胜王瑜伽六课
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中文
王瑜伽与世界上任何科学一样，都是一门科学。它是对心灵的分析，是对超感官世界事实的汇集，从而构建起精神世界。世界上所有伟大的灵性导师都曾说过："我看见了，我知道了。"耶稣、保罗和彼得都声称自己真实地感知了他们所传授的灵性真理。
这种感知是通过瑜伽获得的。
记忆和意识都不能构成存在的界限。存在一种超意识状态。超意识状态与无意识状态都没有感觉，但两者之间有着巨大的差别——那是无知与智慧之间的差别。应当将瑜伽作为一种诉诸理性的科学来呈现。
心灵的专注是一切知识的源泉。
瑜伽教导我们使物质成为我们的仆从，正如它本应如此。瑜伽的意思是"轭"、"联结"，即将人的灵魂与至高的灵魂或神联结在一起。
心灵在意识之中和之下运作。我们所称的意识，只是构成我们本性的无限链条中的一个环节。
我们的这个"我"仅覆盖了一小部分意识和大量的无意识，而在其上方，且大多不为其所知的，则是超意识层面。
通过忠实的修习，心灵的层层面纱在我们面前逐一揭开，每一层都向我们展示新的事实。我们仿佛看到新的世界在眼前被创造出来，新的力量被赋予我们手中，但我们不可停留在途中，也不可让自己被这些"玻璃珠"所迷惑，因为钻石矿就在我们面前。
唯有神是我们的目标。若不能到达神，我们便死去。
希望获得成就的学生需要具备三件事。 第一，放弃今生和来世一切享乐的念头，唯独关心神和真理。我们来到此世是为了认识真理，而非享乐。将享乐留给那些以我们永远无法企及的方式享受的畜生吧。人是有思想的存在，必须不断奋斗，直到征服死亡，直到看见光明。他不应将精力浪费在毫无成果的空谈上。崇拜社会和舆论就是偶像崇拜。灵魂没有性别，没有国家，没有处所，没有时间。
第二，对认识真理和神怀有强烈的渴望。要渴求它们，渴望它们，如同溺水之人渴望呼吸一般。只求神，不取其他，不要再被"表象"所欺骗。转离一切，唯独追寻神。
第三，六种修炼：第一——约束心灵不向外驰骋。第二——控制感官。第三——使心灵内转。第四——默默承受一切苦难。第五——将心灵固定在一个念头上。取定面前的主题，彻底思考它；永不放弃。不要计算时间。第六——持续思惟你的真实本性。摆脱迷信。不要催眠自己去相信自身的卑微。日日夜夜告诉自己你真正是什么，直到你真实地证悟（实际证悟）你与神的一体性。
没有这些修炼，就不能获得任何成果。
我们能够意识到绝对者，但永远无法表达它。一旦我们试图表达它，便是在限制它，它也就不再是绝对者了。
我们必须超越感官的界限，甚至超越理性，而我们有能力做到这一点。
（在练习第一课呼吸法一周后，学生向老师汇报。）
这是一堂旨在发掘个性的课程。每一种个性都必须被培养。所有人最终将在中心汇合。"想象力是灵感之门，是一切思想的基础。"所有先知、诗人和发现者都具有伟大的想象力。对自然的解释在我们内在；石头在外面落下，但引力在我们内在，而非外在。那些暴饮暴食的人、挨饿的人、睡眠过多的人、睡眠过少的人，都不能成为瑜伽修行者。无知、浮躁、嫉妒、懒惰和过度执着是瑜伽修习成功的大敌。三大要求是：
第一，纯洁，身心的纯洁；一切不洁之物、一切会将心灵向下拖拽的事物，都必须抛弃。
第二，耐心：起初会有奇妙的显现，但它们都会停止。这是最艰难的时期，但要坚持下去；最终的收获是确定的，只要你有耐心。
第三，毅力：不论顺境逆境，不论健康疾病，坚持到底，每天修习，一天也不缺。
修习的最佳时间是昼夜交替之际，那是我们体内潮汐最平静的时刻，两种状态之间的零点。如果无法做到，就在起床和就寝时修习。个人清洁非常重要——每天沐浴。
沐浴之后，坐下来，稳固你的座位，
也就是说，想象你如磐石般坐定，没有什么能动摇你。保持头部、肩膀和臀部在一条直线上，让脊柱自由；一切活动都沿着脊柱进行，它不可受到妨碍。
从你的脚趾开始，逐一思想身体的每一部分是完美的；在心中如此想象它，如果你愿意，可以触摸每一部分。一点一点向上进行，直到达到头顶，想着每一部分都是完美的，毫无缺憾。然后想象整体是完美的，这是神赐予你的工具，使你能够证悟真理，是你渡过大海到达永恒真理彼岸的船只。当这一切完成后，通过双鼻孔深吸一口长气，然后呼出，接着尽可能舒适地屏住气。如此做四次呼吸，然后自然呼吸并祈求光明。 "我冥想那创造了这个宇宙的存在的荣耀；愿他照亮我的心灵。"静坐冥想十到十五分钟。
不要将你的体验告诉除了你的导师以外的任何人。
尽量少说话。
将你的思想保持在美德上；我们想什么，就趋向于成为什么。
圣洁的冥想有助于烧尽一切心灵的杂质。所有非瑜伽修行者都是奴隶；必须一条接一条地打破束缚才能使我们自由。
所有人都能发现超越一切的实相。如果神是真实的，我们必须将他作为事实来感受；如果存在灵魂，我们应该能够看到它并感受到它。
发现是否存在灵魂的唯一方法，就是成为非身体的存在。
瑜伽修行者将我们的器官分为两大类：感觉器官和运动器官，即知觉器官和行动器官。
内在器官即心灵有四个方面。第一——末那（manas），即思维或思考的功能，通常几乎完全被浪费了，因为不受控制；若得到适当管理，它是一种奇妙的力量。第二——菩提（buddhi），即意志（有时称为智性）。第三——我慢（ahamkara），即自我意识的自我中心（源自"我"（Aham））。第四——心素（chitta），即一切功能在其中并通过其发挥作用的实体，可以说是心灵的地板；或者说是各种功能作为波浪起伏的大海。
瑜伽就是阻止心素（Chitta）变形或转化为各种功能的科学。正如月亮在海面上的倒影被波浪打碎或模糊，真我（Atman）——真正的自我——的倒影也被心灵的波浪所打碎。只有当大海平静如镜时，才能看到月亮的倒影；同样，只有当"心素"——心素被控制到绝对平静时，真我才能被认识。
