Microsoft Word - Taimni - The Science of Yoga.doc

ized only by the advanced Yogi who has already learnt the technique of Samyama to
develop the particular Siddhi. Not only is the ordinary student unable to make any
practical use of the hint given, but he is hardly in a position to understand its real sig-
nificance. It is not enough merely to understand Samyama as an intellectual concept.
The successive mental processes underlying it should be a matter of actual direct ex-
perience, as real as, for example, going from one room into another in one's own
house. Let no one, therefore, be under the illusion that by carefully studying the vari-
ous Sutras and practising what is vaguely hinted at in them it is possible to develop the
Siddhis. There is a price to pay and it is a very high price—a complete reorientation of
one's life and its dedication to the Yogic ideal, an adoption of the Yogic discipline in
its entirety and a fixed and unalterable determination to continue to strive, life after
life, until the goal is reached. And in this ideal and the life which the Yogi adopts the
Siddhis, in the sense of occult powers, have really a very subordinate position and are
generally not striven after directly. The main emphasis is on finding the Ultimate
Truth through Self-realization and the Siddhis are used merely as a means for gaining
that end.
It will be seen from what has been said above that the subject of Siddhis is not
taboo among Yogis and there is no need to adopt an attitude of morbid fear towards
them as is sometimes advocated in certain schools of spiritual culture. There is no
harm in studying the subject in an academic spirit with a view to acquire a better
knowledge and comprehension of the Science of Yoga. The danger begins when a han-
kering for developing these powers takes possession of the mind of the neophyte and
the possibility opens of his being side-tracked from the true Path of Yoga.
Even as regards this intellectual study the student should keep in mind his limi-
tations and not expect too much from a careful and thorough study of the Sutras bear-
ing on Siddhis. As has been pointed out repeatedly the mental processes which are in-
volved in the development of Siddhis are not only internal and subjective but beyond
the range of the ordinary mind with which we are familiar. Even Yogic psychology
cannot, therefore, explain everything. It can take the student only up to the border of
the region with which he is familiar but cannot make him see through the veils which
his lower mind has placed round his consciousness. All that can be hoped for, there-
fore, from the study of these Sutras is an intelligent grasp of the general principles
underlying the different mental processes involved in developing various Siddhis. And
in some cases even this may not be possible.