Dr. Paul has witnessed the few phenomena of Hatha-Yoga already
described; there are many others about which he has heard, and
which he neither believes nor disbelieves. But he guarantees that
a Yogi can suspend his breath for forty-three minutes and twelve
seconds.
Nevertheless, European scientific authorities maintain that no one
can suspend the breath for more than two minutes. O science! Is
it possible then that thy name is also vanitas vanitatum, like
the other things of this world?
We are forced to suppose that, in Europe, nothing is known about
the means which enabled the philosophers of India, from times
immemorial, gradually to transform their human frames.
Here are a few deep words of Professor Boutleroff, a Russian
scientist whom I, in common with all Russians, greatly respect:
"....All this belongs to knowledge; the increase of the mass of
knowledge will only enrich and not abolish science. This must be
accomplished on the strength of serious observation, of study, of
experience, and under the guidance of positive scientific methods,
by which people are taught to acknowledge every other phenomenon
of nature. We do not call you blindly to accept hypotheses, after
the example of bygone years, but to seek after knowledge; we do
not invite you to give up science, but to enlarge her regions... "
This was said about spiritualist phenomena. As to the rest of our
learned physiologists, this is, approximately, what they have the
right to say: "We know well certain phenomena of nature which we
have personally studied and investigated, under certain conditions,
which we call normal or abnormal, and we guarantee the accuracy of
our conclusions.
Pages:
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371