A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga

Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga,
by Yogi Ramacharaka

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Title: A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga
Author: Yogi Ramacharaka
Release Date: October 6, 2004 [EBook #13656]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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A SERIES OF LESSONS
IN RAJA YOGA

By YOGI RAMACHARAKA
Author of "Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental
Occultism" "Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy, etc."; "Hatha
Yoga"; "Psychic Healing"; "Science of Breath." etc.
1906

"When the soul sees itself as a Center surrounded by its
circumference--when the Sun knows that it is a Sun, surrounded by its
whirling planets-then is it ready for the Wisdom and Power of the
Masters."

PUBLISHERS' NOTICE
The lessons which compose this volume, originally appeared in the
shape of monthly lessons, the first of which was issued in October,
1905, and the twelfth in September, 1906. These lessons met with a
hearty and generous response from the public, and the present volume
is issued in response to the demand for the lessons in a permanent and
durable form. There have been no changes made in the text.
The publishers take the liberty to call the attention of the reader to the
great amount of information condensed within the space given to each
lesson. Students have told us that they have found it necessary to read
and study each lesson carefully, in order to absorb the varied
information contained within its pages. They have also stated that they
have found it advisable to re-read the lessons several times, allowing an
interval between each reading and that at each re-reading they would
discover information that had escaped them during the course of the
previous study. This has been repeated to us so often that we feel
justified in mentioning it, that other readers might avail themselves of
the same course and plan of study.
Following his usual custom, the writer of the lessons has declined to

write a preface for this book, claiming that the lessons speak for
themselves, and that those for whom they are intended will receive the
message contained within them, without any prefatory talk.
THE YOGI PUBLICATION SOCIETY.

INDEX
LESSON I. The "I"
LESSON II. The Ego's Mental Tools
LESSON III. The Expansion of the Self
LESSON IV. Mental Control
LESSON V. The Cultivation of Attention
LESSON VI. Cultivation of Perception
LESSON VII. The Unfoldment of Consciousness
LESSON VIII. The Highlands and Lowlands of Mind
LESSON IX. The Mental Planes
LESSON X. Sub-Consciousing
LESSON XI. Sub-Conscious Character Building
LESSON XII. Sub-Conscious Influences

THE FIRST LESSON.
THE "I."

In India, the Candidates for Initiation into the science of "Raja Yoga,"
when they apply to the Yogi Masters for instruction, are given a series
of lessons designed to enlighten them regarding the nature of the Real
Self, and to instruct them in the secret knowledge whereby they may
develop the consciousness and realization of the real "I" within them.
They are shown how they may cast aside the erroneous or imperfect
knowledge regarding their real identity.
Until the Candidate masters this instruction, or at least until the truth
becomes fixed in his consciousness, further instruction is denied him,
for it is held that until he has awakened to a conscious realization of his
Actual Identity, he is not able to understand the source of his power,
and, moreover, is not able to feel within him the power of the Will,
which power underlies the entire teachings of "Raja Yoga."
The Yogi Masters are hot satisfied if the Candidate forms merely a
clear intellectual conception of this Actual Identity, but they insist that
he must feel the truth of the same--must become aware of the Real
Self--must enter into a consciousness in which the realization becomes
a part of his everyday self--in which the realizing consciousness
becomes the prevailing idea in his mind, around which his entire
thoughts and actions revolve.
To some Candidates, this realization comes like a lightning flash the
moment the attention is directed toward it, while in other cases the
Candidates find it necessary to follow a rigorous course of training
before they acquire the realization in consciousness.
The Yogi Masters teach that there are two degrees of this awakening
consciousness of the Real Self. The first, which they call "the
Consciousness of the 'I'," is the full consciousness