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292 SPIRIT AND THE MIND
ily than the good. In the mental body, for example, ambition is very quickly aroused and soon swells to an incredibly inordinate degree. It would be likely to bring with it a great intensification of the power of the intellect, but at the same time, it would produce abnormal and satanic pride, such as is quite inconceivable to the ordinary man. It is said in The Hathayoga Pradipika: “It gives liberation to yogi’s and bondage to fools.”8
PATANJALI
Patanjali, in his Yoga Sutras, or Aphorisms of Yoga, written in about the 4th Century A.D. and first translated into English in 1852, defined eight steps necessary to travel the spiritual path safely:
1. Moral observance, restraint (yama). Five basic moral rules are considered minimal requirements: truthfulness, non-violence, non- covetousness, chastity, and non-acceptance of others’ possessions.
2. Personal virtue, discipline (niyama). Five essential habits are purity (in thought, speech and action), contentment, self-denial, study of scriptures, devotion to God.
3. Attitudes and positions of the body (asanas). The body is trained in proper sitting, which facilitates the flow of energy so it doesn’t interfere with but promotes meditation.
4. Breath control (pranayama). Proper breathing purifies the nervous system, regulates the flow of energy and quiets the mind for meditation.
5. Withdrawal of the senses from the outside world (pratyahara). Awareness is turned inward, away from the distraction of the senses and toward higher inner spiritual states of consciousness.
6. Concentration (dharana}. Awareness is focused on an object used as a vehicle for meditation. This may be part of the body, such as the heart or the area between the eyebrows, a sound such as OM or one’s chosen name of God, a visual form, or a light such as a candle flame.
7. Meditation (dhyana). Meditation is described as an unbro- ken, constant flow of the mind—like the flow of oil poured from one container to another—toward the object of meditation. It re quires exclusion of all other thought currents.
8. Merger and transcendence (samadhi). The unitive state beyond mind.


































































































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