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A Series of Lessons on the Inner Teachings of the Philosophies and Religions of India1354
it does not exist naturally. They refuse, as they always do in any case, to
describe the methods of practice, except to their own apprentices, and
they refuse large sums of money for the “secret” which they have sworn
to preserve. Under no circumstances would they betray the secret to an
outsider, for they fear the vengeance of their particular deity or god, Shiva,
for they belong to the credulous and superstitious portion of the race, and
are far from being advanced spiritually or intellectually. All of which goes to
prove the contention of the developed and advanced occultists that these
fakirs possess powers of a low degree, and which have no connection with
true “soul-power,” which is possessed only by advanced individuals, and
which depend upon a high degree of knowledge concerning the nature
and powers of the Soul.
We will not take up space and time in endeavoring to explain the nature
of Prana and Mental Influence in this lesson. In the first series of our lessons,
known as “The Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism,”
we have gone into the subject of these two forces, showing what Prana is
and how it is employed in connection with Psychic Influence. We would
refer students to the lessons in the said book touching upon the forces
named. But in order that this lesson, and the above references to Prana
and Mental Influence may be intelligible to the general reader, we feel that
we should state briefly the nature of Prana, and to describe the underlying
principles of Mental Influence.
“Prana” is the Sanscrit term used to designate that great natural force or
energy which is universal in its manifestations, and which appears in the
human being as Vital Force, or Nerve-Force, in other words as the power
which makes Life-Action possible. This Prana, although manifesting as Vital
Force, is more than this—it is the great power or energy or force which
manifests in all things throughout the universe, showing now as electricity,
now as light and heat, now as magnetism, now as gravitation, etc.—in short,
the Energy Principle of the Universe. Prana may be, and is directed by the
human will, to the different parts of the body—as when the will commands