Karma and Shakti

There is absolutely no technique to be followed in Yog as it comes only through experience. YOGI ASHWINI deconstructs many myths related to the ancient sciences and the modern day yoga courses. Excerpts:

Once, a student of mine had gone to attend a programme at the reputed California School of Ayurveda. One day, I got a panic call from her saying, “All that they are teaching is diametrically opposite of what you say.” I told her to ask them, why they are teaching the opposite way. She replied, that when she tries to explain to them, the response she gets is, “Do you know more than us? There could be a difference of opinion... Your opinion is different from ours and you are also right and we are also right.” This is a very dangerous thought.

The particular discussion was about the five mahapranas that control the body. These vayus move in a particular direction only. Prana and Udana go upwards, Samana moves sideways, Apana goes down and Vayana is in the whole body. According to the Head of Department there, Udana vayu goes towards the sides. If it goes towards the sides then what will make the brain function? He also held the view that Prana vayu is directed downwards. I personally wrote a mail to the doctor saying, “There is ashloka in Shiv Samhita, ‘Prana Apana Manipoorak sthitpragya’, which means when the directions ofPrana and Apana reverse to become sthir at the Manipoorak, it is then that the awakening of yog starts. Unless the directions of Prana and Apana are reversed, awakening of yog cannot begin, as they have to become still at Manipoorak. Prana vayu corresponds to the area of the chest, so if Prana vayu is getting reversed and becoming sthir at Manipoorak (around the navel), then it is surely going upwards in its normal functioning.” I have yet to receive a reply.

This is the present state of affairs where everyone is educated and yet, no one understands that yog is not the subject of the seven to eight per cent brain; it is a subject of experience. When you do dhyanunder the sanidhya of Guru, this seven to eight per cent activity or the five senses are stilled for some time. That is why, for some time, you feel peaceful and your body feels relaxed, because the senses are put to rest for that duration. That is also the reason why all over the world, meditation is seen as a relaxation technique.

However, when you start dhyan with me, you will realise that the state of dhyan starts to come only after two hours of sitting still. Just try sitting without moving for two hours, you will be assured thatdhyan is not for relaxation. What relaxes is only the seven to eight percent of the brain, and as a result, certain higher centres of brain get activated, which take you to subtler dimensions of creation and make you experience the other world. Daydreaming, while remaining in the five senses is only relaxation, which has nothing to do with your evolution and interaction with the gods.

The discussions of atma-paramatma are redundant for you till the time you have experienced them. What you experience is yog for you. If there is no experience and only words, then it is just the intellectual mind, which is showing you different things, nothing more than that. Intellectual knowledge is different from gyan.

Yog is a subject of your personal experience. Once you get the experience, all your questions dissipate on their own because you can see and feel things right in front of you. Just do a simple exercise. Close your eyes and get both your hands near your body, around the region of the navel, with your palms facing each other. Be aware of the space between the two palms. Just keep your hands and body relaxed, and get your palms closer together and then apart, and so on. See, if you feel anything between your palms.

The yogsutras describe five particular sensations that might be felt by you — heat, cold, attraction, repulsion or a tingle. The sensation you get indicates your state. The science of healing is based on this only. However, you cannot learn healing by attending a course. The science cannot be sold; it has to be developed through self experience.

It is important to understand that there is NO technique in yog. There is only experience of shakti, and with that experience, you also get its tattva darshan. Every shakti is a specific colour and, in fact, the colour or shade that you like is because you are in contact with or relate to that specific shakti. Only after you experience and understand these variations can you start with healing. Only then you can become a ‘master’ or a ‘grand master’, not before that. And as per the ancient sciences, the term is ‘Guru’, not master or grand master.

What you felt between the palms is an experience of basic level. This experience gradually changes tocolours and then into shaktis and then sanchalan of those shaktis becomes your personal experience. And when these shaktis start functioning inside you, then your shreni becomes the shreni of a Guru. The subject of yog is a composite whole of all these shaktis, and the growth in this subject does not depend upon your beauty, position or power; growth in yog is measured by your own experience.

Today, so many different arts and yoga courses have come up in the market. It is like going to a multi-brand store with various brands being sold over different counters. It is important to understand here that yog is not a course, it is a sadhna. You cannot change your karmas just by hanging something funny on your door, or keeping a weird object next to your bed. It can only be changed by changing your karmas and to change your karmas you need the experience of shaktis.

The writer is a global best-selling author on Vedic sciences and the author of Thoughts for the Adept: 1 published by Dhyan Foundation

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