Minhas notas do livro
If there has been one case of experience in this world in any particular branch of knowledge it absolutely follows that this experience has been possible millions of times before, and will be repeated eternally. Uniformity is the rigorous law of nature; what once happened can happen always. The teachers of the science of Yoga, therefore, declare that religion is not only based upon the experiences of ancient times, but that no man can be religious until he has had the same perceptions himself. Yoga is the science which teaches us to get these perceptions. It is useless to talk about religion until one has felt it. The knowledge of the mind, of the internal nature of man, of though, can never be had until we have the power of first observing the facts that are going on within. It is very easy to observe facts in the external world, and many thousand instruments have been invented to observe every point of nature, but in the internal world we find no instrument to help us. Yet we know we must observe in order to have a real science. Without a proper analysis, any science will be hopeless, mere theorising, and that is why all the psychologists have been quarrelling among themselves since the beginning of time, except those few who found out the means of observation. The science of Raya Yoga, in the first place, proposes to give men such a means of observing the internal states, and the instrument is the mind itself. The power of attention of mind, when properly guided, and directed towards the internal world, will analyse the mind, and illumine facts for us. The powers of mind are like rays of light being dissipated; when they are concentrated they illumine everything. This is the only source of knowledge that we have. There is only one method by which to attain this knowledge, that which is called concentration. The chemist in his laboratory concentrates all the energies of his mind into one focus, and throws them out upon the materials he is analysing, and so finds out their secret. The astronomer concentrates all the energies of his mind and projects them through his telescope upon the skies; and the stars, the sun, and the moon, give up their secrets to him. The more I can concentrate my thoughts on the matter on which I am talking to you, the more light I can throw upon it. You are listening to me, and the more you concentrate your thoughts the more clearly you will grasp what I have to say. The powers of the mind should be concentrated and turned back upon itself, and as the darkest places reveal their secrets before the penetrating rays of the sun, so will this concentrated mind penetrate its own innermost secrets. Thus will we come to the basis of belief, the real genuine religion. This is what Raja Yoga proposes to teach. The goal of all its teaching is how to concentrate the mind, then how to discover the facts in our own minds, then how to generalise those facts, and form our own conclusions from them. It therefore never asks the question what our religion is, whether we are Deists, or Atheists, whether Christians, Jews, or Buddhists. We are human beings; that is sufficient. When one is angry, the mind becomes disturbed; at the same time, when the mind is disturbed, the body also becomes disturbed. With the majority of mankind the mind is entirely under the control of the body; the mind is very little developed. The vast majority of humanity, if you will kindly excuse me, is very little removed from the animals. Not only that, but, in many instances, the power of control is very little higher than that of the lower animals. We have very little command of our minds. Therefore to bring that command about, to get that control over body and mind, we must take certain physical helps, and when the body is sufficiently controlled, we can attempt the manipulation of the mind. By manipulation of the mind, we shall be able to bring it under our control, make it work as we like, and compel it to concentrate its powers as we desire. According to the Raja Yogi, all this external world is but the gross form of the internal, or subtle. The finer is always the cause, and the grosser the effect. So the external world is the effect, and the internal the cause. Various races differ in their processes. Just as in the same society some individuals want to control external nature, and others want to control internal nature, so, among races, some want to control the external nature, and some the internal. Some say that by controlling internal nature we control everything; some that by controlling external nature we control everything. Carried to the extreme both are right, because there is neither internal nor external. It is a fictitious limitation that never exists. Both are destined to meet at the same point, the externalists and the internalists, when both reach the extreme of their knowledge. Just as the physician, when he pushes his knowledge to its limits, finds it melting away into metaphysics, so the metaphysician will find that what he calls mind and matter are but apparent distinctions, which will have to vanish for ever. What little I know I will tell you. So far as I can reason it out I will do so, but what I do not know I will simply tell you that it is what the books say. It is wrong to blindly believe. You must exercise your own reason and judgement; you must practice, and see whether things happen or not. Mind is an instrument in the hands of the soul, as it were, through which the soul catches external objects. A Yogi must avoid the two extremes of luxury and austerity. He must not fast, or torture his flesh; he who does so, says the Gita, cannot be a Yogi; he who keeps awake; he who sleeps much; he who works too much; he who does no work; none of these can be Yogis. But the main part of the action will lie along the spinal column, so that the one thing necessary for the posture is to hold the spinal column free, sitting erect, holding the three partsthe chest, neck, and headin a straight line. We must not forget that health is only a means to an end. If health were the end we would be like animals; animals rarely become unhealthy. The second obstruction is doubt; we always feel doubtful about things we do not see. The pure man, who has controlled this Prana, has the power of bringing it into a certain state of vibration, which can be conveyed to others, arousing in them a similar vibration. You see that in every-day actions. I am talking to you. What am I trying to do? I am, so to say, bringing my mind to a certain state of vibration, and the more I succeed in bringing it to that state, the more you will be affected by what I say. All of you know that the day I am more enthusiastic the more you enjoy the lecture, and when I am less enthusiastic you feel lack of interest. The gigantic will powers of the world, the world-movers, can bring their Prana into a high state of vibration, and it is so great and powerful that it catches others in a moment, and thousands are drawn towards them, and half the world thinks as they do. All worship, consciously or unconsciously, leads to this end. The man who thinks that he is receiving responses to his prayers does not know that the fulfilment came only from his own nature, that he has succeeded by the mental attitude of prayer in waking up a bit of the infinite power which is coiled up within himself. What language can describe the uncontrollable restlessness of that monkey? The human mind is like that monkey; incessantly active by its own nature, then it becomes drunk with the wine of desire, thus increasing its turbulence. After desire takes possession comes the sting of the scorpion of jealously of others whose desires meet with fulfilment, and last of all the demon of pride takes possession of the mind, making it think itself of all importance. How hard to control such a mind! Knowledge is power says the proverb, and that is true. Until you know what the mind is doing you cannot control it. The mind should first be employed in perceiving the external causes of sensations, then the internal motions, and then the reaction of the mind. BEFORE going into the Yoga Aphorisms I will try to discuss one great question, upon which the whole theory of religion rests, for the Yogis. It seems the consensus of opinion of the great minds of the world, and it has been nearly demonstrated by researchers into physical nature, that we are the outcome and manifestation of an absolute condition, back of our present relative condition, and are going forward, to return again to that absolute. Therefore do not hate anybody, because that force, that hatred, which comes out from you, must, in the long run, come back to you. If you love, that love will come back to you, completing the circuit. Never say any man is hopeless, because he only represents a character, a bundle of habits, and these can be checked by new and better ones. Character is repeated habits, and repeated habits alone can reform character.