Yoga Lessons For Developing Spiritual Consciousness E-Book

Swamie A. P. Mukerji

• Herausgeber: Youcanprint
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Verily, in whom unwisdom is destroyed by the wisdom of the Self, in them, Wisdom, shining as the Sun, reveals the Supreme. Bhagavad Gita. Yoga is a subject which has enthralled the attention of the world from time out of mind. No one has hitherto done justice to such a grand system though there have been, now and then, innumerable attempts. The present author, my esteemed friend, Swami Mukerji, a Yogi who comes out of a successive generation of Yogis, is a fit and proper instrument to handle the subject. He, in these lessons prepares the layman for an understanding of the Yoga and, through a series of wise and masterful sayings, impresses on the mind of the reader the necessity for rising above materialism, nay, solves the very problem "What am I?" Every line is pregnant with mature thoughts and rivets one's attention, and makes him think, think, think. This is not a work for which an introduction, briefly setting forth the contents, could be written. I can but ask you to read, digest and improve.

Leseprobe

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I. THE YOGI CONCEPTION OF LIFE

CHAPTER II. THE IDEAL AND THE PRACTICAL

CHAPTER III. READ AND REFLECT

CHAPTER IV. MAN: ANIMAL AND DIVINE

CHAPTER V. DOUBLE CONSCIOUSNESS

CHAPTER VI. SPIRITUAL UNFOLDMENT

CHAPTER VII. CAUSE AND EFFECT

CHAPTER VIII. MAN—THE MASTER

CHAPTER IX. SELF-DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER X. DEVELOPING THE SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS

CHAPTER XI. WHO CAN BE A YOGI?

CHAPTER XII. CONSTRUCTIVE IDEALISM

CHAPTER XIII. HIGHER REASON AND JUDGMENT

CHAPTER XIV. CONQUEST OF FEAR

CHAPTER XV. THE ROLE OF PRAYER

CHAPTER XVI. THOUGHT: CREATIVE AND EXHAUSTIVE

CHAPTER XVII. MEDITATION EXERCISE

CHAPTER XVIII. SELF-DE-HYPNOTISATION

CHAPTER XIX. SELF-DE-HYPNOTISATION—II

CHAPTER XX. CHARACTER-BUILDING

CONCLUSION.

Yoga Lessons for Developing

Spiritual Consciouness

By

SWAMIE A. P. MUKERJI

ASSOCIATE EDITOR,

KALPAKA MAGAZINE OF INDIA

PUBLISHED BY

YOGI PUBLICATION SOCIETY

MASONIC TEMPLE, CHICAGO, ILL.

REPRESENTATIVES

L. N. FOWLER & COMPANY

7, IMPERIAL ARCADE, LONDON, ENGLAND. THE LATENT LIGHT CULTURE TINNEVELLY, SOUTH INDIA.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN 1911

David De Angelis 2017 [all rights reserved]

INTRODUCTION

Verily, in whom unwisdom is destroyed by the wisdom of the Self, in them, Wisdom, shining as the Sun, reveals the Supreme.—Bhagavad

Gita.

Yoga is a subject which has enthralled the attention of the world from time out of mind. No one has hitherto done justice to such a grand system though there have been, now and then, innumerable attempts.

The present author, my esteemed friend, Swami Mukerji, a Yogi who comes out of a successive generation of Yogis, is a fit and proper instrument to handle the subject. He, in these lessons prepares the layman for an understanding of the Yoga and, through a series of wise and masterful sayings, impresses on the mind of the reader the necessity for rising above materialism, nay, solves the very problem "What am I?"

Every line is pregnant with mature thoughts and rivets one's attention, and makes him think, think, think.

This is not a work for which an introduction, briefly setting forth the contents, could be written.

I can but ask you to read, digest and improve.

Dr. T. R. Sanjivi, Ph.D.,

President,

The Latent Light Culture.

Tinnevelly, India.

CHAPTER I. THE YOGI CONCEPTION OF LIFE

IF we study the action of mind upon mind, of mind over matter, of mind over the human body, we may realize how "each man is a power in himself"—to use Mr. Randall's phrase in his beautiful book on psychology.

Life is demonstrative: it speaks with a million, million tongues. Life stands for Light and Love. Contemplation of Death, which is really a change, will not lead to Happiness.

All-stagnation is death. Humanity is a moving mass, and this is true of it as regards single units as well as of the collective whole.

Stop we cannot. We must go forwards, which is "God-wards" or there is the backward line of progress—which is IGNORANCE.

Spasms of activity catch hold of us and push us onward and, similarly, fear, weakness and worry, the triple weapons of our Old Friend, the Devil, catch us in their deadly grip and "crib, cabin and confine" us.

We all are preparing to live, day in and day out. Is it not so? The body ages; the soul is ever on the alert. We all are trying to grasp life in its proper perspective, to get a clear view of the goal ahead.

