,the ,doctrine and ,practice of ,yoga ,including the ,practices and ,exercises of ,concentration1 both ,objective and ,subjective1 and ,active and ,passive ,mentation1 an ,elucidation of ,maya1 ,guru ,worship1 and the ,worship of the ,terrible1 also the ,mystery of ,will-,force ,,by ,,swami ,,mukerji ,,yogi ,,of ,,the ,,south ,,india ,,order #aibb ,,announcement ,in studying these ,lessons please remember #c points3-- #a4 ,not one useless or superfluous sentence is written4 ,every word is full of meaning4 ,they are highly condensed4 ,think deeply over them4 #b4 ,they are meant as a practical supplement to the ',spiritual ,consciousness1' ',soul-,force' and ',inner ,forces4' ,studied side by side1 these lessons will yield a great deal of benefit4 ,you are expected to think hard and long4 #c4 ,let none expect speedy or miraculous results4 ,all spiritual training calls for infinite patience and deep reverence unto the ,guru4 ,constant rise and fall accompanies all progress4 ,,foreword4 ,,concentration ,,and ,,thought-,,control4 ,student6 ,your life is your own4 ,you have only yourself to thank for what you are1 have been and will be4 ,take your present into your own hand4 ,consciously shape out of it your future4 ,direct your forces along lines of study and endeavour that have the strongest attraction for you4 ,such attraction is the indication of need4 ,it is the hand pointing out your ,life-purpose4 ,what your heart desires earnestly and clamours for incessantly is attracted to you out of the invisible supply1 i4e41 the means1 the environments1 the right sort of persons1 books and thought-forces are drawn to you and then you are expected to work out your desire4 ,this is in perfect accord with the great ,law of ,attraction4 ,some call it ,god3 since it answers all sincere prayers4 ,prayer1 remember1 is the sincere desire of the heart4 ,i take it that you hunger for ,truth and ,spiritual ,growth--else you and ,i would not be here4 ,the instructions given you hereunder are meant to give you a strong body and a strong will4 ,they will also tend to your ,soul-,unfoldment4 ,talk not of them4 ,keep your mouth closed4 ,be serious1 earnest and thoughtful4 ,then work at them confidently and with perseverance4 ,do not be daunted by apparent failures4 ,failure is the stepping-stone to ,success4 ,he fails who gives up a thing in final despair4 ,go on1 ,i say4 ,you will improve from the very first day1 and in a short time you will be another man4 ,all the leaders of humanity1 past or present1 have studied and investigated with tireless zeal along the special lines and1 in ,spiritual culture1 you must do the same4 ,but you must have health1 a strong will and a steady brain1 and ,i will enable you to have these positively4 ,keep these instructions strictly privately4 ,master them by constant meditation upon same4 ,,lesson ,i4 ,,concentration4 ,concentration signifies the state of being at a centre 7con and centrum74 ,applied to thought1 it is the act of bringing the mind to a single point4 ,each human being must practise concentration subjectively and objectively4 ,in other words1 each human being aims with more or less precision at concentration on a point within and a point without his own world4 ,concentration without is illustrated when you devote all your attention upon ,nature1 such as learning a trade1 a profession1 a science1 an art or some form of business4 ,this is ,evolution1 outgoing or positive mental energy4 ,i shall call this ,objective ,concentration4 ,concentration within implies the withdrawing of attention from the external world and the placing of mind on ,god1 ,spirit1 ,heaven1 ,religion1 ,peace1 ,nirvana1 ,eternity1 etc4 ,this is ,involution1 i4e41 incoming or negative energy4 ,when ,objective ,concentration alone is practised1 you develop into a hard-headed1 practical man of the world or a successful man of business4 ,you are keen and shrewd4 ,the world is a very matter-of-fact thing to you4 ,you cannot think of anything else beyond money-making and pleasures and worldly affairs4 ,you are a worldling of the world1 very clever1 rich1 and a master along your own lines4 ,but spiritually you are an imbecile1 worse than a baby4 ,this is the ,objective ,mind--the deepest immersed in matter1 literally made of the dust4 ,it is the brain of worldly wisdom1 common sense1 prudence1 methodical arrangement1 order1 discipline1 classification1 the skill and knowledge of the expert in any branch or department of art or science4 ,this side of the mind is well developed in ,scientists1 ,mathematicians and ,businessmen1 etc4 ,where it is not guided by the ,subjective ,mind1 it can only see diversity and difference and is the slave of ,maya--the slayer of the ,real4 ,subjective ,concentration is seeking the ,kingdom of ,heaven within you4 ,god is ,spirit and they that worship ,him must worship in ,spirit and ,truth4 ,,laplace1 the great astronomer1 asserted that he had swept the heavens with his telescope and found neither ,god nor ,heaven4 ,yes1 poor ,,laplace6 ,he looked for ,god objectively instead of subjectively4 ,the ,kingdom of ,god comes not with 'observation' but it is 'within' you4 ,the be-all and the end-all of religion is the practice of ,subjective ,concentration4 ,the performance of objective work by the human organism necessitates expenditure of energy and at last death1 because all ,objective ,concentration means 'going from' the ,absolute centre--,god--and hence it expends ,spiritual ,energy4 ,subjective ,concentration means 'coming to' the centre and hence it husbands and recuperates this energy4 ,now nature is motion to and from1 and ,spirit--the centre of ,life4 ,this two-fold motion constitutes what is known as polarity--,evolution and ,involution--negative and positive4 ,at the negative pole life becomes involved1 i4e41 'wrapped up' in form4 ,at the positive pole life 'evolves' or becomes expressed in nature4 ,in ,subjective ,concentration you return for fresh supplies to the inexhaustible storehouse of force--the ,absolute ,will4 ,jesus healed the sick1 exhibited control over external nature by raising the dead1 because his chaste soul could receive nothing negatively from ,god and could give it out positively to the objective world4 ,all power comes from ,god4 ,i would impress upon you the all-important necessity of placing yourself in a magnetically passive attitude towards the ,universal ,will and then of taking up a calm1 positive attitude towards the phenomenal world--which is a projection of the lower nature and hence must be handled masterfully1 fearlessly and confidently4 ,be positive to the external world4 ,be negative and receptive to the ,lord's ,will-force4 ,remember this4 ,this brings me to the supremest and most solid truth contained in the ,science of prayer4 ,the praying mind1 by its mere attitude of faith and earnest expectation1 opens itself out to the tremendous inflow of ,divine ,energy4 ,it draws close to the centre of all-power1 wisdom and love1 and drinks deep of the living waters of life so that even the very face or flesh begins to shine under the influence of this self-polarization--if ,i may be permitted to use this word--through prayer4 ,here is the causa nuxus between a prayer and its sure reply4 ,do you remember what ,lord ,rosebery said of the great ,puritan ,mystic ,oliver ,cromwell8 ,if not1 please let me quote3 ,the secret of his extraordinary success--he was a practical mystic--the most formidable and terrible of all combinations4 ,the man who combines inspiration1 apparently derived--in my judgment1 really derived--from close communion with the ,supernatural and the ,celestial1 a man who has that inspiration and adds to it the energy of a mighty man of action1 such a man as that lives in communion on a ,sinai of his own2 and when he pleases to come down to this world below1 seems armed with no less than the terrors and decrees of the ,almighty ,himself4 ,now both forms of concentration must be practised so as to hold the two poles in the even balance of harmonious growth4 ,you will perform the daily work to which you are naturally adapted in the common weal 7,objective ,concentration7 and after the daily task is finished1 retire to the bosom of the ,universal ,spirit by the regular practice of ,subjective ,concentration4 ,now will you realise the ideal of peace in the very midst of the toil and sweat of the day4 ,the foregoing diagram1 if closely and thoughtfully studied1 will show the stages the mind has to 'grow into' in objective and subjective concentration4 ,in order to acquire knowledge of the laws of external nature the mirror you require is accurate observation and you must focus your attention and push objective concentration to its final stage of perfect knowledge or illumination in order to master any special branch of science4 ,in ,objective ,concentration1 ,pratyahara and ,dharana are the preparatory stages4 ,take a scientist1 for instance4 ,he knows that when the mind is engaged with several things1 mind force is scattered4 ,he cannot be a politician1 a musician1 etc41 and at the same time an expert scientist4 ,he gradually abstracts his attention from all other subjects and pauses it on one subject or one set of subjects4 ,pratyahara is the continued effort of the mind to so abstract itself4 ,dharana is reached when this effort is finally successful and the mind becomes steadfast and one-pointed4 ,dhyana is an extension of this steadfastness4 ,when ,dhyana is reached1 the student is beyond the range of books4 ,his mind is occupied with original researches and experiments and his knowledge becomes more and more definite4 ,going on and on always on the one line complete knowledge of that subject is attained4 ,this is the objective view of ,samadhi4 ,all these stages when completed make one ,samayana4 ,the subjective view of ,samadhi no books or writings can teach you4 ,as you go deeper and deeper into ,yoga1 you will understand these things in the light of your ,soul-,vision4 ,it will come to you if you follow my subsequent instructions4 ,despair not4 ,,what ,,is ,,maya8 ,now1 first of all1 what is ,maya 7ignorance of the real78 ,take the dial-plate of a watch4 ,you know quite well that the hands of the watch are governed by the mechanism behind4 ,both are necessary4 ,ignorance exists in thinking that the hands of the watch move by themselves4 ,this visible universe is the dial-plate of the ,invisible4 ,maya 7ignorance7 blinds you to this fact1 i4e41 mere objective knowledge blinds you to the subjective side of life and you see nothing beyond a material universe4 ,but you1 who realize both1 objective as well as subjective1 need not be afraid of such a danger4 ,for a danger it is to develop the objective mind at neglect of the subjective4 ,in order to round yourself out1 practise both4 ,but first1 last and always1 let the subjective guide1 govern and illumine the objective4 ,also remember this3 ,if your mind is at all attached to the objective world1 try your very best to disattach it and fix it on the subjective side of life1 else will you bring untold suffering on yourself4 ,the half-wordly and half-spiritual man who wants to lead a spiritual sensual life eventually brings about a conflict between the laws and forces of the two planes of being4 ,he is overwhelmed with pain and at last with cries of suffering1 disease and loss1 he is made to open his eyes4 ,understand the world for what it is but do not lower your soul to the point of being attached to its small thoughts1 things and ways4 ,,how ,,to ,,concentrate ,,objectively4 7a7 ,in all undertakings whether of small or great importance shut off all thoughts and ideas except such as have any immediate and direct bearing upon the thing in hand4 ,pay attention4 ,bend all the energies of your mind and will upon it till it is completed to your satisfaction4 ,divert your attention from one thing to another only when you sanction by a resolve and understand why you do so4 ,your daily work which you must choose according to the special bent of your mind1 will present you opportunities4 7b7 ,control impulse4 ,suppose an idea enters your mind4 ,compose yourself quietly before carrying out its purport4 ,consider it4 ,turn it over in your mind4 ,contemplate it4 ,weave your mental energies around it1 as it were1 till at last the idea with your final decision stands out clear-cut and well-defined4 ,then proceed to act it out physically with your mental concentration cutting a way for you straight on to the execution of your designing4 ,this is forethought4 7c7 ,in perfect concentration time vanishes4 ,in working out a design on which you have set your heart dispense altogether with the element of time and work at it concentratedly for days1 months and years with confident expectation of success4 7d7 ,take a picture1 representing a landscape1 the interior of a building1 an assembly of persons1 a square1 a triangle or a more complicated geometrical figure4 ,look at it well4 ,then lay it aside4 ,close your eyes4 ,reproduce the picture mentally in detail4 ,then repose your mind on the same image to the exclusion of all other thoughts4 ,this is a more fixed and meditative method and will sharpen the mind wonderfully4 ,it will also develop the power of conscious ,mental ,imagery4 ,the key to ,objective ,concentration is ,conscious ,attention1 remember4 ,,active ,,and ,,passive ,,mentation4 ,these terms imply two different distinct functions of the human mind4 ,the active function performs the volitional1 voluntary thinking4 ,it is the conscious focusing of the mind on some mental problem4 ,banishing from the mind all thoughts and ideas not in harmony with your special subject of study implies ,active ,mentation4 ,this function is used by the active1 wide-awake man in his busy and energetic moments4 ,it is the key to the development of ,will-,power and a vigorous intellect4 ,you are conscious of effort when you are exercising this function4 ,the mind becomes exhausted after a great deal of such effort and cries out for rest1 because conscious attention implies close concentration of thought and can be exercised only by the conscious use of ,will-,power4 ,you ought to be able to concentrate upon one subject of thought1 study and observation with undivided attention and then take your mind off that subject and put it on something else1 at your will4 ,train your mind to 'give' perfect attention to any subject you like and also to 'shut off' or inhibit all attention on that subject4 ,the mind is a restless thing darting from one thing to another1 and1 like a spoilt child1 tiring of continued attention4 ,but you must1 by ,will-,exercise1 get control over this tendency4 ',exercise develops power4 ,practice makes perfect4' ,this you must bear in mind and1 by patience and perseverance1 train your mind to 'pay attention' where it ought to do so and not to pay attention where it ought not to4 ,at first your mind will rebel like an unbroken horse at the imposition of such restraint4 ,but really all greatness results from mind-control4 ,remember active mentation is conscious1 deliberate concentration4 ,passive mentation represents automatic1 involuntary thinking4 ,this includes the subconscious or 'habit' mind4 ,when a certain thought-groove has been formed in your mind1 energy flows into it involuntarily1 i4e41 by itself and without any conscious effort on your part4 ,this is passive mentation4 ,it is automatic mental activity4 ,take an example4 ,some school-boys find ,mathematics1 ,science and ,geography easy to master from the very start4 ,they feel quite in sympathy with the teacher of ,mathematics4 ,but ,history and ,language are their abomination4 ,there are others who simply cannot 'take an interest' in any ,mathematics but who shine brilliantly in ,language1 ,recitation1 ,composition1 ,history4 ,as a matter of fact neither of these students is superior to the other1 but each is great in his own line4 ,in one set1 you have an example of automatic mentation in ,mathematics1 ,science and ,geography2 in the other in ,literature and ,art4 ,but suppose the first set tried to master ,literature and ,art and the second grappled with ,mathematics and ,science1 each would then be practising actual concentration4 ,in each set the active function would be exercised and will-power would develop on both sides4 ,do you see8 ,occultists say that all power results from the continual exercise of active mentation and all weak-mindedness is the direct outcome of this wool-gathering1 castle-building1 inattentive habit which is an extension of passive mentation into useless channels of thought-force4 ,conscious attention concentrates and even specializes mental energy as the sun-glass concentrates and intensifies the heat of the rays of the sun4 ,focus your full attention upon the thing to be done1 take a keen interest in its accomplishment to the exclusion of all else1 and you will obtain wonderful results4 ,the man of developed1 concentrative power holds in his hand the key to success1 with the results that all his actions1 voluntary or involuntary1 are pointed to the accomplishment of his object4 ,remember therefore in conclusion3 7#a7 ,concentration is perfect attention consciously directed to a given point of achievement either objectively or subjectively4 7#b7 ,concentration is consecration4 ,what ever you do1 do it with all your might4 ,do one thing at a time and do it well4 ,by concentration is meant the directing of all your energies along a special line of achievement4 ,for instance1 if you would be a perfect ,yogi1 you must concentrate1 concentrate1 morning1 noon and night1 at all times1 along that line of endeavour4 ,you must study all the vast literature on ,yoga1 ,psychology1 ,metaphysics1 ,mentalism1 etc41 and form your own synthesis on same4 ,you must think hard and work hard for ,yoga4 ,genius is the power to bear infinite pain4 ,nothing ought to be too great a sacrifice1 including your own life1 for the right understanding and achievement of ,yoga4 ,all half-heartedness1 all insincerity1 weakens your nature1 and weakness has no place either in heaven or in hell4 ,for the half-hearted man is a traitor unto the ,divine within him and must pay dearly for his treachery4 ,,subjective ,,concentration--,,how ,,practised4 ,this is a vast subject4 ,if you practise earnestly my instructions on ,thought-,control1 ,will-,culture1 and take the ,meditation ,exercise ,i am going to give you1 you will realize greater strength than average humanity4 ,but you must study and think hard for yourself before any considerable benefit can be derived from even these4 ,remember please1 you alone can teach yourself through intuition4 ,intuition is tuition from within4 ,follow strictly the general rules ,i give you and you cannot but unfold your ,inner ,soul ,vision which includes intuition in its fullest sense4 7a7 ,what is ,thought-,force8 ,thoughts are things4 ,thought is a dynamic energy4 ,just as the food that you eat feeds your body1 exactly similarly your thoughts and feelings nourish your soul4 ,matter is nothing but a concentration of ,thought-,force or ,mind-,substance4 ,the entire universe is seen objectively4 ,this is on the cosmic scale4 ,on the individual scale--,as a man thinketh in his heart1 so he is4 ,this is a literal truth4 ,your body is nothing but a ,thought-,form4 ,control your modes of thinking and shape them to lofty ideals4 ,so will you infallibly1 positively and immediately control your destiny4 ,control your thoughts and you can control the thoughts of all other men4 ,the tone of your thoughts must always be lofty4 ,you must change your ,thought-,habits and shift your plane of consciousness from the lower to the higher life4 ,i am going to give you hints on same4 ,pay attention please4 7b7 ,thought-,forms4 ,every one of us1 as he thinks1 feels and wills1 sends forth ,thought-,forms and ,thought-,waves of greater or lesser intensity4 ,this force once set into motion persists1 for a greater or lesser period of time1 in ,ether4 ,thought-,force is the concentration of a high form of vibratory energy in the ,akasa 7universal ether7 and the ether1 as you know1 permeates all space1 interpenetrates and pervades all forms of matter1 from atom to the sun and the stars4 ,just as the light-waves of a star exist and move on centuries after the star has ceased to be1 just as the heat-vibrations remain in a room even after the producing cause has been removed1 similarly mentative energy and its corresponding ,thought-,forms persist in the ether even after the originating impulse has been withdrawn4 7c7 ,thought-,atmosphere4 ,in this way places1 houses1 cities and temples have peculiar ,thought-,atmospheres of their own1 imparted by those living there1 exerting an influence upon every one living or going there4 ,these are positive1 animating1 purifying and exalting ,thought-,atmospheres1 and there are negative1 weakening and unholy1 morbid ,thought-,atmospheres4 ,the higher and loftier your tone of general ,thought-,activity1 the finer and more powerful the vibrational nature of the energy emanating from you4 ,the quality of the thought determines the rate of vibration4 ,for instance1 photographs have been taken through highly-sensitized plates1 indicating the nature of the energy generated4 ,tongues of flame1 brilliant and flashing with golden-yellow1 were photographed from prayer and devotion4 ,rotary forms spreading out in ever widening circles of intense power appeared from lofty enthusiasm in a noble cause4 ,dark1 murky1 cloudy forms resulted from fear1 morbidness and worry1 and so on4 7d7 ,the ,human ,aura4 ,similarly each human organism has an ',aura' of ,thought-,force around it1 having its own peculiar rate of vibration1 its peculiar forms of colour1 etc4 ,this ',aura' is an extension of our physical1 mental and spiritual energies4 7e7 ,the ,adductive ,power of ,thought4 ,now as you think1 the quality of your thoughts and feelings sets up a magnetic centre within your ,aura1 vortices are created1 attracting to yourself similar forms of thought and mentative energy and combining with other similar forms of energy1 reacting upon you and your circumstances and also wielding an influence upon all such as may come within its area1 radius or field of ,force4 ,thus you see thoughts of the ',i can and ,i will'1 ',i do and ,i dare' type draw similar ones to you1 ever