¹ See pp. 18, 87*, 215. If non—distracted, and alertly conscious, at this psychological moment, the dying person will realize, through the power conferred by the reading of the Thödoi, the importance of holding the vital—force in the median—nerve till it passes out thence through the Aperture of Brahma.

² ‘After the expiration has ceased, the vital—force (lit. ‘inner—breath’) is thought to remain in the median—nerve so long as the heart continues to throb.

³ Text: rnam—shes (pron. nam—she) : Skt. vijftdna or, preferably, chaitanya :’ conscious—principle’ or ‘object—knowing principle’.

⁴Sometimes it may continue for seven days, but usually only for four or fivedays. The consciousness—principle, however, save in certain conditions of trance,such as *yogi for example, can induce, is not necessarily resident in the bodyall the while; normally it quits the body at the moment called death, holdinga subtle magnetic—like relationship with the body until the state referred to inthe text comes to an end. Only for adepts in yoga would the departure of theconsciousness—principle be accomplished without break in the continuity of thestream of consciousness, that is to say, without the swoon state referred to.