7/23/2019 Pranayam 497

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Lesson 17

Th ere was once a famous sculptor. On e day he

was visited by some people who wanted to see

his work. He took them to his studio and

showed them a number of pieces of stone that

had been partly chipped away. None of the

stone blocks resembled anything tangible and

were far from being beautiful. The visitors

were a little disappointed, for they came

expecting to see aesthetic pieces of sculpture.

Then the sculptor said: "This is where I startwork on my creations; now let us go to the

next roo m." His visitors went to the next ro om

and were confronted with objects that were

 be gi nn in g to look mo re shapely . Th ey were

more impressed. Then the sculptor led them

to another room and he showed them exquisite

works of art. The visitors were delighted and

exclaimed that they had never seen such

delicate pieces of sculpture. But the sculptor

explained that he had not finished work on

them; they had yet to be polished before they

reached the stage of perfection.The gradual transformation that the visitors

saw in the sculptures is analogous to the

transfo rmation th at takes place in an individual

when he practises yoga. At first his character is

gross and unrefined. Something is lacking.

Then in time, his attitude towards life, himself

and others changes. His sensitivity increases.

He starts to radiate that which is already within

him. Yoga unfolds the inner being of the

individual, in the same way that the sculptor

slowly exposes the shape of his works. The

shape is already inherent within the stone -

the sculptor only cuts away the extraneous

material that hides it. In the same way, the

inner potential of the individual always exists- yoga merely cuts away the dross to allow it toshow itself.

Swami Satyananda Saraswati