Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

of appearing odd in using the correct language he continues to use the common phra-
seology. So deep-rooted is this identification that even physiologists, psychologists
and philosophers, who are supposed to be familiar with the mechanism of sense-
perception and intellectually recognize the mere instrumentality of the physical body,
are hardly actively aware of this tendency and may identify themselves with the body
completely. It is worth noting that mere intellectual knowledge with regard to such
patent facts does not by itself enable a person to separate himself from his vehicles.
Who has more detailed knowledge with regard to the physical body and its functions
than a doctor who has dissected hundreds of bodies and knows that it is a mere mecha-
nism. One would expect that a doctor at least, from whom nothing inside the body is
hidden, will be above this tendency to regard himself as the body. But is a doctor in
any way better off in this respect than a layman? Not at all. This is not a matter of or-
dinary seeing and understanding at all.
Asmita or identification with a vehicle is not a simple but a very complex proc-
ess and has many aspects. The first aspect we may consider is identification with the
powers and faculties associated with the vehicles. For example, when a person says ‘I
see’ what really happens is that the faculty of sight is exercised by the body through
the eye and the in-dwelling entity becomes merely aware of the result, i.e. the pano-
rama presented before the eye. Again, when he says, ‘I walk’ what really happens is
that the will working through the mind moves the body on its legs like a portable in-
strument and the in-dwelling entity identifying himself with the movement of the body
says, ‘I walk’.
The second aspect is the association of the subtler vehicle in this process of
identification where a compound Asmita—if such a phrase can be used—is produced.
Thus when a person says he has a headache what is really happening is that there is a
slight disorder in the brain. This disorder by its reaction on the next subtler vehicle
through which sensations and feelings are felt produces the sensation of pain. The in-
dwelling entity identifies himself with this joint product of these two vehicles and this
results in ‘his’ having a headache, although a little thought will show him that it is not
he but the vehicle which is having the pain of which he is aware. The same thing
working at a somewhat higher level produces such reactions as ‘I think’, ‘I approve’. It
is the mind which thinks and approves and the consciousness becomes merely aware of
the thought process which is reflected in the physical body. Ambition, pride and simi-