Raja-Yoga

DHYANA AND SAMADHI. 79
were, who have stumbled into this super-conscious
state, without understanding it, grope in the dark, and
generally have, along with their knowledge, some
quaint superstition. They open themselves to hallu
cinations. Mohammed claimed that the Angel Gabriel
came to him in a cave one day and took him on the
heavenly horse, Harak, and he visited the heavens.
But, with all that, Mohammed spoke some wonderful
truths. If you read the Qur an, you find the most
How
wonderful truths mixed with these superstitions.
will you explain it ? That man was inspired, no doubt,
but that inspiration was, as it were, stumbled upon.
He was not a trained Yogi, and did not know the rea
son of what he was doing. Think of the good Moham
med did to the world, and think of the great evil that
has been done through his fanaticism ! Think of the
millions massacred through his teachings, mothers
bereft of their children, children made orphans, whole
countries destroyed, millions upon millions of people
killed!
So we see in studying the lives of all these great
teachers that there was this danger. Yet we find, at
the same time, that they were all inspired. Somehow
or other they got into the super-conscious state, only
whenever a prophet got into that state by simple force
of emotion, just by heightening his emotional nature,
he brought away from that state some truths, but also
some fanaticism, some superstition which injured the
world as much as the greatness of the teaching did
good. To get any reason out of this mass of incon-