Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

of laws of Nature which bring about and regulate these phenomena with mathematical
precision. Formerly, man was mystified by natural phenomena and as he did not know
that they were based on natural laws he felt helpless before them. But the advent of
Science, and the discovery of natural laws to which it has led, has given him power
and confidence. He knows that if he can find the underlying laws in any sphere of
natural phenomena he can control and manipulate them with utter certainty. He also
knows that behind the external changes which he observes there are inner processes
which bring about and account for the external changes, and much of the scientific
work which is being done these days aims at tracing these inner processes and through
their control and manipulation bringing about any desired result in the physical world.
It is this idea of a hidden process or natural sequence underlying the multifari-
ous phenomena of Nature which is embodied in the Sutra under discussion. The
Samskrta word Krama almost exactly expresses the idea behind a law of Nature. A law
of Nature is nothing but a particular invariable order and manner in which things hap-
pen under a particular set of circumstances. We do not know really why things happen
in certain ways under certain circumstances. We only know how they happen and an
exact formulation of this mode of action is a law of Nature. This is also the essential
idea behind the word Krama operating in the field of natural phenomena. The previous
Sutra points out that all phenomena whether brought about by the action of natural
forces or by the will of the Yogi are due to the appearance and disappearance of the
corresponding properties in Prakrti. This Sutra emphasizes that these changes do not
take place in a haphazard manner but according to definite and exact natural laws
which determine with mathematical precision the manner and order of the changes.
The need of bringing home to the student this important fact will be seen if we
remember that all the following Sutras of this Section deal with different kinds of Sid-
dhis which can be acquired by the practice of Samyama. Some of these powers or at-
tainments are of such an extraordinary nature that the student might well get away with
the idea that they are acquired by some miraculous means. This would not only give an
incorrect idea with regard to the nature of these attainments but also undermine the
confidence of the Yogi in his ability to acquire them by Yogic processes. For there is
always an element of uncertainty associated with the idea of miracles. A miracle may
or may not happen. But a scientific process must produce the desired result if the right
conditions are provided. It is the scientific nature of Yogic technique which provides
the guarantee for success through them.