The chakras and what they represent

The chakras are known as psychic centres. They are located at points in the physical body where there is direct interaction between the energies of a specific 'room' or department of the mind and the physical body.

Physically the interaction takes place via the dual media of the nervous system and the endocrine glands. The various departments of the mind, in this sense, are related to different levels and regions of expression and perception.

•Mooladhara, the lowest chakra, located at the perineum in men, and the cervix in women, is associated with self-identity and security, possessions, fears and inhibitions.

•Swadhisthana, located near the sacrum at the bottom of the spine, is associated with the unconscious, sexuality, joy and trust.

•Manipura, located in the spine behind the navel, is associated with personal power, dynamism and self-esteem.

•Anahata, located in the spine behind the heart, is connected to the emotions of love, compassion and forgiveness (as well as their counterparts, hate and revenge).

•Vishuddhi, located at the base of the neck, is associated with the various levels of communication with people, and with self-will, flowing with life.

•Ajna, located at the pineal gland behind the eyebrow centre, is associated with wisdom, intuition and discrimination – all the mental abilities.

Beyond there is Sahasrara, at the crown of the head, associated with our personal spiritual connection to the absolute.

Each centre is a powerhouse of some complexity and many experiences manifest when a chakra becomes more active.

Activation of the centres is a normal and necessary state in our lives, but it often happens in a haphazard fashion with lots of complications. But gentle and systematic stimulation of the chakras can be achieved via various yoga practices, especially mantra. Such gentle stimulation allows our abilities and effectiveness as human beings to increase without creating an overload or imbalance.

Awakening of the chakra energies is awakening of parts of our nature. To deal with the positive nature is easy, but to deal with the negative nature can be very difficult. It is often necessary to seek advice from a competent teacher or guide (guru).

By Swami Poornamurti Saraswati (Australia)

Source (Yoga Magazine: March 2002) Edited

Sufism

The whole concept of Sufism is to feel one- be one- with nature, with the universe. They develop this feeling of oneness through certain physiological movements which are called Sufi dance. It is a practice of movements which are spontaneous, movements which open up the creative aspects of consciousness.

They believe that the whole universe is in constant motion and that all the planets, all the stars, all other celestial bodies move in a rhythm; they move in co-ordination with each other. In order to experience that movement they practise dance, and it is a very special dance. In it they try to become one with the movement of the celestial bodies, with the vibration of the universe. That philosophy is not really very far from the yogic philosophy, because they follow the basic principle that man should attune himself with the movement, with the vibration of nature, of the universe.

If you read the mantra shastras which contain the science of mantra, they say the same thing- that the cause of the universe is sound. If you read the ancient Indian scriptures, they talk about hiranyagarbha, the cosmic egg which split open. When it split open, creation came into being. Scientists today use a similar principle or theory to explain creation - the 'big bang' theory: first there was a concentrated energy, then it cracked, it split, it exploded.

Sufis and the mantra yoga philosophy both believe that where there is movement there is a big probability of vibration; where there is vibration there is a big possibility of the existence of sound - whether audible and/or inaudible. Where there is sound, there is vibration, there is movement.

In a nutshell, Sufism is becoming aware of the movement which is existing in each and everything and if we think about it from our normal perspective, with our common understanding, we see it is one.

All their sayings are in the form of examples and parables, poems, little stories which convey the deep knowledge- and they allow that story to sink in so that you follow that conduct, those codes, disciplines, the way of living in a spontaneous way. It is not an enforced doctrine, it is a very spontaneous way of life lived from moment to moment.

By Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati

(abridged)

Source: Yoga Magazine, May 1990

Sexual Attraction, kundalini

Sexual attraction and sexual drive are natural not only to man but to all living species. It is responsible for propagation. Therefore, in every species, sexual passion has been provided by nature as a very powerful drive. In salmon fish, and some insects, the male dies soon after copulation. The male of these species enjoys sex only once in his life. In spite of this, their species continue to multiply, which shows that the sexual drive is very powerful indeed.

