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beyond the field of its observation into the hidden causes
that rule the life and destiny of mankind. It is a state of
stalemate from which there is no escape, unless a new
channel is opened to explore the extra-sensory levels of
the universe. This is also what the reputed physicist,
Heisenberg, suggests when he says that rational science
may be limited in its ability to comprehend nature, as best
it can only arrive at certain statistical probabilities in
determining say, where an electron is at any given
moment.
To know the cause of discontent and instability the inner
world of consciousness must become as important a
subject of study and research as the outer one. The men
and women who offer themselves or are chosen for
positions of honour and trust must have gained an
awareness of themselves to guide the footsteps of the race
on the path to accelerated evolution which brooks no
delay. The most pressing need of humanity is not to spend
billions on launching projectiles into space or devising
more lethal instruments of destruction, but in removing
killing poverty, ignorance and disease and in restoring the
balance of the world. It is futile to expect that the present
heads of state, or the elite of society would come to the
rescue in the establishment of a world order purged of
war, destitution, ignorance, crime, violence, and disease,
as the first step towards unbroken peace and security of
the race, to make
The Inadequacy of Science 39
evolution possible on safe and healthy lines. Nature may
have to resort to some other way to achieve the end.
There appears to be little hope that this idyllic dream
would come true, not because it is basically Utopian and
impracticable, but because it needs a more elevated class
of human beings to actualize it, without using coercive or
violent methods, but only their spiritual and intellectual
prowess of which examples are known to history. We
need not wait for a chance combination of genes through
centuries, as in the past, for the appearance of spiritual
prodigies of this class competent to handle the affairs of
mankind in the way they must be handled to ensure
stability and peace. This lofty class of men and women
can come into existence, regularly and in increasing
numbers from year to year, with steady practice of Yoga
directed to activize the silent paranormal centre in the
brain and employing the genius unfolded in the service of
humanity.
I call Yoga the Master Science or the Key to the
Mysteries of the Universe, as it is through Yoga that
genius can be cultivated and genius is the source from
which all knowledge science, art and philosophy has
sprung. What we desperately need now are political
geniuses to bring in line the existing systems of politics
with the present-day needs of fast evolving human beings.
Geniuses in jurisprudence to revise the outmoded,
cumbrous systems coming from the Roman times,
geniuses in science, geniuses in healing, and geniuses in
social science to remedy the present imbalances and to
eradicate the evils and diseases in society, and plant it
firmly on the path to the sublime state ordained for it.
I know that, save for some intuitive men and women, I
will not be readily believed by my contemporaries. They
are not to blame, because what I assert is radically
different from what they have been taught to believe. But
history is a witness that neither Copernicus nor Bruno nor
Galileo was believed in his time for what he premised. On
the contrary, they were criticized, castigated and ridiculed
for their ideas. Bruno was burnt at the stake and Galileo,
in his old age had to recant what he had written to save
himself from Persecution and imprisonment. What is now
the position of
40 The Purpose of Yoga
the ideas and concepts which they introduced into the
thinking of their contemporaries for the first time? Are
they not accepted with gratitude and have they not become
a part and parcel of human thought? What I assert,
however farfetched, fantastic or incredible it might appear
now, would ultimately prove to be a most important and
urgent branch of empirical investigation, as a budding new
science, demanding shortly all the knowledge and
resources of the older science for its progress from year to
year.
There can be no denying the fact that we have been
dilatory in investigating consciousness the wonder stuff
behind all that mankind has achieved. It is for this reason
that we still believe in the myth that mind, as we know it,
and matter alone are the realities which need an
explanation to solve the mystery of creation. The
problems arising out of extra-sensory perception bother
sober scientists, as their acceptance demands a fresh
evaluation of the Universe. They cannot be explained on
the basis of any known laws either of mind or the physical
world. As the psychologist, McDougall, has remarked if
psychic phenomena are accepted, physiology will have to
be rewritten. It is not science but we who are responsible
for our arbitrary interpretation of the Universe. it is only
research on consciousness that can correct the error and
open new vistas of creation beyond our dreams at present.
it is only this new vision and the effort directed to gain it
that can keep the restless intellect calmly on its course.
5
THE DIRECTION OF FUTURE
RESEARCH
The stubborn conservative element in the human mind too
often prevents it from accepting a new idea however
plausible it might be, however confirmed and authenti-
cated by historical evidence from the past. The history of
all religions is full of instances of spiritual prodigies who,
as if by magic, changed the environment and the thinking
of their time, eradicated superstition and social evils and
prescribed a better way of life for the legions converted to
the faith which they founded. To me there appears to be
no reasons why a phenomenon, repeated dozens of times
in history, should be viewed with suspicion by the savants
of our day. True, the concept of Kundalini, as presented
by me does, in some ways, come in conflict with some
current assumptions of physiology, but so do the psychic
phenomena. Where lies the harm if investigation on Kun-
dalini is taken up as a new field of enquiry, with an open
mind, instead of obstinately closing our eyes to its pos-
sibilities?
There seems to be no reason why the extraordinary
spiritual power and intellectual talents possessed by
prodigies of this class, such as Buddha, Christ or
Shankaracharya, should be considered to be out of the
42 The Purpose of Yoga
reach of average human beings. Patanjali, the great
authority on Yoga, has devoted one full section of his
famous work, Yoga Sutras, in dwelling on the
extraordinary talents and psychic gifts possible with the
practice of the holy discipline. These include knowledge
of the working of the human body and its organs,
knowledge of the heavenly bodies and knowledge of the
hidden secrets of nature in addition to paranormal gifts of
clairvoyance, prophecy, levitation, de-materialization of
the corporeal frame and the like. Hundreds of scientists all
over the world are intensely occupied with the
investigation of these very phenomena under the scientific
label of extra-sensory perception or psychic research. But
if an ancient authority, basing his observation on his own
experience and tradition, expresses that these gifts
automatically develop in a successful Yogi, the
implication of the statement is overlooked, because it does
not conform to the preconceived ideas of the investigators.
According to the Indian tradition, a Yoga-adept should
possess Trikala-Drishtie, that is, ability to look through all
the three periods of time: present, past and future. Striking
examples of all these paranormal faculties have been
found to a more or less degree or in more or less modified
forms in mediums and sensitives all over the world. The
mass of evidence accumulated during about a century now
by competent observers tends to prove that the human
mind can, in special cases, exhibit paranormal faculties so
extraordinary that, if accepted, they would change our
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