\u2022 Pre fa c e
\u2022Chapter 1 - Psychological Presuppositions
\u2022Chapter 2 - The Aim of Objective Analysis
\u2022Chapter 3 - The Spiritual Reality
\u2022Chapter 4 - Depth Psychology
\u2022Chapter 5 - The Moral Restraints
\u2022Chapter 6 - The Observances
\u2022Chapter 7 - Asana or Posture
\u2022Chapter 8 - Pranayama or Regulation of the Vital Energy
\u2022Chapter 9 - Pratyahara or Abstraction
\u2022Chapter 10 - Peace of Mind and Self-Control
\u2022Chapter 11 - Dharana or Concentration
\u2022Chapter 12 - Dhyana or Meditation
\u2022Chapter 13 - Samadhi or Super-Consciousness

The present small book consists of lectures delivered by the author several years ago on the essentials of the Yoga system as propounded by the Sage Patanjali. These lessons were intended particularly for students who required a special clarity of this intricate subject, and the approach has been streamlined accordingly in a form and style commensurate with the receptive capacities of the students.

It is necessary, at the outset, to clear certain misconceptions in regard to Yoga, prevalent especially among some sections in the West. Yoga is not magic or a feat of any kind, physical or mental. Yoga is based on a sound philosophy and deep psychology. It is an educational process by which the human mind is trained to become more and morenatural and weaned from the unnatural conditions of life. Yoga has particular concern with psychology, and, as a study of the \u2018self\u2019, it transcends both general and abnormal psychology, and leads one to the supernormal level of life. In Yoga we study ourselves, while in our colleges we are told to study objects. Not the study of things but a study of the very structure of the student is required by the system of Yoga, for theknown is not totally independent of theknower.

How do we know things at all? There is a mysterious process by which we come to know the world, and life is an activity of such knowledge. A study of the mind is a study of its relations to things. The instruction, \u2018Know Thyself\u2019, implies that when we know ourselves, we know all things connected with ourselves, i.e., we know the universe. In this study we have

The first thing we are aware of in experience is the world. There are certain processes which take place in the mind, by which we come to know the existence of the world. There are sensations, perceptions and cognitions, which fall under what is known as \u2018direct perception\u2019 or \u2018direct knowledge\u2019

A stimulation of the senses takes place by a vibration that proceeds from the object outside. This happens in two ways: (1) by the very presence of the object and (2) by the light rays, sound, etc., that emanate from the object, which affect the retina of the eyes, the drums of the ears, or the other senses. We have five senses of knowledge and through them we receive all the information concerning the world. If the five senses are not to act, we cannot know if there is a world at all. We, thus, live in a sense-world. When sensory stimulation is produced by vibrations received from outside, we become active. Sensory activity stimulates the mind through the nervous system which connects the senses with the mind by means of thePrana or vital energy. We may compare these nerve-channels to electric wires, through which the power of the Prana flows. The Pranas are not the nerves, even as electricity is not the wires. The Prana is an internal vibration which links the senses with the mind. Sensations, therefore, make the mind active and the mind begins to feel that there is something outside. This may be called indeterminate perception, where the mind has a featureless awareness of the object. When the perception becomes clearer, it becomes determinate. This mental perception is usually called cognition.

Beyond the mind there is another faculty, called the intellect. It judges whether a thing is good or bad, necessary or unnecessary, of this kind or that, etc. It decides upon the value of an object, whether this judgment is positive or negative, moral, aesthetic or religious. One assesses one\u2019s

Sanskrit term forintellect, which is theKarta or doer. The intellect judges what is cognized by the mind, and makes a decision as to the nature of the action that has to be taken in respect of the object in the given circumstances.