as a potter can make anything he likes out of prepared clay, which is a way of saying that he who has his mind perfectly controlled can treat himself to any mental pleasure he chooses.  Although the Buddha and others are represented as performing such feats as floating in the air whenever it suits them, yet the instruction given as to how the powers may be acquired starts by bidding the neophyte pass through the four stages of Jhana or meditation in which ordinary external perception ceases.  Then he will be able to have the experiences described.  And it is probable that the description gives a correct account of the sensations which arise in the course of a trance, particularly if the trance has been entered upon with the object of experiencing them.  In other words they are hypnotic states and often the result of suggestion, since he who meditates knows what the result of his meditation should be.  Sometimes, as mentioned, Jhana is induced by methods familiar to mesmerists, such as gazing at a circle or some bright object but such expedients are not essential and with this European authorities agree.  Thus Bernheim states that even when a subject is hypnotized for the first time, no gestures or passes are necessary, provided he is calm.  It suffices to bid him look at the operator and go to sleep.  He adds that those who are most susceptible to the hypnotic influence are not nervous and hysterical subjects but docile and receptive natures who can concentrate their attention[707].  Now it is hardly possible to imagine better hypnotic subjects than the pupils of an Indian religious teacher.  They are taught to regard him with deep respect and complete confidence:  they are continually in a state of expectant receptivity, assimilating not only the texts and doctrines which he imparts, but his way of life:  their training leads them to believe in the reality of mental and physical powers exceeding those of ordinary mankind and indeed to think that if they do not have such experiences it is through some fault of their own.  The teachers, though ignorant of hypnotism as such, would not hesitate to use any procedure which seemed to favour progress in meditation and the acquisition of supernatural powers.  Now a large number of Indian marvels fall under two heads.  In the first case Buddha, Krishna, or any personage raised above the ordinary human level points out to his disciples that wonders are occurring or will occur:  he causes people to appear or disappear:  he appears himself in an amazing form which he explains.  In the other case the possessor of marvellous powers has experience which he subsequently relates:  he goes up to heaven or flies to the uttermost parts of the earth and returns.  Both of these cases are covered by the phenomena of hypnotism.  I do not mean to say that any given Indian legend can be explained by analyzing it as if it were a report of a hypnotic operation, but merely that the general character of these legends is largely due to the prevalence of hypnotic experiences among their composers and hearers[708].  Two obscure branches of hypnotism are probably of great importance in the religious history of the human race, namely self-hypnotization without external suggestion and the hypnotization of crowds.  India affords plentiful materials for the study of both.