1
The body has to be rendered fit by a course of
purification and training in posture to practise meditation. It is not
ordinarily ready to do so without such previous preparation, geniuses
excepted. The posture training is of two kinds. First, the spine and head must
be straightened by a slight contraction of the anus, a pull of the navel region
backwards and upwards, a drawing-up of the neck and head. There are psychic and
energy currents from the solar plexus passing up the spine during meditation to
the brain. Not only is their free movement hindered by a bent body or a sunken
chest, but they are unable to attain their proper strength. The second kind of
posture training is to find the fixed position in which one can sit steadily for
a long time without getting uncomfortable. This is necessary because if the body
is moving about, or working, or shaking, the mind cannot attain the proper depth
of thought or subtlety of attention or absorption needed for meditation, nor can
the collection and concentration of the vital forces needed for the same purpose
occur.
2
We are so tied to the foolish idea which regards body
and mind as two wholly separate and different entities, that all too many regard
it as undignified to practise physical exercises in order to influence the mind.
The discoveries of mentalism show how foolish is such an attitude, how much we
miss in outer helps to inner attainment.
3
Less than two centuries ago most men were working on
the land, the sea, and the forests and mines. In the cities they worked in
hand-operated workshops and the cities themselves were not so large; the
countryside was close at hand. They worked hard and long, using the muscles of
their bodies, and so did their wives. This involuntary exercise of the muscular
system, this exposure to sunshine and fresh air, this limitation to fresh and
unpreserved foods, kept most of them healthy and strong even if the lack of
better housing and sanitation kept short the lives of some of them. Then came
the industrial revolution, when the machine and the civilization it created
changed their habits of living. Now they crowd into cities, enter sedentary
occupations, sit in chairs for long hours, or stand at mechanical assembly
lines. Their bodies become soft, flabby, and undeveloped. Their organs of
digestion function imperfectly. Yet such is their hypnotized condition that they
do not often realize the harm which modern ways have done them; indeed, they
usually pity their ancestors! But those who do realize it and feel uneasy in
their conscience about it, need to make a positive effort to eliminate the
deterioration and the atrophy which are the price paid for straying away from
Nature.
4
There is no better way to bring the body under
control than the way used to bring the mind under control - to put it under a
daily routine of exercises and to have a fixed time for their repeated practice.
5
The best time naturally to do exercises is on rising
from bed, but it may not be the most convenient time.
6
If the body is a battery and needs regular recharging
(through relaxation practices), it is also a structure and needs reconditioning
(through indicated exercises.)
7
Cicero's prescription to follow the daily period of
exercise with a period of rest is an excellent one.
8
It is possible with only twelve months of regular,
daily work to build up a perfect physical control.
9
The ordinary bodily exercises can soon become tiring
to middle-aged people. Moreover they take twice or treble the time needed for
the simple culture of the spine, which is the most concentrated form of exercise
possible. It stretches the body to the limit.
10
It may be too much to ask students who have reached
middle or old age to try all these exercises in physical betterment or follow
all these instructions in physical coordination. But what they may find
impossible to perform or what they may be disinclined to practise, they can
still make advantageous use of in the following way. Let them bring such
teaching to the notice of younger persons, to children in their teens and those
just beyond the threshold of adulthood - for it is far easier for these younger
persons to do than for older ones. The effort required is much less, the habits
not so much encrusted.
11
The body is deliberately made to exercise itself in
certain attitudes and gestures. Any gesture becomes an attitude when it is
arrested.
12
Care of the physical organism will require
attention to physical exercise as well as physical relaxation and to deep and
abdominal breathing.
13
The disuse of some muscles and the misuse of others
can only lead to bodily faults. Restore the first to use, correct the second.
14
If any exercise has unpleasant effects such as
discomfort or pain, its practice should be discarded for a time. The cause
should be sought for and, if found, remedied. There may be a mistake in the
manner in which the exercise is done.
15
It is not necessary to practise vigorous exercises
that quickly tire one, nor to put forth strenuous exertions that make one
perspire. There are mild, simple, and slow movements which can bring about the
desired results without them.
16
The custom of working earnestly at self-improvement
through a series of exercises done every day, exercises which involve the body
as well as the mind, is somewhat frightening to lazy people, somewhat
impracticable to busy people, and somewhat superhuman to average ones. This is
why so many of those who start any regime of regular exercises fail to continue
and finish the course. The longer the daily period required, the sooner their
enthusiasm wanes. Only those succeed who have exceptional determination and
unusual persistence. The fact is, we are not easily amenable to rigorous
discipline. But if the period of daily work were limited to essentials for a few
minutes only, many more people would remain faithful to it.
17
The idea of doing exercises for a space of time
daily carries a suggestion of monotony and boredom with it.
18
The value of stretching and bending exercises is
twofold. First, there is the local and beneficial effect on the particular part
of the body's muscles and organs. Second, there is the general good effect which
comes from the deep breathing they induce.
