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CHAPTER VII.
YOGA.
"Each soul is potentially Divine. The goal is to manifest this Divinity within, by controlling nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship, or psychic control, or philosophy, by one, or more, or all of these, and be free. This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or temples, or forms, are but secondary details."-Raja Yoga by Vivekananda.
The foregoing treatment of the subject, it is to be hoped, has prepared the ground for further investigation into the nature of the methods that have been prescribed by different religions for the realization of the great ideal of perfection and happiness. We have now arrived at a point in our investigation into the nature of the Self when theoretical speculations must be replaced by practical achievements, when Self-realization must be brought within the domain of actual practical experience. We are now on the borders of Yoga which is the bridge between God and man. With its aid man can, not only catch mental glimpses of the goal in view, but also cross the yawning abysm and enter the precincts of the heaven beyond in his own proper person.
It is not our purpose here to enter into a detailed description of the numerous methods prescribed and the rules laid down for the initiation and guidance of the novice. We shall merely content ourselves with
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