Speaker 1: The sixth lesson Cultivation of perception. Man gains his knowledge
of the outside world through his senses, and consequently many
of us are in the habit of thinking of these
senses as if they did the sensing, instead of being
merely carriers of the vibrations coming from the outside world,
which are then presented to the mind for examination. We
shall speak of this at greater length a little later on.
In this lesson just now, we wish to impress upon
you the fact that it is the mind that perceives,
not the census, and consequently a development of perception is
really a development of the mind. The Yogis put their
students through a very arduous course of practice and exercises
designed to develop their powers of perception. To many, this
would appear to be merely a development of the senses,
which might appear odd in view of the fact that
the Yogis are constantly preaching the folly of being governed
and ruled by the senses. But there is nothing paradoxical
about all this, For the Yogis, while preaching the folly
of sense life and manifesting the teaching in their lives,
nevertheless believe in any and all exercises calculated to sharpen
the mind and develop it to a keen state and condition.
They see a great difference between having a sharpened perception
on one hand, and being a slave to the senses
on the other. For instance, what would be thought of
a man who objected to acquiring a keen eyesight for
fear it would lead him away from higher things by
reason of his becoming attached to the beautiful things he
might see. To realize the folly of this idea, one
may look at its logical conclusion, which would be that
one would be much better off if all their senses
were destroyed. The absurdity, not to say wickedness, of such
an idea, will be apparent to everyone after a minute's consideration.
The sea secret of the Yogi theory and teachings regarding
the development of the mental powers lies in the word mastery.
The yoga student accomplishes and attains this mastery in two ways.
The first way is by subordinating all the feelings, sends, impressions,
et cetera, to the mastery of the eye or veil.
The mastery being obtained in this way by the assertion
of the dominancy of the eye over the faculties and emotions,
et cetera. The second step O way lies in the yogi,
once having asserted the mastery, beginning to develop and perfect
the mental instrument so as to get better work and
returns from it. In this way, he increases his kingdom
and his master over a much larger territory. In order
for one to gain knowledge, it is necessary to use
the best advantage the mental instruments and tools that he
finds at his disposal, and again one must develop and
improve such tools, put a keen edge upon them, etc.
Not only does one gain a great benefit from a
development of the faculties of perception, but he also acquires
an additional benefit from the training of the whole mind,
arising from the mental discipline and training resulting from the
former exercises, etc. In other previous lessons, we have pointed
out some of the means by which these faculties might
be greatly improved and their efficiency increased. In this lesson
we shall point out certain directions in which the perceptive
faculties may be trained. We trust that the simplicity of
the idea may not cause any of our students to
lose interest in the work. If they only knew just
what such development would lead to, they would gladly follow
our suggestions in the matter. Everyone of the ideas and
the exercises given by us are intended to lead up
to the strengthening of the mind, and the attainment of
powers and the unfoldment of faculties. There is no rawal
road to Raja yoga, but the student will be well
repaid for the work of climbing the hill of attainment.
In the view of the above, let us examine the
question of the senses. Through the doors of the senses,
man receives all his information regarding the outside world. If
he keeps these doors but half open or crowded up
with obstacles and rubbish, he may expect to receive but
few messages from outside. But if he keeps his doorways
clear and clean, he will obtain the best that is
passing his way. If one were born without sense organs,
no matter how good a mind he might have, he
would be compelled to live his life in a dreamy,
plaid life stage of existence with little or no consciousness.
The mind would be like a seed in the earth
that for some reason was prevented from growing. One may
object that the highest ideas do not come to us
through the senses. But the reply is that the things
obtained through the senses are the raw material upon which
the mind works, and the fashions the beautiful things that
it is able to produce in its highest stages. Just
as is the body dependent for growth upon the nourishment
taken into it, so is the mind dependent for the
growth upon the impressions received from the universe, and these
impressions come largely through the senses. It may be objected
to that we know many things that we have not
received through our senses, But does the objector include the
impressions that came through his senses in some previous existence,
and which have been impressed upon its instinctive mind or
soul memory. It is true that there are higher senses
than those usually recognize, but nature insists upon one learning
the lessons of the lower grade before attempting to those
of the higher. Do not forget that all that we
know we have worked for. There is nothing that comes
to the idler or shirker. What we know is merely
the result of stowed up accumulations of previous experience. As
Lewis has so well said, so it will be seen
that the Yogi idea that one should develop all parts
of the mind is strictly correct, if one will take
the trouble to examine into the manner a man sees
and knows but very little of what is going on
about him. His limitations are great. His powers of vision
report only a few vibrations of light, while below and
about the scale lie in infinity of vibrations unknown to him.
