Raja Yoga (the Yoga Sūtras with commentary) — trans. Swami Vivekananda (1896)

Certain regulations as to food are necessary ; we must use that food which brings us the purest mind. If yon go into a menagerie you will find this demonstrated at once. You see the elephants, huge animals, but calm and gentle ; and if you go toward the cages of the lions and tigers you find them restless, showing how much difference has been produced by food. All the forces that are working in this body have been produced out of food ; we see that every day. If you begin to fast, first your body will get weak, the physical forces will suffer ; then, after a few days, the mental forces will suffer also. First, memory will fail. Then comes a point, when youp. 1 are not able to think, much less to pursue any course of reasoning. We have, therefore, to take care what sort of food we eat at the beginning, and when we have got strength enough, when our practice is well advanced, we need not be so careful in this respect. While the plant is growing it must be hedged round, lest it be injured ; but when it becomes a tree the hedges are taken away : it is strong enough to withstand all assaults.

A Yogi must avoid the two extremes of luxury and austerity. He must not fast, or torture his flesh ; he who does so, says the Gito, cannot be a Yogi ; he who fasts ; he who keeps awake ; he who sleeps much ; he who works too much ; he who does no work ; none of these can be Yogis.

CHAPTER II.
THE FIRST STEPS.

Raja Yoga is divided into eight steps. The first is Yama — non-killing, truthfulness, non-stealing, continence, and non-receiving of any gifts. Next is Niyama — cleanliness, contentment, mortification, study, and self-surrender to God. Then comes Asana, or posture ; Pratyahara, or making the mind introspective ; Dharana, or concentration ; Dhyana, or meditation ; and Samadhi, or super-consciousness. The Yama and Niyama, as we see, are moral trainings ; without these as the basis no practice of Yoga will succeed. As these practices become established the Yogi will begin to realise the fruits of his practice ; without these it will never bear fruit. A Yogi must not think of injuring anyone, through thought, word or deed, and this applies not only to man, but to all animals. Mercy shall not be for men alone, but shall go beyond, and embrace the whole world.

The next step is Asana, posture ; a series of exercises, physical and mental, is to be gone through every day, until certain higher states are reached. Therefore it is quite necessary that we should find a posture in which

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we can remain long. That posture which is easiest for each one is the posture to use. For one man it may be very easy to think in a certain posture, but this ma\- be very difficult for another. We will find later on thai in the study of these psychological matters there will be a good deal of action going on in the body. Nerve currents will have to be displaced and given a new channel. New sorts of vibrations will begin, the whole constitution will be remodelled, as it were. But the main part of the action will lie along the spinal column, so that the one thing necessary for the posture is to hold the spinal column free, sitting erect, holding the three parts — the chest, neck, and head — in a straight line. Let the whole weight of the body be supported by the ribs. and then you have an easy natural posture, with the spine straight. Vou will naturally see that you cannot think very high thoughts with the chest in. 'I'his f)ortion of the Yoga is a little similar to the Hatha Yoga, which deals entirely with the physical body ; the aim of the latter is to make the physical body very strong. We have nothing to do with that here, because its practices are very difficult, and cannot be learned in a day, anil. after all, do not lead to any spiritual growth. Many of these practices you will find in Delsarte, and other teachers, such as placing the body in different postures, but the object in these is physical, not psychological. There is not one muscle in the body over which a man cannot establish a p>erfect control ; the heart can be made to stop or go on at his bidding, and. in the same