Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - BOOK 03

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Book three of the Yogosutras of Patanjali by Patanjali, translated
by Charles Johnston eighteen sixty seven to nineteen thirty one.
Introduction to Book three. The third book of the Sutras
is the book of spiritual Powers. In considering these spiritual powers,
two things must be understood and kept in memory. The

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first of these is these spiritual powers can only be
gained when the development described in the first and second
books has been measurably attained, when the commandments have been kept,
the rules faithfully followed, and the experiences which are described
have been passed through. For only after this is the
spiritual man so far grown, so far disentangled from the

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psychical bandages and veils which have confined and blinded him,
that he can use his proper powers and faculties. For
this is the secret of all spiritual powers. They are
in no sense an abnormal or supernatural oath growth upon
the material man, but are rather the powers and faculties
inherent in the spiritual man, entirely natural to him, and

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coming naturally into activity as the spiritual man is disentangled
and liberated from psychical bondage. Through keeping the commandments and
rules already set forth. As the personal man is the
limitation and inversion of the spiritual man, all his faculties
and powers are inversions of the powers of the spiritual man.

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In a single phrase, his self seeking small s is
the inversion of the self seeking big s, which is
the very being of the spiritual man, the ceaseless search
after the divine and august self biguess of all beings.
This inversion is corrected by keeping the commandments and rules,
and gradually, as the inversion is overcome, the spiritual man

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is extricated and comes into possession and free exercise of
his powers. The spiritual powers, therefore are the powers of
the grown and liberated spiritual man. They can only be
developed and used as the spiritual man grows and attains
liberation through obedience. This is the first thing to be

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kept in mind in all that is said of spiritual
powers in the third and fourth books of the Sutras.
The second thing to be understood and kept in mind
is this, just as our modern sages have discerned and
taught that all matter is ultimately one and eternal, definitely
related throughout the whole wide universe, just as they have

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discerned and taught that all force is one and eternal,
so coordinated throughout the whole universe, that whatever affects any
atom measurably affects the whole boundless realm of matter and
force to the most distant star or nebula on the
dim confines of space. So the ancients had discerned and
taught that all consciousness is one, immortal, indivisible, infinite, so

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only correlated and continuous, that whatever is perceived by any
consciousness is, whether actually or potentially, within the reach of
all consciousness, and therefore within the reach of any consciousness.
This has been well expressed by saying that all souls
are fundamentally one with the oversoul, that the Son of
God and all sons of God are fundamentally one with

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the Father. When the consciousness is cleared of psychic bonds
and veils, when the spiritual man is able to stand
to see, then the superb law comes into effect. Whatever
is within the knowledge of any consciousness, and this includes
the whole infinite universe, is within his reach, and may,
if he wills, be made a part of his consciousness.

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This he may attain through his fundamental unity with the
oversall by raising himself toward the consciousness above him and
drawing on its resources. The son, if he would work miracles,
whether of perception or of action, must come often into
the presence of the Father. This is the birthright of
the spiritual man. Through it he comes into possession of

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his splendid and immortal powers. Let it be clearly kept
in mind that what is here to be related of
the spiritual man and his exalted powers must in no
wise be detached from what is gone before the being.
The very inception of the spiritual man depends on the
purification and moral attainment already detailed, and can in no

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wise dispense with these or curtail them. Let no one
imagine that the true life, the true powers of the
spiritual man can be attained by any other way except
the hard way of sacrifice, of trial, of renunciation, of
selfless self conquest, and genuine devotion to the will of
all others. Only thus can the golden gates be reached

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and entered. Only thus can we attain to that pure
world wherein the spiritual man lives and moves and has
his being. Nothing impure, nothing unholy, can ever cross that threshold.
Least of all impure motives or self seeking desires. These
must be burnt away before an entrance to that world

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can be gained. But where there is light, there is shadow,
and the lofty light of the soul casts upon the
clouds of the midworld. The shadow of the spiritual man
and of his powers. The bastard vesture and the bastard
powers of psychism are easily attained. Yet even when attained,
they are a delusion, the very essence of unreality. Therefore,

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ponder well the earlier rules, and lay a firm foundation
of courage, sacrifice, selflessness, holiness. Book three one. The binding
of the perceiving consciousness to a certain region is attention
or tarana interpretation. Emerson quotes Sir Isaac Newton as saying

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that he made his great discoveries by intending his mind
on them. That is what is meant here. I read
the page of a book while thinking of something else.
At the end of the page, I have no idea
of what it is about, and read it again, still
thinking of something else, with the same result. Then I
wake up, so to speak, make an effort of attention,

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fix my thought on what I am reading, and easily
take in its meaning. The act of will, the effort
of attention, the intending of the mind on each word
and line of the page, just as the eyes are
focused on each word and line, is the power here contemplated.
It is the power to focus the consciousness on a
given spot and hold it there. Attention is the first

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and indispensable step in all knowledge. Attention to spiritual things
is the first step to spiritual knowledge. Two. A prolonged
holding of the perceiving consciousness in that region is meditation
or Diana interpretation. This will apply equally to outer and

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inner things. I may for a moment fix my attention
on some visible object in a single penetrating glance, or
I may hold the attention fixedly on it until it
reveals far more of its nature than a single glance
could perceive. The first is the focusing of the searchlight
of consciousness upon the object. The other is the holding

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of the white beam of light steadily and persistently on
the object until it yields up the secret of its details.
So for things within, one may fix the inner glance
for a moment on spiritual things, or one may hold
the consciousness steadily upon them until what was in the
dark slowly comes forth into the light and yields up

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its immortal secret. But this is possible only for the
spiritual after the commandments and the rules have been kept.
For until this is done, the thronging storms of psychical
thoughts dissipate and distract the attention, so that it will
not remain fixed on spiritual things. The cares of this world,
the deceitfulness of riches choke the world of the spiritual message. Three,

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when the perceiving consciousness in this meditation is wholly given
to illuminating the essential meaning of the object contemplated, and
is freed from the sense of separateness and personality, this
is contemplation or Samadhi interpretation. Let us review the steps
so far taken. First, the beam of perceiving consciousness is

