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

There have been cases where this process has been carried on at a distance, Init in reality there is no distance, in the sense of a break. Where is the distance that has a break ? Is there any break between you and the sun ? It is a continuous mass of matter, the sun the one part, and you the other. Is there a break between one part of a river and another ? Then why cannot any force travel ? There is no reason against it. Theso cases are perfectly true, and this PrSna can be transmitted to a very great distance ; but to one genuine ca.se. there are hundreds of frauds. It is not so easy as it is thought to be. In the most ordinary cases of this heal ing you will find that these healers are simply taking advantage of the naturally healthy state of the human l)ody. There is no disease in this world which kills the majority of persons attacked. Even in cholera epidemics, if for a few days sixty per cent, die, after that the rate comes down to thirty and twenty per cent., and the rest recover. An allopath comes and treats cholera patients, and gives them his medicines ; the homccopath comes

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and gives his medicine, and cures perhaps more, simply because the homoeopath did not disturb the patients, but allowed nature to deal with them ; and the faith-healer will cure more still, because he will bring the strength of his mind to bear, and rouses, through faith, the dormant Prana of the patient.

But there is a mistake constantly made by faithhealers ; they think that it is faith itself that directly heals a man. It alone will not cover all the ground. There are diseases where the worst symptoms are that the patient never thinks that he has that disease. That tremendous faith of the patient is itself one symptom of the disease, and usually indicates that he will die quickly. In such cases the principle that faith cures does not apply. If it were faith that cured in all these cases, these patients also would be cured. It is by this Prana that real curing comes. The pure man, who has controlled this Prana, has the power of bringing it into a certain state of vibration, which can be conveyed to others, arousing in them a similar vibration. You see that in every-day actions. I am talking to you. What am I trying to do ? I am, so to say, bringing my mind to a certain state of vibration, and the more I succeed in bringing it to that state, the more you will be affected by what I say. All of you know that the day I am more enthusiastic the more you enjoy the lecture, and when I am less enthusiastic you feel lack of interest.

The gigantic will powers of the world, the worldmovers, can bring their Prana into a high state of vibra-

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tion, and it is so great and powerful that it catches others in a moment, and thousands are drawn towards them, and half the world thinks as they do. Great prophets of the world had the most wonderful control of this Prana, which gave them tremendous will power ; they had brought their Prana to the highest state of motion, and this is what gave them power to sway the world. All manifestations of power arise from this control. Men may not know the secret, but this is the one explanation. Sometimes in your own body the supply of PrknzL gravitates more or less to one part ; the balance is disturbed, and when the balance of Pr^na is disturbed, what we call disease is produced. To take away the superfluous Prana, or to supply the Prana that is wanting, will be curing the disease. That again is Pranayama, to learn when there is more or less Prana in one part of the body than there should be. The feelings will become so subtle that the mind will feel that there is less Prana in the toe or the finger than there should be, and possess the power to supply it. These are among the various functions of Pranayama. They have to be learned slowly and gradually, and, as you sec, the whole scope of Raja Yoga is really to teach the control and direction in diflerent planes of the Prana. When a man has concentrated his energies he masters the Prana that is in his body. When a man is meditating, he is also concentrating the Prana.