English
If we will think of the soul as designing, manufacturing and using these instruments, we may begin to understand their true relations to our lives, and accordingly treat them with more respect and consideration. We are in the habit of thinking that we are aware of all the sensations received by our mind. But this is very far from being correct. The unconscious regions of the mind are incomparably larger than the small conscious area that we generally think of when we say “ my mind.” In future lessons we shall proceed to consider this won¬ derful area, and examine what is to be found there. Taine has well said: “ There is going on within us a subter¬ ranean process of infinite extent; its products alone are known to us, and are only known to us in the mass. As to elements, and their elements, consciousness does not attain to them. They are to sensations what secondary molecules and primitive molecules are to bodies. We get a glance here and there at obscure and infinite worlds extending beneath our distinct sensations. These are compounds and wholes. For their elements to be per¬ ceptible to consciousness, it is necessary for them to be added together, and so to acquire a certain bulk and CULTIVATION OF PERCEPTION upy a certain time, for if the group does no* bulk, and does not last this time, we obsekc uu th n& ? s ' n our state. Nevertheless, though it escapes us, mere is one.” But we must postpone our consideration of this more man interesting phase of the subject, until some future esson, when we shall take a trip into the regions of Mind, under and above Consciousness. And a most wonderful trip many of us will find it, too. For the present, we must pay our attention to the channels by which the material for knowledge and thought enters our minds. For these sense impressions, coming to us from without, are indeed “ material ” upon which the mind works in order to manufacture the pro¬ duct called “ Thought.” This material we obtain through the channels of the y"^’ an ; then store in that wonderful storehouse, the tn T?? whence we bring out material from time Th ™ht Wh ' C , h we Proceed to weave into the fabric of 2S Ii e , ■ of the worker de P ends u p°° m ' °i’ d A h j ablllty to select and combine the proper stnrS 13 S ‘ • And . the squiring of good materials to be scored up is an important part of the work. „ A mind without stored-up material of impressions and penences would be like a factory without material, an I [? achinery would have nothing upon which to work, ana the shop would be idle. As Helmholtz has said: ertm P *u hension . by the senses su PPli es directly or indir- ■ be material of all human knowledge, or at least n e stimulus necessary to develop every inborn faculty A " d Helbert has this <o ay of th', f„ haai ot ,he subject: “II is almost a truism tosav can u p ™ portlon t0 tbe numerousness of the objects that , c . istinguished, and in proportion to the variety co-existences and sequences that can be severally RAJA YOGA jspOnded to, must be the number and rapidft rjiety of the changes within the organism — must rount of vitality.” A little reflection upon this subject will show us that the greater the degree of exercise and training given the senses, the greater the degree of mental power and capa¬ bility. As we store our mental storehouse with the materials to be manufactured into thought, so is the quality and quantity of the fabric produced. It therefore behoves us to awaken from our “lazy” condition of mind, and to proceed to develop our organs of sense, and their attendant mechanism, as by doing so we increase our capacity for thought and knowledge. Before passing to the exercises, however, it may be well to give a hasty passing glance at the several senses and their peculiarities. The sense of Touch is the simplest and primal sense. Long before the lower forms of life had developed the higher senses, they had evidenced the sense of Touch or Feeling. Without this sense they would have been unable to have found their food, or to receive and respond to outside impressions. In the early forms of life it was exercised equally by all parts of the body, although in the higher forms this sense has become somewhat local¬ ized, as certain parts of the body are far more sensitive than are others. The skin is the seat of the sense of Touch, and its nerves are distributed over the entire area of the skin. The hand, and particularly the fingers, and their tips, are the principal organs of this sense. The acuteness of Touch varies materially in different parts of the body. Experiments have shown that a pair of compasses would register impressions at a very slight distance apart when applied to the tip of the tongue. The distance at which the two points could be distin¬ guished from one point, on the tip of the tongue, was