"The Yogin reasons when necessary, but not like the man of science. He sees the thing with his prophetic power interpreting the truth into thought; the pratyaksha gives him the Artha, the inspiration gives him the Vak, the intuition gives him to right conclusion about it, the right siddhanta, the Viveka guards him from error. Behold the truth by these four simple operations perfectly thought out. If he has to argue, then the intuition gives him the right arguments. He has not to proceed painfully from one syllogism to another as the logician does.

"Finally, he verifies his knowledge by the facts of the objective world. He has seen the truth about the man by merely looking at him or at the idea of him; he has thought it out clearly and now he compares his idea with the man's action, speech etc. Not to test his truth; for he knows that a man's action, speech etc. only partially express the man and mislead the student; but in order to see how the truth he knows from the Karana is being worked out in the Sthula. He trusts the man's objective life only so far as it is in agreement with the deeper truth he has gained by Yoga.

"You see the immense difference. The

only difficulty is that you have been accustomed to use the senses and the reason to the subordination and almost to the exclusion of the higher faculties. Therefore you find it difficult to make the higher faculties active.

"If only you could start from the beginning, with the Bhava, the Atmajnana, how easy it would be! That will yet happen. But first, you have to get rid of the lower Buddhi, of the Indriyas in the manas, and awaken the activity of the higher faculties. They will see for you, hear for you, as well as think for you.

First, then, get your sankaras right. Understand intellectually what I have told you and will yet tell you. Then by use of the Will, keep the reason, imagination, memory, thought, sensations sufficiently quiet for the higher Buddhi to know itself as separate and different from these lower qualities. As the higher separates itself and becomes more and more active, the lower, already discouraged, will become less and less active and finally trouble you no more.

Therefore Will first, then by Will, by Shakti, the Jnanam. First Kali, then Surya.

[paragraph continues] I shall explain the various faculties when I have finished with the rest of the system."

From "Yogic Sadhan"

By Master Arabinda Ghose.