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MYSTICISM IN INDIA
19 good, bad or indifferent, simply as an act of His grace, in carrying which out he pleases him. Now as to the ends which are sought by following these observances. Mental purity leads to passivity, fixity of attention, pleasantness, subjugation of the senses and fitness for communion with soul. Superlative happiness is the result of contentment. As for the austerities the Yoga philosophy claims that miraculous powers of the body and senises arise therefrom; the inner sense becomes more developed and miraculous powers known as second sight, levitation, etc., arise. Although these are the signs of the real Yoga power, they are not the true end of Yoga. Study the fourth observance claims to lead to communion with the higher and subtler forces of nature. Resignation to the supreme leads to the accomplishment of that final state of quietude, Samadhi.
It is only after and not before mastering the rules and practices of the first two stages that the Student of Yoga becomes fit to enter the third stage. This third stage consists in assuming different postures of the body at the time of practising Yoga. There is a class of Yogis in India who hold that the breath in the body, is a part of the universal breath and that the health of the mind and body accompanied by spiritual bliss and knowledge will follow on controlling the individual breath in such a manner as to attune it to the cosmic breath. For this purpose they prescribe different postures of the body to be assumed while practising Yoga. These postures are said to be 84 in
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