心灵不是身体，尽管它是更精微形式的物质。它并非永远受身体束缚。这一点已被证明，因为我们偶尔会从身体中解脱出来。通过控制感官，我们可以学会随意做到这一点。
当我们能够完全做到这一点时，我们将控制整个宇宙，因为我们的世界不过是感官带给我们的东西。自由是更高存在的检验标准。当你从感官的控制中解脱出来时，灵性生活便开始了。被感官统治的人是世俗之人——是奴隶。
如果我们能够完全阻止心素破碎成波浪，那将结束我们的身体。数百万年来我们如此努力地制造这些身体，以至于在这场挣扎中我们忘记了获得身体的真正目的，那就是达到圆满。我们已经习惯于认为制造身体就是我们努力的终极目标。这就是幻相（Maya）。我们必须打破这个幻象，回到我们最初的目标，认识到我们不是身体，身体是我们的仆从。
学会将心灵从身体中抽离出来，
看到它与身体是分开的。我们赋予身体感觉和生命，然后以为它是活的和真实的。我们穿戴它太久了，以至于忘记了它与我们并不相同。瑜伽就是帮助我们随意脱下身体，将其视为我们的仆从、我们的工具，而非我们的统治者。控制心灵力量是瑜伽修习的第一大目标。第二是将它们全力集中于任何主题上。
如果你话太多，你就不能成为瑜伽修行者。
这种瑜伽被称为八支瑜伽，因为它被分为八个主要部分。它们是：
第一——持戒（Yama）。这是最重要的，必须贯穿整个生命；它有五个分支：
一、在思想、言语或行为上不伤害任何存在。
二、在思想、言语或行为上不贪婪。
三、在思想、言语或行为上完全梵行。
四、在思想、言语或行为上完全真实。
五、不接受馈赠。
第二——内制（Niyama）。身体的护理，每日沐浴、饮食等。
第三——体式（Asana），坐姿。臀部、肩膀和头部必须保持挺直，让脊柱自由。
第四——调息（pranayama），控制呼吸（以获得对气（Prana）或生命力的控制）。
第五——制感（Pratyahara），使心灵内转并约束其不向外驰骋，在心中反复推敲事物以理解它。
第六——专注（Dharana），将注意力集中在一个主题上。
第七——禅定（Dhyana），冥想。
第八——三摩地（Samadhi），开悟，我们一切努力的目标。
持戒和内制需要终生修习。至于其他，我们像水蛭一样行事，在牢牢抓住另一片草叶之前，绝不松开当前这一片。换言之，我们必须彻底理解并实践一个步骤之后，才能迈向下一步。
这堂课的主题是调息，即控制气。在王瑜伽中，呼吸进入心灵层面并将我们带向灵性。它是整个身体系统的飞轮。它首先作用于肺，肺作用于心脏，心脏作用于血液循环，血液循环又作用于大脑，大脑作用于心灵。意志可以产生外在的感觉，外在的感觉也可以唤起意志。我们的意志是薄弱的；我们没有认识到它们的力量，我们太过束缚于物质之中。我们的大部分行动是由外向内的。外在的自然将我们从平衡中推开，而我们却不能（如我们应该的那样）将自然推离其平衡。这一切都是错误的；真正更强大的力量实际上在内在。
伟大的圣者和导师们正是那些在自身内在征服了这个思想世界的人，因此他们说话带有力量。那个被关在高塔中的大臣，通过妻子的努力而获释的故事——她给他带来了一只甲虫、蜂蜜、一根丝线、一根绳索和一根粗绳——说明了我们如何通过首先使用呼吸的物理调节作为丝线来获得心灵的控制权。这使我们能够一个接一个地掌握各种力量，直到专注之绳将我们从身体的牢狱中解救出来，我们获得自由。达到自由后，我们可以丢弃用来将我们带到那里的手段。
调息有三个部分：
一、吸气（Puraka）——吸入。
二、住气（Kumbhaka）——保持。
三、呼气（Rechaka）——呼出。
有两股气流通过大脑，沿脊柱两侧向下循环，在底部交叉后返回大脑。其中一股气流，称为"日"（Pingala），从大脑左半球出发，在脑底部交叉到脊柱右侧，再在脊柱底部交叉回来，如同数字八的一半。
另一股气流，"月"（Ida），则反向运行，完成这个数字八。当然，下半部分比上半部分长得多。这些气流日夜流动，在不同的点沉积巨大的生命力，这些点通常被称为"神经丛"；但我们很少能意识到它们。通过专注，我们可以学会感受它们，并追踪它们遍及身体各处。这些"日"和"月"气流与呼吸有密切的联系，通过调节呼吸，我们获得对身体的控制。
在《迦陀奥义书》（Katha Upanishad）中，身体被比喻为马车，心灵是缰绳，智性是驭者，感官是马匹，感官的对象是它们的道路。真我是坐在马车中的骑者。除非骑者有理解力并能使驭者控制马匹，否则他永远不能到达目标；而感官就像恶劣的马匹，会把他拖到它们想去的地方，甚至可能毁灭他。这两股气流就是驭者手中伟大的"勒绳"，他必须控制它们才能控制马匹。我们必须获得成为道德之人的力量；在我们做到之前，我们无法控制我们的行为。唯有瑜伽使我们能够将道德的教诲付诸实践。成为有道德的人就是瑜伽的目的。所有伟大的导师都是瑜伽修行者，他们控制着每一股气流。瑜伽修行者在脊柱底部截住这些气流，迫使它们通过脊柱中央。然后它们便成为智慧之流，这种智慧之流只存在于瑜伽修行者身上。
呼吸法第二课：一种方法并非适合所有人。这种呼吸必须有节奏规律地进行，最简单的方法是计数；由于计数纯属机械性的，我们改为重复神圣的"唵"（Om）字若干次。
调息的过程如下：用拇指关闭右鼻孔，然后通过左鼻孔缓缓吸气，重复"唵"字四次。
然后用食指按住左鼻孔，牢牢关闭双鼻孔，屏住呼吸，在心中重复"唵"字八次。
然后，将拇指从右鼻孔移开，通过右鼻孔缓缓呼气，重复"唵"字四次。
