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 19 Sep 2005 @ 15:01
PRANAYAMA
Pranayama, then, means energy control. This energy control is often effected with the aid of breathing exercises. Hence, breathing exercises have also come to be known as pranayamas.
Patanjali’s reference is to the energy control that is achieved as a result of various techniques, and not to the techniques themselves. His word signifies a state in which the energy in the body is harmonized to the point where its flow is reversed—no longer outward toward the senses, but inward toward the Divine Self that lies in the hearts of all beings. Only when all the energy in the body can be directed toward this Self can one’s awareness be intense enough to penetrate the veils of delusion and enter superconsciousness.
The very energy with which we think is the same energy that we use to digest our food. To test this claim, consider how difficult it is, after a heavy meal, to think about weighty problems, and how clear the mind becomes after a fast. To divert all the energy from the body to the brain cannot but intensify one’s awareness, and the keenness of one’s understanding. To direct this energy inwardly is the first step in divine contemplation.
Prana is the life force which is the underlying, activating power within all creation. 'The word prana translates as breath, life and energy .Yogananda gave us the example of a car battery: if there is no energy in the battery nothing will make the car move. You can fill it with gas and water, yet nothing will happen without the battery power. It is the same with us; no amount of nutritious food, water, etc, will power the body if prana is not present.
The breath acts as a strong stimulus to the flow of life force in the body. These pranayama (prana - life force; yama - control) exercises enable us to, through the medium of the breath, strengthen, control and harmonize the flow of prana in the body.
As we work with the breath/prana within us, we can profoundly change our consciousness. More >
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 17 Sep 2005 @ 07:07
Pranayama is an important, yet little known part of Yoga. Its techniques have been practiced for centuries by ardent students of Yoga in remote ashrams, and have been preserved for us through many generations both in practice and in handwritten books. Until recently, this art and science of Yogic breathing was almost completely unknown to the common man like many other ancient Indian arts. Those who knew it used to be very reluctant to share their knowledge and experience with anyone, unless a student proved by tests that he was ready to receive it. During the last three decades, however, this situation has changed; and subjects such as Yoga, pranayama, meditation, and even Kundalini, are being discussed all over the world, not only by Yoga teachers, but also by the general public and by scientists. More recently, various techniques of Yoga have begun to attract the attention of physicians, therapists, and medical consultants. It is common to find both patients and doctors who can narrate their own experiences about the cure of various diseases by using Yoga techniques. It has been proved beyond doubt that Pranayama is a very important means for preventing and curing many ailments. Its aim is to bring the traditional knowledge of this great art of the common man, it can be used without much external help for the maintenance as well as the restoration of health.Its keeps diseases away by using the age-old techniques of Pranayama More >
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 6 Apr 2002 @ 22:40
PRE-CONDITION
Posture:
You may select a posture of meditation in which you can sit comfortably and steadily for a long period. The posture of meditation may be 'full lotus-posture,' 'half lotus-posture,' 'simple cross-legged posture, or 'diamond-posture' (Vajrasan).
Mudras : Position of the Hands
There are two alternatives: one position is called Jnana Mudra. Keep your right hand on the right knee and left hand on the left knee, keeping the palms turned up. Let the tip of the index finger touch the tip of the thumb with a slight pressure between them. Keep the other fingers straight.
The alternative position is called Brahma Mudra. Keep both the hands on your lap one above the other by keeping the palms upturned. Let the left palm remain under the right one.
Keep your eyes softly closed.
Recitation of Arham:
Start the meditation session with the repeated recitation of the mantra Arham.
Exhale fully, then inhale completely. By slow exhalation begin the intonation of the mantra. Concentrating your mind on the navel, produce the sound "A" for about two seconds. While concentrating your mind on the Centre of Bliss situated near the heart, produce the sound "Rha" for about four seconds. And lastly taking your mind upward from throat to the Centre of Knowledge situated at the top of the head, produce the sound "mmm" for about six seconds. Inhale deeply again and repeat the same exercise nine times.
Visualize that the sound waves are criss-crossing and weaving an oval-shaped web of armor all around you, protecting yourself from the evil effects of the external vibrations. More >
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 28 Mar 2002 @ 22:55
Meditation is an adventure, the greatest adventure the human mind can undertake. Meditation is just being, not doing anything; no actions, no thoughts, and no emotions. You just are and it is a sheer delight. From where does this delight come when you are doing nothing? It comes from nowhere, or it comes from everywhere.
Whenever you can find time for just being, drop every thing you are doing. Including thinking, concentration, and contemplation. Even if for only a single moment you are not doing anything and you are just at your center, utterly relaxed - that is meditation. And once you have learned how to do it, you can remain in that state as long as you want; finally you will be able to remain in that state for twenty four hours a day.
