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The Fifth Lesson: Patanjali’s Yoga System.1209
The first principle impressed upon the mind of the student of Patanjali’s
Raja Yoga is that the Mind is not the Soul, nor the Self. The Self is the Purusha
or Spirit, of which you have been informed in our lesson on the Sankhya
philosophy—the Soul is the Purusha surrounded by its Tattvas or Semimaterial
principles including Mind—and Mind, or Manas, is the instrument
of the Self and used by the latter for impression from, and expression in, the
phenomenal world. The Yoga Philosophy follows the Sankhya in teaching
that all perception of the outside world comes from the sense organs, and
all action in the outer world is performed by the organs of action. And back
of the organs of sense and action, there are the Psychic Faculties controlling
physical organs. And, starting with this fundamental conception, Patanjali
builds up a system of Mental Control whereby the organs of action, the
organs of sense, the deliberative faculties, the emotions, the imagination,
and in fact the whole mental organism may be controlled and mastered.
In our own work on Raja Yoga we have given the phases of the Mental
Control and Mastery which will appeal more strongly to the Western mind.
We shall now give the phases that attract the majority of the Hindus to the
philosophy, practice and methods.
Let us begin with the Fourth Step—Pranayama the Control of the Prana,
or Vital Forces. Prana is the Universal Principle of Energy, manifesting in
all forms of Energy, including Vital Force. And Pranayama is the Control
of this Universal Energy, particularly in its form of Vital Force. The Yogins
consider this control, if acquired to a high degree, gives one the mastery of
the other manifestations of Prana, and is the Secret of Power. The first step
toward Control of Prana is the control of the portion of Prana manifesting
in our individual bodies and minds—so this is the natural place at which to
begin, says the Yogin. The Prana, within you is the little inlet from the great
ocean of Prana, and here is where you are to begin your Control of it. But
there is a more subtle form of Prana within your organism than even the
Vital Force in its manifestation of bodily activity. There is a Psychic Prana,
which is manifested in mental action, nerve force, etc. And as the mental and