The deeper purpose of the siddhis is something else. Through the developing forces thestudent recognizes what stage of evolution he has reached. Certain phenomena will tellhim that he should change his way of practice, and if after due practice these phenomenado not occur, he surely has made a mistake. The siddhis are signposts on his way to thefinal goal, liberation. To be a siddha means to be in possession of all the characteristics of the final yoga goal."Siddhis," my guru told me, "are not the aim of our work. We want to become siddhas inorder to enjoy the realization and perfection of a siddha, not to gain worldly position or evade responsibilities." And since he himself is a siddha, this sentence clearly indicateswhat is defined as the upper delimitation. Yoga is not for braggarts or egocentrics, nor isit for those who merely want to add method to their physical training.(3) For those who wander in the darkness of conflicting creeds [and philosophies], unableto reach to the heights of raja yoga [self-knowledge and cosmic consciousness] themerciful Yogi Svatmarama has lit the torch of hatha wisdom.Raja yoga, the royal yoga1 is a goal that many strive to reach without even being awareof it, without having the slightest inkling of yoga. What else is Faust aspiring to but perfect self-knowledge and cosmic consciousness, to "know that force which holds theuniverse together, to see creative power and the seed"?For the student of Indian wisdom this reference to Faust presents an especially interesting parallel. Goethe speaks here of creative power and of seed, in Sanskrit shakti and bindu,two of the most important terms in tantra yoga, as we will see later on. At the time of Goethe these teachings had not yet reached the West, and it speaks for his universalgenius that he recognized their supreme importance.(4-9) Gorafksha and Matsyendra were masters of hatha vidya, and by their grace YogiSvatmarama learned it. Siva, Matsyendra, Shabara, Anandabhairava, Chaurangi, andmany other great siddhas who have conquered time are still roaming through this world.A daring statement: after the enumeration of 33 masters of hatha vidya who haveilluminated the ages, to claim that they are still roaming through the world, for "they haveconquered time."We have already spoken of the siddhis, and here it is specifically stated that these masterswere siddhas. They reached what so many covet, "eternal youth." Many are the tales of yogis who are said to be several hundred years old and look like youths, but it is uselessto discuss this kind of doubtful rumor. A wandering1. The translation of the term "raja yoga" as "royal yoga" is exoteric. Esoterically it is"the yoga of radiating light," for "raja" can also mean "to shine." Thus we have anallusion to the "inner light," which is dealt with in the fourth part of this work.
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