Once you have become aware of the way your being can remain undisturbed, then slowly you can start doing things, keeping alert that your being is not stirred. That is the second part of meditation. First learn how just to be, and then learn little actions such as, cleaning the floor or taking a shower, but keeping yourself centered. Then you can perform complicated actions while still staying centered.
Therefore, meditation is not against action. It is not an escape from life. It simply teaches a new way of life; you become the center of a cyclone.
Externally it may seem that you live a normal life, but in reality you will live more intensely; with more joy, clarity, vision, and creativity. Yet, you will be aloof, just as a watcher on the hills, simply seeing all that is happening around you.
You are not the doer of any activity, you are the watcher. That is the whole secret of meditation. Doing continues on its own accord. You can do everything, only one thing is not allowed, your awareness should never be lost. That awareness should remain absolutely unclouded and undisturbed.
The essential theme or spirit of meditation is to learn how to witness.
A crow is crowing and you are listening. There is a object and a subject. But you can not see a witness who is seeing both? The crow, the listener, and still there is someone who is watching both. It is such a simple phenomenon.
You see a tree. You are there, the tree is there, but you can not find one more thing? There is a witness in you which can see you seeing the tree.
Watching is meditation. What you watch is irrelevant. You can watch a tree, a river, the clouds, or you can watch children playing. It does not matter what you watch, the objects are not important.
Remember one thing: meditation means awareness. Whatever you do with awareness is meditation. Action is not important, but the awareness that you bring to your action is important. Walking can be a meditation if you walk alert. Sitting can be a
meditation if you sit alert. Listening to the birds can be a meditation if you listen with awareness. Just listening to the inner noise of your mind can be a meditation if you remain alert and watchful.
The quality of observation, the quality of being aware and alert, is the most important and that is what meditation is. One should be alert and watchful, then whatever you do will be meditation. More >
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 21 Feb 2002 @ 01:57
Meditation is the art of living in the present. Human beings normally choose to recollect past or predict future rather than think about present. This attitude leads to the vicious circle of hopes, failures, regrets and tensions. Meditation leads us to stay with the time thereby keeping us away from past or future. We tend to observe current events with minimal reaction.
Through the practice of meditation, we can control that part of the mind which creates all the problems. Our aim is to train the emotional area of the brain. Today, man is constantly over weighed by the fear of being ousted in the race for survival. However the question no longer remains to be survival, but more luxury more wealth and more success. For this he constantly craves for intellectual knowledge and superior memory merely to outshine his competitors. Yet he is not concerned to discover the reasons behind such feelings such as anger, greed and fear.
The brain can be vaguely divided into two halves, the outer half of the mind which deals with the outer emotions of the world and the other is that part which controls the inner being or the subconscious. Unless we control that part of the mind which in turn controls the inner being or the subconscious, we cannot come to the root cause of the problems. Crimes such as murder, theft, debauchery and suicides cannot be put to an end by law. More >
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 21 Feb 2002 @ 01:37
It is very pleasant today. Drizzling and light snowier. How delectable is a drizzle after sizzling heat! I its the nature of weather to change . Something it is hot , at other times cold. Nothing in the world is eternal; everything undergoes a change. Man to is sometimes calm, at other times inflamed. Such is the inevitable law of change. Everything changes. Our thoughts too change. some people say that thought is eternal. There is a contradiction here, for thoughts and eternity do not go together; no thought lasts for ever; it can not stay for long; it gives way to another. It is variable and what is variable can not be constant.
Change and fixity may coexist in matter, but whatever is in motion cannot be stationary and what is stationary cannot be motion. What is eternal is not subject to change, and that which is subject to change cannot be eternal. Thought is inconstant, ever on the move. It is said that a particular man has changed his mind. There is nothing surprising about it. On the contrary, it would be surprising if the mind did not change. It is the nature of mind to change. The reigning idea of yesterday gives way to some new thought. The present conception will not last till tomorrow. If a man clings to one idea all his life, he is said to be a fanatic. It is a nature of thought to move constantly, to be variable and transient. Some people accept a belief and stick to it for life. They even feel proud of it, saying to themselves. "I am a man of strong character. I don't change. I stick to my view at all costs." Such people think they are being very wise; however it is foolish to be so rigid. A stone is hard, not pliable, and one's bones too may grow rigid and hard like stone. In this is involved great danger. If the bones are flexible, a man keeps in good health: it is a sign of ill health when the bones grow rigid. The more pliant one's bones the healthier one is. The hardening the spinal cord signifies loss of health. So clinging to one thing may be sheer obstinacy. In the absence of right thinking, one cannot differentiate between right and wrong. What is right appears to be wrong and vice versa. Some people never discover that they have been behaving foolishly all through.
