...It [Yoga] is true and vast and wonderful.
In The Powers of the Mind lectures of 1900 transcribed in his "Complete Works", Vivekananda speaks to the siddhis...those occult or supernatural things the mind is capable of like telepathy, clairvoyance, Out of Body Experiences etc. He stated that this phenomenon has been an accepted part of India's heritage for centuries and that is how yoga came to be.
These facts, the Hindus, being analytically minded, took up and investigated. ...they made a science of it. They found out that all these, though, extraordinary, are also natural; there is nothing supernatural. They are under laws just the same as any other physical phenomenon. It is not a freak of nature that man is born with such powers. They can be systematically studied, practiced and acquired. This science they call the science of Raja-Yoga.
(Note: Speaking of India's culture in the 1900's: you will notice an overuse of the masculine pronouns. He is reflecting his culture when he addresses mostly men and referring to men because India and yoga, at that time, was very patriarchal.)
What was discovered in the "laboratories of soul research" (Yogananda)? :
The conclusion they have reached is that all these extraordinary powers are in the mind of man. This mind is a part of the universal mind. Each mind is connected with every other mind. And each mind, wherever it is located, is the actual communication with the whole world...The real thoughts, new and genuine, that have been thought in this world up to this time, amount to only a handful.
Comparing philosophers to yogis and spiritual leaders (what Vivekananda refers to as religious men):
The philosophers scarcely influence anybody's inner man, and yet they wrote most marvellous books. The religious teachers, on the other hand, moved countries in their lifetime. The difference was made by personality. In the philospher it is a faint personality that influences; in the great prophet it is tremendous. In the former we touch the intellect, in the latter we touch life.
I agree with the force of the personality in "spiritual" teachers and leaders being different than that of the intellect and able to pull people in. Of course, I have a different view of personality and get kind of concerned when I look back on history to see how the charismatic personalities of some religious leaders led many people into cults and even into their deaths.
He goes on to discuss the importance of the personality which I tend to have a visceral reaction to. I think our definitions of personality differ. His being that the self is equal to Self , and mine being that the ego is only there when the Self isn't. Where I seek the dismantling of the personality, he is calling all to strengthen it.
In the life of the householder, in the life of the poor, the rich, the spiritual man. In everyone's life, it is a great thing, the strengthening of the personality.
He states that within what makes up man (the five koshas...starting with the gross outer physical that tapers back into the finest body of all-the ananda body) is the microcosm like that of the macrocosm (the universe).
The universe of ours is exactly like that; it is the gross external thickness, and it tapers into something finer and finer until it becomes God.
We also know that the greatest power is lodged in the fine, not the course...So it is the fine that really is the seat of power....But if by any science and investigation, we re helped to get hold of these finer forces which are the cause of the expression, the expression itself will be under control....Now, if there is a method by which we can analyse, investigate, understand, and finally grapple with these finer powers, the finer causes, then alone is it possible to have control over ourselves, and the man who has control over his own mind assuredly will have control over every other mind...And all minds are the same, different parts of one Mind.
The more a person gains control of their mind through yoga, the Greater they will be in terms of their service to humanity.
And that is what the Yogis say, that all great incarnations and prophets are such men; that they reached the perfection in this one life.
Debbie Downer in my head says, "Isn't that what most cult leaders, with these charasmatic personalities, say to their followers...that they are prophets? " ...I digress..
Suppose we can investigate these laws and understand their secrets and apply them to our own needs; it follows that we grow. We hasten our growth, we hasten our development, and we become perfect even in this life. This is the higher part of our life, and the science of the study of the mind and its powers has its perfection as its real end.
As for things like "The Secret" and our culture's use of the "Law of Attraction"...
Helping others with money and other material things and teaching them how to go on smoothly in their daily life are mere details.
Yoga is truly all about getting beyond our focus on this little life as "me":
The utility of this science is to bring out the perfect man, and not let him wait and wait for ages, just a plaything in the hands of the physical world, like a log of driftwood carried from wave to wave and tossing about in the ocean. This science wants you to be strong, to take the work in your own hand, instead of leaving it in the hands of nature, and get beyond this little life. That is the great idea.
He goes on to question where the limit to the mind's power is. He questions science that disputes the possibility of such things as siddhis:
We dare not say that it is not possible. We can only say, we do not know how it happens. Material scientists have no right to say that things like this are not possible; they can only say, "We do not know."...But if we begin by denying the facts, how can a science be?
Vivekananda stresses the following using an example of a girl who was said to be levitating:
There is no end to the power a man can obtain. ..Now the Indian mind became so thoroughly persuaded that the mind could do anything and everything according to law, that its powers became the great object of study...Different sects of Yogis began to make all sorts of experiments,...The whole idea was to get at the basis, to reach the fine parts of the thing. And some of them really showed most marvellous powers. Many of them were trying to float in the air or pass through it...The power is all in the spirit.
He goes on to say these powers do not come easy. It takes years and years of dedication and practice to get to this level. Achievement is also complicated by the fact that yogis try to study the ever-moving mind and not some stationary thing.
But this science deals with the mind, which moves all the time; the moment you want to study it, it slips. Now the mind is in one mood, the next moment, perhaps, it is different, changing, changing all the time. In the midst of all this change it has to be studied, understood, grasped, and controlled.
The speaker goes on to share how long he has been studying yoga...thirty years, spending upward of 23 hours a day on it, sometimes living in silence and solitude for days on end...
And yet I know little to nothing; I have barely touched the hem of the garment of this science. But I can understand that it is true and vast and wonderful.
So what about all of us non-yogis wanting to be yogis?
Now, if there is anyone amongst you who really wants to study this science, he will have to start with that sort of determination, the same as, nay, even more than, that which he puts into the business of life...so much depends upon the particular constitution of the person studying it. ...so, in the study of this science each one can get a glimpse which will convince him of its truth and of the fact that there have been men who realised it fully. This is the outline of the science. It stands upon its own feet and its own light, and challenges comparison with any other science.
And what about all those cult leaders I have read or learned about in this yogi world?
There have been charlatans, there have been magicians, there have been cheats, and more here than in any other field. Why? For the same reason, that the more profitable the business, the greater the number of charlatans and cheats. But that is no reason why the business should not be good.
He suggest we listen to all the arguments...but...
...if any one of you really wants to learn something beyond that, merely attending lectures will not do. That cannot be taught in lectures, for it is life; and life can only convey life.
Wow! That is quite a lot to think about, isn't it?.
All is well.
Swami Vivekananda( n.d.) 2.2 The Powers of the Mind in the Complete Works. Kindle Edition
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