ABOUT INDEPENDENCE

                                        YOGA TELL ABOUT INDEPENDENCE

           THE SIDDHIS (POWERS) ARE ATTAINED BY BIRTH, CHEMICAL MEANS, POWER OF WORDS, MORTIFICATION OR CONCENTRATION.

          SOMETIMES A MAN IS BORN WITH THE SIDDHIS, POWERS, OF COURSE FROM THE EXERCISE OF POWERS HE HAD IN HIS PREVIOUS BIRTH. IN THIS HE IS BORN, AS IT WERE, TO ENJOY THE FRUITS OF THEM. IT IS SAID OF KAPILA, THE GREAT FATHER OF THE SANKHYA PHILOSOPHY, THAT HE WAS A BORN SIDDHA, WHICH MEANS, LITERALLY, A MAN WHO HAS ATTAINED TO SUCCESS.

          THE YOGIS CLAIM THAT THESE POWERS CAN BE GAINED BY CHEMICAL MEANS. ALL OF YOU KNOW THAT CHEMISTRY ORIGINALLY BEGAN AS ALCHEMY, MEN WENT IN SEARCH OF THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE, AND ELIXIRS OF LIFE, AND SO FORTH. IN INDIA THERE WAS A SECT CALLED THE RASAYANAS. THEIR IDEA WAS THAT IDEALITY, KNOWLEDGE, SPIRITUALLY AND RELIGION, WERE ALL VERY RIGHT, BUT THAT THE BODY WAS THE ONLY INSTRUMENT BY WHICH TO ATTAIN TO ALL THESE. IF THE BODY BROKE NOW AND THEN, IT WOULD TAKE SO MUCH MORE TIME TO ATTAIN TO THE GOAL. FOR INSTANCE, A MAN WANTS TO PRACTICE YOGA,, OR WANTS TO BECOME SPIRITUAL. BEFORE HE HAS ADVANCED VERY FAR, HE DIES. THEN HE TAKES ANOTHER BODY AND BEGINS AGAIN, THEN DIES, AND SO ON, AND IN THIS WAY MUCH TIME WILL BE LOST IN DYING AND IN BEING BORN AGAIN. IF THE BODY COULD BE MADE STRONG AND PERFECT, SO THAT IT WOULD GETRID OF BIRTH AND DEATH, WE SHOULD HAVE SO MUCH MORE TIME TO BECOME SPIRITUAL. 

               SO THESE RASAYANAS SAY, FIRST MAKE THE BODY VERY STRONG, AND THEY CLAIM THAT THIS BODY CAN BE MAKE IMMORTAL. THE IDEA IS THAT IF THE MIND IS MANUFACTURING THE BODY, AND IF IT BE TRUE THATIF THE MIND IS MANUFACTURING THE BODY, AND IF IT BE TRUE THAT EACH MIND IS ONLY ONE PARTICULAR OUTLET TO THAT INFINITE ENERGY, AND THAT THERE IS NO LIMIT TO EACH PARTICULAR OUTLET GETTING ANY AMOUNT OF POWER FROM OUTSIDE, WHY IT IS IMPOSSIBLE THAT WE SHOULD KEEP OUR BODIES ALL THE TIME? WE SHALL HAVE TO MANUFACTURE ALL THE BODIES THAT WE SHALL EVER HAVE. AS SOON AS THIS BODY DIES, WE SHALL HAVE TO MANUFACTURE ANOTHER. IF WE CAN DO THAT,WHY CANNOT WE DO IT JUST HERE AND NOW, WITHOUT GETTING OUT? THE THEORY IS PERFECTLY CORRECT. IF IT IS POSSIBLE THAT WE LIVE AFTER DEATH, AND MAKE OTHER BODIES, WHY IS IT IMPOSSIBLE THAT WE SHOULD HAVE THE POWER OF MAKING BODIES HERE, WIHOUT ENTIRELY DISSOLVING THIS BODY, SIMPLY CHANGING IT CONTINUALLY? THEY ALSO THOUGHT THAT IN MERCURY AND IN SULPHUR WAS HIDDEN THE MOST WONDERFUL POWER, AND THAT BY CERTAIN PREPARATIONS OF THESE A MAN COULD KEEP THE BODY AS LONG AS HE LIKE. OTHERS BELIEVED THAT CERTAIN DRUGS COULD BRING POWERS, SUCH AS FLYING THROUGH THA AIR, ETC. MANY OF THE MOST WONDERFUL MEDICINES OF THE PRESENT DAY WE OWE TO THE RASAYANAS, NOTABLY THE USE OF METALS IN MEDICINE. CERTAIN SECTS OF YOGIS CLAIM THAT MANY OF THEIR PRINCIPAL TEACHERS ARE STILL LIVING IN THEIR OLD BODIES. PATANJALI, THE GREAT AUTHORITY ON YOGA, DOES NOT DENY THIS. 

            THE POWER OF WORDS. THERE ARE CERTAIN SACRED WORDS CALLED MANTRAMS, WHICH HAVE POWER, WHEN REPEATED UNDER PROPER CONDITIONS, TO PRODUCE THESE EXTAORDINARY POWERS. WE ARE LIVING IN THE MIDST OF SUCH A MASS OF MIRACLES, DAY AND NIGHT, THAT WE DO NOT THINK ANYTHING OF THEM. THERE IS NO LIMIT TO MAN'S POWER, THE POWER OF WORDS AND THE POWER OF MIND.

          MORTIFICATION, YOU WILL FIND THAT IN EVERY RELIGION, MORTIFICATIN AND ASCETICISM HAVE BEEN PRACTISED. IN THESE RELIGION CONCEPTIONS,THE HINDUS ALWAYS GO TO THE EXTEEMES. YOU WILL FIND MEN STANDING WITH THEIR HANDS UP ALL THEIR LIVES, UNTIL THEIR HANDS WITHER AND DIE. MEN SLEEP STANDING, DAY AND NIGHT, UNTIL THEIR FEET SWELL, AND , IF THEY LIVE, THE LEGS BECOME SO STIFF IN THIS POSITION THAT THEY CAN NO MORE BEND THEM, BUT HAVE TO STAND ALL THEIR LIVES. I ONCE SAW A MAN WHO HAD RAISED HIS HANDS IN THIS WAY, AND I ASKED HIM HOW IT FELT WHEN HE DID IT FIRST. HE SAID IT WAS AWFUL TORTURE. IT WAS SUCH TORTURE THAT HE HAD TO GO TO A RIVER AND PUT HIMSELF IN WATER, AND THAT ALLAYED THE PAIN FOR A LITTLE. AFTER A MONTH HE DID NOT SUFFER MUCH. THROUGH SUCH PRACTICES POWERS CAN BE ATTAINED.

                 CONCENTRATION. THE CONCENTRATION IS SAMADHI, AND THAT IS YOGA PROPER, THAT IS THE PRINCIPLE THEME OF THIS SCIENCE, AND IT IS THE HIGHEST MEANS. THE PRECEDING ONES ARE ONLY SECONDARY, AND WE CANNOT ATTAIN TO THE HIGHEST THROUGH THEM. SAMADHI IS THE MEANS THROUGH WHICH WE CAN GAIN ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING, MENTAL,MORAL OR SPIRITUAL.