ftmr/fy CULTIVATION OF PERCEPTION ane line.” Using this “ line ” as a standard? ^cnitad that the palmar surface of the third fingl ered two lines, the surface of the lips four lines, and the skin of the back and on the middle of the arm or thigh as high as sixty lines. The degree of sensitiveness to Touch varies greatly with different individuals, some having a very fine sense of touch in their fingers, while others manifested a very much lower degree. In the same way there is a great difference in the response of the fingers to weight—a great difference in the ability to distinguish the difference of the weight of objects. It has been found that some people can distinguish differences in weight down to very small fractions of an ounce. Fine distinctions in the differences in temperature have also been noticed. The sense of touch and its development has meant much for Man. It is the one sense in which Man sur¬ passes the animals in the matter of degree and acuteness. The animal may have a keener smell, taste, hearing and sight, but its sense of Touch is far beneath that of Man. Anaxagoras is quoted as saying that “ if the animals had hands, and fingers, they would be like men.” In developing the sense of Touch, the student must remember that Attention is the key to success. The greater the amount of Attention the greater the degree of development possible in the case of any sense. When the Attention is concentrated upon any particular sense, the latter becomes quickened and more acute, and repeated exercise, under the stimulus of Attention, will work wonders in the case of any particular sense. And °n the other hand, the sense of touch may be almost, or completely inhibited, by firmly fixing the Attention upon something else. As an extreme proof of this latter fact, the student is asked to remember the fact that men have been known to suffer excruciating torture, apparently RAJA YOGA lOtit feeling, owing to the mind being intently x some idea or thought. As Wyld has said: martyr borne above sensuous impressions is not only able to endure tortures, but is able to endure and quench them. The pinching and cutting of the flesh only added energy to the death song of the American Indian, and even the slave under the lash is sustained by the indignant sense of his wrongs.” In the cases of persons engaged in occupations requiring a fine degree of Touch, the development is marvellous. The engraver passes his hand over the plate, and is able to distinguish the slightest imperfection. And the handler of cloth and fabrics is able to distinguish the finest differences, simply by the sense of touch. Wool sorters also exercise a wonderfully high degree of fineness of touch. And the blind are able to make up for the loss of sight by their greatly increased sense of Touch, cases being recorded where the blind have been able to dis¬ tinguish colour by the different “ feel ” of the material. The sense of Taste is closely allied to that of Touch _in fact some authorities have considered Taste as a very highly developed sense of Touch in certain surfaces of the body, the tongue notably. It will be remembered that the tongue has the finest sense of 1 ouch, and it also has the sense of Taste developed to perfection. In Taste and Touch the object must be brought in direct contact with the organ of sense, which is not the case in Smell, Hearing, or Sight. And, be it remembered, that the latter senses have special nerves, while Taste is compelled to fall back upon the ordinary nerves of Touch. It is true that Taste is confined to a very small part of the surface of the body, while Touch is general. But this only indi¬ cates a special development of the special area. The sense of Taste also depends to a great extent upon the presence of fluids, and only substances that are soluble MiNisr^ CULTIVATION OF PERCEPTION icii presence known through the organs and ftysiologists report that the sense of Taste in some Persons is so acute that one part of strychnine in one uiiion parts of water has been distinguished. There are cenain occupations, such as that of wine-tasters, tea- fasters, etc., the followers of which manifest a degree J! neness °f Taste almost incredible. _Tne sense of Smell is closely connected with the sense i aste, and often acts in connection therewith, as the iny P artl cles of the substance in the mouth arise to the rgans of Smell, by means of the opening or means of communication situated in the back part of the mouth. Besides which, the nose usually detects the odour of sub¬ stances before they enter the mouth. The sense of Smell opeiates by reason of the tiny particles or the object being n' n l , to the mucous membrane of the interior of the seizes u lhe air The membrane, being moist, firl „ and holds the se particles for a moment, and the !nS t S U !