Observations placeholder
Crowley, Aleister - from Yoga for Yahoos - Yama and Niyama
Identifier
000301
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
This has very little to do with yoga - that is the point
A description of the experience
From Yoga for Yahoos – Crowley
It is now proper to sum up briefly what we have learnt about Yama and Niyama. They are in a sense the moral, logical preliminaries of the technique of Yoga proper. They are the strategical as opposed to the tactical dispositions which must be made by the aspirant before he attempts anything more serious than the five finger exercises, as we may call them - the recruit's drill of postures, breathing exercises and concentration which the shallow confidently suppose to constitute this great science and art.
We have seen that it is presumptuous and impractical to lay down definite rules as to what we are to do. What does concern us is so to arrange matters that we are free to do anything that may become necessary or expedient, allowing for that development of supernormal powers which enables us to carry out our plans as they form in the mutable bioscope of events.
If anyone comes to me for a rough and ready practical plan I say: Well, if you must stay in England, you may be able to bring it off with a bit of luck in an isolated cottage, remote from roads, if you have the services of an attendant already well trained to deal with the emergencies that are likely to arise. A good disciplinarian might carry on fairly well, at a pinch, in a suite in Claridge's.