Kundalini Yoga

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A Simple Guide to the Yoga of Awareness

Ku

dali

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1

The

wer

As

taught by Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D.

Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa

KuNDALrNr YoGA Thl! r:row of

�tf!tnal Powf!t

A �irnpls Guids to ths Yoga of Awatsns�� A� taught by Yogi Bhaian, Ph.D.

�HAKTI PARWHA KAUR KHA�A

A Perigee Book

Published by The Berkley Publishing Group

A division of Penguin Putnam Inc. 375 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014 Thanks to the 3HO Foundation for permission to use previously published material. Copyright © 1996 by Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa

Book design and layout by Guru Raj Kaur Khalsa Interior illustrations by Shabad Kaur Khalsa Illustrative consultant Shiva Singh Khalsa Yoga postures photographed by Sat Simran Kaur Khalsa and Peraim Kaur Khalsa Yoga postures demonstrated by Sadhana Kaur Khalsa, Siri Simran Kaur Khalsa, and Nam Kaur Khalsa Cover design by Charles Bjorklund and Celeste Ranck Cover art by Charles Bjorklund All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission. First Tune Capsule Books edition: June 1996 Time Capsule Books edition ISBN: 0-9639847-6-4 First Perigee edition: August 1998 Published simultaneously in Canada. The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is http://www.penguinputnam.com Approved by the Kundalini Research Institute. This book has received the KRI seal of approval which is granted only to those product� which have been approved through the Kundalini Research Institute review process for the accuracy and integrity of those portions which embody the technology of Kundalini Yoga and 3HO lifestyle

as

taught by Yogi Bhajan.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Shakti Pawha Kaur Khalsa. Kundalini yoga : the flow of eternal power : a simple guide to the yoga of awareness a� taught by Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D. I Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa. em.

p.

"A Perigee book." Originally published : Los Angeles : Time Capsule Books, 1996. Includes bibiographical references and index. ISBN 0-399-52420-7 1. Kundalini.

2. Harbhajan Singh Khalsa, Yogiji.

BL1238.56.K86S43

CIP

294.6'436-dc21

Printed in the United States of America

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19

18

17

16

15

I. Title.

97-52656

1998

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11

D E DI CA T I ON T his book is dedicated to those who have loved me, my best Teachers:

My Mother, who taught me to smile and gave me unshakable faith in God. My Two Brothers, who showed me that men can be kind and wonderful. Yogi Bhajan, my Spiritual Teacher, who gave me my Self His life of infinite compassion, inexhaustible patience and constant sacrifice has provided an awesome example of Keeping Up!

DESIGN & LAYOUT Guru Raj Kaur Khalsa ILLUSTRATIONS Shabad Kaur Khalsa ILLUSTRATIVE CONSULTANT Shiva Singh Khalsa YOGA POSTURES

Photographs

Sat Simran Kaur Khalsa Peraim Kaur Khalsa

Demonstrated by

Sadhana Kaur Khalsa

Siri Simran Kaur Khalsa Nam Kaur Khalsa

Confgnfg !!ocfion Ono THING!! TO KNOW (and a few T hing!: to Try) You Are Here-How to Read This Book 1

Chaph�r 1

Chaptor 2

Chaptor 3 Chaptor 4

Chaptor 5 Chaptor 6

Chaptor 7

Chaptor 8

Chaptor 9

Chaptor 10

Chaptor 11

What's It All About? 5 One Goal

11

Tuning in

13

Breath of Life 19 Mantra: "Magic Words" 35 Conquer the Mind, You Conquer the World

Mysterious Kundalini: "Where There's Mastery, There's No Mystery" 47 Chakras-Energy Centers. Where Are You At? Stress, Stamina, and Nerves of Steel Healing

Chaptor 13

Chaptor 15 Chaptor 16

Chaptor 17

Chaptor 18 Chaptor 19

Let's Talk About Food

Drugs

99

Sleep

107

Chaptor 22

Chaptor 23

Chaptor 24

Chaptor 25 Chaptor 26

63

79

97

How to Get Up in the Morning

11 S

Sadhana: Your Spiritual Bank Account

121

Woman is Spelled "Double-You-O-Man"

131

Four Teachers-Things Your Mother Never Told You My Spiritual Teacher, Yogi Bhajan

Chaptor 20 Com munication Chaptor 21

53

69

Chaptor 12 Creatures of Habit

Chaptor 14

41

159

The Snake That Poisons Everybody Happiness

145

149

164

165

Life is a Movie

167

Other Paths of Yoga Tantric Yoga The Ten Bodies Going Home

17 S

179

1� g

187

Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of £lerna/ Power

CONTI:NT�

!!oction Two THING!! TO DO General Guidelines for the Practice of Kundalini Yoga 197

TA K� CAR� OF YOU��lF M! A WOMAN The Magnificent Seven A Conscious Act

MANTRA and M�DITATION Key to Pronunciation 201

How to Chant 203 Invoking The Flow of Eternal Power: ONG NAMO GURU DEV NAMO

206

The Seed Sound: SAT NAM

272

270

Disease Prevention for Women The Power of Foods

Yogic Tidbits For Women: Foods, Health

205

Mantra of Protection 211

R�CIP�

20�

Meditation for Change: SA-TA-NA-MA Change of Habit: Breath Meditation

GGM: Grace of God Meditation 207

Raise the Kundalini: Chakra Meditation

Yogi Tea-The Original

210

Golden Milk

213

Meditation for Positive Communication

Meditation for Effective Communication 214

My Favorite Mantra: "Long EK ONG KAR's" 215

Meditation to Clear the Past, Present &. Future 217

"May the Force Be With You": PAVAN GURU

219

Shout It In the Shower: ANG SANG WAHE GURU! 220 "The Persian Wheel" Meditation 221 Sadhana Mantras for the Aquarian Age

KRIYM! and PRANAYA M (fxgrciggg Energy Up! Mul Bandh and Sat Kriya

s.

27 6

222

Bmathing)

225

286

235

Balance Your Glands: Angles Stretch in the Morning

245

239

Breathe and Move in the Morning Sweat and Laugh ...(anytime) How To Give a Foot Massage Things to Do at Bedtime Three Stress Meditations

251

255

Digestion and Elimination

263

267

Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

259

249

280

285

Ginger Tea 286 Kitcheree 287 Potent Potatoes 288 Spicy Beet-Sweet Potato Casserole 289 Saffron Rice 290 Ghee 290

Sources and Resources Glossary Index

go7

291

gog

Sharpen Your Mind: Basic Breath Series 227

Loosen-Up, Tune-Up: Kriya For Elevation 229 Easy Set

27 5

PO£M!! BY TH£ AUTHOR Prana 33 You Are What You Eat 94 Sleepy Time Song 114 Sadhana 128 Choose Your Words 162 Past Lives 174 The Choice 192 The Persian Wheel (Gatga) 221

