Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism | Page 5

by the Ego in its
material manifestation. When the Ego departs from the physical body, in what we call
"death," the Prana, being no longer under the control of the Ego, responds only to the
orders of the individual atoms or their groups, which have formed the physical body, and
as the physical body disintegrates and is resolved back to its original elements, each atom
takes with it sufficient Prana to enable it to form new combinations, the unused Prana
returning to the great universal storehouse from whence it came.
Prana is in all forms of matter, and yet it is not matter - it is the energy or force which
animates matter. We have gone into the matter of Prana in our little book previously
referred to, and we do not wish to take up the students' time in repeating what we said
there.

But before taking up the next principle, we wish to direct the student's attention to the
fact that Prana is the force underlying magnetic healing, much of mental healing, absent
treatment, etc. That which has been spoken of by many as human magnetism is really
Prana.
In "Science of Breath," we have given you directions for increasing the Prana in your
system; distributing it over the body, strengthening each part and organ and stimulating
every cell. It may be directed toward relieving pain in one's self and others by sending to
the affected part a supply of Prana extracted from the air. It may be projected to a
distance so far as to affect other persons. The thought of the projector sends forth and
colors the Prana gathered for the purpose, and finds lodgment in the psychic organism of
the patient. Like the Marconi waves it is invisible to the eye of man (with the exception
of certain persons who have attained a high degree of clairvoyant power); it passes
through intervening obstacles and seeks the person attuned to receive it.
This transferring of Prana under the direction of the will is the underlying principle of
thought transference, telepathy, etc. One may surround himself with an aura of Prana,
colored with strong positive thought, which will enable him to resist the adverse thought
waves of others, and which will enable him to live serene in an atmosphere of
antagonistic and inharmonious thought.
We advise students to reread that portion of "Science of Breath" which deals with the use
of Prana. We propose going into great detail regarding this phase of the subject, during
the course of these lessons, but "Science of Breath" gives a good fundamental idea of the
nature of Prana and the methods of its use, and students will do well to refresh their
minds on this subject.
We do not wish to weary you by this description of each of the seven principles, and we
are aware that you are impatient to enter into the more interesting phases of the subject.
But it is absolutely necessary that you obtain a clear idea of these seven principles, in
order that you may understand that which follows, and to obviate the necessity of your
being "sent back" to relearn the lesson which you have "skipped." We had this idea in
mind when we started this class in November, 1903, instead of waiting until January,
1904, and we give you the November and December lessons as "good measure," so as to
be able to reach the more interesting part of the subject by the January lesson.
We will leave the subject of Prana and will pass on to the next principle; but we trust that
you will not leave this part of the lesson until you have acquired a clear idea of Prana and
its qualities and uses. Study your "Science of Breath" until you understand something of
Prana.
THE MENTAL PRINCIPLES.
The Western reader who has studied the writings of some of the recent Western
psychologists will recognize in the Instinctive Mind certain attributes of the so-called
"subjective" or "subconscious" minds spoken of so frequently by the said writers. These
writers discovered in man these characteristics, as well as certain higher phases of the

mind (coining from the Spiritual Mind), and without stopping to investigate further, they
advanced a "new" theory that man is possessed of two minds, i.e., the "objective" and
"subjective," or as some have termed them, the "conscious and "subconscious." This was
all very well so far as it went, but these investigators set the "conscious" mind aside and
bundled all the rest into their "subconscious" or "subjective" mind, ignoring the fact that
they were mixing the highest and lowest qualities of mind and putting them in the same
class, and leaving the middle quality by itself. The "subjective mind" and the
"subconscious" theories are very confusing, as the student finds grouped together