The same is true of the powers of hearing, for
only a comparatively small portion of the sound waves reach
the mind of a man, even some of the animals
here more than he does. If a man had only
one sense, he would obtain but a one sense idea
of the outside world. If another sense is added to
his knowledge is doubled, and so on. The best proof
of the relation between increased sense, per se and development
is had in the study of the evolution of animal forms.
In the early stages of life, the organism has only
the sense of feeling, and very dim at that, and
a faint sense of taste. Then developed smell, hearing, and sight,
each marking a distinct advance in the scale of life.
For a new world has been opened out to the
advancing forms of life, and when man develops new senses,
and this is before the race, he will be a
much wiser and greater being. Carpenter, many years ago voiced
a thought that will be familiar to those who are
acquainted with the Yogi teachings. Regarding the unfoldment of new senses.
He said, it does not seem at all improbable that
there are properties of matter of which none of our
senses can take immediate cognitions, and which other beings might
be formed to perceive in the same manner as we
are sensible to life, sound, etc. And Isaac Taylor said,
it may be that within the field observed by the
visible and ponderable universe, there is existing and moving another element,
fraught with another species of life, corporal indeed, and various
in its orders, but not open to cognitions of those
who are confined to the conditions of animal organization. Is
it to be thought that the eye of man is
the measure of the Creator's power, and that he created
nothing but that which he has exposed to our present senses.
The contrary seems much more than barely possible, ought we
not to think it almost certain? Another writer, Professor Masson,
has said, if a new sense or two were added
to the present normal number in man, that which is
now the phenomenal world for all of us, might, for
all that we knows, into something amazingly different and wider
in consequence of the additional revelations of these new senses.
But not only is this true, but man may increase
his powers of knowledge and experience if he will but
develop the senses he asks to a higher degree of efficiency,
instead of allowing them to remain comparatively atrophied. And toward
this end, this lesson is written. The mind obtains its
impressions of objects of the outside world by means of
the brain and sense organs. The sensory organs are the
instruments of the mind, as is also the brain and
the entire nervous system. By means of the nerves and
the brain. The mind makes use of the sensory organs
in order that it may obtain information regarding external objects.
The senses are usually said to consist of five different forms,
with sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste. The Yogis teach
that there are higher senses undeveloped or comparatively so in
the majority of the race, but toward the unfoldment of
which the race is tending. But we shall not touch
upon these latent senses in this lesson, as they belong
to another phase of the subject. In addition to the
five senses about enumerated, some physiologists and psychologists have held
that there are several others in evidence. For instance, the
sense by which the inner organs reveal their presence and
condition the muscular system reports to the mind through some
sense that is not that of touch, although closely allied
to it, and the feelings of hunger, thirst, etc. Seem
to come to us through an unnamed sense. Bernstein has
distinguished between the five senses and the one just referred
to as follows. The characteristic distinction between these common sensations
and the sensations of the senses is that by the
latter we gain knowledge of the occurrences and objects which
belong to the external world, and which sensations we refer
to external objects, while by the former we only feel
conditions of our own body. A sensation is the internal
mental conception resulting from an external object or fact, exciting
the sense organs and nerves and the brain, thus making
the mind aware of the external object. Or fact. As
Bain has said, it is the mental impression, feeling, or
conscious state resulting from the action of external things on
some part of the body, called on that account sensitive.
Each channel of sense impressions has an organ or organs
peculiarly adapted for the excitation of its substance by the
particular kind of vibrations through which it receives impressions. The
eye is most cunningly and carefully designed to receive the
light waves, and the sound waves produce no effect upon it,
and likewise, the delicate mechanism of the ear responds only
to sound waves, light waves failing to register upon it.
Each set of sensations is entirely different, and the organs
and the nerves designed to register each particular set are
peculiarly adapted to their own special work. The organs of sense,
including their special nervous systems, may be compared to a
delicate instrument that the mind has fashioned for itself that
it may investigate, examine, and obtain reports from the outside world.
We have become so accustomed to the workings of the
senses that we take them as a matter of course
and fail to recognize them as a delicate and wonder
instruments that they are designed and perfected by the mind
for its own use. If we will think of the
soul as designing, manufacturing, and using these instruments, we may
begin to understand their true relations to our lives, and
accordingly treat them with more respect and consideration. We are
in the habit of thinking that we are aware of
all the sensations received by our mind, but this is
very far from being correct. The unconscious regions of the
mind are incomparably larger than the small conscious area that
we generally think of when we say my mind. In
future lessons, we shall proceed to consider this wonderful area
and examine what is to be found there. Tie In
has well said, there is going on within us a
subterranean process of infinite extent. Its products alone are known
to us, and are only known to us in the mass.
