CHAPTER IX.

FIVE VARIETIES OF YOGA—UNION OF EASTERN AND WESTERN PHILOSOPHY.

There are five kinds of Yoga, termed in Sanscrit Karma Yoga, pertaining to Divine Union through unselfish performance of duty; Hatha Yoga, treating of Mental and Physical Attainment through exterior disciplinary exercises; Raja Yoga, dealing with Internal Realization of Truth; Bakti Yoga, intended to cultivate conscious union with Divinity through performance of Works of Devotion; Jnana Yoga, the object of which is to accomplish perfect knowledge of Divine Nature.

The simplest English equivalent of Yoga is Union. There are three special kinds of union to be effected before any of us have become Yogis. First, we must seek to realize something of the mighty truth involved in the matchless phrase, Divine Unity. Far transcending all limited views of Deity is the magnificent thought of an all-pervading as well as all-transcending Deity. According to the teachings of genuine Yogis, no idea of God can be altogether false, neither can any finite concept be entirely true, as no finite intellect can possibly encircle Infinity. We all entertain just those ideas of the Supreme Being which register accurately our stage of development, and when this is clearly understood, all difficulties vanish regarding the many discrepancies which abound in Sacred Literature. Yogis are they who have so far outgrown dependence upon outward aids to devotion that they can realize God everywhere and through everything; to them, therefore, all manifestations of life are sacred. This mighty truth, sublime as it is, like all other universal verities, is easily liable to misapprehension; we need not then be in the least surprised to encounter ignorant fanaticism associated with prevalent ideas of Yoga entertained in India to-day. It is a very common mistake made by Western admirers of Hindu philosophy to take as true expositions thereof whatever doctrines may be promulgated by any native teachers from India who may be visiting our shores. This attitude of undiscriminating acceptance of widely divergent teachings has led to much mental confusion, and it certainly behooves us to compare thoughtfully one Oriental doctrine with another, precisely as we need to judge between different theories promulgated in the West. Between Yogis and Fakirs there is an enormous difference, though the two are often mischievously confounded. Fakirs are ascetics who work marvels which greatly astonish multitudes of wondering spectators, but they are in no sense Yogis, for such as truly practise Yoga are in no sense sensational wonder-workers, but profound practical students of the Law of the Universe. Hatha Yoga, which has been much exploited in America of late, needs to be comprehended, at least in outline, before we proceed to discuss the other and more spiritual varieties, as this deals very practically with training body and mind together, so as to produce a healthy vehicle through which the spirit can act during incarnation.

The topic of rhythmic breathing is always one of extreme interest, as it lies at the very foundation of all health exercises; but it is often claimed that methods in vogue in India may be injurious to Americans and Europeans, owing to wide differences in temperament and general habits of living. This is probably true to a certain limited extent, but by no means so far as many people seem to imagine, for though heredity and early training count for a good deal everywhere, it can never be injurious, but, on the contrary, highly beneficial, to cultivate the excellent habit of deep, regular breathing. True it is that if we live naturally from childhood we shall not need to practise formal breathing exercises, just as we shall not need to exercise in a gymnasium if we accustom ourselves to taking regular outdoor exercise sufficient to keep all our limbs and muscles normally active. We cannot on that account declare that gymnastic exercises are dangerous or harmful, nor should we allow ourselves to discountenance them because when injudiciously taken they often prove highly injurious to the muscles, which are thereby overstrained. Hatha Yoga is the most popular and at the same time the most nearly dangerous of all varieties of Yoga, when undertaken in the Western world. In India, the original home of Yoga practices, the native population, by reason of a long line of suitable heredity, and also in consequence of appropriate diet and dress, are able to take many exercises with impunity, and even with decided benefit, which would soon prove disastrous to those Europeans and Americans who persist in adhering to a flesh diet and to the wearing of garments which restrict the normal activity of vital sections of the body. Without insisting immediately upon the adoption of a strictly vegetarian diet, it is essential for all who make flesh a staple article of food to at once greatly diminish the quantity they eat and cultivate a wholesome taste for nutritious grains, luscious fruits and succulent vegetables which, when wisely selected and rightfully prepared, supply all the nourishment obtainable from meat, without its over-heating and other injurious tendencies. Clothing also needs to be greatly simplified, and this can readily be accomplished by following excellent suggestions given by Greek as well as Hindu costume. The love of beauty is natural and needs to be encouraged; so does an appreciation of delicate and delicious flavors; but there is no beauty in unwholesome garments, and no delicious flavor in improper food. Simple white robes should always be worn when taking breathing exercises; these can be ornamented to suit the wearer's taste, or worn quite undecorated. In