increasing your own stock and at the same time stimulating and energising all others vibrating in the same key throughout the world4 ,hence you see we owe it to ourselves as well as to humanity in general to generate only positive1 loving and lofty thoughts4 ,just brace up and send forth fearless1 ',i can and ,i will' thoughts into the world's great reservoir of thought forces1 and you will be surprised at your power to attract influence1 and energise others4 7f7 ,thought-,control4 ,there are four special classes of thoughts that are poisoning the lives of almost all humanity4 ,they are3--7#a7 ,fear-thoughts1 7#b7 ,hate-thoughts1 7#c7 ,sensual-thoughts1 7#d7 ,selfish-thoughts4 ,all worry1 doubt1 timidty1 lack of self-respect1 jealousy1 spite1 malice1 envy1 slander1 dirty1 vicious1 will-weakening1 health-destroying1 poverty-breeding1 soul-killing influences radiate from one or all of these four4 ,you must cut at their roots and utterly destroy them4 ,in your efforts follow assiduously the following four rules4 ,they alone can give you absolute thought-control4 ,they are infallible3 7#a7 ,you can break up old thought-habits and build up new ones by sheer force of ,will4 7#b7 ,you can easily become great by associating with some strong-willed1 holy1 wisdom-steeped soul4 ,this is absolutely necessary and means the finding of your ,guru4 7#c7 ,by auto-suggestion1 i4e41 by impressing upon your passive mind the particular change you would have it work out4 7#d7 ,by thought-absorption1 i4e41 by constant meditation on that one line of thinking4 ,now let me give you a few valuable hints on the above four in detail3 7#a7 7#c74 ,character ,building4 ,you can accomplish this result by tensing the will and by strengthening the active function of your mind and thus enabling it to step in and simply 'command' the passive function to drop the old thought-habit and take up the new one4 ,this is a magnificent feat and in it only the strongest succeed4 ,you can obtain good results by combining this with auto-suggestion4 ,silently concentrate upon your passive mind and impress upon it your order4 ,say to it earnestly1 confidently1 and masterfully3 ',you1 my mind1 ,i want you to be fearless1 pure1 loving and unselfish6' ,picture to yourself in imagination as if you were already these1 and again command and impress your will upon your mind4 ,do so silently and constantly and never neglect a chance of expressing these qualities in action because1 at first your mind will rebel1 but if 'you' keep up your efforts determinately and firmly and avail yourself of all opportunities to 'act out' your will1 your mind will end up by accepting your suggestion and manifesting same naturally as a habit4 ,some of you will actually go out of your way to 'act out' a thought when you realise that the easiest and surest way to check and utterly 'destroy' a thought-habit is to refuse deliberately to let it manifest in action and to 'create' a new one all you have got to do is to equally deliberately 'express' it in action and thus clinch it into permanent strength4 ,also you must aim at 'thoroughness' and guard against all compromise with your lower nature4 ,chastity must be perfect chastity and nothing short of that1 and so on in all development4 7#d7 ,thought-,absorption4 i4 ,go away by yourself to some place where you will not be disturbed4 ,of course1 not always and very rarely can you obtain this condition4 ,never mind4 ,do your best where you are and the great law will at least find for you all necessary conditions4 ,shut out all distracting conditions and impressions from the outer world4 ,after a little effort you will be able to do so anywhere1 at any time1 and under any condition4 ,all mental disturbance is within you4 ii4 ,now relax1 go passive1 and draw off all tension from your nerves4 ,just you relax your mind and your body will follow suit4 ,a few deep slow breaths will help the beginner4 iii4 ,concentrate upon your mind inward steadily1 calmly and with undivided attention4 iv4 ,fix your thought firmly upon your passive mind and mentally say1 ',you1 my mind1 are quite pure4' ,think of this word 7with all the ideas associated therewith7 as sinking deeply into your mind and making a deep impression upon it as a die upon a wax4 ,let the outward form of the words 'pure1' 'fearless1' etc41 sink into your mind4 v4 ,form a mental picture of yourself as if you already possessed all 'purity' and 'courage' and act them out in imagination4 ,make of it a pleasant 'day dream4' vi4 ,intensify your relaxed condition of mind4 ,grow as 'limp' as a rag4 ,then mentally open yourself out to the inrush of all the ,thought-,forces existing in the ether and connected with positive thoughts4 ,the effort of this imagination to see this tremendous force pouring into your brain and body will actually put you en rapport with same4 vii4 ,now change from negative to a positive condition and say vigourously ,i am 'pure' and 'strong' ,say it distinctly several times4 ,actually speak them out4 viii4 ,then go out and live your thoughts out4 ,this last is the most important condition4 ix4 ,practise this daily at the same hour and if possible at the same place1 morning and evening4 ,in fact hold the thought in your mind as often as possible till it becomes second ,nature4 x4 ,use your power for good or you shall weep eternally4 ,to misuse occult powers for mean1 selfish1 or low ends and to prostitute it into enslaving others weaker than yourselves mentally and physically is the greatest 'sin' man can commit against man4 7#b7 ,guru ,worship4 ,you grow by absorption and assimilation4 ,in order to quicken your progress you need abstract as well as concrete ideals4 ,the secret of all rapid and startling spiritual development is man-worship4 ,by man-worship ,i mean devotion to1 reverence1 and intense and all-absorbing passion for the perfect individual man of realization--a ,mahapurusha4 ,christ1 ,buddha and ,vivekananda were all such-type men4 ,you must constantly and thoughtfully meditate upon the lives and writings of saints and heroes4 ,the formative influence and valuable powers of study and meditation upon lofty ideas and ideals are incalculable4 ,man grows by the deepening of consciousness and the acquirement of wisdom4 ,all study1 subjective and objective1 is a ,tapashya or ,austerity directed to the acquirement of wisdom4 ,it is the worship of ,saraswati--the ,goddess of ,wisdom4 ,this worship is definable as perfect emotional solitude1 close study1 absolute chastity and celibacy1 and at last the merging of the personal into the impersonal4 ,this austere life is the secret of all greatness4 ,you know how ,archimedes when threatened with death by the vandalistic invaders of his country raised his head and said ',please do not disturb my circles' and nothing more4 ,this man was practising ,yoga unconsciously4 ,you must be able to lose all consciousness of this relative personality1 the sure victim of death and impermanence4 ,you must give up the personal ego that in the words of ,walt ,whitman 'is contained within your hat and boots' and then alone will you realise an infinite individuality4 ,truly in losing himself man finds ,himself4 ',ye must be born anew'4 ,herein1 apart from its formative and moulding influence lies the greatest value of study4 ,study and direct aural influence of a perfected soul are the two objective means of instilling powerful suggestions into the subjective self or the inner soul4 ,all knowledge is within the deeps of the eternal subjective4 ,but the gate is locked4 ,your ,guru gives you the master-key with which to unlock the door and enter the gate of wisdom and power4 ,once you are there all pain and death shall be conquered4 ,you can then help yourself4 ,man can only worship such a ,god as is greater than himself in degree and not in kind4 ,such a ,god he can grow into4 ,it is the impersonal ,god of the ,hindu ,philosophy that gives you the abstract ideas and the living ,guru 7,god7 in human form that gives you the concrete ideal4 ,the one is necessary for the soaring intellect2 the other for the rousing and enkindling of tremendous and indomitable motive-power4 ,seek both and when you find them worship and serve them with all your heart and soul4 ',my worship for my master is the worship of a dog4 ,i do not seek to understand his nature4 ,it ever startles with its newness and profound depth'4 ,so spoke ,vivekananda of ,ram ,krishna4 ,need ,i tell you of the tremendous and world-conquering power that awoke in ,vivekananda through mere ,guru worship8 ,in ,india the ,guru asks for nothing short of absolute worship1 obedience1 and submission to his will although none values and appreciates individual freedom more than the master4 ,so long as you are at the feet of your master be as submissive as a lamb4 ,so will you open yourself to his great batteries of inner power4 ,serve him4 ,please him4 ,obey him4 ,be his slave4 ,no matter what contradictions you may see4 ,a great and profound nature is full of contrary ways and his character is a paradox impossible for you to read through reason and observation4 ,you can only understand him by having perfect faith in him1 loving and serving him like a faithful dog4 ,so will you tap on to his inner forces4 ,and when he sends you away into the broad world to live out the great ideal he has set before you1 you shall be astonished at your courage and power4 ,you shall take fearless possession of this world and every minute you shall realise how only he can command who has learnt to obey4 ,by commanding ,i do not mean dominating any one and forcing your views on others4 ,this is the sign of fools4 ,but you will find your influence radiating and circling out naturally and irresistibly1 winning souls to the higher life1 and you yourself shall thus stand as a tower of strength1 a redeemer of the race1 an inspiration and a living benediction unto humanity4 ,peace be with you6 ,may you realise strength of soul6 ,,lesson ,,ii4 ,,personal ,,magnetism1 ,,will-,,culture1 ,,self-,,control4 ,personal ,magnetism is the individual expression of a subtle irresistible and dynamic ,force in man1 which enables him to exert an unusual influence upon others4 ,you all have come into contact with men of this type4 ,they are endowed with marvelous1 almost miraculous powers of influencing1 persuading1 attracting1 fascinating1 ruling and bending to their own ,will-,force men of widely varying mental peculiarities and temperaments4 ,men actually go out of their way to please them4 ,they attract others without any visible effort and others feel drawn to them in spite of themselves4 ,various are the examples of such power as afforded by history4 ,now what is this power due to8 ,how to develop it within yourself8 ,is it possible for everyone to acquire it8 ,has it or can it be put to any higher and nobler use than merely to enslave others' minds in order to make them subservient to your selfish purposes on the relative plane of existence8 ,if so1 what is that higher use8 ,i know of a ,christian gentleman1 ,mr4 ,k4 by name1 who had been smitten with the young governess of a ,magistrate in ,benares4 ,this grown-up man sought out a young ,college student who was a born leader of men and who was adored1 admired and universally respected by all students1 teachers and professors4 ,i wish you would teach me ,mesmerism so that ,i may fascinate that girl--this was the application of ,mr4 ,k4 ,well1 the upshot of it all was that ,mr4 ,k4 got a severe and stern rebuke from the young mesmerist1 who in all truth was a born ,yogi and cared not for the petty ways and small thoughts and attainments of men of this world4 ,i find that nearly all modern ,western writers on and teachers of this subject are much1 in fact solely1 taken up with the idea of sensationalism through ,occultism1 so much so that when a really thoughtful man investigates their writings he feels utterly disgusted1 repelled and horrified at the very name of ,occultism4 ,it is sin to manifest power1 said ,vivekananda4 ,the man who studies ,yoga and ,occultism simply with a view to develop1 display and demonstrate ,psychic and ,super-normal ,powers and ,siddhies always ends in ,lust and is caught up in a psychic machinery of law and destructive thought forces that effectually grind him to pieces4 ,his spiritual progress is thrown back over ages and he is made to retrace his steps slowly and painfully4 ,i cannot too strongly condemn the modern tendency to impress others1 to strike terror into others1 to psychologize others towards the accomplishment of our personal motives4 ,if you are one such1 do1 for heaven's sake1 open your eyes to your gross ignorance and low propensities or be not surprised if one day you find yourself face to face with some powerful scoundrel who would not scruple to crush you in all possible ways4 ,harm watch1 harm catch4 ,i am going to give you in practical form what constitute the real cause at the back of a ,magnetic personality--that which when developed makes a god-like man of any human weakling4 ,this power is by no means the especial and peculiar possession of some divinely gifted individuals4 ,everyone can cultivate it4 ,it is in you and needs vigorous stirring up as a condition of its awakening4 ,there are some men who are born great2 others are made so by certain unforeseen circumstances2 a third class becomes great through conscious and intelligent effort4 ,now1 what are the causes behind ,personal ,influence8 7#a7 ,some say that the right control of the ,sex-,force or ,celibacy is the cause4 7#b7 ,others say that vegetarianism leads to it4 7#c7 ,still others assert that it is physical energy and nerve force4 7#d7 ,a fourth class has it that there emanates a current of magnetism from the human body and influences everyone coming within its ,magnetic field4 ,taking the last view point first1 ,i should say1 with certain other leading mental ,scientists1 that the human dynamic force is different from magnetism as the latter bears direct reference to the loadstone4 ,again1 my own personal observations as well as those of others prove conclusively that although magnetic personalities have remarkably well-disciplined and highly trained physical energies1 it is rarely or never a huge gigantic physique with large1 unsightly muscles that exerts this force4 ,no1 it is decidely something other than mere physical energy and brute strength4 ,a light1 active1 vigorous physique is desirable and any one can have it4 ,again1 the principle value of a non-flesh diet lies in the fact that fruits1 nuts1 corn and vegetables are possessed of rhythmic qualities and go to build up a fine1 sensitive physique capable of greater powers of endurance and sustained mental effort than the 'carcass' of any animal ever can4 ,matter does affect mind in the lower stages of organic evolution but the process is largely reversed as soon as ,,conscious evolution commences4 ,therefore vegetarianism1 although highly commendable1 from a strictly scientific point of view for the development of an active and energetic1 refined organism1 is by no means a rigid and indispensable necessity in this respect4 ,in fact1 some most magnetic individuals make 'graveyards of their stomachs' as a ,mental ,scientist puts it4 ,lastly1 ,bramhacharya or ,celibacy1 as practised by ,sannyasis in ,india1 has a strictly spiritual significance although it certainly has much as everything to do with ,personal ,magnetism4 ,to the average man ,i would say3 ,strive for ,,continence1 chastity and control in this direction4 ,do not emasculate1 as that would be a waste of force4 ,the stronger this force1 the better4 ,all ,sannyasis learn consciously or unconsciously to transmute this energy into mental and spiritual force and generally their minds dwell on a plane of mental and spiritual effort where there cannot be even a breath of sensuality or grossness4 ,they have gone beyond such things utterly2 the same statement applies to all advanced thinkers1 philosophers and workers1 whether married or unmarried4 ,to me the very name of philosophy carries with it an atmosphere of ,chastity1 ,solemnity1 and ,divinity4 ,but although there is some measure of truth in all the above four statements1 they all miss the real thing4 ,the question resolves itself into this3 ,what makes one man superior to another8 ,the study of nature shows us that the higher form of intelligence controls the lower4 ,all leaders of mankind1 such as ,napoleon1 ,alexander1 etc41 were clearly ahead of the times4 ,but they strove for low things and their ,,success from our point of view is doubtful4 ,let us take higher ground4 ,buddha1 ,christ1 ,zoroaster1 etc41 etc41 of ancient times and ,vivekananda and a few others in modern times exhibited tremendous powers of influencing men4 ,you study their lives and writings and try to find out just those things that constituted the basic cause of their heroic fibre4 ,if ,i were asked to sum up the secrets of their ,power ,i would say3 #a4 ,their ,intelligence and ,thought-,power4 #b4 ,awakened ,will-,power and ,self-,control4 #a4 ,it was by their intelligence that they could take fearless possession of the world1 handle men and women easily1 read human nature at a glance and be all things to all men1 i4e441 put their fingers direct on the spiritual1 mental1 and physical necessities of widely varying temperaments and help each right where he stood in the ladder of evolution4 #b4 ,it was by their developed thought-force that they drew the whole world to themselves4 ,the positive thinker generates a force that draws all such as are negative to him4 ,nearly the whole world was negative to these ,masters and hence felt attracted to them4 ,these were the human touchstones4 #c4 ,it was by their strong1 manly1 marvellous ,will-,power that they drove their suggestions into other minds and gained an immediate ascendency over whatever environments they were placed in4 ,the whole man is summed up in his ,will4 ,every other power in man is subservient to the ,will4 ,and say what you will1 it is this power more than any other that we respect in others4 ,it is the central staff in our character4 ,intelligence is the directive energy4 ,will-,power is the propulsive energy4 ,and the latter when wielded under the guidance of the former makes of man a veritable ,god4 #d4 ,it was by their unusual power of ,self-control that they could stand square upon their feet and could remain unshaken by the waves of conflicting opinions and the hostile attacks that continually dashed up against them4 ,master yourself1 i4e41 your personal1 relative and lower self1 and beyond the shadow of a doubt1 the mastery of others is already yours4 ,but the world will teach you bitter lessons and rend you to pieces if you try consciously to control it while you are still a slave to your lower self4 ,be great4 ,strive for ,perfection4 ,so will you be recognised by others4 ,and according to the transcendent energy of the highest law of our ,being it is the consciousness of heights scaled1 accomplishments achieved and consequent dawning of a ,loftier ,ideal upon our intellectual horizon that fills us with ,strength and ,peace rather than the recognition of our worth by others4 ,it is a serious mistake to care for fame1 praise and admiration4 ,you get them only when you do not care for them in the least1 when your soul has outgrown all such clinging to the relative in the light of eternal thought1 when you have risen to the ,absolute and learnt to read the meaning of the ,,larger ,,world of life4 ,do not pass by this lightly4 ,in it is the key to ,peace1 ,power and ,poise4 ,all that is ,real and ,permanent1 is on the plane of the ,absolute4 ,now we are drawing to the practical side of our ,lesson4 ,the four principal points1 you will please remember1 are3 7#a7 ,intelligence4 7#b7 ,thought-,force4 7#c7 ,will-,power4 7#d7 ,self-,control4 ,you might feel surprised at my retailing this ancient history instead of teaching you how to approach a man1 make him your slave and command him to fall down at your feet and do your bidding4 ,perhaps you expected me to tell you how to sail through the air1 pass through solid walls1 materialize and dematerialize at will and like ,appolonius of ,tyana vanish in the flash of an eye from the court of ,ionysius and appear elsewhere at a distance of #ai1jjj miles at the same moment4 ,no1 no4 ,i will take it for granted that you are made of different stuff and an earnest seeker after the truth4 ,if you strive to build yourself on the basis of the simple principles as laid down in this series of lessons you will in time grow into the ,higher ,self and at last become one with it4 ,moreover1 your daily life will be the ,occasion for the practical application of these principles1 thus enabling you to pursue your way through life calmly1 earnestly1 independently and with the quiet dignity of a man who knows what he is about4 ,i cannot and would not speak of get-rich-quick methods of self-development because they are the veriest rot imaginable4 ,now then3 7#a7 ,intelligence and 7#b7 ,thought-,force are the natural results of an organised brain4 ,concentration is the key to such development4 ,concentration has been fully explained in ,lesson ,no4 #a4 ,by the constant exercise of concentration1 objectively and subjectively1 in your daily life you will in a short time become conscious of growing ,strength4 ,the exercises ,i give you in this lesson on ,self-,control1 ,will-,culture and ,memory-,culture if gone through with perseverance will further develop ,concentrative ability4 ,in fact1 this entire series of lessons will call for ,effort and ,concentration4 ,rome was not built in a day--nor can you achieve real greatness in a few months4 ,no4 ,all ,i can do is to indicate the line and the nature of the effort required of you and if clearly followed1 ,progress and ,growth will commence from the first day4 ,in connection with this1 a little digression would be necessary4 ,the ,occultist says3 ,nature1 unaided1 fails4 ,the purposiveness of ,deity1 manifesting in nature an evolution1 is present in all individual centres but it has the way to full expression opened out to itself only when the more evolved centres of life consciously cooperate with it4 ,evolution is started and carried only by the creation of centres within the ,,great ,,consciousness and by preserving and enlarging or