A young wife said to her neighbor, "Many women these days find fault with there husbands. This is wrong. One should not critics one's husband before others. My own husband is a lazy lubber, a thought good for nothing. He is also very foolish, but I never talk of it!"
The field of thought is grossly perverted. A man goes on committing one folly after another, without once realizing that he is being silly. On the contrary he seeks to justify every action of his, even thought it be riddled with all sorts of contradictions and incongruities, rank foolishness often appearing in the grab of wisdom. No such thing in the inanimate world.
There are three different states of thinking-(i) Irrational (ii) Rational and (iii) Supra-rational. The state of irrationality is that in which an individual is simply incapable of thought. Sub-human creatures know not how to think. Even among humans there are idiots-these do not know how to think; they are simply incapable of thought. More >
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 18 Feb 2002 @ 23:11
The sweltering summer! The scorching sun! In the hot season, one' brain to get heated up. For right thinking, however, one must have cool brain; a fervid brain hinders thinking.It also creates a unnecessary problems which invariably result in immoderate action. One chief sign of good health is that one's feet remain warm and brain cool. But with most people the reverse is the case: the brain gets heated up and the feet grow cold. If the brain keeps tranquil, a man can live for a long time. Established in peace, he lives with zest. One objective of deep breathing in to keep the brain cool.
Today's scientists are busy in developing the new technique which could enable man to live for 500 or even 1000 years. This is a technique of refrigeration,of deep freezing. A man is frozen cold. For 10 years he remains inert. Then he is exposed to heat and he gets up alive. The scientist experimented on ants and froze them alive.All the ants became dead and cold.After 10 minuets they were warmed up and they returned to life.They restarted their activity.We often see that flies and ants are fallen into cold water and appearing as dead. But a little application of heat resurrect them life.
If a man could be so frozen, he cold be live for a long time. Not to speak of the whole body, if only the brain can be keep cool, man's longevity would greatly increase. Untimely death occur most often in youth, the chief reason being the frequent heating up of the brain. A young man flares up too soon and too often: the frequent heating up destroys the brain cells.
Our brain cells is constitute the basis of our life. As long as these cells are alive and active, a man does not die even if his heart stops breathing.It has been observed that a man declared dead by the doctors, was found to be alive after some time. Occasionally, a 'dead' carried on the bier to the funeral ground and laid down on the earth for cremation, with firewood ranged all round ready to be ignited, comes to life and rises yawning on the pyre making the piled blocks go scattering. People mistake him for a ghost. But infect he never died. He was alive all the time. Only the doctor had declared him dead. Actually his brain was active-it had not died, and as long as the brain dose not die, a man cannot be said to be dead, despite heart-or pulse-failure.
The brain is the seat, the fundamental basis of life. The cooler the brain, the more wholesome one's life, and the more constructive one's thinking. Indeed, a cool brain is the essential pre-requisite for wholesome, constructive and balanced thinking. From this point of view, the second criterion for right thinking is weather thinking is being done in a state of frenzy or in a state of tranquility. Agitation renders thinking defective. Thinking done in a state of turmoil can never be wholesome, right balanced or constructive. It can be constructive only when the mind is not agitated. Thinking must be based upon the facts for only factual thinking has any utility. Where the fact become secondary and emotion reigns supreme, thinking can never be practical or sane. The thinking of an individual who doe not practice meditation and who has no control over his mind, whose mind is not tranquil and balanced, is ever abrupt and emotional-such a person is incapable of right thinking. More >
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 14 Feb 2002 @ 01:45
Rene Descartes, the famous French philosopher said, "I think, therefore I am. That 'I Think' proves that 'I exist' - I exist because I think."
If I were to put it in dialectical terms, I would say, "I exist, and since I possess I developed brain, therefore I think."
Thinking does not characterise the brain; it is only a function and hence cannot be a characteristic feature. Our existence and our consciousness transcend thought. Thinking is merely is a spark of light, not the entire flame. Freedom from thought is total illumination.
Through the practices of meditation (dhyana) we attain a higher level of consciousness which transcends thought and were the direct experience begins. In the presence of direct experience, thoughts loses its raison d'etre and spontaneously comes to an end. Every thinking then become crystal clear because there is direct cognition. We see things as they are. There is no necessity for thoughts whatsoever. Where their is direct cognition, their is no thinking intrudes, there can be no perception.
There are three way of experiencing - to know, to see and to think. Someone asked:
"Has your servant perform the task entrusted to him?" The master said "I don't know. I shall find out and let you know." Thinking is irrelevant when an event concerns another person.