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focused on a certain region or subject through the effort
of attention. Then this attending consciousness is held on its object. Third,
there is the ardent will to know its meaning, to
elude ruminate with comprehending thought. Fourth, all personal bias, all
desire merely to endorse a previous opinion and so prove

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oneself right, and all desire for personal profit or gratification
must be quite put away. There must be a purely
disinterested love of truth for its own sake. Thus is
the perceiving consciousness made void, as it were, of all
personality or sense of separateness. The personal limitation stands aside

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unless the all consciousness come to bear upon the problem,
the oversoul bends its ray upon the object and illumines
it with pure light. Four. When these three attention, meditation,
contemplation are exercised at once, this is perfectly concentrated meditation,

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or Sonyama interpretation. When the personal limitation of the percep
saving consciousness stands aside and allows the all consciousness to
come to bear upon the problem, then arises that real knowledge,
which is called a flash of genius, that real knowledge
which makes discoveries, and without which no discovery can be made,

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however painstaking. The effort for genius is the vision of
the spiritual man, and that vision is a question of
growth rather than present effort. Though right effort, rightly continued,
will in time infallibly lead to growth and vision through
the power. Thus to set aside personal limitation, to push

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aside petty concerns and cares, and steady the whole nature
and will in an ardent love of truth and desire
to know it through the power. Thus to make the
way for an all consciousness, all great men make their discoveries. Newton,
watching the apple fall to the earth, was able to
look beyond, to see the subtle waves of force pulsating

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through apples and worlds and suns, us and galaxies, and
thus to perceive universal gravitation. The over soul, looking through
his eyes, recognized the universal force, one of its own children. Darwin,
watching the forms and motions of plants and animals, let
the same august consciousness come to bear on them, and

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saw infinite growth perfected through ceaseless struggle. He perceived the
superb process of evolution. The over soul once more recognizing
its own Fraunhuffer, noting that dark lines in the band
of sunlight in his spectroscope, divined their identity with the
bright lines in the spectra of incandescent iron, sodium, and

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the rest, and so saw the oneness of the substance
in the worlds and suns, the unity of the materials
of the universe. Once again, the over soul, looking with
his eyes, recognized its own. So it is with all
true knowledge. But the mind must transcend its limitations, its idiosyncrasiya.
There must be purity, for to the pure in heart

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is the promise that they shall see God. Five. By
mastering this perfectly concentrated meditation, there comes the illumination of
perception interpretation. The meaning of this is illustrated by what
has been said before. When the spiritual man is able
to throw aside the trammels of emotional and mental limitation

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and to open his eyes, he sees clearly, he attains
to illuminated perception. A poet once said that occultism is
the conscious cultivation of genius, and it is certain that
the awakened spiritual man attains to the perceptions of genius.
Genius is the vision the power of the spiritual man.

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Whether its possessor recognizes this or not, all true knowledge
is of the spiritual man. The greatest in all ages
have recognized this and put their testimony on record. The
great in wisdom who have not consciously recognized it, have
ever been full of the spirit of reverence, of selfless
devotion to truth, of humility, as was Darwin, and reverence

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and humility of the unconscious recognition of the nearness of
the spirit, that divinity which broods over us, a master
or a slave. Six. This power is distributed in ascending
degrees interpretation, it is to be attained step by step.

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It is a question not of miracle, but of evolution
of growth. Newton had to master the multiplication table, then
the four rules of arithmetic, then the rudiments of algebra,
before he came to the binomial theorem. At each point
there was a tension concentration in sight. Until these were attained,

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no progress to the next point was possible. So with
Darwin he had to learn the forms and use of
leaf and flower, of bone and muscle, the characteristics of
genera and species, the distribution of plants and animals. Before
he had in mind that nexus of knowledge on which
the light of his great idea was at last able

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to shine. So is it with all knowledge, so is
it with spiritual knowledge. Take the matter this way. The
first subject for the exercise of my spiritual insight is
my day, with its circumstances, its hindrances, its opportunities, its duties.
I do what I can to solve it, to fulfill

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its duties, to learn its lessons. I try to live
my day with aspiration and faith. That is the first step.
By doing this, I gather a harvest for the evening.
I gain a deeper insight into life in virtue of
which I begin the next day with a certain advantage,
a certain spiritual advance and attainment. So with all successive

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days in faith and aspiration, we pass from day to
day in gaining knowledge and power, with never more than
one day to solve at a time, until all life
becomes radiant and transparent. Seven. This threefold power of attention, meditation,
contemplation is more interior than the means of growth previously

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described interpretation, very naturally so, because the means of growth
previously described were concerned with the extrication of the spiritual
man from psychic bondages and veils, while this threefold power
is to be exercised by the spiritual man thus extricated
and standing on his feet, viewing life with open eyes. Eight.

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But this triad is still exterior to the soul vision,
which is unconditioned, free from the seed of mental analysis interpretation.
The reason is this. The threefold power we have been considering,
the triad of attention, contemplation, meditation is so far as
we have considered it the focusing of the beam of

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perceiving consciousness upon some form of manifesting being, with a
view of understanding it completely. There is a higher stage
where the beam of consciousness is turned back upon itself,
and the individual consciousness enters into and knows the all consciousness.
This is a being, a being in immortality, rather than

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a knowing. It is free from mental analysis or mental forms.
It is not an activity of the higher mind, even
the mind of the spiritual man. It is an activity
of the soul. Had Newton risen to this higher stage,
he would have known not the laws of motion, but
that high being from whose life comes eternal motion. Had

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Darwin risen to this, he would have seen the soul,
whose graduated thought and being all evolution expresses. There are
therefore these two perceptions, that of living things and that
of the life, that of the soul's works and that
of the soul itself. Nine. One of the ascending degrees

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is the development of control. First, there is the overcoming
of the mind impress of excitation. Then comes the manifestation
of the mind impress of control. Then the perceiving consciousness
follows after the moment of control. This is the development
of control interpretation. The meaning seems to be this, some

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object enters the field of observation and at first violently
excites the mind, stirring up curiosity, fear, wonder. Then the
consciousness returns upon itself, as it were, and takes the
perception firmly in hand, steadying itself and viewing the matter
calmly from above. This steadying effort of the will upon