either case they are thoroughly hygienic. Fruits, vegetables and cereals can be eaten cooked or uncooked; but as all garments must be cleanly, so must all food be fresh. Rooms in which a student or company of students breathe rhythmically must be kept well ventilated, and the atmosphere must be solarized as much as possible. This is a very important matter, but one that is greatly overlooked. Very many of the unpleasant results of sitting in Spiritualistic séances are due far more to imperfect physical ventilation than to any alleged evil influences in the spiritual universe, though it may be reasonably declared that undesirable visitors from unseen states may find foul air a congenial habitat. The law of correspondences works so universally and so completely that it manifests its unceasing operation wherever we may turn: therefore we cannot logically deny that foul thoughts and bad air are in close affinity, while pure thoughts and fresh air are equally near neighbors. But when the general habits and customs of life are rational, and even beautiful, a word of caution may still be needed for the over-zealous, who in their intense desire to make rapid progress, often throw aside discretion. We cannot remodel our sub-conscious habits instantly, even though we may very rapidly transform our outward customs, and it is the sub-conscious plane of our activities which is the chief seat of those indispositions which regular, systematic breathing is intended to correct.

It is usually unwise to assign the first or highest place to Hatha Yoga; other forms of Yoga had better be considered and practised at first by a large majority of persons, in order to counteract a pernicious tendency to put the welfare of the flesh higher in our esteem than the concerns of the spirit. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that many spiritually-minded people are far from healthy physically, and this is chiefly due to the mistaken notion that the care of the outer body is a work which can be left entirely to those in whom spiritual consciousness is not yet awakened.

Rightly and fully comprehended, spirituality is fulness of breath; the very etymology of the word is sufficient to make this entirely clear, for our english word spirit is only the latin spiritus (breath), abbreviated. Spirit and breath originally mean exactly the same. A Master breathes on his disciples, and they receive the holy breath, or spirit. Physical breath may be rightly regarded as a vehicle through which inner breath or prana is conveyed; therefore the connection between our inward and our outward living is far more intimate than we usually suppose. During physical embodiment we cannot ever attempt to separate the interests of the Ego from those of its most exterior personal sheaths, without working havoc in our philosophy and injuring the integrity of our general mode of life. One plane of expression is indeed higher and more enduring than another, but all must duly synchronize. The greatest benefits we can possibly derive from any useful mental and physical practices must be to bring our minds and bodies into such complete accord that one never acts at variance with the other. The good old saying, “A pure mind in a pure body is health,” is completely true, and by pure must be meant free from confusion as well as from pollution. When we protest against adulteration in food or clothing, we are often inveighing against an admixture which is unwholesome and unlawful, though no single ingredient introduced is objectionable in itself. Sand in sugar and cotton mixed with wool may be cited as well-known examples, for when a grocer professes to sell pure sugar or a tailor declares a piece of cloth to be pure wool, he uses the word to signify simple—i.e., free from any extraneous element. Pure breath is simply fresh air vitalized with Prana circulating uninterruptedly throughout an entire body; therefore we read in treatises on Yoga that we can breathe through our bones as well as through our skin, a statement which harmonizes completely with all we know of the constitution of matter, which is made up of innumerable infinitesimal particles, no two of which ever really touch. We are now beginning to see the wisdom and the rational application of many strange old sayings and practices which are often discarded by modern critics as outworn superstitions. Take, for example, the Biblical precept, “Remove thy sandals from thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” Consecrated temples were not only dedicated to sacred uses, they were also charged with a peculiar atmosphere, particularly beneficial to all who deliberately opened themselves to receive it. In the temples of Greece, many sick people were healed by simply resting in those beautiful sanctuaries, though at other times specific treatment was administered by the officiating Therapeutae. In Christian churches much benefit is often derived by those who respond to a frequent invitation to quietly rest and meditate, as well as pray. We all know how greatly sensitive people are affected by an unseen atmosphere without knowing what it is that affects them. A scientific study of Occultism interprets this riddle by introducing to our notice subtle ethers and atmospheres with which the ordinary untrained mind is technically unacquainted, but this ignorance does not prevent us from feeling the effects of some mysterious element which plays upon us without our knowledge. Nothing is more common than to exclaim, “I cannot tell how I caught that cold,” or, “I don't know what makes me feel so nervous.” On the other hand, we are often most pleasantly affected by some mysterious agent with which