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269

I. /here to Beg i n ? F i rst steps are i m po rtant and often color the rest lfV of the journey. This book puts you on secure footi ng i n the rig ht

d irection for a more fulfi lled l ife and a n awakened consciousness. Shakti's style to mix p rofound ideas with h umor and a person a l a l m ost "chatty" conversatio n ma kes the jou rney fu n and pai n less. She constantly h e l ps you along with a song, a poem, a story, and j ust enough b u ll et points to insure you rem e m ber what's i mportant. A student who had stu died for many years had become confused with all the opinions and the h u n d reds of a pproaches. All the student wanted was clear g u idance to establish a personal p ractice for a h a p py a n d spi rit fi l led l ife. The student a p p roached a m aster yogi . The yogi smi led a n d spread h i s fingers . H e p laced the l ittle finger a t t h e n avel a n d t h e th u m b ti p at the heart. H e said, "The jou rney you m ust travel is on ly six i n ch es long. Beg i n at the n avel a n d reach the heart." In other words, all the stu dies and i ntellectual ideas a re best dealt with by a practice, a way of l iving that takes you from the concerns of control and s u rvival to the experien ce of the heart, con nected a n d free. The Ku ndalini energy of awaren ess is i nitiated i n the body from the n ave l . Self u n dersta n d i ng awakens i n the heart center. The master said a l ot with a sim ple gesture . This i s Shakti's special g ift. F rom her first chapter t o t h e last y o u travel from basic habits to the heart center of l iving a better l ife with a truer sense of you r self. I am biased . I learned Kundalini Yoga at the feet of Yogi B haja n a n d

Kunda/ini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

from Shakti Parwha i n 1 969. I have trained teachers of this science as D irector of Tra i n i ng for Ku n d a l i n i Research I nstitute and 3 H O for over twenty years. I n a l l this tim e I have n ot fou n d a better place to start than with the wit a n d wisdom o f Shakti . I am g ratefu l for her clarity, fidel ity to the orig inal teachin gs, a n d her d ecades of service to share this with all. Enjoy one of the best a n d q u ickest introductions to th is sacred science of being h u m a n . MSS Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, Ph. D. Director of Training KRI (Kundalini Research Institute)

Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

Acknowledgment�

0

ne of the pillars of my faith is cal led seva. It means "selfless service." The spirit of seva permeated the creation of this book. Many wonderfu l peo­ ple gave generously of their expertise, ti me, and energy d u ring the fou r and a half years it took to complete. I had made th ree earl ier attem pts to write this book severa l years before the crucial December, 1991, Khalsa Cou ncil workshop facil itated by Subagh Singh Khalsa that motivated me to focus and commit to com pleti ng it. G u ruka Singh Khalsa and Siri Ved Kau r Khalsa gave val uable edi­ torial in put to those earl ier versions. Dr. Sat Kau r Kha lsa shared with me th ree usefu l-and for me i m perative­ suggestions. If you're plann ing to write a book, I suggest you also fol low them. They worked for me! 1) Make appointments with you rself for the actual ti me you plan to work on the book, write them down, and honor them. Start at the time you're com m itted to, and stop at the ti me you predetermined. Then write down you r next appoi ntment and stick to it. 2) Chant and pray before each writing session. 3) j ust write, before you try to edit. Get the whole th ing down on paper (or in the com puter) before you start the ed iti ng process. Writi ng and editing are two d ifferent modes. I n the proofreading and editing department I had extremely usefu l com ments from my designated readers, Harijot Kau r Khalsa, Sat Narayan S i m ran Kaur, Shanti Kaur Kha lsa, Susan Liebman Ladd, and Ted Garon. (Ha rijot's a rtistic eye also helped in selecti ng the i l l ustrations.) Gobind Ka u r Kha lsa not only held u p under the marathon final proofread ing sessions to meet the printer's deadline, but in the early stages hel ped organ ize the cha pters. G u ru preet Kau r Khalsa jumped in at a moment's notice to proofread, as did Ek Ong Kar Kau r Khalsa,

Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

and Sahib Amar Kau r Khalsa, computer expert, vol u nteered to enter all the punctuation and spelling corrections needed on the first d raft. Both Sat Simran Kau r Khalsa and Peraim Kau r Kha lsa spent endless hou rs try­ ing to take just the right photos to illustrate the yoga postu res. Nam Kaur Khalsa, Siri Simran Kau r Khalsa, and Sadhana Kaur Kha lsa demonstrated not only g reat yogic flexibility, but patience and endurance. A special salute to Sardarni Guru Am rit Kau r who was able to perform the miracle of ta ki ng a usable photo of me. Thanks to G u ru Raj Kau r Khalsa and Shabad Kau r Khalsa who rea l ly served above and beyond the ca l l of d uty! My deepest g ratitude to all of the above, as well as to Aradhana Singh Khalsa, Dr. Gurucharan Singh Khalsa, Hari Nam Singh Khalsa, jagat joti Singh Khalsa, and the scores of others who have given such enth usiastic encouragement and support to this p roject. God bless you each and all. You r kindness is engraved in my heart. A few more tha n ks a re in order for this Second Edition of Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power. First of all to Susan R. Clark, who sent me (by e-mail, from Alaska) an amazingly detailed index she had prepared for her students . Second, than ks to t h e Senior Editor a t Perigee, Sheila Curry, w h o helped me condense the new index, and kindly did not tamper with the rest of the copy. And final ly, I bow to the wisdom of my new publisher, who omitted my pic­ tu re on the back cover! Hum bly yours, Shakti Parwha Kau r Khalsa August 1998

Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of ffemal Power

�gefion Ong

THING� TO KNOW and a F�w Thingg to Try

Before You Begin ... Always consult your physician before beginning this or any other exercise program. Nothing in this book is to be construed as medical advice. The benefits attributed to the practice of Kundalini Yoga come from the centuries-old yogic tradition. Results will vary with individuals.

YOU ARI: HI:RI:

How to Rgad T hig Book

r

is book is brazen ly personal. I have taken the marvelous technology of Ku ndali n i Yoga as taught by my spiritual teacher, Yogi Bhajan, the M aster of Kundal i n i Yoga, and presented it in my own conversational style . This is the way I have been teaching students in Kundalini Yoga Begi nners classes for twenty-seven years: straight, simple, and with a smile! This is not a manual or a textbook but it does have specific "things" you can do: b reathi ng, stretching, chanting, med itati ng. I 've a lso incl uded some psychological, philosophical, and I hope, i nspi rational com mentary, p l us many excerpts from Yogi Bhajan's lectu res. There a re some personal a necdotes and a spri n kling of my own poetry. Each topic cou ld be a whole book i n itself. Believe it or not, I 've tried to be b rief, but it's d ifficult to be b rief and thoroug h at the same time. You'll find new ideas, new ways of looki ng at you rself and the people in you r l ife, plus some yogic tid bits that you can apply to everyday activities. I want this book to whet you r a ppetite to experience more of the vast techno­ logy of Ku ndalini Yoga. I know it can transform you r l ife from the i nside out and the outside i n . I know, because I tried it. You won 't know u ntil you try it. You wil l find most q uotes in this book are Yogi Bhajan's words . After a l l, he's the Master Yog i ! Here is the fi rst:

I gen u inely love and val ue the teach i ngs I 'm about to share with you . I want as many people as possible to benefit from them because I know that the 1 Kundalini Yoga: Thl! Flow of Efl!rnal Powl!r