expanding these centres4 ,so long as the race had not reached ,,self-,,consciousness 7see ,yoga ,lessons7 the sub-conscious forces of nature had entire control over evolutionary processes1 but this stage was reached by the race according to the ,,law ,,of ,,averages in the seventeenth century and you are now expected to take your progress in your hands and consciously direct your inner forces along such lines as best correspond to the stage of your growth4 ,so independent study and steady thinking form the secrets of a keen and broad intelligence4 ,you will always find that the man who is more powerful than yourself and moves you at his will has an intelligence and understanding far superior to yours and he can read your whole nature as he would an open book1 although you find him quite beyond your depth4 ,learn to regard earnestly the workings of different mentalities around you4 ,become a student of human nature4 ,to you1 each man ought to be only a partial expression of his mind4 ,examine closely into the motives acting behind each personality4 ,learn to respond more quickly to the ,thoughts and ,feelings of a man than to his outer speech and action4 ,the latter are objective expressions of the subjective self4 ,the study of ,phrenology and ,physiognomy are good things to start with in your efforts to acquire knowledge of human nature4 ,mind is ,one and at the same time1 ,many4 ,subjectively1 it is ,,one4 ,objectively2 many4 ,so by looking impartially into yourself in the calm light of the intellect and through silent introspection1 you will always find a clue to the working bases of other minds4 ,each man is a puzzle and most of all are ,,you a puzzle unto yourself4 ,solve either and you have solved both4 ,,man1 ,,know ,,thyself4 ,,the ,,mystery ,,of ,,the ,,will-,,force4 ,will-,force is the power of ,re-action4 ,it can render all the other mental functions active or passive4 ,it is the ,,determinative faculty and is affected most of all by the ,,judgment4 ,on the lower plane of mind1 ,will-,power manifests as ,desire and is reciprocally influenced by outside attractions as well as repulsions4 ,on this plane the ,will is not free4 ,but when it draws the volition for externalizing itself from ,within in the light of the ,higher ,reason1 then indeed is it ,will-,power4 ,on the material the human will is a slave2 on the spiritual plane it is the sovereign4 ,it may then be called the awakened will4 ,it is my conviction that the eternal crossing of swords between the ,determinists and the ,libertarians can be set at rest only by a right understanding of the spiritual makeup of man1 otherwise the arguments of both sets of thinkers are equally strong4 ,each side has got hold of half the truth1 but requires the reconciling light of transcendental ,psychology in order to enable us to see the whole truth as it is4 ,however1 the point ,i am driving at is that your will is free only when it is self-determined i4e41 when it has risen above the impulses of the ,lower ,personal ,self and acts under the direction of the ,higher ,impersonal ,self4 ,in order to fix this most important truth in your mind1 let us give you a brief idea of the ,i ,,am consciousness4 ,do not pass this by as so much dry rot4 ,no one will ever or can ever manifest genuine ,will-,force of a distinctly spiritual type who does not understand the ,i ,,am consciousness4 ,so please listen attentively and think over the following4 ,,the ,i ,,am ,,consciousness4 ,if you just turn in and examine the report of your consciousness regarding the self-dwelling within1 you will become conscious of the ,i4 ,but if you press your examination a little closer you will find that this ,i may be split up into two distinct aspects which1 while working in unison and conjunction1 may nevertheless be set apart in thought4 ,there is an ,i function and there is a me function and these mental twins develop distinct phenomena4 ,the first is the ,,masculine principle2 the second is the ,,feminine principle4 ,other terms used in current writings on ,new ,psychology are ,conscious ,mind1 ,active ,mind1 ,voluntary ,mind1 ,objective ,mind and so forth4 ,these all refer to the ,i principle4 ,and the me form of mind corresponds to the ,sub-,conscious ,mind1 ,passive ,mind1 ,involuntary ,mind1 ,subjective ,mind and so on4 ,ninety-nine p4 c4 of humanity mean this me when they say ,i4 ,now let us examine what this me implies4 ,it consists largely of our consciousness1 of our body and physical sensations as associated with touch1 taste1 smell1 sight and hearing4 ,the consciousness of some of us is largely bound up in the physical and carnal side of life4 ,we live there4 ,there are some men who consider their clothes too as being a part of themselves4 ,but as consciousness rises in the scale of evolution1 man begins to dissociate his idea of me from the body and he begins to regard his body as a beloved companion and as belonging to him4 ,he then identifies himself with his mental states1 emotions1 feelings1 likes and dislikes1 habits1 qualities and characteristics4 ,but1 by and by1 he begins to realize how even these moods also are subject to change1 born and die and are subject to the ,principles of ,rhythm and ,polarity4 ,he realizes faintly that he can change them by an effort of will and transmute them into mental states of an exactly opposite nature4 ,then he again begins to dissociate himself from his emotions and feelings and at last through mental analysis1 introspection and concentration1 he sets them apart into the not ,i collection4 ,he begins then to realize that he is something above his body and emotions4 ,so also with the intellectual functions4 ,the intellectual man is very apt to think that although his physical and emotional selves are something different from him and under his control1 still his intellect is himself4 ,this is the stage of ,self-,consciousness4 ,i control my body and emotions4 ,but as consciousness unfolds intellectual man finds that he can practically stand aside and see 7mentally1 of course7 his mind going through various processes of intellection4 ,study of ,psychology and ,logic will enable you to see how all your intellectual processes may be held at arm's length1 examined1 analysed1 labelled and discussed quite with the same ease as the professor talks of a solid1 liquid and acriform substances in his laboratory4 ,so at last he finds that even the wonderful powers of the ,intellect must go into the not ,i collection4 ,this is almost as far as the average man can realize4 ,you can realize and say ,i am not the body1 not the emotions1 not the intellect4 ,therefore you see1 that side of consciousness which is the sum-total of your physical1 emotional and intellectual functions comprises the me or ,feminine or ,passive mental principle4 ,that which can separate itself in thought from all the above is the ,i or the ,masculine ,function4 ,but another step must be taken4 ,that which you have been taught to regard as the ,spiritual ,consciousness 7see ,spiritual ,consciousness7 will also eventually go into the ,not-,i or me collection4 ,in brief1 the spiritual mind may be said to comprise all that is ,,good1 ,,noble and ,,great in the field of consciousness4 ,it is the ,super-,conscious mind1 just now4 ,but1 mark this1 when through further evolution1 the ,i has mastered this field of consciousness also and is able to regard it as being the last of the me collections1 then it will lose its sense of relativity and separation and the real individuality1 the ,i ,,am consciousness1 will have been realized4 ,what do ,i mean8 ,this ,i ,,am is not the petulant self-assertion of the relative ego4 ,i but really means ,,god ,,consciousness as perfect ,existence1 perfect ,knowledge or perfect ,bliss4 ,it means the realization of an ,infinite and ,eternal ,self or ,individuality4 ,he that has lost the self has gained the ,,self4 ,here is the explanation3 this little self or ,i so long as it is attached to the ,,personality which is the product of the me consciousness is bound down to the relative plane4 ,it can think only through only one brain1 enjoy through one body and such happiness as it gets is transitory1 short-lived and impermanent because this world of relative existence is itself essentially changeable4 ,it is permanent only in its impermanence4 ,so long as the ,i thinks and while only for the benefits of its personal self1 both thinking and willing are limited and not free4 ,but when it has succeeded in joining itself to the ,spiritual mind and works for1 aspires after the ,larger ,self--the ,i ,,am--it has to renounce or disattach itself from the personal self and work under the guidance of the impersonal ,higher ,self4 ,i refuse to be contained within my hat and boots1 said ,walt ,whitman4 ,when the ,vedantist says ,aham ,brahmasmi--,i am the absolute--he does not mean this lower ,i4 ,no1 no4 ,he is not built that way4 ,for him the moorings of self-consciousness are out4 ,he has lost all sense of his particular relative ,i and has one-d himself with the absolute ,i ,,am--the impersonal1 intangible1 immortal1 omnipotent ,self of and over all4 ,this ,i am is ,spirit or ,atman4 ,there can be but one ,individuality--that of the ,absolute4 ,it becomes objectively expressed in man as ,cosmic ,consciousness4 ,subjectively it is ,god4 ,now then you have an idea of the ,i am ,consciousness4 ,hold fast to it4 ,it is your real1 ,larger ,self4 ,in the understanding and the exercise of the ,will-,power the ,i or the ,positive ,mental ,principle is the chief factor4 ,to use the one you must understand the other4 ,will is a ,soul-,power4 ,this ,i--as ,i have explained it above--is negative to the ,i ,,am or ,god--both meaning the same thing4 ,it is positive in relation to the ,higher ,self4 ,this ,i is the future promise of the ,i ,,am4 ,it is true it shall lose itself in finding its ,self1 but so does the child when it grows into full manhood4 ,christ was one with his ,father-in-,heaven 7i4e41 on the spiritual plane7 and therefore he could still the waves and raise the dead4 ,yet just you examine the nature of ,lord ,christ's ,will-,force4 ,think of his constant retirement into the ,silence in order to obtain inspiration for his work in the objective universe4 ,again1 note his utter indifference to and absolute control over his personal self4 ,did he care whether his body would live or die8 ,did he live for the enjoyments of the flesh8 ,did he play to the gallery and act and speak for any worldly gain or low considerations8 ,no6 ,he had forgotten the interests of the flesh in his earnest enthusiasm in the cause of the ,eternal ,spirit4 ,he was not moved by any dammed sense of prudence and caution4 ,he drew the ,motives that energised his ,will-,power in the life of ,action from ,within4 ,nothing from outside1 nothing from the world of lower attractions could in the least swerve his inner determination or unbalance his brain4 ,do you or can you prepare yourself to follow in his steps8 ,then my first point and the most infallible method of awakening your ,will-,power is this3 7a7 ,teach ,thy ,will to ,resist and ,renounce4 ,strengthen your ,will-,power by ,renunciation4 ,by ,resistance is not meant outer resistance or aggressiveness4 ,i find that all the modern teachers of ,hypnotism advise their students to develop ,will-,power by exercising it upon others4 ,this is placing the cart before the horse4 ,we ,hindus know better4 ,no2 by ,resistance to and ,repression of your lower ,desire-,nature is meant letting the more difficult choice exercise its compelling and restraining power over the easier one4 ,says ,sister ,nivedita3 ,the ,indian ideal is that man whose lower mind is so perfectly under control that he can at any moment plunge into the thought-ocean and remain there at will without the least possibility of a sudden break and unexpected return to the life of the senses4 ,yes1 your interests should be within and not without4 ,you must rise above all personal impulse4 ,even in this world you find that men of distinction1 fame and honour have achieved recognition by practising a little self-denial1 which is a milder form of absolute ,renunciation as practised by true ,sanyasis4 ,the man who can work at his aim with perseverance and denies himself the mess of pottage of present indulgence in view of some future gain develops ,will-,power4 ,so in training your ,will to 'resist'1 you must1 as a first step1 sternly refuse to indulge impulses1 desires and tendencies not in consonance with the dictates of your ,higher ,self4 ,you must actually go out of your way and deny yourself the little or great comforts to which you are or have been accustomed4 ,the strongest-willed man is he who has the greatest control over his inclinations1 and who can 'force' himself to do such things as he is naturally most inclined to do4 ,this is a characteristic which cannot be developed in a day4 ,there are some children and even grown-up men and women who mistake their 'obstinacy' for ,will-,power4 ,they want a thing and when they do not get it they tear their hair1 gnash their teeth1 stamp their feet and fly into a terrible passion4 ,since people think that these uncontrolled creatures are strong-willed while all that you could say about them is that they are utter slaves to their desires4 ,you must practise self-denial in fifty different ways and force yourself to do certain things1 'little and big1' every day purely for developing this power of ,resistance4 ,no short-cut to this4 ,some children develop it unconsciously by 'forcing' themselves to study when they might play1 and by applying themselves to such studies as are dry and uninteresting to them they thus practise voluntary ,concentration4 ,practise self-denial in every possible way4 ,cut off such luxuries as you think you must have4 ,take a cold bath when you would prefer a warm one4 ,arise promptly in the morning4 ,make yourself call upon people you have avoided4 ,stand up in a street car when you would prefer sitting2 walk when it is convenient to ride4 ,make engagements with yourself and keep them4 ,promise yourself that when you see something to be done you will spring at once to it however strong may be the inclination to put it off awhile and back of it all let there be the auto-suggestion3 ,i am doing all these hard things in order to build up my ,will-,power and each time ',i' succeed in forcing 'my mind' to do a thing or not to do it ,i make the next victory easier and my ,will-,power stronger4 ,of course the above is only a hint as to your line of practise4 7b7 ,you must not give yourself such hard tasks of ,self-,development as might be too heavy and beyond the present strength of your ,will4 ,in denying yourself you develop self-control4 ,in forcing yourself to do certain things you develop powers of ,self-,expression4 ,in one the ,will moves along negative lines4 ,in the other along positive lines4 ,both are necessary4 ,the man who cannot control and command himself can never develop and express ,himself4 ,but be sure to begin with easy things and then as you gain in confidence you may attempt more difficult feats4 7c7 ,the faculties of ,courage and ,confidence are essentially important4 ,nothing weakens the will so much as ,fear and lack of ,self-,confidence4 ,self-,confidence is not blustering self-conceit4 ,that within you which says ,i ,,can when calmly and doggedly backed by your ,i ,will when deliberately translated into action develops ,will-,force and commands startling results4 7d7 ,always hold these words before your passive ,mind3 #a4 ,earnestness4 #b4 ,determination4 #c4 ,courage4 #d4 ,confidence4 #e4 ,stick-to-it-ive-ness4 #f4 ,patience4 #g4 ,i can and ,i will4 7e7 ,the tendency of the ,masculine function of your mind to ,i is towards giving1 expressing or projecting energy2 that of the ,feminine is towards generating and creating mental progeny such as thoughts1 mental energy1 new habits1 etc4 ,it is why the ,feminine ,principle has been called the mental womb by ancient philosophers4 ,it comprises also the faculty of ,imagination4 ,the ,masculine function does the work of the ',will' in its varied phases4 ,the ,feminine function receives impressions and generates mental offspring in the form of new thoughts1 ideas1 concepts1 thought-habits and so forth4 ,its powers of creative energy are strikingly marvellous and have been proved and attested to in ,psychological experiments conducted by the best known mental scientists of the day4 ,but positive mental energy must be projected by the ',i' into the ,passive ,mind through concentration1 suggestion and willing before the latter can be started to work along any line of creative effort4 ,this suggestion may be given by you to your sub-conscious mind or it may come as an outer impression4 ,unless you control your ,passive ,mind1 it is sure to be controlled by others4 ,then you are a slave4 ,now in cultivating the above seven qualities1 you should take up one word at a time and let the outer form sink into your mind4 ,place yourself in a relaxed and passive condition4 ,close your eyes and picture the form of the word to yourself1 for instance1 ,d-,e-,t-,e-,r-,m-,i-,n-,a-,t-,i-,o-,n4 ,employ the ,imagination and visualize mentally4 ,this done1 i4e41 when the word-picture is well photographed upon your mind and fastened in place1 your next step will be to picture yourself the ,ideas1 qualities1 physical and mental characteristics1 etc41 associated with the word4 ,your third step is to calmly1 concentratedly and confidently command your ,passive ,mind to generate that quality4 ,remember1 your mind will at first rebel1 but a very little persistence will lead to complete success4 ,repeat the auto-suggestions daily at the same time4 ,see that it manifests in ,action4 ,act it out as often as possible4 ,of course your efforts will be imperfect to begin with1 but1 never mind1 go ahead1 keeping firm hold on your ,i can and ,i will in spite of all things and success is quite certain4 ,once you have developed these seven qualities1 you can do anything4 7f7 ,do not let your friends or anyone--no matter who6--deflect you from your resolutions4 ,let not thy right hand know what thy left hand does4 ,talk never4 ,let results show4 ,the ,lord has hidden himself best and ,his work is wonderful beyond compare6 ,your very friends and relatives will spit upon you for lacking any of these qualities4 ,do not ever impose your will upon others1 but never let others to impose upon you against the sanction of your own judgment4 ,in fact1 none can unless you are a weakling and fickle-minded4 7g7 ,frequent the company of chaste1 strong-willed men and you cannot but grow strong4 7h7 ,read ,literature on this subject and obtain all possible aid through ,knowledge4 7i7 ,if your faculty of imagination and idealism are undeveloped1 cultivate them1 because it is these two that make a god of a man4 ,philosophers1 scholars1 poets and musicians have them well-developed4 ,but where imagination is uncontrolled by higher reason and where idealism is not backed by a strong will1 there you have the idle 'dreamer of dreams' and such a state of mind is reprehensible and pitiable indeed6 7j7 ,will-,power grows by faith in one's ability by exercise2 by devotion to the ,,unconditioned ,,spirit4 7k7 ,in your efforts to develop ,will-,power1 be not afraid that your health will break down4 ,in fact1 ,perfect ,health is the result of a perfect ,will4 ,deny the power of disease and weakness over yourself4 ,i can never be ill4 ,my body is my slave4 ,it shall always manifest perfect health4 ,convince your passive mind--which has charge of your body--of this by repeated commands1 demands and assertions4 ,always think of your body as being as strong as adamant4 ,never talk of either health or disease or weakness4 ,you must be above caring for these4 ,they are your ,natural rights4 ,only when you lower yourself they have power to trouble you4 ,go beyond the lower self4 ,your business is to care for the ,higher-,self--that in which ,you live1 move1 and have your being4 ,also teach and train your ,will to move along negative lines of self-repression as well as along positive lines of ,self-,expression4 ,balance both4 ,the former precedes the latter4 ,now ,i will pass on to the subject of ,,self-,,control1 with the distinct understanding that ,self-,control and ,will-,power are inextricably bound up in each other4 ,you ,get the real practical work in the endeavour for ,self-,control4 ,,self-,,control4 ,rightly has it been remarked that is easy to talk of and write upon this subject but most difficult to possess it4 ,perfect ,self-,control means infinite power4 ,only the ,buddas and the ,christs of this ,world manifested ,perfect ,self-,control4 ,anything short of the absolute control of thought1 word and deed is only sowing wild oats1 said ,vivekananda4 ,it is with no little diffidence that ,i approach this subject as whoever handles this subject is rightly culpable as being a ,do-as-,i-say-and-not-as-,i-do class of writers4 ,still you can make appreciable progress in this direction by mastering these instructions1 going through the exercises and last but most important by carrying the principles in your mind and applying them as far as you can in your daily life4 ,nothing is more conducive to rapid growth and development as the making of the little and big affairs in your work-a-day life1 the occasion for the practical expression and conscious translation of your ideals4 ,we all are guilty of a serious mistake in setting apart our higher ideals for regular 'practice' hours and leading a life of low and quite different ideals in our ordinary life4 ,the natural process1 as you can see1 is to ,,live ,,out your highest ideals every minute of your life4 ,nothing is more important than the daily occupation of a man and if he fails to bring his ideals right into these little things1 then ,success will ever elude him4 ,a mental scientist has summed up the entire secret of ,character-,building in this valuable advice on ,objective ,concentration3 the simple task of mental concentration on whatever task1 business or profession a man is engaged in is the beginning of the mastery which is the perfection of ,objective ,concentration4 ,whatever you are doing be master of your work4 ,if you are a cobbler mend shoes in a perfect manner2 if a barber keep your razors