Patanjali's Yoga Sutras || by Patanjali || Book 2 || Quotes Pin

Book two of The Yoga sutras of patanjali by patanjali translated by Charles Johnston 1867 to 1931 this LibriVox recording is in the public domain recording by Kyle James mlan introduction to book two the first book of patanjali's yoga sutras is called the book of spiritual consciousness the second book which we now begin is the book of the means of Soul growth and we must remember that Soul growth here means the growth of the realization of the spiritual man or to put the matter more briefly the growth of the spiritual man and the disentangling of the spiritual man from the wrappings the veils the disguises laid upon him by the mind and the psychical nature wherein he is unshed like a bird caught in a net the question arises by what means May the spiritual man be freed from these psychical meeses and disguises so that he may stand forth above death in his radiant eternalness and divine power and the second book sets itself to answer this very question and to detail the means in a way entirely practical and very lucid so that he who runs May read and He who reads May understand and practice the second part of the second book is concerned with practical spiritual training that is with the earlier practical training of the spiritual man the most striking thing is the emphasis laid on the Commandments which are precisely those of the latter part of the decalogue together with obedience to the master our day and generation is far too prone to fancy that there can be mystical life and growth on some other foundation on the foundation for example of intellectual curiosity and psychical selfishness in reality on this latter Foundation the life of the spiritual man can never be built nor indeed anything but a psychic counterfeit a dangerous delusion there for pangali like every great spiritual teacher meets the question what must I do to be saved with the ageold answer keep the Commandments only after the disciple can say these have I kept can they be further and finer teaching of the spiritual rules it is therefore vital for us to realize that the yoga system like every true system of spiritual teaching rests on this Broad and firm foundation of honesty truth truth cleanness obedience without these there is no salvation and he who practices these even though ignorant of spiritual things is laying up treasure against the time to come book two one the practices which make for Union with the soul are fervent aspiration spiritual reading and complete obedience to the master interpretation the word which I have Ren Ed fervent aspiration means primarily fire and in the Eastern teaching it means the fire which gives life and light and at the same time the fire which purifies we have therefore as our first practice as the first of the means of spiritual growth that fiery quality of the will which enkindles and illuminates and at the same time the steady practice of purification the burning away of all known impurities spiritual reading is so universally accepted and understood that it needs no comment the very study of patanjali sutras is an exercise in spiritual reading and a very effective one and so with all other books of the Soul obedience to the master means that we shall make the will of the master our will and shall confirm in all ways to the will of the Divine setting aside the wills of self which are but psychic distortions of the one Divine will the constant effort to obey in all the ways we know and understand will reveal new ways and new tasks the evidence of a new growth of the Soul nothing will do more for the spiritual man in us than this for there is no such regenerating power as The Awakening spiritual will two their aim is to bring Soul vision and to wear away hindrances interpretation the aim of further spiritual reading and obedience to the master is to bring Soul vision and to wear away hindrances or to use the phrase we have already adopted the aim of these practices is to help the spiritual man to open his eyes to help him also to throw aside the veils and disguises the enmeshing psychic Nets which surround him tying his hands as it were and bandaging his eyes and this as all teachers testify is a long and arduous task steady uphill fight demanding fine courage and persistent toil further the fire of the spiritual will is as we said twofold it illumines and so helps the spiritual man to see and it also burns up the Nets and meshes which ens snare the spiritual man so with the other means spiritual reading and obedience each in its action is twofold wearing away the psychical and upbuilding the spiritual man three these are the hindrances the darkness of unwisdom self assertion lust hate attachment interpretation let us try to translate this into terms of the psychical and spiritual man the darkness of unwisdom is primarily the self-absorption of the psychical man his complete preoccupation with his own hopes and fears plans and purposes Sensations and desires so that he fails to see or refuses to see that there is a spiritual man and so doggedly resists all efforts of the spiritual man to cast off his psychic Tyrant and set himself free this is the real darkness and all those who deny the immortality of the Soul or deny the Soul's existence and so lay out their lives wholly for the psychical mortal man and his Ambitions are under this power of