THING!:! TO KNOW

more people who p ractice Ku ndal i n i Yoga, the m ore happy people there wil l be i n the worl d . The more happy people there a re in the world, the better the world is going to be for me to l ive i n ! I hope you' l l read this book with a n open m i n d a n d a n open h ea rt, and practice the exercises a n d meditations. They have transformed my l ife; I know they can do the same for you . You d o n 't h ave t o read this book i n exact order (tho u g h it's p refer­ a ble) but I d o reco m m e n d that after you fi nish this that you rea d the first five chapters i n sequ ence. They wil l g et you off to �farling right now, you a good start. Then, if you wish, you can g o to the Table of Contents, see what g ra bs you, a nd read CAN t!hange your life. that next. The book is o rg a n ized i nto two sections: You CAN be Bountiful, the fi rst part is Things To Know (an d a few thi ngs to try) and the secon d part is s pecific Things To Do. Bli��fuls Beautiful. This can 't be a step-by-step book, beca use it's a In fal!f, you already are! book about l ife a n d we l ive l ife o n m a ny d ifferent Youju�f have to l evels going in m a ny d ifferent d irections a l l at the sam e ti me. We h ave a p hysical l ife, a m e ntal l ife, experienl!e if. a n d a spi ritual l ife h a p pe n i n g si m u ltan eously. These pages conta i n a b l u ep ri nt for b u i l d i n g a healthy, h a p py, a n d h o ly l ife. Yog i B haja n cal ls it the " 3 H O way of l ife . " It is your birthright. This concept was one of the fi rst thi ngs Yog i B h ajan tal ked a bout when I m et h i m in 1 968. The 3 H O Fou ndation was born as a result of his i nspiration . N ow a world-wid e organ ization with 300 centers in thirty-five countries, 3 H O is dedicated to shari n g these l ife affirmi n g teach ings. I h ave to pause h e re a n d exp l a i n what I m e a n by " ho ly, " othe rwise you m ay g et the wro n g i m p ression . H oly d oes N OT m e a n to be " holier than thou . " I t d oes n ot mean to be san cti monious. The 3 H O yog ic d efi­ n ition of h oly is p retty straightfo rward . I t h as two p a rts: F i rst, " Do u nto othe rs what you wan t them to do u n to you " (so u n d fam il i a r?), a n d sec­ ond, " Receive each i n h al ation conscio usly, g ratefu l ly aware that each b reath you receive is a g ift! " 2 l
YOU ARf HfR£

Learn ing how the yog is define concepts gives us a welcome new perspec­ tive on life. That's a nother featu re of this book, getti ng a new perspective on everyth ing, including who you a re. I refuse to clai m that reading this book and learning new terms wil l solve all you r problems. But it will g ive you powerful, practical tools to meet the challenges in you r l ife and consciously, courageously conquer them. Starting rig ht now, you can change you r l ife! As Yogi B hajan says, "you can be: Bou ntiful, Blissfu l, and Beautifu l . I n fact, you ALREADY ARE! You j ust have to experience it.

3 kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

CHAPUR 1

•

WHAT'!! IT All ABOUT?

1

What'g It All About? You Don't Have to Be a Pretzel

Y:

og i Bhajan pointed to me and said to the class he was teaching at Claremont College, "See, Shakti's doing it; if she can do it, anybody can do it." That was in 1969. I stil l consider myself one of the least physically coordinated people on the planet, and yet, here I am, twenty-seven years later, not only doing Ku ndali n i Yoga, but teaching it, and writing a book about it, because I sincerely bel ieve it's true, if I can do it, anybody can! The physical exercise part of Kundalini Yoga is just one aspect of this Yoga of Awareness. Among the many outrageous q uotes from Yogi Bhajan is, " If flexibility of the body is the only yoga, then clowns i n the circus are the best yogis." I mportant as the physical body is, and as desirable as flexibility is, there is m uch more to be gained from yoga, there is you r entire happiness and success in l ife. When you buy a new automobile, a toaster, or a VCR (al most a nything with �', � t • ,,� ,. movi ng parts) the manufacturer provides a book of instructions. The owner's manual recommends procedu res to get maxi m u m ....._ ,_,, efficiency. It l ists checkpoi nts and times for period ic maintenance . It tells you what to look for if it's not working pro perly a n d it sug­ gests how to avoid futu re problems. So where are the instructions for your care and maintenance? When you were born you didn't come neatly packaged with a tag tied around you r big toe, labeled "Care and Feeding." Though a human being is surely one of the most com plicated mecha nisms ever created, stil l an instruc­ tion manual isn't provided with each newborn baby. Perhaps the Manufacturer assumed that mothers would study di rectly with the experts to learn how to care for the new arriva l . And who are these "experts" ? Not the psychologists and ped iatricians, not wel l-meaning friends and neighbors,

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5 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

TO KNOW

mothers and g randmothers (though the latter probably have learned a lot through trial and error) . The trained experts, the people who developed the finest methods to care for, maintain, and get maxi m u m m ileage out of this human mechanism (not just physical ly, but mental ly, emotionally, and spiritual ly), were the yogis. Detai led i nformation on the care and feeding, maintenance and preservation of a hu man bei ng was reveal ed to the yogis thousands of years ago. They have been custodians of this tech nology ever since. They are the expert m echan ics, scientists, engineers, and problem-solvers for the i ntricate human machine in all its aspects: body, m ind, a nd sou l .

THf �Cif:NCf O F KUNDALINI YOGA For thousands of years this yogic knowledge was carefully h a nd ed down by ora l tradition from Master to d isciple. The Master spoke, the student memorized and practiced . Eventually a portion of this vast body of knowledge l eading to enlightenment, or self-mastery, was written down. Some of these sacred teach­ i ngs can be found in a ncient Vedic texts. 1 There's a yogic a rt and science to all aspects of h uman l ife. There's a yogic way to get up in the morning; there's a yogic way to go to sleep at n i g ht. A way to eat, and a way to breathe! Virtually every aspect of h u ma n existen ce has an en l ightened, efficient, and effective way to do it. This legacy of technical and spiritual knowledge that Yogi Bhajan studied and mastered i n I n d ia is the g ift he brought to the West.

THf YOGr� GIFT Kundalini Yoga was always kept very secret. It was never taught publicly until 1969, when Yogi Bhajan challenged the ages-old tradition of secrecy. He spent many years in I ndia learning, mastering, and perfecting the habits and practices of Ku ndalini Yoga . It sometimes took months of waiting patiently and being tested in many ways before a Teacher wou ld reveal anything at all to him. Yet he has offered to share these ancient secrets with us, openly and honest­ ly. His motive? Com passion . He wants us to stop suffering. He sees the real ity of our in ner beauty, power, and potential and he wants us to discover it for ourselves. 6 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPU:R 1

•

WHAT'� IT All ABOUT?

Yogi Bhajan started teaching Kundalini Yoga i n easy-to-digest yogic "tid­ bits." I want to share these teach i ngs with you that same way. I want to make it as sim ple and easy as I can for you to apply them in you r daily l ife so you can feel better, look better, and be a happier person . Of all the technology a n d wisdom If jg the birlhrigh f Of every human that Yogi B hajan could h ave taught from h is vast storehouse of mastery, being fo be healthy. happy and holy. he chose to teach Ku ndalini Yoga because it is so effective, comprehensive, and "do-able . " This is a yoga for householders, for people who have to cope with t h e daily chal lenges and stresses of holding jobs, raising famil ies, managing businesses. It gives results in the shortest possible time. It does not require you to leave you r home, become an ascetic or sit i n a cave. Kundalini Yoga i s for everyone who wants the ski l ls to cope successful ly with the challenges of l iving in this day and age. 2 (And you don't have to be a pretzel . For the physical exercises, if you can breathe, and just lean in the rig ht direction, you'll be benefitted . I told you, if I can do it, anybody can . )

WHAT DOE!! KUNDALIN I YOGA DO?

�\���

The practice of Kundalini Yoga balances the glandular system, strengthens the nervous system and enables us to harness the energy of the m i n d and , , \ ,1,1 'I' 1 the emotions, so we can be i n control of ourselves, rather than bein g con::......� ... trolled by our thoug hts and feel i ngs. Another pu rpose of this book is to d ispel the mystery, the myths and misunderstanding, that exist about Kundalini Yoga. It is a precious gem of sacred knowledge and power. I a m going to show you some of its m a ny brill iant facets. It can make you r life shine. It is like a magic jewel that I can give to you and stil l keep for myself. I n fact, sharing it makes it brighter for me!