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the perceiving consciousness is control, and immediately upon it follows
perception understanding in sight. Take a trite example, supposing one
is walking in an Indian forest, a charging elephant suddenly appears.
The man is excited by astonishment and perhaps terror, but

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he exercises an effort of will, perceives the situation in
his true bearings, and recognizes that a certain thing must
be done, in this case, probably that he must get
out of the way as quickly as possible. Or a comet, unheralded,
appears in the sky like a flaming sword. The beholder

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is at first astonished, perhaps terror stricken, but he takes
himself in hand, controls his thoughts, and views the apparation calmly,
and finally calculates its orbit and its relation to meteor showers.
These are extremely illustrations, but with all knowledge, the order
of perception is the same. First the excitation of the

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mind by the new object impressed on it. Then the
control of the mind from within, upon which follows the
perception of the nature of the object. Where the eyes
of the spiritual man are open, this will be a
true penetrating spiritual perception. In some such way, do our
living experiences come to us first with a shock of pain,

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Then the soul steadies itself and controls the pain. Then
the spirit perceives the lesson of the event and its
bearing upon the progressive revelation of life. Ten Through frequent
repetition of this process, the mind becomes habituated to it,
and there arises an equable flow of perceiving consciousness interpretation.

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Control of the mind by the soul, like control of
the muscles by the mind, comes by practice and constant
voluntary repetition. As an example of control of the muscles
by the mind, take the ceaseless practice by which a
musician gains mastery over his instrument, or of fencer gains
skill with a rapia innumerable small efforts of attention, or

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make a result which seems well nigh miraculous, which for
the novice is rarely miraculous. Then consider that far more
wonderful instrument, the perceiving mind, played on by that fine musician,
the soul. Here again, innumerable small efforts of attention will
accumulate into mastery, and a mastery worth winning. For a

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concrete example, take the gradual conquest of each day, the
effort to live that day for the soul, to him
that is faithful, and to death the master gives the
crown of life. Eleven, the gradual conquest of the mind's
tendency to flit from one object to another, and the
power of one pointedness. Make the development of contemplation interpretation

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as an illustration of the mind's tendency to flit from
one object to another. Take a small boy learning arithmetic.
He begins two ones are two, Three ones are three,
And then he thinks of three coins in his pocket
which will purchase so much candy in the store down
the street next to the toy shop where our baseballs, marbles,

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and so on. And then he comes back with a
jerk to four ones are four. So with us also
we are seeking the meaning of our task. But the
mind takes advantage of a moment of slackened attention and
flits off from one frivolous detail to another, till we
suddenly come back to consciousness after traversing leagues of space.

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We must learn to conquer this and to go back
within ourselves into the beam of perceiving consciousness itself, which
is a beam of the over soul. This is the
true one pointedness, the bringing of our consciousness to a
focus in the soul. Twelve. When following this, the controlled
manifold tendency and the aroused one pointedness are equally balanced

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parts of the perceiving consciousness. This is the development of
one pointedness. Interpretation, this would seem to mean that the insight,
which is called one pointedness, has two sides equally balanced.
There is first the manifold aspect of any object, the

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sum of all its characteristics and properties. This is to
be held firmly in the mind. Then there is the
perception of the object as a unity, as a whole,
the perception of its essence. First, the details must be
clearly perceived, Then the essence must be comprehended. When the
two processes are equally balanced, the true one pointedness is attained.

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Everything has these two sides, the side of difference and
the side of unity. That there is the individual, and
there is the genus, the pole of matter and diversity,
the pole of oneness and spirit. To see the object truly,
we must see both. Thirteen. Through this, the inherent character,

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distinctive marks and conditions of being and powers according to
their development, are made clear. Interpretation by the power defined
in the preceding sutra, The inherent character, distinctive marks and
conditions of beings and powers are made clear. For through
this power, as defined, we get a twofold view of

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each object, seeing at once all its individual characteristics and
its essential character, species and genus. We see it in
relation to itself and in relation to the eternal. Thus
we see arose as the particular flower, with its color
and scent, its peculiar fold of each petal. But we

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also see it in the species, the family to which
it belongs, with its relation to all plants, to all life,
to life itself. So in any day we see events
and circumstances, we also see in it the lessons set
forth for the soul by the eternal. Fourteen. Every object

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has its characteristics, which are already quiescent, those which are active,
and those which are not yet definable. Interpretation, every object
has its characteristics belonging to its past, its present, and
its future. In a fir tree, for example, there are
the stumps or scars of dead branches which once represented

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its foremost growth. There are the branches with their needles
spread out to the air. There are the buds at
the end of each branch and twig which carry the
still closely packed needles, which are the promise of the future.
In like manner, the chrysalis has as its part the caterpillar,
as its future, the butterfly. The man has in his past,

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the animal in his future, the angel. Both are visible
even now in his face. So with all things, for
all things change and grow. Fifteen. Difference in stage is
the cause of difference in development. Interpretation. This but amplifies

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what has just been said. The first stage is the sapling,
the caterpillar, the animal. The second stage is the growing tree,
the chrysalis, the man. The third stage is the splendid pine,
the butterfly, the angel. Difference of stage is the cause
of difference of development. So it is among men and

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among the races of men sixteen. Through perfectly concentrated meditation
on the three stages of development comes a knowledge of
past and future interpretation. We have taken our illustrations from
natural science, because since every true discovery in natural science

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is a divination of a law in nature attained through
a flash of genius, such discoveries rarely represent acts of
spiritual perception, acts of perception by the spiritual man, even
though they are generally not so recognized. So we may
once more use the same illustration. Perfectly concentrated meditation. Perfect

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insight into the chrysalis reveals the caterpillar that it has been,
the butterfly that it is destined to be. He who
knows the seed knows the seed pod or ere it
has come from, and the plant that is to come
from it. So, in the like manner, he who really
knows today and the heart of today knows its parent

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yesterday and its child Tomorrow. Past, present, and future are
all in the eternal. He who dwells in the eternal
knows all three seventeen. The sound and the object and
the thought called up by a word are confounded because
they are all blurred together in the mind by perfectly