19
The greatest benefit is got by bending the entire
trunk, which means bending forwards, backward, and sideways.
20
When a muscle is regularly compelled to undergo a
series of stretches and contractions, not only is it kept flexible but it is
also kept strong.
21
By working a muscle group against resistance, he
will build up willpower as well as muscle power.
22
Holding the spine properly allows the flow currents
of this Spirit-Energy to circulate properly.
23
The benefit of a specific exercise is to be
measured by the warmth, or kundalini, it creates - not by the time it takes.
24
Those who have seldom or never done bodily
exercises may find it hard to start or, if started, to finish the complete daily
period. It would be a pity if they gave up before sufficient time had passed to
feel the benefits of the work.
25
Merely to lie down reduces the heartbeats by no
less than ten each minute, thus saving this ever-working organ some of its heavy
labour.
26
The simple exercise of stretching helps to counter
the congestions, compressions, and adhesions which obstruct the flow of the
vital force through the spinal column with its sixty-two branching nerves and
thus to regain energy. This truth of the need of spine-loosening movement is
instinctively known by every dog and cat, every lion and tiger, for they apply
it immediately after awakening from sleep. The back, the legs, and even paws are
bent and stretched and even rolled by them in this natural exercise.
27
(a) To make the spinal column flexible and
serviceable for these purposes, it must be both loosened and stretched. The
exercise which can do this is to stand with arms straight overhead and feet
pointing to the front. Turn the upper trunk above the waist as far to the right
as possible, repeat to the left. Breathe in deeply, hold breath and grasp an
imaginary parallel bar with the two hands before making these movements, and
pull yourself upward during them. An incidental effect of this exercise is to
invigorate and stimulate the general tone of the body.
(b) The top of the spine and the neck area surrounding it need a supplementary exercise to complete the work. This simply consists of drawing the chin slightly inward and then giving an upward pull to the head and neck; then when this series is finished, half turn the head to the right, later to the left. All these simple semi-rotations of the upper body take little time but give a large result.
28
By drawing up the whole body as straight and as
tall as it will go - a process which consciously uses, stretches, and
strengthens the muscles - the spine is held erect and the head high. This simple
exercise gives grace to the form, vitality to its movements, and resistance to
sickness.
29
Ruth Revere offered an exercise to iron out the
curves of the spine, strengthen the muscles around the spinal vertebrae, and
integrate the pelvis with the spine for firm support in the upright position. It
involves lying on your back on the mat or rug. Bend your knees up over your
body. Clasp the tips of your fingers around your knees. Round your elbows and
ease your shoulders. Now, with the right knee in line with the right shoulder
and the left knee in line with the left shoulder, rock your whole body slowly
from side to side. Go as far as you can without flopping or resting your elbows
on the floor. Keep your arms round. Start to the other side by using your inner,
centering muscles (abdomen). This forces you to straighten out your spine with
every effort. In time you will get the feel of it and every attempt will help.
It relaxes the back muscles.
30
The spinal column stores nerve force and delivers
it to all the nerve-endings which terminate in it. These nerves carry this force
throughout the body. Since this includes the brain, we may see how important it
is to take proper care of the spine. There are three ways to do so: posture,
exercise, and stimulation. The first requires us to carry the spinal column
erect. The second is to turn, bend, and twist it daily so as to keep it supple.
The third is to stimulate it by cold showers or wet packs. Take wet towels
alternately hot and cold, fold them over until they are about four inches wide,
and lay them on the back along the whole length of the spine. The water in which
the towels are dipped should be alternately as hot and as cold as one can bear
without discomfort.
31
Many persons are not hardy enough to withstand the
shock of a very cold shower. Those who are not physically strong enough to
endure it should be satisfied with a cool one; otherwise the kidneys, the heart,
or the bladder may be injured.
32
The total training and balanced endeavour of
philosophy are enough by themselves to avoid any danger from identification with
the body. But it takes an additional precaution against it by introducing the
following declaration for momentary practice during the pauses between different
movements or positions: "I am not this limited body. It is my servant. I am
infinite Mind."
33
That good posture is one of the determinants of a
purified body may seem too bold an assertion to be credible even to many who may
be able to grant that it is one of the determinants of physical fitness. Let
them remember that the spine is the trunk of a tree, the central nerve system,
crowned by the brain, the organ of thought.
34
The connections between the neck, the thorax, and
the breathing process must be understood and brought under conscious control.
35
A proper self-respect will of itself straighten the
posture and remove the sag in the middle. But the opposite is just as true. A
proper posture will add self-respect to the character.
36
The poise of the head, the posture of the spine,
and the functioning of the breath determine every attitude of the whole body.
37
By lowering the centre of the body's gravity in all
its activities, whether sitting, walking, or standing, we are raising its
ability to obey the will and the mind.
38
Proper posture does not mean stiff posture.