11_/

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THE GOAl Ku ndal i n i Yoga is d esigned to g ive you "hands on" experie n ce of you r highest consciousness. I t teaches a m ethod by wh ich you can achieve the sacred p urpose of you r l ife. This can be described in m a ny ways, such as: 7 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

• • •

Experience you r in ner l ight of consciousness. Experience you r own h ighest consciousness. Discover your real I d entity.

The practices enable you to merge with or "yoke" with the u n iversal Self. Th is merging of individual consciousness with universal consciousness creates a "divi ne u n ion" cal led "yoga . " The p ractice that leads to this state of self-mastery i s also called "yoga. " So the road and the destination have the same name, "yoga." There a re many d if­ ferent kinds, or schools of yoga . (See Many Paths.) Those who practice yoga a re ca l led yog is and those who master yoga are also called yogis. The technology of Ku ndalini Yoga appl ies its science to our bodies a nd minds, and is aimed at spi rit which has no boundaries, no d iscri mi nation. Therefore it is for everyone. It is u niversal and nondenominationa l .

I!! YOGA A RfliGION? Ku ndalini Yoga is not a rel igion. Ku ndalini Yoga is a Sacred Science. It is sacred because it deals with the GOD ("G": that wh ich Generates; "0" : that which Organizes; "D" : that which Delivers or Destroys) i n you . It is scientific because it provides a technology, a method by which anyone who p ractices it can experience that d ivine identity with i n . The way you choose to worship that G-0-D is you r rel igion . Yes, Ku ndalini Yoga d oes req u i re FAITH (not belief), j ust as a cou rse in chem istry requ i res the faith of the student to d o t h e laboratory experim ents so h e can p rove t h e val id ity o f the formulas for h imself.

lONG TfRM GAIN / !!HORT TfRM GAIN As you work toward achieving the goal of Yoga or l iberation, you become more capable, more confident, and more efficient in whatever you ' re doing in your external l ife. Simu ltaneously, you become prog ressively more awa re of you r­ self on all levels. It's a win/win situation ! 8 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

CHAPUR 1

WHAT' � IT All ABOUT?

•

��CR�T� OF PO�R To ful ly appre c iate the value of this g reat gift Yogi Bhajan has broug ht us, we need to understand why, for thousands of years, the Yogis kept it secret. They p reserved and careful ly guarded the knowledge of the i nner and outer worki ngs of a human bei ng, very cautiously reveal i ng the technology, selectively passing it d own verbally from Master to chosen disci ple. They were selective because knowledge gives power, and power can corru pt. Traditional ly, d isciples had to s pend many years proving their trustworthiness and ethical pu rity to receive the sacred science of Kundalini Yoga. Only after the student demonstrated h u m i lity, self-disci pline, and obedience wou ld the Teacher reveal the secret Kriyas. Yet Yogi B hajan has taken it u pon h imself to share h is knowledge openly with everyone. ' (See the chapter My Spiritual Teacher for more about this remarkable human being, Master of Kundalini Yoga and White Tantric Yoga.) He has done this in order to pre­ pare h umanity for the major changes that the planet is goi ng th roug h . The world we knew even ten years ago has total ly changed-geog raphically, social ly, eco­ nomically, morally. We have already crossed from the Piscean Age into the Age of Aquarius. 3 As he has said, "What used to work, won't work anymore . " It's a n ew Age already, and this ancient technology of Kundalini Yoga can give us the awareness and the strength to m a ke our transition smoother.

TH� POW�R OF PRANA

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" Kundalini Yoga deals specifical ly with the most powerful th ing i n � -.,;.._ the u niverse, the basic l ife energy, prana. Prana is the sub-atomic �--:;;-A "' /� energy, the l ife force. It was known to yogis for thousands of years, , ' · ', long before the scientists split the atom. It is prana that you receive /},.1 Ji I with every breath . It's mighty powerfu l stuff. Kundalini Yoga is the path of d iscovery of the source of the prana in us and teaches us how to use it. ·

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WHY PRACTIC� KUNDALI NI YOGA? People decide to practice K u n d a l i n i Yog a for m a ny reasons. Possibly you r c h i ropractor suggested it. O r you r psycholog ist, physician, o r next-door neig h ­ b o r recom mended i t to h e l p you relax, cope with stress, a n d fin d peace of m in d . O r, perhaps you're sim ply curious. It doesn't matter what you r reason, you

g

Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

a re welcome! But be warned: If you gen u inely practice it, you wil l fi nd you rself and your l ife changing. If you don't want to change, if you 're total ly content with you rself and you r l ife as it is now, then don't go any fu rther. But if you want to explore the possibilities of you r highest potential, then keep reading. Kundalini Yoga is much more than j ust a system of physical exercises. It is a dynam ic, powerfu l tool for expanding awareness. Approach it with respect, with reverence, a nd with openness. The purpose of this book is to get you to try it for you rself, so you can have you r own experience of the benefits it has to offer.

"DOING I� B�liB'ING." Let the words on these pages help you take the next step on you r personal journey of self-discovery. You a re, i ndeed, a u nique a nd wonderfu l bei ng with a very special destiny. Let Kundalini Yoga, the Yoga of Awareness, help you achieve you r personal best!

10 l
CHAPnR 2 • ON� GOAl

2

Ong Goal

A

�piritual TravQJ

I I th ings com e from God, everyth ing wil l eventually retu rn to God, including you . H ow you get there is you r particular path . The Yog i wants t o h ave that experience sooner a n d chooses a path to travel that best suits his 1 tem pera ment and capabilities. D ifferent paths s u it d ifferent people. Going for a h i ke? You can m a ke the rugged, u ph i l l climb or fol l ow wel l-marked trails a n d stro l l along at a leisurely pace. Want to go farther? You can fly d irect to N ew York from Los Angeles, or m a ke stops along the way. You can even change planes. If you h ave l ots of ti me, you may decide to take a bus or a tra i n along the scenic route. Some fol ks enjoy d riving across cou ntry. The c hoice of " h ow" to g et there is you rs. The c hoice of "when" to get there is affected by the "how." The "where" is p redetermined, because a lthoug h there a re m a ny paths back " Home," there's no p lace else to go. Kundalini Yoga m ight be cal led the d i rect, non-stop jet route. I t is a very com prehensive technology, yet idea l ly suited to people who l ead active l ives in today's world . I n the back of this book you can read brief descrip­ tions of some of the other paths of yoga . S ince Ku ndal ini Yog a is what this book is a l l a bout, I ' m going t o g ive i t a l ot m ore space than the others . I th i n k that's fai r, don't you? K u n d a l i n i Yog a balances the g l a n d u la r system , stre n gthens the 72,000 n e rves in the body, expands the l u n g capacity, and p u rifies the bloodstream . I t b ri n g s balance to the body, m i nd, a n d sou l . I t teaches positive, self-

1 Anytime you see "he" or "his" for a non-specific person, please assume I also include "she" and "her." Let's save ink.

11

Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Eternal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

e m p owerin g attitud es of th i n k­ i n g . It is on-the-job-tra i n i ng for success a n d excellence i n l ife. It b u i lds i n n e r stre ngth and self aware n ess so you can fu lfi l l you r h i g h est poten ti a l . I n Kundalini Yoga we harness the mental, physical, and nervous energies of the body and put them u nder the domain of the wi l l, which is the instru ment of the sou l . Ku ndalini Yoga perfects the fi nite l ife whi le conn ecting it to the I nfinite experience.

12 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPUR 3

3

•

TUNING IN

Dng Namo Guru Dev Namo

Tuning In Wg alway!: tung in bgforg doing a ny practicg of Kun da l in i Yoga .

