CONTENTS
Publishers Note. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . v
The Universal Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii
LESSON
I. Yoga And Its Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. Yoga Sadhana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
III. Yogic Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
IV. Yogic Diet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
V. Obstacles in Yoga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
VI. Yoga-Asanas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
VII. Pranayama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
VIII. Concentration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
IX. Meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
X. Samadhi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
XI. The Serpentine Powers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
XII. Spiritual Vibrations And Aura . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
APPENDIX I
Daily Routine For Aspirants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
APPENDIX II
Yoga And Science. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
xii
Lesson I
YOGA AND ITS OBJECTS
Yoga Philosophy is one of the six systems of Hindu Philosophy which exist in India. Unlike
so many other philosophies of the world, it is a philosophy that is wholly practical. Yoga is an exact
science based on certain immutable Laws of Nature. It is well known to people of all countries of
the world interested in the study of Eastern civilisation and culture, and is held in awe and reverence
as it contains in it the master-key to unlock the realms of Peace, Bliss, Mystery and Miracle. Even
the philosophers of the West found solace and peace in this Divine Science. Jesus Christ himself
was a Yogi of a superior order, a Raja-Yogi indeed. The founder of the Yoga Philosophy was
Patanjali Maharshi, who was not only a Philosopher and a Yogi, but a Physician as well. He is said
to have lived about three hundred years before Jesus Christ.
Patanjali defines Yoga as the suspension of all the functions of the mind. As such, any book
on Yoga, which does not deal with these three aspects of the subject, viz., mind, its functions and
the method of suspending them, can he safely laid aside as unreliable and incomplete