and scissors in a state that will excite the admiration of your customers2 if a tailor make the coat fit like a glove2 if a clerk keep your accounts in apple-pie order2 if a builder scorn your jerry-brother2 if a singer enchant the listener with a concord of sweet sounds2 if an actor enter into the spirit of the character and make the play-goer feel that ,all the world's a stage ,and all the men and women merely players1 ,they have their exits and their entrance ,and one man in his time plays many parts4 ,if a leader in any department of thought or action1 remember that if to you much is given1 from you also much is required1 for the responsibility of the lives and happiness of your fellows rests heavy on your shoulders1 whether you know it or not and thousands may secretly curse your incapacity and bungling4 ,it is infinitely better to be a good cobbler than a bad ruler4 ,i believe the above advice if followed conscientiously by you would go to make you really fit for initiation into the more advanced stages of mastery4 ,take it to heart by all means4 ,be convinced1 the man who looks for quick results and a royal road to the mastery of ,mental ,science breaks down in frequent despair at apparent failures and neglects his daily work will never go far4 ,in fact1 his very impatience will lead to failure4 ,no individual life is fully rounded out unless some useful work forms part of it4 ,the ,yogi who has renounced the world has already done his work and is ahead of the times4 ,the real hermit and the saint are the ,pillars of ,strength on which this world stands4 ,i cannot repeat this too often4 ,the mere fact of their breathing the same atmosphere as you is a benediction and an inestimable boon unto the race4 ,,preliminary ,,steps4 ,the first requisite1 says ,mr4 ,atkinson1 of concentering is the ability to shut out outside thoughts1 sights and sounds2 to conquer inattention2 to obtain perfect control over the body and mind4 ,the body must be brought under the control of the mind2 the mind under the direct control of the ,will4 ,the ,will is strong enough1 but the mind needs strengthening by being brought under the direct influence of the will4 ,the mind1 strengthened by the impulse of the will1 becomes a much more powerful projector of thought vibrations than otherwise and the vibrations have much greater force and effect4 ,the first four exercises are meant to train the mind to readily obey the commands of the mind4 ,take them in the privacy of your own room and never talk of them to others4 ,also do not let their apparent simplicity lead you to neglect them4 ,if you are one of those empty-brained men who go about talking of their exercises hoping in this way to win praise1 you will never succeed4 ,be serious1 earnest and sincere in your work4 ,give up1 once for ever1 all fickle-mindedness and learn to accumulate ,power in silence and through work4 ,prayer gives you strength to work--the answer comes from your ,larger ,self--which is the ,spirit of ,god brooding over all and pouring strength into all4 ,but do not fly in the face of ,,deity by expecting it to do the work for you while you go about loafing after offering your prayer4 ,nonsense4 ,that man prays who works constantly1 silently1 patiently1 unceasingly and intelligently4 ,exercise #a4 ,sit still2 relax your body all over and then neck1 chest1 and head held in a straight line2 legs crossed one under the other and weight of the body resting easily upon the ribs2 right hand on right leg1 left hand on left leg4 ,there should not be a single movement of the muscles in any part of the body4 ,mind1 you must avoid all rigidness and tension of the body4 ,there should not be the least strain on muscles4 ,you should be able to relax completely4 ,start with #e minutes4 ,continue till you can accomplish the #e minutes sitting without any conscious effort1 increase to #ae minutes which is about all you need4 ,the aim is to give you absolute dominion over all involuntary muscular movements4 ,it is also an ideal rest-cure after fatiguing physical and mental exercise or exertion4 ,the principal thing is ,,stillness and you can1 if you like1 practise it even sitting on a chair or anywhere else2 the idea is one of relaxation and physical and mental quietude4 ,let not the apparent simplicity of this exercise deceive you4 ,it is not so very easy after all4 ,you will find that by concentrating the mind upon a particular train of thoughts or ideas or by joining the mind to the ,larger ,self1 you can easily lose all idea of the body and thus maintain this stillness for a considerable length of time4 ,genius1 inspiration and intuition are more or less the scientific and psychological results of self-forgetfulness4 ,when he sits down to meditate1 it was said of ,vivekananda1 in #aj minutes he becomes quite unconscious of the body although it may be black with mosquitoes4 ,do you understand now8 ,absolute physical self-forgetfulness is essential to deep concentration4 ,dr4 ,fahnestock called it the ,,statuvolic condition or that state in which the ,will-,power is really active and the 'outer-self' is totally in abeyance and forgotten4 ,exercise #b4 ,cultivate a self-poised attitude and demeanour in your everyday life4 ,avoid a tense1 strained1 nervous1 fidgety manner and an over-anxious appearance4 ,be easy1 self-possessed and dignified in your bearing4 ,be courteous1 thoughtful and quiet4 ,mental exercise and ,will-,culture will enable you to acquire the proper carriage and demeanour4 ,stop swinging your feet and moving your hands or rocking your self backwards in your chair while talking or sitting4 ,stop biting your nails1 chewing your moustaches1 rolling your tongue in your mouth or any other unnecessary movement such as may have become second nature with you while studying1 reading or writing4 ,never twitch or jerk your body4 ,never wink your eyes or look blank4 ,train yourself to stand sudden and loud noises with equanimity and composure4 ,such things betray lack of control4 ,do not let anything outside 7or even within you7 disturb your composure4 ,when engaged in conversation let your speech be calm and measured and your voice well-controlled and even4 ,a certain degree of reserve should always be observed4 ,in short1 keep yourself well under control on all occasions4 ,you can acquire this poise by always carrying the thoughts of ,firmness1 ,self-,control1 and ,self-,respect in your mind and letting these express themselves in your outward bearing4 ,avoid bluster1 self-assertion1 gossip1 levity or light talk1 too much laughter1 excitement and so forth4 ,too much laughter weakens the will4 ,be a quiet1 earnest-thinking being4 ,be serious4 ,regard solitude as the greatest medium of self-development4 ,exercise #c4 ,fill a wine glass full of water and taking the glass between the fingers1 extend arm directly in front of you4 ,fix your eyes upon the glass and endeavour to hold your arm so steady that no quiver will be noticeable4 ,commence with one minute exercise and increase until the #e minutes limit is reached4 ,alternate right and left arms4 ,increase to #ae minutes4 ,exercise #d4 ,sit erect in your chair1 with your head up1 chin out and shoulders back4 ,raise your right arm until it is level with your shoulders1 pointing to the right4 ,turn your head and fix your gaze on your hand and hold the arm perfectly steady for one minute4 ,repeat with left arm4 ,increase the time gradually to #e minutes4 ,the palms of the hands should be turned downwards4 ,the following exercises are meant to aid you in getting under control1 such mental faculties will produce voluntary movements4 ,exercise #e4 ,sit in front of a table1 placing your hands upon the table1 the fists clinched and lying with the back of the hand upon the table1 the thumb being doubled over the fingers4 ,fix your gaze upon the fist for awhile and then slowly extend the thumb1 keeping your whole attention fixed upon the act1 just as if it was of the greatest importance4 ,then slowly extend your first finger1 then your second and so on1 until they are all open and extended4 ,then reverse the process1 closing first the little finger and continuing the closing until the fist is again in its original position1 with the thumb closed over the fingers4 ,repeat with left hand4 ,continue this exercise #e times at a sitting1 then increase to #aj times4 ,don't forget to keep your attention closely fixed upon the finger movements4 ,that is the main point4 ,exercise #f4 ,place the fingers of one hand between the fingers of the other1 leaving the thumbs free4 ,then slowly twirl the thumbs one over the other1 with a circular motion4 ,be sure to keep the attention firmly fixed upon the end of the thumbs4 ,n4,b4 ,exercises ,nos4 #c1 #d1 #e and #f have been culled 7with slight modifications by me7 from the works of ,yogi ,ramacharaka4 ,exercise #g4 ,forty-eight hours after the full moon in each month1 go by yourself into a darkened chamber and quietly concentrate your mind upon one thing4 ,do this as long as possible without allowing other thoughts to enter your mind4 ,at first you will find that your thoughts will fly from one thing to another and it will be hard for you to accomplish this1 but by continued practice you will be able to think of one thing for a long time4 ,this should be continued for #e nights in succession and one hour each night4 ,exercise #h4 ,go out into the open air each evening when the sky is clear and see how many stars you can count without allowing any other thoughts to enter your mind4 ,the more stars you can count without thinking of anything the greater the degree of development produced4 ,quite an interesting exercise4 ,exercise #i4 ,take #ab ordinary pebbles4 ,place them in your left hand4 ,then with your right hand pick up one pebble1 hold it at arm's length and concentrate your mind thereupon without allowing other thoughts for full #fj seconds4 ,so with all the pebbles4 ,then start picking up with left hand4 ,do this for one hour daily4 ,exercise #aj4 ,concentrate your mind determinedly upon some one at a distance without allowing other thoughts4 ,will that he do get strong1 healthy and spiritual4 ,get up a mental picture of your subject as if sitting before you4 ,then give earnest1 positive1 forceful suggestions to his sub-conscious mind4 ,will that he get into sympathy with you1 write you on the subject and earnestly co-operate with you in his spiritual regeneration4 ,do it calmly and earnestly4 ,exercise #aa4 ,get some moistened sand spread over the surface about a yard square4 ,make it perfectly smooth4 ,then with your index finger draw any characters or pictures in the sand4 ,for instance1 a square1 a triangle or any other figure4 ,fasten your gaze upon this figure4 ,concentrate your mind calmly thereupon and will that the thought-form so created by your concentration be transmitted to someone 7whom you know to be sensitive to your will74 ,do this for #ae minutes daily at the same time till your subject gets the impression4 ,ask him to sit relaxed at the same time in the silence in a receptive mental attitude4 ,face the direction1 ,north1 ,south1 ,east or ,west in which you send your thought4 ,imagine a psychic wire connecting you with your subject and aim straight4 ,remember1 the ,will-,power is represented in symbology by a straight line because it goes straight to its mark4 ,exercise #ab4 ,every night before retiring1 concentrate upon your passive mind3 ,when ,i get up in morning1 my ,will-power and ,thought-,force will have increased4 ,i expect you to bring about a thorough change in my ,will-,force4 ,it will gain in vigour1 resolution1 firmness and confidence4 ,it must grow strong1 strong1 strong4 ,project these positive suggestions into your subjective self earnestly1 confidently and concentratedly4 ,you will progress quickly by leaps and bounds4 ,every morning shall find you stronger and full of vim1 sap and energy4 ,persevere1 persevere4 ,in following up such ideals to a successful conclusion you must have an 7i7 overpowering desire2 7ii7 a strong belief in your ability to accomplish anything2 7iii7 an invincible determination not a backboneless ',i will try to'2 7iv7 earnest expectation4 ,this is an important and an infallible method in ,will-development4 ,exercise #ac4 ,go by yourself into a room where you will not be disturbed4 ,at the beginning 'relax' all over4 ,then count from one to ten without allowing any other thoughts4 ,as soon as you accomplish this1 your mind is in a receptive state4 ,concentrate as before and order your sub-conscious self to evolve a strong1 infallible memory4 ,form your own auto-suggestions4 ,exercise #ad4 ,pick out half a dozen unfamiliar faces4 ,vividly impress them upon your subjective mind4 ,then recall them at least once each day for full one year1 each day impressing at least one more new face4 ,should you find you are forgetting any of your older faces1 do not add new ones but firmly fix the other old faces in your mind through concentration4 ,this is a very interesting exercise4 ,memory belongs to the sub-conscious mind1 remember4 ,exercise #ae4 ,concentrate the mind on a paragraph in some holy book and commit to memory4 ,learn by heart one paragraph daily taking care not to forget the old ones4 ,in time1 you will improve wonderfully4 ,exercise #af4 ,people with weak memories always lack concentrative ability4 ,concentration is the key to all mind-power4 ,you will find the above exercises quite 'tedious' and monotonous4 ,but you can train your 'attention' only by giving it trivial and 'dry' exercises4 ,the strong will can cope with the most 'monotonous' and uninteresting tasks without experiencing fatigue4 ,you must set yourself such tasks as might seem like 'work' to your attention4 ,remember1 the effort required to concentrate attention voluntarily on uninteresting1 dry and monotonous works strengthens and develops ,will-,power and gives you 'mental muscle4' ,you will thereby acquire firm control over mind and body and be ',master' over your lower impulses4 ,power over self will express outwardly as power over others4 ,if you can control yourself1 you will find no difficulty in impressing your will on others4 ,but1 mark you1 this sacred power should be used only to elevate1 stimulate and strengthen others4 ,try your ,will upon your personality in all possible ways and be satisfied with nothing short of perfect control4 ,the absolute mastery of 'self' ought to be your aim4 ,i have given you the real secrets4 ,you must exercise your own ingenuity and intelligence in utilising them towards your ,self-development4 ,i leave you to finish the fight for yourself4 ,get up and start in to work at your task from to-day and not to-morrow4 ,back of all efforts1 always have this positive incentive and auto-suggestion3 ,,this ,,is ,,to ,,develop ,,my ,,will-,,power ,,and ,,no ,,temporary ,,pain ,,can ,,equal ,,the ,,power ,,and ,,happiness ,,arising ,,out ,,of ,,self-,,control4 ,get firm control over your emotions4 ,use this natural force but be not used by it4 ,control over speech will lead to ,emotion-control4 ,always talk to the point4 ,cultivate silence4 ,repress volubility4 ,be brief in speech and writing4 ,keep a cool head4 ,be level-headed and concentrative4 ,,gleanings ,,from ,,professor ,,james ,,on ,,the ,,law ,,of ,,habit4 ,an acquired habit1 from the physiological point of view1 is nothing but a new pathway of discharge formed in the brain1 by which certain incoming currents ever often tend to escape4 ,the great thing is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy4--,guard against ways that are likely to be disadvantageous to us1 as we should guard against the plague4 ,the more of the details of our daily life we can hand over to the effortless custody of automatism1 the more our higher powers of mind will be set free for their own proper work4 ,there is no more miserable human being than one in whom nothing is habitual but indecision and for whom 7every act7 the time of rising and going to bed1 the beginning of every bit of work1 are subjects for express volitional deliberation4 ,maxim ,i4 ,in the acquisition of a new thought or the leaving off of an old one we must take care to launch ourselves with as strong and decided initiative as possible4 ,maxim ,,ii4 ,never suffer an exception to occur until the new habit is securely rooted in your life4 ,each lapse is like letting fall a ball of string which one is carefully winding up2 a single slip means more than a great many turns will wind again4 ,continuity of training is the great means of making the nervous system act infallibly right4 ,it is necessary above all things never to lose a battle4 ,every gain on the wrong side undoes the effect of many conquests on the right4 ,the essential precaution is to so regulate the opposing powers that the one may have a series of uninterrupted success1 until repetition has fortified it to such a degree as to enable it to cope with the opposition under any circumstances4 ,the need of securing success at the outset is imperative4 ,to be habitually successful is the thing4 ,be careful not to give the will such a task as to insure its defeat at the outset1 but provided one can stand it1 a sharp period of suffering1 and then a free time is the best to aim at1 whether in giving up the opium habit or in simply changing one's hours of rising or of work4 ,it is surprising how soon a desire will die of inanition if it be never fed4 ,without unbroken advance there is no such thing as accumulation of the ethical forces possible1 and to make this possible and to exercise and habituate us in it is the sovereign blessing of regular work4 ,maxim ,,iii4 ,seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of habits you aspire to gain4 ,it is not the moment of their forming but in the moment of their producing motor effects1 that resolves and aspirations communicate the new 'set' to the brain4 ,the actual presence of the practical opportunity alone furnishes the fulcrum upon which the lever can rest1 by means of which the moral will may multiply its strength and raise itself aloft4 ,he who had no solid ground to press against will never get beyond the stage of empty gesture making4 ,when a resolve or a fine glow of feeling is allowed to evaporate without bearing practical fruit1 it is a waste and a chance lost2 it works so as positively to hinder future resolutions and emotions from taking the normal path of discharge4 ,if we let our emotions evaporate1 they get in a way of evaporating4 ,,worship ,,of ,,the ,,terrible4 ,the attitude of the soul which is not to be baffled by the lower nature or the ,personal ,self should be to seek ,death and not life1 to hurl oneself upon the sword's point and become one with the terrible4 ,those who are commissioned by the ,lord to bear aloft the torch of spirit are fated to see every joy of the senses turn to ashes and crushing blows upon their eyes to the unsubstantially of the relative life of ,maya4 ,the lion when stricken to the heart gives out his loudest roar1 ,when smitten on the head the cobra lifts its hood ,and the majesty of the ,soul comes out only when a man is wounded to his depths4 ,the ,western ideal is to be doing3 the ,eastern to be suffering4 ,the perfect life would be a harmony between 7selfless or non-attached7 doing and suffering4 ,worship the terrible4 ,worship ,death1 for its own sake2 despair for its own sake2 pain for its own sake4 ,yet this is not the coward's or the suicide's or the weakling's morbid love of ,death1 but it is the cry of the philosopher who has sounded everything to its depths and knows intensely the vanity of the desire for happiness on the relative plane of limitations4 ,remember the triumphant cry of ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi3 ,,welcome1 ,,sister ,,death6 ,be witness--of all that goes on but be not entangled4 ,reserve to yourself the power to remain unattached at all times4 ,accept nothing however pleasant1 if it conceals a fetter into thy ,soul4 ,at a word stand ready to sever any connection that gives a hint of soul-bondage4 ,keep thy mind clear4 ,keep thy will pure4 ,attain the ,impersonal ,standpoint1 ,o you man6 there alone canst thou quench thy thirst for happiness never on the plane of personal4 ,who and what dies and is reborn8--,your lower self1 your personality4 ,sometimes naked1 sometimes mad1 ,now as a scholar1 again as a fool ,here a rebel1 there a saint1 ,thus they appear on the earth --the ,perfect ,ones4 ,paramhamsas--,viveka ,chudamani4 ,if you accept the report of the senses as final1 you will say soul for nature--but if you can gain the spiritual point of view1 you will say no-nature for soul4 ,evolution1 devolution and involution are all in nature and will go on cyclically and eternally4 ,all this is merely due to the wish of the soul to manifest itself4 ,but such expression can come only when the soul lives on its plane4 ,say ,money is my slave1 not ,i4 ,say ,nature is my slave1 not ,i4 ,give up life1 give up body1 give up all desire for enjoyment on the relative plane4 ,so shall you transcend all limitation4 ,your real nature is ,infinite and ,absolute4 ,only when you lower your nature by limiting it to the particular self1 do you become bound and unhappy4 ,on the relative plane1 you are a slave to the pair of opposites--life and death1 pleasure and pain1 and so on4 ,here is limitation4 ,here you are a slave to competition1 and ,survival of the ,fittest is the law4 ,be not blinded by the flashing light of the glare of modern civilization4 ,every morsel you eat is ground out of your brother's blood4 ,slave to a breath of air1 slave to food1 slave to life1 slave to ,death1 slave to a word of praise1 slave to a word of blame--,slave--,slave--,slave--that is your condition4 ,the ,soul cannot stoop to any compromise4 ,it refuses to conquer nature by obedience4 ,it will conquer nature by renouncing the body and by knowing itself4 ,find thyself bodiless4 ,power felt within is soul2 without1 nature4 ,we must crush ,law 7nature7 and become outlaws4 ,deliver thou thyself1 by thyself ,ah1 do not let thyself sink ,for thou art thyself thy greatest friend ,and thyself 7the relative ',i'7 thy greatest enemy4 ,this1 student1 is not the ravings of a lunatic4 ,it is the secret of ,,sat-,,chit-,,ananda--eternal existence1 knowledge and bliss4 ,attainment of perfection means