The Yoga conception of the self as a transcendent subject which is quite distinct from the body

Of an unsympathetic critic the Yoga may appear to be not so much a system of philosophy as a school of mysticism and magic.

The Yoga conception of the self as a transcendent subject which is quite distinct from the body, the mind and the ego, is for removed from the common-sense and the ordinary psychologies concepts of it.

As compared with these, the spiritual conception of the self in the Yoga is apt to be regarded as unintelligible and mysterious.

Similarly, the supernormal powers associated with the different stages in the practice of Yoga can hardly be reconciled with the known laws of the physical or the psychical sciences. So these may appear to be reminiscent of some primitive religion of magic.

But it is to be observed that the Yoga scheme of self- realisation has a solid foundation in the Sankhya metaphysics which proves the reality of the self as a metaphysical and eternal principle of consciousness.

If one believes in the transcendent spirit, one cannot but admit that there are deeper levels of consciousness than the empirical one, and wider possibilities and higher potencies than those of the physical and the sensuous.

Glimpses of this deeper reality of our individual life have been caught not only by the seers and saints of different countries, but also by some great philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, Spinoza and Leibniz, Kant and Hegel.

The Society for Psychical Research and the modern school of psycho-analysis have of late contributed much towards our knowledge about the dark regions of the psychical life hidden from the ordinary view.

The Yoga goes further in the same direction when it formulates certain practical methods of purification and self-control for the realisation of the true self of man.

Both from a theoretical and a practical standpoint, it occupies a better position than the Sankhya in so far as it admits the existence of God and relies mostly on actual experiences to carry conviction to its followers.

What is necessary for an appreciation of this philosophy is a sympathetic understanding of it and a sincere endeavour to realise its truths.

We find one such appreciation of it by Miss Costar when she says: ‘I am certain that there is a region beyond that painted drop-scene which forms for so many the boundary of this life; and that it is penetrable and susceptible of exploration by those who are sufficiently determined.’

The aim of yoga is explore this region of genuine super-physical experience and to reveal the reality of man and the world ‘the real Self, the than as eternally pure, enlightened and free, as the only true, unchanging happiness.’