[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
and some of the episodes in the Rig-Veda might relate to
that still earlier vanished source whose streams nourished
the Egyptian and the Indo-Aryan culture more than 3,000
years before the birth of Christ.
Yoga, accomplished with the arousal of the Serpent
Power, provides the only key to the mysteries of the
universe and the only door to new knowledge in the form
of genius or paranormal awareness of hidden facts. The
great Yogis of India, whether of the past or present, often
looked down upon spectacular, magical or supernatural
performances. They did not bend spoons or forks or repair
broken watches or produce trinkets from thin air or
perform any act contrary to the laws of nature. They did
not parade themselves as Gurus to angle for disciples, nor
did they promise visionary of illuminative experiences to
all and sundry, who chose to follow their lead. They were
simple, honest, unpretentious men and women more at
home with the inner than the outer world.
The modern world has still to learn to distinguish
between the unassuming transfigured Yogi and the
ostentatious Yoga-teacher who flaunts his knowledge of
scriptures or agility of body or control of the autonomous
nervous system as a sign of his own rare achievement. The
really illuminated would be the last person to resort to
falsehood or fiction to impose on hungry souls eager for
110 The Purpose of Yoga
knowledge of the Divine. He would never publish
sensational accounts of strange encounters with wizards
and sorcerers in remote lands to cater to the perverted
taste of readers more interested in exciting narratives than
in sober truth.
The great monuments which adepts in the occult have
left, by an inexplicable favour of Fate, still survive intact,
in spite of the upheavals and cataclysms that swept away
whole civilizations from the face of the earth. All these
ancient monuments point conclusively to only one great
achievement of lasting nature to which the practice of
occult disciplines invariably led, and that is the attainment
of new knowledge and skill or, in other words, genius in
some form by which mankind can advance towards the
target destined for her. Whether this revealed knowledge
took the form of an architectural wonder or a marvellous
astronomical, mathematical, scriptural, philosophical or
philological feat, the purpose in all cases is the same,
namely to use and preserve the knowledge vouchsafed to
the minds in which the paranormal chamber became
activized through the Grace of Divine Energy responsible
for the evolution of humankind. All other spectacular and
exciting minor achievements, like miracles wrought,
spiritualistic or psychical phenomena displayed, or
magical feats performed, have all vanished without
leaving a trace, as if nature has conspired to obliterate
every sign of them, as a pursuit unhealthy for the race at
this stage.
All that we have been able to ascertain about paranormal
phenomena is that a new form of intelligent energy is
trying to manifest itself, fitfully at rare intervals and
through specially constituted individuals, under the hard
shell of reason in a manner which baffles all our efforts to
find a solution to the riddle. It is probable that this attempt
is similar to the manner in which reason must have first
manifested itself in the initial stages under the shell of
instinct that covered the animal mind. However erratic and
unpredictable they might be, the value of paranormal
phenomena lies in the evidence which they provide for the
existence of super-physical and supra-rational intelligent
planes in creation which are inaccessible to the normal
The Wonder-Grammar of Panini 111
mind. They have to be valued for that, but, apart from this,
they bear no comparison to the phenomenon of
transmuted and illuminated consciousness present in great
spiritual luminaries and geniuses of all lands.
It is surprising how, in spite of the fact that in no
revealed scripture have magic, sorcery, spirit-raising or
miracle-working ever been recommended, millions are
now more ready to devote their time and energy to the
exploration of perplexing psychic phenomena than to the
pursuit of knowledge about themselves or God. They are
doing so in spite of the fact that the investigation has, so
far, defied all their efforts, made in one whole century, to
peep behind the scenes and to locate the force responsible
for them. This is not all. They have not even been able to
bring conviction to their own sceptical ranks about the
authenticity of the phenomena. There is something queer
in this bizarre hunger of the intellect. It is strange that
hundreds of savants should take enormous pains to
unravel the mystery of weird, erratic and undependable
parapsychical phenomena which, at this stage, are of no
utility to mankind nor have been through the whole course
of history, save as a wonder-exciting display. It is stranger
still that, at the same time, they should shut the door on
what every faith has acclaimed as the most sublime quest
in front of man, namely, Self-Awareness or the knowledge
of God a quest that has been extremely fruitful in laying
the foundation of all ethical and spiritual knowledge of
mankind.
How can we account for this radical change in the taste
of scholars? Only a century back they were deeply
interested in the solution of the mighty problems of human
existence the nature of the human soul, its relation to the
cosmos and the existence of God. But most of them now
scrupulously avoid discussion of these problems, as if they
constitute a territory forbidden to or uncongenial to them.