当呼气结束时，用力收缩腹部以将肺中所有空气排出。然后通过右鼻孔缓缓吸气，保持左鼻孔关闭，重复"唵"字四次。接着用拇指关闭右鼻孔，屏住呼吸，重复"唵"字八次。然后打开左鼻孔，缓缓呼气，重复"唵"字四次，如前收缩腹部。每次静坐重复整个过程两次，即做四次调息，每个鼻孔两次。在入座之前，最好以祈祷开始。
这需要练习一周；然后逐渐增加呼吸的持续时间，保持相同的比例，即如果你在吸气时重复"唵"字六次，那么在呼气时也同样重复六次，在住气时重复十二次。这些练习将使我们更加灵性、更加纯洁、更加圣洁。不要被引入歧途或追求神通。爱是唯一留在我们身边并不断增长的力量。通过王瑜伽来趋近神的人，必须在心智上、体力上、道德上和灵性上都强健。在这光明中迈出每一步。
在千百万人中，只有一个灵魂会说："我要超越，我要到达神。"很少有人能面对真理；但要成就任何事，我们必须愿意为真理而死。
军荼利尼（Kundalini）：要认识灵魂的本来面目，而非将其视为物质。我们一直将灵魂当作身体来思考，但我们必须将它从感觉和思想中分离出来。唯有如此，我们才能知道自己是不朽的。变化意味着因果的二元性，一切变化之物必定是有限的。这证明了身体不可能不朽，心灵也不能，因为两者都在不断变化。唯有不变者才能不朽，因为没有什么能作用于它。
我们不是变成它，我们就是它；但我们必须清除遮蔽真理的无明之幕。身体是客观化了的思想。"日"和"月"气流将能量带到身体的各个部分。多余的能量储存在沿脊柱分布的某些点（神经丛），通常称为神经中枢。
这些气流在死去的身体中找不到，只能在健康的有机体中追踪到。
瑜伽修行者有一个优势；他不仅能够感受到这些气流，而且实际上能够看到它们。在他的生命中，它们是发光的，那些伟大的神经中枢也是如此。
有意识的行动，也有无意识的行动。瑜伽修行者拥有第三种——超意识，在所有国家、所有时代，它一直是一切宗教知识的源泉。超意识状态不会犯错误，而本能的行动是纯粹机械的，超意识则超越了意识。
它被称为灵感，但瑜伽修行者说："这种能力存在于每一个人之中，最终所有人都将享有它。"
我们必须给"日"和"月"气流一个新的方向，为它们在脊柱中央开辟一条新的通道。当我们成功地将气流通过这条称为"中脉"（Sushumna）的通道上引到大脑时，我们就暂时完全与身体分离了。
脊柱底部靠近骶骨处的神经中枢最为重要。它是生殖能量即性能量的所在地，瑜伽修行者将其象征为一个三角形，里面盘踞着一条微小的蛇。这条沉睡的蛇被称为军荼利尼（Kundalini），唤醒这条军荼利尼就是王瑜伽的全部目的。
伟大的性能量，从动物性的活动中提升起来，上送到人体系统的巨大发电机——大脑——并在那里储存，就变成了奥贾斯（Ojas），即灵性力量。一切善念、一切祈祷，都将一部分动物能量转化为奥贾斯，帮助赋予我们灵性力量。这个奥贾斯才是真正的人，只有在人类身上才有可能完成这种奥贾斯的积蓄。一个将全部动物性力量转化为奥贾斯的人就是神。他说话带有力量，他的话语使世界获得新生。
瑜伽修行者将这条蛇想象为从一个阶段缓缓提升到另一个阶段，直到达到最高处——松果体。没有任何男人或女人能够真正成为灵性的存在，除非性能量——人所拥有的最高力量——被转化为奥贾斯。
任何力都不能被创造；它只能被引导。因此，我们必须学会控制已经在我们手中的这些伟大力量，并通过意志力使它们成为灵性的而非仅仅是动物性的。由此可以清楚地看到，梵行是一切道德和一切宗教的基石。特别是在王瑜伽中，在思想、言语和行为上的绝对梵行 是必不可少的条件。同样的法则适用于已婚者和未婚者。如果一个人浪费了自身存在中最强大的力量，他就不能成为灵性的存在。
所有历史都教导我们，所有时代的伟大先知要么是出家人和苦行者，要么是那些放弃了婚姻生活的人；唯有生命纯洁的人才能见到神。
在做调息之前，努力观想那个三角形。闭上眼睛，在想象中清晰地描绘它。看到它被火焰环绕，蛇盘踞在中间。当你能清楚地看到军荼利尼时，在想象中将它放在脊柱底部，当在住气中屏住呼吸时，用力将其向下压在蛇头上以唤醒它。想象力越强大，真实的结果就会越快获得，军荼利尼就会越快被唤醒。在它真正被唤醒之前，想象它已经被唤醒：尝试感受那些气流并尝试迫使它们通过中脉。这将加速它们的作用。
在我们能够控制心灵之前，我们必须研究它。
我们必须抓住这不稳定的心灵，将它从游荡中拖回来，将它固定在一个念头上。这必须一遍又一遍地做。我们必须通过意志力抓住心灵，使它停下来，反思神的荣耀。
抓住心灵的最简单方法是安静地坐着，让它随意漂流一会儿。紧紧抓住这个念头："我是见证者，观察着我的心灵在漂流。心灵不是我。"然后看着它思考，仿佛它是一个完全与你自己分离的东西。将你自己与神认同，永远不要与物质或心灵认同。
将心灵想象为一片平静的湖泊在你面前展开，来来去去的思想如同在湖面上升起和破碎的气泡。不要努力控制思想，而是观察它们，在想象中跟随它们漂走。这将逐渐缩小心灵活动的范围。因为心灵在广阔的思想圈子中游荡，这些圈子不断扩大，就像我们向池塘中投掷石头时产生的涟漪。我们要逆转这个过程，从一个巨大的圆圈开始，使它越来越窄，直到最终我们能将心灵固定在一个点上，使它停留在那里。坚持这个念头："我不是心灵，我看到我在思考，我在观察我的心灵活动。"每天，你对思想和感觉的认同就会减少，直到最终你能够完全将自己从心灵中分离出来，实际知道它与你自身是分开的。
当这一点做到了，心灵就是你的仆从，你可以随意控制它。成为瑜伽修行者的第一阶段是超越感官。当心灵被征服后，他就达到了最高阶段。
尽可能独处。座位应该有舒适的高度；先铺一张草席，然后铺一张皮子（毛皮），再铺一层丝绸覆盖物。座位最好没有靠背，而且必须稳固。