The five parts responsible for sex drive

The brain is the source of this sexual drive. The control of sexual activity depends on your brain monitoring capacity. It is really dependent on a small part of the brain called the hypothalamus, which is about the size of one's thumbnail. Although it is so small, the hypothalamus controls very important feelings and sensations. So far, research has shown that the hypothalamus controls seven important feelings: thirst, hunger, sexual passion, bodily heat and cold, anger and allied passions, body growth, etc.

Below the part of the hypothalamus controlling the sexual drive, there is a link half an inch in length, which connects it to the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is in the central part of the head. The link that connects this part of the hypothalamus to the pituitary can be termed the 'time clock mechanism'. This link has an important function similar to an alarm clock. In this time clock mechanism, many different hormones circulate between the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland. An increase in hormonal activity here is responsible for increased sexual drive.

The pituitary gland is linked through the bloodstream with the testicles or the ovaries. The hypothalamus, time clock mechanism, pituitary gland, testicles and ovaries are the five parts responsible for sexual drive. The feelings aroused in the part of the hypothalamus responsible for passion, move forcefully like a wave to the genital organs.

In man the reproductive system has been created with the most wonderful links to the brain. Relationships brought about through this instinct make for love and attachment. On the worldly level, family ties and social obligations arise from this basic instinct. On the spiritual level, however, this is the source of kundalini shakti and when united with Shiva, the consciousness principle in the brain, it brings about the flowering of all the higher human potentialities

(abridged)

By Dr. B. Ramamurthy, Madras

Source: Yoga Magazine, Oct 1982

Juicing: What are the health benefits?

Is juicing healthier than eating whole fruits or vegetables?

Answer

From Jennifer K. Nelson, R.D., L.D.

Juicing probably is not any healthier than eating whole fruits and vegetables. Juicing extracts the juice from fresh fruits or vegetables. The resulting liquid contains most of the vitamins, minerals and plant chemicals (phytonutrients) found in the whole fruit. However, whole fruits and vegetables also have healthy fiber, which is lost during most juicing.

Proponents say that juicing is better for you than is eating whole fruits and vegetables because your body can absorb the nutrients better and it gives your digestive system a rest from working on fiber. They say that juicing can reduce your risk of cancer, boost your immune system, help you remove toxins from your body, aid digestion, and help you lose weight.

But there's no sound scientific evidence that extracted juices are healthier than the juice you get by eating the fruit or vegetable itself. On the other hand, if you don't enjoy eating fresh fruits and vegetables, juicing may be a fun way to add them to your diet or to try fruits and vegetables you normally wouldn't eat. You can find many juicing recipes online or mix up your own combinations of fruits and vegetables to suit your taste.

If you do try juicing, make only as much juice as you can drink at one time because fresh squeezed juice can quickly develop harmful bacteria. And when juicing, try to keep some of the pulp. Not only does it have healthy fiber, but it can help fill you up. If you buy commercially produced fresh juice from a juicing stand or store, select a pasteurized product. Note that juices from some fruits and vegetables can contain more sugar than you might realize, and this can add unwanted calories and lead to weight gain.

Source: http://www.mayoclinic.com

Riding the Wild Breath

Dr. Swami Shankardevananda Saraswati, MB, BS (Syd)

"Having repressed his breath in the body, and having checked his movements, one should breathe through the nostrils with diminished breath. Like that chariot yoked with vicious horses, the wise man should undistractedly restrain his mind."

Shvetashvatara Upanishad (II, 9)

The breath pulsates in the body like a piston in an engine, 15 times per minute, 21,600 times per day, but we are not aware of it. It is driven by prana, the energy of life, and is responsible for the rate of all the chemical processes in the body- from the burning of oxygen and glucose to every muscular contraction, glandular secretion and thought.

Of all the body's automatic processes, the breath is the easiest to become aware of because it lies at the interface of the conscious and subconscious mind. We can easily take control of it whenever we want, though at most times it goes on by itself controlled only by the autonomic nervous system. It is, therefore, a subtle mirror of underlying neural and mental activity. When we are happy it is rhythmic, deep and slow, and when we are unhappy or tense it is gasping, sighing, shallow, fast and uneven.

