We had ten reserved
seats in a first-class carriage, and had made sure that no strange
passengers would enter it, but, nevertheless, there were many
reasons which made me think I could not sleep this night. So I
obtained a provision of candles for my reading lamp, and making
myself comfortable on my couch, began reading the pamphlet of Dr.
Paul, which interested me greatly.
Amongst many other interesting things, Dr. Paul explains very
fully and learnedly the mystery of the periodical suspension of
breathing, and some other seemingly impossible phenomena, practised
by the Yogis.
Here is his theory in brief. The Yogis have discovered the reason
of the wondrous capacity of the chameleon to assume the appearance
of plumpness or of leanness. This animal looks enormous when his
lungs are filled with air, but in his normal condition he is quite
insignificant. Many other reptiles as well acquire the possibility
of swimming across large rivers quite easily by the same process.
And the air that remains in their lungs, after the blood has been
fully oxygenated, makes them extraordinarily lively on dry land
and in the water. The capacity of storing up an extraordinary
provision of air is a characteristic feature of all the animals
that are subjected to hibernation.
The Hindu Yogis studied this capacity, and perfected and developed
it in themselves.
The means by which they acquire it - known under the name of Bhastrika
Kumbhala - consist of the following: The Yogi isolates himself in
an underground cave, where the atmosphere is more uniform and more
damp than on the surface of the earth: this causes the appetite
to grow less. Man's appetite is proportionate to the quantity of
carbonic acid he exhales in a certain period of time. The Yogis
never use salt, and live entirely on milk, which they take only
during the night. They move very slowly in order not to breathe
too often. Movement increases the exhaled carbonic acid, and so
the Yoga practice prescribes avoidance of movement. The quantity
of exhaled carbonic acid is also increased by loud and lively talking:
so the Yogis are taught to talk slowly and in subdued tones, and
are even advised to take the vows of silence. Physical labor is
propitious to the increase of carbonic acid, and mental to its
decrease; accordingly the Yogi spends his life in contemplation
and deep meditation. Padmasana and Siddhasana are the two methods
by which a person is taught to breathe as little as possible.
Suka-Devi, a well-known miracle-monger of the second century B.C. says:
"Place the left foot upon the right thigh, and the right foot upon
the left thigh; straighten the neck and back; make the palms of
the hands rest upon the knees; shut the mouth; and expire forcibly
through both nostrils. Next, inspire and expire quickly until you
are fatigued. Then inspire through the right nostril, fill the
abdomen with the inspired air, suspend the breath, and fix the
sight on the tip of the nose. Then expire through the left nostril,
and next, inspiring through the left nostril, suspend the breath... "
and so on.
"When a Yogi, by practice, is enabled to maintain himself in one
of the above-mentioned postures for the period of three hours, and
to live upon a quantity of food proportional to the reduced condition
of circulation and respiration, without inconvenience, he proceeds
to the practice of Pranayama," writes Dr. Paul. "It is the fourth
stage or division of Yoga."
The Pranayama consists of three parts. The first excites the
secretion of sweat, the second is attended by convulsive movements of
the features, the third gives to the Yogi a feeling of extraordinary
lightness in his body.
After this, the Yogi practises Pratyahara, a kind of voluntary
trance, which is recognizable by the full suspension of all the
senses. After this stage the Yogis study the process of Dharana;
this not only stops the activity of physical senses, but also
causes the mental capacities to be plunged into a deep torpor.
This stage brings abundant suffering; it requires a good deal of
firmness and resolution on the part of a Yogi, but it leads him
to Dhayana, a state of perfect, indescribable bliss. According
to their own description, in this state they swim in the ocean
of eternal light, in Akasha, or Ananta Jyoti, which they call
the "Soul of the Universe." Reaching the stage of Dhyana, the
Yogi becomes a seer. The Dhyana of the Yogis is the same thing
as Turiya Avastha of the Vedantins, in the number of whom are
the Raj-Yogis.
"Samadhi is the last stage of self-trance," says Dr. Paul. "In
this state the Yogis, like the bat, the hedge-hog, the marmot,
the hamster and the dormouse, acquire the power of supporting the
abstraction of atmospheric air, and the privation of food and drink.
Of Samadhi or human hibernation there have been three cases within
the last twenty-five years. The first case occurred in Calcutta,
the second in Jesselmere, and the third in the Punjab. I was an
eyewitness of the first case. The Jesselmere, the Punjab, and
the Calcutta Yogis assumed a death-like condition by swallowing
the tongue. How the Punjabi fakir (witnessed by Dr. McGregor),
by suspending his breath, lived forty days without food and drink,
is a question which has puzzled a great many learned men of Europe....
It is on the principle of Laghima and Garima (a diminution of one's
specific gravity by swallowing large draughts of air) that the
Brahman of Madras maintained himself in an aerial posture... "
However, all these are physical phenomena produced by Hatha-Yogis.
Each of them ought to be investigated by physical science, but
they are much less interesting than the phenomena of the region
of psychology.