absolute ,freedom4 ,do you or would you know the meaning of ,life8 ,it is the search after ,sat-chit-ananda4 ,but man is trying to realise this ,perfect ,existence in the transitory things of the earth-plane4 ,only when he knows that not attachment to the things of the world1 the flesh and the devil but renunciation of same and the bringing of the ,impersonal ,ideal into his everyday life would lead him to it1 then ,maya will have fulfilled its purpose--which is to show man his divinity4 ,kill out the desire for life4 ,kill out ,ambition4 ,kill out desire for comfort2 yet work as those who love life4 ,respect life as those who are ambitious4 ,be happy as those are who live for happiness4 ,so says ,mabel ,collins in the ,light on the ,path4 ,yes1 you must work constantly1 train your intellect1 develop your personality but do not do all this for your own personal self but for the ,higher ,self1 ,the ,,brahman1 ,eternal--to manifest through4 ,as soon as you lose this view-point your personal strivings end in ,pain and ,disappointment4 ,work as hard as the ambitious man and the lover of pleasures but remember your actions are inspired by different motives4 ,here ,spirit is the director4 ,to the work thou hast the right1 ,o ,partha1 but not to the fruits thereof--,gita4 ,all clinging to results leads to degeneration4 ,the soul should cling to nothing4 ,all work and all effort must be dedicated unto the ,higher ,self4 ,when you care for the results you are only worshipping the lower self4 ,hence the value of selfless labour1 thus the maya-fascinated mind is purified and de-hypnotised and we attain to the emergence of the personal into the ,impersonal4 ,either say ,i am thou1 ,o ,lord6 and thus out at the root of the lower ,i and destroy it for ever or say ,i am nothing1 ,o ,eternal ,one6 thou art everything and thereby lose the lower into the ,higher4 ,the first is for the ,gnani--the second for the ,bhakti ,yogi4 ,both mean the same thing4 ,love everyone but do not depend upon the love of any one4 ,give everything4 ,take nothing4 ,serve every one4 ,do not care for service and gratitude in return4 ,you are the ,heir to the ,infinite4 ,all ,power is behind you4 ,but so long as you are a beggar1 a beggar shall you remain4 ,renounce the lower self1 ,live for the ,higher4 ,what you call ,universal ,love is the expression on the lower plane of the subjective reception of ,,absolute ,,unity on the ,buddhic plane and in ,,samadhi 7,final ,illumination74 ,,lessons ,,iii ,,and ,,iv4 ,,the ,,yogi ,,self-,,developer ,,introduction4 ,in lessons #a and #b we have initiated you into the mysteries of ,will and ,mind-,force1 the governing principles of the ,universe and the laws of their development4 ,we have also taught you how to acquire absolute control over ,body and ,mind4 ,in these lessons we have striven to point out to you the right ,mental ,attitude towards your daily life1 so that while mainly engaged in the task of ,self-,culture you might also lend a hand in the great work of strengthening the race4 ,moreover our convictions1 beliefs1 and ideals are no mean1 insignificant factors in the determination of our health and environmental conditions4 ,they react on our circumstances as well as on the ,,whole ,,man4 ,we have also given you important points of instruction in ,soul ,unfoldment1 ,meditation1 ,bramhacharya1 ,breathing1 ,fasting1 ,health-,culture1 ,body building and shown you1 as distinctly as we could1 the exact process of developing a single virtue in your self thereby you may master the process and method of developing other virtues1 the lines of action and thought being well nigh similar in all1 and foculising at certain common points of primary importance4 ,we have given the bare body of truth in connection with the development1 evolution and unfoldment of the body and the soul1 stripping of the metaphysical trappings and the theoretical draperies in which they are clothed4 ,we have had to literally rend asunder the heavy wheel that had the divine face of truth4 ,hence our lessons are brief and to the point4 ,we have had to contend against and overcome another serious difficulty4 ,expressed in the matter of fact ,english language1 these wondrous truths of mysticism cannot but lose the air of profound solemnity and sanctity that pervades the subject of ,yoga in ,sanskrit literature4 ,the wise and thoughtful student and we certainly do not write for light-headed and non-serious people1 will not let their apparent simplicity deceive him or throw him off his guard4 ,rather let him realise that these lessons can be pressed into service in all directions and in all spheres of life4 ,let him just put them into practice and he will at once see their practical bearing on his daily life4 ,these lessons do not go into the ,,what but point out the ,,how of every thing4 ,we leave every student to suit his individual case as to the intellectual side of the ,,eternal ,,problem4 ,in conclusion we have to say that this ,course does not pretend to deal with the advanced stages of ,yoga1 much less exhaust them4 ,but they will1 positively and decidedly prepare him for those higher things by lifting the ,,pall ,,of ,,darkness from his mind4 ,,lessons ,,iii ,,and ,,iv4 ,quite a number of you there must be to whom the ,fearless mind is not only an enviable possession but something to which you are and have been an utter stranger4 ,you may not say it to others--confession may hurt your pride--but secretly away deep in your heart1 there resides strongly and fiercely the desire to be a ,fearless ,individual4 ,and it is a worthy desire4 ,to be able to wipe off all fearfulness1 anxiety and worry from your mental tablets is no easy task1 but when once accomplished1 it gives you a glimpse of ,heavenly ,joy and ,superhuman ,strength4 ,and1 ,you can be ,fearless1 ,i tell you--each one of you--you can be what you will to be4 ,i have seen it4 ,i have done it4 ,i am going to give you sound and positive instructions in this paper so that you may forge ahead towards your goal4 ,these instructions are based upon good psychological grounds1 have been tested and proved by millions and proved a blessing to whoever took them up in all earnestness and gave them a trial4 ,if you want to be ,fearless1 hesitate not to follow them to the very letter4 ,i shall not waste space telling you about the dire results of fear1 cowardice1 worry1 anxiety and the vile brood of negative thoughts branching of ,,fear4 ,physically1 mentally and spiritually man is what he thinks in his heart4 ,as you think1 so you are4 ,mind governs everything1 creates or destroys everything1 on the physical as well as other planes4 ,your thoughts affect your health1 your circumstances1 your environments2 those who come into daily contact with you1 those who are separated from you by space1 those who are what you call dead but who are really alive in spirit-life and bound to you more or less by mystic chords of sympathy in thought and soul-life1 affecting you and being affected by you every minute4 ,the range of influence exerted by a man's daily thoughts is simply tremendous4 ,trees and animals1 minerals and other objects of material life absorb it4 ,the walls of your room1 the clothes you wear1 the letters you write are all being impressed by the aura of your thought-force4 ,if you go to a clairvoyant or a psychometerist and put into his hands a letter1 a lock of hair1 a cloth-piece1 or anything else pertaining to one of your friends1 he or she will psychically trace out the personal appearance1 temperament1 past and present history1 and everything else in connection with that person4 ,marvellous1 ',impossible' you cry in surprise4 ,but it is done4 ,realise through study and investigation the importance of your thought-life and avoid vitiating it by fear-thoughts1 hate-thoughts1 sensual and sensuous thoughts and vanity thoughts4 ,because1 mark you1 these four giant-weeds poison the roots of the ,tree of ,life4 ,all humanity suffers pain in diverse ways1 on account of these four bad thoughts and their millions of off-springs4 ,now you will say this is all very well but3 ,,how8 ,that is just what ,i mean to teach you all along4 ,i don't want to feed you on mere empty theories1 but ,i can and ,i will give you that knowledge which when assimilated shall build up strong flesh1 bone1 muscle1 tissue1 pith and marrow which will give you superb health1 strength of mind and spirit--all of which are necessary adjuncts to ,spiritual ,growth and ,happiness4 ,let me give you in detail methods and exercises4 ,the ideal fearless man has many qualities4 ,i say the ,ideal ,hero--no imitation patch work vulgarian4 ,these qualities are in rough detail3 7#a7 ,devotion to ,god4 7#b7 ,knowledge4 7#c7 ,concentration4 7#d7 ,will ,power4 7#e7 ,energy and ,aspiration4 7#f7 ,health4 7#g7 ,self-,esteem4 7#h7 ,self-,control4 7#i7 ,love for ,humanity4 7#aj7 ,chastity4 ,there may be other qualities but you will do well to build up the above and others will come to you by themselves4 ,let me drop a few helpful suggestions on the above4 ,follow each sentence closely4 #a4 ,,devotion ,,to ,,the ,,absolute ,,will4 ,i have always said1 written1 observed and felt that the most courageous individuals are devoted to ,god4 ,such men are rare4 ,you all understand the meaning of ,fearlessness in its fullest sense4 ,it means absolute independence--in two words1 he is the ,,fearless man who fears-nothing1 and faces-everything4 ,that everything includes everyone4 ,that nothing excludes no one4 ,viewed from this standpoint is not the fearless man rarely to be met with8 ,you may come across degrees of fearlessness4 ,now the man who possesses this quality in the highest degree has faith in this ,god4 ,everyone has his conception of ,god4 ,everyone sees the absolute from his individual plane of vision4 ,that conception which you have of ,god will do for you4 ,i say1 it will do for you and you alone4 ,don't force it upon others4 ,keep it for yourself4 ,if you want to improve this conception of ,god pray in the ,silence thus3 ,o1 ,,thou1 ,i ,,understand ,,not ,,thy ,,nature4 ,i ,,know ,,not--,,yet ,i ,,yearn ,,to ,,know4 ,,do ,,thou ,,reveal ,,thyself ,,unto ,,my ,,soul4 ,,do ,,thou ,,open ,,my ,,spiritual ,,eyes ,,and ,,lead ,,me ,,on4 ,student1 don't treat this lightly4 ,listen not to that conceited or blinded brother of yours who says he does not care for ,god--who says he can go on without the aid of ,god4 ,listen not4 ,listen not4 ,the strongest and greatest pray often4 ,only they do not talk of this to others4 ,they never make a show of their devotion4 ,but they have all prayed and do all pray4 ,they believe in personal effort--they also believe in ,divine leading and guidance4 ,learn to be lead by the ,spirit4 ,everything shall come to you in this way4 ,you will also notice that the ,fearless ,man is not a mere ,god-fearing man4 ,he is a ,god-loving ,individual4 ,he loves ,god for ,god's sake largely4 ,that man who is fearful in spite of his devotion to ,god is a sham devotee4 ,but the grace of the ,,lord',s name is such that it shall purify the most impure of heart4 ,it shall build up even a sham devotee into a real devotee who in time shall transcend all limitation4 ,therefore have faith in ,god4 ,be regular in your devotions4 ,also remember that each trial is a pain accompanying spiritual regeneration--each pain a process of strengthening the herald of a mere glorious dawn of wisdom4 ,hence give up all grumbling4 ,the great ,god whose ,infinite power regulates the motions of planets and yet takes note of the sparrow's fall has your soul's best interest at heart4 ,all you do1 all you say1 all you feel1 all you hope1 all your experiences--all1 all is ,his will4 ,man's ,will is ,god's ,will4 ,god's ,will is ,man's ,will4 ,and who can define ,god8 ,god alone has the power to define ,himself4 ,he has defined ,himself as the ,universe--,bramhanda4 ,nothing is impossible for the devotee of ,god4 ,let him but be willing to work and ,god shall give him everything4 ,regular devotion to ,god will surely develop extreme ,fearlessness4 ,god is ,love4 7#b74 ,,knowledge 7,gnayanam74 ,fear is due to ignorance4 ,when in the dark of night you mistook the rope for a snake1 you shrieked out in terror4 ,cause8 ,,ignorance4 ,but when you saw the rope as a rope1 you laughed out in amusement4 ,cause8 ,,knowledge4 ,all your fear is due to your ignorance of your real nature4 ,all the fear at the last is fear of death4 ,you have to realise through knowledge of the ,vedanta that you are birthless1 deathless4 ,you have to unfold by meditation a consciousness of your ,real ,self4 ,i give you hereunder a meditation exercise that will help you in this direction4 ,,meditation ,,exercise ,,no4 #a4 ,retire into the ,,silence4 ,shut off all thoughts and purposes relating to the external world4 ,try to realise that you1 the ,real ,ego are not the body but that it is a mere garment you have put on for functioning on the physical plane and which you shall put off some day4 ,try to realise that you are immortal and that although a thousand bodies might come and go1 you1 the ,ego1 shall be as alive as ever4 ,these are your shadows--your personalities4 ,what dies and is born is a mirage--a mere phantasm--which you materialise for certain purposes4 ,all these purposes centralise in one ,,potentialised ,,purpose--the conquest of matter4 ,realise that you the ,ego1 have your dwelling in ,supernal ,regions--on the spiritual plane--with your ,father-in-,heaven--but that you have come down into matter that you may find the fullest possible objective expression4 ,realise that you1 the ,ego1 are a differentiated centre of consciousness in the ,great ,consciousness--,,the ,,absolute--,,ego--,,sum of the entire ,universe with all its gross and subtle manifestations--that you are endowed with all the powers and attributes of the ,absolute ,self4 ,realise that you are not the emotional and passional manifestations--surging up in your personality4 ,these are subject to the law of ,flux and ,rhythm and must be brought under the control of ,reason and ,will--the balancing1 equating principle of mind4 ,realise that you are not the mind nor the intellect1 but that you exercise this function in order to analyse the external manifestations of nature and study same4 ,realise that you are pure ,consciousness1 ,bliss and ,existence in your essential nature--one with the all-life4 ,realise that the form side of manifestation is but a concentration1 a precipitation within you4 ,your subjective nature is one with the subjective self of others--an inlet for the influx and efflux of the ,,great ,,sub-,,conscious4 ,realise thus your ,unity with ,all-,life-manifesting objectively as ,universal ,brotherhood of all living beings and the perfect recognition of the ,all-,father-,mother1 the ,great ,cosmic ,power and ,intelligence known as ,god whose intelligence all-blissfulness and existence are ever pouring into each ,unit of ,individualised ,divine ,energy and evolving through nature4 ,and1 student1 when you meditate daily that you are neither the body nor the emotions nor the mind1 you shall then unfold the consciousness of the ,i am ,i that which rules the personality that which has been called ,soul-,consciousness4 ,you shall then be ,chaitanya-,spiritually awake4 ,you shall then know no ,fear4 ,fear shall drop away like a worn-out sheath4 ,all fear-thoughts are due to undeveloped race-consciousness which reacts upon individual consciousness and is stamped more or less upon every atom of matter4 ,you 'fear' because you think you are the body4 ,when you realise that you can command as many bodies for your use as you like2 when you realise in your heart of hearts that you are a ,spiritual ,being expressing and energising through material personalities2 when you realise that you cannot die1 fear shall be afraid of you and drop tormenting and teasing you4 ,fear resides in the matter-fed mind--that mind which has been grown and matured by the reception and re-action upon external sensations and stimuli--what has been called the objective mind4 ,this mind identifies itself with the form1 the body4 ,it has an incorrigible determination towards the form-side1 the concrete-side of existence4 ,it sees nothing but the body and is darkened by the forces of ,maya4 ,it sees nothing but separation4 ,yes1 it is the matter-fed mind4 ,people with a development of this side of consciousness are invariably selfish2 have generally small1 conical eyes1 understand nothing1 but the welfare of the body4 ,they are subject to the fear and the delight in making others fear them4 ,this mind needs illumination from the soul1 the ,subjective ,man1 the ,i am ,i side of consciousness4 ,it is not that you are a body and have a soul--this is the dirty conviction of the matter-fed mind--but you are a soul and have a body4 ,the dawn of ,soul-,consciousness makes a man a ,force for good4 ,he himself is ,fearless4 ,his is the voice of strength that does not crush and dominate but that puts warmth1 life1 energy1 hope and indomitable courage into cold and despairing hearts4 ,some are born with this ,soul-,consciousness4 ,do not think that ,i am feeding with the theories of eccentricity4 ,often when a boy playing with others the thought would strike me hard1 ,are you the same that is running and jumping and shouting4 ,i would stop1 looking blankly ahead4 ,a feeling of confusion would come over me and ,i would forget everything4 ,i could recall the feeling distinctly and vividly4 ,now ,i understand4 ,these were flashes of ,soul-,consciousness unfolded in a past life and struggling for recognition in this life4 ,such men face ,,death for themselves calmly4 ,they know they can't die4 ,such men are incapable of sustained hatred4 ,they too have their physiognomical signs and distinctions4 ,they represent an advanced order of intellect4 ,and1 lastly1 when the full blaze of realisation comes1 your one object in life shall be to bestow your sense of freedom on others4 ,you shall not be able to mock and smile calmly at the pain1 the ignorance to imperfections of your brother-man4 ,you shall realise what it is to 'feel' for humanity1 yea1 even for animals4 ,you shall glimpse1 in some measures1 the great feeling of pain that rent the hearts of the ,buddas1 the ,christs1 the ,ramakrishnas1 the ,vivekanandas of this world4 ,they suffered1 they felt for humanity4 ,and when undeveloped humanity forced them to the ,cross2 they bore it in the same spirit in which the gentle nurse bears the blows and abuses of the disease-racked patient4 ,father forgive them1 for they know not what they do4 ,verily to know all is to forgive all4 ,this ,soul-,consciousness is as much yours as that of anyone4 ,it comes through meditation on the ,infinite1 and the ,formless ,absolute--the ,over-soul of the universe--the ,brahman of the ,vedanta--the ,self of the philosophers--the ,atman of the ,yogis--the personal--impersonal ,god of the devotee--and1 last1 but not least1 the humanity of the humanitarian4 ,,concentration4 ,the mind can think of one thing only4 ,fear is an acute form of negative concentration--worry its chronic form4 ,if you learn how to place your mind upon a particular subject and inhibit or shut off all other thoughts1 the fascination of fear and worry shall have no power over you4 ,most of the things you fear never happen--others can be routed by a bold front4 ,even if something ugly does befall you1 you have the power within to enable you to 'bear up' heroically4 ,fear is a mere negative thought-habit4 ,it is a negative tendency in the mind4 ,you can best eradicate this weed from your mind by cultivating the positive attitude of ,courage4 ,there are particular sets of brain-cells being created or destroyed by particular types of thoughts4 ,the best way to destroy negative brain-cells is to develop positive brain-cells4 ,if you want to ,kill off ,fear-thoughts1 do not fight them4 ,that would be like trying to realise how dark a place is and then starting to pitch it out by the handful4 ,you know you cannot do it4 ,just open the blinds and let in sunshine and the place will be flooded with light4 ,the mind hypnotised by negative thoughts has been compared by a mental scientist to a dirty wash-bowl full of dirty water4 ,take the wash-bowl near a tap and turn the tap on4 ,the steady pour of clean water will soon wash off all the dirty water and fill the wash-bowl with clear water4 ,so the only way to root out and destroy evil thoughts is to turn a steady stream of positive thoughts4 ,to overcome all fear thoughts1 you should think courage-thoughts4 ,don't crawl on your belly2 don't call upon ,heaven to witness what a despicable creature you are4 ,no--a thousand times--no4 ,act ,courage4 ,think ,courage4 ,say ,courage4 ,that's the way4 ,turn your face towards the rising sun4 ,take ,courage for your watchword4 ,affirm it as far as you can4 ,fasten it deep and strong in your mind4 ,always tell yourself that you are full of courage1 morning1 noon and night2 never tell yourself that you are weak4 ,now1 in order to inhibit fear-thoughts and exhibit ,courage-thoughts1 you must possess ,,concentration4 ,you should be able to take your mind off a certain subject and put it on something else at your will4 ,do you know what ,concentration means8 ,let me give you in my own words something ,i remember reading about ,napoleon4 ,when banished to ,st4 ,helena and suffering from disease1 one day his doctor expressed his curiosity as to the secret of his success and astonishing power4 ,napoleon replied ,doctor1 there are drawers in my brain4 ,when ,i want to think of politics ,i pull out the drawer of politics1 when ,i want to think of ,josephine1 ,i pull out the drawer of ,law1 and so on2 and when ,i shut all these drawers1 ,i can go to sleep4 ,the doctor smiled incredulity blandly4 ,doctor1 ,i can show you this minute4 ,doctor1 ,i shut all drawers--even while saying this1 ,napoleon fell with a thud on his pillow4 ,he was fast asleep4 ,the man of science and medicine examined him in all ways1 but ,napoleon had fallen actually fast asleep4 ,this is ,concentration and ,mind-,control4 ,i don't admire men of ,napoleon's selfish types4 ,their place is in dark hell4 ,they use their power for preying upon others4 ,but that his powers of mind were great1 ,i don't deny4 ,napoleon in his past life had been a great ,yogi1 but the remnants of self and cumulative force of bad ,karma precipitated the bloody results you all know in connection with ,napoleon's career4 ,no doubt1 this man was only a means used by ,god to bring about certain changes and revolutions4 ,to develop ,concentration1 pay attention to the daily work of your life4 ,don't neglect small things4 ,put interest and attention into whatever you think1 say1 or do4 ,be a wide-awake man4 ,don't go about your work half-asleep4 ,wake up and display a few signs of life4 ,be progressive4 ,think much and to the purpose4 ,,will-,,power4 ,you all understand this4 ,it is that aspect of your make-up that enables you to make your mind and body obey you4 ,the true principle of ,will is closely interlocked with the ,i am ,i as ,i have already explained it4 ,resolve at the start to do one thing once in #bd hours that you would do if you were not afraid4 ,face fear and it is your slave4 ,your ,will-power enables you to prove things practically to yourself and to the world2 to make actions match-thoughts4 ,give your ,will much exercise in the right direction4 ,without ,will a man is no better than a log of wood4 ,keep your ,will strong by auto-suggestion and exercise4 ,try the powers of your ,will on your personality till you can do anything and be anything4 ,say ,i can and ,i will in a thousand different ways and prove it too4 ,the requisite qualities that form valuable adjuncts to ,will-power are3 #a4 ,determination4 #b4 ,stick-to-it-ive-ness4 #c4 ,perseverance4 #d4 ,invincible and indomitable courage4 #e4 ,non-attachment4 #f4 ,faith in yourself4 #g4 ,faith in ,god4 #h4 ,i can and ,i will4 ,repeat this affirmation often till it becomes a constant mental trait4 ,,affirmations4 #a4 ,i am fearless4 ,i am full of courage4 ,there is nothing to fear4 ,i say courage1 ,i think1 ,i act courage4 #b4 ,courage is my distinct and leading trait4 ,everyone knows me as a man of ,indomitable courage4 ,the criticisms and opinions of others cannot affect me the least4 #c4 ,i am part of the ,divine ,self4 ,i harm none4 ,my nature knows no harm4 ,hence no harm comes to me4 #d4 ,i am equal to anything4 ,nothing can crush my spirit4 ,i can face everything4 ,i can face everybody4 #e4 ,my powers of resistance are strong1 strong1 strong4 ,i use them never for the aggression of others4 ,they are for my self-defence4 #f4 ,i am absolutely fearless morally and physically4 #g4 ,i stand for absolute truthfulness and justice and manifest them in myself4 #h4 ,work with this affirmation4 ,strongly implant it in your mind4 ,the use of strong1 positive ,affirmation in the ,silence is valuable in that it gives you a firm hold of your thought so that you can carry the thought mentally4 ,the value of expressing thought in act and speech lies in this that it clinches your thought into a permanent habit4 ,remember this psychologic axiom3 #a4 ,thoughts take form in action4 #b4 ,action induces thought and corresponding habits4 ,therefore act out the part physically4 ,if you want a courageous mind--act out the part physically1 in your daily life1 on suitable occasions1 in all earnestness as you would in a theatre or drama4 ,in a very short time it shall become a confirmed habit4 ,force yourself to it4 ,take an interest in what you do and say4 ,have confident expectations of ,,success4 ,never be daunted and cowed down by initial difficulties and failures4 ,never say die4 ,if you go down--don't remain lying and moaning4 ,never1 ,i say1 never4 ,get up4 ,shake yourself up free and say1 like the royal lion ,come one1 come all1 this rock shall fly sooner from its base than ,i4 ,have a will of your own and be a force for good4 ,exercise your ,will-power4 ,be something4 ,do something4 ,,love ,,for ,,humanity1 ,,energy1 ,,aspiration1 ,,self-,,esteem4 ,i cannot too strongly emphasise the difference between ,self-,esteem and ,self-,conceit4 ,i wish to drive and thoroughly pound this difference into your brain4 ,self-,esteem is decidedly a manly trait4 ,it is based upon a conviction of the ,kingship of ,god and the ,sonship of ,man4 ,man is a dignified being with divine attributes4 ,he should not disgrace his ,maker by crawling on the ground4 ,this is ,self-,esteem4 ,self-,esteem does not lower itself4 ,it never lowers others4 ,you shall never see a leader of mankind without tremendous faith in himself4 ,but equally truly you shall never see a true man or woman taking delight in having others crawl to dust before them4 ,they feel pained and shocked at such a sight4 ,there is infinite humiliation to them in this sorry spectacle4 ,but ,self-,conceit is that original obliquity that leads a man to make a hog of himself4 ,it is the old1 dirty1 unmanly ,i-am-greater-than-you feeling4 ,such men are hogs1 hogs1 hogs4 ,they are not the true sons of their mothers4 ,they are bastards and imbeciles4 ,if you come across this type and get a chance to deal with him on your private strength open his eyes to his hoggishness4 ,if he has any manly stuff in himself1 he shall reform4 ,if not1 let him sizzle in his fat4 ,nature and its rigorous ,laws will rub the lesson home some day4 ,but don't you stand their nonsense for want of moral backbone4 ,and the ,i am in you shall revolt against any such meanness and smallness in yourself4 ,encourage it not4 ,revere ,god4 ,revere yourself4 ,revere others4 ,next1 as to energy and aspiration--these two characteristics transmute your mind from a negative into a positive type4 ,they give you an aura of thought-force such as never knows fear4 ,in point of fact fear is starved off to death4 ,be progressive4 ,take an interest in the affairs of this world and be a force for good4 ,raise yourself first4 ,then give others a lift4 ,have an ,increasing ,purpose in your life4 ,work towards its accomplishment4 ,the man who renounces the world does not become a burden unto others4 ,he helps others to shoulder their responsibilities4 ,nature aids at building up strong individuals4 ,it has no use for barnacles and is always scraping them off4 ,nature does not tolerate leeches1 vampires and parasites4 ,aspire to do something great in life for the good of many1 for the happiness of many4 ,live to some purpose4 ,when you have a positive life-purpose1 your tone of mind shall be dominant and positive and your thoughts shall match4 ,all-strength shall come to you4 ,bad health1 fear1 worry and the whole array of disintegrating forces are set into active motion by a purposeless life4 ,the ,purposeful ,man has no time to bother about them4 ,understand clearly1 spirituality is not laziness1 whatever else it may be4 ,,affirmations4 #a4 ,i have perfect ,self-,confidence4 ,i am a ,divine ,being4 ,i lower not myself--,i lower not others4 #b4 ,my ,life-,purpose is ,constructive--not ,destructive4 #c4 ,i will be great spiritually and mentally4 ,i will make others great4 ,i am an irresistible force for good4 #d4 ,i live to some great purpose4 ,i am an ,individual4 ,i recognise the ,fatherhood of ,god and the ,brotherhood of man4 ,,health1 ,,chastity ,,and ,,self-,,control4 ,chastity and ,self-,control bring to you a clean healthy physique4 ,strong health means strong brain4 ,and strong brain means abounding vitality1 magnetism and ambition4 ,remember our aim is the development of courage4 ,the ,chaste brain has tremendous energy4 ,you should observe ,bramhacharya--the conservation of vital energy in the body4 ,you should acquire control over your passions and appetites4 ,the energy generated in your body should not be drawn off at the lower end of your being1 but should be transmuted into creative activity mentally and spiritually4 ,get a clean body1 first4 ,you can get it by fasting1 breathing and exercise4 ,,fasting ,,and ,,self-,,control4 ,if you feel heavy in body and brain1 if you feel mentally sluggish it is a sure indication that your system is clogged with waste matter1 due to partial or total inactivity of the physical channels of elimination4 ,you have been indulging in high living and gluttony or you have been indulging in physical gratifications and have thus exhausted the vital fibres of your body4 ,perhaps you have drunk very little water which is nature's demand for cleaning the vessels of the body4 ,perhaps you have exercised little and thus the supply of oxygen required for burning off carbon and energising the blood has been rather limited4 ,mental depression1 'weak nerves1' melancholy1 despair1 fear1 lack of concentration and lots of other mental weakness are due to a clogging of the system with accumulated refuse4 ,in brief1 the following are a few of the benefits derivable from scientific fasting3--7#a7 ,it gives nature a chance to ,clean ,up4 ,the day of fasting is a day of physical house cleaning4 7#b7 ,like the galvanic battery the body recuperates its energies4 ,strength is invariably restored to one's powers of digestion after a careful fast4 ,no case of dyspepsia1 constipation1 etc41 there is1 but can benefit or be totally and radically cured by fasting4 ,fasting will increase powers of assimilation1 quicken hunger1 purify and strengthen the nerves and raise your health in all ways4 7#c7 ,by gaining control over appetite you gain control over your lower nature4 ,it is a splendid drill for your ,will4 ,you shall gain in spiritual strength4 ,you shall grow positive to your flesh and its cravings4 ,jesus ,christ fasted for #dj days in order to prepare himself to face his great trial and temptation4 ,our ,yogis are all great fasters4 ,,how ,,to ,,fast4 ,don't undertake too much4 ,if you have never observed a fast begin with a #bd hour fast4 ,drink at least #e1 if possible1 #h tumblers of pure water at frequent intervals slowly4 ,keep yourself gently active and occupied the whole day1 mentally and physically4 ,you may feel a feeling of faintness1 all-goneness and an irresistible craving for food4 ,these are mischievous pranks of a cultivated and pampered and artificial appetite4 ,drink water slowly but don't give your body anything else4 ,always keep before yourself the distinction between the regal ,i--am--,i the soul and the carnal1 sensating animal known as the body4 ,the great point of achievement during a fast lies in thinking high thoughts and forgetting the demands of the flesh4 ,don't think of your fast4 ,if you do think say to yourself this is to develop my will4 ,breathe plenty of fresh air4 ,exercise gently and walk4 ,i have seen educated men afraid to go out for a walk during a day's religious fast lest they should feel hungry4 ,o shame6 ,you can't control a little hunger6 ,you should bathe daily thoroughly early in the morning1 fast or no fast4 ,and don't be afraid4 ,man liveth not by bread alone but by very word that proceeds from the mouth of ,god--said ,christ4 ,starvation may kill off your body but not fasting4 ,deny the power of all disease and weakness over yourself4 ,your mind is master of your body4 ,assert this mental control4 ,lastly1 during a fast1 your body is sensitive to your suggestions4 ,fill your mind with incessant affirmations of courage4 ,think courage1 say courage1 act courage4 ,take time by the forelock4 ,force your suggestions upon body and brain right now4 ,,how ,,to ,,break ,a ,,fast4 ,when breaking a fast1 be sure to control re-action4 ,eat very lightly and only sensible food4 ,now that you have a clean body1 stay clean ,you can train yourself to fast for #dj days at a stretch4 ,,transmuting ,,sex-,,energy4 ,here is some sensible advice from a leading thinker and teacher3 ,to be a perfect ,bramhacharin 7a regenerate74 #a4 ,you must have a clean1 healthy body2 #b4 ,good breathing capacity and some control over same2 #c4 ,a strong will such as can move body and mind2 #d4 ,assiduous cultivation of the intellectual side2 #e4 ,control over emotions2 #f4 ,a fearless mind2 #g4 ,great determination2 #h4 and abstemious living and high thinking4 ,the ,yogis possess great knowledge regarding the use and abuse of the reproductive principle in both sexes4 ,some hints of this esoteric knowledge have filtered out and have been used by ,western writers on the subject1 and much good has been accomplished in this way4 ,in this little book we cannot do more than touch upon the subject1 and omitting all except a bare mention of theory1 we will give a practical breathing exercise whereby the student will be enabled to transmute the re-productive energy into vitality for the entire system1 instead of dissipating and wasting it in lustful indulgence in or out of the marriage relations4 ,the reproductive energy is creative energy1 and may be taken up by the system and transmuted into strength and vitality1 thus serving the purpose of regeneration instead of generation4 ,if the young men of the ,western world understood these underlying principles they would be saved much misery and unhappiness in after years1 and would be stronger mentally1 morally and physically4 ,this transmutation of the reproductive energy gives more vitality to those practising it4 ,they will be filled with great vital force1 which will radiate from them and will manifest in what has been called personal magnetism4 ,the energy thus transmuted may be turned into new channels and used to great advantage4 ,nature has condensed one of its most powerful manifestations of prana into productive energy1 as its purpose is to create4 ,the greatest amount of vital force is concentrated in the smallest area4 ,the re-productive organism is the most powerful storage factory in animal life1 and its force can be drawn upward and used1 as well as expended in the ordinary functions of reproduction1 or wasted in vicious lust4 ,the majority of our students know something of the theories of regeneration1 and we can do little more than to state the above facts1 without attempting to prove them4 ,the ,yogi exercise for transmuting re-productive energy is simple4 ,it is coupled with rhythmic breathing1 and can be easily performed4 ,it may be practised at any time1 but is especially recommended when one feels the instinct more strongly1 at which time the re-productive energy is manifesting and may be most easily transmuted for regenerative purpose4 ,the exercise is as follows3-- ,keep the mind fixed on the idea of energy1 and away from ordinary sexual thoughts and imaginings4 ,if these thoughts come into the mind do not be discouraged1 but regard them as manifestations of a force which you intend using for the purpose of strengthening the body and mind4 ,lie passively or sit erect1 and fix your mind on the idea of drawing the re-productive energy upward to the ,solar ,plexus1 where it will be transmuted and stored away as a reserve force of vital energy4 ,then breathe rhythmically1 forming the mental image of drawing up the re-productive energy with each inhalation4 ,with each inhalation make a command of the ,will that the energy be drawn upward from the re-productive organisation to the ,solar ,plexus4 ,if the rhythm is fairly established and the mental image is clear1 you will be conscious of the upward passage of the energy1 and will feel its stimulating effect4 ,if you desire an increase in mental force1 you may draw it up to the brain instead of to the ,solar ,plexus1 by giving the mental command and holding the mental image of the transmission to the brain4 ,the man or woman doing mental creative work1 or bodily creative work will be able to use this creative energy in their work by following the above exercise1 drawing up the energy with the inhalation and sending it forth with the exhalation4 ,in this last form of exercise only such portions as are needed in the work will pass into the work being done1 the balance remaining stored up in the ,solar ,plexus4 ,you will understand1 of course1 that it is not the reproductive fluids which are drawn up and used1 but the etheric prana energy which animates the latter1 the soul of the reproductive organism1 as it were4 ,it is usual to allow the head to bend forward easily and naturally during the transmuting exercise4 ,practise this ,breathing ,exercise sturdily4 ,be heroic4 ,learn to make #ajj ,pranayams at a sitting1 but do not rush things4 ,deep breathing exercise1 ,will-,culture1 regular ,meditation and a clean normal mode of living when combined with much thinking will surely awaken your ,latent ,powers4 ,be not worried if progress be a bit slow at first4 ,keep up cheerful and work patiently4 ,things cannot but come your way if you don't give up but preserve to the last4 ,have infinite and unbounded faith in yourself4 ,and1 lastly1 if you want to grow space in ,wisdom and ,power1 persevere in deep breathing4 ,pranayam is the key to all spiritual success4 ,spirituality is fullness of ,breath4 ,almost all forms or ,mental and physical weakness are due to imperfect and shallow breathing4 ,of all these instructions you practise nothing but the ,breathing ,exercise1 your gain shall be great but in order to get all the results you must practise all the instructions regularly and methodically4 ,your sex-force is under the direction of your sub-conscious mind which is quite amenable to your authoritative suggestions4 ,get control through your sub-consciousness4 ,all you have to do is to let it to do its own work without adverse and negative suggestions and fear-thoughts4 ,say ,no vigorously to all adverse thoughts and shake them off from you4 ,all health comes by letting nature alone4 ,,breathing ,,exercise4 ,find a quiet place as far as possible1 where the air is pure and the surroundings soothing and pleasant4 ,after a bath or a thorough rubbing of the body from top to toe1 with a wet towel1 on an empty stomach1 take this exercise3 ,send a current of holy thought to everyone1 on planes seen and unseen1 north and south1 east and west1 engage in meditation--take anyone of the meditation exercises you like4 ,when you are perfectly calm and relaxed1 seat yourself cross-legged1 assuming any posture that comes easiest to you1 with head1 neck and chest held in a straight line and the weight of the upper parts of the body resting on ribs4 ,keep the region about the waist quite free4 ,loosen the cloth there out and out4 ,now inhale air slowly and steadily through right nostril after closing left nostril with your finger as long as it takes to count sixteen mentally4 ,close both nostrils1 holding the inspired air within and count sixty-four4 ,then very slowly exhale the air through the left nostril for as long as it takes to count thirty-two4 ,you must begin with a #d second inhalation1 #af second retention and #h second exhalation4 ,instead of dry counting you might improve yourself decidedly by repeating the word ,fearless as many times holding mentally that dominant idea back of the word4 ,practise #e pranayamas mornings and evenings for one week daily4 ,increase to #aj next week4 ,work up to #bj4 ,go slowly4 ,practise as long as you like1 but not less than #f months4 ,be serious and earnest4 ,this is not for non-serious minds4 ,this exercise will augment digestive power1 steady heart-action1 make the body light and the mind calm4 ,it shall help also miraculously in your ,soul-,unfoldment4 ,during this practice be pure in all ways4 ,observe ,bramhacharya4 ,practice mental concentration and spiritual meditation4 ,don't talk much with others4 ,don't encourage any but holy society4 ,don't sleep much4 ,don't work very hard4 ,keep your emotions well-in-hand4 ,be always engaged mentally and physically4 ,be hopeful and cheerful4 ,never encourage negative thinking4 ,it shall do wonders for you4 ,,physical ,,exercise4 ,exercise ,no4 #a4 ,stand straight1 facing a corner of the room with bare feet about #ad or #ae inches from the corner itself1 arms straight out1 even with shoulders or perhaps two inches below1 hands resting on the two-side walls1 chest out1 abdomen in4 ,now lean forward towards the corner1 without moving the feet or bending the knees4 ,aim lightly to touch the corner with the chest1 while holding the head and abdomen as far back from the corner as possible1 arms and hands slipping forward on the walls in a straight line with shoulders4 ,resume first position without moving the feet or lowering the arms1 and repeat4 ,make the forward movement slowly1 at the same time inhaling through nostrils a slow1 full breath2 put your whole effort into stretching the chest forward and upward 7careful not to bruise yourself against wall7 and head and abdomen backward1 thus straightening the back at the shoulders4 ,hold the chest to the corner a moment1 holding the breath likewise1 then slowly resume original upright position1 slowly exhaling through slightly open lips at the same time bending the head forward towards the chest4 ,as you lean forward toward the corner1 mentally keep count of your exercise one1 two1 three1 etc4 ,as you resume the upright position1 exhaling and bending the head forward mentally1 affirm ,i am fearless1 pure1 strong4 ,make these movements always slowly1 deliberately1 with the closest attention4 ,begin with #e or #f movements and raise to #bj at a time4 ,exercise ,no4 #b4 ,stand straight about two feet from the wall4 ,place the palms on the wall-level with the shoulders4 ,without moving the feet or bending the body1 lean forward slowly1 inhaling slowly as you do so1 until the chest touches the wall1 head back2 then push yourself slowly to an upright position slowly exhaling as you do so4 ,repeat #aj times or more4 ,exercise ,no4 #c4 ,clasp the hands behind4 ,as you slowly inhale extend the clasped hand slowly downwards as far as possible1 straightening arms at elbow and lowering shoulders as much as possible1 at the same time extending and lifting the chest as far as you can4 ,hold the breath and the position a moment only1 shoulders down1 chest out and up1 abdomen in1 then release the hand and slowly exhale4 ,a rather vigorous exercise4 ,so go slowly4 ,exercise ,no4 #d4 ,stand straight1 arms extended even with the shoulders1 head up2 tense muscles of right arm doubling slowly at elbow and hand only1 until the clenched fist touches the shoulders2 at the same time tensing the neck muscles1 chin up1 and turning the head slowly to face the clenched fist4 ,repeat with the left arm4 ,the arms from shoulder to elbow must be kept in a horizontal position4 ,exercise ,no4 #e4 ,stand straight1 hands at sides4 ,bend as far over to the right as possible1 slowly2 then to the left as far as possible4 ,repeat #aj times4 ,exercise ,no4 #f4 ,stand