Regular breathing induces relaxation, regularity and integration of the body's rhythms and processes so that they work together in harmony. Irregular breathing can be caused by and lead to dangerous mental frameworks, chaotic thinking patterns, and a disordered lifestyle, as well as physical, emotional and mental blocks, conflicts, impulsiveness and disease. It disrupts the rhythms of the brain resulting in a vicious circle.

The breath and mind in most people are like a team of wild horses whose driver has lost the reins and who are running in whichever direction they please. Without awareness of breath or mind, we can easily slip into unstable brain and thought patterns, neurosis and disease. William Reich, the German psychiatrist, highlighted the need for controlled breathing when he stated: "There is no neurotic individual who is capable of exhaling in one breath, deeply and evenly."

This insight into the link of breath and mind points out that mental tension creates uneven breathing. Yogis used this insight to devise techniques which enhance and balance awareness and breathing patterns so as to induce a calm mind and to reorder the chaotic internal cycles of brain and mind.

(abridged)

Message to the Yoga Teachers

by Swami Satyananda Saraswati given At Condorcet High School, Paris

Humanity has reached a turning point in our time, and mankind has to decide what to do. All kinds of preparations have been made for disaster and also for self-evolution. Yoga is one of the most powerful means and a very efficient tool for self-evolution. Around the globe, man has become conscious of this tool called yoga and has realised the great role yoga will play in the evolutionary cycle of mankind. People now understand what it means to practise yoga. Many governments encourage the study and practice of yoga. In Denmark and France the Education Department is encouraging its teachers and has arranged for their yogic training. When yoga has become the need of the day, we have to make proper arrangements for the children as well.

In the past many people taught physical exercises in the name of yoga, but actually they did not know what yoga was. In India, experiments on yoga have continued for centuries, and the seers visualised man not merely as a bundle of flesh and bones, but as an integrated personality with different dimensions of body, mind, psyche and spirit. Today, man really needs this science of yoga in order to help him keep pace with the great speed of evolution.

Man is born with a destiny and he is obliged to fulfil this in the course of time. The possible destiny of man is a very big question and many people have expressed different opinions. Some think that the destiny of man is to evolve a supra-mental structure of personal awareness. Aurobindo declared that the destiny of man was not only to develop supra-mental powers, but also to bring them to the entire creation. Samkhya philosophy declares that the rudimentary primitive matter has to manifest itself as a force of energy, a force of shakti. The ultimate structure of matter is nothing but energy, and thus we can say that the human existence which we know in the form of body, mind and spirit is nothing but a different state of manifestation of the supreme consciousness.

Therefore, the teachers have a special role to play in the future development of the people. We cannot just remain satisfied with being ordinary instructors of the science of yoga. In yoga we have a system, a science, and more than that, a very great historical tradition. Science without a tradition is no science at all. The science of yoga has everything to do with man, and nothing but man. It is not a system where you sport with your lower self; it is not a game where you become introverted and oblivious to the situations of man's existence.

Thousands of years ago, yoga was spread throughout the world, but with the ravages of time, this knowledge was lost and thereafter man became unaware of why he was born and what his real potentials were. I have a clear vision of a great possibility. I have always understood that yoga is going to be a mighty world culture, but when I say this I do not mean a political culture. I have studied political science and I am not prepared to accept that there can be a pure culture on the basis of political culture. Man's thinking, heritage, objective and social system should be free from any type of political influence. We have seen that whenever politics influenced the culture and religion of man, they collapsed after some time.

Yoga is a mighty culture in the sense that its influence on man will be academic, intellectual and spiritual. Therefore, the mission of those who teach yoga is to maintain the intellectual and spiritual reality of this science. I have only one mission in life; I'm not interested in making disciples or establishing ashrams. The main thing I have in my mind is to spread yoga from shore to shore and from door to door. I have not recognised the role of religion in man's spiritual destiny.

Man's nature is spiritual; his social personality is only a shadow which is always changing. Man is going through the crisis of his life; his inner self, his spiritual personality is suffering. Why is man stumbling on the path? Nobody suggests that perhaps it is because he is blind. They just say he stumbles because there is a stone. The crisis in history is due to man's incapacity to see the block. If you ask people why they are suffering, they will say that education is at fault or the times are bad; they will give all kinds of reasons for the crisis.

