CHAPTER II
THE YOGIS' REGARD FOR THE PHYSICAL BODY
To the casual observer, the Yogi Philosophy presents the apparent anomaly of a teaching which, while holding that the physical body is material and as nothing when compared to the higher principles of Man, at the same time devotes much care and importance to the instruction of its students in the direction of the careful attention, nourishment, training, exercise and improvement of that physical body. In fact one whole branch of the Yogi teachings. Hatha Yoga, is devoted to this care of the physical body, and goes into considerable detail regarding the instruction of its students in the principles of this physical training and development.
Some Western travelers in the Orient who have seen the care which the Yogis bestow upon their bodies, and the time and attention which they devote to the task, have jumped to the conclusion that the Yogi Philosophy is merely an Oriental form of Physical Culture, a little more carefully studied, perhaps, but a system having nothing "spiritual" in it. So much for seeing merely the outer forms, and not knowing enough to look "behind the scenes."
We scarcely need to explain to our students the real reason for the Yogis' care for the body, nor need
16
