Indian Sculpture and Painting, Illustrated by Typical Masterpieces, with an Explanation of their Motives and Ideals c7.77

c7.77

¹ It must not be supposed that the practice of Yoga is confined to ignorant fanatics, or to those who push the doctrine to the extreme of inflicting upon themselves all kinds of excessive bodily penances and tortures. The idea of intense concentration of mind, leading to extraordinary powers of spiritual insight, which is at the root of Yoga philosophy, still has almost as much hold upon cultured Hindus as it had at the time of Buddha, even upon those who have added Western science to their own traditional culture. Buddha's enlightenment was attained by the practice of Yoga, which was prevalent in India long before his time, though it was not reduced to a regular system until afterwards. See Monier-Williams, "Indian Wisdom," p. 226 *et seq.*