思想就是画面，我们不应该创造它们。我们必须将一切思想排除在心灵之外，使其成为空白；思想一来，我们就必须将其驱逐。要能够做到这一点，我们必须超越物质，超越我们的身体。人的整个生命实际上就是为此而努力。
每个灵魂都有其独特的意义：在我们的本性中，这两件事是相互关联的。
我们拥有的最高理想就是神。冥想神。我们无法认识那个认识者，但我们就是他。
看见恶，我们就在创造恶。我们是什么，就在外在看到什么，因为世界是我们的镜子。这个小身体 是我们创造的一面小镜子，但整个宇宙才是我们的身体。我们必须时刻这样想；这样我们就会知道我们不能死亡，也不能伤害他人，因为他就是我们自己。我们无生无死，我们只应去爱。 "整个宇宙是我的身体；一切健康，一切幸福都是我的，因为一切都在宇宙之中。"要说："我就是宇宙。"我们最终认识到，一切行动都是从我们到镜子的。
虽然我们表面上是小小的波浪，但整个大海在我们背后支撑着，我们与它是一体的。没有任何波浪能够独立存在。
想象力若被正确运用，就是我们最伟大的朋友；它超越理性，是唯一将我们带到一切地方的光明。
灵感来自内在，我们必须通过自己更高的能力来激发自己。
制感与专注：克里希纳说："凡以任何方式寻求我的人都将到达我"，"所有人都必须到达我。"制感是一种向内收摄的过程，是试图抓住心灵并将其聚焦于所期望的对象上。第一步是让心灵漂流；观察它；看它在想什么；只做见证者。心灵不是灵魂或精神。它只是更精微形式的物质，我们拥有它，并能学会通过神经能量来操控它。
身体是我们称之为心灵（主观）的客观表现。我们——自我——超越身体和心灵；我们是"真我"（Atman），永恒的、不变的见证者。身体是凝固了的思想。
当气息通过左鼻孔流动时，是休息的时候；当通过右鼻孔时，是工作的时候；当通过双鼻孔时，是冥想的时候。当我们平静，气息均匀地通过双鼻孔流动时，我们处于安静冥想的正确状态。起初不必尝试专注，思想的控制会自然到来。
在充分练习了用拇指和食指关闭鼻孔之后，我们将能够通过意志力，仅凭思想就能做到这一点。
现在调息要略作改变。如果学生有他的"本尊"（Ishta，即选定的理想）的名号，他应该在吸气和呼气时使用那个名号代替"唵"，并在住气时使用"吽"（Hum，发音为Hoom）这个词。
在每次重复"吽"字时，将屏住的呼吸用力压向军荼利尼的蛇头，并想象这样唤醒了她。只与神认同。过一段时间后，思想会在到来之前先行通报，我们将学会它们开始的方式，并意识到我们将要想什么，就像在这个世界上我们可以向外看见一个人走来一样。这个阶段是在我们学会将自己从心灵中分离出来，看到自己是一个整体而思想是另外一回事之后才能达到的。不要让思想抓住你；站到一边，它们就会消亡。
跟随这些圣洁的思想；与它们同行；当它们融化消失时，你将发现全能之神的脚。这就是超意识状态；当念头融化时，跟随它，与它一起融化。
光环是内在光明的象征，瑜伽修行者能够看到它们。有时我们可能看到一张面孔仿佛被火焰环绕，并能从中读取性格、做出无误的判断。我们可能看到我们的本尊以幻象的形式来到我们面前，这个象征将成为我们能够轻松安定并全力集中心灵于其上的对象。
我们可以通过所有感官来想象，但我们主要通过眼睛来想象。即使想象力也是半物质性的。换言之，我们不能没有心象而思考。但既然动物似乎也能思考，却没有语言，那么思想和形象之间很可能没有不可分割的联系。
在瑜伽中尝试保持想象力，但要注意使其纯洁和神圣。我们每个人在想象力方面都有各自的特点；遵循对你来说最自然的方式；那将是最容易的。
我们是通过业力的一切轮回的结果："一盏灯从另一盏灯点燃"，佛教徒如是说——灯不同，但光相同。
要开朗，要勇敢，每天沐浴，要有耐心、纯洁和毅力，这样你就能真正成为一个瑜伽修行者。永远不要急于求成，如果更高的力量来了，记住它们不过是旁径。不要让它们诱惑你偏离正道；将它们放在一边，紧紧抓住你唯一真正的目标——神。只追寻永恒者，找到它，我们便永远安息；拥有了一切，便没有什么需要再努力争取的，我们便永远处于自由而圆满的存在中——绝对的存在，绝对的知识，绝对的至福。
中脉：冥想中脉是非常有益的。你可能会看到它以幻象的形式出现在你面前，这是最好的方式。然后长时间冥想它。它是一条非常细、非常明亮的线，这条通过脊柱的活的通道，这条通过我们必须使军荼利尼升起的得救之路。
用瑜伽修行者的语言来说，中脉的两端有两朵莲花，下面的莲花环绕着军荼利尼的三角形，上面的莲花在大脑中环绕着松果体；在这两者之间还有四朵莲花，是途中的阶段：
第六，松果体。
第五，两眉之间。
第四，喉底。
第三，与心脏平齐。
第二，与肚脐相对。
第一，脊柱底部。
我们必须唤醒军荼利尼，然后缓缓将其从一朵莲花提升到另一朵，直到到达大脑。每一个阶段对应着心灵的一个新层次。
## 参考文献
English
Raja - Yoga is as much a science as any in the world. It is an analysis of the mind, a gathering of the facts of the supersensuous world and so building up the spiritual world. All the great spiritual teachers the world has known said, "I see and I know." Jesus, Paul, and Peter all claimed actual perception of the spiritual truths they taught.