39
The basic principle taught by yoga in this
connection is that the back should be carried as erect as possible. As it is
ordinarily and unconsciously carried, the vertebrae are pressed together so that
the spinal column is actually shortened. But as it ought to be carried, they
should be pulled away from each other so that the spinal column is actually
lengthened.
40
There is a common idea, probably derived from now
outdated military drills, that right posture involves lifting up and throwing
back the shoulders and stiffening the knees. This is wrong as it throws too much
strain on the body and fatigues the nerves.
41
What the head initiates, the remainder of the body
follows. This, in the case of the developed man, is true of what lies inside the
head. But concerning the physical head itself, it is true of all men, developed
and undeveloped.
42
The relation of consciousness to the ego expresses
itself in the use of the ego. The use expresses itself in the relation between
the head and the trunk.
43
Beware of the student's stoop.
44
The writer whose head is drooped and whose neck is
bent by desk work is not in the best posture to generate inspired ideas.
45
This training of the spine has some valuable
secondary and incidental results. Although these are connected with the
improvement of health and eradication of disease, and as such are not the direct
object of the training, their value remains a great one for sufferers. For
instance, weak and painful backs can be the result of several different causes
but one of them is faulty posture when walking. The following way of carrying
the torso is bad: drawing the shoulders and chest too far back and pushing the
abdomen too far forward. This curves the spine in the wrong direction and
unnecessarily throws too much weight upon it.
46
Fatigue may allow the spine to sag, thus flattening
the cushion-like cartilages between its discs and impinging on the nerve
branches. This in turn restricts the inflow of nerve force and lowers nerve
energies.
47
The spine is so delicately built up that it is
affected for the worse by the soft beds in which the body sleeps for several
hours nightly. A harder surfaced bed is better for it.
48
It is not a necessary accompaniment of spirituality
that a man be weak and sickly in body.
49
Those who suffer from spinal troubles or hip
diseases should not practise any physical exercises without previous permission
from their physician.
50
Between the two extreme forms of exaggerated
posture, the slouch and the soldier, the first of course is the more serious.
51
Even when attending to the ordinary duties of every
day routine, if this is done by throwing more work upon particular muscles than
they need do, albeit unconsciously, then it is done badly. The end result is
fatigue.
52
Entering a room, going to a chair, or walking in a
street should not be done by a soul-guided man too quickly or too violently. It
is ungraceful and unspiritual in appearance, while disturbing mentally. Gentle,
leisurely movements are more suitable.
53
If you study the walking habits of men who have
attained this tranquillity, you will find that slowness of movement accompanies
sacredness of quality.
54
The nuns are taught not to rush across a room nor
to run along a corridor. A paced, slowed walk is the proper way. This helps
recollection, remembrance, self-control, and a growth of inner calm.
55
Even his bodily movements must be brought into
conformity with his mental attitude. His very gait in walking must be brought
frequently to conscious attention and harmonized with the deliberations, the
patience, the equilibrium, and the uprightness which, ideally, exist there.
56
When we remember that so much of the day we are
doing these very things - sitting, standing walking, breathing, resting, or
sleeping - the importance of doing them in the right way may be realized. They
are functions which may easily be done in the wrong way, and continue so for
years, and even for a whole lifetime.
57
Whether it be to practise meditation or to fall and
lie asleep, the position of the body should be such as to prevent it from
becoming cramped or taut.
58
Shall the mystic walk with anaemic face and flat
feet through life and let only the materialist walk with forceful step and
resolute mien?
59
Western physical exercises seem designed to create
bulging muscles, an over-expanded chest, and special athletic skills. It is
enough for the healthful development of a balanced human being to bring the
muscles no farther than the point of easy and instant obedience, to make the
body perform its varied functions adequately and gracefully.
60
Whereas Western gymnastic exercises are intended to
develop muscle, Eastern exercises are intended to develop control.
61
All physical techniques have an indirect
helpfulness but their value should not be overrated, as the advocates and
teachers of these techniques almost always do. They misplace their emphasis on
the body and on the tricks it is able to perform. Only one detail of the human
organism deserves their greater emphasis and that is intuition.
62
The Occidental worship of bodily arts, cultures,
sports, exercises, and regimes would be excellent if it were part of a larger
program of living that included the spiritual. But it is not. The Occidental
mostly stops and ends with glorification of the body.
63
There is a most important difference between the
work done in ordinary physical culture and the work done in this system. Those
who jump about on a gymnasium floor or lift weights or engage in outdoor sports
do so usually for the body's sake. But students who follow philosophic teachings
practise their exercises for the Quest's sake. This fully respects the body and
cares scrupulously for it.
64
It would be a delusion to believe that the practice
of these physical disciplines alone can bring enlightenment. It is not
obtainable by stretching the body, or holding the breath, although these may
quite indirectly help to prepare the way for obtaining it. The ego must be
transcended.
65
It is as necessary to make a daily ritual of these
cleansing habits and physical exercises as it is of religious or mystical ones.