Darkness born of this Darkness this psychic self-absorption is the dogged conviction that the psychic personal man has separate exclusive interests which he can follow for himself alone and this conviction when put into practice in our life leads to contest with other personalities and so to hate this hate again makes against the spiritual man since it hinders the revelation of the high Harmony between the spiritual man and his other selves a Harmony to be revealed only through the practice of love that perfect love which casts out fear in like manner lust is the psychic man's craving for the stimulus of sensation the D of which Smothers the voice of the spiritual man as in Shakespeare's phrase the cackling geese would drown the song of the Nightingale and this craving for stimulus is the fruit of weakness coming from the failure to find strength in the Primal life of the spiritual man attachment is but another name for psychic self-absorption for we are absorbed not in outward things but rather in their images within our minds our inner Eyes Are Fixed On them our inner desires brood over them and we blind ourselves to the presence of the prisoner the unshed and feted spiritual man four the darkness of unwisdom is the field of the others these hindrances may be dormant or worn thin or suspended or expanded interpretation here we have rarely two sutras in one the first has been explained already in the darkness of unwisdom grow the parasites hate lust attachment they are all outgrowths of the self-absorption of the psychical self next we are told that these barriers may be either dormant or suspended or expanded or worn thin faults which are dormant will be brought out through the pressure of life or through the pressure of strongest insiration thus expanded there must be fought and conquered or as pangali quaintly says they must be worn thin as a veil might or the links of manacles five the darkness of ignorance is holding that which is unending impure full of pain not the soul to be Eternal pure full of joy the soul interpretation this we have read considered already the psychic man is unur impure full of pain not the soul not the real self the spiritual man is endearing pure full of joy the real self the darkness of unwisdom is therefore the self-absorption of the psychical personal man to the exclusion of the spiritual man it is the belief carried into action that the personal man is the real man the man for whom we should toil for whom we should build for whom we should live this is the psychical man of whom it is said he that Seth to the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption six self assertion comes from thinking of the sear and the instrument of vision as forming oneself interpretation this is the fundamental idea of the Sania philosophy of which the yoga is avowedly the Practical side to translate this into out terms we may say that the sea is the spiritual man the instrument of vision is the psychical man through which the spiritual man gains experience of the outer world but we turn the servant into the master we attribute to the psychical man the personal self a reality which really belongs to the spiritual man alone and so thinking of the quality of the spiritual man as belonging to the psychical we merge the spiritual man into the psychical or as the text says we think of the two as forming oneself seven lust is the resting in the sense of enjoyment interpretation this has been explained again and again sensation as for example the sense of taste is meant to be the guide to action in this case the choice of wholesome food and the avoidance of poisonous and hurtful things but if we rest in the sense of taste as a pleasure in itself rest that is in the psychical side of taste we fall into gluttony and live to eat instead of eating to live so with the other great organic power the power of reproduction this lust comes into being through resting in the sensation and looking for pleasure from that eight hate is the resting in the sense of pain interpretation pain comes for the most part from The Strife of personalities the jarring discords between psychic selves Each of which deems itself Supreme a dwelling on this pain breeds hate which tears the Waring selves yet further asunder and puts new enmity between them thus hindering the harmony of the real the reconciliation through the soul nine attachment is the desire toward life even in the wise carried forward by its own energy interpretation the life here desired is the psychic life the intensely vibrating life of the psychical self this prevails even in those who have attained much wisdom so long as it falls short of the wisdom of complete renunciation complete obedience to each least behest of the spiritual man and of the master who guards and AIDS the spiritual man the desire of sensation the desire of psychic life reproduces itself carried on by its own energy and momentum and hence Comes The Circle of Death and rebirth death and rebirth instead of the liberation of the spiritual man 10 these hindrances when they have become subtle are to be removed by a countercurrent interpretation the darkness of unwisdom is said to be removed by the light of wisdom pursued through further spiritual reading of holy teachings and of life itself and by obedience to the master lust is to be removed by pure aspiration of spiritual life which bringing