This perception is obtained by Yoga.
Neither memory nor consciousness can be the limitation of existence. There is a superconscious state. Both it and the unconscious state are sensationless, but with a vast difference between them -- the difference between ignorance and knowledge. Present Yoga as an appeal to reason, as a science.
Concentration of the mind is the source of all knowledge.
Yoga teaches us to make matter our slave, as it ought to be. Yoga means "yoke", "to join", that is, to join the soul of man with the supreme Soul or God.
The mind acts in and under consciousness. What we call consciousness is only one link in the infinite chain that is our nature.
This "I" of ours covers just a little consciousness and a vast amount of unconsciousness, while over it, and mostly unknown to it, is the superconscious plane.
Through faithful practice, layer after layer of the mind opens before us, and each reveals new facts to us. We see as it were new worlds created before us, new powers are put into our hands, but we must not stop by the way or allow ourselves to be dazzled by these "beads of glass" when the mine of diamonds lies before us.
God alone is our goal. Failing to reach God, we die.
Three things are necessary to the student who wishes to succeed. First. Give up all ideas of enjoyment in this world and the next, care only for God and Truth. We are here to know truth, not for enjoyment. Leave that to brutes who enjoy as we never can. Man is a thinking being and must struggle on until he conquers death, until he sees the light. He must not spend himself in vain talking that bears no fruit. Worship of society and popular opinion is idolatry. The soul has no sex, no country, no place, no time.
Second. Intense desire to know Truth and God. Be eager for them, long for them, as a drowning man longs for breath. Want only God, take nothing else, let not "seeming" cheat you any longer. Turn from all and seek only God.
Third. The six trainings: First -- restraining the mind from going outward. Second -- restraining the senses. Third -- turning the mind inward. Fourth -- suffering everything without murmuring. Fifth -- fastening the mind to one idea. Take the subject before you and think it out; never leave it. Do not count time. Sixth -- think constantly of your real nature. Get rid of superstition. Do not hypnotise yourself into a belief in your own inferiority. Day and night tell yourself what you really are, until you realise (actually realise) your oneness with God.
Without these disciplines, no results can be gained.
We can be conscious of the Absolute, but we can never express It. The moment we try to express It, we limit It and It ceases to be Absolute.
We have to go beyond sense limit and transcend even reason, and we have the power to do this.
[After practising the first lesson in breathing a week, the pupil reports to the teacher.]
This is a lesson seeking to bring out the individuality. Each individuality must be cultivated. All will meet at the centre. "Imagination is the door to inspiration and the basis of all thought." All prophets, poets, and discoverers have had great imaginative power. The explanation of nature is in us; the stone falls outside, but gravitation is in us, not outside. Those who stuff themselves, those who starve themselves, those who sleep too much, those who sleep too little, cannot become Yogis. Ignorance, fickleness, jealousy, laziness, and excessive attachment are the great enemies to success in Yoga practice. The three great requisites are:
First. Purity, physical and mental; all uncleanness, all that would draw the mind down, must be abandoned.
Second. Patience: At first there will be wonderful manifestations, but they will all cease. This is the hardest period, but hold fast; in the end the gain is sure if you have patience.
Third. Perseverance: Persevere through thick and thin, through health and sickness, never miss a day in practice.
The best time for practice is the junction of day and night, the calmest time in the tides of our bodies, the zero point between two states. If this cannot be done, practise upon rising and going to bed. Great personal cleanliness is necessary -- a daily bath.
After bathing, sit down and hold the seat firm, that
is, imagine that you sit as firm as a rock, that nothing can move you. Hold the head and shoulders and the hips in a straight line, keeping the spinal column free; all action is along it, and it must not be impaired.
Begin with your toes and think of each part of your body as perfect; picture it so in your mind, touching each part if you prefer to do so. Pass upward bit by bit until you reach the head, thinking of each as perfect, lacking nothing. Then think of the whole as perfect, an instrument given to you by God to enable you to attain Truth, the vessel in which you are to cross the ocean and reach the shores of eternal truth. When this has been done, take a long breath through both nostrils, throw it out again, and then hold it out as long as you comfortably can. Take four such breaths, then breathe naturally and pray for illumination. "I meditate on the glory of that being who created this universe; may he illuminate my mind." Sit and meditate on this ten or fifteen minutes.