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concentrated meditation on the distinction between them, there comes an
understanding of the sounds uttered by all beings interpretation. It
must be remembered that we are speaking of the perception
by the spiritual man. Sound, like every force, is the
expression of a power of the eternal. Infinite shades of

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this power are expressed in the infinitely varied tones of sound.
He who, having entry to the consciousness of the eternal,
knows the essence of this power, can divine the meanings
of all sounds, from the voice of the insect to
the music of the spheres. In like manner, He who
is attained to spiritual vision can perceive the mind images

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in the thoughts of others with the shade of feeling
which goes with them, thus reading their thoughts as easily
as he hears their words. Everyone has this germ of
this power, since difference of tone will give widely differing
meanings to the same words, meanings which are intuitively perceived
by everyone. S. Eighteen. When the mind impressions become visible,

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there comes an understanding of previous births interpretation. This is
simple enough if we grasp the truth of rebirth, the
fine harvest of past experience is drawn into the spiritual nature,
forming indeed the basis of its development. When the consciousness
has been raised to a point above these fine subjective

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impressions and can look down upon them from above, this
will in itself be a remembering of past births. Nineteen.
By perfectly concentrated meditation on mind images is gained the
understanding of the thoughts of others. Iritation. Here, for those

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who can profit by it, is the secret of thought reading.
Take the simplest case of intentional thought transference. It is
the testimony of those who have done this that the
perceiving mind must be stilled before the mind image projected
by the other mind can be seen. With it comes
a sense of the feeling and temper of the other mind,

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and so on in higher degrees. Twenty. But since that
on which the thought in the mind of another rests
is not objective to the thought reader's consciousness, he perceives
the thought only, and not also that on which the
thought rests interpretation, the meaning appears to be simple. One

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may be able to perceive the thoughts of someone at
a distance, one cannot, by that means alone, also perceive
the external surroundings of that person which arouse these thoughts.
Twenty one. By perfectly concentrated meditation on the form of
the body, by arresting the body's perceptibility, and by inhibiting

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the eye's power of sight, there comes the power to
make the body invisible interpretation. There are many instances of
the exercise of this power by mesmerists, hypnotists, and the like,
and we may simply call it an instance of the
power of suggestion. Shangara tells us that by this power,

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the popular magicians of the East perform their wonders, working
on the mind images of others, while remaining invisible themselves.
It is all the question of being able to see
and control the mind images. Twenty two. The works which
fill out the life span may be either immediately or

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gradually operative. By perfectly concentrated meditation on these comes a
knowledge of the time of the end, and also through
signs interpretation. A garment which is wet, says the commentary,
may be hung up to dry and so dry rapidly,
or it may be rolled into a ball and dry slowly,
so a fire may blaze or smolder. Thus it is

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with karma the works that fill out the life span
by an insight into the mental forms and forces which
make up karma. There comes a knowledge of the rapidity
or slowness of their development, and of the time when
the debt will be paid. Twenty three, By perfectly concentrated
meditation on sympathy, compassion, and kindness is gained the power

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of interior union with others. Interpretation. Unity is the reality,
separateness the illusion. The nearer we come to reality, the
nearer we come to Unity of heart. Sympathy, compassion, kindness
are modes of this unity of heart, whereby we rejoice
with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

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These things are learned by desiring to learn them. Twenty
four By perfectly concentrated meditation on power, even such power
as that of the elephant may be gained. Interpretation. This
is a pretty image. Elephants possess not only force, but
poise and fineness of control. They can lift a straw,

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a child, a tree with perfectly judged control and effort.
So the simile is a good one. By detachment, by
withdrawing into the soul's reservoir of power, we can gain
all these force and fineness and poise, the ability to
handle with equal mastery things small and great, concrete and

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abstract alike. Twenty five By bending upon them the awakened
inner light, there comes a knowledge of things subtle or
concealed or obscure interpretation. As was said at the outset,
each consciousness is related to all consciousnesses, and through it

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has a potential consciousness of all things, whether subtle or
concealed or obscure. An understanding of this great truth will
come with practice. As one of the wives has said,
we have no conception of the power of meditation. Twenty six,
By perfectly concentrated meditation on the sun comes a knowledge

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of the world's interpretation. This has several meanings. First, by
a knowledge of the constitution of the sun, astronomers can
understand the kindred nature of the stars, and it is
said that there is a finer astronomy where the spiritual
man is the astronomer. But the sun also means the soul,

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and through knowledge of the soul comes a knowledge of
the realms of life. Twenty seven, By perfectly concentrated meditation
on the moon comes a knowledge of the lunar mansions interpretation.
Here again are different meanings. The moon is first the
companion planet which each day passes backward through one mansion

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of the stars. By watching the moon, the boundaries of
the mansion are learned with their succession in the great
time dial of the sky. But the moon also symbolizes
the analytic mind with its divided realms, and these too
may be understood through perfectly concentrated meditation. Twenty eight. By

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perfectly concentrated meditation on the fixed pulse star comes a
knowledge of the motions of the stars. Interpretation addressing Duty Stern,
daughter of the voice of God. Wordsworth finally said, thou
dost preserve the stars from wrong, and the most ancient
heavens through thee are fresh and strong, thus suggesting a

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profound relation between the moral powers and the powers that
rule the worlds. So in the Sutra, the fixed pulse
star is the eternal spirit about which all things move,
as well as the start toward which points the axis
of the earth. Deep mysteries attend both, and the veil
of mystery is only to be raised by meditation by
open eyed vision of the awakened spiritual man. Twenty nine.

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Perfectly concentrated meditation on the center of force in the
lower trunk brings an understanding of the order of the
bodily powers interpretation, We are coming to a vitally important
part of the teaching of yoga, namely the spiritual man's
attainment of full self consciousness, the awakening of the spiritual

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man as a self conscious individual behind and above the
natural man. In this awakening and in the process of
gestation which precedes it, there is a close relation with
the powers of the natural man, which are in a
certain sense, the projection outward and downward of the powers
of the spiritual man. This is notably true of the

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creative power of the spiritual man, which, when embodied in
the natural man, becomes the power of generation. Not only
is this power the cause of the continuance of the
bodily race of mankind, but further, in the individual, it
is the key to dominance of the personal life, Rising
as it were, through the life channels of the body.