Some say "I am for enjoying life;" some say, "It is a bad mixture of heaven and hell, for the most part, hell;" others stand on neutral ground and say, "Let us make the best of a bad bargain. Since we are here, it is no use grumbling. This world is for our education."

Right. Move we must. It may be progress forward or progress backwards.

Life is a series of awakenings. Ideas dawn upon the mind from time to time, are caught up by brain and body and find physical expression as acts. Our outward life with its environment is fitted to our inward development. Wealth, position, fame, power,—all these are the simple expressions of individual character. This is not a platitude. Look and see for yourself.

It is quite necessary that we should pass through certain experiences, that we rise from ideal to ideal. We create our own fate. Our sufferings, our joys, are so many projections from ourselves. We alone are responsible for them.

Like the silkworm we build a cocoon around the soul and then feeling "Cramped," we set to loosening the bonds.

Enjoyment is not, ought not to be the goal of life. Sense-enjoyments end in satiety and exhaustion. Power and self, riches and all that riches mean, may tie us down to a narrow sphere. But in the long run we do come to know that happiness is not in them. This is a tremendous truth, yet God mercifully screens it from us till we are prepared to receive it.

What remains then? Man wants happiness. He rushes from one thing to another to grasp it, only to find everything slipping through his fingers. Let none deny it. "The aim of philosophy is to put an end to pain." All pain is caused by IGNORANCE. Apply the saving remedy of KNOWLEDGE, and PAIN vanishes at once. This is a great fact and all young men ought to stamp it well upon their minds.

While we are upon this phase of our subject, it may be worth while to go farther into these important facts of life—PLEASURE and PAIN.

Our thoughts and actions are the forces we send out of ourselves. All life is expression. The soul of man is trying to see itself in everything. How did the different organs of the body come into existence? How did man get his eyes, his ears, his nose and so forth? How does the growth of things proceed on the subconscious plane of existence? The soul willed to see and it saw, willed to hear and it heard, willed to smell and it smelt. That is the right explanation.

Take a subject, throw him into a hypnotic trance, lead him into the deepest state possible, give him vigorous suggestions that a steady increase is taking place as to his physique, repeat the suggestions twice every day for a few months and you will have put pounds of flesh on his form. If you know anything of these things at all, you will be hardly astonished. A striking case once occurred: Some frivolous students of Aberdeen held a hypnotic seance. A friend of theirs was hypnotised and made to go through certain illusions. Then a wet towel was put upon his neck and it was suggested to him that a sharp knife had been drawn right across his neck to cut his throat and that he was dead. It was such fun! The students danced for joy. But what was their surprise when they found the man was stone dead. It taught the eternal truth—what man thinks that he is, that he shall be.

Now, man is trying to express himself on the different planes of his being by appropriating to himself different vehicles of expression. When he meets with opposition, an obstacle, he chafes like a caged lion. Load the limbs of a man with fetters of iron and see the result. It is really this—when we can push forward without opposition, it causes pleasure, a sense of happiness; when we are held back it causes pain. Place good food before a healthy man. See how he likes it. It is because he knows that he is making an addition to himself. It brings on a sense of "MORE-NESS" and pleasure follows. Of course there are higher grades of this sense of "MORE-NESS." Some ancient doctors defined passion as an accession of strength due to the surcharge of arterial blood in the veins. All pleasure is from STRENGTH, all pain from WEAKNESS. There can be no question as to this fact.

There is a fire burning. Heap coals. The more coals, the brighter and steadier the flame. All obstacles are really "coal" feeding the "flame" of the spirit. They spur a man on. The vibrations of pain are often blessings in disguise. They drive the lesson home. The effect is not different from the cause. Both are the obverse and reverse of the same coin. Painful results grow out of deeds that clash with the interests of the DIVINITY WITHIN—which is for FREEDOM.

"Lord, I want nothing—neither health, nor beauty nor power. Give me FREEDOM and I am content." This is Jivan mukti. This is the highest ideal of life. Thinking of the little pleasures of the senses has brought us to this: to dance, to laugh, to weep, and before the tears are gone, to begin over again. Look at my condition. Slave of the flesh, slave of the mind, wanting to have this, that and what not. DARKNESS BEHIND— DARKNESS AHEAD. Such is the wail of IGNORANCE.

Get rid of it, O! My Friend. It is your greatest, direst enemy. Let the

LIGHT of KNOWLEDGE dissipate this DARKNESS of IGNORANCE. The Lord above is our refuge. He alone is STRENGTH. "In Him we live and have our being." Where seek you for your ideals. Here it is.

FREEDOM—You are rushing to it, and so am I. Welcome everything that helps you, yea, compels you, to strike one more blow in the noble

CHAPTER II. THE IDEAL AND THE PRACTICAL

HERE are two words—IMAGINATION and FANCY. What is the distinction between the two? Well, the one is closely related to the positive and the conscious side of our character; the other can claim kinship with the negative and the receptive side only. Take a youth starting in life. He has not been born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He is poor and has absolutely none to look to for help of any sort whatsoever.