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then do so with clear understanding, not with a painful sensation of loss.
As to the symbolism of the tortoise, this is a meaningful legend which we will encounter later and
which will accompany us throughout the whole book.
(11) A yogi who is desirous of developing siddhis should keep the hatha yoga strictly secret, for only
then will he have success. All his efforts will be in vain if he reveals everything without
discrimination.
Physical exercises are nothing shameful, and they are fun; but practiced on a highway they become
insanity. "When you pray, go into a room by yourself." Or, more drastically: "Do not cast pearls
before swine."
(12) The student of hatha yoga should practice in a solitary place, in a temple or a hermitage, an
arrow shot away from rocks, water, and fire. The land should be fertile and well governed.
Here we have the first great problem, larger perhaps than that of the siddhis: to find a quiet spot,
undisturbed and safe. Predatory animals, earthquakes, and floods: those were the problems at that
time. Today's problems are professional, financial, political, which constantly drag the practitioner
back into the stream of social life.
However, it is not entirely impossible to create a hermitage under modern conditions. Perhaps there
is a quiet attic, away from the attractions of movies, radio, television, where we can meet our
neglected and ignored own selves.
(13) The hermitage should have a small door and no windows. It should be level with the ground and
have no holes in the wall. [It should be] neither too high nor too long, and clean and free from
insects. It should be laid daily with cow dung. Outside there should be a raised platform with an
THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 17
Yoga Swami Svatmarama. Hatha yoga pradipika
elevated seat and a water tank. The whole should be surrounded by a wall. These are the
characteristics of a yoga hermitage as described by the siddhas, the masters of hatha yoga.
Do not despair! I have seen many hemitages that conformed in only a few points to the ideal. Some
had holes in the walls and most of them were lacking the cow dung. But all of them were clean. We
should not be too dependent on external conditions, helpful though they may be. If I so will, my
hermitage has neither doors or windows. And when I am distracted, my restless mind will penetrate
the thickest walls. If the hermitage is not ideal, a little extra effort must be made. The goal of yoga is
by no means dependent on cow dung.
(14) Seated in such a place, the yogi should free his mind from all distracting thoughts and practice
yoga as instructed by his guru.
Our keenest weapon, and often our only salvation, is our thought power. If your thought is open, so
is the chance of success; if it is slow and limited, you will be left behind in the great race for success.
Not only is right thought essential, but also the capacity to think of several things simultaneously.
Many Western men with executive ulcers could write reams about this.
Must men be like this? Evidently, if they wish to succeed. But what is success? Nothing against
success--which, after all, is the foundation of a "happy life." Success is wealth, wealth is happiness;
therefore, success is happiness. A logical conclusion, but somehow it leaves us uneasy. Is the man
who has bought success with his health, with the sacrifice of his most precious attribute, really happy
?
There is a different way. One of the most remarkable men of our time, and by no means a pious man,
swears by yoga. Every morning Pandit Nehru, the coolest thinker of his country and a maker of
world history, stood on his head, and with him 63 members of Congress. Yehudi Menuhin, the great
violinist, makes no secret about his yoga. And like him many of the most successful men of our day,
including medical men who are world famous, find in yoga the purest source of human harmony.
Harmony: the key word, the all-important. There is no objection to the search for success as long as
the harmony of life is not disturbed. No need to relinquish any of our plans and principles as long as
there is harmony.
How does harmony come about? The very question proves that this fundamental law of life is
becoming more and more a myth as we are turned more and more into machines. So let us try to find
the yoga way to harmony.
(15) The yoga forces are dissipated by too much eating, heavy physical labor, too much talk, the
observances of [ascetic] vows,
[promiscuous] company, and a growling stomach [too much fasting].
Here we have the disharmonies of everyday life, and not even the great ones. Not distrust, not
rudeness, not lack of consideration, not anger and despair. Just immoderation. And that is bad
enough.
The yogi never quite fills his stomach; the executive always does. The yogi is healthy; the executive
has ailments. Harmony versus disharmony.
THE FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 18
Yoga Swami Svatmarama. Hatha yoga pradipika
(16) Success depends on a cheerful disposition, perseverance, courage, self-knowledge, unshakable
faith in the word of the guru, and the avoidance of all [superfluous] company. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]