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It flushes the personality with physical force, and maintains and
colors the illusion that the physical life is the dominant
and all important expression of life. In due time, when
the spiritual man has begun to take form, the creative
force will be drawn off and become operative in building
the body of the spiritual man, just as it has

(36:44):
been operative in the building of physical bodies through generation
in the natural world. Perfectly concentrated meditation on the nature
of this force means first that rising the consciousness into
the spiritual world already described, which gives the one sure
foothold for meditation, and then from that spiritual point advantage

(37:06):
not only an insight into the creative force in its
spiritual and physical aspects, but also a gradual attained control
of this wonderful force, which will mean its direction to
the body of the spiritual man and its gradual withdrawal
from the body of the natural man, until the overpressure,
so general and such a fruitful source of misery in

(37:28):
our day, is abated, and purity takes the place of passion.
This overpressure, which is the cause of so many evils
and so much human shame, is an abnormal, not a
natural condition. It is primarily due to spiritual blindness, to
blindness regarding the spiritual man, and ignorance even of his existence.

(37:50):
For by this blind ignorance are closed the channels through which,
where they open, the creative force could flow into the
body of the spiritual man, their building an immortal vesture.
There is no cure for blindness with its consequent over
pressure and attendant misery and shame. But spiritual vision, spiritual aspiration, sacrifice,

(38:12):
the new birth from above. There is no other way
to lighten the burden, to lift the misery and shame
from human life. Therefore, let us follow after sacrifice and aspiration.
Let us seek the light. In this way only shall
we gain that insight into the order of the bodily
powers and that mastery of them, which this sutra implies.

(38:36):
Thirty By perfectly concentrated meditation on the center of force
in the well of the throat, there comes the cessation
of hunger and thirst. Interpretation, we are continuing the study
of the bodily powers and center of force in the
relation to the powers and forces of the spiritual man.
We have already considered the dominant power of physical life,

(39:00):
the creative power which secures the continuance of physical life,
and further, the manner in which, through aspiration and sacrifice,
it is gradually raised and set to the work of
upbuilding the body of the spiritual man. We come now
to the dominant psychic force, the power which manifests itself
in speech and in virtue of which the voice may

(39:22):
carry so much of the personal magnetism, endowing the orator
with a tongue of fire, magical in its power to
arise and rule the emotions of his hearers. This emotional power,
this distinctively psychical force, is the cause of hunger and thirst,
the psychical hunger and the thirst for sensations, which is

(39:44):
the source of our two sided life of emotionalism, with
its hopes and fears, its expectations and memories, its desires
and hates, the source of the psychical power, or perhaps
we should say its center of activity in the physical.
The body is said to be in the cavity of
the throat. Thus, in the Taitriya Upanishad it is written,

(40:08):
there is this shining ether in the inner being. Therein
is the spiritual man formed through thought, immortal golden. Inward
in the pallet the organ that hangs down like a nipple.
This is the womb of Indra, and there where the
dividing of the hair tones extending upward to the crown

(40:28):
of the head. Indra is the name given to the
creative power of which we have spoken, and which we
are told resides in the organ which hangs down like
a nipple inward in the pallet. Thirty one. By perfectly
concentrated meditation on the center of force in the channel
called the tortoise formed, comes steadfastness interpretation. We are concerned

(40:55):
now with the center of nervous or psychical force below
the cavity of the throat in the chest, in which
is felt the sensation of fear, the center the disturbance
of which sets the heart beating miserably with dread, or
which produces that sense of terror through which the heart
is said to stand still. When the truth concerning fear

(41:16):
is thoroughly mastered through spiritual insight into the immortal, fearless life,
then this force is perfectly controlled. There is no more fear,
just as through the control of the psychic power which
works through the nerve center in the throat, there comes
a cessation of hunger and thirst. Thereafter, these forces, or
their spiritual prototypes, are turned to the building of the

(41:40):
spiritual man. Always, it must be remembered the victory is
first a spiritual one. Only later does it bring control
of the bodily powers. Thirty two. Through perfectly concentrated meditation
on the light in the head comes the vision of
the masters who have attained irritation. The tradition is that

(42:02):
there is a certain center of force in the head,
perhaps the pineal gland, which some of our Western philosophers
have supposed to be the dwelling of the soul, a
center which is, as it were, the doorway between the
natural and the spiritual man. It is the seat of
that better and wiser consciousness behind the outward looking consciousness
in the forward part of the head, that better and

(42:25):
wiser consciousness of the back of the mind, which views
spiritual things and seeks to impress the spiritual view on
the outward looking consciousness in the forward part of the head.
It is the spiritual man seeking to guide the natural man,
seeking to bring the natural man to concern himself with
the things of his immortality. This is suggested in the

(42:46):
words of the Upanishad already quoted there where the dividing
of the hair turns, extending upward to the crown of
the head, all of which may sound very fantastical until
one comes to understand it. It is said that when
this power is fully awakened, it brings a vision of
the great companions of the spiritual man. Those who have

(43:07):
already attained crossing over to the furthest shore of the
sea of death and rebirth. Perhaps it is to this
divine sight that the Master eluded, who is reported to
have said, I counsel you to buy of me I slave,
that you may see. It is of this same vision
of the great companions, the children of Light, that is
heere erote. Though inland far we be, our souls have

(43:30):
sight of that immortal sea which brought us hither, can
in a moment travel thither and see the children sport
upon the shore and hear the mighty words rolling evermore
thirty three or through the divining power of intuition, he
knows all things interpretation. This is really the supplement the

(43:55):
spiritual side of the Sutraja, just translated step by step
as the better consciousness, the spiritual view gains force in
the back of the mind. So in the same measure,
the spiritual man is gaining the power to see, learning
to open the spiritual eyes. When the eyes are fully opened,

(44:15):
the spiritual man beholds the great companion standing about him.
He has begun to know all things. This divining power
of intuition is the power which lies above and behind
the so called rational mind. The rational mind formulates a
question and lays it before the intuition, which gives a
real answer, often immediately distorted by the rational mind, yet

