Since the dawn of history, various extraordinary phenomena have ben recorded as happening amongst human beings. Witnesses are not wanting in modern times to attest to the fact of such events, even in societies living under the full blaze of modern science. The vast mass of such evidence is unreliable, as coming from ignorant, superstitious, or fraudulent persons. In many instances the so-called miracles are imitations. But what do they imitate?

It is not the sign of a candid and scientific mind to throw overboard anything without proper investigation. Surface scientists, unable to explain the various extraordinary mental phenomena, strive to ignore their very existence. They are, therefore, more culpable than those who think that their prayers are answered by a being, or beings, above the clouds, or than those who believe that their petitions will make such being change the course of the universe. The latter have the excuse of ignorance, or at least a defective system of education, which has taught them dependence upon such beings, a dependence which has become a part of their degenerate nature, the former has no such excuse.

For thousands of years such phenomena have been studied, investigated and generalised, the whole ground of religious faculties of man has been analysed, and the practical result is the science of Raja Yoga, Raja Yoga does not, after the unpardonable manner of some modern scientists, deny the existence of facts which are difficult to explain; in fact Raja Yoga declares that each man is only a conduit for infinite ocean of knowledge and power that lies behind mankind. It teaches that the desires and wants are in man, that the power of supply is also in man; and that wherever and whenever a desire, a want, a prayer has been fulfilled, it was out of this infinite magazine that the supply came, and not from any supernatural being. The idea of supernatural beings may rouse to a certain extent the power of action in man, but it also brings spiritual decay. It brings dependence; it brings fear; it brings superstition. It degenerates into a horrible belief in the natural weakness of man. There is no supernatural, says the Yogi, but there are in nature gross manifestations and subtle manifestations. The subtle are the causes, the gross the effects. The gross can be easily perceived by the senses; not so the subtle. The practice of Raja yoga will lead to the acquisition of the more subtle perceptions.

All the orthodox systems of Indian philosophy have one goal in view, the liberation of the soul through perfection. The method is by yoga. The word yoga covers an immense ground, but both the Sankhya and the Vedanta schools point to Yoga in some form or other.

The aphorisms of Patanjali are the highest authority on Raja Yoga. The other philosophers though occasionally differing from Patanjali on some philosophical points, have as a rule, acceded to his method of practice a decided consent.

The system of Patanjali is based upon the system of Sankhyas, the points of difference being very few. The two most important differences are, first that Patanjali admits a personal God in the form of a first teacher, while the only god the Sankhyas admit is a nearly perfected being, temporarily in charge of a cycle of creation. Second, the Yogis hold the mind to be equally all-pervading with the soul, or purusha, and the Sankhyas do not.

All Images have been photographed during a recent visit and walk along the Mother Ganges in Uttar Pradesh.

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Thank you

If today is the first time you have arrived on The Road to Nara, you are heartily welcome ~ Namaste


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I will take this opportunity to introduce you to About me and importantly;

As a co-traveller, will take you through the Ten Lessons I learnt from several years on the road, before you coarse on your own Road to Nara.

Also read: 9 Most Read Stories from Road To Nara in 2022


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You might also like to know about My Little School Project. 

If you wish to come over for a visit someday, that you must, you will be heartily welcome here


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If you have anything to share, or feel like saying a hello, please feel free to write to me at narayankaudinya@gmail.com

To visit other long-term photographic works, please visit here.

To follow my walks through the rural Indian Subcontinent, find me at 
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