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MYSTICISM IN INDIA
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applies himself to. It is indeed this fact on which socalled powers of Yoga are based.
The Yoga philosophy subscribes to the Sankhya theory in toto. It however appears to hold that Purusha-soul, by himself cannot easily acquire that Sattvika development which leads to knowledge and bliss. A particular kind of Ishvara or supreme God is therefore added for purposes of contemplation, &c., to the 25 categories of the Sankhya. This circumstance has obtained for Yoga the name of Seshvara Sankhya, theistic Sankhya, as Sankhya proper is called Nirishvara Sankhya, atheistic Sankhya. The second and really important improvement on the Sankhya consists in the highly practical character of the rules laid down for acquiring eternal bliss and knowledge. The end proposed by he Yoga philosophy is Samadhi leading to Kaivalya. Yoga and Samadhi are convertible terms, both meaning Vritti-nirodha or suspension of the transformations of the thinking principle.
With this introduction we will enter into the details of this philosophy. We have defined Yoga to be the suppression of the transformations of the thinking principle. What is this thinking principle and what are its transformations and what results are achieved by the practice of Yoga. The thinking principle is a comprehensive expression equal to the Sanskrit word Antah-Karana which is divided into four parts-Manas, mind-the principle which cognizes generally, Chitta, individualizing, the idea which fixes itself upon a point and makes the object its own by making it an
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