An Introduction to Yoga | Page 4

with my friend
Bhagavan Das as collaborateur, a translation of these Sutras, with
Vyasa's commentary, and a further commentary and elucidation written
in the light of Theosophy.[FN#2: These have never been finished or
printed.] To prepare the student for the mastering of that more difficult
task, these lectures were designed; hence the many references to
Patanjali. They may, however, also serve to give to the ordinary lay
reader some idea of the Science of sciences, and perhaps to allure a few
towards its study.
Annie Besant

Table of Contents
Lecture I. The Nature of Yoga 1. The Meaning of the Universe 2. The
Unfolding of Consciousness 3. The Oneness of the Self 4. The
Quickening of the Process of Self-Unfoldment 5. Yoga is a Science 6.
Man a Duality 7. States of Mind 8. Samadhi 9. The Literature of Yoga
10. Some Definitions 11. God Without and God Within 12. Changes of
Consciousness and Vibrations of Matter 13. Mind 14. Stages of Mind
15. Inward and Outward-turned Consciousness 16. The Cloud

Lecture II. Schools of Thought 1. Its Relation to Indian Philosophies 2.
Mind 3. The Mental Body 4. Mind and Self
Lecture III. Yoga as Science 1. Methods of Yoga 2. To the Self by the
Self 3. To the Self through the Not-Self 4. Yoga and Morality 5.
Composition of States of the Mind 6. Pleasure and Pain
Lecture IV. Yoga as Practice 1. Inhibition of States of Mind 2.
Meditation with and without Seed 3. The Use of Mantras 4. Attention 5.
Obstacles to Yoga 6. Capacities for Yoga 7. Forthgoing and Returning
8. Purification of Bodies 9. Dwellers on the Threshold 10. Preparation
for Yoga 11. The End

Lecture I
THE NATURE OF YOGA
In this first discourse we shall concern ourselves with the gaining of a
general idea of the subject of Yoga, seeking its place in nature, its own
character, its object in human evolution.

The Meaning of the Universe

Let us, first of all, ask ourselves, looking at the world around us, what it
is that the history of the world signifies. When we read history, what
does the history tell us? It seems to be a moving panorama of people
and events, but it is really only a dance of shadows; the people are
shadows, not realities, the kings and statesmen, the ministers and
armies; and the eventsÄ the battles and revolutions, the rises and falls
of states Äare the most shadowlike dance of all. Even if the historian
tries to go deeper, if he deals with economic conditions, with social
organisations, with the study of the tendencies of the currents of
thought, even then he is in the midst of shadows, the illusory shadows
cast by unseen realities. This world is full of forms that are illusory,

and the values are all wrong, the proportions are out of focus. The
things which a man of the world thinks valuable, a spiritual man must
cast aside as worthless. The diamonds of the world, with their glare and
glitter in the rays of the outside sun, are mere fragments of broken glass
to the man of knowledge. The crown of the king, the sceptre of the
emperor, the triumph of earthly power, are less than nothing to the man
who has had one glimpse of the majesty of the Self. What is, then, real?
What is truly valuable? Our answer will be very different from the
answer given by the man of the world.
"The universe exists for the sake of the Self." Not for what the outer
world can give, not for control over the objects of desire, not for the
sake even of beauty or pleasure, does the Great Architect plan and build
His worlds. He has filled them with objects, beautiful and
pleasure-giving. The great arch of the sky above, the mountains with
snow-clad peaks, the valleys soft with verdure and fragrant with
blossoms, the oceans with their vast depths, their surface now calm as a
lake, now tossing in furyÄthey all exist, not for the objects themselves,
but for their value to the Self. Not for themselves because they are
anything in themselves but that the purpose of the Self may be served,
and His manifestations made possible.
The world, with all its beauty, its happiness and suffering, its joys and
pains" is planned with the utmost ingenuity, in order that the powers of
the Self may be shown forth in manifestation. From the fire-mist to the
LOGOS, all exist for the sake of the Self. The lowest grain of dust, the
mightiest deva in his heavenly regions, the plant that grows out of sight
in the nook of a mountain, the star that shines aloft over us-all these
exist in order that the fragments of the