They should be combined, the physical being practised before the
spiritual ritual as a preparation for it and for the day's activity.
66
Tai Chi is a system of slow, gentle,
graceful movements combined with meditation. It can be used either for
self-defense, health, or aesthetics. Breath control is a vital element of this
practice. Weight and pressure are made to sink down to what is called in Zen the
Hara Centre (near the solar plexus). This system belongs to Chinese Taoism.
67
Long ago the dervishes in the Near East used a
system of training which gave extraordinary control over the muscular system,
swift reflexes, and striking mental concentration. For example, they would
direct the movements of one limb while at the same time they directed another
limb in a different way.
68
Too much exercise may be as harmful in the end as
too little, while improper exercise may be more injurious than either.
69
Posture exercises: (1) Stand with feet
together. Pinch buttocks together. Hold for five counts; relax. (2) Stretching
neck straight up, automatically pulls stomach in. Stretch - using, for example,
a cool radiator as a ballet dancer's bar - legs and torso.
70
Those who show their impatience by constantly
tapping with their fingers or who betray their nervousness by fidgeting with
their feet would benefit by a course in hatha yoga.
71
All such exercises are prohibited to anyone
suffering from high blood pressure.
72
We do not deny but on the contrary fully accept the
ingenuity and effectiveness of hatha yoga methods. They are cleverly designed to
achieve their particular aims and are capable of doing so. But what we do deny
is first, their suitability for modern Western man and second, their safety for
modern Western man. And we make these denials both on the ground of theory and
on the ground of practice. These methods are extremely ancient; they are indeed
remnants of Atlantean systems. The mentality and physique of the races for whom
they were originally prescribed are not the same as the mentality and physique
of the white Euramerican races. Evolution has been actively at work during the
thousands of years between the appearance of the ancients and the appearance of
the moderns. Important changes have developed in the nerve-structure and
brain-formations of the human species. According to the old texts which have
come down to us from a dateless antiquity, the trance state constitutes the
pinnacle of hatha yoga attainment. But it is an entirely unconscious kind of
trance. This we have learnt from the lips of hatha yogis who had perfected
themselves in the system. It is indeed nothing more mentally than an extremely
deep sleep brought on deliberately and at will, although physically it bestows
extraordinary properties for the time being on the body itself. Even where the
trance is so prolonged that the yogi may be buried alive under earth without
food or drink for several days or weeks, he is throughout that period quite
inactive mentally and quite unaware of his own self. His heartbeat and
respiration are then extremely low, in fact imperceptible to human senses
although perceptible to delicate electric instruments like the cardiogram.
In what way does this condition differ from the animal hibernation? In northern climates certain types of reptiles, rodents, bears, lizards, marmots, and bats retire to secluded places, mountain caves or sheltered holes under the ground, when the cold weather arrives and when food becomes scarce, and pass the whole winter in a state of deep-sleeping suspended animation. In tropical climates certain kinds of snakes and crocodiles do exactly the same when the hottest months arrive. It is particularly interesting to note that birds like the tinamou fall into a rigid cataleptic trance under the shock of terror and then become as immune to pain as the hatha yogis do in the same state. In both cases there is only a hypnotic and not a spiritual condition. Its value for mental enlightenment, let alone moral improvement, is nil.
Twentieth-century man has better things to do with his time and energy than to spend several years and arduous efforts merely to imitate these animals and birds. Such a trance benefits the animals who cannot get food and it is therefore sensible procedure for them to enter it. But how does man demonstrate his spiritual superiority over them if he follows the bat to its cave in the hills, lets the same torpor creep over him as creeps over it, and permits every conscious faculty to pass into a coma? In terms of consciousness, of spiritual advance, the hatha yoga hibernation has nothing to offer man in any way comparable with what the higher systems of yoga have to offer - unless of course he disdains the fruits of mental evolution and takes pleasure in atavistic reversion to the state of these wide-winged yogis, the bats, and those four-footed mystics, the rodents! We should therefore remember that there are different types of trance state and should seek only the higher ones, if we wish to make a real rather than illusory progress.(P)
73
Choose those exercises which come easiest to you.
You will have to do them every day.
74
Body purification and strengthening are
prerequisites and preparations for spiritual awakening and development. They
allow the passage of kundalini and also awaken it. Hence, hatha yoga is
prescribed to start with.
75
The practice of any physical yoga posture will
necessarily be difficult in its early stages because it throws the body into
unfamiliar and unaccustomed positions. The muscles need to be re-educated little
by little. It is dangerous to try to force oneself into such a posture all at
once. Therefore, the exercise should be done for a few seconds only at the
beginning, and the period extended by a few more seconds after several days, and
further extended after a few weeks. In any case, it must be followed by a rest
period before being repeated.