As to elements and their elements, consciousness does not attained
to them. They are to sensations what secondary molecules and
primium molecules are to bodies. We get a glance here
and there at obscure and infinite worlds extending beneath our
distinct sensations. These are compounds and wholes. For their elements
to be perceptible to consciousness, it is necessary for them
to be added together, and so to acquire a certain bulk,
and to occupy a certain time. For if the group
does not attain this bulk and does not last this time,
we observe no changes in our state. Nevertheless, though it
escapes us, there is one. But we must postpone our
consideration of this more than interesting phase of the subject
until some future lesson, when we shall take a trip
into the regions of mind under an above consciousness, and
a most wonderful trip many of us will find it too.
For the present, we must pay over at time to
the channels by which the material for knowledge and thought
enter our minds. For these sense impressions come to us
from without our indeed material upon which the mind works
in order to manufacture the product called thought. This material
be obtained through the channels of the senses, and then
store in that wonderful storehouse the memory, from whence may
bring out material from time to time which we proceed
to weave into the fabric of thought. The skill of
the worker depends upon his training and his ability to
select and combine the proper materials, and the acquiring of
the good materials to be stowed up is an important
part of the work. A mind without stored of material
of impressions and experiences would be like a factory without material.
The machinery would have nothing upon which to work, and
the shop would be idle. As Helm Haltz has said,
apprehension by the senses supplies directly or indirectly the material
of all human knowledge, or at least the stimulus necessary
to develop every inborn faculty of the mind. And Herbert
Spencer has this to say of this phase of the subject.
It is almost atruism to say that in proportion to
the numerousness of the objects that can be distinguished, and
in proportion to the variety of coexistences and sequences that
can be severally responded to, must be the number and
rapidity and the variety of the changes within the organism
must be the amount of vitality. A little reflection upon
this subject will show us that the greater degree of
exercise and training given the senses, they greater the degree
of mental power and capability. As we store our mental
storehouse with the materials to be manufactured into thought, so
is the quality and the quantity of the fabric produced. It.
Therefore behooves us to awaken from our lazy condition of
mind and to proceed to develop our organs of sense
and their attendant mechanism, as by doing so we increase
of a capacity for thought and knowledge. Before passing to
the exercises, however, it may be valved to give a
hasty passing glance at the several senses and their peculiarities.
The sense of touch is the simplest and primal sense.
Long before the lower forms of life had developed the
higher senses, they had evidenced the sense of touch or feeling.
Without this sense, they would have been unable to have
found their food or to receive and respond to outside impressions.
To the early forms of life, it was exercised equally
by all parts of the body, although in the higher
forms this sense has become somewhat localized, as certain parts
of the body are far more sensitive than the others.
The skin is the seat of the sense of touch,
and its nerves are distributed over the entire area of
the skin. The hand and particularly the fingers and their tips,
are the principal organs of this sense. The acuteness of
touch varies materially in different parts of the body. Experiments
have shown that a pair of compasses would register impressions
as a very slight distance apart. When applied to the
tip of the tongue. The distance at which the two
points could be distinguished from one point on the tip
of the tongue was called one line. Using this line
as a standard, it was found that the palmer surface
of the third finger registered two lines, the surface of
the lips four lines, and the skin of the back
and on the middle of the arm or thigh as
high as sixty lines. The degree of sensitiveness to touch
varies greatly with different individuals, some having a very fine
sense of touch in their fingers, while others manifested a
very much lower degree. In the same way, there is
a great difference in the response of the fingers to
eight a great difference in the ability to distinguish the
difference of the weight of objects. It has been found
that some people can distinguish differences in weigh down to
very small fractions of an ounce. Fine distinctions in the
differences in temperature have also been noticed. The sense of
touch and its development has meant much for man. It
is the one sense in which man surpasses the animals
in the matter of degree and the acuteness. The animal
may have a keener smell, taste, hearing, and sight, but
its sense of touch is far beneath that of man.
A Naxigurus is quoted as saying that if the animals
had hands and fingers, they would be like men. In
developing the sense of touch, the student must remember that
attention is the key to success. The greater the amount
of attention, the greater the degree of development possible in
the case of any sense. When the attention is concentrated
upon any particular sense, the latter becomes quickened and more acute,
and the repeated exercise under the stimulus of attention will
work wonders in the case of any particular sense. And
on the other hand, the sense of touch may be
almost are completely inhibited by firmly fixing the attention upon
something else. As an extreme proof of this latter fact,
the student is asked to remember the fact that men
have been known to suff excruciating torture, apparently without feeling,
owing to the mind being intently riveted upon some idea
or thought. As wild has said the martyr, born about
sensuous impressions, is not only able to endure tortures, but
is able to endure and quench them. The pinching and
cutting of the flesh only added energy to the death
song of the American Indian, and even the slave under
the lash is sustained by the indignant sense of his wrongs.
