It is especially necessary to emphasize this fact because of the strange attitude
of the present-day scientists towards all phenomena which are not of a purely physical
character and cannot be dealt with in a scientific laboratory through physical instru-
ments. They not only distrust all things which cannot be investigated through physical
instruments; they also consider them outside the realm of law. To them only physical
phenomena are governed by natural laws. All other phenomena connected with the
mental, psychic and spiritual experiences of mankind belong implicitly to a world of
chaos in which there are no definite and exact laws and therefore no possibility of in-
vestigating them in a scientific manner.
The Yogic philosophy takes a more sensible and scientific view. It considers the
whole of the manifested Universe as a cosmos. It declares emphatically that all phe-
nomena within this Universe—superphysical as well as physical—are subject to natu-
ral laws which work with mathematical precision. It provides the means by which the
superphysical phenomena can be investigated and the underlying laws discovered. The
student is thus not only free to decide which is the more rational view of the Universe
but also to test by his own experiences and experiments which is the correct view.
- By performing Samyama on the three kinds of transformations (Nirodha,
Samadhi and Ekagrata) knowledge of the past and future.
Beginning with III-16 the remaining Sutras of this Section deal with the Siddhis
or attainments which can be acquired by the practice of Samyama. Before dealing with
the individual Sutras it is necessary to point out a few facts, by way of introduction, on
this difficult but interesting subject. The word Siddhis is used generally for the ex-
traordinary powers acquired through the practice of Yoga but its real meaning is best
expressed by the words ‘attainments’ or ‘accomplishments’ connected with the super-
physical worlds. It is chiefly in this latter sense that the word Siddhis should be taken
in the present context because many of the Siddhis dealt with in the latter portion of