true strength and stability takes away the void of weakness which we try to fill by the stimulus of Sensations hate is to be overcome by love the fear that arises through the sense of separate Waring selves is to be stilled by the realization of the one self the one soul in all this realization is the perfect love that casts out fear the hindrances are said to have become subtle when by initial efforts they have been located and recognized in the psychic nature 11 their active turnings are to be removed by meditation interpretation here is in truth the whole secret of yoga the science of the soul the active turnings The Stride and VI vibrations of selfishness lust and hate are to be stilled by meditation by letting heart and mind dwell in spiritual life by lifting up the heart to the strong silent life above which rests in the Stillness of eternal love and needs no harsh vibration to convince it of true being 12 the burden of bondage to sorrow has its root in these hindrances it will be felt in this life or in a life not yet manifested interpretation the burden of bondage to sorrow has its root in the darkness of unwisdom in selfishness in lust in hate in attachment to sensation all these are in the last analysis absorption in the psychical self and this means sorrow because it means the sense of separateness and this means jarring Discord and inevitable death but the psychical self will breed a new psychical self in a new birth and so new sorrows in a life not yet manifest 13 from this root they grow and ripen the fruits of birth of the lifespan of all that is tasted in life interpretation fully to comment on this would be to write A Treatise on Karma and its practical working in detail whereby the place and time of the next birth its content and duration are determined and to do this the present commentator is in no wise fitted but this much is clearly understood that through a kind of spiritual gravitation the incarnating self is drawn to a home and life circle which will give it scope and discipline and its need of discipline is clearly conditioned by its character its standing its accomplishment 14 these bear fruits of rejoicing or of Affliction as they are sprung from from holy or Unholy Works interpretation since Holiness is obedience to Divine Law to the law of divine Harmony and obedience to Harmony strengthens that Harmony in the soul which is the one true Joy therefore Joy comes of Holiness comes indeed in no other way and as unholiness is Disobedience and therefore Discord therefore unholiness makes for pain and this two-fold law is true whether the cause take effect in this or in a yet unmanifested birth 15 to him who possesses discernment all personal life is misery because it ever waxes and waines is ever Afflicted with restlessness makes ever new Dynamic impressions in the mind and because all its activities war with each other interpretation the whole life of the psychic self is misery because it ever waack and waines because birth brings inevitable death because there is no expectation without its shadow fear the life of the psychic self is misery because it is Afflicted with restlessness so that he who has too much finds No Satisfaction but rather the wed Hunger for More the fire is not quenched by pouring oil on it so desire is not quenched by the satisfaction of Desire again the life of the psychic self is misery because it makes every new dynamic impressions in the mind because a desire satisfied is but the seed from which Springs the desire to find like satisfaction again the appetite comes in eating as the proverb says and grows by what it feeds on and the psychic self torn with conflicting desires is ever the house divided against itself which must surely fall 16 this pain is to be warded off before it has come interpretation in other words we cannot cure the Pains of Life by laying on the many Palm we must cut the root absorption in the psychical self so it is said there is no cure for the misery of longing but to fix the heart upon the Eternal 17 the cause of what is to be wed off is the absorption of the sear in things seen interpretation here again we have the fundamental idea of the Sania which is the intellectual counterpart of the yoga system the cause of what is to be warded off the root of misery is the absorption of Consciousness in the psychical man and the things which beguile the psychical man The Cure is Liberation 18 things seen have as their property manifestation action inertia they form the basis of the elements and the sense Powers they make for experience and for liberation interpretation here is a whole philosophy of life things seen the total of the phenomena possess as their property manifestation action inertia the qualities of force and matter in combination these in their grosser form make the material world in their finer more subjective form they make the psychical world and the world of sense Impressions and mind images and through this fertility of the phenomenal the soul gains experience and is prepared for Liberation in other words the whole Outer World exists for the purposes of the soul and finds in this its true reason for being 19 the grades or layers of the three potencies are defined the undefined that with distinctive Mark and that without distinctive Mark interpretation or as we might say there are two strata of the physical and two strata of the psychical