In the First Lesson you gained the perception of the “I” as independent from the body, the latter merely being an instrument for use. You have now arrived at the stage when the “I” appears to you to be a mental creature–a bundle of thoughts, feelings, moods, etc. But you must go farther. You must be able to distinguish the “I” from these mental conditions, which are as much tools as is the body and its parts.

Let us begin by considering the thoughts more closely connected with the body, and then work up to the higher mental states.

The sensations of the body, such as hunger; thirst; pain; pleasurable sensations; physical desires, etc., etc., are not apt to be mistaken for essential qualities of the “I” by many of the Candidates, for they have passed beyond this stage, and have learned to set aside these sensations, to a greater or lesser extent, by an effort of the Will, and are no longer slaves to them. Not that they do not experience these sensations, but they have grown to regard them as incidents of the physical life–good in their place–but useful to the advanced man only when he has mastered them to the extent that he no longer regards them as close to the “I.” And yet, to some people, these sensations are so closely identified with their conception of the “I” that when they think of themselves they think merely of a bundle of these sensations. They are not able to set them aside and consider them as things apart, to be used when necessary and proper, but as things not fastened to the “I.” The more advanced a man becomes the farther off seem these sensations. Not that he does not feel hungry, for instance.

Taken from “A SERIES OF LESSONS IN RAJA YOGA” by YOGI RAMACHARAKA

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54. The wisdom which is born of discerns ment is starlike; it discerns all things, and all conditions of things, it discerns without succession: simultaneously.

That wisdom, that intuitive, divining power is starlike, says the commentator, because it shines with its own light, because it rises on high, and illumines all things. Nought is hid from it, whether things past, things present, or things to come; for it is beyond the threefold form of time, so that all things are spread before it together, in the single light of the divine. This power has been beautifully described by Columba: “Some there are, though very few, to whom Divine grace has granted this: that they can clearly and most distinctly see, at one and the same moment, as though under one ray of the sun, even the entire circuit of the whole world with its surroundings of ocean and sky, the inmost part of their mind being marvellously enlarged.”

55. When the vessture and the spiritual man are alike pure, then perfect spiritual life is attained.

The vesture, says the commentator, must first be washed pure of all stains of passion and darkness, and the seeds of future sorrow must be burned up utterly. Then, both the vesture and the wearer of the vesture being alike pure, the spiritual man enters into perfect spiritual life.

Taken from “The Book of the Spiritual Man” by Charles Johnston

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But it is far more serious than this, for the teaching inevitably leads to the accompanying teaching that all is Illusion or _Maya_, and that Life is but a dream–a false thing–a lie–a nightmare; that the journey along the Path is but an illusion; that everything is “nothing”; that there is no soul; that You are God in disguise, and that He is fooling Himself in making believe that He is You; that Life is but a Divine masquerade or sleight-of-hand performance; that You are God, but that You (God) are fooling Yourself (God) in order to amuse Yourself (God). Is not this horrible? And yet it shows to what lengths the human mind will go before it will part with some pet theory of metaphysics with which it has been hypnotized. Do you think that we have overdrawn the picture? Then read some of the teachings of these schools of the Oriental Philosophy, or listen to some of the more radical of the Western teachers preaching this philosophy. The majority of the latter lack the courage of the Hindu teachers in carrying their theories to a logical conclusion, and, consequently they veil their teachings with metaphysical subtlety. But a few of them are more courageous, and come out into the open and preach their doctrine in full.

Some of the modern Western teachers of this philosophy explain matters by saying that “God is masquerading as different forms of life, including Man, in order that he may gain the experience resulting therefrom, for although He has Infinite and Absolute Wisdom and Knowledge, he lacks the experience that comes only from actually living the life of the lowly forms, and therefore He descend thus in order to gain the needed experience.

Taken from “A SERIES OF LESSONS IN RAJA YOGA” by YOGI RAMACHARAKA

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Daily Pilot – In Bikram yoga, for example, rooms often are heated to more than 100 degrees and sweating comes with the territory. Power yoga also may lead to sweaty sessions. Neighborhood yoga studios seem to pop up overnight in Los Angeles, but the county

The Spirit of Adventure: A Man for all seasons
Wearford Democrat – Although he said his triathlon days are behind him, Brundage who credits Bikram Yoga with keeping his joints and his knees in particular working well still like to keep active in a number of sports, notably cross country skiing in the winter

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26. By perf ectly concentrated Meditation on the sun comes a knowledge of the worlds.

This has several meanings: First, by a knowledge of the constitution of the sun, astronomers can understand the kindred nature of the stars. And it is said that there is a finer astronomy, where the spiritual man is the astronomer. But the sun also means the Soul, and through knowledge of the Soul comes a knowledge of the realms of life.

27. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the moon comes a knowledge of the lunar mansions.

Here again are different meanings. The moon is, first, the companion planet, which, each day, passes backward through one mansion of the stars. By watching the moon, the boundaries of the mansion are learned, with their succession in the great time-dial of the sky. But the moon also symbolizes the analytic mind, with its divided realms; and these, too, may be understood through perfectly concentrated Meditation.

28. By perfectly concentrated Meditation on the fixed pole-star comes a knowledge of the motions of the stars.

Taken from “The Book of the Spiritual Man” by Charles Johnston

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