Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism | Page 3

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physical bodies of different men show the different degrees of development under mental
control. It is a duty of each developed man to train his body to the highest degree of
perfection in order that it may be used to advantage.
The body should be kept in good health and condition and trained to obey the orders of
the mind, rather than to rule the mind, as is so often the case.
The care of the body, under the intelligent control of the mind, is an important branch of
Yogi philosophy, and is known as "Hatha Yoga." We are preparing a little textbook upon
"Hatha Yoga," which will soon be ready for the press, that will give the Yogi teachings
upon this most important branch of self development. The Yogi philosophy teaches that
the physical body is built up of cells, each cell containing within it a miniature "life,"
which controls its action. These "lives" are really bits of intelligent mind of a certain
degree of growth, which enable the cells to perform their work properly. These bits of
intelligence are, of course, subordinate to the control of the central mind of the man, and
will readily obey orders from headquarters, given either subconsciously or consciously.
These cell intelligences manifest a perfect adaptation for their particular work. The
selective action of the cells, extracting from the blood the nourishment needed and
rejecting that which is not required, is an instance of this intelligence. The process of
digestion, assimilation, etc., shows the intelligence of the cells, either separately or
collectively in groups. The healing of wounds, the rush of the cells to the points where
they are most needed, and hundreds of other examples known to the student of
physiology, all mean to the Yogi student examples of the "life" within each atom. Each
atom is to the Yogi a living thing, leading its own independent life. These atoms combine
into groups for some end, and the group manifests a group-intelligence, as long as it
remains a group; these groups again combining in turn, and forming bodies of a more
complex nature, which serve as vehicles for higher forms of consciousness. When death
comes to the physical body the cells separate and scatter, and that which we call decay
sets in. The force which has held the cells together is withdrawn, and it becomes free to
go its own way and form new combinations. Some go into the body of the plants in the
vicinity, and eventually find themselves again in the body of an animal; others remain in
the organism of the plant; others remain in the ground for a time, but the life of the atom
means incessant and constant change. As a leading writer has said: "Death is but an
aspect of life, and the destruction of one material form is but a prelude to the building up
of another."
We will not devote further space to the consideration of the physical, as that is a subject
by itself, and, then, our students are no doubt anxious to be led into subjects with which
they are not quite so familiar. So we will leave this first principle and pass on to the
second, wishing, however, again to remind the student that the first step in Yogi
development consists of the mastery of the physical body and its care and attention. We

will have more to say of this subject before we are through with this course.
2. The Astral Body.
This second principle of man is not nearly so well known as its physical brother, although
it is closely connected with the latter and is its exact counterpart in appearance. The astral
body has been known to people in all ages, and has given rise to many superstitions and
mysteries, owing to a lack of knowledge of its nature. It has been called the "ethereal
body"; the "fluidic body"; the "double"; the "wraith"; the "Doppelganger," etc. It is
composed of matter of a finer quality than that composing our physical bodies, but matter
none the less. In order to give you a clearer idea of what we mean, we will call your
attention to water, which manifests in several well-known forms. Water at a certain
temperature is known as ice, a hard, solid substance; at a little higher temperature it
assumes its best known form, which we call "water"; at a still higher temperature it
escapes in the form of a vapor which we call "steam," although the real steam is invisible
to the human eye, and becomes apparent only when it mixes with the air and has its
temperature lowered a little, when it becomes vapor visible to the eye, and which vapor
we call "steam."
The astral body is the best counterpart of the physical body