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

Of the three processes, for the purification of the nerves, the retaining the breath inside and the keeping the breath outside, the first and the last are neither difficult nor dangerous. The more you practise the first one the calmer you will be. Just think of " Om," and you can practise even while you are sitting at your work. You will be all the better for it. One day, if you practise hard, the Kundalini will be aroused. For those who practise once or twice a day, just a little calmness of the body and mind will come, and beautiful voice ; only for those who can go on further with it will this Kundalini be aroused, and the whole of this nature wull begin to change, and the book of knowledge will be open. No more will you need to go to books for knowledge ; your own mind will have become your book, containing

6o RAJA YOGA.

infinite knowledge. I have already spoken of the Ida and Pingala currents, flowing through either side of the spinal column, also of the Susumna, the passage through the centre of the spinal cord. These three are present in every animal ; whatever has a spinal column has these three lines of action, but the Yogis claim that in ordinary mankind the Susumna is closed, that action there is not evident, while in the other two it is evident, carrying power to different parts of the body.

The Yogi alone has the Susumna open. When this Susumna current opens, and thought begins to rise through it, we get beyond the senses, our minds become supersensuous, superconscious, we get beyond even the intellect, and where reasoning cannot reach. To open that Susumna is the prime object of the Yogi. According to him, along this Susumna are ranged these centres of distribution, or, in more figurative language, these lotuses, as they are called. The lowest one s at the lowest end of the spinal cord, and iscalled Muladhara, the next one iscalled Svadisthana, the next ManipOra, the next An^hata, the next Visuddha, and the last, which is in the brain, is the Sahasrara, or " the thousand petalled." Of these we have to take cognition just now of only two centres, the lowest, the Muladhara, and the highest, the Sahasrara. The lowest one is where all energy becomes stored up, and that energy has to be taken up from there and brought to the last one, the brain. The Yogis claim that of all the energies that the human body comprises the highest is what they call " Ojas." Now

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this Ojasis stored up in the brain, and the more the Ojas is in a man's head, the more powerful he is, the more intellectual, the more spiritually strong will that mail be. This is the action of Ojas. One man may speak beautiful language and beautiful thoughts, but they do not impress people ; another man speaks neither beautiful language nor beautiful thoughts, yet his words charm. That is the power of Ojas coming out. Every movement coming from him will be powerful.