Tell your experiences to no one but your Guru.
Talk as little as possible.
Keep your thoughts on virtue; what we think we tend to become.
Holy meditation helps to burn out all mental impurities. All who are not Yogis are slaves; bond after bond must be broken to make us free.
All can find the reality beyond. If God is true, we must feel him as a fact, and if there is a soul, we ought to be able to see it and feel it.
The only way to find if there be a soul is to be something which is not the body.
The Yogis class our organs under two chief heads: organs of sense and organs of motion, or knowledge and action.
The internal organ or mind has four aspects. First -- manas, the cogitating or thinking faculty, which is usually almost entirely wasted, because uncontrolled; properly governed, it is a wonderful power. Second -- buddhi, the will (sometimes called the intellect). Third -- ahamkara, the self - conscious egotism (from Aham). Fourth -- chitta, the substance in and through which all the faculties act, the floor of the mind as it were; or the sea in which the various faculties are waves.
Yoga is the science by which we stop Chitta from assuming, or becoming transformed into, several faculties. As the reflection of the moon on the sea is broken or blurred by the waves, so is the reflection of the Atman, the true Self, broken by the mental waves. Only when the sea is stilled to mirror - like calmness, can the reflection of the moon be seen, and only when the "mind - stuff", the Chitta is controlled to absolute calmness, is the Self to be recognised.
The mind is not the body, though it is matter in a finer form. It is not eternally bound by the body. This is proved as we get occasionally loosened from it. We can learn to do this at will by controlling the senses.
When we can do that fully, we shall control the universe, because our world is only what the senses bring us. Freedom is the test of the higher being. Spiritual life begins when you have loosened yourself from the control of the senses. He whose senses rule him is worldly -- is a slave.
If we could entirely stop our mind - stuff from breaking into waves, it would put an end to our bodies. For millions of years we have worked so hard to manufacture these bodies that in the struggle we have forgotten our real purpose in getting them, which was to become perfect. We have grown to think that body - making is the end of our efforts. This is Maya. We must break this delusion and return to our original aim and realise we are not the body, it is our servant.
Learn to take the mind out and to see that it is
separate from the body. We endow the body with sensation and life and then think it is alive and real. We have worn it so long that we forget that it is not identical with us. Yoga is to help us put off our body when we please and see it as our servant, our instrument, not our ruler. Controlling the mental powers is the first great aim in Yoga practices. The second is concentrating them in full force upon any subject.
You cannot be a Yogi if you talk much.
This Yoga is known as the eightfold Yoga, because it is divided into eight principal parts. These are:
First -- Yama. This is most important and has to govern the whole life; it has five divisions:
1st. Not injuring any being by thought, word, or deed.
2nd. Non - covetousness in thought, word, or deed.
3rd. Perfect chastity in thought, word, or deed.
4th. Perfect truthfulness in thought, word, or deed.
5th. Non - receiving of gifts.
Second -- Niyama. The bodily care, bathing daily, dietary, etc.
Third -- Asana, posture. Hips, shoulders, and head must be held straight, leaving the spine free.
Fourth -- pranayama, restraining the breath (in order to get control of the Prana or vital force).
Fifth -- Pratyahara, turning the mind inward and restraining it from going outward, revolving the matter in the mind in order to understand it.
Sixth -- Dharana, concentration on one subject.
Seventh -- Dhyana, meditation.
Eighth -- Samadhi, illumination, the aim of all our efforts.
Yama and Niyama are for lifelong practice. As for the others, we do as the leech does, not leave one blade of grass before firmly grasping another. In other words, we have thoroughly to understand and practise one step before taking another.
The subject of this lesson is Pranayama, or controlling the Prana. In Raja - Yoga breathing enters the psychic plane and brings us to the spiritual. It is the fly - wheel of the whole bodily system. It acts first upon the lungs, the lungs act on the heart, the heart acts upon the circulation, this in turn upon the brain, and the brain upon the mind. The will can produce an outside sensation, and the outside sensation can arouse the will. Our wills are weak; we do not realise their power, we are so much bound up in matter. Most of our action is from outside in. Outside nature throws us off our balance, and we cannot (as we ought) throw nature off her balance. This is all wrong; the stronger power is really within.
The great saints and teachers were those who had conquered this world of thought within themselves and so spake with power. The story of the minister confined in a high tower, who was released through the efforts of his wife who brought him a beetle, honey, a silken thread, a cord, and a rope, illustrates the way we gain control of our mind by using first the physical regulation of the breath as the silken thread. That enables us to lay hold on one power after another until the rope of concentration delivers us from the prison of the body and we are free. Reaching freedom, we can discard the means used to bring us there.
Pranayama has three parts:
1st. Puraka -- inhaling.
2nd. Kumbhaka -- restraining.
3rd. Rechaka -- exhaling.
There are two currents passing through the brain and circulating down the sides of the spine, crossing at the base and returning to the brain. One of these currents, called the "sun" (Pingala), starts from the left hemisphere of the brain, crosses at the base of the brain to the right side of the spine, and recrosses at the base of the spine, like one - half of the figure eight.
The other current, the "moon" (Ida), reverses this action and completes this figure eight. Of course, the lower part is much longer than the upper. These currents flow day and night and make deposits of the great life forces at different points, commonly known as "plexuses"; but we are rarely conscious of them. By concentration we can learn to feel them and trace them over all parts of the body. These "sun" and "moon" currents are intimately connected with breathing, and by regulating this we get control of the body.