W

h e n you want to watch you r favorite tel evision show, you h ave to select the rig ht c h a n n e l . If you want to watch the World Series, you d o n 't tu rn to the Home-Shopping c h a n n e l . You g et what you wan t by selecti n g the p a rticular wave l en gth that is b roadcastin g the p rog ram you want to see. The T.V. log h as d ozens of l isti ngs. Al l the T.V. stations b roadcast si m u l­ tan eo usly. You r screen shows o n ly the p a rti c u l a r o n e you h ave selected . Why? Because of the principle of attu n e m ent. You g et the station or c h a n n e l you wan t b y tu n i ng t o t h e correct freq u e n cy. W h e n y o u use the rig ht "ca l l l etters" y o u g et t h e channel y o u want. T h i s s a m e p ri nciple g overns the scien ce of m antra.

Tuning in i!: !:imply l!hanging l!hannel!: on the felevi!:ion of your mind. MANTRA We l ive i n a sea of energy. Energy vib rates. There's a particular vi bratory frequency correspond in g to every sou n d i n the u n iverse. By vibratin g a par­ tic u l a r com bi n atio n of sou n d s (syll a b l es), you tu ne-in to various l evels of i ntel l i gence o r consciousness. You ' re c ho os i n g p rog ra m s a l l the ti m e, whether you k n ow it o r not. 13 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!!

TO KNOW

Consciously or u nconsciously, pu rposely or at random, you personally choose the programs that play on the screen of you r m i n d by the thoug hts you th i n k (vibrate) and the words you speak (vibrate). Mantras a re combinations of syl lables consciously construct­ ed to con nect with specific levels of i ntell igence. Using a mantra is l i ke dialing a phone n u m ber. If you want to tal k with you r friend i n Florida, you don't cal l the San Diego Zoo. The knowledge of the meaning and power of sou nds and the use of the soun d cu rrent is contained in the ancient tech nology of Mantra Yoga. It is a major factor i n the p ractice of Kundalini Yoga. ,gpirituality ea n not b� We've a l ready said that Ku ndal i n i Yoga is a taught • ·t ha!: to b� eaught • sacred science. It is a spiritua l p ractice. " S p i ritua lity" I l ike th� m�a!:l�!: . is contagious. You h ave to get it fro m someone who's g ot it. That's why we start each c lass by "tu n i n g i n " to the wave­ length of the teachers who've "got it" -so we can receive the i r vibra­ tion . The mantra we use to acco m p l is h this is ONG NAMO G URU D� NAMO. These code l etters n ot on ly i nvoke the blessin g of you r own h ig h ­ est self, b u t they open t h e protective l i nk betwee n you a n d the l o n g l i n e o f S pi ritua l Masters w h o h ave preceded u s o n t h e path . Th is trans­ m ittin g of higher consciousness from Master to d isciple which has been goin g on for thousands of years is sometim es called the "golden c ha i n . " Yog i B hajan, M aster of Kundali n i Yoga, i s the i m m ed iate con nection to this chai n for a l l of us w h o p ractice Ku n d a l i n i Yog a .

ONG NAMO GURU DfV NAMO i!! chantgd (vibrated) to aggurg the pure!!t inner guidance for your practice of Kundalini Yoga. Here's how to tu rn the dial of you r m i n d a n d switch to the channel that wil l give you the clearest reception for the tech nology of Ku ndalini Yoga, a n d the elevated consciousness (vib ration) that com es with it. I ' m going to explain th is in g reat detai l, because it's real ly i mportant that you get started correctly from the very beg i n n i n g . 14 Kunda/ini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

CHAPITR 3

•

TUNING I N

Ready? Get set: Sit with you r spine straig ht. Preferably sit cross­ legged on the floor (use a mat, fol ded blan ket, or som ething firm for paddi ng). I n yog ic terms, th is cross-legged position is ca l led Sukh Asan which translates as "easy-pose, " thoug h it may not be easy for you . If you can 't sit on the floor, you can sit on a chair, j ust make sure that both feet a re planted firm­ ly on the floor with weight eq ually balanced. Keep you r spine straight. Place the pal ms of you r hands flat together at the center of you r chest, fi ngers pointing u pward at a very slig ht angle outward . The sides of you r thu m bs press l ightly but firmly at the center of the ster- PrayQr PosQ i n num. This p ressu re sti m u lates a nerve ending that goes u p to the !!ukh Asan bra i n; we cal l it the "mind nerve. " This m u d ra (hand position) is (�asy PosQ) cal led "Prayer Pose. " Not only d oes it make you look saintly (not a bad i mage), but it helps concentration. Bei ng able to concentrate, being one­ pointed, and able to keep you r attention focused is not only useful for med­ itation; it also comes in handy for baki ng a cake, writin g a symphony, or rid­ ing a bicycle. Successfu l com pl etion of a ny job requ i res us to corral and har­ ness the m u ltitud e of scattered thought fragments flyi ng wildly a bout i n our u ntrai ned m inds. Keep the pal ms pressed fi rm ly together. The palms contain nerve endi ngs corresponding to the left and rig ht hemispheres of the bra i n . Pressing them together helps to balance the l og ical hemisphere of the brain with the cre­ ative, i ntu itive hem isphere. This balance is i m portant for successfu l concen­ tration. P u l l you r chin back slightly, to hel p straighten the spine, al lowing freer movement of the Kundalini energy u pwards .

15 Kunda/ini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Powor

TO KNOW

ONG NAMO GURU OW NAMO "I Bow to thg C.rgator. to thg Diving Tgachgr Within." •

ONG means the Creator - the One Who created you .

•

NAMO means reverent g reetings, sal utations.

•

GURU is the giver of the technology, the Teacher. Teacher: the one who gets rid of ignora nce GU = darkness, RU = lig ht, that wh ich d ispels darkness.

•

DIN means transparent (nonphysical).

Ready? Read the fol lowing instructions first, then close you r eyes, keeping them focused at the center of you r forehead and beg i n . Take several long deep breaths, i n hali n g d eeply through you r n ose, then exhaling com pletely out through the nose. Do this several times, then : I nhale deeply th rough the nose, and vib rate the syllable ONG at the back of the th roat and feel the sound going out th rough the nose. Then slide into the sound NAMO (the NA is a short syllable, while the MO is extended . See pronunciation g uide.) and com plete the rest of the mantra, raising the pitch of the syllable DIN (wh ich rhymes with "save") about a third-tone h ig her than the rest of the mantra . Fin ish exh aling all the b reath as you chant the fi n a l NAMO. If you ca n d o it, chant the e nti re m a n tra a l l in o n e b reath without a p a use. If you fi n d you n eed to catch you r b reath s l i gh tly before chanti n g G'ROO (rhymes with "who"), you ca n take a q u i ck s i p of a i r th rough th e m outh after O n g N a m o, j ust as you do auto m atical ly when you a re speaki n g, but d o n 't 16 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPHR 3

