the Equinox - The Hermetic Library

194
THE EQUINOX
not only methods of great use as a sedative before commencing
a Magical Operation, but methods of inordinate importance to
such aspirants, who, having discarded the Shibboleths of
sect, have adopted the fatuities of reason. For it is more
difficult for one who has no natural magical aptitude, and one
who perhaps has only just broken away from faith and
corrupted ritual, to carry out an operation of Western Magic,
than it is for him to sit down and perform a rational exercise,
such as the Prânâyâma exercises of Yoga, which carry with
them their own result, in spite of the mental attitude of the
chela towards them, so long as the instructions of the Guru are
properly carried out.*
As already pointed out, the mere fact of sitting for a time in
a certain position, of inhaling, exhaling and of holding the
breath, brings with it, even in the case of the most obdurate
sceptic, a natural concentration, an inevitable Pratyâhâra,
which develops in the aspirant the Siddhis, those seemingly
miraculous powers which distinguish an Adeptus Major
from an Adeptus Minor, and entitle the possessor to the rank
of 6°=5°.
From this discovery† Frater P. made yet another, and this
* Prânâyâma acts on the mind just as Calomel acts on the bowels. It does
not matter if a patient believes in Calomel or not. The physician adminsters it,
and even if the patient be a most hostile Christian Scientist, the result is
certain. Similarly with Prânâyâma, the Guru gives his chela a certain
exercise, and as surely as the Calomel voided the noxious matter from the
intestines of the sufferer, so will the Prânâyâma void the capricious thoughts
from the mind of the disciple.
† By discovery here we mean individual experiment resulting in personal
discovery; anoyher person’s discovery only begets illusion and comment.
Individual discovery is the only true discovery worht consideration.