A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga | Page 3

and makes
use of them.
In considering the question: "What is the Real Self?" let us first stop to
examine what man usually means when he says "I."
The lower animals do not possess this "I" sense. They are conscious of
the outer world; of their own desires and animal cravings and feelings.
But their consciousness has not reached the Self-conscious stage. They
are not able to think of themselves as separate entities, and to reflect

upon their thoughts. They are not possessed of a consciousness of the
Divine Spark--the Ego--the Real Self. The Divine Spark is hidden in
the lower forms of life--even in the lower forms of human life--by
many sheaths that shut out its light. But, nevertheless, it is there, always.
It sleeps within the mind of the savage--then, as he unfolds, it begins to
throw out its light. In you, the Candidate, it is fighting hard to have its
beams pierce through the material coverings When the Real Self begins
to arouse itself from its sleep, its dreams vanish from it, and it begins to
see the world as it is, and to recognize itself in Reality and not as the
distorted thing of its dreams.
The savage and barbarian are scarcely conscious of the "I." They are
but a little above the animal in point of consciousness, and their "I" is
almost entirely a matter of the consciousness of the wants of the body;
the satisfaction of the appetites; the gratification of the passions; the
securing of personal comfort; the expression of lust, savage power, etc.
In the savage the lower part of the Instinctive Mind is the seat of the
"I." (See "Fourteen Lessons" for explanation of the several mental
planes of man.) If the savage could analyze his thoughts he would say
that the "I" was the physical body, the said body having certain
"feelings," "wants" and "desires." The "I" of such a man is a physical
"I," the body representing its form and substance. Not only is this true
of the savage, but even among so-called "civilized" men of to-day we
find many in this stage. They have developed powers of thinking and
reasoning, but they do not "live in their minds" as do some of their
brothers. They use their thinking powers for the gratification of their
bodily desires and cravings, and really live on the plane of the
Instinctive Mind. Such a person may speak of "my mind," or "my
soul," not from a high position where he looks upon these things from
the standpoint of a Master who realizes his Real Self, but from below,
from the point-of-view of the man who lives on the plane of the
Instinctive Mind and who sees above himself the higher attributes. To
such people the body is the "I." Their "I" is bound up with the senses,
and that which comes to them through the senses. Of course, as Man
advances in "culture" and "civilization," his senses become educated,
and are satisfied only with more refined things, while the less cultivated
man is perfectly satisfied with the more material and gross sense

gratifications. Much that we call "cultivation" and "culture" is naught
but a cultivation of a more refined form of sense gratification, instead
of a real advance in consciousness and unfoldment. It is true that the
advanced student and Master is possessed of highly developed senses,
often far surpassing those of the ordinary man, but in such cases the
senses have been cultivated under the mastery of the Will, and are
made servants of the Ego instead of things hindering the progress of the
soul--they are made servants instead of masters.
As Man advances in the scale, he begins to have a somewhat higher
conception of the "I." He begins to use his mind and reason, and he
passes on to the Mental Plane--his mind begins to manifest upon the
plane of Intellect. He finds that there is something within him that is
higher than the body. He finds that his mind seems more real to him
than does the physical part of him, and in times of deep thought and
study he is able almost to forget the existence of the body.
In this second stage, Man soon becomes perplexed. He finds problems
that demand an answer, but as soon as he thinks he has answered them
the problems present themselves in a new phase, and he is called upon
to "explain his explanation." The mind, even although not controlled
and directed by the Will, has a wonderful range, but, nevertheless, Man
finds himself traveling around and around in a circle, and realizes that
he is confronted continually by the Unknown. This disturbs him, and
the higher the stage of "book learning" he attains, the more disturbed
does he become. The man