Realms in each there is the side of form and the side of force the form side of the physical is here called the defined the force side of the physical is the undefined that which has no boundaries so in the psychical there is the form side that with distinctive marks such as the characteristic features of Mind images and there is the force side without distinctive marks such as the forces of Desire or fear which may flow now to this mind image now to that 20 The Seer is pure Vision though pure he looks out through the vesture of the Mind interpretation the sear as always is the spiritual man whose deepest Consciousness is pure Vision the Pure Life of the Eternal but the spiritual man as yet unseeing in his proper person looks out on the world Through The Eyes of the psychical Man by whom he is infolded and enmeshed the task is to set this prisoner free to clear the dust of Ages from this buried Temple 21 the very essence of things seen is that they exist for the Seer interpretation the things of outer life not only material things but the psychic man also exist in very deed for the purposes of the sea the soul the spiritual man disaster comes when the psychical man sets up so to speak on his own account trying to live for himself alone and taking material things to Solace his loneliness 22 though Fallen away from him who has reached the goal things seen have not altogether Fallen away since they exist for others interpretation when one of us conquers hate hate does not thereby cease out of the world since others still hate and suffer hatred so with other delusions which Hold Us in bondage to material things and through which we look at all material things when the colored veil of Illusion is gone the world which we saw through it is also gone for now we see life as it is in the white Radiance of Eternity but for others the colored Veil remains and therefore the world thus colored by it remains for them them and will remain until they too conquer delusion 23 the association of the Seer with things seen is the cause of the realizing of the nature of things seen and also of the realizing of the nature of the sea interpretation life is educative all life's infinite variety is for discipline for the development of the Soul so passing through many lives the soul learns the secret of the world the August laws that are written in the form of the snow crystal or the Majestic order of the Stars yet all these laws are but Reflections but projections outward of the laws of the Soul therefore in learning these the soul learns to know itself all life is but the mirror wherein the soul learns to know its own face 24 the cause of this Association is the darkness of unwisdom interpretation the darkness of unwisdom is the absorption of Consciousness in the personal life and in the things seen by the personal life this is the fall through which comes experience the learning of the lessons of life when they are learned the day of redemption is at hand 25 the bringing of this Association to an end by bringing the darkness of unwisdom to an end is the great liberation this is the Sea's attainment of his own pure being interpretation when the spiritual man has through the psychical learned all life's lessons the time has come for him to put off the veil and disguise of the psychical and to stand revealed as a king in the house of the father so shall he enter into his kingdom and go no more out 26 A Discerning which is carried on without wavering is the means of Liberation interpretation here we come close to the pure Vidant with its discernment between the Eternal and the temporal St Paul following after Pho and Plato lays down the same fundamental principle the things seen are temporal the things unseen are Eternal but Dy means something more than an intellectual descent though this too is vital he has in his view a constant discriminating in act as well as thought of the two ways which present themselves for every deed or choice always to choose the higher way that which makes for the things Eternal honesty rather than rogery courage and not cowardice the things of another rather than one's own sacrifice and not Indulgence this true discernment carried out constantly makes for liberation 27 his illumination is Sevenfold rising in successive stages interpretation but Tel's text does not tell us what the seven stages of this illumination are the commentator thus describes them first the danger to be escaped is recognized it need not be recognized a second time second the causes of the danger to be escaped are worn away they need not be worn away a second time third the way of Escape is clearly perceived by the contemplation which checks psychic perturbation fourth the means of Escape clear discernment has been developed this is the four-fold release belonging to Insight the final release from the psychic is three-fold as fifth of the seven degrees the dominance of its thinking is Ended as sixth its potencies like rocks from a precipice fall of themselves once dissolved they do not grow again then as seventh freed from these potencies the spiritual man stands forth in his own nature as Purity and light happy is the spiritual man who beholds the Sevenfold Illumination in its ascending stages 28 from steadfastly following after the means of yoga until impurity is worn away there comes theum rumination of thought up to full discernment