(44:39):
always embodying a kernel of truth. It is by this
process through which the rational mind brings questions to the
intuition for solution, that the truths of science are reached
the flashes of discovery and genius. But this higher power
need not work in subordination to the so called rational mind.
It may act directly as full illumin domination the vision

(45:01):
and the faculty divine thirty four. By perfectly concentrated meditation
on the heart, the interior being comes the knowledge of consciousness.
Interpretation the heart here seems to mean, as it so
often does in the Upanishads, the interior spiritual nature, the

(45:23):
consciousness of the spiritual man, which is related to the
heart and to the wisdom of the heart. By steadily
seeking after and finding the consciousness of the spiritual man,
by coming to consciousness as the spiritual man, a perfect
knowledge of consciousness will be attained. For the consciousness of
the spiritual man has this divine quality while being and

(45:45):
remaining a truly individual consciousness. It at the same time
flows over as it were, and blends with the divine
consciousness above and about it, the consciousness of the great companions.
And by showing itself to be one with the divine consciousness,
it reveals the nature of all consciousness, the secret that
all consciousness is one and divine. Thirty five. The personal

(46:10):
self seeks to feast on life. Through a failure to
perceive the distinction between the personal self and the spiritual man,
all personal experience rarely exists for the sake of another,
namely the spiritual man. By perfectly concentrated meditation on experience
for the sake of the self, comes a knowledge of
the spiritual man. Interpretation, the divine ray of the Higher Self,

(46:35):
which is eternal, impersonal, and abstract, descends into life and
forms a personality which, through the stress and storm of life,
is hammered into a definite and concrete, self conscious individuality.
The problem is to blend these two powers, taking the
eternal and spiritual being of the first and blending it

(46:55):
with transferring into it the self conscious individuality of the second,
and thus bringing to life a third being, the spiritual man,
who is heir to the immortality of his father, the
Higher Self. And yet has the self conscious, concrete individuality
of his other parent, the personal self. This is the

(47:16):
true immaculate conception, the new birth from above, conceived of
the Holy Spirit. Of this new birth, it is said
that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Ye
must be born again, rightly understood. Therefore, the whole life
of the personal man is for another, not for himself.
He exists only to render his very life and all

(47:39):
his experience for the building up of the spiritual man.
Only through failure to see this does he seek enjoyment
for himself, seek to secure the feasts of life for himself,
not understanding that he must live for the other, live sacrificially,
offering both feasts and his very being on the altar,
giving himself as a contribution for the building of the

(48:01):
spiritual man. When he does understand this and lives for
the higher self, setting his heart and thought on the
higher Self, then his sacrifice bears divine fruit. The spiritual
man is built up, consciousness awakes in him, and he
comes fully into being as a divine and immortal individuality.

(48:22):
Thirty six thereupon are born the divine power of intuition,
and the hearing, the touch, the vision, the taste and
the power of smell of the spiritual man interpretation. When
in virtue of the perpetual sacrifice of the personal man
daily and hourly giving his life for his divine brother

(48:44):
and spiritual man, and through the radiance ever pouring down
from the higher Self eternal in the heavens, the spiritual
man comes to birth. There awake in him those powers
whose physical counterparts we know in the personal man. The
spiritual man begins to see, to hear, to touch, to taste,
And besides the senses of the spiritual man, there awakes

(49:07):
his mind that divine counterpart of the mind of the
physical man, the power of direct and immediate knowledge, the
power of spiritual intuition of divination. This power, as we
have seen, owes its virtue to the unity, the continuity
of consciousness, whereby whatever is known to any consciousness is

(49:28):
noble by any other consciousness. Thus, the consciousness of the
spiritual man, who lives above our narrow barriers of separateness,
is an intimate touch with the consciousness of the great companions,
and can draw on their vast reservoir for all real needs.
Thus arises within the spiritual man that certain knowledge which
is called intuition, divination, illumination thirty seven. These powers stand

(49:55):
in contradistinction to the highest spiritual vision in manifestation, there
called magical powers interpretation, the divine man is destined to
supersede the spiritual man. As the spiritual man supersedes the
natural man, then the disciple becomes a master. The opened
powers of the spiritual man, spiritual vision, hearing, and touch,

(50:18):
stand therefore in contradistinction to the higher divine power above them,
and must in no wise be regarded as the end
of the way, for the path has no end, but
rises ever to higher and higher glories. The soul's growth
and splendor have no limit, so that if the spiritual
powers we have been considering are regarded as in any

(50:41):
sense final, they are a hindrance, a barrier to the
far higher powers of the divine man. But viewed from below,
from the standpoint of normal physical experience, they are powers
truly magical, as the powers natural to a four dimensional
being will appear magical to a three dimensional being Thirty eight.

(51:03):
Through the weakening of the causes of bondage and by
learning the method of passing, the consciousness is transferred to
the other body interpretation. In due time, after the spiritual
man has been formed and grown stable through the forces
and virtues already enumerated, and after the senses of the
spiritual man have awaked, there comes the transfer of the

(51:24):
dominant consciousness, the sense of individuality, from the physical to
the spiritual man. Thereafter, the physical man is felt to
be a secondary, a subordinate, an instrument through whom the
spiritual man works, and the spiritual man is felt to
be the real individuality. This is, in a sense, the

(51:46):
attainment to full salvation and immortal life. Yet it is
not the final goal or resting place, but only the
beginning of the greater way. The means for this transfer
are described as the weakening of the causes of bondi
and an understanding of the method of passing from one
consciousness to the other. The first may also be described

(52:07):
as detachment, and comes from the conquest of the delusion
that the personal self is the real man. When that
delusion abates and is held in check, the finer consciousness
of the spiritual man begins to shine in the background
of the mind. The transfer of the sense of individuality
to this finer consciousness, and thus to the spiritual man

(52:27):
then becomes a matter of recollection of attention, primarily a
matter of taking a deeper interest in the life and
doings of the spiritual man than in the pleasures or
occupations of the personality. Therefore, it is said, lay not
up yourselves for treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where the thieves break through and steal.