we are unacquainted, but whose acquaintance we could easily make were we to spend more time than we usually do spend in quiet meditation, and busy ourselves to some extent with the study of unseen forces. Highly sensitive people usually thrive far better in the open country or by the sea-shore than in crowded cities, because there is far more Prana where nature is comparatively unmolested than in the bewildering hives of excited human industry. Nature has her holy places where we can often derive even greater benefit than in the finest temples ever built by human hands; thus it follows that to go barefooted in the country or on any grassy slope or well-kept lawn, or at the sea-shore, when the sand is inviting, is a highly beneficial exercise, and one which often serves to remove from the body many impurities which are the causes of those distressing congestions which only proper breathing can permanently prevent. It has often been said during recent years that breathing exercises patterned after Oriental models have developed hysteria and many other distressing maladies, particularly in delicate American women who have taken the exercises without the guidance of a competent instructor. This may be the case, but if it be so, it only serves to illustrate the extreme unwisdom of neglecting necessary preliminary caution, for these misguided women have generally worn tight shoes and gloves, as well as other unwholesome garments, while attempting to take the exercises, and they have also unduly strained themselves by endeavoring to take too advanced exercises at the beginning of their practice. There is not the slightest reason why women should not breathe quite as deeply and steadily as men, and they do so breathe when they wear proper clothing and place the body in natural position. Whoever attempts Yoga breathing should concentrate completely upon some great idea which can be readily expressed in a single expressive word, such, for instance, as courage, rest, truth, or any other which embodies the particular virtue one now desires especially to cultivate. We should make a mental picture of the Solar Plexus, imagining it as a miniature sun at the center of the organism, it being the great central ganglion behind the abdomen. This center is electro-magnetically connected with the pineal gland, which Descartes and other philosophers have truly declared to be the vital center in the brain whence the soul operates by means of influx into all sections of the body. When perfect harmony is obtained between the brain center and the abdominal center, there can be no disease in the system, because all functions are properly discharged, and the whole body is completely vitalized and ventilated. The Yogis of India must never be confounded with the Fakirs, for the latter do themselves physical injury in their attempt to develop abnormal powers, and though they often succeed in performing wonderful feats of magic, they do not perform works of healing, nor do they really add anything to the useful knowledge of those who witness their weird exhibitions. The Yogis, on the other hand, are both teachers and healers, and set before their students high examples of noble living, for they have gained complete control over all their appetites, and are in every sense truly exemplary in conduct. When we come to consider, one by one, the several varieties of Yoga practice already enumerated, we shall soon discover that they may be compared with five digits of a single hand, or five branches of a tree, all growing out of one palm or ramifying from a single trunk. Karma Yoga is the Sanscrit name for the unselfish performance of one’s constant duty, regardless of the varying forms that duty may from time to time assume. This is the work of the householder, and of the man of affairs, and has nothing to do with those peculiar practices which belong to the work and training of those who virtually retire from the world to devote themselves to a solitary contemplative life, in which most of us can take no part. The word duty, though a very common word, is not always easy to define, seeing that it is not properly applied to all those numerous performances which people go through with at the behest of foolish customs, or to gratify the caprices of members of their families. Many a man and many a woman is sacrificed unsparingly to false ideas of duty, and instead of receiving the blessing of gratitude from others, or the inward approval of one's own conscience, nothing but ingratitude from without and discontent within repays his or her mistaken efforts. Duty is always reasonable, and its performance must conduce in some way to the enlargement and ennoblement of life; it must have a tendency to raise the moral, intellectual and physical condition of all who are influenced by it; it cannot therefore be reasonably associated with a ceaseless round of occupations which bring no benefit to those who undertake them or to any who are directly affected by them. Strange as the phrase may sound, we often have to neglect one duty to discharge another; but this is, of course, never the case except in seeming. for real duties do not and cannot conflict. It can never be anyone's duty to be in two places at once, so long as it remains impossible, but it often appears as though one ought to be there. Now the particular use of right meditation is to put us on the track which will enable us to clearly perceive what is the one thing we really ought to do just now, and where is the identical place in which we ought to do it. Interior illumination may show us this, and we can then set to work at once to perform the definite duty pertaining to a particular moment.