interpretation here we enter on the more detailed practical teaching of pangali with its sound and luminous good sense and when we come to detail the means of yoga we may well be astonished at their Simplicity there is nothing in them that is mysterious they are very familiar the essence of the matter lies in carrying them out 29 the eight means of yoga are the Commandments the rules right Poise right control of the life force withdrawal attention meditation contemplation interpretation these eight means are to be followed in their order in the sense which will immediately be made clear we can get a ready understanding of the first two by comparing them with the Commandments which must be obeyed by all good citizens and the rules which are laid on the members of religious orders until one has fulfilled the first it is futile to concern oneself with the second and so with all the means of yoga they must be taken in their order 30 the Commandments are these non-injury truthfulness abstaining from stealing from impurity from covetousness interpretation the these five precepts are almost exactly the same as the Buddhist Commandments not to kill not to steal not to be guilty of incontinence not to drink intoxicant to speak the truth almost identical is St Paul's list Thou shalt not commit adultery Thou shalt not kill Thou shalt not steal Thou shalt not covet and In The Same Spirit is the answer made to the young man having great possessions who asked what shall I do to be saved and receive the reply keep the Commandments this broad General training which forms and develops human character must be accomplished to a very considerable degree before there can be much hope of success in the further stages of spiritual life first the psychical and then the spiritual first the man then the angel on this broad Humane and wise Foundation does the system of pangali rest 31 the Commandments not limited to any race Place time or occasion Universal are the great obligation interpretation the Commandments form the broad General training of humanity each one of them rests on a universal spiritual law each one of them expresses an attribute or aspect of the self the Eternal when we violate one of The Commandments we set ourselves elves against the law and being of the Eternal thereby bringing ourselves to inevitable confusion so the first steps in spiritual life must be taken by bringing ourselves into voluntary obedience to these spiritual laws and thus making ourselves partakers of the spiritual Powers the being of the Eternal like the laws of gravity the need of air to breathe these great laws know no exceptions they are enforced in all lands throughout all times for all mankind 32 the rules are these Purity Serenity fervent aspiration spiritual reading and perfect obedience to the master interpretation here we have a finer law one which Humanity as a whole is less Ready For Less fit to obey yet we can see that these rules are the same in essence as the Commandments but on a higher more spiritual plane the Commandments may be obeyed in outer acts and abstinences the rules demand Obedience of the heart and spirit a far more awakened and more positive Consciousness the rules are the spiritual counterpart of The Commandments and they have finer degrees for more advanced spiritual growth 33 when transgressions hinder the weight of the imagination should be thrown on the opposite side interpretation let us take a simple case that of a thief a habitual Criminal Who has drifted into stealing in childhood before the moral Consciousness has awakened we may imprison such a thief and deprive him of all possibility of further theft or of using the Divine gift of will or we may recognize his disadvantages and help him gradually to build up possessions which express his will and draw forth his self-respect if we imagine that after he has built well and has possess have become dear to him he himself is robbed then we can see how he would have come vividly to realize the essence of theft and of honesty and would cleave to honest dealings with firm conviction in some such way does the great Lord teach us our sorrows and losses teach us the pain of the sorrow and loss we inflict on others and so we cease to inflict them now as to the more direct application to conquer a sin let heart and mind rest not on the sin but on the contrary virtue let the sin be forced out by positive growth in the true Direction not by direct opposition turn away from the sin and go forward courageously constructively creatively in well-doing in this way the whole nature will gradually be drawn up to the higher level on which the sin does not even exist the conquest of a sin is a matter of growth and evolution rather than of opposition 34 transgressions are injury falsehood theft incontinence Envy whether committed or caused or ascented to through greed wrath or infatuation whether faint or middling or excessive bearing endless fruit of ignorance and pain therefore must the weight be cast on the other side interpretation here are the causes of sin greed wrath infatuation with their effects ignorance and pain the causes are to be cured by better wisdom by a trer understanding of the self of life for greed cannot endure before the realization that the whole world belongs to the self which self we are nor can we hold wrath against one who is one with the self and therefore with