English
Mental Drill and Exercises Before we can get the mind to do good work for us we must first “ tame ” it, and bring it to obedience to 1 the Will of the “ I.” The mind, as a rule, has been allowed to run wild, and follow its own sweet will and desires, without regard to anything else. Like a spoiled child or badly trained domestic animal, it gets into much trouble, and is of very little pleasure, comfort or use. he minds of many of us are like menageries of wild miST/fy RAJA YOGA !. each pursuing the bent of its own natur^ ts own way. We have the whole menagerie \.. -the tiger, the ape',' the peacock, the ass, the goose, the sheep, the hyena, and ail the rest. And we have been letting these animals rule us. Even our Intellect is erratic, unstable, and like the quicksilver to which the ancient occultists compared it, shifting and uncertain. If you will look around you you will see that those men and women in the world who have really accomplished any¬ thing worth while have trained their minds to obedience. They have asserted the Will over their own minds, and learned Mastery and Power in this way. ” The average mind chafes at the restraint of the Will, and is like a frisky monkey that will not be “taught tricks.” But taught it must be, if it wants to do good work. And teach it you must if you expect to get any use from it— if you expect to use it, instead of having it use you. And this is the first thing to be learned in Raja Yoga —this control of the mind. Those who had hoped for some royal road to mastery may be disappointed, but there is only one way, and that is to master and control the mind by the Will. Otherwise it will run away when you most need it. And so we shall give you some exer¬ cise designed to aid you in this direction. The first exercise in Raja Yoga is what is called Pratyahara or the art of making the mind introspective or turned inward upon itself. It is the first step toward mental control. It aims to turn the mind from going out¬ ward, and gradually turning it inward upon itself or inner nature. The object is to gain control of it by the Will. The following exercises will aid in that direction: Exercise I (a) Place yourself in a comfortable position, and so far as possible free from outside disturbing influences. misT#), MENTAL CONTROL taMko violent effort to control the mind, but * ii u Jiv/ ^ tiL 110 ru n along for a while and exhaust its —' ^} :q advantage of the opportunity, and will jump around like an unchained monkey at first, until it gradu¬ al y slows down and looks to you for orders. It may take some time to tame down at first trial, but each time you try it will come around to you in shorter time. The Yogis spend'much time in acquiring this mental peace ana calm, and consider themselves well paid for it (b) When the mind is well calmed down, and peaceful fix the thought on the “ I Am,” as taught in our previous lessons. Picture the “ I ” as an entity independent of the body, deathless, invulnerable, immortal, real. Then* think of it as independent of the body, and able to exist / without its fleshly covering. Meditate upon this for a I time, and then padually direct the thought to the realiza- tion of the “ I ’ as independent and superior to the mind and controlling same. Go over the general ideas of the first two lessons, and endeavour to calmly reflect upon them and to see them in the “ mind’s eye.” You will hnd that your mind is gradually becoming more and ■ more peaceful and calm, and that the distracting thoughts oUhe outside world are farther and farther removed from( of^Ti" !fV he ™ nd pass on to a ca,m consideration rw r..V CSSOn ’ ln which we have spoken of the Oncpcis Qt.AU, and the relationship of the “ 1 ” to the One Lifc^QKgr^ntelligen^Ban^ VouwiU fi n d t^t you arc acquiring a rSntal control and calm heTe'ofo* unknown to you. The exercises in ,hc first three Lons will have prepared you for this. " SSf ns (tl) The following is the most difficult of the variations o degrees of this exercise, but the ability to perform i shutter y ' ? e exercise co " sisl ' in '■raduatly shutting out all thought or impression of the outside I RAJA YOGA of the body, and of the thoughts themself nt concentrating'and meditating upon the wo? I AM,” the idea being that he shall concentrate upon the idea of mere “ being ” or “ existence,” symbol¬ ized by the words “ I Am.” Not “ I' am this," or “ I am l that,” or “ I do this,” or “ I think that,” but simply: “ I AM." This exercise will focus the attention at the very centre of Being within oneself, and will gather in all the mental energies, instead of allowing them to be scattered upon outside things. A feeling of Peace, Strength, and Power will result, for the affirmation, and the thought back of it, is the most powerful and strongest that one may make, for it is a statement