LESSON FIVE
31. You are daily experiencing the achievements of great souls in the realm of different departments of human progress. They have not added in any way to the elements which compose this cosmos, but they have utilized the elementary forms in the proper combinations and have thus secured the desired results.
32. When Socrates was condemned to drink the hemlock, and the people planned his escape he refused assistance, stating that if he evaded the law he would have to pay the penalty. He was a philosopher. He had no university education, but his followers are numbered by the million.
33. Physical ability may have its limitations, but mental ability knows no bounds. It will penetrate to the remotest spot in the world, it will contact the Infinite, it will make the impossible possible.
34. Thought can bring us to the point where we can meet the wonder of the first cause and thus realize our unity with the Source.
35. There is something beyond our mind called the “Cosmic” mind which is greater than our mind. To illustrate: the “Cosmic” mind is the general power house, and we are dynamos through which the general power house distributes its energy.
36. In order that you may draw things to yourself by the Law of Attraction, it is necessary to recognize this “Cosmic Mind” which is within as well as without, and to attune the Self to it.
37. In the study of Yoga philosophy you will find that you can accomplish this. If you are tied with a chain, whether that chain is made of gold or something less, it is a chain just the same.
38. One that holds another down is just as much in bondage as the one held.
39. Yoga philosophy is a system of operating the cosmic law. We use the word “system” because it is a method by which we can apply our energy to get better results with less time and labor.
40. The operation of this system is called Pranayama.
41. Prana is life in action – vigorous action, motion, creative energy.
42. Pranayama is the control of this active force, or potential energy.
43. The Greek culture gave license to a full life on earth with the enjoyment of all its allurements to the limit.
44. To the Greeks, temperance means the harmonious adjustment of conflicting tendencies, the proper mixture of symmetry, proportion, balance, harmony. These are expressed in Greek architecture, not only in itself, but in the setting of the scenery, the water, the sky.
45. With all this no attempt was made to express new spiritual struggles, or higher aspirations, but to form magnificent, enticing order and rhythm. The age of Pericles and the work of Phidias typifies the Greek conception of life,
46. We are indebted to the Greeks for the ideal of a sound mind in a sound body but the Yogi advocates the same idea, plus a spiritual nobility. The Gods and Goddesses of Greece were symmetrical as expressed in form and beauty, but this sensuality did not endure the ravages of time.
47. The Greeks as a people did not rise to a spiritual conception of life as did the Hindus. The mind of the Hindu penetrated into the super-conscious state in which they enjoyed the blissful state of pure serenity.
48. The expression of the noble saints and sages of India filled their world with the thoughts of the Upanishads, the Vedic Hymns and the Epics of Ramayana and Mahabarata, which still thrill her people with their poetic beauty, mingled with the keenest philosophy,
49. We of the Western world now have the opportunity of combining the beauty and symmetry of the Greek ideal with the spiritual wisdom of the Hindu philosophy.
LESSON FIVE
Review Questions
1. What is Raja Yoga?
2. What are the seven necessary steps?
3. What is the result of taking the first step?
4. The second step?
5. The third step?
6. The fourth step?
7. The fifth step?
8. What will come with the sixth step?
9. What will come with the seventh step?