In the cases of persons engaged in occupations requiring a
fine degree of touch, the development is marvelous. The engraver
passes his hand over the plate and is able to
distinguish the slightest imperfection, and the handle of cloth and
fabrics is able to distinguish the finest differences simply by
the sense of touch. Wool sorters also exercise a wonderful
high degree of fineness of touch, and the blind are
able to make up for the loss of sight by
their greatly increased sense of touch. Cases being recorded whether
blind have been able to distinguish color by the different
feel of the material. The sense of taste is closely
allied to that of touch. In fact, some authorities have
considered taste as a very highly developed sense of touch.
In certain surfaces of the body, the tongue Notably, it
will be remembered that the tongue has the finest sense
of touch, and it also has the sense of taste
developed to perfection. In taste and touch, the object must
be brought in direct contact with the organ of sense,
which is not the case in smell, hearing or sight.
And be it remembered that the latter senses have special nerves,
while taste is compelled to fall back upon the ordinary
nerves of the touch. It is true that the taste
is confined to a very small part of the surface
of the body, while touch is general, but this only
indicates a special development of the special area. The sense
of taste also depends to a great extent upon the
presence of fluids, and only substances that are soluble make
their presence known through the organs and sense of taste.
Physiologists report that the sense of taste in some persons
is so acute that one part of the streich need
in one million parts of water has been distinguished. There
are certain occupations, such as that of wine tasters, tea tasters,
et cetera, the followers of which manifest a degree of
fineness of taste almost incredible. The sense of smell is
closely connected with the sense of taste and often acts
in connection therewith as the tiny particles of the substance
in the mouth arise to the organs of smell by
means of the opening or means of communications situated in
the back part of the mouth, besides which the nose
usually detects the odor of substances before they enter the mouth.
The sense of smell operates by reason of the tiny
particles or the object being carried to the mucous membrane
of the interior of the nose by means of the air.
The membrane, being moist, seizes and holds these particles for
a moment, and the fine nervous organism reports differences and qualities,
and the mind is thus informed of the nature of
the object. This sense of smell is very highly developed
among animals, who are compelled to rely upon it to
a considerable extent, and many occupations among men require the
development of this sense. For instance, the tobacconists, the vine dealer,
the perfumers, the chemist, etc. It is related that in
the cases of certain blind people, it has been observed
that they could distinguish persons in this manner. The sense
of hearing is a more complex one than in the
case of taste, touch, and smell. In the latter three,
the objects to be sense must be brought in close
contact with the sense organs, while in the hearing the
object may be far removed, the impressions being carried by
the vibrations of the air, which are caught up and
reported upon this nervous organism of the sense of hearing.
The internal mechanism of the ear is most wonderfully intricate
and complex, and excites to wonder the person examining it.
It cannot be described here for want of space, but
the student is advised to inquire into it if he
has access to any library containing books on the subject.
It is a wonderful illustration of the work of the
mind in building up for itself instruments with which to
work to acquire knowledge. The ear records vibrations in the
air from twenty or thirty two per second the rate
of the lowest audible note, to those of thirty eight
thousand per second the rate of the highest audible note.
There is a great difference in individuals in regard to
the fineness of the sense of hearing. But all may
develop this sense by the application of attention. The animals
and the savages have wonderfully acute senses of hearing, developed
only along the lines of distinctness. However, on the other hand,
musicians have developed the sense along different lines. The sense
of sight is generally considered to be the highest and
most complex of all senses of man. It deals with
a far larger number of objects at longer distances, and
gives a far greater variety of reports to the mind
than any of its associate senses. It is the sense
of touch magnified many times. As Wilson says of it,
our sight may be considered as a more delicate and
diffusive kind of touch that spreads itself over an infinite
number of bodies, comprehends the largest figures, and brings into
our reach some of the most remote parts of the universe.