(52:51):
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not
break through nor steal. For where your tres measure is,
there will your heart be also thirty nine. Through mastery
of the upward life comes freedom from the dangers of water, morass,
and thorny places, and the power of ascension is gained.

(53:15):
Interpretation here is one of the sentences so characteristic of
this author and indeed of the Eastern Spirit, in which
there is an obvious exterior meaning, and within this a
clear interior meaning, not quite so obvious, but far more vital.
The surface meaning is that by mastery of a certain

(53:36):
power called here the upward Life, and akin to levitation,
there comes the ability to walk on water or to
pass over thorny places without wounding the feet. But there
is a deeper meaning. When we speak of the disciple's
path as a path of thorns, we use a symbol,
and the same symbol is used here. The upward life

(53:57):
means something more than the power often manifested in abnormal
psychical experiences of levitating the physical body or nearby physical objects.
It means the strong power of aspiration, of upward will,
which first builds and then awakes the spiritual man, and
finally transfers the conscious individuality to him. For it is

(54:18):
he who passes safely over the waters of death and
rebirth and is not pierced by the thorns in the path. Therefore,
it is said that he who would tread the path
of power must look for a home in the air,
and afterwards in the ether of the upward life. This
is written in the Katha Upanishad. One hundred and one

(54:39):
are the heart's channels. Of these, one passes to the crown.
Going up this he comes to the immortal. This is
the power of ascension spoken of in the Sutra forty.
By mastery of the binding life comes radiance interpretation. In
the Upanishads, it is said that this binding life unites

(55:01):
the upward life to the downward life, and these lives
have their analogies in the vital breaths in the body.
The thought in the text seems to be that when
the personality is brought thoroughly under control of the spiritual
man through the life currents which bind them together, the
personality is endowed with a new life force, a strong
personal magnetism. One might call it such as is often

(55:24):
an appendage of a genius. But the text seems to
mean more than this, and to have in view the
vesture of the colour of the sun attributed by the
Upanisians to the spiritual man. That vesture with the disciple
has thus described, the Lord shall change our vile body,
and it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.

(55:45):
Perhaps body of radiance would better translate the Greek. In
both these passages, the teaching seems to be that the
body of the full grown spiritual man is radiant or
luminous for those at least who have anointed their eyes
with eye selve, so that they may see forty one.

(56:06):
From perfectly concentrated meditation on the correlation of hearing and
the ether comes the power of spiritual hearing, interpretation, physical sound,
we are told, is carried by the air, or by water, iron,
or some medium on the same plane of substance. But
there is a finer hearing whose medium of transmission would

(56:28):
seem to be the ether. Perhaps not that ether which
carries light, heat, and magnetic waves, but it must be
the far finer ether through which the power of gravity works.
For while light or heat or magnetic waves traveling from
the Sun to the Earth take eight minutes for the journey,
it is mathematically certain that the pull of gravitation does

(56:49):
not take as much as eight seconds, or even the
eighth of a second. The pull of gravitation travels, it
would seem as quick as thought, so that it may
well be that in thought transference or telepathy, the thoughts
travel by the same way, carried by the same thought
swift medium. The transfer of a word by telepathy is
the simplest and earliest form of the divine hearing of

(57:12):
the spiritual man. As that power grows, and as through
perfectly concentrated meditation, the spiritual man comes into more complete
mastery of it. He grows to be able to hear
and clearly distinguish the speech of the great companions who
counsel and comfort him on his way. They may speak
to him either in wordless thoughts or in perfect definite

(57:33):
words and sentences. Forty two. By perfectly concentrated meditation on
the correlation of the body with the ether, and by
thinking of it as light as thistledown, will come the
power to traverse the ether. Interpretation, it has been said
that he who would tread in the path of power

(57:54):
must look for a home in the air, and afterwards
in the ether. This would seem to mean, besides the constant,
injunction to detachment, that he must be prepared to inhabit
first a psychic and then an etheric body, the former
being the body of dreams, the latter the body of
the spiritual man when he wakes up on the other
side of dreamland. The gradual accustoming of the consciousness to

(58:17):
its new etheric gesture, its gradual acclimatization, so to speak,
in the etheric body of the spiritual man, is what
our text seems to contemplate. Forty three. When that condition
of consciousness is reached, which is far reaching and not
confined to the body, which is outside the body and

(58:37):
not conditioned by it, then the veil which conceals the
light is worn away interpretation. Perhaps the best comment on
this is afforded by the words of Paul. I knew
a man in Christ above fourteen years ago. Whether in
the body, I cannot tell, or whether out of the body,
I cannot tell. God knoweth such a one caught to

(59:00):
the third Heaven. And I knew such a man, Whether
in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell.
God knoweth how that he was caught up into paradise
and heard unspeakable or unspoken words which it is not
lawful for a man to utter. Forty four. Mastery of
the elements comes from perfectly concentrated meditation on their five forms,

(59:24):
the gross, the elemental, the subtle, the inherent, the purposive interpretation,
these five forms are analogous to those recognized by modern
physics solid, liquid, gaseous, radiant, and ionic. When the piercing
vision of the awakened spiritual man is directed to the

(59:46):
forms of matter from within, as it were, from behind
the scenes, then perfect mastery over the beggarly elements is attained.
This is perhaps equivalent to the injunction and quiet of
the earth, the air, and the water of the secrets
they hold for you. The development of your inner senses

(01:00:07):
will enable you to do this. Forty five. Thereupon will
come the manifestation of the atomic and other powers, which
are the endowment of the body, together with its unassailable force. Interpretation.
The body in question is, of course, the etheric body
of the spiritual man. He is said to possess eight powers.