ourselves nor can infatuation which is the seeking for the happiness of the all in some limited part of it survive the knowledge that we are hes of the all therefore let thought and Imagination mind and heart throw their weight on the other side the side not of the world but of the self 35 when non injury is perfected all enmity ceases in the presence of him who possesses it interpretation we come now to the spiritual Powers which result from keeping the Commandments from obedience to spiritual law which is the keeping of The Commandments where the heart is full of kindness which seeks no injury to another either in act or thought or wish this full love creates an atmosphere of Harmony whose benign power touches with healing all who come within its influence peace in the heart radiates peace to other hearts even more surely than contention breeds contention 36 when he is perfected in truth all acts and their fruits depend on him interpretation the commentator thus explains if he who is attained should stay a man become righteous the man becomes righteous if he should say gain Heaven the man gains Heaven his word is not in vain exactly the same Doctrine was taught by the master who said to his disciples receive ye the Holy Ghost whosoever sins ye remit they are remitted unto to them and whosoever sins ye retain they are retained 37 where cessation from theft is perfected all Treasures present themselves to him who possesses it interpretation here is a sentence which may warn us that beside an outer apparent meaning there is in many of these sentences a second and final significance the obvious meaning is that he who has wholly ceased from theft in act thought and wish finds buried Treasures in his path Treasures of jewels and gold and Pearls the deeper truth is that he who in every least thing is wholly honest with the spirit of Life finds life supporting him in all things and gains admittance to the Treasure House of Life the spiritual Universe 38 for him who is perfect in continence the reward is Valor and virility interpretation the creative power strong and full of vigor is no longer dissipated but turned to spiritual uses it upholds and endows the spiritual man conferring on him the creative will the power to engender spiritual children instead of bodily progyny an Epoch of Life that of man the animal has come to an end a new Epoch that of the spiritual man is opened the old creative power is superseded and transcended a new creative power that of the spiritual man takes its place carrying with it the power to work creatively in others for righteousness and eternal life one of the commentaries says that he who has attained is able to transfer to the minds of his disciples what he knows concerning Divine Union and the means of gaining it this is one of the powers of purity 39 where there is firm conquest of covetousness he who has conquered it awakes to the how and why of Life interpretation so it is said that before we can understand the laws of karma we must free ourselves from Karma the conquest of covetousness brings this Rich fruit because the root of covetousness is the desire of the individual soul the will toward manifested life and where the desire of the individual soul is overcome by the superb still life of the Universal Soul welling up in the heart within the great secret is discerned the secret that the individual soul is not an isolated reality but the ray the Manifest instrument of the life which turns it this way and that until the great work is accomplished the age long lesson learned thus is the how and why of Life disclosed Ed by ceasing from covetousness the commentator says that this includes a knowledge of one's former births 40 through Purity comes a withdrawal from one's own bodily life a ceasing from infatuation with the bodily life of others interpretation as the spiritual light grows in the heart within as the taste for Pure Life grows stronger the Consciousness opens toward the great SE secret places within where all life is one where all lives are one thereafter this outer manifested fugitive life whether of ourselves or of others loses something of its charm and Glamour and we seek rather the Deep infinitud instead of the outer form and surrounding of Our Lives we long for their inner and everlasting Essence we desire not so much outer Converse and closeness to our friends but rather that quiet communion with them in the inner Chamber Of the Soul where Spirit seeks to Spirit and spirit answers where alienation and separation never enter where sickness and sorrow and death cannot come 41 to the pure of heart come also a quiet Spirit one-pointed thought the victory over sensuality and fitness to behold the soul interpretation blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God who is the Supreme Soul the ultimate self of all beings in the deepest sense Purity means Fitness for this vision and also a heart cleansed from all dis quiet from all wondering and unbridled thought from the torment of sensuous imaginings and when the spirit is thus cleansed and pure it becomes at one in essence with its source the Great Spirit the great Primal Life One Consciousness now Thrills through both for the psychic partition wall is broken down then shall the pure in heart see God because they become God 42 from acceptance the disciple gains happiness Supreme interpretation one of the wise has said