Gita 30 - Renunciation of Action

The workings of the subtle forces in our body:

The inner forces are created by:

Prana – crystallization,

Apana – excretion,

Vyana – circulation,

Samana – assimilation, digestion,

Udana – the power of cell differentiation.

The 5 pranas though separate act in harmoniously throughout the body.

Diet – the regulated diet of the advanced yogi is the vitalizing substance of pure life force distilled from the breath and charged with cosmic energy by: ‘neutralizing the action of growth (prana) and decay (apana) in the body.’

When the yogi thus controls the life force, he is spoken of as one who has “eaten up” the two currents of (prana and apana) of inhalation and exhalation; one who nourishes his soul by absorbing the two currents into the one light of Spirit reflected in the brain.

The Kriya Yoga Pranayama is therefore the true spiritual fire ceremony in which oblations of exhalation and inhalation are offered into the flame of inner light and perception of the Spirit.

Vedic Fire Ceremonies

Fire is sacred in many spiritual traditions, and has been used in religious rites for thousands of years. Along with water, earth, air and space, fire is one of the five essential elements all living beings consist of. In the Vedic scriptures, Agni, or Fire, is the messenger between the people and their God and the personification of the sacrificial fire.

A more literal interpretation of the above is:

Devotees employ fasting and strictly regulated diet to harmonize and control the differentiations of prana and their functions throughout the body, thus spiritualizing the body with health and vital energy.  

By this method the yogi trains himself to be less and less dependent on gross food and other material sources for life and vitality as the fivefold prana and its functions become more and more reliant on cosmic energy for sustenance.

Eventually cosmic energy can become the sole supporter of life. When the prana and apana currents have been neutralized, growth and decay in the body have been arrested.

The yogi then attains life control (pranayama) and the realization that the body is made of prana.

The yogi must realize, that incorrect diet causes sickness, brings pre-mature old age and death.

As we have seen, there are many holy offering to awaken one to God realization.

We must adopt a method which is most suitable for us and be fully committed to pursue it.

The yogi who performs the inner rite of spiritual awakening  through which the ascension of the Spirit is attained, finds the first altar of Spirit in the coccygeal center (muladhara), the subtle centre of life and consciousness at the base of the spine. This centre is called earth chakra, the seat of creation of the earthly body and its activities and perceptions. It is described as the four petal lotus, with four conscious creative vibrations as the medium of the centre’s activities.

From it, the astral spine or sushumna runs through the spinal cord to the astral brain, to spirit the highest centre of cosmic consciousness,  the crown chakra or Sahasrara, or the thousand petal lotus.

When the energy from the Sahasrara is directed toward the coccygeal chakra, it directs the creative activity of the body.

The earth centre is thus said to be the abode of Brahma the Creator (the active manifestation of the Absolute) in the microcosm of man’s body.

Man must realize that the real way to liberation is through his own consciousness.

The Jacob’s ladder

In the Bible we are reminded of the vision of Jacob. He was shown a ladder reaching from earth to heaven. He saw an angel of God descending and ascending upon it.

What this implies is that the spirit of God descends to form and ascends again.

Angels can be depicted as cosmic energy descending, expressing and ascending again as energy or Shakti.

From a practical perspective, when we realize that we are a specialized unite of the one reality called God and that this reality is grounded in Pure Consciousness, Being, the I Am, or potential.

It is the I Am in each soul that expresses as life, power and substance. This I Am expresses as idea, thought, word and act.

This I Am, God, Being, which is power, substance and intelligence creates form through consciousness.

 Jesus said:’ According to your faith be it unto you’, and ‘all things are possible to them that believe’.

Perhaps this lets us see, that God is within the soul as power, substance and intelligence or in spiritual terms wisdom, love and truth and is brought into form or expression through consciousness.

What is consciousness?

Man is endowed with mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), and ego (ahamkara), this is collectively know as consciousness

(chitta) which is the source of thinking, understanding and acting.

The issue is right action.