(01:00:30):
The atomic the power of assimilating himself with the nature
of the atom, which will perhaps involve the power to
disintegrate material forms. The power of levitation, the power of
limitless extension, the power of boundless reach, so that, as
the commentator says, he can touch the moon with the
tip of his finger. The power to accomplish his will,

(01:00:52):
the power of gravitation, the correlative of levitation, the power
of command, the power of creative will. These are the
endowments of the spiritual man. Further, the spiritual body is unassailable.
Fire burns it not, water wets it not, the sword
cleaves it not, dry winds parch it not. And it

(01:01:14):
is said the spiritual man can impart something of this
quality and temper to his bodily vesture forty six. Shapeliness, beauty, force,
the temper of the diamond. These are the endowments of
that body. Interpretation, the spiritual man is shapely, beautiful, strong, firm,

(01:01:36):
is the diamond. Therefore it is written these things saith
the son of God, who hath his eyes like unto
a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass,
He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end.
To him, I will give power over the nations, and
he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and

(01:01:57):
I will give him the morning star forty seven. Mastery
over the powers of perception and action comes through perfectly
concentrated meditation on their fivefold forms, namely, their power to
grasp their distinctive nature, the element of self conscious in them,
their inherence, and their purposiveness. Interpretation. Take for example, sight.

(01:02:23):
This possesses first the power to grasp, apprehend, perceive. Second,
it has its distinctive form of perception, that is visual perception. Third,
it always carries with its operations self consciousness, the thought
I perceive. Fourth, sight has the power of extension through

(01:02:45):
the whole field of vision, even to the utmost star. Fifth,
it is used for the purposes of the seer. So
with the other senses perfectly concentrated meditation on each sense,
are viewing it from behind and within, as is possible,
for the spiritual man brings a mastery of the scope
and true character of each sense and of the world

(01:03:08):
on which they report collectively. Forty eight. Thence comes the
power swift as thought independent of instruments, and the mastery
over matter interpretation. We are further enumerating the endowments of
the spiritual man. Among these is the power to traverse
space with the swiftness of thought, so that whatever place

(01:03:31):
the spiritual man thinks of to that he goes in
that place he already is thought has now become his
means of locomotion. He is therefore independent of instruments, and
can bring his force to bear directly wherever he wills.
Forty nine. When the spiritual man is perfectly disentangled from

(01:03:52):
the psychic body, he attains to mastery over all things
and to a knowledge of all interpretation. The spiritual man
is enmeshed in the web of the emotions desire, fear, ambition, passion,
and impeded by the mental forms of separateness and materialism.
When these measures are sundered, these obstacles completely overcome then

(01:04:16):
the spiritual man stands forth in his own wide world, strong, mighty, wise,
he uses divine powers with a divine scope and energy,
working together with divine companions to such a one. It
is said, thou art now a disciple, able to stand,
able to hear, able to see, able to speak. Thou

(01:04:39):
hast conquered desire and attained to self knowledge. Thou hast
seen thy soul in its bloom, and recognized it and
heard the voice of silence. Fifty By absence of all
self indulgence. At this point, when the seeds of bondage
to sorrow are destroyed, pure spiritual being is attained. Interpretation,

(01:05:02):
the seeking of indulgence for the personal self, whether through
passion or ambition, shows the seed of future sorrow. For
this self indulgence of the personality is a double sin
against the real, a sin against the cleanness of life,
and a sin against the universal being, which permits no
exclusive particular good. Since in the real all spiritual possessions

(01:05:24):
are held in common. This twofold sin brings its reacting punishment,
its confining bondage to sorrow, but ceasing from self indulgence
brings purity, liberation, spiritual life fifty one, There should be
complete overcoming of allurement or pride in the invitations of

(01:05:45):
the different realms of life, lest attachment to things evil
arise once more. Interpretation, the commentator tells us that disciples
seekers for union are of four degrees, first those who
are entering, Second those who are in the realm of allurements. Third,

(01:06:05):
those who have won the victory over matter and the senses. Fourth,
those who stand firm in pure spiritual life. To the second,
especially the caution in the text is addressed. More modern
teachers would express the same truth by a warning against
the delusions and fascinations of the psychic realm which open

(01:06:25):
around the disciple as he breaks through into the unseen worlds.
These are the dangers of the ante room. Safety lies
in passing on swiftly into the inner chamber him that overcometh.
Will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,
and he shall go no more out fifty two. From

(01:06:47):
perfectly concentrated meditation on the divisions of time and their
succession comes the wisdom which is born of discernment interpretation.
The Upanishads say of the liberated that he has passed
beyond the triad of time. He no longer sees life
as projected into past, present in future, since these are

(01:07:08):
forms of the mind, but beholds all things spread out
in the quiet light of the eternal. This would seem
to be the same thought, and to point to that
clear eyed spiritual perception which is above time, that wisdom
born of the unveiling of time's delusion. Then shall the
disciple live neither in the present nor in the future,

(01:07:29):
but in the eternal. Fifty three. Hence comes discernment between
things which are of like nature, not distinguished by difference
of kind, character, or position. Interpretation. Here, as also in
the preceding sutra, we are close to the doctrine that
distinctions of order, time, and space are creations of the mind,

(01:07:51):
the threefold prism through which the real object appears to
us distorted and refracted. When the prism is withdrawn, the
object returned ends to its primal unity, no longer distinguishable
by the mind, yet clearly knowable by that high power
of spiritual discernment, of illumination, which is above the mind.

(01:08:12):
Fifty four. The wisdom which is born of discernment is
star like. It discerns all things and all conditions of
things it discerns without succession simultaneously. Interpretation that wisdom, that
intuitive divining power is star like, says the commentator, because

(01:08:32):
it shines with its own light, because it rises on
high and illumines. All things nought is hid from it,
whether things past, things present, or things to come, For
it is beyond the threefold form of time, so that
all things are spread before it together in the single
light of the divine. This power has been beautifully described

(01:08:55):
by Columba. Some there are, though very few, to whom
divine grace has granted this that they can clearly and
most distinctly see, at one and the same moment, as
though under one ray of the sun, even the entire
circuit of the whole world, with its surroundings of ocean
and sky, the most inward part of their mind being

(01:09:17):
marvelously enlarged. Fifty Five. When the vesture and the spiritual
man are alike pure, then perfect spiritual life is attained.
Interpretation the vesture, says the commentator, must first be washed
pure of all stains of passion and darkness, and the

(01:09:38):
seeds of future sorrow must be burned up utterly. Then
both the vesture and the wearer of the vesture. Being
alike pure, the spiritual man enters into perfect spiritual life.
End of Book three.