more ardently he desires to reach the object of his search the swifter is his progress.
Progress in any line of endeavour is to a great extent determined by earnestness. A
great intensity of desire polarizes all the mental faculties and powers and thus helps
very greatly the realization of one's aims. But progress in Yoga depends upon the ear-
nestness of the aspirant in a far greater degree and for this reason. In the case of objec-
tives which are connected with the external world progress involves changes in the
outer world, conditions for which may or may not be as favourable as desired. But in
the case of the objective of Yoga the changes involved are all within the consciousness
of the Yogi himself, and the obstacles are more or less of a subjective nature and con-
fined within his own vehicles. There is, therefore, less dependence upon external cir-
cumstances and the internal conditions referred to above are more amenable to his con-
trol. A man of ambition if he wants to rise to a position of power and influence has to
deal with the minds and attitudes of millions of men but the Yogi has to deal only with
one mind—his own. And it is far easier to deal with one's own mind than that of others
provided one is in earnest. Nothing really stands between the Yogi and his objective
except his own desires and weaknesses which can be eliminated easily and quickly
provided one earnestly wants to do so. This is so because they are mostly of a subjec-
tive nature and merely require understanding and change of attitude.
Ye suffer from yourselves. None else compels,
None other holds you that ye live and die
And whirl upon the wheel and hug and kiss
Its spokes of agony, —The Light of Asia
It has been said by a great sage that it is easier to know your Atma than to pluck a
flower, for in the latter case you have to put forth your hand while in the former you
have only to look within.
The student need hardly be reminded that in the essential practice of Yoga we
are dealing with the recession of consciousness within itself and not with any material
change. The process is more of the nature of ‘letting go’ than of ‘building up’ some-
thing which naturally takes time, Isvara-pranidhana, for example, which is an inde-
pendent and self-sufficient means of bringing about Samadhi, can be developed with
extraordinary rapidity when a spiritually mature soul surrenders itself whole-heartedly
to Isvara. It is really a process of ‘letting go’ our hold on the attractions and pursuits
of the worldly life and in such a process progress can be extremely rapid. In fact the