| OCR Text |
Show , OKIESTaL aETAL bCIEXCE. CONTBOLOF THE JILM) HEASaiIi: I COQCEST OP EELT WHAT IT CAJi ACCOMPLISH. At the recent mecUnKol tbelbeo-rothlcal tbelbeo-rothlcal boclety Mr V. t-Oalns road a rI' " "Oriental Mental jjclence." In the ccune of his ro-marks ro-marks he? said The alx chief ystems of Indian phlloeophy, though mlng Tery UlTervj In their lines of thought, are all bawd on the fundamental proposition that tmancliotlon from the trials or i-artbly exlttence is only to be obtained through knowledge. knowl-edge. As the belief In reincarnation reincarna-tion is universal throughout Ibeeaet this Is tantamount to saying that It is by knowledge that man is freed from the necetelty of these successive succes-sive returns to earth life, tarth life, being regarded as a contlue-ment contlue-ment of the soul and so necarily a hampered and imperfect state, is to the soul a painful experience. "Jtegardlng man as a composite being, with lower tendencies and higher possibilities, the bridge !-tween !-tween these two Is tho mind, the organ of knowledge. One of llirse systems of eastern phllo0 hy Is devoted de-voted especially to a scientific disci pllne of the mind with a View to a progrete towards this knowledge riiis is the 1'ataDJali system of yoga or com en t ration. It Is dlfleieut throughout from tbe newly arisen westirn mental science and seeks rather the development of the higher high-er Inherentmental faculties than the present accompllsbuieut of external results. The mind mut be looked at only as an organ, iu the same way as the eye or ear. The eye itself Uoe not see, for in this case It might act during sleep; whereas the oblect is sinii ly reflected ou the ntlua and tnterprtted by tht. eire behiud the eyi, which is something not mater ial. Jutt so the mind is not know 1-edge, 1-edge, but only the Instrument of knowleJge. llchlnd it stands that which knows. The mind rccUvi- the Impressions of the dlfli.rt.nt ette, gathers them into a com letu idea of theotject and rt fleets this to the knower. It is ideas nloni. that arc permanent, not their I bye-ical bye-ical forms. They are Uil tubsutn-tlal tubsutn-tlal knowledge acquired, and constitute con-stitute the flower of the experlenct gained during life on earth, remain Ing with the self or rgo during all future lives and being the material of Its growth. "In the west, however, this view Is uegleclrd and tho mind Itself ralt-d to the chief pLice. As the gatherer of facts and im retoioua .he mind has come flrt to lullev. Iiat this gathering constitutes knowing the collection and labeling of fads science, and finally it tall to the Ion t at ta,e of all and gathi rs for themeretake of gatherlng.slopp-ing gatherlng.slopp-ing at nothing to extract Its esMruci The proper method of gainlDg knoKlnlge is by concentration or ti-ntlrm Man. which mean yoking the mind to the subject. Hut Here He are like a bon-enian whose training would lgin only with the (all of the flag iu the ran. Tin projier rccthod should bo made n constant element of ojr mental nctlon, if we would not give over thegaf-wa) of knowledge to be n mere playground of the senses. We do not do tills In the west becauM. We are una wire of the lo-elulliUes of the trained mind. Co prove our lack of control try to kt tp unbidden thoughts from jour miudforevtii oae minute. "Tue results of tills dlclpllne an several. I f e could exclude fiom the mind all thoughts, save on cm sulject, for long enough, Its sen.1-tlvenesa sen.1-tlvenesa towards that one would lu so Increased that we could learn all there was to be know n a'-out IL Of a simultaneous discovery by several inventors we sny the idea was 'Iu thunlr.' Tlit. eastern yogi who will read you from a slngleleaf the entire history and nature of a treejrevi otuly unkno a n to him uses the same Ideal activity of mind, only he 1. conscious of it, and cau Direct it where be please?. In knowledge Urn acquired He tbe key to all so called miracles. Further he who cau close the duor of his mlud can And InllUVrence and hence firedom from care and pain. Ills facultle. trained py exercise and an even dispassionateness, dis-passionateness, not turned aside 1 every breeze, then only is i roan his own master. "The goal of the science Is thlr that the control cf the mind is thi conquest of self Aa tbe thought,, so tbe man, and he who can liter tain only the thoughts he pleases 1. bis own creator. Iu tbe gitlierlng of ideal knowledge the man beconim more ideal and more aciUiiuteU with tbe hi jher and tuLtler forciS of uaMre. If the true (ffo is not sulject sul-ject to space and time and uusflett ed by the viclssIluo.es of txUtetice man's aj preach to that independ ence depends solely on the degree be refute to let himself be cheated y the mln I Into fAUe lielkfs and attachments." |