of Actual Being, and a turning of the thought inward to that truth. Let the mind first dwell upon t he word “ I,” identifyipg it with the and then let it pass on to the word; “ AM,” which signifies Reality, and Being. Then combine the two with the meanings thereof, and the result is a most powerfu l focusing of thought inward, and a most potent Statement of Being. It is well to accompany the above exercises with a comfortable and easy physical attitude, so as to prevent the distraction of the attention by the body. In order to do this one should assume an easy attitude, and then relax every muscle, and take the tension from every nerve, until a perfect sense of ease, comfort and relaxation is obtained. You should practise this until you have fully acquired it. It will be useful to you in many ways, besides rendering Concentration and Meditation easier. It will act as a “ rest cure ” for tired body, nerves, and mind. Exercise II Thd second step in Raja Yoga is what is known as Dharana, or Concentration. This is a most wonderful MENTAL CONTROL in the direction of focusing the mental for be cultivated to an almost incredible degree. ' 1 requires work, time and patience. But the’student . , f we ^ re P a i d for it- Concentration consists in the mind focusing upon a certain subject, or object, and being neld there for a time. This, at first thought seems very easy, but a little practice will show how difficult it is to firmly fix the attention and hold it there. It will have a tendency to waver, and move to some other object or subject, and much practice will be needed in order to bold it at the desired point. But practice will accomplish wonders, as one may see by observing people who have acquired this faculty, and who use it in their everyday life. But the following point should be remembered. Many persons have acquired the faculty of concentrating their attention, but have allowed it to become almost involuntary, and they become a slave to it, forgetting themselves and everything else, and often neglecting necessary affairs. This is the ignorant way of concern trating, and those addicted to it become slaves to their habits, instead of masters of their minds. They become t „^' d l^f niers ’ and absent-minded people, instead of Mas- ers. 1 hey are to be pitied as much as those who cannot conccmraie a, all. The secret is in a master, or the mb? the \ogis can concentrate at will, and completely bury it °f e ves m the subject before them, and extract from he\l ^ ° f !, nt !u eSt ’ and Can then P ass the mind from cases 1 Thev dr! ’ COntro1 beillg uscd in both cases. They do not allow fits of abstraction, or “ absent- mindedness to come upon them, nor are they day- ?nH,VH rS 'i 0l i the C u ntrary - they are ver y wide awake individuals close observers, clear thinkers, correct Smoo 1 t l 3 - e maStCrS ° f th6ir minds ’ not slaves *o Ih! o? f T u e lgn ° rant concentr ator buries himself in i J -' c: or subject, and allows it to master and absorb TAINISr^ RAJA YOGA /while the trained Yogi thinker asserts the directs his mind to concentrate upon the subject or object, keeping it well under control and in view all the time. Do you see the difference? Then heed the lesson. The following exercises may be found useful in the first steps of Concentration: (a) Concentrate the attention upon some familiar object — a pencil, for instance. Hold the mind there, and con¬ sider the pencil to the exclusion of any other object. Con¬ sider its size, colour, shape, kind of wood. Consider its uses and purposes, its materials, the process of its manu¬ facture, etc., etc., etc. In short, think as many things about the pencil as possible, allowing the mind to pursue any associated by-paths, such as a consideration of the graphite of which the “ lead ” is made, the forest from which came the wood used in making the pencil, the his¬ tory of pencils and other implements used for writing, etc. In short, exhaust the subject of “ Pencils.” In considering a subject under concentration, the following plan of synopsis will be found useful. Think of the thing in question from the following view-points: (1) The thing itself. (2) The place from whence it came. (3) Its purpose or use. (4) Its associations. (5) Its probable end. Do not let the apparently trivial nature of the inquiry discourage you, for the simplest form of mental training is useful, and will help to develop your Will and Concen¬ tration. It is akin to the process of developing a physical muscle by some simple exercise, and in both cases one loses sight of the unimportance of the exercise itself, in view of the end to be gained. <b) Concentrate the attention upon some part of the body—the hand for instance, and, fixing your entire §L misr/fy MENTAL CONTROL attention upon it, shut off or inhibit all sensation ler parts of the body.