The sense of sight receives its impressions from the outside
world by means of waves that travel from body to body,
from cern to earth, and from lamb to eye. These
waves of light rise from the vibration in substance of
an almost incredible degree of rapidity. The lowest light vibration
is about four hundred fifty quadrullian per second, while the
highest is about seven hundred fifty quadrullion per second. These
figures deal only with the vibrations recognizable by the eye
as light. Above and below these figures of the scale
are countless other degrees invisible to the eye, although some
of them may be recorded by instruments. The different sensations
of colour depend upon the rate of vibrations, red being
the limit of the lowest, the violet the limit of
the highest visible vibrations, orange, yellow, green, blue, and indigo
being the intermediate rates or colors. The cultivation of the
sense of slight under the aid of attention is most
important to ale persons. By being able to clearly see
and distinguish the parts of an object, a degree of
knowledge regarding it is obtained that one may not require
without this said exercise of the faculty. We have spoken
of this under the subject of attention in a previous lesson,
to which lesson we again refer the student. The fixing
of the eye upon an object has the power of
concentrating the thoughts and preventing them from wondering. The eye
has other properties and qualities that will be dwelt upon
in future lessons. It has other uses than seeing. The
influence of an eye is a marvelous thing and may
be cultivated and developed. We trust that what we have
said will bring the student into a realization of the
importance of developing the powers of perception. The senses have
been developed by the mind during a long period of
evolution and effort that surely would not have been given
unless the object in view was worth it. All. The
eye insists upon obtaining knowledge of the universe, and much
of this knowledge may be obtained only through the senses.
The yogi student must be wide awake and possessed of
developed senses and powers of perception, the senses of sight
and hearing, the two latest in the scale of evolutionary
growth and unfoldment. Must make himself aware of what is
going on about and around him, so that he may
catch the best vibrations. It would surprise many vestners if
they would come in contact with the highly developed Yogi
and witness the marvelously finely developed senses he possesses. He
is able to distinguish the finest differences in things, and
his mind is so trained that in thought he may
draw conclusions from what he has perceived, in a manner
that seems almost second sight to the uninitiated. In fact,
a certain degree of second sight is possible to one
who develops his sense of sight under the urge of attention.
A new world is open out to such a person.
One must learn to master the senses, not only in
the direction of being independent of and superior to their urgings,
but also in the matter of developing them to a
higher degree. The development of the physical senses also has
much to do with the development of the astral sensors,
of which we have spoken in our fourteen lessons, and
of which we may have more to say in the
present series. The idea of Raja Yoga is to render
the student the possessor of a highly developed mind, with
highly developed instruments with which the mind may work. In
our future lessons, we shall give the student many illustrations, directions,
and exercises calculated to develop the different faculties of the mind,
not only the ordinary faculties of everyday use, but others
hidden behind these familiar faculties and senses. Commencing with the
next lesson, we shall present a system of exercises, drills, etc.
The purpose of which will be the about mentioned development
of the faculties of the mind. In this lesson we
shall not attempt to give specific exercises, but will content
ourselves with calling the attention of the student to a
few general rules underlying the development of perception.
Speaker 2: Part two. A mind without stored up material of impressions
and experiences would be like a factory without material. The
machinery would have nothing upon which to work, and the
shop would be idle. As Helmholtz has said, apprehension by
the senses supplies directly or indirectly the material of all
human knowledge, or at least the stimulus necessary to develop
every inborn faculty of the mind. And Herbert Spencer has
this to say of this phase of the subject. It
is almost a truism to say that, in proportion to
the numerousness of the objects that can be distinguished, and
in proportion to the variety of coexistences and sequences that
can be severally responded to, must be the number and
rapidity and variety of the changes within the organism the
amount of vitality. A little reflection upon this subject will
show us that the greater degree of exercise and training
given the senses the greater the degree of mental power
and capability. As we store our mental storehouse with materials
to be manufactured into thought, so is the quality and
quantity of the fabric produced. It. Therefore, behooves us to
awaken from our lazy condition of mind and to proceed
to develop our organs of sense and their attendant mechanism,
as by doing so we increase our capacity for thought
and knowledge. Before passing to the exercises, however, it may
be well to give a hasty passing glance at the
several senses and their peculiarities. The sense of touch is
the simplest and primal sense. Long before the lower forms
of life had developed the higher senses, they had evidence
the sense of touch or feeling. Without this sense, they
would have been unable to have found their food or
to receive and respond to outside impressions. In the early
forms of life, it was exercised equally by all parts
the body, although in the higher forms this sense has
become somewhat localized, as certain parts of the body are
far more sensitive than our others. The skin is the
seat of the sense of touch, and its nerves are
distributed over the entire area of the skin the hand,
and particularly the fingers and their tips, are the principal
organs of the sense. The acuteness of touch varies materially
in different parts of the body. Experiments have shown that
a pair of compasses would register impressions as a very
slight distance apart when applied to the tip of the tongue.
