Raja Yoga, Message 12
(The section ‘Tapas or Austerity’ now resumes)
The tapas performed by men with the utmost faith, without desire for fruit and harmonised, is sattvic or pure. That practised with the object of gaining respect, honour and worship and for ostentation is rajasic, unstable and fleeting. That done under a deluded understanding, with self-torture or with the object of destroying another, is declared to be tamasic or of darkness. "The men who perform severe austerities, unenjoined by the scriptures, wedded to vanity and egoism, impelled by the force of their desire and passion, unintelligent, torturing all the elements in the body and Me also who dwells in the body — know thou these to be of demoniacal resolves."Bhagavad Gita (XVII-5, 6)
By tapas the mind, speech and senses are purified. Fasts and all religious observances that are laid down in scriptures and the rules of yama and niyama, asana, pranayama, etc., come under tapas.
Psychic powers can be acquired by the steady practice of tapas. Manu says: "He whose speech and mind are pure and ever carefully guarded obtains all the fruits that are obtained by means of vedanta. By the performance of tapas, all afflictions and impurities can be destroyed."
Svadhyaya — Study of Scriptures
"By the study of scriptures comes the communion with God." (II-44)
Svadhyaya is the fourth limb of niyama. It is the daily study of scriptures written by realised sages, such as the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Ramayana, Bhagavatam, etc. It elevates and inspires the mind. It gives you an idea of your goal and the practices that are necessary for its accomplishment. The study should be done with concentration. You should understand what you have studied and try to put into practice in your daily life all that you have learnt. Practical application of what you read that is applicable to your temperament and to your mode of life is very necessary if you wish to derive any permanent benefit from your study. There will be no benefit in your study if you do not exert to live up to the teachings of the scriptures. This study includes japa, the repetition of mantras. It is also the enquiry into the nature of the Atman, i.e. 'Who am I?'. Constant study and its practice in daily life will lead one to communion with God.
Svadhyaya is negative satsang, when you cannot get the positive satsang of saints and mahatmas. It clears doubts. It strengthens the flickering faith and induces strong yearning for liberation, or aspiration. It gives encouragement and illumination. It places before you a list of saints who trod the path and encountered and removed difficulties, and thus cheers you up with hope and vigour. It fills the mind with sattva or purity and inspires and elevates the mind. It helps concentration and meditation. It cuts new sattvic grooves and makes the mind run in these new grooves. It inspires and elevates the mind to a high spiritual altitude. It weeds out unholy ideas. It reduces wandering of the mind. It serves the purpose of a spiritual pasture for the mind to graze upon. When you study the sacred books you will be in tune with the authors who are realised souls, you will draw inspiration and become ecstatic.
Ishvara Pranidhana — Self-surrender
This is the fifth limb of niyama. It forms the third limb of kriya yoga also.
"Or, by devotion and self-surrender to God (Ishvara)." (I-23)
Who is Ishvara?
"God (Ishvara) is a particular soul unaffected by afflictions, works, fruition and vehicles." (I-24)
God (Ishvara) of Patanjali is neither the personal God of the bhaktas nor the impersonal God of the vedantins. His God is a peculiar Purusha, completely free from all afflictions, works, fruition and vehicles.
"In Him is the highest limit of the seed of omniscience." (I-25)
Knowledge, non-attachment, spiritual wealth, austerity, truth, forgiveness, endurance, power of creation, knowledge of Self, and being the substratum for everything and of all activities — these are the ten unchangeable qualities that always exist in God.
"Being unconditioned by time, He is the teacher of even the ancients." (I-26)
Success is rapid in attaining samadhi by devotion to Ishvara. The devotee should have total, ungrudging unreserved self-surrender to Ishvara. He should entirely depend on Ishvara. He should not keep any secret desire or egoism for his self-gratification. He should not expect any kind of reward — even admiration, gratitude or thanks — for his services. He should completely dedicate himself and all his actions to the will of the Supreme Being. This is Ishvarapranidhana. It is true devotion and self-surrender.
"By self-surrender comes the attainment of samadhi, the super-conscious state." (II-45)
Self-surrender leads to samadhi or the super-conscious state. It leads to communion with the Lord. The individual will becomes one with the Cosmic Will.
Just as the sponge that is dipped in water becomes filled with water, so also the devotee who practises surrender to God is filled with the Supreme Lord. He feels that the Lord pervades his whole being and that he is an instrument in the hands of the Lord. He is not bound by karma. He attains freedom from birth and death, perfection, omniscience, immortality and eternal bliss. The self-surrender should be free, perfect, unconditioned and ungrudging. Worship God with a pure heart and stainless mind, surrender your ego at His feet and annihilate the idea of doership or separateness from the Lord. You will realise the oneness of the Self. Samadhi will come by itself.