But they will never say that man's nature has become ignorant and spiritually blind. We have to see the crisis from all angles; if you have an undeveloped mind, how can you solve a problem correctly? It is like the seven blind men describing an elephant - one said it was like a pillar; another said it was like a heavy curtain. Each was giving his own experience of that part of the elephant he was touching. If only those wise men had seen the whole picture, they could have given the right explanation!

Samkhya philosophy is a system which gives a complete explanation of the evolution of the mind. As the mind evolves, your perceptions change. When the mind is predominantly tamasic, rajasic or sattvic, the perceptions are different and the assessments also. Then again, this mind is not composed of one element or one substance. The mind is composed of various elements, which means that in the evolution of mind, you have to lake care that all elements go through the process of transformation. When we talk about the transformation of mind, we are talking about a very scientific subject. If you just push the mind into a religious process, the internal transformation cannot take place. What we have to do is process this primitive state of mind in different phases like matter or a chemical.

Every science, art, and socio-political system has some influence on the evolution of human consciousness. But the things in the world are changing so fast that we need a solid spiritual culture, a culture not merely dependent on external things and intellect, but a culture which is an expression of the spontaneity of human existence. I do not see how any tangible change can be effected in the order of mankind just by intellectual brainwashing. Unless the whole thinking process itself undergoes a complete change, evolution can never take place, no matter what you do or say. No religion can be an exception; no socio-political philosophy can remain aloof.

The science and the practices of yoga gradually bring about an acceleration and evolution in the total consciousness of man, and I have every reason to believe that yoga is going to direct the course of man's future philosophy. So who are we? We are the foundation builders, the spade diggers, and the work we have been doing in every part of the world is a positive contribution to this mission. Teachers of yoga have laid the cornerstones in different countries. They will build the solid foundations of a new world order in which people can live with optimism, by a philosophy that promotes illumination and growth.

So far as I am concerned, I live for yoga and I think of nothing but yoga, and I am very clear in my thinking. I know that yoga is going to be the mighty culture, not only of the east or west, but of the whole of mankind. Yoga is the light, no matter where the darkness is. I haven't come to give blessings, but to tell you to continue the work with greater vigour and optimism, and gain greater positive results. Do your best to carry the system of yoga from door to door and from shore to shore.

Yoga is not my profession, nor is it yours. For us it is an important part of the history of mankind. If we do not understand this importance of yoga in relation to the history of mankind, history will blame us in the years to come. I know very well that experiments in the past have failed to carry the goods to mankind. There has never been any philosophy which has united religions and nations. There has not been any system which has worked well with different religions, cultures, habits and denominations. I don't have to convince you; it is very clear that yoga has brought people together under one canopy. As humanity goes on practising yoga there is no doubt that the quality of mind and the quality of man's nature will change. Yoga, has to be given to humanity with this spirit and with profound knowledge and respect.

Mahamrityunjaya Mantra

Om trayambakam yajamahe Sugandhim pushtivardhanam
Urvarukamiva bandhanaan Mrityormukshiya mamritat

Om, we worship three - eyed Lord Shiva, who is full of fragrance and who nourishes us all. May he liberate us from death and lead us to eternal salvation in the same manner as the ripe cucumber is severed from bondage of the creeper.

• The Mahamrityunjaya Mantra also called the Tryambakam Mantra, is a verse of the Rigveda (RV 7.59.12). It is addressed to Tryambaka "the three-eyed one", an epithet of Rudra, later identified with Shiva. The verse also recurs in the Yajurveda.

• It is a potent combination of sounds that, if repeated with faith, dedication and perseverance over a period of time, leads, not only to victory over the fear of death, but eventually to victory over death itself or moksha (liberation). It is therefore known as a ‘moksha mantra’. 

• It is stimulating and heating (unlike the Gayatri mantra, which is soothing and cooling).

• It bestows longevity, and is designed to cure illness.

• It wards off evil or negative forces by creating a protective psychic shield around the practitioner.

• It is said to destroy sorrow and poverty, and to fulfill all of one’s desires.

• Anyone who wishes to remove obstacles in life and overcome difficult situations or illness should repeat this mantra regularly.