•

TUNING I N

i n h a l e t h ro u g h the n ose d u ring the m antra. ( Note, the syl la ble GU in G u ru, is extrem ely b rief.) After each com plete round, i n ha le very deeply th roug h the nose before you chant the enti re mantra again . Conti n ue this seq uence at least th ree ti mes, breathi n g on ly throug h the nose. Continue chanting ONG NAMO GURU DIN NAMO as many more ti mes as you wish u ntil you feel "co n nected . " It is l i ke letti ng the phone ring u nti l someone picks up. There is a basic melody we usually use, but the melody is not so i m portant as the rhyth m and the breath . This holds true for all mantras - the most i m por­ tant factors are the rhyth m and the breath . When you h ave fin ished chanting ONG NAMO GURU DIN NAMO, i n hale deeply. Feel you rself bei ng fil led with energy, l ife, l ight and joy! Hold the breath as long as you can do so comfortably. Then exhale completely, feeling the breath carryi ng away tension and fatigue. Feel you r­ self getti ng rid of worry or disease. Take a few more of these long deep breaths, using each breath as a self-heal­ ing meditation. There are many powerfu l meditations, but the re is noth ing more powerfu l tha n meditation on the b reath . Let m e repeat: Always rem e m ber to c h a nt ONG NAMO GURU DIN NAMO at least th ree ti m es before you beg i n each session of Ku n d a l i n i Yog a . Be conscious of the i m p o rtant m ea n i ng of the m antra w h i l e you a re chanti n g so that it d oes n ot becom e a m e re ritua l . ONG NAMO GURU OW NAMO i s such a valuable mantra that Yogi Bhajan had a forty-five min ute tape of it made with conti nuous cha ntin g by N irinja n Kau r. We often meditate or chant along with it d u ring yoga classes, and it's used fre­ quently for meditation in Wh ite Tantric Yoga vid eo cou rses. The beautifu l melody on th is tape is d ifferent from the orig i n a l .

17 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPU:R 4

•

4

Brgafh of Life

H

OW TO BR�ATH� (DON·T I AlR�ADY KNOW HOW?)

We g ive our children piano lessons, we eagerly enco u rage them to wal k a n d tal k, b u t how many of u s train them t o b reathe? D i d you r parents teach you? The good news is that we are born with enough built-in b reathi n g s ki l l to keep us alive. The bad news is that u nti l we learn to breathe consciously, we' re only "half-alive." We' re l i ke cham pion racing cars that n ever get out of first gear.

IN!!PIRATION-A!!PIRATION: R�!!PIRATION ! Some of the m ost profound truths, the "secrets" of the u n iverse, are con­ tained in the most simple, basic facts of life. B reathing is one of these secrets. It is so fundamental, it seems so natu ral and effortless, we usually take it for g ranted . We don't real ize its tremendous significan ce and potential power. It is wel l known that you can go without food for wee ks . You can su rvive without water for days. But a very few m i n utes without breath and you ' re dead. We a l l know th is, so what's the point? The point is that you r enti re futu re, you r l ife itself, total ly depends u pon whether o r not you receive you r next i n halation . N oth ing is more im portant to you tha n that next i n h alation .Yet there is a bsol utely no g u a ra ntee that you're going to get it. You r guaranteed life expectancy is l iteral ly on ly one breath ! Al l you r wealth, a l l you r possessions, a l l you r relationships, power, prestige, hopes, and plans a re useless u n less you are b reath i n g . That is why t h e first pri nciple i n Ku ndalini Yoga is:

Value Your Breath 19 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

TO KNOW

Each b reath is given to you . "You" a re n ot b reathi ng; someth i n g is b reath­ ing i n you . Thi n k a bout it. From the moment you were born, u p to this very moment i n tim e, twenty-fou r hou rs every day, seven d ays a week, 365 days a year-- n o holidays, no vacations, no time off; whether you a re awake or asleep, conscious or u n conscious, happy or u n happy; som ethi n g b reathes i n you, keeping you a l ive. H e re comes a most significant thoug ht: Some people cal l that a m azi ng power, energy, or force that breathes in you : "GOD." Yes, it is true, the One U n iversal I ntel l i gence that Generates, O rganizes, and the n Delivers or Destroys a l l creation is precisely what is breath ing in each of us. Hold on a m i n ute, a re we tal ki n g a bo ut rel ig i o n h ere? N ot Defi n itely n ot. Religion is h ow you c hoose ( if you choose) to wors h i p That-Which-Breathes­ i n -Yo u . B reath is the delicate thread that l i n ks you, the creatu re, to the O n e who created this e ntire u n iverse (including you and m e) . Each i n halation you receive is a rem in d e r, a reaffirmation of that ..If there i!: anything Divine d ivi ne p resence in you . I n the O rient, it is said that when a child is in you, it'g your breath." born, the l ife-span is a l ready predeterm ined, -Yogi Bh�an premeasu red, preordained a n d predestined­ not by years, but by the n u m ber of breaths a l lotted . Therefore, we can con­ clude, and rightfu l ly so, if you breathe slower, you will l ive longer. You wil l a lso l ive healthier. A slower rate of breathing is m uch easier on the nervous system, the m eta bol ism, a n d the d igestion. The rate a n d rhythm of the breath are intimately con nected to our mental and emotional states. I n fact, j ust as the emotions and the mind cause the breath to vary, by consciously controlling the breath we can gain control over the m i n d and the emotions. By slowing down the breath, we cal m the mind and cool down our emotional energy. The average rate of breathing for most people is a bout fifteen times per min ute. When the rate of breath ing increases, or if it becom es rapid and i rreg­ ular, the m ind a lso becomes d istu rbed and erratic. We a l ready know this i nsti nc­ tively. I n a m ovie, when we hear someone gasping, b reath i n g heavily, even if we 20

Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

CHAPT£R 4

•

BR�TH OF

UH:

�\\�

can 't see them, we feel the tension, we assu me they're u pset. When we want to know if the baby is asleep, we l isten for slow, even breathi n g .

PRANA AND THf AIR

�

'j

_)!_

Yes, breath is l ife, but it isn't the air we breathe that keeps us alive. It is the subtle essence of the breath, carried to us by the a i r, that con­ tains our l ife energy. This l ife energy is cal led prana. The prana that we receive with each breath is the same energy that was released when scientists split the atom. It is nothing new. For thousands of yea rs the yog is h ave worked with p rana. Yogic breathing exercises a re cal led pranaya m . P rana is the basic building block of the u niverse. It is given to us with each i n h a lation . What cou l d be more powerful? When a person dies, the body sti l l contains air. But the pra na, the d ivi ne life force, has been withd rawn .

Inco ming br�ath o f l if� ig PRANA. Outgoing br�ath ig call�d APANA.

More about apana later.

PRANAYAM: CON!!CIOU!! BRfATHING My very first class with Yogi Bhajan consisted entirely of slow, long, deep breathing. He told me to lie down flat on my back on the floor (fortu nately there was a mat) and start i n haling and exhaling as dee ply as possible through my nose. Then he left the room ! Forty-five min utes later he retu rned . That was my i ntroduction to Ku nda l i n i Yoga . 21 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

Yog i B haja n d i d n 't g ive me a ny tec h nical, d etailed i n structions. He just said to lie straig ht, keep my a rms at my sides and breathe long and deep through the n ose consciously. Conscious breathing m eans focusing you r attention o n each i n h alation and exhalation. It's a very d ifferent experience fro m sim p ly l ettin g the b reath " h appen" as we d o m ost of the tim e . The most fu ndamental yog ic breathing technique is simp ly Long Deep B reathi n g .