The distance at which the two points could be distinguished
from one point on the tip of the tongue was
called one line. Using this line as a standard, was
found that the palmer surface of the third finger registered
two lines, the surface of the lips four lines, and
the skin of the back and on the middle of
the arm or thigh as high as sixty lines. The
degree of sensitiveness to touch varies greatly, with different individuals,
some having a very fine sense of touch in their fingers,
while others manifested a very much life degree. In the
same way, there is a great difference in the response
to the fingers to weight, a great difference in the
ability to distinguish the difference of the weight of objects.
It has been found that some people can distinguish differences
in weight down to very small fractions of an ounce.
Fine distinctions in the differences in temperature have also been noticed.
The sense of touch, and its development, has meant much
for man. It is the one sense in which man
surpasses the animals in the matter of degree and acuteness.
The animal may have a keener smell, taste, hearing, and sight,
but its sense of touch is far beneath that of man.
Anaxagorus is quoted as saying that if the animals had
hands and fingers, they would be like men. In developing
the sense of touch, the student must remember that attention
is the key to success. The greater the amount of attention,
the greater the degree of development possible in the case
of any sense. When the attention is concentrated upon any
particular sense, the latter becomes quickened and more acute, and
repeated exercise under the stimulus of attention will work wonders
in the case of any particular sense. And on the
other hand, the sense of touch may be almost or
completely inhibited by firmly fixing the attention upon something else.
As an extreme proof of this latter fact, the student
is asked to remember the fact that men have been
known to suffer excruciating torture, apparently without feeling owing to
the mind being intently riveted upon some thought or idea.
As Wilde has said, the martyr, born above sensuous impressions,
is not only able to endure tortures, but is able
to endure and quench them. The pinching and cutting of
the flesh only added energy to the death song of
the American Indian, and even the slave under the lash
is sustained by the indignant sense of his wrongs. In
the cases of persons engaged in occupations requiring a fine
degree of touch, the development is marvelous. The engraver passes
his hand over the plate and is able to distinguish
the slightest imperfection, and the handler of cloth and fabrics
is able to distinguish the finest differences simply by the
s sense of touch. Wool sorders also exercise a wonderfully
high degree of fineness of touch, and the blind are
able to make up for the loss of sight by
their greatly increased sense of touch. Cases being recorded where
the blind have been able to distinguish color by the
different feel of the material. The sense of taste is
closely allied to that of touch. In fact, some authorities
have considered taste as a very highly developed sense of
touch in certain surfaces of the body, the tongue. Notably,
it will be remembered that the tongue has the finest
sense of touch, and it also has the sense of
taste developed to perfection. In taste and touch, the object
must be brought in direct contact of the organ of sense,
which is not the case in smell, hearing, or sight.
And be it remembered that the latter senses have special nerves,
while taste is compelled to fall back upon the ordinary
nerves of touch. It is true that taste is confined
to a very small part of the surface of the body,
while touch is general, but this only indicates a special
development of the special area. The sense of taste also
depends to a great extent upon the presence of fluids,
and only substances that are soluble make their presence known
through the organs and sense of taste. Physiologists report that
the sense of taste in some persons is so acute
that one part of strychnine in one million parts of
water has been distinguished. There are certain occupations, such as
that of wine tasters, tea tasters, et cetera. The followers
of which manifest a degree of fineness of taste almost incredible.
The sense of smell is closely connected with the sense
of taste, and often acts in connection therewith as the
tiny particles of the substance in the mouth arise to
the organs of smell by means of opening or means
of communications situated in the back part of the mouth,
besides which the nose usually detects the odor of substances
before they enter the mouth. The sense of smell operates
by reason of the tiny particles or the object being
carried to the mucous membrane of the interior of the
nose by means of the air. The membrane, being moist,
seizes and holds these particles for a moment, and the
fine nervous organism reports differences in qualities and the mind
mind is thus informed of the nature of the object.
The sense of smell is very highly developed among animals,
who are compelled to rely upon it to a considerable extent,
and many occupations among men require the development of this sense.
For instance, the tobacconists, the wine dealer, the perfumers, the chemists,
et cetera. It is related that in the cases of
certain blind people, it has been observed that they could
distinguish persons in this manner. The sense of hearing is
a more complex one than in the case of taste, touch,
and smell. In the latter three, the objects to be
sensed must be brought in close contact with the sense organs,
while in hearing the object may be far removed the
impressions being carried by the vibrations of the air, which
are caught up and reported upon by the nervous organism
of the sense of hearing. The internal mechanism of the
ear is most wonderfully intricate and complex, and excites to
wonder the person examining it. It cannot be described here
for want of space, that the student is advised to
inquire into it if he has any access to any
library containing books on the subject. It is a wonderful
illustration of the work of the mind in building up
for itself instruments with which to work to acquire knowledge.