On the other side, they devote all the attention that should
have been directed to fathom the mystery of self, to chase
will-o -the-wisps which, instead of solving the problem,
make it more knotty and obdurate.
Can any keen observers of these phenomena really
112 The Purpose of Yoga
believe that the mysterious power, exhibited by mediums
and Yogis in their bizarre displays, points toward a super-
earthly, intelligent force which frail human beings can
master to act against material laws? If so, it means they
still are victims to a primitive superstition. How can
nature, which has created and moulded man through
millions of years, by strict adherence to physical and
biological laws, all at once, place in his hands a new
power to demolish with one stroke the very foundation on
which his existence is built? How can she introduce a
factor in her lawbound creation that can allow man
uncharted freedom to do what he likes? If experimentation
by science were to lead to the knowledge and individual
control of the Force involved in psychics, humanity would
soon become one vast agitated ocean of parapsychical
sharks and their mentally half-devoured or mutilated
victims for whom there is no protection and no relief.
Paranormal faculties form a necessary part of human
evolution and they will come into use only when man has
attained a state of self-mastery and wisdom to preclude the
possibility of abuse of the powers gained.
10
CHILD PRODIGIES, GENIUS,
YOGA AND EVOLUTION
The race of mortal men is far too weak to grow dizzy on
unwonted heights, says Goethe. This is as true now as it
was in the past. We have grown dizzy because our
mechanical wonders have intoxicated us with the belief
that there has been nothing so marvellous under the sky,
forgetting in our vanity that every inch of the organic
kingdom of earth and every inch of the starry firmament
contains more wonders than we can ever hope to discover.
It is this dizziness which is at the back of the nuclear mis-
sile, and the anti-God attitude of the modern intellect.
At every evolutionary summit attained by man, the
enhanced intellect and, sensitivity impose certain
conditions on his conduct and behaviour which have to be
complied with. If disregarded or flouted, the psychic
forces within react sharply to stop the violation. The
human mind obeys its own eternal laws as does the human
body. Excesses and immoderation debilitate the body and,
when carried to the extreme, wreck and destroy it. In the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl akte20.pev.pl
and some of the episodes in the Rig-Veda might relate to
that still earlier vanished source whose streams nourished
the Egyptian and the Indo-Aryan culture more than 3,000
years before the birth of Christ.
Yoga, accomplished with the arousal of the Serpent
Power, provides the only key to the mysteries of the
universe and the only door to new knowledge in the form
of genius or paranormal awareness of hidden facts. The
great Yogis of India, whether of the past or present, often
looked down upon spectacular, magical or supernatural
performances. They did not bend spoons or forks or repair
broken watches or produce trinkets from thin air or
perform any act contrary to the laws of nature. They did
not parade themselves as Gurus to angle for disciples, nor
did they promise visionary of illuminative experiences to
all and sundry, who chose to follow their lead. They were
simple, honest, unpretentious men and women more at
home with the inner than the outer world.
The modern world has still to learn to distinguish
between the unassuming transfigured Yogi and the
ostentatious Yoga-teacher who flaunts his knowledge of
scriptures or agility of body or control of the autonomous
nervous system as a sign of his own rare achievement. The
really illuminated would be the last person to resort to
falsehood or fiction to impose on hungry souls eager for
110 The Purpose of Yoga
knowledge of the Divine. He would never publish
sensational accounts of strange encounters with wizards
and sorcerers in remote lands to cater to the perverted
taste of readers more interested in exciting narratives than
in sober truth.
The great monuments which adepts in the occult have
left, by an inexplicable favour of Fate, still survive intact,
in spite of the upheavals and cataclysms that swept away
whole civilizations from the face of the earth. All these
ancient monuments point conclusively to only one great
achievement of lasting nature to which the practice of
occult disciplines invariably led, and that is the attainment
of new knowledge and skill or, in other words, genius in
some form by which mankind can advance towards the
target destined for her. Whether this revealed knowledge
took the form of an architectural wonder or a marvellous
astronomical, mathematical, scriptural, philosophical or
philological feat, the purpose in all cases is the same,
namely to use and preserve the knowledge vouchsafed to
the minds in which the paranormal chamber became
activized through the Grace of Divine Energy responsible
for the evolution of humankind. All other spectacular and
exciting minor achievements, like miracles wrought,
spiritualistic or psychical phenomena displayed, or
magical feats performed, have all vanished without
leaving a trace, as if nature has conspired to obliterate
every sign of them, as a pursuit unhealthy for the race at
this stage.
