THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
EXERCISING THE WILL Speaking on “Yoga” to the Theosophical Society on Sunday evening. Miss Mary Graham said this meant striving for unity, and a yogi was one who practised yoga. From such practices one developed one’s inward qualities by definite, regulated and supervised training, during which the will became more evident as an essential part 6f character. The true teachers of voga did not accept money for their teachings, and, moreover, they warned their disciples against the misuse of the will, for, if used selfishly, as in'i|Atlantis, it mitigated against a healthy-minded, well-constructed stale of society such as true yogis aimed for, and the misusers usually developed into black magicians, wielding a kind of hypnotic power over others. It was the opinion of the speaker that such beings had been reincarnated and were responsible for spreading the illusion that wealth could belong only to a few beings. Theosophy, with its foremost teaching of brotherhood, fostered the idea of sharing with others. Scientists wielded the powers of the will wisely when their knowledge was used for service. Man alone could help the crisis facing all the world to-day by deliberately cultivating his intelligence and will and using it to the noblest advantage. One use of his will was to vote rightly, and to see that his candidate pledged himself. and redeemed his pledge when in power, to carry out such reforms as are of a beneficial nature to the country. “ In India.” continued Miss Graham, “ the Raja Yoga (kingly yoga) is much taught and practised. It involves selfcontrol mainly by systems of meditation and study, a certain standard of purity of life and eating, and a constant eye to the service of others. Wherever you see people oppressed and in fear, hungry and turbulent, then they are governed by those whose will is either not developed or wilfully misused. It remains for the people to assert themselves. Whereas we often associate the Indian yogi with the loneliness of the jungle or cave, yet it is essential in an evenlybalanced nature that these yogis mix in worldly affairs, using their strength of character in a practical way. Such men (and women) attain to high places, and we may know them by their serenity, their wisdom and, most of all, by their subordination of personal aims to the good of society People tired ol a spiritual teaching which separated God from man’s affairs, and to-day demanded right action as the mark of the truly religious man. be he Roman Catholic, Protestant. Hindu or anything else. In the same way, Miss Graham concluded, this man would not pander to party politics, nor should the people place too much importance on these, but seek first the most important, thing.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19380531.2.167
Bibliographic details
Otago Daily Times, Issue 23514, 31 May 1938, Page 16
Word Count
456THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY Otago Daily Times, Issue 23514, 31 May 1938, Page 16
Using This Item
Allied Press Ltd is the copyright owner for the Otago Daily Times. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Allied Press Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.