When we feel inwardly thoroughly convinced that something is our duty then we must meet and conquer whatever obstacle, inducement or temptation would lead us off in some other direction; and though at first we may find it difficult to silence all conflicting voices and learn to pay no heed to any distracting solicitations, a little regular practice faithfully persisted in will soon develop within us such a mental habit that we almost spontaneously do the very things which aforetime seemed herculean tasks almost beyond our strength to accomplish. The sub-self or sub-conscious mind soon gets into a good habit if we persist in educating it, and when we have once formed a good habit we need never loosen our hold upon it, because indulgence in it can only redound to our own benefit and to the welfare of all with whom we are associated. It is always at the very outset of a practice that we encounter the greatest difficulties; that is why we so often abandon the race when, if we did but persist in running it, we should be abundantly repaid for all our arduous efforts. In the practice of Yoga we need only to cultivate dispositions and methods necessary to success in every conceivable line of human enterprise. Diligence in well-doing is the only road to victory. Another phase of Yoga, Bakti-Yoga, concerns the performance of certain works of devotion which have for their object bringing the student into ever fuller realization of the oneness of all lives. These works are sometimes of a definitely regulated and even stereotyped nature, closely resembling the formal ritualistic exercises of many types of Christians who find it beneficial to perform particular acts of devotion at stated intervals and in an unvarying manner, such for instance as the Roman Catholic recitation of the Rosary. Others again consider such mechanical religious performances as hindrances rather than helps to real devotion; but these people are by no means undevout, they are simply of such temperament that nothing helps them which is not spontaneous. Very great wisdom is displayed in the Epistles of St. Paul where the subject of ceremonial devotion is quite elaborately discussed, for the apostle sums up all his advice in the memorable admonition, “Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.” We are very much mistaken if we imagine that Hindoos or any other type of Asiatics are all possessed of the same turn of mind, or that all find it profitable to seek spiritual enlightenment along a single pathway, for we can find fully as much variety among the native populations in Asia as among Europeans or Americans, some of whom naturally incline to the rigid simplicity of the Quaker, while others are drawn to the most elaborate pomp and ceremony. There is nothing surprising in this when we look at external nature, which presents to us an unending variety of types and phenomena, and just as every kind of animal has its own peculiar needs which must be appropriately met if that creature is to thrive truly, so is it that in human life varieties of disposition and requirement are even more numerous and widely diversified, so that what is highly beneficial for some, is positively detrimental to others. Works of devotion cannot always be clearly separated from the performance of common duties, for one melts imperceptibly into the other. The apostolic injunctions, “Pray without ceasing,” and “In everything give thanks,” would have no meaning were it not possible to carry the spirit of devotion into every ordinary exercise, and certainly if this were not so such words as “Whether you eat, drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God,” would be utterly incomprehensible. We are now again tracing a vivid parallel between Oriental philosophy and primitive Christianity, which when rightly studied causes us to treat with utter contempt those absurd denunciations of Oriental religions which still disfigure Christian hymnbooks and lead many advocates of Foreign Missions to make such ignorant and misleading statements that the good work they are endeavoring to accomplish must of necessity be very greatly handicapped by the total failure of these self-appointed missionaries to understand the people among whom they endeavor to accomplish their work of proselytizing. “The heathen in his blindness bows down to wood and stone” is a stupid falsehood found in the very heart of an extremely popular hymn. What good congregations expect to accomplish by singing such trash is difficult to understand, for it cannot lift the minds of the singers to any high appreciation of divine wisdom when they declare in a preceding sentence, “In vain with lavish kindness the gifts of God are strewn.” The reverential Hindoo has far too deep a sense of the wisdom of Deity to believe that God does anything in vain, and every enlightened Oriental is far too intelligent, and also far