The ear records vibrations in the air from twenty or
thirty two per second, the rate of the lowest audible
note to those of thirty eight thousand per second the
rate of the highest audible. Note there is a great
difference in individuals in regard to the fineness of the
sense of hearing, but all may develop the sense by
the application of attention. The animals and savages have wonderfully
acute senses of hearing, developed only along the lines of distinctness. However,
on the other hand, musicians have developed the sense along
different lines. The sense of sight is generally conceded to
be the highest and most complex of all the senses
of man. It deals with a far larger number of
objects at longer distances, and gives a far greater variety
of reports to the mind than any of its associated senses.
It is the sense of touch magnified many times. As
Wilson says of it, our sight may be considered as
a more delicate and diffusive kind of touch than spreads
itself over an infinite number of bodies, comprehends the largest figures,
and brings into our reach some of the most remote
parts of the universe. The sense of sight recedes its
impressions from the outside world by means of waves that
travel from body to body, from sun to earth, and
from lamp to eye. These waves of light arise from
vibrations and substance of an almost incredible degree of rapidity.
The lowest light vibration is about four hundred and fifty
trillion per second, while the highest is about seven hundred
and fifty trillion per second. These figures deal only with
the vibrations recognizable by the eye as light. Above and
below these figures of the scale are countless other degrees
invisible to the eye, although some of them may be
recorded by instruments. The different sensations of color depend upon
the rate of vibrations, red being the limit of the lowest,
and violet the limit of the highest visible vibrations, orange, yellow, green, blue,
and indigo being intermediate rates or colors. The cultivation of
the sense of sight under the aid of attention is
most important to all persons. By being able to clearly
see and distinguish the parts of an object, a degree
of knowledge regarding it is obtained that one may not
acquire without the said exercise of the faculty. We have
spoken of this under the subject of attention in a
previous lesson, to which lesson we again refer the student.
The fixing of the eye upon an object has the
power of concentrating the thoughts and preventing them from wandering.
The eye has other properties and qualities that will be
dwelt upon in future lessons. It has other uses than seeing.
The influence of the eye is a marvelous thing and
may be cultivated and developed. We trust that what we
have said will bring the student to a realization of
the importance of developing the powers of perception. The senses
have been developed by the mind during a long period
of evolution and effort that surely would not have been
given unless the object in view was worth it. All.
The eye insists upon obtaining knowledge of the universe, and
much of this knowledge may be obtained only through the senses.
The yogi student must be wide awake and possessed of
developed senses and powers of perception. The senses of sight
and hearing, the two latest in the scale of evolutionary
growth and unfoldment, must receive a particular degree of attention.
The student must make himself aware of what is going
on about and around him, so that he may catch
the best vibrations. It would surprise many Westerners if they
could come in contact with a highly developed yogi and
witness the marvelously finely developed senses he possesses. He is
able to distinguish the finest differences of things, and his
mind is so trained that in thought he may draw
conclusions from what he has perceived in a manner that
seems almost second sight to the uninitiated. In fact, a
certain degree of second sight is possible to one who
develops his sense of sight under the urge of attention.
A new world is opened out to such a person.
One must learn to master the senses, not only in
the direction of being independent and superior to their urgings,
but also in the matter of developing them to a
high degree. The development of the physical senses also has
much to do with the development of the astrasis senses,
of which we have spoken in our fourteen lessons, and
of which we may have more to say in the
present series. The idea of Raja Yoga is to render
the student the possessor of a highly developed mind, with
highly developed instruments from which the mind may work. In
our future lessons, we shall give the student many illustrations, directions,
and exercises calculated to develop the different faculties of the mind,
not only the ordinary faculties of everyday use, but others
hidden behind these familiar faculties and senses. Commencing with the
next lesson, we shall present a system of exercises, drills,
et cetera, the purpose of which will be the above
mentioned development of the faculties of the mind. In this lesson,
we shall not attempt to give specific exercises, but will
content ourselves with calling the attention of the student to
a few general rules underlying the development of perception. Part three,
General Rules of Perception. The first thing to remember in
acquiring the art of perception is that one should not
attempt to proceed the whole of a complex thing or
object at the same time or at once. One should
consider the object in detail, and then by grouping the details,
he will find that he has considered the whole. Let
us take the face of a person as a familiar object.