If a yogi is not careful, if he is not well-established in the preliminary practices of yama and niyama, he is unconsciously swept away from his ideal by temptation. He uses his powers for selfish ends and suffers a hopeless downfall. His intellect becomes blind, perverted and intoxicated. His understanding gets clouded.
He is no longer a divine yogi. He becomes a black-magician or yoga charlatan. He is a black sheep within the fold of yogis. He is a menace to society at large.
ASANA
"Asana is steady, pleasant posture." (II-46)
"By mild and steady practice and meditation on the Infinite." (II-47)
After yama and niyama comes asana (posture). Patanjali does not pay much attention to asana. He says only, "Asana is steady, comfortable posture. This is obtained by mild and steady practice and meditation on the Infinite. Then the yogi is free from the disturbance of the pairs of opposites." So he only wants you to be able to assume a comfortable posture in which you can sit for a long time. You can even sit in a chair, but do not allow sleep to overcome you.
In hatha yoga* there are various asanas, elaborately designed to give more perfection to the body. These are all later developments. These asanas render the body firm and eradicate physical ailments. Physical fitness and a disease-free healthy body are essential for spiritual practices. Without good health you cannot fight against the turbulent senses and the boisterous mind. Regular practice of asanas will keep the body fit and the mind calm and will give abundant energy, vigour, strength and nerve-power. You will be able to do intense practice without physical discomfort.
* See Volume II: Health and Hatha Yoga
The yoga student must practise this preliminary yoga wholeheartedly and with single minded devotion. The means is as important as the end itself. If you neglect this practice and try to jump to meditation at once with the hope of getting samadhi quickly, you will not be crowned with success. There will be a delay in the spiritual progress. Every step in yoga is important. It must be mastered. Then only will you be ready to take up the next step.
Asanas for Meditation
Any easy, comfortable posture is asana; but the traditional postures for meditation are padma, siddha, svastika or sukha asana. Practise for half an hour to start with. Then increase the period to three hours. In one year, you can have asana-siddhi.
Padmasana: This is the lotus-pose. Place the right foot on the left thigh, the left foot on the right thigh. Put the hands on the thighs near the knee joints. Keep the head, neck and the trunk in one straight line. Close the eyes and concentrate on the trikuti (the space between the two eyebrows). This is called lotus-pose or kamalasana. This is very good for meditation. This asana is beneficial for householders.
Siddhasana: This is the perfect pose. This is a beautiful asana for meditation. Place one heel at the anus, keep the other heel at the root of the generative organ and the hands on the knees. Close the eyes. Concentrate at the trikuti or at the tip of the nose. Keep the head, neck and trunk in one straight line. Keep the hands as in padmasana, near the knee joints. This asana is beneficial for brahmacharis and sannyasis.
Svastikasana: This is sitting at ease with the body erect. Place the right foot near the left thigh and bring the left foot and push it between the right thigh and calf muscles. Now, you will find the two feet between the thigh and calf muscles. This is svastikasana.
Sukhasana: Any easy comfortable posture for japa and meditation is sukhasana. The important point is that the head and trunk should be straight. Here is a special variety of sukhasana which is very comfortable for old people: Take a cloth 5 cubits (6-7 feet) long and fold it lengthwise. Raise the knees to the chest level. Keep one end of the cloth near the left knee. Take the other end, and going round to the back come to the left knee and make a knot there. Keep the hands between the knees. As the legs, hands and backbone are all supported, one can sit in this asana for a long time.
Benefits of Asanas
"When (asanajaya is obtained) one is free from the disturbance of the pairs of opposites." (II-48)
Asana removes many diseases such as piles, dyspepsia and constipation, checks excessive rajas (restlessness) and steadies the body. The body gets genuine rest from the posture. If you are established in asana, if you are firm in your seat, then you can easily take up exercises in pranayama.
When the asana becomes steady you will not feel the body. When you have obtained mastery in the asana, the qualities of the pairs of opposites such as heat and cold will not trouble you. You must sit in the asana with an empty stomach. You can take a small cup of milk, tea or coffee before doing asana. For meditation, concentration and japa, padmasana or siddhasana are prescribed.
Mental poise is more important than the physical pose. It is more difficult than the practice of asanas. Keep the mind also steady and fixed on the goal of God-realisation. Keep it in a balanced state, let it not sink down or jump with emotion. Be always serene, tranquil and calm. Check its wanderings, make it motionless.
Fill it with joy, cheerfulness and zeal. Curb the thoughts, desires and cravings. Annihilate likes and dislikes and building castles in the air. When the mind is more steady and poised the physical pose also will be perfect and steady.
PRANAYAMA
What is Prana?*
* See Volume II: Health and Hatha Yoga
Prana is the universal principle of energy or force. It is a vital all-pervading force. It may be either in a static or a dynamic state. It is found in all forms from the highest to the lowest, from the ant to the elephant, from the unicellular amoeba to man, from the elementary forms of plant life to the developed forms of animal life.
