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NOTE BY A PRACTICAL STUDENT
187
Now the ensuing dizziness in the head and the consequent inability to think arise thus. According to the Upanishads, it is the fact that the central seat of manas or mind is in the middle of the two eyebrows. It is fixed in the covernous plexus there. It is by acting upon this. point that hypnotizers produce giddiness in thier subjects. Any disturbance in that place, caused either through an intense concentration of mind at that spot or through Pranzgama, serves to unsettle the mind and therefore produces giddiness. It costs a Yogi a great deal of effort and difficulty to conquer this point, and unless he is strong-willed he sometimes becomes mad or mentally affected. Now when a shock was given to this plexus through Pranaya na (coupled with the burning sensation within), and thereby to the mind in it, our brother's mind got dizzy and he was unable to think. In these circu mastances, however, one should never give way to fear, but meet these difficulties with courage,
No doubt all these difficulties in the case of beginners can be easily got over with a proper diet and with the guidance of a knower of Yoga. It was not prudent on the part of our brother to have resorted to Pranayamı without first regulating his diet. A practitioner should not only abstain from flesh, etc., but also from all pupgent substances at the outset. Further should be wish to have success in Pranayama all through, he must abstain from all tastes except sweetness. He should live upon food prepared in milk, and rice or wheat, with sugar to sweeten it. He should take a sufficient quantity of
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