If one tries to perceive a face as a whole,
he will find that he will meet with a certain
degree of failure, the impression being indistinct and cloudy. It
following also that the memory of that face will correspond
with the original perception. But let the observer consider the
face and detail first the eyes, then the nose, then
the mouth, then the chin. Then the hair, then the
outline of the face, the complexion, et cetera, and he
will find that he will have acquired a clear and
distinct impression or perception of the whole face. The same
rule may be applied to any subject or object. Let
us take another familiar illustration. You wish to observe a building.
If you simply get a general perception of the building
as a whole, you will be able to remember very
little about it except as general outlines, size, color, et cetera.
And a description will prove to be very disappointing. But
if you have noted in detail the material used, the
shape of the doors, chimney, roof, porches, decorations, trimmings, ornamentation,
size and number of the window panes, et cetera, et cetera,
the shape and angles of the roof, et cetera, you
will have an intelligent idea of the building in place
of a mere general outline or impression of such as
might be acquired by an animal in passing. We will
conclude this lesson with an anecdote of the methods of
that famous naturalist Agazi in his training of his pupils.
His pupils become renowned for their close powers of observation
and perception, and their consequent ability to think about the
things they had seen. Many of them rose to eminent positions,
and claimed that this was largely by reason of their
careful training. The tail runs that a new student presented
himself to a gazi one day, asking to be set
to work. The naturalists took a fish from a jar
in which it had been preserved, and laidying it before
the young student bade him observe it carefully and be
ready to report upon what he had noticed about the fish.
The student was then left alone with the fish. There
was nothing especially interesting about that fish. It was like
many other fishes that he had seen before. He noticed
that it had fins and scales, and a mouth, and eyes, yes,
and a tail. In a half hour, he felt certain
that he had observed all about that fish that there
was to be perceived for. The naturalists remained away. The
time rolled on, and the youth, having nothing else to do,
began to grow restless and weary. He started out to
hunt up the teacher, but he failed to find him,
and so had to return and gaze again at that
wearisome fish. Several hours had passed, and he knew but
little more about the fish than he did in the
first place. He went out to lunch, and when he
returned it was still a case of watching the fish.
He felt disgusted and discouraged, and wished he had never
come to Agazzi, whom it seemed was a stupid old
man after all, one away behind the times. Then, in
order to kill time, he began to count the scales.
This completed, he counted the spines of the fins. Then
he began to draw a picture of the fish, and
drawing the picture, he noticed that the fish had no eyelids.
He thus made the discovery that, as his teacher had
expressed it often in lectures, a pencil is the best
of eyes. Shortly after, the teacher returned, and after ascertaining
what the youth had observed, he left rather disappointed, telling
the boy to keep on looking and maybe he would
see something. This put the boy on his medal, and
they began to work with his pencil, putting down the
little details that had escaped him before, but which now
seemed very plain to him. They began to catch the
secret of observation. Little by little he brought to light
new objects of interest about the fish. But this did
not suffice his teacher, who kept him at work on
the same fish for three whole days. At the end
of that time, the student really knew something about the fish,
and better than all, had acquired the knack and habit
of careful observation and perception in detail. Years after the
student then attained to eminence, is reported as saying that
was the best zoological lesson I ever had, A lesson
whose influence has extended to the details of every subsequent study,
A legacy that the professor left to me, as he
left to many others, of inestimable value which we could
not buy and with which we cannot part. Apart from
the value to the student of the particular information obtained
was the quickening of the perceptive faculties that enabled him
to observe the important points in a subject or object,
and consequently to deduce important information from that which was observed.
The mind is hungry for knowledge, and it has, by
years of weary evolution and effort, built up a series
of sense systems in order to yield it that knowledge.
And it is still building. The men and women in
the world who have arrived at the point of success,
have availed themselves of these wonderful channels of information, and
by directing them under the guidance of will and attention,
have attained wonderful results. These things are of importance, and
we beg of our students not to pass by this
portion of the subject as uninteresting. Cultivate a spirit of
wide awakeness and perception, and the knowing that will come
to you will surprise as you. Not only do you
develop the existing senses by such practice and use, but
you help in the unfoldment of the latent powers and
senses that are striving for unfoldment. By using and exercising
the faculties that we have, we help to unfold those
for the coming of which we have been dreaming. Mantram affirmation.
I am a soul possessed of channels of communication with
the outer world. I will use these channels and thereby
acquire the information and knowledge necessary for my mental development.
I will exercise and develop my organs of sense, knowing
that in doing so I shall cause to unfold the
higher senses of which they are but forerunners and symbols.
I will be wide awake and open to the inflow
of knowledge and information. The universe is my home. I
will explore it