In the Katha Upanishad the body is described as the chariot, the mind is the reins, the intellect is the charioteer, the senses are the horses, and the objects of the senses their road. The self is the rider, seated in the chariot. Unless the rider has understanding and can make the charioteer control his horses, he can never attain the goal; but the senses, like vicious steeds, will drag him where they please and may even destroy him. These two currents are the great "check rein" in the hands of the charioteer, and he must get control of this to control the horses. We have to get the power to become moral; until we do that, we cannot control our actions. Yoga alone enables us to carry into practice the teachings of morality. To become moral is the object of Yoga. All great teachers were Yogis and controlled every current. The Yogis arrest these currents at the base of the spine and force them through the centre of the spinal column. They then become the current of knowledge, which only exists in the Yogi.
Second Lesson in Breathing: One method is not for all. This breathing must be done with rhythmic regularity, and the easiest way is by counting; as that is purely mechanical, we repeat the sacred word "Om" a certain number of times instead.
The process of Pranayama is as follows: Close the right nostril with the thumb and then slowly inhale through the left nostril, repeating the word "Om" four times.
Then firmly close both nostrils by placing the forefinger on the left one and hold the breath in, mentally repeating "Om" eight times.
Then, removing the thumb from the right nostril, exhale slowly through that, repeating "Om" four times.
As you close the exhalation, draw in the abdomen forcibly to expel all the air from the lungs. Then slowly inhale through the right nostril, keeping the left one closed, repeating "Om" four times. Next close the right nostril with the thumb and hold the breath while repeating "Om" eight times. Then unclose the left nostril and slowly exhale, repeating "Om" four times, drawing in the abdomen as before. Repeat this whole operation twice at each sitting, that is, making four Pranayamas, two for each nostril. Before taking your seat it is well to begin with prayer.
This needs to be practised a week; then gradually increase the duration of breathing, keeping the same ratio, that is, if you repeat "Om" six times at inhalation, then do the same at exhalation and twelve times during Kumbhaka. These exercises will make us more spiritual, more pure, more holy. Do not be led aside into any byways or seek after power. Love is the only power that stays by us and increases. He who seeks to come to God through Raja - yoga must be strong mentally, physically, morally, and spiritually. Take every step in that light.
Of hundreds of thousands only one soul will say, "I will go beyond, and I will penetrate to God." Few can face the truth; but to accomplish anything, we must be willing to die for Truth.
Kundalini: Realise the soul not as matter, but as it is. We are thinking of the soul as body, but we must separate it from sense and thought. Then alone can we know we are immortal. Change implies the duality of cause and effect, and all that changes must be mortal. This proves that the body cannot be immortal, nor can the mind, because both are constantly changing. Only the unchangeable can be immortal, because there is nothing to act upon it.
We do not become it, we are it; but we have to clear away the veil of ignorance that hides the truth from us. The body is objectified thought. The "sun" and "moon" currents bring energy to all parts of the body. The surplus energy is stored at certain points (plexuses) along the spinal column commonly known as nerve centres.
These currents are not to be found in dead bodies and can only be traced in a healthy organism.
The Yogi has an advantage; for he is able not only to feel them, but actually to see them. They are luminous in his life, and so are the great nerve centres.
There is conscious as well as unconscious action. The Yogis possess a third kind, the superconscious, which in all countries and in all ages has been the source of all religious knowledge. The superconscious state makes no mistakes, but whereas the action of the instinct would be purely mechanical, the former is beyond consciousness.
It has been called inspiration, but the Yogi says, "This faculty is in every human being, and eventually all will enjoy it."
We must give a new direction to the "sun" and "moon" currents and open for them a new passage through the centre of the spinal cord. When we succeed in bringing the currents through this passage called "Sushumna", up to the brain, we are for the time being separated entirely from the body.
The nerve centre at the base of the spine near the sacrum is most important. It is the seat of the generative substance of the sexual energy and is symbolised by the Yogi as a triangle containing a tiny serpent coiled up in it. This sleeping serpent is called Kundalini, and to raise this Kundalini is the whole object of Raja - yoga.
The great sexual force, raised from animal action and sent upward to the great dynamo of the human system, the brain, and there stored up, becomes Ojas or spiritual force. All good thought, all prayer, resolves a part of that animal energy into Ojas and helps to give us spiritual power. This Ojas is the real man and in human beings alone is it possible for this storage of Ojas to be accomplished. One in whom the whole animal sex force has been transformed into Ojas is a god. He speaks with power, and his words regenerate the world.
The Yogi pictures this serpent as being slowly lifted from stage to stage until the highest, the pineal gland, is reached. No man or woman can be really spiritual until the sexual energy, the highest power possessed by man, has been converted into Ojas.
No force can be created; it can only be directed. Therefore we must learn to control the grand powers that are already in our hands and by will power make them spiritual instead of merely animal. Thus it is clearly seen that chastity is the corner - stone of all morality and of all religion. In Raja - yoga especially, absolute chastity in thought, word, and deed is a sine qua non. The same laws apply to the married and the single. If one wastes the most potent forces of one's being, one cannot become spiritual.
All history teaches us that the great seers of all ages were either monks and ascetics or those who had given up married life; only the pure in life can see God.
Just before making the Pranayama, endeavour to visualise the triangle. Close your eyes and picture it vividly in your imagination. See it surrounded by flames and with the serpent coiled in the middle. When you can clearly see the Kundalini, place it in imagination at the base of the spine, and when restraining the breath in Kumbhaka, throw it forcibly down on the head of the serpent to awaken it. The more powerful the imagination, the more quickly will the real result be attained and the Kundalini be awakened. Until it does, imagine it does: try to feel the currents and try to force them through the Sushumna. This hastens their action.
Before we can control the mind we must study it.
We have to seize this unstable mind and drag it from its wanderings and fix it on one idea. Over and over again this must be done. By power of will we must get hold of the mind and make it stop and reflect upon the glory of God.
The easiest way to get hold of the mind is to sit quiet and let it drift where it will for a while. Hold fast to the idea, "I am the witness watching my mind drifting. The mind is not I." Then see it think as if it were a thing entirely apart from yourself. Identify yourself with God, never with matter or with the mind.
