity for thought and knowledge.

Before passing to the exercises, however, it may be well to give a hasty
passing glance at the several senses, and their peculiarities.

The sense of Touch is the simplest and primal sense. Long before the
lower forms of life had developed the higher senses, they had evidenced
the sense of Touch or Feeling. Without this sense they would have been
unable to have found their food, or to receive and respond to outside
impressions. In the early forms of life it was exercised equally by all
parts of the body, although in the higher forms this sense has become
somewhat localized, as certain parts of the body are far more sensitive
than are others. The skin is the seat of the sense of Touch, and its
nerves are distributed over the entire area of the skin. The hand, and
particularly the fingers, and their tips, are the principal organs of
this sense.

The acuteness of Touch varies materially in different parts of the body.
Experiments have shown that a pair of compasses would register
impressions as a very slight distance apart when applied to the tip of
the tongue. The distance at which the two points could be distinguished
from one point, on the tip of the tongue, was called "one line." Using
this "line" as a standard, it was found that the palmar surface of the
third finger registered 2 lines; the surface of the lips 4 lines, and the
skin of the back, and on the middle of the arm or thigh, as high as 60
lines The degree of sensitiveness to Touch varies greatly with different
individuals, some having a very fine sense of touch in their fingers,
while others manifested a very much lower d

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