accept conditions accept other is accept yourself this is the true acceptance for all things are what they are through the will of the higher self except their deficiencies which come through thwarting the will of the higher self and can be conquered only through compliance with that will by the true acceptance the disciple comes into Oneness of spirit with the overruling soul and since the own nature of the soul is being happiness Bliss he comes thereby into happiness Supreme 43 the Perfection of the powers of the bodily vesture comes through the wearing away of impurities and through fervent aspiration interpretation this is true of the physical powers and of those which dwell in the higher vestures there must be first Purity as the blood must be pure before one can attain to physical health but the absence of impurity is not in itself enough else would many nerveless Aesthetics of The Cloister rank as high Saints there is needed further a positive fire of the will a keen vital Vigor for the physical powers and something finer purer stronger but of Kindred Essence for the higher Powers the fire of Genius is something more than a phrase for there can be no genius without the celestial fire of the awakened spiritual will 44 through spiritual reading the disciple gains communion with the divine power on which his heart is set interpretation spiritual reading meant for ancient India something more than it does with us it meant first the recital of sacred text which in their very sounds had mystical potencies and it meant a recital of texts which were divine fin L emanated and held in themselves The Living potent essence of the Divine for us spiritual reading means a communing with the recorded teachings of the Masters of wisdom whereby we read ourselves into the Master's mind just as through his music one can enter the mind and soul of the master musician it has been well said that all true art is Contagion of feeling so that through the true reading of true books we do indeed read ourselves into the spirit of the Masters share in the atmosphere of their wisdom and power and come at last into their very presence 45 Soul vision is perfected through perfect obedience to the master interpretation the sorrow and darkness of Life come of the erring personal will which sets itself against the will of the soul the one great life the error of the personal will is inevitable since each will must be free to choose to try and fail and so to find the PATH and sorrow and darkness are inevitable until the path is found and the personal Will Made once more one with the greater will wherein it finds rest and power without losing freedom in his will is our peace and with that peace comes light Soul vision is perfected through obedience 46 right Poise must be firm and without strain interpretation here we approach a section of the teaching which is manifestly a two-fold meaning the first is physical and concerns the bodily position of the student and the regulation of breathing these things have their direct influence upon Soul life and the life of the spiritual man since it is always and everywhere true that our study demands A sound mind in a sound body the present sentence declares that for work and for meditation the position of the body Must Be steady and without strain in order that the finer currents of life may run their course it applies further to the Poise of the soul that find balance and stability which nothing can shake where the Consciousness rests on the Firm Foundation of spiritual being this is indeed the house set upon a rock which the winds and waves beat upon in vain 47 right Poise is to be gained by Steady and temperate effort and by setting the heart upon the Everlasting interpretation here again there is the two-fold meaning for physical Poise is to be gained by Steady effort of the muscles by gradual and wise training linked with the right understanding of and relationship with the universal force of gravity uprightness of the body body demands that both these conditions shall be fulfilled in like manner the firm and upright Poise of the spiritual man is to be gained by Steady and continued effort always Guided by wisdom and by setting the heart on the Eternal filling the soul with the atmosphere of the spiritual World neither is effective without the other aspiration without effort brings weakness effort without aspiration brings a false strength not resting on endearing things the two together make for the right Poise which sets the spiritual man firmly and steadfastly on his feet 48 the fruit of right Poise is the strength to resist the shocks of infatuation or sorrow interpretation in the simpler physical sense which is also coveted by the wording of the original this sentence means that wise effort establishes such bodily Poise that the accidents of life cannot disturb it as the captain remains steady though disaster overtake his ship but the deeper sense is far more important the spiritual man too must learn to withstand all shocks to remain steadfast through the perturbations of external things and the storms and whirlwinds of the physical world this is the power which is gained by wise continuous effort and by filling the spirit with the atmosphere of the Eternal for 9 when this is gained there follows the right guidance of the life currents the control of the incoming and outgoing breath interpretation