LONG DEEP BREATHING What is the effect of Long Deep B reath ing? It wil l cal m the m i n d, balance the emotions, and harmonize body, m ind, and spirit. It is used i n m ed itation, and in the practice of yoga exercises. Long Deep B reathing can be used in every­ day situations where you want to be in control of you r emotions, able to th ink clea rly and act effectively. Remem ber, the slower you b reathe, the calmer you r m i n d . Used i n conj u n ction with positive affirmation, Long Deep B reath ing becomes a very dynamic self-healing tool . So, let's do it! S i t u p straight, or you can even l i e d own flat on you r back. Close you r eyes. Tune in with ONG NAMO GURU OW NAMO. (See Tuning ln.) The main req u i rement is that the spine m ust not be bent a nywhere; it m ust be straight. We' re going to use Long Deep Breath ing as the p ranayam with a Meditation for U niversal Wisdom . (See facing page.) You can use Long Deep B reath ing as a guided med itation for m a ny aspects of self-hea l i n g . Choose you r own l ist of q ualities to meditate on a n d conscious­ ly receive and accept whatever concept you choose with each i n halation . Then release, o r let go of the opposite quality with each exhalation . For exam ple:

INHALJ;

health dtength enetgy faith �eace

22 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

J;XHALJ;

di�ea�e weakne�� fatigue feat ten�ion

CHAPU.R 4

•

BREATH OF liF£

MfDITATION FOR UNIVf�AL WI!!DOM To focus your energy on the quality of wisdom, with your hands resting on your knees (palms can be up or down), curl your forefingers and capture the tip of the nail of the forefingers with the pad of the first joint of your thumbs. The other three fin­ gers of each hand are straight and close together. Your arms are straight, with no bend in the elbows, but they are not rigid. Your body is like a pyramid, balanced, symmetrical, and stable. The majes­ tic yogi! Inhale deeply through your nose. Feel as though you are pulling the breath down into your navel center. As the breath then starts to fill the lungs, your diaphragm will expand. You can think of the abdominal area as a balloon. Keep inhaling until your lungs have taken in all they can hold. Your chest will be expanded. Keep track of the breath and feel it as it comes in and goes out. Breathe deeply, feel the breath going all the way down to the navel point. When you exhale, empty the lungs completely. Use your total lung capacity, make every inhale and every exhale as long and full and complete as you can. It will soon take greater concentration to maintain the depth of the breath - because as the breath slows down, the mind slows down also, and tends to put you to sleep. (This principle comes in handy when you want to go to sleep at night. We'll talk more about this in the chapter on Sleep.) Try to stay alert and continue to make each breath full and deep. Keep your abdominal muscles relaxed during long deep breathing. The abdomen will move naturally with the breath. It's the diaphragm that's doing all the work. Consciously feel yourself taking in and absorbing universal wisdom with each inhala­ tion, and getting rid of doubt and confusion with each exhalation. Continue for three minutes. See how peaceful and mentally clear you feel after only three minutes! Of course, you can do long deep breathing for longer periods of time (eleven minutes, thirty-one minutes, or more), but as usual, we recommend moderation. Begin with short sessions and gradually increase your time.

23 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

It seems so sim ple, but believe me, it works! You a l ready have that infi nite creative flow of eternal power with in you . Th is is one way to use it. Kee p remem­ beri ng that breath is l ife, and therefore breath can rej uvenate and regenerate.

CORP!!£ PO!!£ You can do Long Deep B reathing (or a ny pranayam) lyin g flat on you r back, keeping you r body in a straight l i ne, a rms down at you r sides, palms faci ng up. Then you can tel l you r friends you mastered one of the H atha Yoga Asanas (pos­ tu res)! It is cal l ed Corpse Pose. This position gives opti m u m support to the spi ne (wh ich has all 72,000 nerves attached to the twenty-six main vertebrae) and allows the free-flowing of energy th roughout the body.

li NKING TH£ BR£ATH WITH MANTRA One of the simplest but n evertheless most powerfu l ways to med itate on the breath is to thi n k the sou n d !!AT" with every i nhalation and th i n k the sound "NAM" with every exhalation. Hear the syl lables in you r m i n d . (Su u u u u u u u ut. . . rhymes with "but, " N aaaaaaaaam, rhymes with "calm .") M enta l ly create th ese sou nds. Take you r ti me. Take ten long, deep, fu l l breaths, meditatin g on each breath with the i nfin ite sou n d of !!AT NAM. Why do we use those particu lar syl lables? !!AT NAM instantly attu nes us to our highest Self. SAT NAM affirms that "Truth is our Identity." It tra nslates as: "Truth is God's Name." We' l l ta l k m uch more a bout mantra later, meanwhi le, a l ittle explanation a bout a big concept: ..

"In the beginning wag the Word. and the Word wag wi th God, and the Word wag God ."1 !!AT NAM !:!AT NAM is a Bij Mantra, or "seed sou n d . " !!AT mea ns Truth, the u lti mate, u nchanging, U n iversal Truth . NAM means name, or identity. When we say "!!AT NAM" to each other, we a re acknowledging our m utua l d ivin e identity. And, at least for that b rief moment, we a re u nited, "one in the spirit. " There a re no bar­ riers, no walls of fear or separation between us. By using Sat Nam as a g reeti ng 24 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o fEternal Power

CHAPU:R 4

•

BR£ATH OF liF�

(I even h ave it on my voice mail) we have attu ned ou rselves to our highest con­ sciousness, at least for a moment. After that we can decide to disagree a bout a nything we want! But at least we have established a basis of com m u nication that is in total harmony and acceptance. I thi n k it's cal led love.

�XPAND Y OUR LUNG CAPACITY

�T

When you r m i n d is cal m, meditative, and u nder you r control, you r rate of breathing wi l l be slow, steady a n d cal m . So, i t i s logical that by breathing slowly and stead i ly you wil l cal m you r mind. Yes, to repeat, it's a fact: As you change you r rate of breathi ng, you change you r state of mind. To breathe more slowly, it is necessary to have a larger l u ng capacity. One of the fi rst thi ngs we work on is increasing the l u ng capacity. The fastest way to achieve that is by p racticing B reath of Fire.

NAM

BRf:ATH OF FIR£ Here is a pranayam that wi l l not only i ncrease you r lung capacity (so you can easily breathe slower and deeper) but it wi l l also: • • • •

Strengthen you r nervous system Pu rify you r bloodstream Energize, sti m u late, and wake you u p ! I ncrease you r vital ity

This pranayam is cal l ed B reath of Fire. It is one of the fi rst things I teach my beg i n n i ng students. I want to teach it to you rig ht now. So please "Tu n e I n" with ONG NAMO GURU DW NAMO, and we'l l be ready to beg i n . Let u s sit properly l i ke yogis, i n Su khasan, easy cross-l egged pose. If you become too uncomfortable, try sitting on you r heels (Vaj ra Asan - Rock Pose), or sit in a chair, or l ie on the floor. The main thing is you a re going to BREATH E CONSCIOUSLY, with you r spine straig ht. I nterlace you r fingers in you r lap. Ideally, apply "Venus Lock." Ven us Lock wi l l h e l p you contain the i ncreased energy from the additional prana that you a re going to bring into you r body when you d o B reath of Fire. 25 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Homal Powor

THING�

TO KNOW

Look at the i l l ustration careful ly. Note that the th umbs a re not crossed. The hand position is opposite for males and females. (Female lock illustrated.) The tip of one th umb is pressing firm ly i nto the web between the th u m b and forefi nger of the other hand, wh ile the opposite th umb is pressing the fleshy mound between the th umb and the wrist. Make sure to alternate the fingers. You don't wa nt to have two fin­ gers from the same hand next to each other.

