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INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO “YOGA PHILOSOPHY”
[The writer who signs himself “Truth Seeker” quotes a lengthy passage from The Dream of Ravan: A Mystery. This remarkable piece of writing was published anonymously in the pages of The Dublin University Magazine, appearing in installments in the issues of October, November and December, 1853, and January 1854. There is every likelihood that the author of this series was a most profound student of genuine occultism, but his identity has never been ascertained. The text of this story was republished in book form by The Theosophical Publishing Society, London, in 1895. A more recent reprint, with an Introduction by Sophia Wadia, has been issued by the International Book House, Ltd., Bombay, India.
The writer asks for more information of a definite kind “as to all the best modes of soul-emancipation and will-culture.” The highly mystical subject treated upon in the quoted passages is introduced by H.P.B. with the following remarks:]
The following communication, from a European Theosophist, will be read with attention and interest by Hindu students of Yoga. The references to “vital air,” “wind,” “tubular vessels,” “moon fluid of immortality,” “chambers of the body,” and such like, may be incomprehensible to the materialist unfamiliar with the figurative nomenclature of mystics; but he who has advanced even a single pace along the road of self-development towards spirituality, will comprehend easily enough what is meant by these terms.