straight1 arms at sides4 ,lean as far forward as you can without bending the knees and roll the body clear around in a circle to the right1 arms and body as limp as possible4 ,repeat #e times4 ,then roll five times to the left4 ,exercise ,no4 #g4 ,stand straight4 ,extend arms easily in front4 ,wave them backwards and upwards in a sort of reversed swimming movement1 until they meet overhead2 at the same time bending backward as far as possible slowly inhale a full breath4 ,now bend forward1 exhaling breath1 taking care not to bend the knees1 until your fingers touch your toes1 head hanging as low as possible1 toes and head as limp as possible1 fingers reaching towards the floor4 ,repeat upright position4 ,keep the knees straight throughout4 ,aim to stretch the entire body and hands upward and backward as far as possible1 with the upward motion of the arms4 ,if you can't touch the floor without bending the knees1 just come as near it as you can4 ,practice will limber you up until you can touch it4 ,exercise ,no4 #h4 ,lie full length on the back of the floor1 hands clasped under head4 ,tense the muscles of the right leg1 raising the knee slowly until it touches or almost touches the body1 at the same time bending the foot downward as far as possible1 stretching the toes towards the floor4 ,now slowly lower the right leg1 still tense1 towards the floor1 straightening the knee and turning the toe upward towards the body4 ,as the right leg is being lowered1 raise the left one upward in the same way tensing the muscles1 knee to chest1 toes stretching upward2 as the left leg goes down1 point the toes and foot toward the knee #e times1 increasing gradually to #aj times4 ,,physical ,,exercises4 ,,series #b4 ,exercise ,i4 7#a7 ,extend the arms straight out in front of you1 on the level of the shoulder1 with palms of the hand touching each other2 7#b7 swing back the hands until the arms stand out straight1 sideways1 from the shoulders or even a little further back if they will go there easily without forcing2 return briskly to position #a1 and repeat several times4 ,the arms should be swung with a rapid movement and with animation and life4 ,do not go to sleep over the work or rather play4 ,this exercise is most useful in developing the chest1 muscles of the shoulders1 etc4 ,in swinging the hands backward1 it is an improvement if you will rise on your toe during the backward sweep2 sinking on your heels as you move the arms forward again4 ,the repeated movements should be rhythmical1 backward and forward1 like the swinging of a quick pendulum4 ,exercise ,,ii4 7#a7 ,extend the arms straight in front of you1 letting the little fingers of each hand touch each other1 the palms being upward2 7#b7 then keeping the little fingers still touching1 bring the hands straight up in a curved circular movement1 until the tips of the fingers of both hands touch the top of the head back of the forehead1 the backs of the fingers touching1 the elbows swinging out as the movement is made until 7when the fingers touch the head1 with thumbs pointing the rear7 they point out straight sideways2 7#c7 let the fingers rest on the top of the head a moment1 and then with the elbows pressing back 7which forces the shoulders back7 force the arms backward with an oblique motion until they reach the sides at full length1 as in the standing position4 ,exercise ,,iii4 7#a7 ,extend the arms straight out1 sideways1 from the shoulders2 7#b7 then1 still keeping the upper arms extended in same position1 bend the arms at the elbow and bring the forearm upward with a circular movement1 until the tips of the extended fingers lightly touch the tops of the shoulders2 7#c7 then with fingers in the last position1 force the elbows out to the front until they touch1 or nearly go 7a little practice will enable you to touch them together72 7#d7 then1 keeping the fingers still lightly touching the tops of the shoulders1 swinging the elbows as far back as you can get them4 7,a little practice will enable you to get them much farther back than at the first attempt47 7,s7 ,swing the elbows to the front position and then back to the rear position1 several times4 ,exercise ,,iv4 7#a7 ,place the hands on the hips1 thumbs to the rear1 and elbows pressed back2 7#b7 bend the body forward1 from the hips as far as you can1 keeping the chest protruding and the shoulders pressed back2 7#c7 raise the body to the original standing position 7hands still at the hips7 and then bend backward4 ,in these movements the knees should not be bent and the motions should be made slowly and gently2 7#d7 then 7hands still on the hips7 bend gently to the right1 keeping the heels firmly on the ground1 knees unbent and avoid twisting the body2 7#e7 resume original position1 and then bend the body gently to the left1 observing the precautions given in the last movement4 ,this exercise is somewhat fatiguing and you should be careful not to overdo it at the start4 ,proceed gradually2 7#f7 with hands in same position on the hips1 swing the upper part of the body around in a circle1 from the waist-up1 the head describing the largest circle1 of course4 ,do not move the feet or bend the knees4 ,exercise ,v4 7#a7 ,standing erect1 with hands on hips1 raise yourself on the balls of the feet several times1 with sort of a springing motion4 ,pause a moment after you have raised upon your toes1 then let the heels sink to the floor1 then repeat1 as above suggested4 ,keep the knees unbent and the heels together4 ,this exercise is specially beneficial in developing the calf of the leg1 and will make it sure the first few times it is tried4 ,if you have an undeveloped calf here is the exercises for you2 7#b7 with hands still on hips place your feet about two feet apart1 and then cover the body into a squatting position1 pausing a moment and then resuming original position4 ,repeat several times1 but not too often at the first1 as it will make the thighs feel a little sore at the beginning4 ,this exercise will give one well developed thighs4 ,this last movement may be improved upon by sinking down with the weight resting upon the balls of the foot1 instead of upon the heel4 ,exercise ,,vi4 7#a7 ,stand erect with hands on hips2 7#b7 keeping the knee straight1 swing the right leg out about fifteen inches 7keeping the toe turned a little out and the sole flat7--then swing back to the rear until the toe points straight to the ground1 keeping the knee stiff all the time2 7#c7 repeat the swinging backward and forward several times2 7#d7 then do the same with the left leg2 7#e7 with hands still on hips1 raise the right leg up1 bending the knee1 until the upper-leg 7thigh7 stands straight out from the body 7if you can raise it still higher1 you may do so72 7#f7 place your foot again on the ground1 and go through the same motion with the left leg2 7#g7 repeat several times1 first one leg and then the other1 moving slowly at first and gradually increasing your speed until you are executing a slow trot without moving from the over spot4 ,exercise ,,vii4 7#a7 ,stand erect1 with the arms extended straight in front of you1 from the shoulders1 and of course on a level with the shoulders--the palms must be down1 fingers straight out1 thumbs folded under and the thumb side of hands touching each other2 7#b7 bend the body forward from the hips1 stooping forward as far as possible and at the same time swing the arms forward with a sweeping movement1 sending them down1 backward and upward at the back1 so that when the body has reached the limit of the bending forward movement the arms are extended back and over the body--keep the arms stiff and do not bend the knees2 7#c7 resume standing position and repeat several times4 ,exercise ,,viii4 7#a7 ,extend the arms straight1 sideways1 from the shoulder and hold them there stiff and rigid with hands open2 7#b7 close the hands forcibly with a quick motion1 pressing the fingers well into the palm2 7#c7 open the hands forcibly and quickly1 spreading out the fingers and thumbs as widely as possible forming a fan shaped hand2 7#d7 close and open the hands as above stated1 several times1 as rapidly as possible4 ,put life into the exercise4 ,this is a splendid exercise for developing the muscles of the hand and for acquiring manual dexterity4 ,exercise ,,ix4 7#a7 ,lie upon your stomach1 extending your arms above your head and then bowed upward and your legs stretched out full length and raised backward and upward4 ,the correct position may be carried in the mind by imagining a watch--crystal or a saucer resting on the table on its middle1 with both ends turning upward2 7#b7 lower and raise the arms and legs1 several times2 7#c7 then turn over on your back and lie extended at full length1 with arms extended straight out upwards over the head1 with back of fingers touching the ground2 7#d7 then raise up both legs from the waist until they stand straight up in the air1 like the mast of a ship1 your upper-body and arms remaining in the last position named4 ,lower the legs and raise them several times2 7#e7 resume position #c1 lying flat upon the back at full with arms extended straight out upward1 over the head1 with backs of fingers touching the ground2 7#f7 then gradually raise body to sitting position1 with arms projecting straight in front of the shoulders4 ,then go back gradually to the lying down position1 and repeat the raising and lowering several times2 7#g7 then turn over on the face and stomach again and assume the following position3--,keeping the body rigid from head to foot1 raise your body until its weight rests upon your palms 7the arms being stretched out straight in front of you7 at one end1 and upon your toes at the other end4 ,then gradually bend arms at the elbow1 allowing your chest to sink to the floor2 then raise up your chest and upper-body by straightening out your arms1 the entire weight falling upon the arms1 with the toes as a pivot--this last is a difficult motion1 and should not be overdone at first4 ,exercise ,x4 ,this exercise is for those troubled with a too large abdomen1 which trouble is caused by too much fat gathering there4 ,the abdomen may be materially reduced by a reasonable indulgence in this exercise--but always remember moderation in all things and do not overdo matters1 or be in too much of a hurry4 ,here is the exercise3 7#a7 exhale the breath 7breathe out all the air in the lungs1 without straining yourself too much7 and then draw the abdomen in and up as far as you can1 then hold for a moment and let it resume its natural position4 ,repeat a number of times and then take a breath or two and rest a moment4 ,repeat several times1 moving it in and out4 ,it is surprising how much control one may gain over these stubborn muscles with a little practice4 ,this exercise will not only reduce the fatty layers over the abdomen1 but will also greatly strengthen the stomach muscles4 7#b7 ,give the abdomen a good but not rough kneading and rubbing4 ,exercise ,,xi4 ,the exercise is as follows3--,follow it carefully4 7#a7 stand erect1 with heels together1 toes slightly pointed outward2 7#b7 raise the arms up by the sides 7with a circular movement7 until the hands meet over the head1 thumbs touching each other2 7#c7 keeping the knees stiff2 the body rigid2 the elbows unbent2 7and shoulders bent well back as the movement is made72 bring down the hands1 slowly1 with a sideway circular motion1 until they reach the sides of the legs the little finger and the inner-edge 7the chopping-edge7 of the hand alone touching the legs1 and palms of the hands facing straight to the front4 ,the shoulder gets the right position by touching the little finger of each hand to the seam of the trousers4 7#d7 ,repeat several times1 slowly remember4 ,with the hands in the last position1 having been placed there by the motion stated1 it is very difficult for the shoulders to warp forward4 ,the chest is projected a little2 the head is erect2 neck is straight1 the back straight and hollowed a little 7the natural position72 and the knees are straight4 ,in short1 you have a fine1 erect carriage--now keep it4 ,,seven ,,minor ,,breathing ,,exercises4 ,exercise ,i4 7#a7 ,stand erect with hands at sides4 7#b7 ,inhale complete breath4 7#c7 ,raise the arms slowly1 keeping them rigid until the hands touch over head4 7#d7 ,retain the breath a few minutes with hands over head4 7#e7 ,lower hands slowly to sides exhaling slowly at the same time4 7#f7 ,practise cleansing breath4 ,exercise ,,ii4 7#a7 ,stand erect with arms straight in front of you4 7#b7 ,inhale complete breath and retain4 7#c7 ,swing arms back as far as they will go2 then back to first position2 then repeat several times1 retaining the breath all the while4 7#d7 ,exhale vigorously through mouth4 7#e7 ,practise cleansing breath4 ,exercise ,,iii4 7#a7 ,stand erect with arms straight in front of you4 7#b7 ,inhale complete breath4 7#c7 ,swing arms around in a circle1 backward1 a few times4 ,then reverse a few times retaining the breath all the while4 ,you may vary this by rotating them alternately like the sails of a wind-mill4 7#d7 ,exhale the breath vigorously through the mouth4 7#e7 ,practise cleansing breath4 ,exercise ,,iv4 7#a7 ,lie on the floor with your face downward1 and palms of hands flat upon the floor by your sides4 7#b7 ,inhale complete breath and retain4 7#c7 ,stiffen the body and raise yourself up by the strength of your arms until you rest on your hands and toes4 7#d7 ,then lower yourself to original position4 ,repeat several times4 7#e7 ,exhale vigorously through the mouth4 7#f7 ,practise cleansing breath4 ,exercise ,v4 7#a7 ,stand erect with your palms against the wall4 7#b7 ,inhale complete breath and retain4 7#c7 ,lower the chest to the wall1 resting your weight on your hands4 7#d7 ,then raise yourself back with the arm muscles alone1 keeping the body stiff4 7#e7 ,exhale vigorously through the mouth4 7#f7 ,practise cleansing breath4 ,exercise ,,vi4 7#a7 ,stand erect with arms akimbo that is with hands resting around the waist and elbows standing out4 7#b7 ,inhale complete breath and retain4 7#c7 ,keep legs and hips stiff and bend well forward1 as if bowing1 at the same time exhaling slowly4 7#d7 ,return to first position and then take another complete breath4 7#e7 ,then bend backward exhaling slowly4 7#f7 ,return to first position and take a complete breath4 7#g7 ,then bend sideways exhaling slowly 7vary by bending to right and then to left74 7#h7 ,practise cleansing breath4 ,exercise ,,vii4 7#a7 ,stand erect or sit erect with straight spinal column4 7#b7 ,inhale a complete breath but instead of inhaling on a continuous steady stream1 take a series of short1 quick sniffs as if you were smelling aromatic salts and ammonia and did not wish to get too strong a whiff4 ,do not exhale any of these little breaths1 but add one to the other until the entire lung space is filled4 7#c7 ,retain for a few seconds4 7#d7 ,exhale through the nostrils in a long restful breath4 7#e7 ,practise cleansing breath4 ,,when ,,you ,,are ,,in ,,training4 ,do not attempt to take all the above exercises at one and the same time4 ,take them several times in the day4 ,never exercise immediately after a meal or before it4 ,do not try to force development as you will be apt to suffer from re-action4 ,slow and steady wins the race4 ,gentle and persistent exercises are advisable4 ,that will lead to permanent development4 ,,effect ,,of ,,mind ,,and ,,body4 ,it has been proved conclusively even on the physical plane that a a ,man thinketh in his heart so is he4 ,the great thing to avoid is ,fear and ,worry thoughts4 ,these and all other undesirable thoughts are due to bad health partially but it is even a greater truth that physical degeneration is due to bad thinking4 ,fear affects the heart4 ,during epidemics such as plague1 cholera1 etc41 you generally first project the deadly germs of ,fear-,thoughts upon yourself and thus by weakening your mind you weaken your body and expose yourself to disease influence4 ,again1 if you have some hereditary disease and if you accept adverse suggestions from ignorant people and keep telling yourself that such and such a disease has taken shelter in you and your body as its fixed abode you simply hasten your own end4 ,the body and mind are interrelated4 ,thoughts materialize themselves in your body4 ,you should get as far away from the idea of disease and old age and weaknesses as possible and hold the health-thoughts steadily before your mind4 ,the only way in which to be quite immune from ,disease is to ,deny the ,power of ,disease on yourself4 ,say ,i cannot be ill1 ,i will not admit disease4 ,health and strength are in the unyielding will4 ,de-hypnotise yourself of that superstition that ,god sends disease4 ,your body is yours to control and keep healthy4 ,god will give you--7,he has already given you rather7--the ,power to control your body4 ,remember always2 you alone can save yourself4 ,all ,power and ,wisdom are potentially resident in you4 ,have confidence and set that thing in motion1 exercise it constantly and persistently and it shall grow and unfold4 ,god is in you and you are in ,god4 ,when you pray you are simply1 although often unconsciously1 helping that ,latent ,power to uncoil itself4 ,remember again3 ,god will grant you the opportunity1 the means1 the wisdom1 the ability to accomplish a thing1 but ,you ,shall ,have to do the work yourself4 ,hence1 you see1 the illumined mind is quite necessary for perfect health4 ,get rid of all weak thoughts4 ,have a strong mind4 ,remember lastly3 ,,mind ,,acts ,,upon ,,body ,,in ,,all ,,ways4 ,make your mind positive to your body4 ,i have told you how to do so4 ,physical exercise plus ,mental ,exercise will put you on the road to ,power and ,poise4 ,and side by side with this follow health-laws4 ,but bear in mind that if you assert your power on your mind and body confidentially1 they cannot but obey your commands4 ,the body has an intelligence of its own4 ,this intelligence knows its work perfectly4 ,it is what you call ,instinct4 ,it digests your meals2 assimilates and eliminates2 repairs wastes2 works the heart and controls the circulation2 heals wounds and presides over all other natural and involuntary processes in the body4 ,this ,instinctive mind knows its work perfectly4 ,but1 mark you1 this intelligence in the cells and nerve-centres of your body is negative to the ,central ,intelligence in the brain--the controlling centre--the ,i ,am and is affected by suggestions1 beliefs and thoughts in your brain4 ,all you have got to do is to avoid projecting negative thoughts from your mind and let it alone4 ,but suppose you have by violation of the ,laws of ,nature disturbed the action of the ,instinctive ,mind1 disease results4 ,disease is simply the effect of nature to throw off unnatural conditions and re-assert natural conditions4 ,in such a case all you have got to do is to re-establish natural states4 ,you can do so by simply increasing the general vitality of the body and by changing your ,mental ,attitude4 ,for instance1 if you somehow or other have accepted the belief that your stomach is weak or your heart is weak or your liver is slow or your circulation is bad or your vitality is low1 etc41 your instinctive ,mind will take up your ,beliefs and work them out in no time physically4 ,the ,instinctive ,mind--which is the same as the sub-conscious ,mind working in the body--never reasons4 ,it is on the plane of ,automatism4 ,therefore1 if you have done any such negative thinking your first step is to wipe out these noxious mental weeds by the ,positive ,denial4 ,say ,no1 ,no1 ,no1 my body is strong2 my stomach is strong1 my heart is strong1 etc4 ,in this form of suggestion you use positive ,denial as well as ,positive ,affirmation4 ,the former is destructive of evil if rightly applied1 the latter is constructive of good4 ,belief and confident expectation are mighty forces4 ,be sure you apply them wisely4 ,the power of mind over matter is supreme and a ,proven ,reality4 ,,reserve ,,force4 ,here ,i should like to draw your attention to the ,reserve ,power existing in your body4 ,of course there are soul-powers existing potentially within ,,you which leap into brilliant expression as you succeed in developing and expanding your brain to a state of perfect responsiveness to the touch of your will4 ,for really and truly your will1 forming as it does the divine part of yourself1 is always strong and must unfold as a rose by exercising itself1 in the field of matter1 force and mind2--all of which are subordinate to ,,you and the real aim of human evolution is actually to place in your hands the wand of power4 ,what is within your body is sure to find its correspondent outside in ,nature4 ,control nature inside and you will move as a master out in this universe4 ,now without going into details let me tell you--if you do not know it already--that mind is the finest form of matter1 and matter the grossest form of mind1 and there is a constant interaction between the two poles4 ,but since mind represents the positive end and matter the negative1 the former can dominate the latter4 ,you can evoke states of consciousness by applying stimulus to the periphery and again mental states evoke corresponding vibrations in the cellular life of body and brain4 ,hence you see your mind controls and forms your body4 ,also your body reacts upon your brain and affects that part of your mind which has to operate through the brain1 which is matter pure and simple4 ,so to keep aright the polarities of your brain and body a constant adjustment of forces is needed and thus you can establish ,,poise4 ,in order always to be in a state of perfect health two things are necessary4 ,deny the power of disease over yourself4 ,in the unyielding will is health4 ,in the weak1 vacillating1 fearful mind is disease and death4 ,at the same time always be in perfect magnetic trim with the physical laws of health4 ,a knowledge of the latter and the ascension of a fearless mental attitude will open up hitherto unrecognised channels of physical and mental expression4 ,physiological researches have led sincere investigators to the inevitable conclusion that there is subtle1 refined1 dynamic substance1 a reality that binds up the reorganization1 causes growth1 vitality and motion2 repairs injuries2 makes up losses2 overcomes and cures diseases4 ,von ,helment called it ,archeus2 ,stahl called it ,anima2 ,whytt called it the sentiment principle2 ,dr4 ,cullen called it ,caloric2 ,dr4 ,darwin called it ,sensorial energy2 ,rush called it ,occult cause2 and many other names such as ,vital ,principle1 ,living power1 ,conservative ,power1 ,odic ,force1 etc41 etc41 have been given to it4 ,we of ,india have recognised it and devised ,yoga methods for controlling it2 we call it ,prana and only in ,india do you come across men who possess pranic control or control over universal energy4 ,there exists in your physical organism reserve stores of vital energy stored away for your use1 particularly in that central ganglion of your vital battery known as the ,solar ,plexus and generally in the chain of ganglia or storage batteries along and up your spine and elsewhere in other nerve-centres4 ,the solar plexus is also known as the ,abdominal ,brain and your brain depends and draws upon this vital centre for its energies4 ,you will find after the prolonged concentration and brain-work that this part of your body--at the back of pit of stomach--becomes warm4 ,now when you engage in physical exercise1 for instance1 you must have noticed how at first you soon get tired and all done up4 ,but if you wait a little and then start again1 you will find how the sense of fatigue has quite passed away and you can run your body under full pressure for a very long time1 and the more you exert yourself the greater and more powerful the surging up of your vital energy4 ,with each new exertion you seem to acquire a fresh start4 ,this has puzzled physiologists4 ,you will find a parallel phenomenon in mental work4 ,you may experience a sense of weariness and fatigue in some brain-work which demands close thinking and attention1 but if you attack your work a little later after the first effort you will do your work a surprising degree of freshness1 vigour1 and enthusiasm far surpassing the original attempt4 ,again everyone can and does put forth universal energy under pressure of some urgent necessity1 which will startle even himself4 ,no matter who you are and what your physical condition1 there is an enormous amount of power in your body that has never been drawn upon at all and impatiently waiting for up-call4 ,we go on in ordinary dog trot pace1 resting1 limping1 taking care of our health1 and then we think we are doing our best4 ,do not permit your mind to be self-hypnotised into a false sense of being exhausted and old4 ,neither of them is a fact except in your thought of yourself4 ,all your powers are lying dormant4 ,all your latent energies are lying unused4 ,back of your conscious mentality are tremendous energies awaiting the pull of your will4 ,when your brain conceives of being something unusually great1 at least so it may appear from your view-point1 do not question your strength but go ahead unhesitatingly1 fearlessly and steadily4 ,assert your life-force4 ,feel that you are young1 strong and healthy and fit4 ,live in mental consciousness of power and never think of weakness4 ,keep your grip and run right along4 ,nature is sure to honor your draft4 ,nature is sure to give you strength1 energy and vim1 in boundless measure4 ,just try this my friends1 you1 who write me of there being a serious lack of vitality in your system and hence your inability to grapple with the occult4 ,no such thing4 ,fact is you lack courage and initiative1 pluck and go and you are labouring under the hypnotism of weakening thoughts4 ,just change your thoughts1 and your reserve forces will rush out into activity and you will be a changed man in no time4 ,,how ,,to ,,exercise4 ,in exercising aim at rhythm of motion4 ,let your movements be easy1 regular1 rhythmic and graceful4 ,take an interest in your work4 ,do pay attention4 ,put ,will-,power and ,mind into your work4 ,think of all it means4 ,do not fatigue yourself unduly4 ,after exercise towelling or a spray-bath is advisable4 ,wet your towel1 pass it over your body1 rubbing thoroughly4 ,raise the towel and repeat4 ,after exercise and towelling1 you should be in a splendid glow4 ,be sure to keep the windows open when exercising4 ,fresh air is an absolute necessity4 ,never mind about cold and so forth4 ,remember the ,positive ,denial will fill you with ,power of ,resistance4 ,say ,cold cannot affect my body and believe what you say4 ,you can face anything in this way and remain untouched4 ,,bathing ,,and ,,linen4 ,the student should bathe daily1 using plenty of water1 rubbing and cleaning the body from top to toe4 ,i myself bathe very early in the morning1 in all seasons1 in cold water4 ,cold water stimulates circulation and is a wonderful tonic internally and externally4 ,warm water is soothing and relaxing in its effect4 ,if you can bathe in the flowing water of a river1 so much the better4 ,swimming is a wonderful bracer1 besides being an enjoyment in itself4 ,there is ,prana in water and your body extracts this ,prana from air1 water and food4 ,i cannot give you instructions as to different forms of bathing1 as this is not a doctor book4 ,as far as possible bathe twice a day1 mornings and evenings2 if not1 once in the morning1 using the towel at other times4 ,bathing is not merely pouring water on body but cleansing it out and out with water rubbing and scrubbing with hands and towels4 ,aim at perfect cleanliness4 ,cleanliness is ,godliness and ,health is ,holiness4 ,then again while bathing if you let the water flow over your body and try to appreciate the sensation and dwell on the idea of ,prana-absorption from water1 you shall get double benefit4 ,about linen--,be neat1 for ,god's sake4 ,i have seen orthodox people who bathe twice and wash their hands hundreds of times in the day1 but whose clothes are sticky with dirt1 sweat and oil4 ,whatever else it may mean1 ,religion does not mean squalor1 offensive odours in body and clothes and general neglect of external clean linen and dirt4 ,the ,yogi is a man of supreme ,,refinement4 ,read that word and understand all it means4 ,the clothes you wear in day-time should not be worn at night4 ,be clean internally as well externally4 ,be clean4 ,be clean4 ,be clean1 within as well as without4 ,,drinking ,,water ,,and ,,swallowing ,,air4 ,your body needs a reasonable supply of water and air4 ,water is used by nature in different ways4 ,form the habit of drinking pure water from #e to #h tumblers a day4 ,drink slowly and form a mental image of ,prana-absorption from the water4 ,the student needs fresh air too in plenty4 ,if your heart and lungs are in sound condition they will draw in air naturally and extract oxygen in proper quantities4 ,if not1 perform the following exercises carefully one by one in the open air every day4 ,they are quite reliable4 ,,the ,,yogi ,,cleansing ,,breath4 7#a7 ,inhale a complete breath4 7#b7 ,retain the air a few seconds4 7#c7 ,pucker up the lips as if for a whistle 7but do not swell out the cheeks7 then exhale a little air through the opening with considerable vigor4 ,then stop for a moment retaining the air and then exhale a little more air4 ,repeat until the air is completely exhaled4 ,remember that considerable vigor is to be used in exhaling air through the opening in the lips4 ,this breath will be found quite refreshing when one is tired and generally used up4 ,a trial will convince the student of its merits4 ,this exercise should be practised until it can be performed naturally and easily1 as it is used to finish up a number of other exercises given in this book and it should be thoroughly understood4 ,,nerve ,,vitalising ,,breath4 7#a7 ,stand erect4 7#b7 ,inhale a complete breath and retain same4 7#c7 ,extend the arms straight in front of you1 letting them somewhat limp and relaxed1 with only sufficient nerve force to hold them out4 7#d7 ,slowly draw the hands back towards the shoulders gradually1 contracting the muscles and putting force into them1 so that when they reach the shoulders the fists will be so tightly clenched that a tremulous motion is felt4 7#e7 ,then keeping the muscles tense push the fists slowly out and then draw them back rapidly 7still tense7 several times4 7#f7 ,exhale vigorously through the mouth4 7#g7 ,practise the cleansing breath4 7#h7 ,the efficiency of this exercise depends greatly upon the speed of the drawing back of the fists1 and the tension of the muscles1 and1 of course upon the full lungs4 ,this exercise must be tried to be appreciated4 ,it is without equal as a bracer as our western friends put it4 ,,the ,,vocal ,,breath4 7#a7 ,inhale a complete breath very slowly1 but steadily1 through the nostrils1 taking as much time as possible in the inhalation4 7#b7 ,retain for a few seconds4 7#c7 ,expel the air vigorously in one great breath1 through the wide-opened mouth4 7#d7 ,rest the lungs by the cleansing breath4 ,this would give you a good1 rolling voice4 ,,the ,,retained ,,breath4 7#a7 ,stand erect4 7#b7 ,inhale a complete breath4 7#c7 ,retain the breath as long as you can comfortably4 7#d7 ,exhale vigorously through the open mouth4 7#e7 ,practise the cleansing breath4 ,at first you will be able to retain the breath only a short time1 but a little practise will also show a great improvement4 ,time yourself with a watch1 if you wish to note your progress4 ,,cell ,,stimulation4 7#a7 ,stand erect with hands in sides4 7#b7 ,breathe in very slowly and gradually4 7#c7 ,while inhaling1 gently tap the chest with the fingertips1 constantly changing position4 7#d7 ,when the lungs are filled1 retain the breath and the chest with the palms of the hands4 7#e7 ,practise the cleansing breath4 ,,rib ,,stretching4 7#a7 ,stand erect4 7#b7 ,place the hands one on each side of the body as high up in the armpits as convenient1 the thumbs reaching towards the back1 the palms on the side of the chest and the fingers to the front over the breast4 7#c7 ,inhale a complete breath4 7#d7 ,retain the air for a short time4 7#e7 ,then gently squeeze the sides at the same time slowly exhaling4 7#f7 ,practise the cleansing breath4 ,,chest ,,expansion 7#a7 ,stand erect4 7#b7 ,inhale a complete breath4 7#c7 ,retain the air4 7#d7 ,extend both arms forward and bring the two clenched fists together on a level with the shoulder4 7#e7 ,then swing back the fists vigorously until the arms stand out straight side-ways from the shoulders4 7#f7 ,then bring back to position 7#d7 and swing to position 7#e74 ,repeat several times4 7#g7 ,exhale vigorously through the open mouth4 7#h7 ,practise the cleansing breath4 ,,walking ,,exercise4 7#a7 ,walk with head up1 chin drawn slightly in1 shoulders back1 and with measured tread4 7#b7 ,inhale a complete breath1 counting 7mentally7 #a1 #b1 #c1 #d1 #e1 #f1 #g1 #h1 one count to each step making the inhalation extend over the eight counts4 7#c7 ,exhale slowly through the nostrils1 counting as before #a1 #b1 #c1 #d1 #e1 #f1 #g1 #h1 one count to a step4 7#d7 ,rest between breaths1 continuing1 walking and counting #a1 #b1 #c1 #d1 #e1 #f1 #g1 #h1 one count to a step4 7#e7 ,repeat until you begin to feel tired4 ,then rest for a while and resume at pleasure4 ,repeat several times a day4 ,you may vary the exercise by retaining the breath during a #a1 #b1 #c1 #d1 count and then exhale in an eight-step count4 ,practise whichever plan seems most agreeable to you4 ,,morning ,,exercise4 7#a7 ,stand erect in a military attitude1 head up1 eyes front1 shoulders back1 knees stiff1 hands at sides4 7#b7 ,raise body slowly on toes1 inhaling a complete breath1 steadily and slowly4 7#c7 ,retain the breath for a few seconds1 maintaining the same position4 7#d7 ,slowly sink the first position at the same time slowly exhaling the air through the nostrils4 7#e7 ,practise cleansing breath4 7#f7 ,repeat several times1 varying by using right leg alone1 then left leg alone4 ,,stimulating ,,circulation4 7#a7 ,stand erect4 7#b7 ,inhale a complete breath and retain4 7#c7 ,bend forward slightly and grasp a stick or cane steadily and firmly1 and gradually exerting your entire strength upon the grasp4 7#d7 ,relax the grasp1 return to first position1 and slowly exhale4 7#e7 ,repeat several times4 7#f7 ,finish with the cleansing breath4 7,n4 ,b4--,the above are from the ,yoga ,teachings47 ,,meditation ,,exercise ,no4 ,i4 ,retire into the silence4 ,say3 ,i ,,am ,,fearless4 ,concentrate calmly on that idea4 ,think it out in all its bearings4 ,see yourself in your mind's eye as possessing the desired quality and acting it out in actual life4 ,let your mind indulge in a good1 strongly-dramatized day-dream4 ,only insist upon its sticking to the particular text of thought and always showing you successful at the end4 ,finish up with a vigorous affirmation of the ,i am4 ,practise at the same hour daily for #f months at least4 ,exercise ,no4 ,,ii4 ,retire into the silence4 ,concentrate earnestly thus3 ,i send out strong1 positive1 healing thought-waves of love to all mankind4 ,let the disease-ridden become healthy4 ,let the weak become strong4 ,let the needy ones become prosperous and happy4 ,let the fearful ones become filled with courage4 ,let the cruel become kind and merciful4 ,let the hateful and hating ones become loving4 ,let the impure ones become pure4 ,let the bereaved1 deserted1 sorrow-stricken ones become soothed and comforted4 ,picture to yourself strong waves of ,thought-,force passing out of you and encircling the whole world4 ,picture the world as peopled with men and women manifesting the desired conditions4 ,the more friends sit together in union of will and soul concentrating as above-indicated the better4 ,practise alone if you can find no earnest and serious-minded ones to join you4 ,believe in your power to so help humanity4 ,the power of thought is unlimited4 ,in blessing others bless yourself4 ,the effect of this exercise will be far-reaching4 ,it shall follow and be a blessing to you even after death4 ,practise regularly at the same place and time as far as possible4 ,be earnest in your work4 ,do not talk of your exercises to others4 ,the above exercises will wonderfully develop and strengthen anyone who tries them4 ,the deep breathing exercise already given is known as ,pranayama or ,controlling the ,psychic ,breath4 ,its main purpose is to give you control over your ,prana and unfold the ,psychic ,force latent in you4 ,practised on an impure body and weak lungs it may do harm4 ,hence students are advised to undergo the above #aj breathing exercises first and then1 when their lungs have developed the power of endurance1 they should take that up4 ,it will take time1 patience1 and serious work4 ,but if the student is sufficiently energetic he will perfect all these exercises in six months4 ,but follow nature's plan and be slow and steady4 ,,diet4 ,you all know that pure food brings pure blood4 ,you should avoid the two extremes of gluttony and daily fasting and abstemiousness4 ,you should know 7#a7 ,what to eat 7#b7 ,how to eat 7#c7 ,when to eat4 ,concentrated food such as contains the maximum amount of nourishment in a minimum quantity should be used4 ,the student should study some reliable hand book on the relative values of food and use his judgment4 ,we ourselves use nuts1 milk1 fruits1 whole wheat bread1 rice in very small quantity1 pulse1 etc4 ,those who are non-meat eaters--and we advise it strongly--will do well to see to it that their menu has a good supply of albuminous food1 as vegetarians often run the risk of being overfed as to starch and underfed in nitrogenous foods4 7#b7 ,chew and masticate properly so as to extract the food-,prana in full and break up the food-substance into very small bits1 reducing it to pulp4 ,do not be in a hurry to bolt your food but let it linger in your mouth so as to be properly insalivated and so that the nerves of the tongue1 cheek1 etc41 may all absorb energy from food4 ,remember your stomach is not lined with rows of teeth4 ,this will give you double the nourishment you get ordinarily1 avoid constipation1 prevent malnutrition1 non-assimilation and over-eating4 ,out of a very small quantity of food you can extract perfect nourishment and thus you avoid loading and stuffing the stomach with unnecessary food4 ,it is also economical in case you are a thrifty soul6 ,eat to live4 ,don't live to eat4 7#c7 ,eat when you are hungry4 ,that cultivated appetite that craves for satisfaction at certain stated intervals of the day and brings on an all-gone fainting1 nauseating sensation in the stomach is not real hunger4 ,in real hunger there is absolutely no sensation in the stomach but there is a rich and continuous flow of saliva in the mouth and that sort of thing makes you enjoy the plainest of fares4 ,even a dry crust of bread will taste sweet as ,manna4 ,cut off your breakfasts4 ,drink cold water instead4 ,eat one good1 nourishing meal at #ab ,a4 ,m41 and one light meal in the evening4 ,lastly1 students1 let plain living and high thinking be your motto4 ,do not be afraid to eat when you are hungry and so long as you exercise and work with brain and body even two square meals a day are permissible4 ,do not grow ethereal and airy1 because then you will not amount to much in the world's work4 ,students1 who are perfect ,brahmacharies1 will not care half as much for lots of food as ordinary folk do4 ,a constant feeling of satisfaction and fullness is present in such4 ,but hard workers must never be under-nourished and they require more food than others4 ,,sleep4 ,it is the depth and relaxation in sleep that counts4 ,high-strung people find it hard to relax and keep tossing on their pillows4 ,bathe your feet in cold water in hot season and in cool water in cold season4 ,that will draw off the surplus blood gurgitating in your brain4 ,also bathe the nape of the neck4 ,the student should engage in meditation before falling to sleep1 as during sleep the ,man leaves the physical form and goes to super-physical planes and it is the last train of thought in your mind that determines and conforms you to the special super-physical influence you are to obtain4 ,the physical benefits too shall be great4 ,you will feel more rested in this way and your sleep will be sleeping a sounder and more refreshing sleep than otherwise4 ,one of the chief signs of success in ,mental and ,physical ,control is that your sleeps are undisturbed and peaceful4 ,during sleep you are in a passive1 relaxed condition and all sorts of unseen influences play around you4 ,it is good therefore to enclose yourself in an ,astral ,shell4 ,concentrate upon your aura and picture it as extending some #ah inches all around you and forming a shell around you4 ,now take this affirmation to concentrate your mind4 #a4 ,i am charging my aura with my ,will-,force4 #b4 ,it is strong1 strong1 strong and can and will resist1 repel and drive off all bad influences and admit only pure and holy influence4 #c4 ,it will remain around me right along the period of my sleep4 ,the student is advised to surround himself in this auric ,shell even when awake so that it may beat off all malign and harmful thought-forces4 ,as he grows in ,will-,power and ,self-,confidence1 a ,protective ,aura will form around him naturally and will be felt by others4 ,,relaxation ,,versus ,,contraction4 ,the student should learn to relax his body completely so that it shall lie still and limp and soft as cotton4 ,he should be able to tense and contract his muscles so that they will become hard as iron4 ,in all the physical exercises you will find two special actions 7#a7 ,muscle contraction 7#b7 ,stretching4 ,when you contract muscle and harden it1 you have sent currents of nerve-force and will to that part2 when you relax it1 you let go completely4 ,what we want is ,strength in ,repose ready to leap into action in the flash of an eye4 ,we have taught you how to relax in ,lesson #b on ,will-,force4 ,you all have noticed a cat crouching for its prey4 ,how intensely still it is2 yet you know what such stillness means4 ,it is very far from laziness4 ,relaxation husbands and conserves nerve-force4 ,it is a great thing to be calm and silent4 ,calmness is the centralization of tremendous power4 ,practise being calm1 as far as you can4 ,,solar ,,energy4 ,there is great electrical and thermal power in the sun's rays4 ,if the human body be properly exposed to the sun during the first five hours in the morning and the evening1 the body would absorb energy therefrom and gain in strength4 ,do not over do this1 especially you of the warm climate4 ,,last ,,word ,,on ,,health4 ,trust ,nature4 ,it is her office to keep your body-machine running in perfect order4 ,prevention is better than cure--they say4 ,observe the healthy man4 ,see how he lives and follow his example4 ,but note that body is yours to control and ,god will not do that work for you4 ,also get rid of the stupidity that ,god sends diseases4 ,think1 study and observe and you will know what ,health ,laws are4 ,,conclusion4 ,student1 ,i have indicated the lines along which you are to seek the way to ,spiritual ,independence4 ,i cannot run your life-affairs1 solve your life-problems1 do your work for you4 ,i have pointed out a few principles1 observe1 think and complete your knowledge4 ,you must climb the steps of the ladder of attainment and ,self-,perfection yourself4 ,fear is a great stumbling-block in the way4 ,fight it down4 ,starve it out4 ,be earnest4 ,be thorough4 ,live your life silently and earnestly4 ,give others a helping hand whenever you can without that patronising air of superiority so characteristic of the modern snobs passing for gentlemen4 ,be proud that you are an ,indian4 ,follow ,indian ideals of greatness4 ,consider it a privilege to help deserving souls4 ,we all need help1 encouragement and guidance to some extent4 ,co-operation1 interdependence are the basic foundations of human well-being4 ,be strong4 ,be manly4 ,be courageous4 ,be great and good4 ,take your place in the world's evolutionary progress and lend your hand in turning the wheel of life4 ,in the same measure that you help others1 shall you yourself be helped on all planes of life4 ,be reasonable4 ,be just and fair unto others4 ,be a source of blessing unto others4 ,so long as you labour under the vitiating influence of negative thoughts1 you cannot achieve much in any direction4 ,i have told you how you are to proceed4 ,may ,god bless you4 ,may he guide1 help and strengthen where ,i have failed4 ,,swami ,,mukerji4