Prana is the force of every plane of being, from the highest to the lowest.
Whatever moves or has life is but an expression or manifestation of prana. It is prana that shines in your eyes. It is through the power of prana that the ear hears, the eye sees, the skin feels, the tongue tastes, the nose smells and the brain and the intellect perform their functions. The smile in a young lady, the melody in music, the power in the emphatic words of an orator, the charm in the speech of one's beloved are all due to prana.
Whatever you behold in this sense-world, whatever moves or works or has life, is but an expression or manifestation of prana.
That which moves the steam engine of a train and a steamer, that which makes the aeroplane glide in space; that which causes the motion of breath in lungs; that which is the very life of this breath itself, is prana. Prana is the sum-total of all energy that is manifest in the universe and all the forces in nature. Heat, light, electricity and magnetism are all the manifestations of prana, and all spring from the fountain or common source — Atman. Fire burns and wind blows through prana. Radio waves travel through prana. Prana is force, magnetism and electricity. It is prana that pumps the blood from the heart into the arteries or blood vessels. It is through prana that digestion, excretion and secretion take place. Prana digests the food, turns it into chyle and blood and sends it into the brain and mind. The mind is then able to think and enquire into the nature of Brahman.
It is through the vibrations of psychic prana that the life of the mind is kept up and thought is produced. Prana is related to the mind and through the mind to the will and through will to the individual soul, and through this to the Supreme Being. If you know how to control the little waves of prana working through the mind the secret of subjugating universal prana will be known to you. Because you see, hear, talk, sense, think, feel, will, know, etc. through the help of prana, the scriptures declare: "Prana is Brahman".
Prana is expended by thinking, willing, acting, moving, talking and writing. A healthy strong man has an abundance of prana (or nerve-force or vitality). It is supplied by food, water, air, solar energy, etc. The supply of prana is taken up by the nervous system. The prana in the air is absorbed by breathing. The excess is stored in the brain and nerve centres. When the seminal energy is sublimated or transformed it supplies an abundance of prana to the system. It is stored up in the brain in the form of spiritual energy.
The yogi stores a great deal of prana through the regular practice of pranayama, just as the storage battery stores electricity. That yogi who has stored up a large supply radiates strength and vitality all around. He is a big power-house and those who come in close contact with him imbibe prana from him and receive strength, vigour, vitality and exhilaration of spirits. Just as water flows from one vessel to another, prana actually flows like a steady current from a developed yogi towards weak persons. This can actually be seen by the yogi who has developed his inner yogic vision.
Breath is not the real prana, it is but an external manifestation of it. It is a physical aspect or symptom or external sign. Breath is gross, while prana is subtle. By controlling the breath you can control the prana — just as you can control the other wheels by controlling or stopping the fly wheel of a diesel engine and just as you can control the hair-spring, cog wheels and the main spring of a watch by controlling the minute hand. Prana connects the body and the mind. It is the outer coat of the mind. Only gross prana moves in the nerves. The subtlest prana moves in the astral nadis*, which are the astral tubes made up of astral matter that carry the subtle prana. It is through these nadis that the vital force or pranic current moves. Since these are made up of subtle matter they cannot be seen by the naked eyes. They are not ordinary nerves, arteries and veins. The body is filled with innumerable nadis that cannot be counted.
*Ida, pingala and sushumna
Wherever there is an interlacing of several nerves, arteries and veins, that centre is called a plexus. Similarly there are plexuses or centres of vital forces in the subtle nadis. These are called chakras.
Ida, pingala and sushumna** are the most important of the innumerable nadis. Ida and pingala are on the two sides of the spinal cord and sushumna is within the spinal canal. Ida operates through the left nostril and pingala through the right nostril. When the breath operates through sushumna the mind becomes steady. This steadiness of mind is called the mindless state, the highest state in raja yoga. If you sit for meditation when sushumna is operating, you will have wonderful meditation. When the nadis are full of impurities the prana cannot pass through the middle nadi. So one should practice pranayama for the purification of the nadis.
** See Volume II: Health and Hatha Yoga
A yogi can withdraw prana from any area of the body. That area gets benumbed, becomes impervious to heat and cold and has no sensation. A yogi can send prana also to any area and make it over-sensitive; he can send it to the eyes and see distant objects; he can send it to the nose and can experience divine aromas; he can send it to the tongue and can experience super-sensuous taste.
By control of prana the yogi can also control the omnipresent manifesting power out of which all energies take their origin, whether concerning magnetism, electricity, gravitation, cohesion, nerve currents, vital forces or thought vibrations; in fact, the total forces of the universe, physical and mental.
A comprehensive knowledge of prana and its function is absolutely necessary for pranayama.
What is Pranayama?
