The Serpent Power — Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe) (1924)
practical psychology was working very well in India at one time is evident from these living instances (not to speak of the numberless treatises on the subject) of men roaming about in all parts of the country.” The mere rousing of the Serpent power does not, from the spiritual Yoga standpoint, amount to much. Nothing, however, of real moment, from the higher Yogīs’ point of view, is achieved until the Ājnā Chakra is reached. Here, again, it is said that the Sādhaka whose Ātmā is nothing but a meditation on this lotus “becomes the creator, preserver, and destroyer, of the three worlds”; and yet, as the commentator points out (v. 34), “This is but the highest Prashangsā-vāda or Stutivāda—that is, compliment—which in Sanskrit literature is as often void of reality as it is in our ordinary life. Though much is here gained, it is not until the Tattvas of this centre are also absorbed, and complete knowledge¹ of the Sahasrāra is gained, that the Yogī attains that which is both his aim and the motive of his labour, cessation from rebirth which follows on the control and concentration of the Chitta on the Shivasthānam, the Abode of Bliss. It is not to be supposed that simply because the Serpent Fire has been aroused that one has thereby become a Yogī or achieved the end of Yoga. There are other points of difference which the reader will discover for himself, but into which I do not enter, as my object in comparing the two accounts has been to establish a general contrast between this modern account and that of the Indian schools. I may, however, add that the differences are not only as to details. The style of thought differs in a way not easy shortly to describe, but which will be quickly recognised by those who have some familiarity with the Indian Scriptures and mode of thought. The latter is ever disposed to interpret all processes and their results from a subjective standpoint, though for the purposes of Sādhana the objective aspect is not ignored. The Indian theory is highly philosophical. Thus, to take but one instance, whilst Mr. Leadbeater attributes the power of becoming large or small at will (Animā and Mahimā Siddhi) to a flexible tube or “microscopic snake” in the forehead, the Hindu says that all powers (Siddhi) are the attributes (Aishvaryya) of the Lord Ishvara, or Creative Consciousness, and that in the degree that the Jīva realises that consciousness¹ he shares the powers inherent in the degree of his attainment.
1 This, it is obvious, comes only after long effort, and following on less complete experiences and results. According to Indian notions, success (Siddhi) in Yoga may be the fruit of experiences of many preceding lives. Kundalī must be gradually raised from one centre to another until she reaches the Lotus in the cerebrum. The length of time required varies in the individual—it may be years ordinarily or in exceptional cases months.
That which is the general characteristic of the Indian systems, and that which constitutes their real profundity, is the paramount importance attached to Consciousness and its states. It is these states which create, sustain, and destroy, the worlds. Brahmā, Vishnu, and Shiva, are the names for functions of the one Universal Consciousness operating in ourselves. And whatever be the means employed, it is the transformation of the “lower” into “higher” states of consciousness which is the process and fruit of Yoga and the cause of all its experiences. In this and other matters, however, we must distinguish both practice and experience from theory. A similar experience may possibly be gained by various modes of practice, and an experience may be in fact a true one, though the theory which may be given to account for it is incorrect.
The following sections will enable the reader to pursue the comparison for himself.
1 As this is by the Devī’s grace, She is called “the giver of the eight Siddhis” (Īshitvādyāshtasiddhidā). See Trishatī, II. 47. She gives Aishvaryya.
practical psychology was working very well in India at one time is evident from these living instances (not to speak of the numberless treatises on the subject) of men roaming about in all parts of the country.” The mere rousing of the Serpent power does not, from the spiritual Yoga standpoint, amount to much. Nothing, however, of real moment, from the higher Yogīs’ point of view, is achieved until the Ājnā Chakra is reached. Here, again, it is said that the Sādhaka whose Ātmā is nothing but a meditation on this lotus “becomes the creator, preserver, and destroyer, of the three worlds”; and yet, as the commentator points out (v. 34), “This is but the highest Prashangsā-vāda or Stutivāda—that is, compliment—which in Sanskrit literature is as often void of reality as it is in our ordinary life. Though much is here gained, it is not until the Tattvas of this centre are also absorbed, and complete knowledge¹ of the Sahasrāra is gained, that the Yogī attains that which is both his aim and the motive of his labour, cessation from rebirth which follows on the control and concentration of the Chitta on the Shivasthānam, the Abode of Bliss. It is not to be supposed that simply because the Serpent Fire has been aroused that one has thereby become a Yogī or achieved the end of Yoga. There are other points of difference which the reader will discover for himself, but into which I do not enter, as my object in comparing the two accounts has been to establish a general contrast between this modern account and that of the Indian schools. I may, however, add that the differences are not only as to details. The style of thought differs in a way not easy shortly to describe, but which will be quickly recognised by those who have some familiarity with the Indian Scriptures and mode of thought. The latter is ever disposed to interpret all processes and their results from a subjective standpoint, though for the purposes of Sādhana the objective aspect is not ignored. The Indian theory is highly philosophical. Thus, to take but one instance, whilst Mr. Leadbeater attributes the power of becoming large or small at will (Animā and Mahimā Siddhi) to a flexible tube or “microscopic snake” in the forehead, the Hindu says that all powers (Siddhi) are the attributes (Aishvaryya) of the Lord Ishvara, or Creative Consciousness, and that in the degree that the Jīva realises that consciousness¹ he shares the powers inherent in the degree of his attainment.
1 This, it is obvious, comes only after long effort, and following on less complete experiences and results. According to Indian notions, success (Siddhi) in Yoga may be the fruit of experiences of many preceding lives. Kundalī must be gradually raised from one centre to another until she reaches the Lotus in the cerebrum. The length of time required varies in the individual—it may be years ordinarily or in exceptional cases months.
That which is the general characteristic of the Indian systems, and that which constitutes their real profundity, is the paramount importance attached to Consciousness and its states. It is these states which create, sustain, and destroy, the worlds. Brahmā, Vishnu, and Shiva, are the names for functions of the one Universal Consciousness operating in ourselves. And whatever be the means employed, it is the transformation of the “lower” into “higher” states of consciousness which is the process and fruit of Yoga and the cause of all its experiences. In this and other matters, however, we must distinguish both practice and experience from theory. A similar experience may possibly be gained by various modes of practice, and an experience may be in fact a true one, though the theory which may be given to account for it is incorrect.
The following sections will enable the reader to pursue the comparison for himself.
1 As this is by the Devī’s grace, She is called “the giver of the eight Siddhis” (Īshitvādyāshtasiddhidā). See Trishatī, II. 47. She gives Aishvaryya.
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