An Introduction to Yoga

by Annie Besant

Overview

These lectures[FN#1: Delivered at the 32nd Anniversary of the Theosophical Society held at Benares, on Dec. 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th, 1907.] are intended to give an outline of Yoga, in order to prepare the student to take up, for practical purposes, the Yoga sutras of Patanjali, the chief treatise on Yoga. I have on hand, with my friend Bhagavan Das as collaborateur, a translation of these Sutras, with Vyasa's commentary, and a further commentary and elucidation written in the light of Theosophy.[FN#2: These have never been finished or printed.] To prepare the student for the mastering of that more difficult task, these lectures were designed; hence the many references to Patanjali. They may, however, also serve to give to the ordinary lay reader some idea of the Science of sciences, and perhaps to allure a few towards its study.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789390877102
Publisher:	MJP Publisher
Publication date:	12/22/2021
Pages:	226
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.48(d)

About the Author

Annie Besant (née Wood; 1 October 1847 - 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, women's rights activist, writer, orator, educationist, and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human freedom, she was an ardent supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule. She was a prolific author with over three hundred books and pamphlets to her credit.[1] As an educationist, her contributions included the founding of the Banaras Hindu University.
In 1867, Annie, at age 20, married Frank Besant, a clergyman, and they had two children. However, Annie's increasingly unconventional religious views led to their legal separation in 1873.[2] She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society (NSS), as well as a writer, and a close friend of Charles Bradlaugh. In 1877 they were prosecuted for publishing a book by birth control campaigner Charles Knowlton. The scandal made them famous, and Bradlaugh was subsequently elected M.P. for Northampton in 1880.
Thereafter, she became involved with union actions, including the Bloody Sunday demonstration and the London matchgirls strike of 1888. She was a leading speaker for both the Fabian Society and the Marxist Social Democratic Federation (SDF). She was also elected to the London School Board for Tower Hamlets, topping the poll, even though few women were qualified to vote at that time.
In 1890 Besant met Helena Blavatsky, and over the next few years her interest in theosophy grew, whilst her interest in secular matters waned. She became a member of the Theosophical Society and a prominent lecturer on the subject. As part of her theosophy-related work, she travelled to India. In 1898 she helped establish the Central Hindu School,[3] and in 1922 she helped establish the Hyderabad (Sind) National Collegiate Board in Mumbai, India.[4] In 1902, she established the first overseas Lodge of the International Order of Co-Freemasonry, Le Droit Humain. Over the next few years she established lodges in many parts of the British Empire. In 1907 she became president of the Theosophical Society, whose international headquarters were, by then, located in Adyar, Madras, (Chennai).

Table of Contents

Lecture I.	The Nature of Yoga	1
1.	The Meaning of the Universe	1
2.	The Unfolding of Consciousness	4
3.	The Oneness of the Self	7
4.	The Quickening of the Process of Self-Unfoldment	7
5.	Yoga is a Science	10
6.	Man a Duality	14
7.	States of Mind	18
8.	Samadhi	20
9.	The Literature of Yoga	24
10.	Some Definitions	28
11.	God Without and God Within	31
12.	Changes of Consciousness and Vibrations of Matter	32
13.	Mind	36
14.	Stages of Mind	37
15.	Inward and Outward-turned Consciousness	40
16.	The Cloud	42
Lecture II.	Schools of Thought	45
1.	Its Relation to Indian Philosophies	48
2.	Mind	67
3.	The Mental Body	70
4.	Mind and Self	73
Lecture III.	Yoga as Science	77
1.	Methods of Yoga	77
2.	To the Self by the Self	80
3.	To the Self through the Not-Self	84
4.	Yoga and Morality	87
5.	Composition of States of the Mind	92
6.	Pleasure and Pain	98
Lecture IV.	Yoga as Practice	108
1.	Inhibition of States of Mind	109
2.	Meditation with and without Seed	114
3.	The Use of Mantras	120
4.	Attention	121
5.	Obstacles to Yoga	124
6.	Capacities for Yoga	125
7.	Forthgoing and Returning	131
8.	Purification of Bodies	138
9.	Dwellers on the Threshold	141
10.	Preparation for Yoga	147
11.	The End	149