Pranayama is said to be the union of prana and apana. Pranayama in the language of yoga means the process by which we understand the secret of prana and control it. He who has grasped this prana has grasped the very core of cosmic life and activity. He who has conquered and controlled this very essence has not only controlled his own body and mind, but every other body, mind and power in this universe. Thus, pranayama or the control of prana is that means by which the yogi tries to realise in this little body the whole of cosmic life, and tries to attain perfection by getting all the powers in the universe. His various exercises and training are for this end.
Control of Breath
"That (control over posture) being acquired, follows pranayama or the control of breath — the cessation of the movements of inspiration and expiration." (II-49)
When the breath is expired it is termed rechaka; when the breath is drawn in it is termed puraka; when it is suspended it is called kumbhaka. Kumbhaka is retention of breath. It increases the period of life, it augments the inner spiritual force, vigour and vitality. If you retain the breath for one minute, this one minute is added to your span of life.
"Pranayama is of long duration or subtle according to the external and internal restraint or holding process, regulated by place, time and number." (II-50)
Each of these motions in pranayama viz., inhalation, exhalation and retention, is regulated by place, time and number.
By place is meant the inside or outside of the body, and the particular part of the body. During expiration the distance to which breath is thrown outside varies in different individuals. The distance varies during inspiration also. The length of air coming out of the nostrils is normally of the measurement of twelve fingers; it is twenty fingers at the time of eating, twenty-four while walking, thirty in sleep, thirty-six at the time of coition and still more while doing exercises. This is to be ascertained through a piece of reed or cotton.
The place of inhalation ranges from the head down to the soles of the feet. This is to be ascertained through a sensation similar to the touch of an ant. The place of retention consists of the external and internal places of both exhalation and inhalation taken together, because the functions of the breath are capable of being held up at both these places. This is to be ascertained through the absence of the two indicatives noted above, in connection with exhalation and inhalation.
Time is the time of duration of inhalation, exhalation and retention. It is generally counted by matra, which corresponds to one second. The time taken in making three rounds of the knee with the palm of the hand, neither very slowly nor quickly, snapping the fingers once, is called a matra. Both the twinkling of an eye and the time occupied by one normal respiration are considered as one matra. The time taken up in pronouncing the mono-syllable OM is also regarded as one matra. This is very convenient. Many pranayama practitioners adopt this time-unit in their practice.
By time is also meant how long the prana should be fixed in a particular centre or part. The pranayama is long or short, according to the period of time it is practised.
Number refers to the number of times the pranayama is performed. The yoga student should slowly take the number of pranayamas to eighty at one sitting. He should have four sittings: in morning, afternoon, evening and midnight or at 9 p.m., and should thus have 320 pranayamas in all.
The specification of the three kinds of breath regulations, by all these three — place, time and number — is only optional. They are not to be understood as to be practised collectively, for in many scriptures we meet with passages where the only specification mentioned with reference to the regulation of breath is that of time.
The period of retention must be gradually increased. Retention gives strength. If you want to increase it for more than three minutes the help of a guru by your side is very necessary. You can suspend the breath for two or three minutes without the help of anybody.
Retention is of two kinds, viz. sahita and kevala. That which is coupled with inhalation and exhalation is termed sahita kumbhaka (which is described in 'Easy Comfortable Pranayama — Sukha Purvak'). When you get mastery in sahita it is said: "When after giving up of inhalation and exhalation one holds his breath with ease, it is kevala (absolute) kumbhaka. One attains the state of raja yoga." The practitioner attains perfection in yoga.
The fourth (pranayama exercise) is going beyond the internal and external positions. (II-51)
In the previous sutras, three kinds of pranayama exercises are given: viz. internal, external and the period of suspension. In this sutra the highest stage of pranayama is given, going beyond inhalation and exhalation. This is kevala kumbhaka — absolute retention — wherein there is neither inhalation nor exhalation. There is retention only. This is for advanced yogis.
In the third kind of pranayama the spheres of inhalation and exhalation are not taken into consideration. The stoppage of breath occurs with one single effort and is then measured by place, time and number and thus becomes long and subtle. In the fourth variety, however, the spheres of expiration and inspiration are ascertained. The different states are gradually mastered. This fourth variety is not practised all at once by a single effort like the third one. On the other hand, it reaches different states of perfection as it is being done.
After one stage is mastered the next stage is taken up and practised. Then it goes in succession. The third is not preceded by measurements and is brought about by a single effort; however the fourth is preceded by the knowledge of the measurements, and is brought about by much effort. This is the only difference. The conditions of place, time and number are applicable to this kind of pranayama also. Particular occult powers develop themselves at each stage of progress.
This fourth pranayama is concerned with the fixing of the prana in the various chakras and taking it very slowly, step by step and stage by stage, to the last chakra in the head, where perfect samadhi takes place.
This is internal. Externally it takes into consideration the length of breath in accordance with the prevailing element — earth, water, fire, air or ether.