All that we have been able to ascertain about paranormal
phenomena is that a new form of intelligent energy is
trying to manifest itself, fitfully at rare intervals and
through specially constituted individuals, under the hard
shell of reason in a manner which baffles all our efforts to
find a solution to the riddle. It is probable that this attempt
is similar to the manner in which reason must have first
manifested itself in the initial stages under the shell of
instinct that covered the animal mind. However erratic and
unpredictable they might be, the value of paranormal
phenomena lies in the evidence which they provide for the
existence of super-physical and supra-rational intelligent
planes in creation which are inaccessible to the normal
The Wonder-Grammar of Panini 111
mind. They have to be valued for that, but, apart from this,
they bear no comparison to the phenomenon of
transmuted and illuminated consciousness present in great
spiritual luminaries and geniuses of all lands.
It is surprising how, in spite of the fact that in no
revealed scripture have magic, sorcery, spirit-raising or
miracle-working ever been recommended, millions are
now more ready to devote their time and energy to the
exploration of perplexing psychic phenomena than to the
pursuit of knowledge about themselves or God. They are
doing so in spite of the fact that the investigation has, so
far, defied all their efforts, made in one whole century, to
peep behind the scenes and to locate the force responsible
for them. This is not all. They have not even been able to
bring conviction to their own sceptical ranks about the
authenticity of the phenomena. There is something queer
in this bizarre hunger of the intellect. It is strange that
hundreds of savants should take enormous pains to
unravel the mystery of weird, erratic and undependable
parapsychical phenomena which, at this stage, are of no
utility to mankind nor have been through the whole course
of history, save as a wonder-exciting display. It is stranger
still that, at the same time, they should shut the door on
what every faith has acclaimed as the most sublime quest
in front of man, namely, Self-Awareness or the knowledge
of God a quest that has been extremely fruitful in laying
the foundation of all ethical and spiritual knowledge of
mankind.
How can we account for this radical change in the taste
of scholars? Only a century back they were deeply
interested in the solution of the mighty problems of human
existence the nature of the human soul, its relation to the
cosmos and the existence of God. But most of them now
scrupulously avoid discussion of these problems, as if they
constitute a territory forbidden to or uncongenial to them.
On the other side, they devote all the attention that should
have been directed to fathom the mystery of self, to chase
will-o -the-wisps which, instead of solving the problem,
make it more knotty and obdurate.
Can any keen observers of these phenomena really
112 The Purpose of Yoga
believe that the mysterious power, exhibited by mediums
and Yogis in their bizarre displays, points toward a super-
earthly, intelligent force which frail human beings can
master to act against material laws? If so, it means they
still are victims to a primitive superstition. How can
nature, which has created and moulded man through
millions of years, by strict adherence to physical and
biological laws, all at once, place in his hands a new
power to demolish with one stroke the very foundation on
which his existence is built? How can she introduce a
factor in her lawbound creation that can allow man
uncharted freedom to do what he likes? If experimentation
by science were to lead to the knowledge and individual
control of the Force involved in psychics, humanity would
soon become one vast agitated ocean of parapsychical
sharks and their mentally half-devoured or mutilated
victims for whom there is no protection and no relief.
Paranormal faculties form a necessary part of human
evolution and they will come into use only when man has
attained a state of self-mastery and wisdom to preclude the
possibility of abuse of the powers gained.
10
CHILD PRODIGIES, GENIUS,
YOGA AND EVOLUTION
The race of mortal men is far too weak to grow dizzy on
unwonted heights, says Goethe. This is as true now as it
was in the past. We have grown dizzy because our
mechanical wonders have intoxicated us with the belief
that there has been nothing so marvellous under the sky,
forgetting in our vanity that every inch of the organic
kingdom of earth and every inch of the starry firmament
contains more wonders than we can ever hope to discover.
It is this dizziness which is at the back of the nuclear mis-
sile, and the anti-God attitude of the modern intellect.
At every evolutionary summit attained by man, the
enhanced intellect and, sensitivity impose certain
conditions on his conduct and behaviour which have to be
complied with. If disregarded or flouted, the psychic
forces within react sharply to stop the violation. The
human mind obeys its own eternal laws as does the human
body. Excesses and immoderation debilitate the body and,
when carried to the extreme, wreck and destroy it. In the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]