too kindly, to utter such misleading nonsense concerning well-meaning people who do not speak his language or profess his creed, but who do engage in works of devotion very similar to his own. The more we study Oriental philosophy the more do we feel inclined to advocate the formation of a “Mind Your Own Business Society” to offset the pernicious influence of those mistaken missionary endeavors which are no doubt founded in good motive, but display total ignorance of the work which needs to be done in so-called heathen countries, where it certainly is desirable to stimulate a large percentage of the natives to loftier practices than those they now indulge, and to induce them to give up many degrading superstitions. But as we are also superstitious to some extent in many directions, we can all learn from each other what to cultivate and what to avoid, seeing that we are all, properly speaking, pupil-teachers rather than altogether pupils or altogether teachers in the school of life. Many a Protestant regards a great part of Roman Catholic devotion as unadulterated idolatry, and many a Roman Catholic takes exactly the same view of the means of devotion employed in Oriental countries, though the outward forms are so nearly identical that an impartial observer would regard one exactly as he would look upon the other. Now these monotonous repetitions of words and movements may mean very much to some people, while they mean nothing at all to others, therefore it is only fair that we should let those people enjoy them who receive benefit from their use, without adopting them ourselves unless we honestly feel that we could derive help from them, in which case we have a perfect right to use them. We are usually inclined to sneer at the practices of others when they appear to us ridiculous, though we are very apt indeed to become hurt or resentful when others laugh at our peculiarities. This is a certain mark of foolish self-conceit coupled with less than due regard for the rights of others. Works of devotion are, however, by no means confined to ritual observances even in India or Ceylon, though in that part of the world the practice of religious ceremonial enters quite as largely into the daily life of the people as it does into the life of the extremely orthodox Oriental Jew who counts it a great delight to observe punctiliously the 613 precepts of the Torah, many of which appear useless and antiquated to the modern Israelites of Europe and America. A work of devotion is, properly speaking, any work undertaken in a devout spirit and performed in reverent frame of mind, but as objects of devotion are very varied, we cannot classify all devout actions under a single heading. We often speak correctly of devotion to one’s country, to an honored cause, to the welfare of one’s family, and also to art, science, and business. The kind of work in which we engage receives its spiritual quality from the motive which prompts it, and the disposition which pervades it, therefore we are very likely to fall into serious error if we ever attempt to call certain definite external acts works of devotion in any exclusive sense. Writing a letter may be a thoroughly devout act, and it may accomplish untold benefit and bring a great blessing upon the writer, or the letter written may be merely frivolous, and so nearly unimportant that we can trace no definite result from its production, or again it may be written with a malicious motive and work great havoc. In these three instances exactly the same writing materials may have been employed in all cases, each letter might contain the same number of words in the same language, and all three be sent at the same time to the same city at the same rate of postage. Now, could anything be more ridiculous than to attempt to discourse upon the morality or immorality of writing an epistle of a certain length with a particular kind of ink on a certain grade of paper, and after having written it send it to a particular destination? But such a discourse would be no more unreasonable than one which undertakes to measure or determine the value or demerit of any outward action without taking into account the object of its performance and the mental state of the performer. Yoga, then, cannot be reduced to the level of mechanism, though we may use mechanical means in its performance, just as we all employ writing materials equally when we are engaged in epistolary correspondence of the highest merit and quite the reverse. We have now entered a field of thought in which we can glean many profitable harvests, if we carry steadily with us the one all-important feeling that we can obtain blessing, no matter what we are doing, or how we may be circumstanced, provided we invariably determine to infuse into all our words and actions a benefic spirit of resolute determination to bless humanity through all our undertakings.