76
In ancient times when those who pursued yoga
practices usually retired to peaceful forests and rugged mountains, lived simple
disciplined lives, ate less rather than more, took little or no flesh food, and
kept settlements, they were often out of reach both of professional medical help
and professionally prescribed medicines - so they usually learnt to depend on
wild-growing herbs as far as these were available, and on applications of
intense pressure applied to diseased parts of the body or to the breathing
process. The healing herbs are Nature's gift to man and many of them have indeed
been incorporated in the pharmacopoeia used by modern Western scientific
medicine but more wait to be added. The pressures have possibilities of being
equally efficacious but, like a double-edged sword, constitute at one and the
same time an instrument of some power and some danger. We have seen both
striking cures and terrible disasters follow the practice of these physical yoga
exercises when done without the careful personal supervision of a trained
teacher and in several cases even when this supervision was available. Our final
conclusion is that it is not enough to have a teacher who merely knows how to do
them. It is really necessary to have during the earlier attempts the watchful
supervision or veto of a qualified medical man who understands the anatomical
dangers and physiological changes involved.
77
The purpose of assuming such an unusual posture as
that depicted in Buddha statues is manifold. One of them is to make such an
abrupt break from the habits and postures of everyday ordinary life that the
world, its cares and difficulties and temptations, is more easily forgotten.
78
These hatha yoga exercises seem to involve
unnatural distortions and unnecessary struggles. Why should we contort the body
and assume disagreeable postures which merely copy the forms of lower animals
and reptiles like the tortoise, the cobra, and fish? Why should we, as human
beings, so degrade ourselves and submit to these indignities? Are the benefits
of these exercises real or alleged ones?
79
The artist, the thinker, or the mystic must not
neglect the muscular vigour and health of body that can be obtained through
physical yoga. This would include deep breathing, stretching exercises, and a
diet of light and easily digested foods which will not dull inspiration.
80
If hatha yoga remains only a matter of muscle and
sinew and breath, then the practitioner has touched only the surface of yoga.
81
When the hatha yogi continues a single practice for
an abnormally long period, a change takes place in the pressure and the
circulation of his blood stream. The fixed holding of breath, the fixed posture,
the fixed gaze - any of these may bring it about. Spiritually, it has no more
value than a fainting swoon and leads to no more illumination or happiness than
that does.
82
Philosophical training puts much value on the
quality of mental calmness, emotional composure, and on its reflected state in
the body - physical stillness. The more a man's mind is self-composed, the more
will his whole personality be self-possessed. The passions of hatred, greed,
lust, and anger cannot then blind him to the truth about his human situation or
about the world's nature. The bodily postures prescribed by the yoga system of
physical control serve their highest purpose, and fulfil their ultimate
intention, when they train a man in the art of being perfectly still. For such a
man will gradually transfer some of the body's outer quietude to the mind's
inner stillness. But he will do so only if properly instructed by book or
teacher or correctly guided from within.
83
The Shavasaha or "Dead" posture is most
useful. It is practised on the floor or on a stiff mattress. The arms are
stretched, the palms face upward, and the feet are kept apart. Focus attention
on the inhalation and exhalation of breath and shut the eyes. Held for ten to
twenty minutes, this posture relaxes the entire body and removes fatigue.
84
The yogis assume the Buddha posture not only to
save themselves from a fall should they slip into the trance state, but also
should they inadvertently enter the ordinary sleep state. It is to prevent the
drowsiness which develops into sleep that they sit stiffly erect. These are all
surface reasons; there are deeper ones, which refer to Spirit-Energy.
85
The lotus posture draws much blood away from the
feet and draws more blood into the brain. This helps the concentration of
thought.
86
According to the classic yoga tradition, such a
position must be steadily maintained without a change and indeed without a
movement. Once the aspirant has found ease and comfort in a posture, subject to
the rules already explained, he must establish himself in it and remain there.
87
All hatha yoga exercises are most conveniently done
by spreading a rug, a carpet, or blanket on a clean floor.
88
Hatha yoga breathing exercises: The deep breath is
drawn in suddenly, violently, and noisily, and then held. The spine is
straightened up when inhaling.
89
There are several different traditional
crossed-hand positions from which to choose to complete the crossed-leg posture:
(a) the left hand may be placed on the right thigh and the right hand on the
left thigh; (b) the left wrist may be crossed diagonally over the right wrist,
both resting between the knees; (c) the left hand, palm upward, may be placed
inside the right palm; (d) the left hand may clasp the right one as if shaking
hands; (e) each hand may cross the breast and rest on the opposite shoulder; (f)
both hands may rest together in - and be supported by - the lap, the left palm
inside the right one, both vertically upright.
90
The refusal to study hatha yoga is short-sighted,
narrow-minded, and unjustified, for this - as the yoga of body control - lays
some foundation for the mental and higher yogas. Hatha yoga is not concerned
only with gaining abnormal physical power as the opponents seem to believe, but
also with gaining physical health, freedom from sickness, abundant vitality, and
especially a purified nervous system and disciplined instincts. The Indian
government subsidizes an ashram for the scientific study of hatha yoga, not far
from Bombay, because of the resultant physical benefits.
