{FN24-3} Sometimes called Shankaracharya. ACHARYA
means “religious teacher.” Shankara’s
date is a center of the usual scholastic dispute.
A few records indicate that the peerless monist lived
from 510 to 478 B.C.; Western historians assign him
to the late eighth century A.D. Readers who
are interested in Shankara’s famous exposition
of the brahma SUTRAS will find a careful English
translation in Dr. Paul Deussen’s systemoftheVedanta (Chicago: Open Court
Publishing Company, 1912). Short extracts from
his writings will be found in selectedworksofSriShankaracharya (Natesan & Co.,
Madras).
{FN24-4} “CHITTA VRITTI NIRODHA"-Yogasutra
I:2. Patanjali’s date is unknown, though
a number of scholars place him in the second century
B.C. The rishis gave forth treatises on all subjects
with such insight that ages have been powerless to
outmode them; yet, to the subsequent consternation
of historians, the sages made no effort to attach
their own dates and personalities to their literary
works. They knew their lives were only temporarily
important as flashes of the great infinite Life; and
that truth is timeless, impossible to trademark, and
no private possession of their own.
{FN24-5} The six orthodox systems (SADDARSANA) are
Sankhya, yoga, Vedanta, MIMAMSA, NYAYA,
and VAISESIKA. Readers of a scholarly bent will
delight in the subtleties and broad scope of these
ancient formulations as summarized, in English, in
historyofIndianphilosophy,
Vol. I, by Prof. Surendranath DasGupta (Cambridge
University Press, 1922).
{FN24-6} Not to be confused with the “Noble
Eightfold Path” of Buddhism, a guide to man’s
conduct of life, as follows (1) Right Ideals, (2)
Right Motive, (3) Right Speech, (4) Right Action, (5)
Right Means of Livelihood, (6) Right Effort, (7) Right
Remembrance (of the Self), (8) Right Realization (Samadhi).
{FN24-7} Dr. Jung attended the Indian Science Congress
in 1937 and received an honorary degree from the University
of Calcutta.
{FN24-8} Dr. Jung is here referring to HATHA yoga,
a specialized branch of bodily postures and techniques
for health and longevity. HATHA is useful, and
produces spectacular physical results, but this branch
of yoga is little used by yogis bent on spiritual liberation.
{FN24-9} In Plato’s TIMAEUS story of Atlantis,
he tells of the inhabitants’ advanced state
of scientific knowledge. The lost continent is
believed to have vanished about 9500 B.C. through a
cataclysm of nature; certain metaphysical writers,
however, state that the Atlanteans were destroyed
as a result of their misuse of atomic power.
Two French writers have recently compiled a bibliographyofAtlantis, listing over 1700 historical
and other references.
CHAPTER: 25
Copyrights
Autobiography of a Yogi from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