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(The section ‘Tapas or Austerity’ now resumes)
The tapas performed by men with the utmost faith, without desire for fruit and harmonised, is sattvic or pure. That practised with the object of gaining respect, honour and worship and for ostentation is rajasic, unstable and fleeting. That done under a deluded understanding, with self-torture or with the object of destroying another, is declared to be tamasic or of darkness. "The men who perform severe austerities, unenjoined by the scriptures, wedded to vanity and egoism, impelled by the force of their desire and passion, unintelligent, torturing all the elements in the body and Me also who dwells in the body — know thou these to be of demoniacal resolves."Bhagavad Gita (XVII-5, 6)
By tapas the mind, speech and senses are purified. Fasts and all religious observances that are laid down in scriptures and the rules of yama and niyama, asana, pranayama, etc., come under tapas.
Psychic powers can be acquired by the steady practice of tapas. Manu says: "He whose speech and mind are pure and ever carefully guarded obtains all the fruits that are obtained by means of vedanta. By the performance of tapas, all afflictions and impurities can be destroyed."
Svadhyaya — Study of Scriptures
"By the study of scriptures comes the communion with God." (II-44)
Svadhyaya is the fourth limb of niyama. It is the daily study of scriptures written by realised sages, such as the Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads, Ramayana, Bhagavatam, etc. It elevates and inspires the mind. It gives you an idea of your goal and the practices that are necessary for its accomplishment. The study should be done with concentration. You should understand what you have studied and try to put into practice in your daily life all that you have learnt. Practical application of what you read that is applicable to your temperament and to your mode of life is very necessary if you wish to derive any permanent benefit from your study. There will be no benefit in your study if you do not exert to live up to the teachings of the scriptures. This study includes japa, the repetition of mantras. It is also the enquiry into the nature of the Atman, i.e. 'Who am I?'. Constant study and its practice in daily life will lead one to communion with God.
Svadhyaya is negative satsang, when you cannot get the positive satsang of saints and mahatmas. It clears doubts. It strengthens the flickering faith and induces strong yearning for liberation, or aspiration. It gives encouragement and illumination. It places before you a list of saints who trod the path and encountered and removed difficulties, and thus cheers you up with hope and vigour. It fills the mind with sattva or purity and inspires and elevates the mind. It helps concentration and meditation. It cuts new sattvic grooves and makes the mind run in these new grooves. It inspires and elevates the mind to a high spiritual altitude. It weeds out unholy ideas. It reduces wandering of the mind. It serves the purpose of a spiritual pasture for the mind to graze upon. When you study the sacred books you will be in tune with the authors who are realised souls, you will draw inspiration and become ecstatic.
Ishvara Pranidhana — Self-surrender
This is the fifth limb of niyama. It forms the third limb of kriya yoga also.
"Or, by devotion and self-surrender to God (Ishvara)." (I-23)
Who is Ishvara?
"God (Ishvara) is a particular soul unaffected by afflictions, works, fruition and vehicles." (I-24)
God (Ishvara) of Patanjali is neither the personal God of the bhaktas nor the impersonal God of the vedantins. His God is a peculiar Purusha, completely free from all afflictions, works, fruition and vehicles.
"In Him is the highest limit of the seed of omniscience." (I-25)
Knowledge, non-attachment, spiritual wealth, austerity, truth, forgiveness, endurance, power of creation, knowledge of Self, and being the substratum for everything and of all activities — these are the ten unchangeable qualities that always exist in God.
"Being unconditioned by time, He is the teacher of even the ancients." (I-26)
Success is rapid in attaining samadhi by devotion to Ishvara. The devotee should have total, ungrudging unreserved self-surrender to Ishvara. He should entirely depend on Ishvara. He should not keep any secret desire or egoism for his self-gratification. He should not expect any kind of reward — even admiration, gratitude or thanks — for his services. He should completely dedicate himself and all his actions to the will of the Supreme Being. This is Ishvarapranidhana. It is true devotion and self-surrender.
"By self-surrender comes the attainment of samadhi, the super-conscious state." (II-45)
Self-surrender leads to samadhi or the super-conscious state. It leads to communion with the Lord. The individual will becomes one with the Cosmic Will.
Just as the sponge that is dipped in water becomes filled with water, so also the devotee who practises surrender to God is filled with the Supreme Lord. He feels that the Lord pervades his whole being and that he is an instrument in the hands of the Lord. He is not bound by karma. He attains freedom from birth and death, perfection, omniscience, immortality and eternal bliss. The self-surrender should be free, perfect, unconditioned and ungrudging. Worship God with a pure heart and stainless mind, surrender your ego at His feet and annihilate the idea of doership or separateness from the Lord. You will realise the oneness of the Self. Samadhi will come by itself.
