Speaker 1: Salam. The Western student is apt to be somewhat confused
Speaker 1: in his ideas regarding the Yogis in their philosophy and practice.
Speaker 1: Travelers to India have written great tales about the hordes
Speaker 1: of Fakirs, mendicants, and mountebanks who infests the great roads
Speaker 1: of India and the streets of its cities, and who
Speaker 1: impotently claim the title Yogi. The Western student is scarcely
Speaker 1: to be blamed for thinking of the typical Yogi as
Speaker 1: an emaciated, fanatical, dirty, ignorant Hindu who either sits in
Speaker 1: a fixed posture until his body becomes ossified, or else
Speaker 1: holds his arm up in the air until it becomes
Speaker 1: stiff and withered, and forever after remains in that position,
Speaker 1: or perhaps clenches his fists and holds it tight until
Speaker 1: his finger nails grow through the palms of his hands.
Speaker 1: That these people exists is true, but their claim to
Speaker 1: the title Yogi seems as absurd to the true Yogi,
Speaker 1: as does the claim to the title doctor on the
Speaker 1: part of the man who pairs one's corn seem to
Speaker 1: the imminent surgeon, or as does the title of professor
Speaker 1: as a son by the street corner vendor of worm
Speaker 1: medicine seemed to the president of Harvard or Yale. There
Speaker 1: have been for ages passed in India and other Oriental countries,
Speaker 1: men who devoted their time and attention to the development
Speaker 1: of man physically, mentally, and spiritually. The experience of generations
Speaker 1: of earnest seekers has been handed down for centuries from
Speaker 1: teacher to pupil, and gradually a definite Yogi science was
Speaker 1: built up to these investigations and teachings was finally applied.
Speaker 1: The term yogi from the Sanskrit word yug, meaning to join.
Speaker 1: From the same source comes the English word yoke with
Speaker 1: a similar meaning. Its use in connection with these teachings
Speaker 1: is difficult to trace. Different authorities given different explanations, but
Speaker 1: probably the most ingenious is that which holds that it
Speaker 1: is intended as the Hindu equivalent for the idea conveyed
Speaker 1: by the English phrase getting into harness or yoking up,
Speaker 1: as the Yogi undoubtedly gets into harness in his work
Speaker 1: of control in the body and mind by the will.
Speaker 1: Yoga is divided into several branches, ranging from that which
Speaker 1: teaches the control of the body to that which teaches
Speaker 1: the attainment of the highest spiritual development. In the work,
Speaker 1: we will not go into the higher phases of the subject,
Speaker 1: except when the science of breath touches upon the same.
Speaker 1: The science of breath touches yoga at many points, and
Speaker 1: although chiefly concerned with the development and control of the physical,
Speaker 1: has also its psychic side, and even enters the field
Speaker 1: of spiritual development. In India, there are great schools of Yoga,
Speaker 1: comprising thousands of the leading minds of that great country.
Speaker 1: The Yoga philosophy is the rule of life for many people.
Speaker 1: The pure yoga teachings, however, are given only to the few,
Speaker 1: the masses being satisfied with the chrumbs which fall from
Speaker 1: the tables of the educated classes, the Oriental custom in
Speaker 1: this respect being opposed to that of the Western world.
Speaker 1: But Western ideas are beginning to have their effect even
Speaker 1: in the order, and teachings which were once given only
Speaker 1: to the few, are now freely offered to any who
Speaker 1: are ready to receive them. The East and the West
Speaker 1: are growing closer together, and both are profiting by the
Speaker 1: close contact each influence in the other. The Hindu Yogis
Speaker 1: have always paid great attention to the science of breath
Speaker 1: for reasons which will be apparent to the student who
Speaker 1: reads this book. Many Western writers have touched upon this
Speaker 1: phase of the Yogi teachings, but we believe that it
Speaker 1: has been reserved for the writer of this work to
Speaker 1: give to the Western student, in concise form and simple language,
Speaker 1: the underlying principles of the Yogi science of breath, together
Speaker 1: with many of the favorite Yogi breathing exercises and methods.
Speaker 1: We have given the Western idea as well as the Oriental,
Speaker 1: showing how one dovetails into the other. We have used
Speaker 1: the ordinary English terms almost entirely, avoiding the Sanskrit terms
Speaker 1: so confusing to the average Western reader. The first part
Speaker 1: of the book is devoted to the physical phase of
Speaker 1: the science of breath, then the psychic and mental sides
Speaker 1: are considered, and finally the spiritual side is touched upon.
Speaker 1: We may be pardoned if we express ourselves as pleased
Speaker 1: with our success at condensing as much Yogi lure into
Speaker 1: so few pages, and by the use of words and
Speaker 1: terms which may be understood by anyone. Our only fear
Speaker 1: is that its very simplicity may call some to pass
Speaker 1: it by as unworthy of attention. While they pass on
Speaker 1: their way searching for something deep, mysterious, and non understandable. However,
Speaker 1: the Western mind is eminently practical, and we know that
Speaker 1: it is only a question of a short time before
Speaker 1: it will recognize the practicability of this work. We greet
Speaker 1: our students with our most profound saloon, and bid them
Speaker 1: be seated for their first lessons in the Yogi science
Speaker 1: of breath.