The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: The Book of the Spiritual Man — John Shaqi
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: The Book of the Spiritual ManPatañjali
Religion
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: The Book of the Spiritual Man
Patañjali
Yoga -- Early works to 1800
As the personal man is the limitation and inversion of the spiritual
man, all his faculties and powers are inversions of the powers of the
spiritual man. In a single phrase, his self seeking is the inversion of
the Self-seeking which is the very being of the spiritual man: the
ceaseless search after the divine and august Self of all beings. This
inversion is corrected by keeping the Commandments and Rules, and
gradually, as the inversion is overcome, the spiritual man is
extricated, and comes into possession and free exercise of his powers.
The spiritual powers, therefore, are the powers of the grown and
liberated spiritual man. They can only be developed and used as the
spiritual man grows and attains liberation through obedience. This is
the first thing to be kept in mind, in all that is said of spiritual
powers in the third and fourth books of the Sutras. The second thing to
be understood and kept in mind is this:
Just as our modern sages have discerned and taught that all matter is
ultimately one and eternal, definitely related throughout the whole
wide universe; just as they have discerned and taught that all force is
one and eternal, so coordinated throughout the whole universe that
whatever affects any atom measurably affects the whole boundless realm
of matter and force, to the most distant star or nebula on the dim
confines of space; so the ancient sages had discerned and taught that
all consciousness is one, immortal, indivisible, infinite; so finely
correlated and continuous that whatever is perceived by any
consciousness is, whether actually or potentially, within the reach of
all consciousness, and therefore within the reach of any consciousness.
This has been well expressed by saying that all souls are fundamentally
one with the Oversoul; that the Son of God, and all Sons of God, are
fundamentally one with the Father. When the consciousness is cleared of
psychic bonds and veils, when the spiritual man is able to stand, to
see, then this superb law comes into effect: whatever is within the
knowledge of any consciousness, and this includes the whole infinite
universe, is within his reach, and may, if he wills, be made a part of
his consciousness. This he may attain through his fundamental unity
with the Oversoul, by raising himself toward the consciousness above
him, and drawing on its resources. The Son, if he would work miracles,
whether of perception or of action, must come often into the presence
of the Father. This is the birthright of the spiritual man; through it
he comes into possession of his splendid and immortal powers. Let it be
clearly kept in mind that what is here to be related of the spiritual
man, and his exalted powers, must in no wise be detached from what has
gone before. The being, the very inception, of the spiritual man
depends on the purification and moral attainment already detailed, and
can in no wise dispense with these or curtail them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account