To another query, "Have you got such and such article in your house?", the master said, "I don't know. I'll see if its is there." Here too there is no room for thought. The first question elicited the answer. "I'll find out", the second drew forth, "I'll see." To know (to find out) and to see require no thinking. The necessity for thinking arises only when 'knowing' and 'seeing' are possible. What ever is hidden, not evident, about which is not possible to say anything with certainty, necessitates thought.
Thinking is a function of cerebral consciousness. It is thus a mere ray of light, not total illumination. When, in the clarity of perception, one attains a direct vision, all thought stands transcended.
The objective of dhyana-sadhna (training in meditation) is to help the sadhak (spiritual practitioner) achieve direct experience. When there is direct experience, thinking comes to an end and knowledge in its wholeness is born. However, as long as the individual is bound to his body, as long as his is tried to cerebral consciousness which preoccupies him wholly, and until transcend-dental consciousness is awakened in him, thoughts has its utility, and it is not possible to do away with it altogether.
Two kinds of people are free from thinking. One who attain direct perception, dose not have to think because he clearly perceives what is. The idiot or the foolish person dose not know how to think; he s simply incapable of thought.
The master said to the servant, "Here are two tins of vegetable oil. Hide this oil some where in the garden." The servant took away the tins and returned after some time to say, "Master, I have hidden the oil in the garden; now where shall I keep the empty tins?" The master explained , "what are you talking about? How and where did you hid the oil?" "Master! said the servant, I dig a pit near the tree and poured the oil into the pit and cover it with the earth. It is perfectly concealed; no stranger would be able to discover it. Now, what am I to do with the tins?"
The man who dose not know how to think, one who is totally devoid of the faculty of thought, is a perfect idiot - he can pour the oil into the pit, but he can never utilize it. He can hide the oil but not know where to hide the tins.
Thus two kinds of person enjoy the freedom from thinking - the enlightened one and the ignoramus. What a juxtaposition! And yet some juxtaposition do occur. Only two kind of persons are remain unmoved by honor or disgrace; the entirely wise (who has freed himself from all passions) and the perfectly foolish. One wonders how the two can have anything in common. In a person freed from all passions, all disparities crease; his whole disposition undergoes a transformation. On the, other hand the idiot has no capacity to discriminate between honor and disgrace; he just cannot distinguish between these two. Therefore he likes the wise one but for a different reason, remains unaffected. What an irony! what a remarkable coincidence! More >
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 10 Feb 2002 @ 02:45
SURYA NAMASKARA (SALUTE TO THE SUN)
Surya Namaskar is a unique system that combines rigorous physical activity with mental exercises & astrological healing.
Lord Sun as our scriptures put it, is central to existence of this universe. Even in Astrology, Sun holds pivotal importance. Praying to Lord Sun helps overcome most of the weaknesses that are generated by a bad horoscope.
Surya Namaskaar is a combination of Yoga Asanas, Pranayam, Sun Bathing & Sun Prayer. As a system to rejuvenate the body & the soul, it is beyond compare. One round of Surya Namaskaar is much better than a week of exercises done at a gym.
More >
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 2 Feb 2002 @ 22:47
Water As Medicine (Pani Prayog)
If people start ignoring the lure of fluids like beer and soft drinks, and stick to drinking fresh, pure water instead, one shall soon observe a marked decrease in the number of patients all over the world. Naturopathy has studied the therapeutic qualities of water under two distinct parts : (1) Internal Application (2) External Application. If you desire the benefits of this therapy, you must, as a prerequisite, get rid of a so-called `modern habit'-- namely ``Bed tea'' or the habit of consuming tea, the moment one wakes up, even without brushing teeth or moving out of bed. Never forget, you can start on Water Therapy only after you clean your mouth thoroughly. More >
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 30 Jan 2002 @ 01:31
The term yantra, which literally means an instrument for holding or restraining, may be used to denote a variety of linear diagrams which play a significant role in the meditative practices of Tantric Hinduism. More >
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 27 Jan 2002 @ 02:46
CHART OF ELEMENTS IN THE KALACHAKRA SAND MANDALA More >
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 27 Jan 2002 @ 02:27
THE WHEEL OF TIME
The multicoloured Kalachakra Mandala, made entirely from coloured sand, was painstakingly created over three weeks by monks from the Namgyal Monastery in Dharamsala, India. In a lesson about the impermanence of life, the completed mandala was destroyed and the sands were used as an offering for world peace. More >
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THE WORLD OF ANCIENT WISDOM........AND MORE
YANTRA[link]
MANTRA[link]
HEALTH
MEDITATION
YOGA
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