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Speaker 1: Salam. The Western student is apt to be somewhat confused

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in his ideas regarding the Yogis in their philosophy and practice.

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Travelers to India have written great tales about the hordes

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of Fakirs, mendicants, and mountebanks who infests the great roads

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of India and the streets of its cities, and who

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impotently claim the title Yogi. The Western student is scarcely

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to be blamed for thinking of the typical Yogi as

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an emaciated, fanatical, dirty, ignorant Hindu who either sits in

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a fixed posture until his body becomes ossified, or else

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holds his arm up in the air until it becomes

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stiff and withered, and forever after remains in that position,

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or perhaps clenches his fists and holds it tight until

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his finger nails grow through the palms of his hands.

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That these people exists is true, but their claim to

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the title Yogi seems as absurd to the true Yogi,

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as does the claim to the title doctor on the

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part of the man who pairs one's corn seem to

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the imminent surgeon, or as does the title of professor

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as a son by the street corner vendor of worm

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medicine seemed to the president of Harvard or Yale. There

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have been for ages passed in India and other Oriental countries,

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men who devoted their time and attention to the development

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of man physically, mentally, and spiritually. The experience of generations

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of earnest seekers has been handed down for centuries from

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teacher to pupil, and gradually a definite Yogi science was

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built up to these investigations and teachings was finally applied.

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The term yogi from the Sanskrit word yug, meaning to join.

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From the same source comes the English word yoke with

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a similar meaning. Its use in connection with these teachings

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is difficult to trace. Different authorities given different explanations, but

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probably the most ingenious is that which holds that it

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is intended as the Hindu equivalent for the idea conveyed

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by the English phrase getting into harness or yoking up,

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as the Yogi undoubtedly gets into harness in his work

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of control in the body and mind by the will.

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Yoga is divided into several branches, ranging from that which

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teaches the control of the body to that which teaches

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the attainment of the highest spiritual development. In the work,

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we will not go into the higher phases of the subject,

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except when the science of breath touches upon the same.

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The science of breath touches yoga at many points, and

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although chiefly concerned with the development and control of the physical,

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has also its psychic side, and even enters the field

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of spiritual development. In India, there are great schools of Yoga,

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comprising thousands of the leading minds of that great country.

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The Yoga philosophy is the rule of life for many people.

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The pure yoga teachings, however, are given only to the few,

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the masses being satisfied with the chrumbs which fall from

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the tables of the educated classes, the Oriental custom in

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this respect being opposed to that of the Western world.

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But Western ideas are beginning to have their effect even

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in the order, and teachings which were once given only

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to the few, are now freely offered to any who

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are ready to receive them. The East and the West

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are growing closer together, and both are profiting by the

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close contact each influence in the other. The Hindu Yogis

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have always paid great attention to the science of breath

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for reasons which will be apparent to the student who

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reads this book. Many Western writers have touched upon this

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phase of the Yogi teachings, but we believe that it

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has been reserved for the writer of this work to

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give to the Western student, in concise form and simple language,

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the underlying principles of the Yogi science of breath, together

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with many of the favorite Yogi breathing exercises and methods.

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We have given the Western idea as well as the Oriental,

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showing how one dovetails into the other. We have used

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the ordinary English terms almost entirely, avoiding the Sanskrit terms

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so confusing to the average Western reader. The first part

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of the book is devoted to the physical phase of

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the science of breath, then the psychic and mental sides

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are considered, and finally the spiritual side is touched upon.

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We may be pardoned if we express ourselves as pleased

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with our success at condensing as much Yogi lure into

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so few pages, and by the use of words and

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terms which may be understood by anyone. Our only fear

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is that its very simplicity may call some to pass

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it by as unworthy of attention. While they pass on

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their way searching for something deep, mysterious, and non understandable. However,

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the Western mind is eminently practical, and we know that

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it is only a question of a short time before

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it will recognize the practicability of this work. We greet

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our students with our most profound saloon, and bid them

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be seated for their first lessons in the Yogi science

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of breath.