e, no gestures
or passes are necessary, provided he is calm. It suffices to bid him
look at the operator and go to sleep. He adds that those who are most
susceptible to the hypnotic influence are not nervous and hysterical
subjects but docile and receptive natures who can concentrate their
attention[707]. Now it is hardly possible to imagine better hypnotic
subjects than the pupils of an Indian religious teacher. They are taught
to regard him with deep respect and complete confidence: they are
continually in a state of expectant receptivity, assimilating not only
the texts and doctrines which he imparts, but his way of life: their
training leads them to believe in the reality of mental and physical
powers exceeding those of ordinary mankind and indeed to think that if
they do not have such experiences it is through some fault of their own.
The teachers, though ignorant of hypnotism as such, would not hesitate
to use any procedure which seemed to favour progress in meditation and
the acquisition of supernatural powers. Now a large number of Indian
marvels fall under two heads. In the first case Buddha, Krishna, or any
personage raised above the ordinary human level points out to his
disciples that wonders are occurring or will occur: he causes people to
appear or disappear: he appears himself in an amazing form which he
explains. In the other case the possessor of marvellous powers has
experience which he subsequently relates: he goes up to heaven or flies
to the uttermost parts of the earth and returns. Both of these cases are
covered by the phenomena of hypnotism. I do not mean to say that any
given Indian legend can be explained by analyzing it as if it were a
report of a hypnotic operation, but merely that the general character of
these legends is largely due to the prevalence of hypnotic experiences
among their composers and hearers[708]. Two obscure branches of
hypnotism are probably of great importance in the religious history of
the human race, namely self-hypnotization without external suggestion
and the hypnotization of crowds. India affords plentiful materials for
the study of both.

There is no reason to doubt that the Buddha believed in the existence of
these powers and countenanced the practices supposed to lead to them.
Thus Moggallana, second only to Sariputta among his disciples, was
called the master of iddhi[709], and it is mentioned as a creditable and
enjoyable accomplishment[710]. But it is made equ