If a yogi is not careful, if he is not well-established in the preliminary practices of yama and niyama, he is unconsciously swept away from his ideal by temptation. He uses his powers for selfish ends and suffers a hopeless downfall. His intellect becomes blind, perverted and intoxicated. His understanding gets clouded.
He is no longer a divine yogi. He becomes a black-magician or yoga charlatan. He is a black sheep within the fold of yogis. He is a menace to society at large.
ASANA
"Asana is steady, pleasant posture." (II-46)
"By mild and steady practice and meditation on the Infinite." (II-47)
After yama and niyama comes asana (posture). Patanjali does not pay much attention to asana. He says only, "Asana is steady, comfortable posture. This is obtained by mild and steady practice and meditation on the Infinite. Then the yogi is free from the disturbance of the pairs of opposites." So he only wants you to be able to assume a comfortable posture in which you can sit for a long time. You can even sit in a chair, but do not allow sleep to overcome you.
In hatha yoga* there are various asanas, elaborately designed to give more perfection to the body. These are all later developments. These asanas render the body firm and eradicate physical ailments. Physical fitness and a disease-free healthy body are essential for spiritual practices. Without good health you cannot fight against the turbulent senses and the boisterous mind. Regular practice of asanas will keep the body fit and the mind calm and will give abundant energy, vigour, strength and nerve-power. You will be able to do intense practice without physical discomfort.
* See Volume II: Health and Hatha Yoga
The yoga student must practise this preliminary yoga wholeheartedly and with single minded devotion. The means is as important as the end itself. If you neglect this practice and try to jump to meditation at once with the hope of getting samadhi quickly, you will not be crowned with success. There will be a delay in the spiritual progress. Every step in yoga is important. It must be mastered. Then only will you be ready to take up the next step.
Asanas for Meditation
Any easy, comfortable posture is asana; but the traditional postures for meditation are padma, siddha, svastika or sukha asana. Practise for half an hour to start with. Then increase the period to three hours. In one year, you can have asana-siddhi.
Padmasana: This is the lotus-pose. Place the right foot on the left thigh, the left foot on the right thigh. Put the hands on the thighs near the knee joints. Keep the head, neck and the trunk in one straight line. Close the eyes and concentrate on the trikuti (the space between the two eyebrows). This is called lotus-pose or kamalasana. This is very good for meditation. This asana is beneficial for householders.
Siddhasana: This is the perfect pose. This is a beautiful asana for meditation. Place one heel at the anus, keep the other heel at the root of the generative organ and the hands on the knees. Close the eyes. Concentrate at the trikuti or at the tip of the nose. Keep the head, neck and trunk in one straight line. Keep the hands as in padmasana, near the knee joints. This asana is beneficial for brahmacharis and sannyasis.
Svastikasana: This is sitting at ease with the body erect. Place the right foot near the left thigh and bring the left foot and push it between the right thigh and calf muscles. Now, you will find the two feet between the thigh and calf muscles. This is svastikasana.
Sukhasana: Any easy comfortable posture for japa and meditation is sukhasana. The important point is that the head and trunk should be straight. Here is a special variety of sukhasana which is very comfortable for old people: Take a cloth 5 cubits (6-7 feet) long and fold it lengthwise. Raise the knees to the chest level. Keep one end of the cloth near the left knee. Take the other end, and going round to the back come to the left knee and make a knot there. Keep the hands between the knees. As the legs, hands and backbone are all supported, one can sit in this asana for a long time.
Benefits of Asanas
"When (asanajaya is obtained) one is free from the disturbance of the pairs of opposites." (II-48)
Asana removes many diseases such as piles, dyspepsia and constipation, checks excessive rajas (restlessness) and steadies the body. The body gets genuine rest from the posture. If you are established in asana, if you are firm in your seat, then you can easily take up exercises in pranayama.
When the asana becomes steady you will not feel the body. When you have obtained mastery in the asana, the qualities of the pairs of opposites such as heat and cold will not trouble you. You must sit in the asana with an empty stomach. You can take a small cup of milk, tea or coffee before doing asana. For meditation, concentration and japa, padmasana or siddhasana are prescribed.
Mental poise is more important than the physical pose. It is more difficult than the practice of asanas. Keep the mind also steady and fixed on the goal of God-realisation. Keep it in a balanced state, let it not sink down or jump with emotion. Be always serene, tranquil and calm. Check its wanderings, make it motionless.
Fill it with joy, cheerfulness and zeal. Curb the thoughts, desires and cravings. Annihilate likes and dislikes and building castles in the air. When the mind is more steady and poised the physical pose also will be perfect and steady.
PRANAYAMA
What is Prana?*
* See Volume II: Health and Hatha Yoga
Prana is the universal principle of energy or force. It is a vital all-pervading force. It may be either in a static or a dynamic state. It is found in all forms from the highest to the lowest, from the ant to the elephant, from the unicellular amoeba to man, from the elementary forms of plant life to the developed forms of animal life.