91
Hatha yoga can give lithe movements to the body
without the long arduous hours of gymnasium practice, can bestow youthful
elasticity to it without the violent labours of the amateur or professional
athlete.
92
To the young, hatha yoga is a new system of
acrobatics. To others who say, "I don't want the religious and philosophical
side of yoga," it seems purely practical. The proper value of hatha yoga is as a
preparation for the spiritual path. But how remote is all this posturing and
sniffing, this preoccupation with physical exercises, from real spirituality!
93
Although most of hatha yoga's postures seem
contorted, queer, and even dangerous, they have their merits and usefulness. The
risks come in when one tries to do too much too soon.
94
Hatha yoga exercises practised at night give
deeper, more refreshing sleep; also, one passes into sleep more quickly.
95
Hatha Yoga: These pressures were self-applied
through forcing the body to assume a particular immobile posture for fixed
periods of time. The steadiness which was maintained during such postures had a
steadying effect on the consciousness, too, and so they were also adopted by
healthy yogis, as an indirect means of attaining the requisite concentration,
and ultimately, because of the effect on the interaction of heart and brain, the
requisite inhibition of thinking. Thus, the yoga of body control has come to be
traditionally handed down to the present day.
96
Hatha yoga operates on the physical body only, and
only so far as it is an instrument useful for inner development. Its ultimate
use is to awaken the Serpent-Power.
97
Physical yoga postures exercise pressure upon the
psychic nerve centres.
98
According to the system of Patanjali, the aim of a
yogi should be to stop all movement of the mind and body. Consequently he cannot
but become a recluse if he is to follow this system completely.
99
That these disciplines, methods, and exercises have
a preventive value as regards possible disease and a therapeutic value as
regards actual disease is fully believed in the Orient.
100
There is another possible view of hatha yoga
which is that so far as its severe distortions of the body impose actual pain
upon it, the suffering cancels evil karma of the past. The exercises thus seen
are a form of penance and self-mortification.
101
The twists and poses of the body which physical
(hatha) yoga requires may empty the mind, if sustained at length, but cannot
attract the Spirit. But the inner and outer rest they bring have a value in
their own place.
102
If we look at some of the yogis who can perform
these extraordinary feats, we find their muscles to be quite ordinary in
development. This indicates that it is not the size of the muscle but the force
put into it which is the real agent in making the feats possible.
103
In A Hermit in the Himalayas, I have told
of those practisers of hatha yoga who held their breath too long and exploded a
blood vessel in the lungs, causing serious injury. There are others, however,
who have been luckier, for with them the exploded vessel is in the brain, but it
has not gone far enough to cause a paralytic stroke. It has gone far enough,
though, to disrupt those parts of the brain which concern past memory and future
anticipation, so that the yogi is left with a consciousness dwelling only in the
immediate moment. This is something like The Eternal Now sensed by the
philosopher and gives the yogi a kind of peace, a freedom from cares and fears.
He will then declare that he has entered samadhi, not understanding that
he has become a case for medical attention. His physical movements will slow
down to the point of uncertainty, his fellow yogis will admire his attainment
and become his followers, and he will become a guru!
104
Are there difficulties and dangers for the
Westerner in Indian yoga? The answer is that this is true of some kinds of yoga
technique but not of all, and for many Westerners but not for all. I have come
across many cases during my travels where aspirants have wrecked health or mind
through plunging blindly into yoga, and this is equally true of Indians
themselves. It has always been my endeavour to protect readers of my books by
communicating only what I know to be safe methods. I have deliberately kept
silent about the others. However, if the student keeps his feet on earth, if he
does not renounce common sense and a balanced life, and if he stops practising
if untoward signs should ever appear and consults an expert about them, there is
really little to fear. Most of the people who have gone astray though yoga have
been neurotics, fanatics, and the mildly insane.
105
The physical yoga teachers rarely possess a
knowledge of physiology. They do not know the precise physiological effects of
the breathing exercises and postures they prescribe upon muscles, organs, and
bones. This is why some of their pupils come to serious injury.
106
Because everyone can see and touch a body whereas
few can sense a mind, the teacher of a physical yoga method will find many more
followers than other teachers do. But the results of following it will leave its
practisers with as much egoism as they had before. In some cases, where unusual
powers and tricks of the body can be displayed, it will leave them with even
more egoism than before!
107
The danger of an excess of physical yoga - as of
all physical culture - to a person who at the same time is practising meditation
and seeking a subtler consciousness, lies in the loss of sensitivity caused by
greater immersion in the body.
108
He must begin this work by accepting the tenet
that he is not the body, only a tenant in the body. Otherwise he may fall into
the danger that so many hatha yogins fall into: the inability to achieve
mystical experience or practise metaphysical thinking.
