The age-herald., 1898-04-07
The Latest Cult For
The Cultivation of Bliss
sooeeeoeoooaooeoooeG


 This Is a time when women's nerves and mems too, as for that, are wrought up to pitch that argues dire and dismal consequences. Between the war-nke tele- grams, the suspense about President Mc- Kinley's message and the campaigns daily fought in theory on the street corners, the people of this section are rapidly border ing upon nervous prostration They are growing pale and languid with anxiety, and are frequenting doctors offices and drug stores, hoping for relief from physical depression.
 In the nick of time when the men, wo- men and children are finding 1t more diff hcult to struggle against the effect of the te,egrams emanating from Washington than it was to bear up during recent cpl denics of smallpox and yelaow fever, a new hope comes from the Orient, and Is blown in upon the peoples minds from the far-away east. It comes as ba1m for wounded hearts and bruised bodies, ana is called by the simple bliss-inspirng name of "Yoga.' It is being adopted rapidly py the jaded fashionabes of New York, and there Is every reason that "Yoga nhe newest cult should gain a speedy following from the peace party in BirminSnam as well as from those who are hungeTing and thirsting for Spanish gore It is the metro- politan fad just how to practice Yoga, which is the strange, queer name for what we call ''worldr rforgetfulness." To be a consistent, successful Yogis one must see only the things they wish to see; hear oniy the sounds they wish to hear project choicest thoughts from their souls and revel < In tangible evidences of what Is most de- sired in their spiritual natures. All these beatific conditions can be obtained by slm- ple but sometimes worrying, positions or the human body, such as sitting on uhe floor and grasping tenderly ones feet; rais- ing the body while the head and feet rest on the floor, and other postures or Ike dignity and becomingness
 To gaze for hours, with serious mein and condensation of thought upon the tip of ones nose is guaranteed to elevate q Yogis to the seventh heaven of ecstacy and bliss. The shape of ones nose does not en- ter into any phase of this new oriental re- ligion: any nose will answer the purpose, so it is one's own proboscis and has a tip. It is requisite for the best results that the nose has tip, whether tilted like the pc tals of rose, or modelled after the most approved Grecian design.
 If one suffers unusually from worldly distracting thoughts the Yogis recommends the "Viparitakarani" which is known in the plain English tongue as standing on ones head with feet supported by the walls of ones room.
 If happiness and peace do not follow this and other equally torturing pastures, it is useless to continue the treatment. Just give it all up, take a good, warm bath; order your carriage, if you have such a luxury, and indulge in long ride, and give frequent thanks that you have lived to tell the tale.
 Mrs. Ole Bull, at Cambridge, has donated quite a large sum of money to Harvard for the study of occultism, and she has gone to India to investigate the mystery of oriental teachings.
 One of the first principles of the new faith Yoga is to exclude all thoughts of the world, the flesh, etc., by taking a good long breath, and not breathing again until on the verge of dissolution. An exchange in describing this form of oriental religion says:
 The name of this mystic art is descriptive of its character. It has the same origin in Sanskrit as our English word yoke" and has been explained the conjunction of the individual soul with the Supreme Spirit This view of Yoga is combated by men of analytical acuteness, who maintain that &C., cording to Hindoo logic these two eternal and infinite substances cannot be combined.
 The thinking principle" be it known, is simply and only that principle within us which receives impressions from the ex- ternal world through the senses'' ant ac :. cording to Hindoo philosophy, is made to Identify itself with the soul, ensnaring and deceiving that confding entity with it's trifold illusions of time, space and causa- tion. In this way the soul is tricke1 into d WoIlu WHICH IL IOnuiy SuppOSeS to pc real and from which it can be released or re- deemed and absolved from the terrible ren- alty of persistent transmigration only through the knowledge of it's true quality and perception of the difference between soul and non-soul, the self and the non self This knowledge can come only through concentration of thought and eff fort. And it is this that Yoga teaches.
 It is a matter of common observation that respiration is intimately connected with mental activity. The slower the breathing the less assertive the mind. With entire suspension of the respiration mental activity ceases and does not resume until the breathing recommences.
 The Yogis-i. e., the practitioners of Yoga-whose sole object Is the suppression of the functions of the mind, must there fore first learn to regulate their respira- tion. To this end they avoid everything tending to accelerate the'r breathing and employ all means available in order to slacken it. The Hindoo Yogis eat and speak very little, are sow-in movement, and torpid in their action. They abstain from all physical exercises and spend all their time in certain described crouching postures in their ''mathicas" (cells with sr~nu door and no window) where they ir ale the same air over and over again. They abstain from eating meat, contenting themselves with rich. barley, wheat and milk.