When we act from Spirit, we manifest Goodness or God; we are wisdom guided in expressing as God through us, as us.

By thy fruits shall though be known.

When we have the experience of being wisdom guided, we will no longer follow the dictates of the ego, but joyfully have our lives lived by Spirit, fully realizing that we are an expression of the God within. 

What are chakras?

Chakras are centres in the astral body; their physical counterparts are our glandular system.

What is the astral body?

It is a body of light, a replica of our physical body.

Description of the chakras

Muladhara, 4 petals, earth, bija mantra Lam,

Swadhisthana, 6 petals, water, bija mantra, Vam,

Manipura, 10 petals, fire, bija mantra, Pam,

Anahata, 12 petals, air, bija mantra Yam,

Vishuddha, 16 petals. Ether, bija mantra Ham,

Ajna, 2 petals, seat of mind, Bija mantra Om,

Sahasrara, the absolute, when the yogi reaches this point, he attains samadhi or superconsciousness.

Kundalini and nadis

Nadis are nerve channels or tubes in the astral body through which prana or life energy flows.

Asana and pranayama are means to purify nadis. When they are blocked, prana cannot flow freely and pure health results.

According to the ancient yogis, there are about 72,000 nadis. The most important is the Sushumna with the spinal cord being the counterpart in the physical body.

On either side of the sushumna are the Ida and the Pingala nadi, which correspond to the sympathetic ganglia of the spinal cord.

Kundalini is a static or dormant cosmic energy at the muladhara and aroused or activated by pranayama or yogic practices.

When the kundalini is awakened, it starts to move up the sushumna through the seven chakras. As the kundalini passes through the various chakras, different states of consciousness are experienced.

Let us remember, that the movement of prana, life force or vital energy is central to yoga.

Prana is in matter, but is not matter. It is in air, but it is not oxygen. It is a subtle form that is carried in air, food, water, sunlight and animates all forms of matter.

Through pranayama and asana more prana is stored in the body, bringing great vitality and strength.

In addition to the physical body there are the two other bodies-the astral and the causal body.

Prana is the vital link between the astral and the physical body, but it flows mainly in the nadi of the astral body.

Prana moves upward, apana downward. When the two are united at the maladhara, the kundalini energy awakens.

We have to learn to understand our inner world.

When our eyes are open, our mind is occupied with the outer phenomenal world;

When closed, we realize the inner world.

Master Yogananda referred to the importance of the ‘Invisible Man’ in Man’s Eternal Quest.

He states:” The visible man is of little importance; the invisible self or soul is what matters most.

Without the invisible self the body would be as worthless as a corps.

He goes on to say, that within the physical is an identical body of light, the astral encasement of the soul. This astral body has much greater sensory perceptions than its physical counterpart.

When consciousness of our invisible astral body is developed, we will realize that it can hear what the physical ear cannot hear, taste and touch objects far beyond the range of the physical sense. We also can make it large and small at will.’

Yogananda – Through the inner focus of the mind, the devotee performs the highest rite of casting the senses into the inner fire of wisdom thereby quickening the path to the infinite.

How to tune into your Guru

There are 3 ways of tuning into a guru.

By self surrender,

By asking intelligent questions, what is wisdom, what is knowledge, what is ego, what is the nature of God etc.

and by service.

The guru, if one with God, is present everywhere including the wisdom centre, the point between the eyebrows. At the end of every meditation the disciple should concentrate at the point between the eyebrows and visualize his guru.

Thinking of him with love and devotion, the disciple should ask the question he wants answered.

If the visualization and concentration are deep, the student will invariably receive silent answers to his questions in the form of inner perceptions.

In this way the advanced disciple can contact the guru even after the master has left the mortal flesh for Omnipresence.

When the kriya yogi, by this method of attunement with the guidance and blessing of the guru, withdraws his life force and mind from the body and senses and surrenders them with devotion at the wisdom and life energy centre at the point between the eyebrows, he then, through introduction by the guru, meets the infinite or Cosmic Guru of all, God.