109
The teachers and followers of the religious
devotion, mental concentration, and metaphysical study schools generally condemn
physical yoga. Does not this show that they are as biased against it as those
who teach physical yoga are biased for it? Only an independent attitude can
remove the unfairness of the one and the exaggeration of the other.
110
The yoga of body control has a distinct and
useful place in human life and constitutes a valuable system of practice. But
when we hear exaggerated claims on its behalf, then it is time to remind its
intemperate advocates that no amount of standing on their head will ever bring
them into the realization of God.
111
Consciousness of the Spirit is not obtained by
contortion of the legs.
112
Tsong Khapa, in his younger days, mastered hatha
yoga enough to gauge its real worth and place and then proceeded to the higher
yogas which led him to fitness for his mission, which changed the history of
Tibetan religion.
113
A modern Indian holy man, Shukacharya, of the
Province of Gujerat, who died as recently as 1929 and who had thousands of
followers who regarded him as a divine incarnation, told his disciples in one of
his discourses: "Your Guru has practised all of the hatha yoga asanas for quite
a long time and it is his definite verdict that it's all labour wasted, insofar
as the ideal of self-realization is concerned. In fact, the human mind is the
home of all maladies; it is vulnerable at each end and it is necessary to purge
it of all diseases and to stitch all leakages; if it is so, where is the earthly
sense in wrestling with the muscles? The primary concern, therefore, is to treat
the mind and not the body."
114
We must keep a proper proportion in our minds
between these different branches of self-preparation and purification. A man
whose spine is straight but whose conduct is crooked is doing worse than a man
whose conduct is straight but whose spine is crooked.
115
The physical regimes and disciplines of hatha
yoga purify the body and restore health, but they are not sufficient to answer
the mind's questionings, nor to still the heart's yearning for peace.
116
The hatha yogis are inclined to give too much
importance to the practice of these bodily disciplines. When this happens they
become obstacles on the way, new attachments that have to be broken.
117
Eugene Sandow, once the strongest man in Europe,
confirms the point. He said, "It is a matter of the mind. If you concentrate
your mind upon a set of muscles for three minutes a day, and say 'Do thus and
so,' they respond."
118
The practices are not dull if the beneficial end
results are kept in mind. And although they were originally designed for other
purposes, they are all health-giving and some are therapeutic.
119
Another of the beneficial purposes of these fixed
postures is that they sustain and maintain a bodily stillness. Those persons who
are subject to fidgeting limbs, restless fingers, or twitching muscles are
trained and disciplined by this practice to overcome the fault which left alone
would make meditation impossible.
120
These stretching exercises tend to produce freer
movements of the body by making the muscles more elastic, the joints looser, and
the sinews less stiff. The spinal exercises tend to produce a fine, erect
carriage which particularly improves the appearance of middle-aged persons or
even older ones.
121
Although from the standpoint of the special
psychic purpose of these exercises, their physical benefits are secondary and
incidental, this does not make them less valuable. The aged, the studious, and
the overworked particularly need these benefits of more vigour, more buoyancy,
quicker response, and better functioning.
122
Instead of following the ordinary Western methods
of carrying out certain movements of bodily parts which are designated
"exercises," to improve the condition of those parts, this system uses fixed
postures and muscular pressures, and even more, takes advantage of, and utilizes
profitably, the ordinary movements by which everyone has to carry on daily
activities.
123
These are exercises for people without the time
and certainly without the inclination to become skilled gymnasts or tumbling
acrobats. They are brief, simple, and convenient. No special apparatus is
needed.
124
The orthodox kind of gymnasium exercise, with its
long, violent exertions which tend to stiffen the muscles and tire the body, is
unsuited to sedentary middle-aged person. Its drudgery exhausts them whereas the
philosophic exercise invigorates them.
125
Westerners tend to do these exercises too
violently as they actually expect to do all those of their own systems.
126
Some of the exercises are artificial and violent
because they are intended to bring about the greatest result in the shortest
time. Others make use of natural movements and are not only intended to correct
the errors which wrong habit has introduced into these movements, but also to
let them, when they are perfectly done, assist in keeping the body fit and
vital.
127
Some have tapped the power in these postures to
kindle the body's own natural healing forces. This may happen if two conditions
are provided. First, the posture must be assumed along with inheld
breath. Second, it must be sustained for as long as possible without change.
Third, the mind must be concentrated at the same time upon the bodily part
affected and its perfect healthy condition inwardly "seen."
129
Here are two unusual exercises: (a) Sideways
Walking, that is, extend the right leg to the side and draw the left one after
it; then extend the left leg to the side and draw the right after it. (b)
Backwards Walking. Both these movements use the body in a way it is quite
unaccustomed to, and therefore develop another side of it.
