LECTURE I.

THE NATURE OF YOGA Derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, meaning to "yoke" or "join," Yoga refers to the systematic discipline of uniting the individual soul with the Divine or Universal consciousness..

BROTHERS :

In this first discourse we shall concern ourselves with the gaining of a general idea of the subject of Yoga, seeking its place in nature, its own character, its object in human evolution In this context, evolution refers to the unfolding of consciousness and the development of the soul over successive lifetimes, alongside the physical growth of the human species..

THE MEANING OF THE UNIVERSE.

Let us, first of all, ask ourselves, looking at the world around us, what it is that the history of the world signifies. When we read history, what does the history tell us ? It seems to be a moving panorama of people and events, but it is really only a dance of shadows ; the people are shadows, not realities, the kings and statesmen, the ministers and armies ; and the events — the battles and revolutions, the rises and falls of States — are the most shadow-like dance of all. Even if the historian tries to go deeper, if he deals with economic conditions, with social organisations,

Key vocabulary: Yoga, evolution, history, States, economic conditions, social organisations