Prana is the force of every plane of being, from the highest to the lowest.
Whatever moves or has life is but an expression or manifestation of prana. It is prana that shines in your eyes. It is through the power of prana that the ear hears, the eye sees, the skin feels, the tongue tastes, the nose smells and the brain and the intellect perform their functions. The smile in a young lady, the melody in music, the power in the emphatic words of an orator, the charm in the speech of one's beloved are all due to prana.
Whatever you behold in this sense-world, whatever moves or works or has life, is but an expression or manifestation of prana.
That which moves the steam engine of a train and a steamer, that which makes the aeroplane glide in space; that which causes the motion of breath in lungs; that which is the very life of this breath itself, is prana. Prana is the sum-total of all energy that is manifest in the universe and all the forces in nature. Heat, light, electricity and magnetism are all the manifestations of prana, and all spring from the fountain or common source — Atman. Fire burns and wind blows through prana. Radio waves travel through prana. Prana is force, magnetism and electricity. It is prana that pumps the blood from the heart into the arteries or blood vessels. It is through prana that digestion, excretion and secretion take place. Prana digests the food, turns it into chyle and blood and sends it into the brain and mind. The mind is then able to think and enquire into the nature of Brahman.
It is through the vibrations of psychic prana that the life of the mind is kept up and thought is produced. Prana is related to the mind and through the mind to the will and through will to the individual soul, and through this to the Supreme Being. If you know how to control the little waves of prana working through the mind the secret of subjugating universal prana will be known to you. Because you see, hear, talk, sense, think, feel, will, know, etc. through the help of prana, the scriptures declare: "Prana is Brahman".
Prana is expended by thinking, willing, acting, moving, talking and writing. A healthy strong man has an abundance of prana (or nerve-force or vitality). It is supplied by food, water, air, solar energy, etc. The supply of prana is taken up by the nervous system. The prana in the air is absorbed by breathing. The excess is stored in the brain and nerve centres. When the seminal energy is sublimated or transformed it supplies an abundance of prana to the system. It is stored up in the brain in the form of spiritual energy.
The yogi stores a great deal of prana through the regular practice of pranayama, just as the storage battery stores electricity. That yogi who has stored up a large supply radiates strength and vitality all around. He is a big power-house and those who come in close contact with him imbibe prana from him and receive strength, vigour, vitality and exhilaration of spirits. Just as water flows from one vessel to another, prana actually flows like a steady current from a developed yogi towards weak persons. This can actually be seen by the yogi who has developed his inner yogic vision.
Breath is not the real prana, it is but an external manifestation of it. It is a physical aspect or symptom or external sign. Breath is gross, while prana is subtle. By controlling the breath you can control the prana — just as you can control the other wheels by controlling or stopping the fly wheel of a diesel engine and just as you can control the hair-spring, cog wheels and the main spring of a watch by controlling the minute hand. Prana connects the body and the mind. It is the outer coat of the mind. Only gross prana moves in the nerves. The subtlest prana moves in the astral nadis*, which are the astral tubes made up of astral matter that carry the subtle prana. It is through these nadis that the vital force or pranic current moves. Since these are made up of subtle matter they cannot be seen by the naked eyes. They are not ordinary nerves, arteries and veins. The body is filled with innumerable nadis that cannot be counted.
*Ida, pingala and sushumna
Wherever there is an interlacing of several nerves, arteries and veins, that centre is called a plexus. Similarly there are plexuses or centres of vital forces in the subtle nadis. These are called chakras.
Ida, pingala and sushumna** are the most important of the innumerable nadis. Ida and pingala are on the two sides of the spinal cord and sushumna is within the spinal canal. Ida operates through the left nostril and pingala through the right nostril. When the breath operates through sushumna the mind becomes steady. This steadiness of mind is called the mindless state, the highest state in raja yoga. If you sit for meditation when sushumna is operating, you will have wonderful meditation. When the nadis are full of impurities the prana cannot pass through the middle nadi. So one should practice pranayama for the purification of the nadis.
** See Volume II: Health and Hatha Yoga
A yogi can withdraw prana from any area of the body. That area gets benumbed, becomes impervious to heat and cold and has no sensation. A yogi can send prana also to any area and make it over-sensitive; he can send it to the eyes and see distant objects; he can send it to the nose and can experience divine aromas; he can send it to the tongue and can experience super-sensuous taste.
By control of prana the yogi can also control the omnipresent manifesting power out of which all energies take their origin, whether concerning magnetism, electricity, gravitation, cohesion, nerve currents, vital forces or thought vibrations; in fact, the total forces of the universe, physical and mental.
A comprehensive knowledge of prana and its function is absolutely necessary for pranayama.
What is Pranayama?