130
Lie flat on the back, with the hands resting at
the sides. Tense all the muscles throughout the body and press it against the
floor as hard as you can. By drawing in the abdominal wall and contracting the
abdominal muscles, the lower spine can be more flattened against the floor. Try
to bring as much of your back in contact with the floor as possible. When tired,
rest. Repeat the rhythm of pressure and rest five times. Variation (a)
Perform the same exercise but raise both feet six inches in the air, still
tensing their muscles. When tired, rest. Repeat three times. Variation
(b) Sit on hard chair, hands on hips, feet flat on floor. Straighten the
lower back curve by contracting the abdominal and gluteal muscles, the pelvis
will then be held at the proper angle, the trunk will be at a right angle to the
thighs. Then relax these muscles. These exercises invigorate the whole body in a
very short time and force the breath to deepen itself. They straighten the lower
back curve.
131
Where a parallel bar is not available, an
alternate exercise can be substituted by lying flat and stretching spine and
feet and toes to the utmost.
132
The length of the period of rest between the
movements cannot be prescribed for general use. It must vary with each
individual's varying strength. The sooner he tires, the longer should the rest
period be. If a few seconds will suffice for one person, especially a younger
person, a full half-minute may be needed by another, especially an older person.
133
He should inject his whole self into doing the
exercise so completely that he is almost unaware of anything else at the time.
Such mental concentration is one of the secrets of champion professional
strongmen.
134
Except where specially instructed not to do so,
take a short rest after every exercise to let breathing return to normal and
sore muscles become comfortable, and only then repeat the movement.
135
The faithful practice of these mind-concentrated
physical exercises must lead in time to better bodily self-control.
136
The order of procedure is: first stretch the body
with one or two of the physical exercises, then cleanse and invigorate it with
one or two of the breathing exercises, then sit in meditation.
137
It is the combination at one and the same
practice time of exercise plus breathing plus concentrated thought which evokes
the greatest power and brings about the greatest results.
138
He may practise meditation until Doomsday, mutter
the hundred and eight different mystic spells, sit in all the sixty-four
postures of the yoga of body control, hold his breath for a whole hour or vary
its rhythms in every conceivable manner, but the Overself will remain stubbornly
remote unless he frankly faces and successfully fights out his struggle against
his own ego in his own heart. No physical contortion, exercise, or manipulation
can ever take its place. Such yoga exercises can discipline his body, give him
control over it, but they cannot provide a passport into the higher region. This
and this alone is the only yoga that really counts in the end on this strange
quest, because demanding all it gives all.
139
It is not necessary to give more than a little
time to these exercises, not more than is necessary to keep the body reasonably
strong and fit.
140
Those who have any part or organ of the body in a
defective or weakened condition, which has led their physician to forbid their
imposing any strain upon it, should consult him or her before practising any of
these exercises. This is because the latter do achieve their results by imposing
strains. Those whose advancing age suggests a similar carefulness may, with
their physician's prior consent, take up the easiest only of these exercises.
But they ought to proceed toward mastery very patiently and by very slow
degrees.
141
I have seen an elderly Oriental successfully
master some of these exercises at the age of sixty-three, and heard him speak of
their beneficial results. Aged persons should approach such methods cautiously
and slowly, but they need not let themselves be frightened away altogether
merely because they are aged.
142
It should be understood that the seeker does not
need to undertake all the exercises presented here. He should select those that
seem best suited to him, or experiment where he is uncertain until he finds
those which prove most useful.
143
The technique which suited those ancient
conditions will not quite fit our modern ones. Those who disregard this fact
open a door to mental derangement.
144
It would be certainly foolish to perform any of
these exercises on a full stomach, and imprudent at least to perform them at a
time or in a place where the temperature is excessively hot.
145
An isolated physical exercise is futile. Three
minutes every day is better than one hour once a week.
146
Coordination: The way the mind takes hold of the
body and muscles.
147
Exercises get reduced in value if done only
occasionally. It is better, and in the end easier, if a regular habit is formed.
148
All these yoga exercises and physical practices
are praiseworthy. They are recommended to aspirants - but only as accessories.
They are not, and never can be, substitutes for that moment-to-moment struggle
with the ego in daily living which is fundamental and inescapable. No forcible
holding of the breath and no strained contortion of the body can take its place.
The attempt to avoid following this discipline of the ego by substituting
disciplines of the breath or flesh is a futile one, if it is an attempt to take
the kingdom of heaven by violence. It cannot be successful. This desire to enter
the kingdom in a hurry is pardonable. Yet if it were fulfilled the fulfilment
would be a premature attainment and consequently lacking in fullness, falling
short in wholeness, and uncertain of steadiness. All the different stages of
development are needed in experience and can be missed only to our loss.
Although timelessness is the quest's end, the journey itself must take place in
the measured pace of time to prepare us properly for this end. It may be that
this is because we may not take hold of spiritual possessions which we have not
rightfully earned by personal labours and to which we have no honest legal
title. It may be that a spiritual treasure cannot become our own in advance of
the requisite efforts to develop adequate fitness and understanding for such
vast responsibility.