Opening of the Higher Consciousness Through Praanaayaam by Brijendra, Transformation Meditation Online Institute Excerpted from In the Stillness of Breath, Praanaayaam for Meditators As the air moves in currents in the atmosphere, or water moves in currents in a lake or ocean, so in the human system praan, too, moves in currents. The channels of these currents are called naadis. The naadis range from physical channels, such as arteries, veins, and nerves to subtle channels which, though unseen, exist and are vital to the living manifestation of a human being. In the natural, externally focused growth and development of a human being, life is considered to be dependent upon the physical channels, as seen, felt, known through the five senses. But these physical channels are manifestations of subtler currents of praan. When a person takes up yog saadhanaa, he or she is purifying the naadis, and this purification will progress from the more physical to the subtler or inner aspects of the person. When the naadis are refined and purified, the praan flows unimpeded, becoming concentrated, and it enters the sushumnaa naadi where it rises up through the various dimensions, or chakras, of praanic existence. If the praanic naadis are blocked, due to impurity in the system such as too much tamas and rajas, the praan is unable to become concentrated and fine, and so cannot enter the extreme subtlety of the sushumnaa channel, which is not a physical place. This is why the praan has to be refined through saadhanaa. In this way the yogi’s development is from physical to praanic to conscious being. Ida, pingalaa, sushumnaa naadis - The three main naadis (which according to various accounts range from 72,000 to several hundred thousand) are ida, pinagla, and sushumnaa. Ida: The channel of the moon, or chandra; cooling or cool, left side, pale, receptive, passive. Pingalaa: The channel of the sun, or soorya; hot, right side, active, instigating. Sushumnaa: The supreme channel, neither right nor left, neither hot nor cool, neither active nor receptive; the channel of bliss and of higher, transcendent consciousness. Sushumnaa is the most important of all the naadis; however, it only becomes known when kundalini awakens and begins to rise into the sushumnaa. Until then the kundalini shakti is dormant and is manifesting through the channels of ida and pingalaa, alternating between the two. In the normal human state, the praanic flows will sometimes accentuate the left, ida, side and at other times accentuate the right, pingalaa, side with the result that a person shifts throughout the day and night between the more receptive, cooling, passive states and the more active, heating, aggressive states. It should be noted that the practice of Anulom Vilom Praanaayaaam, or Alternate Nostril Breathing, is specifically designed to balance these otherwise dynamically shifting energies. When ida and pingalaa are balanced, the praanic shakti, flowing neither left nor right, nor active nor passive, is in the sushumnaa channel, which actually is not in time and space. Although sushumnaa is like pure space, neither hot nor cold, active nor passive, time nor space – due to lingering patterns of identification – there may be experiences triggered when the praan’s shakti enters the sushumnaa at the base of the spine and begins to rise up through the dynamic dimensions of one’s being called chakras. When the praan shakti, having become awakened as kundalini shakti, rises, awakened and alert, up into the highest, purest space at the crown chakra or sahasraar, the purity is complete, and consciousness is established in its true nature as one indivisible Self. However, on the way to this state of one’s true indivisibility, the kundalini shakti may trigger experiences as it passes through and liberates the levels of bound or contracted dynamism. It is due to the infinite power of kundalini, passing through the previously bound, dynamic chakras, that the releasing of bound experience is sometimes described as transcendent experiences or celestial experiences or extreme releases of energy and emotion. When a river is in flood, everything in the way of that dynamic surge is whirled and churned when the energy of the flood touches it. Branches, tree trunks, rocks, rubbish, all are swept along, and these blockages create whirls and waves in the river water. It is a cleansing process. If there are no blockages, the flood passes through unimpeded. It is a similar situation with the kundalini shakti. When there are blockages or impurities in the system, the flood of kundalini shakti will be experienced as a churning up of those bound and limited perceptions of one’s self. This results in all kinds of experiences, many of which will vary from individual to individual according to the mind. Some will be transcendent, celestial experiences; some will be churnings of all kinds of emotions such as love, fear, etc. If the system is quite pure the kundalini shakti encounters no impedance and the result is like a pure infinite space of consciousness. Given this fact, yog saadhanaa, in the form of Ashtaang Yog, as described by Shree Patanajli, may be viewed as a preparation as well as a triggering of the awakening of kundalini. For the yogi this is the importance of praanaayaam; that is it both prepares the yogi for the opening of kundalini vastness and it triggers the opening awakening of kundalini. Praanaayaam accomplishes the two fold process of purifying the naadis from the physical to the subtle and awakening the kundalini shakti. In the beginning of praanaayaam practice, it is generally not realized how powerful, effective, and wide-ranging the practice of praanaayaam is; but as one continues in the practice, it is revealed how pervasive praan is and how effective the practices of praanaayaam are at tuning us into our praan, which ultimately is universal praan, not just individual. It is for this reason that the practicing yogi takes up a steady and persistent practice of praanaayaam, daily or a few times daily. This steady persistence in the practice builds up the power of the praan, which is a subtle field of existence. Although initially this steady build up and concentration of the praan may go unnoticed by the physically oriented mind of the beginner, he or she should stick to a continued practice of praanaayaam, in the received knowledge, passed down through thousands of years, that the steady practice of praanaayaam will indeed bring about the opening and awakening of kundalini and the resulting opening of the Highest Consciousness. Brijendra, Robert William Eaton, teaches, writes, and speaks about meditation and the Vision of Oneness. His “profound and joyful pursuit” took him to the Himalayas where he practiced, studied, and taught meditation and Yog philosophy. He has spent his adult life in consistent Self-inquiry and meditation. Brijendra has been teaching Yog Saadhana since 1971. For more information and to listen to his free audios and videos or to register for his home study course or order books and CDs go to brijendra.com RETURN TO OMPLACE HOME