Pranayama is said to be the union of prana and apana. Pranayama in the language of yoga means the process by which we understand the secret of prana and control it. He who has grasped this prana has grasped the very core of cosmic life and activity. He who has conquered and controlled this very essence has not only controlled his own body and mind, but every other body, mind and power in this universe. Thus, pranayama or the control of prana is that means by which the yogi tries to realise in this little body the whole of cosmic life, and tries to attain perfection by getting all the powers in the universe. His various exercises and training are for this end.
Control of Breath
"That (control over posture) being acquired, follows pranayama or the control of breath — the cessation of the movements of inspiration and expiration." (II-49)
When the breath is expired it is termed rechaka; when the breath is drawn in it is termed puraka; when it is suspended it is called kumbhaka. Kumbhaka is retention of breath. It increases the period of life, it augments the inner spiritual force, vigour and vitality. If you retain the breath for one minute, this one minute is added to your span of life.
"Pranayama is of long duration or subtle according to the external and internal restraint or holding process, regulated by place, time and number." (II-50)
Each of these motions in pranayama viz., inhalation, exhalation and retention, is regulated by place, time and number.
By place is meant the inside or outside of the body, and the particular part of the body. During expiration the distance to which breath is thrown outside varies in different individuals. The distance varies during inspiration also. The length of air coming out of the nostrils is normally of the measurement of twelve fingers; it is twenty fingers at the time of eating, twenty-four while walking, thirty in sleep, thirty-six at the time of coition and still more while doing exercises. This is to be ascertained through a piece of reed or cotton.
The place of inhalation ranges from the head down to the soles of the feet. This is to be ascertained through a sensation similar to the touch of an ant. The place of retention consists of the external and internal places of both exhalation and inhalation taken together, because the functions of the breath are capable of being held up at both these places. This is to be ascertained through the absence of the two indicatives noted above, in connection with exhalation and inhalation.
Time is the time of duration of inhalation, exhalation and retention. It is generally counted by matra, which corresponds to one second. The time taken in making three rounds of the knee with the palm of the hand, neither very slowly nor quickly, snapping the fingers once, is called a matra. Both the twinkling of an eye and the time occupied by one normal respiration are considered as one matra. The time taken up in pronouncing the mono-syllable OM is also regarded as one matra. This is very convenient. Many pranayama practitioners adopt this time-unit in their practice.
By time is also meant how long the prana should be fixed in a particular centre or part. The pranayama is long or short, according to the period of time it is practised.
Number refers to the number of times the pranayama is performed. The yoga student should slowly take the number of pranayamas to eighty at one sitting. He should have four sittings: in morning, afternoon, evening and midnight or at 9 p.m., and should thus have 320 pranayamas in all.
The specification of the three kinds of breath regulations, by all these three — place, time and number — is only optional. They are not to be understood as to be practised collectively, for in many scriptures we meet with passages where the only specification mentioned with reference to the regulation of breath is that of time.
The period of retention must be gradually increased. Retention gives strength. If you want to increase it for more than three minutes the help of a guru by your side is very necessary. You can suspend the breath for two or three minutes without the help of anybody.
Retention is of two kinds, viz. sahita and kevala. That which is coupled with inhalation and exhalation is termed sahita kumbhaka (which is described in 'Easy Comfortable Pranayama — Sukha Purvak'). When you get mastery in sahita it is said: "When after giving up of inhalation and exhalation one holds his breath with ease, it is kevala (absolute) kumbhaka. One attains the state of raja yoga." The practitioner attains perfection in yoga.
The fourth (pranayama exercise) is going beyond the internal and external positions. (II-51)
In the previous sutras, three kinds of pranayama exercises are given: viz. internal, external and the period of suspension. In this sutra the highest stage of pranayama is given, going beyond inhalation and exhalation. This is kevala kumbhaka — absolute retention — wherein there is neither inhalation nor exhalation. There is retention only. This is for advanced yogis.
In the third kind of pranayama the spheres of inhalation and exhalation are not taken into consideration. The stoppage of breath occurs with one single effort and is then measured by place, time and number and thus becomes long and subtle. In the fourth variety, however, the spheres of expiration and inspiration are ascertained. The different states are gradually mastered. This fourth variety is not practised all at once by a single effort like the third one. On the other hand, it reaches different states of perfection as it is being done.
After one stage is mastered the next stage is taken up and practised. Then it goes in succession. The third is not preceded by measurements and is brought about by a single effort; however the fourth is preceded by the knowledge of the measurements, and is brought about by much effort. This is the only difference. The conditions of place, time and number are applicable to this kind of pranayama also. Particular occult powers develop themselves at each stage of progress.
This fourth pranayama is concerned with the fixing of the prana in the various chakras and taking it very slowly, step by step and stage by stage, to the last chakra in the head, where perfect samadhi takes place.
This is internal. Externally it takes into consideration the length of breath in accordance with the prevailing element — earth, water, fire, air or ether.
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