Picture the mind as a calm lake stretched before you and the thoughts that come and go as bubbles rising and breaking on its surface. Make no effort to control the thoughts, but watch them and follow them in imagination as they float away. This will gradually lessen the circles. For the mind ranges over wide circles of thought and those circles widen out into ever - increasing circles, as in a pond when we throw a stone into it. We want to reverse the process and starting with a huge circle make it narrower until at last we can fix the mind on one point and make it stay there. Hold to the idea, "I am not the mind, I see that I am thinking, I am watching my mind act", and each day the identification of yourself with thought and feeling will grow less, until at last you can entirely separate yourself from the mind and actually know it to be apart from yourself.
When this is done, the mind is your servant to control as you will. The first stage of being a Yogi is to go beyond the senses. When the mind is conquered, he has reached the highest stage.
Live alone as much as possible. The seat should be of comfortable height; put first a grass mat, then a skin (fur), next a silken cover. It is better that the seat has no back and it must stand firm.
Thoughts being pictures, we should not create them. We have to exclude all thought from the mind and make it a blank; as fast as a thought comes we have to banish it. To be able to accomplish this, we must transcend matter and go beyond our body. The whole life of man is really an effort to do this.
Each soul has its own meaning: In our nature these two things are connected.
The highest ideal we have is God. Meditate on Him. We cannot know the Knower, but we are He.
Seeing evil, we are creating it. What we are, we see outside, for the world is our mirror. This little body is a little mirror we have created, but the whole universe is our body. We must think this all the time; then we shall know that we cannot die or hurt another, because he is our own. We are birthless and deathless and we ought only to love. "This whole universe is my body; all health, all happiness is mine, because all is in the universe." Say, "I am the universe." We finally learn that all action is from us to the mirror.
Although we appear as little waves, the whole sea is at our back, and we are one with it. No wave can exist of itself.
Imagination properly employed is our greatest friend; it goes beyond reason and is the only light that takes us everywhere.
Inspiration is from within and we have to inspire ourselves by our own higher faculties.
Pratyahara and Dharana: Krishna says, "All who seek me by whatever means will reach me", "All must reach me." Pratyahara is a gathering toward, an attempt to get hold of the mind and focus it on the desired object. The first step is to let the mind drift; watch it; see what it thinks; be only the witness. Mind is not soul or spirit. It is only matter in a finer form, and we own it and can learn to manipulate it through the nerve energies.
The body is the objective view of what we call mind (subjective). We, the Self, are beyond both body and mind; we are "Atman", the eternal, unchangeable witness. The body is crystallised thought.
When the breath is flowing through the left nostril, it is the time for rest; when through the right, for work; and when through both, the time to meditate. When we are calm and breathing equally through both nostrils, we are in the right condition for quiet meditation. It is no use trying to concentrate at first. Control of thought will come of itself.
After sufficient practice of closing the nostrils with the thumb and forefinger, we shall be able to do it by the power of will, through thought alone.
Pranayama is now to be slightly changed. If the student has the name of his "Ishta" (Chosen Ideal), he should use that instead of "Om" during inhalation and exhalation, and use the word "Hum" (pronounced Hoom) during Kumbhaka.
Throw the restrained breath forcibly down on the head of the Kundalini at each repetition of the word Hum and imagine that this awakens her. Identify yourself only with God. After a while thoughts will announce their coming, and we shall learn the way they begin and be aware of what we are going to think, just as on this plane we can look out and see a person coming. This stage is reached when we have learnt to separate ourselves from our minds and see ourselves as one and thought as something apart. Do not let the thoughts grasp you; stand aside, and they will die away.
Follow these holy thoughts; go with them; and when they melt away, you will find the feet of the Omnipotent God. This is the superconscious state; when the idea melts, follow it and melt with it.
Haloes are symbols of inner light and can be seen by the Yogi. Sometimes we may see a face as if surrounded by flames and in them read the character and judge without erring. We may have our Ishta come to us as a vision, and this symbol will be the one upon which we can rest easily and fully concentrate our minds.
We can imagine through all the senses, but we do so mostly through the eyes. Even imagination is half material. In other words, we cannot think without a phantasm. But since animals appear to think, yet have no words, it is probable that there is no inseparable connection between thought and images.
Try to keep up the imagination in Yoga, being careful to keep it pure and holy. We all have our peculiarities in the way of imaginative power; follow the way most natural to you; it will be the easiest.
We are the results of all reincarnations through Karma: "One lamp lighted from another", says the Buddhist -- different lamps, but the same light.
Be cheerful, be brave, bathe daily, have patience, purity, and perseverance, then you will become a Yogi in truth. Never try to hurry, and if the higher powers come, remember that they are but side - paths. Do not let them tempt you from the main road; put them aside and hold fast to your only true aim -- god. Seek only the Eternal, finding which we are at rest for ever; having the all, nothing is left to strive for, and we are for ever in free and perfect existence -- existence absolute, Knowledge absolute, Bliss absolute.
Sushumna: It is very useful to meditate on the Sushumna. You may have a vision of it come to you, and this is the best way. Then meditate for a long time on that. It is a very fine, very brilliant thread, this living passage through the spinal cord, this way of salvation through which we have to make the Kundalini rise.
In the language of the Yogi, the Sushumna has its ends in two lotuses, the lower lotus surrounding the triangle of the Kundalini and the top one in the brain surrounding the pineal gland; between these two are four other lotuses, stages on the way:
6th. Pineal Gland.
5th. Between the Eyes.
4th. Bottom of the Throat.
3rd. Level with the Heart.
2nd. Opposite the Navel.
1st. Base of Spine.
We must awaken the Kundalini, then slowly raise it from one lotus to another till the brain is reached. Each stage corresponds to a new layer of the mind.
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文本来自Wikisource公共领域。原版由阿德瓦伊塔修道院出版。