HATHA YOGA/PART 30
CHAPTER 30.
REGENERATION
In this chapter we can but briefly direct your attention
to a subject of vital importance to the race, but which the race generally is
not ready to seriously consider. Owing to the present state of public opinion
upon this subject, it is impossible to write as plainly as one would like, or
as is really necessary, and all writings upon the subject in question are apt
to be considered as "impure,” although the only object of the writer may
be to counteract the impurity and improper practices indulged by the public.
However, some brave writers have managed to give the public a very fair
acquaintance with the subject of regeneration, so that the majority of our
readers will readily understand what we mean.
We will not take up the important subject of the use of
regeneration as applied to the relation of the two sexes, as that subject is so
important as to require a volume by itself, and then, besides, this work is
scarcely the one in which this subject should be discussed in detail. We will,
however, say a few words on the subject. The Yogis regard as wholly unnatural
the excesses entered into by the majority of men, and into which they compel
their partners in matrimony to join. They believe that the sex-principle is too
sacred to be so abused, and feel that man often descends below the level of the
brute in his sex relations. With but one or two exceptions the lower animals
have sexual relations only for the purpose of perpetuating their kind, and
sexual excesses, drains and waste such as man indulges in is almost entirely
unknown to the lower animal.
As man has advanced in
the scale of life, however, he has brought to light new functions of sex, and
there is an interchange of certain higher principles between the sexes, which
does not occur to the brutes or to the more material forms of human life—this
is reserved for the man and woman of developed mentality and spirituality.
Proper relations between husband and wife tend to elevate, strengthen, and
ennoble, instead of degrading, weakening and defiling the participants, as is
the case when the said relation is based upon mere sensuality. This is the
reason that there is so much marital inharmony and discord when one of the
partners rises to a higher plane of thought, and finds that his or her partner
is unable to follow. Thereafter their mutual relations are upon different
planes, and they fail to find in each other that which they might wish for.
This is all we wish to say upon this particular part of the subject here. There
are a number of good books upon the subject, that our students may find by
inquiring at the centres for advanced thought literature in the different
cities and towns. We will confine ourselves in the remainder of this short
chapter to the discussion of the subject of the importance of preserving sexual
strength and health.
While leading a life in which the actual relations of the
sexes does not play an important part, the Yogis recognize and appreciate the
importance of healthy reproductive organism, and their effect upon the general
health of the individual. With these organs in a weakened condition the entire
physical system feels the reflex action and suffers sympathetically. The
Complete Breath (described elsewhere in this book) produces a rhythm which is
nature's own plan for keeping this important part of the system in normal
condition, and, from the first, it will be noticed that the reproductive
functions are strengthened and vitalized, thus, by sympathetic reflex action,
giving tone to the whole system. By this we do not mean that the animal
passions will be aroused—far from it. The Yogis are advocates of continence and
chastity, and purity in the
marriage relation as well as out of it. They have learned to control the animal
passions, and to hold them subject to the control of the higher principles of
the mind and will. But sexual control does not mean sexual weakness, and the
Yogi teachings are that the man or woman whose reproductive organism is normal
and healthy will have a stronger will with which to control himself or herself.
The Yogi believes that much of the perversion of this wonderful part of the
system comes from a lack of normal health and results from a morbid rather than
from a normal condition of the reproductive system.
The Yogis also know that the sex-energy may
be conserved and used for the development of the body and mind of the
individual, instead of being dissipated in unnatural excesses as is the wont of
so many uninformed people.
We give in the following pages, one of the favorite Yogi
exercises for producing this result. Whether or not the student wishes to
follow the Yogi theories of clean living, he will find that the Complete Breath
will do more to restore health to this part of the system than anything else
ever tried. Remember, now, we mean normal health, not undue development. The
sensualist will find that normal means a lessening of desire rather than an
increase; the weakened man or woman will find that normal means a toning up and
relief from the weakness which has heretofore depressed him or her. We do not
wish to be misunderstood on this subject. The Yogi's ideal is a body strong in
all its parts, and under the control of a masterful and developed will,
animated by high ideals.
The Yogis possess great knowledge regarding the use and
abuse of the reproductive principle in both sexes. Some hints of this esoteric
teaching have filtered out, and have been used by Western writers on the
subject, and much good thereby accomplished. In this book we cannot go into a
discussion of the underlying theory, but will call your attention to a method
whereby the student may be enabled to transmute the reproductive energy into
vitality for the whole system instead of wasting it and dissipating it in
lustful indulgences. The reproductive energy is creative energy, and may be
taken up by the system and transmuted into strength and vitality, thus serving
the purpose of regeneration instead of generation. If the young men of the
Western world understood these underlying principles, they would be saved much
misery and unhappiness in after years, and would be stronger mentally, morally
and physically.
This transmutation of the reproductive energy gives great
vitality to those practicing it. It fills them with great vital force, which
will radiate from them and cause them to be known as "magnetic”
personalities. The energy thus transmuted may be turned into new channels and
used to great advantage. Nature has condensed one of its most powerful
manifestations of prana into reproductive energy, as its purpose is to create.
The greatest amount of vital force is concentrated into the smallest space. The
reproductive organism is the most powerful storage battery in animal life, and
its force maybe drawn upward and used, as well as expended in the ordinary
functions of reproduction, or wasted in riotous lust.
The Yogi exercise for transmuting reproductive energy is
simple. It is coupled with rhythmic breathing and is easily performed. It may
be practiced at any time, but is strongly recommended when one feels the
instinct most strongly, at which time the reproductive energy is manifesting
and may be easily transmuted for regenerative purposes. We give it in the next
paragraph. The men or women doing mental creative work, or bodily creative
work, will be able to use this creative energy in their vocations, by following
the exercise, drawing up the energy with each inhalation and sending it forth
with the exhalation. The student will understand, of course, that it is not the
actual reproductive fluids that are drawn up and used, but the etheric pranic
energy which animates the latter—the soul of the reproductive organism, as it
were.
Regenerative Exercise.
Keep the mind fixed on the idea of Energy, and away from
ordinary sexual thoughts or imaginings. If these thoughts come into the mind do
not feel discouraged, but regard them as manifestations of a force which you
intend to use for the purpose of strengthening your body and mind. Lie
passively, or sit erect, and fix your mind upon the idea of drawing the
reproductive energy upward to the Solar Plexus, where it will be transmuted and
stored away as a reserve force of vital energy. Then breathe rhythmically, forming
the mental image of drawing up the reproductive energy with each inhalation.
With each inhalation make a command of the Will that the energy be drawn upward
from the reproductive organism to the Solar Plexus. If the rhythm is fairly
established and the mental image is clear, you will be conscious of the upward
passage of the energy, and will feel its stimulating effect. If you desire an
increase in mental force, you may draw it up to the brain instead of to the
Solar Plexus, by giving the mental command and holding the mental image of the
transmission to the brain. In this last form of the exercise, only such
portions of the energy as may be needed in the mental work being done will pass
into the brain, the balance remaining stored up in the Solar Plexus. It is
usual to allow the head to bend forward easily and naturally during the
transmuting exercise.
This subject of
Regeneration opens up a wide field for investigation, research and study, and
some day we may find it advisable to issue a little manual upon the subject,
for private circulation among the few who are ready for it, and who seek the
knowledge from the purest motives, rather than from a desire to find something
which will appeal to their lascivious imaginations and inclinations.
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