It is Well understood today that most of our maladies come from impure conditions of the blood it is coming to be understood that right breathing right oxygenation will do very much to keep the body clean and pure therefore a right knowledge of breathing is a part of the science sence of life but the deeper meaning is that the spiritual man when he has gained Poise through right effort and aspiration can stand firm and guide the currents of his life both the incoming current of events and the outgoing current of his acts exactly the same symbolism is used in the saying not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man but that which cometh out of the mouth this defileth a man those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart out of the heart proceede evil thoughts murders uncleanness thefts false witness blasphemies therefore the first step in purification is to keep the Commandments 50 the life current is either outward or inward or balanced it is regulated according to place time number it is prolonged and subtle interpretation the technical physical side of this has its value in the breath there should be right in breathing followed by the period of pause when the air comes into contact with the blood and this again followed by right out breathing even steady silent further the lungs should be evenly filled many maladies may arise from the neglect and consequent weakening of some region of the lungs and the number of breaths is so important so closely related to health that every nurses chart records it 51 the fourth degree transcends external and internal objects interpretation the inner meaning seems to be that in addition to the three degrees of control already described control that is over the incoming current of Life over the outgoing current and over the condition of pause or quesence there is a fourth degree of control which holds in complete Mastery both the outer passage of events and the inner currence of thoughts and emotions a condition of perfect Poise and stability in the midst of the flux of things outward and inward 52 thereby is worn away the veil which covers up the light interpretation the veil is the psychic nature the web of emotions desires argumentative trains of thought which cover up and obscure the truth by absorbing the entire attention and keeping the Consciousness in the psychic realm when hopes and fears are reckoned at their true worth in comparison with lasting possessions of the Soul when the outer reflections of things have ceased to distract us from their inner realities when argumentative thought no longer entangles us but yields its place to flashing intuition the certainty which Springs from within the then is the veil worn away the Consciousness is drawn from the psychical to the spiritual from the temporal to the Eternal then is the light unveiled 53 then comes the mind's power to hold itself in the light interpretation it has been well said that what we most need in the faculty of spiritual attention and in the same direction of thought it has been eloquently declared that prayer does not consist in our catching God's attention but rather in our Allowing God to hold our attention the vital matter is that we need to disentangle our Consciousness from the noisy and perturbed throm of the psychical and to come to Consciousness as the spiritual man this we must do first by purification through the Commandments and the rules and second through the faculty of spiritual attention by steadily heeding endless fine intimations of the spiritual power within us and by intending our Consciousness thereto thus by degrees transferring the center of Consciousness from the psychical to the spiritual it is a question first of love and then of attention 54 the right withdrawal is the disengaging of the powers from entanglement in outer things as the psychic Nature has been withdrawn and St interpretation to understand this let us reverse the process and think of the one Consciousness centered in the soul gradually expanding and taking on the form of the different perceptive Powers the one will at the same time differentiating itself into the varied powers of action now let us imagine this to be reversed so that the spiritual Force which has gone into the differentiated Powers is once more gathered together into the inner power of intuition and spiritual will taking on that Unity which is the Hallmark of spiritual things as diversity is the Seal of material things it is all a matter of love for the quality of spiritual consciousness as against psychical consciousness of love and attention for where the heart is there will the treasure be also where the Consciousness is there will the vesture with its powers be developed 55 thereupon follows perfect Mastery over the powers interpretation when the spiritual condition which we have described is reached with its Purity Poise and illuminated Vision the spiritual man is coming into his inheritance and gaining complete Mastery of his powers indeed much of the struggle to keep the Commandments and the rules has been Paving the way for this Mastery through this very struggle and sacrifice the Mastery has become possible just as to use St Paul's simile the athlete gains the Mastery in the contest and the race through the sacrifice of his long and arduous training thus he gains the crown end of book two recording by Kyle James.