The Washington times., 1904-12-18

Vedanta, on the other hand, depends
upon no individual 1t embraces all the
great truths and establishes a universal
| religion
! Il am reminded of the story Of the
/ four blind men who came upon an ele-
rhant in the woods and attempted each
! TO describe il. One feeling Of the ele-
/ plants trunk said. Low, the elephant
/ is like a club The second blind man
| touched the ears CT the great beast and
/ declared il TO be like piece of leather
Clasping one huge leg of the elephant
/ the third man said ne resembled a tree,
while the fourth man felt OF the eIe-
| plants stomach and said he was like a
sack. Immediately the four blind men
fell 10 lighting among themselves be-
cause they each refused TO accept the
belief OF the others. a man who could
see happened along and saw them fight
ing. He dubbed them apart and asked
what the trouble was When each had
told his story the man who could see
explained 70 them that each had a grain
OF truth in his idea of the elephant. out
that the elephant was in reality ike
none Of the objects selected by the four
Vedanta is like the man who sees
How TO Practice Yoga.
Bright sunshine pours into the room in
walch Mr.. Dulin practices yoga himself
Windows on three sides and skylight
help 10 make the room cheerful, which
he says adds greatly 10 the effect. In
one corner is small skeleton chair
which he calls his yoga chair. 1t is
straight-backed and would prove any
thing but comfortable for library use,
but there Is little chance of anyone let
ting his attention wonder so far afieId
while sitting In il that he would fall
asleep. in any sense Of the term. For
this reason the chair is all the more
valuable for the practices OF yoSa. Seat
ed on this chair or standing the regent
goes through thirty minutes Of concen-
traJCd mental and muscular exercises
every morning and afternoon. These ex-
crcises consist largely OF assuming more
or less strained postures and in reSulat-
ing the breath. Standing straight as
soldier on parade Mr.. Dulin illustrated
the exercises. Placing one hand over
his right nOstril he drew in slowly a
deep breath through his left nOstrii ris-
Ing on his toes as he did So When he
had filled his whole lungs he closed lhe
left nostril too and still on tip toe ne
held his breath for about thirty seconds.
Then opening his right nostril he ex-
ha!ed slowly. This exercise is repeated
seven times and then the breath is
drawn IN through the right nostril and
exhaled through the left. Another exer-
else consists In rising on the toes and at
the same time placing the outstretcned
arms above the head with hands clasp
ed and also drawing a deep breath which
is held for a number Of seconds. StlIi
other breathing exercises are taken
while sitting on the yoga chair.
Breathing Affects Mental Activity.
Il drive each breath into every part
of my body or into such part as my will
desigrates," said Mr.. Dulin. My at
tention is concentrated directly upon
what / am doing The motion Of the
lungs has a very intimate relation TO
the activity OF the mind. III we control
the motion OF the lungs the activity OF
the mind comes more easily under con- |
troll. Conversely. II we control the ac- |
t!vity Of the mind We can also control |
the motion OF the lungs. When the mo- |
ton OF the lungs is brought under per |
feet control, every organ Of the body is
brought under the control OF the spirit I
Have you ever noticed that at the time |
Of perfect concentration OF mind tho |
rhythm Of respiration changes and grad |
ually becomes slower and slower: per-
haps i, viii almost cease for the time ]
being. II has been said by "A clever and |
experienced thinker. Dr. Lewes, that to |
acquire the power Of attention Is TO |
learn 10 make our mental adjustments /
alternate with the rhythmic movements j
Of respiration.
How intimately bres thing is connect
ed with life is apparent 10 any who /
stop 10 think OF the so-called phe- |
nomena of living. AS soon as breath /
ceases the very body itself disinter- !
CRATES.
when supreme control over attention |
is acquired 10y voluntary effort il i; |
possible 10 fix ones attention on any
part OF the body and experience strange |
sensations and wonderful phenomena. Ii |
is a vell-known fact that one can easily |
experience pain ia any part of the body I
be merely fixing the attention upon that /
part BY an analogous process one can /
get rid OF pain IN the body. Mental /
heale.s. many OF whom surround their /
practices with all manner of mysticism,
are familiar with such phenomena, al I
though they fail 20 understand the true 1
lnWardness or their cures. One can
cure disease by fixing attention on the /
diseased part. and sending an opposite 4
current OF thought. This method has 4
become common practice with Chris 1
tian Science healers and other mental !
healers under a variety of names.