HOW TO DO BR�ATH OF FIR�

v�nm: lock

B reath of Fire is s i m p ly a rap i d a n d powerful b reath thro u g h the nose. To l ea rn it, be s u re you r spine is stra i g ht, keep you r mouth closed, a n d b reathe rapidly th roug h the n ose. I n ha lation and exha l atio n wil l be a bout equ a l . (It is not the H atha Yoga b reath " Bastri ka" which e m p h asizes the exh a lation a n d foc uses o n t h e l ower sto mach m u scles.) Inhale and l ift your chest and hold it still. Exhale and pull in on your navel. Note that the upper abdominals and the diaphragm move as the navel point pulls i n . The breath is powered from the navel to the li�tgn to thg �ound of your brgath. diaphragm. In the beginning, you may find it Imaging that you arg making thg �ound helpful to think primarily about the exhala­ traek for a film �howing fwgnty-�gven tion which is synchron ized with the pulling in of the navel. �team gngine� going uphill. Start out slowly as you' re lea rn i ng, u ntil you get used to the rhyth m and can easily coord i n ate the b reath with .� the m ovement of you r n avel poi nt. Then pick u p speed u ntil you' re ' breath ing approxi mately 1 20 to 1 80 times per m i n ute. Listen to the sou n d of you r breath . I magine that you a re mak• • � ing the sou d track for a fi l m showin g twenty-seven steam engi nes . · · I� �.HY 4� go1ng uphill. On each exh alation, p u l l you r n avel point i n towa rd the back of you r spine. O n each i n ha lation, rel ease it. Don't pause i n between . W h e n B reath of F i re is d o n e correctly, it is a n easy b reath . The m uscles d a n ce i n rhyth m a n d

� �� /� �·

-

v� -_j

26 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

�

CHAPHR 4

•

BRfATH OF UF£

you stay e nerg ized rather tha n beco m i n g ti red . Are your nerve!: "frayed"? Breath of Fire is not hyperven­ Do you fly off the handle at the tilation . I n hyperventi lation, the g/ighfegt provocation? breathing is deep and erratic. The upper chest is not held supended, TRY THI� WffK'!! �PfCIAL PRANA YAM and usua l ly people a re "chest "BRfA TH OF FIRE" breathing" or they may be reverse breathing, in other words exhal­ • Breath of Fire virtually in�mlate!: your nerve!:. ing with the navel pushed out It eoat!: them with an invisible but powerful instead of pulled i n . proteetive pranie eu!:hion that ean last for day!: Conti n ue B reath o f Fi re, • Praetieed regularly. Breath of Fire i!: breathing rapidly a n d conti n u ­ guaranteed by the Yogi!: to end any ously i n and o u t without paus­ embarras!:ing temper tantrum habit. ing, for a bout thirty secon ds for • Amaze your friend!: and family with you r first practice sessio n . Keep your ealm. serene di!:po!:ition. you r s ho u l d e rs rel axed, keep you r face relaxed . Allow you rself to do B reath of Fire without ten ­ sion . Keep you r s p i n e straight, but not rig id. Do not inhale or exhale through your mouth to catch you r breath . If you should start to feel you a re run n ing out of breath a n d you th i n k you m ust stop, sim ply take a few long, slow, deep b reaths th rough you r nose u ntil you feel ready to resume. Then try aga i n . Don't pause o r h ol d you r b reath o n eithe r t h e i n h alatio n o r exh a l ation . B reath o f F i re is one conti n uous b reath . Even t h o u g h it m ay seem l i ke a l o t o f i n ha lations a n d exh a l atio n s, it is consid­ ered to be a l l o n e b reath, from the ti m e you sta rt, to the ti m e you sto p . That i s why i t i s s o m a rvelously effective i n ca l m i ng you r m i n d . (Th e slower the b reath, the cal me r the m i n d . ) W h e n you d o B reath o f F i re for even j ust o n e m i n ute, the 27 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

THING!!

TO KNOW

effect is as if you had ta ken o n ly one b reath d u ri n g that whole m i n ute! B reath i n g l ess tha n fou r ti m es per m i nute puts you i nto a m ed itative state. F u rthermore, b reathing slowly i ncreases the flow of you r i n n e r i ntu itive g u id­ ance.

BR�ATH AND I NTUITION Here's how it works: When you breathe less than eight tim es per m i n ute, you stim ulate the secretion of you r pitu itary gland . Not only is the pitu itary the master gland of the body, but it is also the gateway, the control panel for you r intu ition . The more you r pitu ita ry secretes, the more active a n d accessible you r i ntuition becomes . This means that you become more aware of actions you need to take. You will find you r inner guidance, that d irect, instanta neous awareness of "si m ply knowi ng," becoming more frequent, stronger, a n d clea r­ er. Through Ku ndalini Yoga meditations you wil l a lso lea rn how to use you r meditative m i n d a n d how to cal l u pon you r i ntuition a t wi l l .

PHY!!ICAl �FF�CT!! B reath of Fire is a clea nsing and pu rifying br� ath, so if you a re doing B reath of Fire for the first tim e, you may notice some physical effects. Especial ly if you r bloodstream i s holding a lot of toxins, you may feel slig htly giddy or d izzy i n the process. Don't worry about it, j ust keep on breathi n g . It may be u ncomfortable but it is not harmfu l . You a re simp ly feeling the poisons com i n g to the su rface where they can be elimi nated . I n a ny clea nsing p rocess (such as a very strict cleansing d iet or fast) you may feel weak at first, possibly even a l ittle worse than before you started. By con­ tin u ing, you wil l get rid of those toxins that wou ld otherwise stay locked u p inside you r body u ntil some fine day they decide to reveal the mselves, when you "get sick." Other sym ptoms can occur when you start doing Breath of Fire . You may feel heat or cold i nside you r nostrils. You may feel a pressu re at the root of the nose. Some people feel "itchy" or tingly. Some people feel none of the a bove. The various sensations a re i ncidental, tem porary adjustments made by you r body. Ignore them . B reath of F i re generates a lot of heat s o i t warms u p the 28 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPUR 4

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BR[ATH OF LIF£:

body. (Try it on a cold day!) Since it usually increases you r circulation, women should not practice B reath of Fire d u ring thei r month ly period . � T NAM You can make Breath of Fire even more powerfu l by adding the mantra (menta l ly hearing the sounds), Wahe Guru, Wahe Guru, Wahe � T NAM Guru... (pronounced Waa Hay G 'roo-see Pronunciation Guide) repeated �T NAM rapidly over and over i n rhyth m with you r breath . Wah€! Guru means �T NAM "Wow, God is G reat! " It is a mantra of ecstasy. Or you can silently repeat � T NAM the Bij Mantra, !!AT NAM, six times, "Sat Nom, Sat Nom, Sat Nom, Sat �T NAM Nom, Sat Nom, Sat Nom, then add : Wahe Guru! to each cycle.

WAH£ GURU

HOMf:WORK A!!!!IGNMf:NT Be ki nd to you rself. Start practicing B reath of Fire on a reg u la r basis. Every single day, sit down with a watch or a timer, and sim ply do it. G ive you rself five minutes every day, starting with 30-second seg ments . Take a few long, deep breaths in-between when you need to. Keep practicing! Work you r way u p to longer segments each day and by the end of a week you wi l l be a ble to do Breath of Fire comfortably for two m i nutes without stoppi n g . Of cou rse, practice on an em pty stomac h ! You don't want to eat a ny­ thing within one hou r before a ny session, and eat only very l ig htly with in two hou rs prior to doing Kundalini Yoga . B reath of Fire is a very i m portant factor i n many Kundalini Yoga exercises, so PRACTICE, P RACTICE, P RACTICE! Discover how ener­ gizing it is, and how good it makes you feel !

TWO NO�TRIL� ARf BfTTfR THAN ONf I We've tal ked a bout the b reath a n d its relationsh i p to our state of m i n d . We've learned the two m ost fu n d a m e ntal pra naya ms: B reath of Fi re, the p ranayam that strengthens the nervou s system a n d expands you r l u n g capa­ city, and Long Deep B reath i n g . Now let's tal k about why you have two nostri ls and then learn how to use them individually. 29 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

TO KNOW

You r body tem pe ratu re is reg u l ated by the flow of the p ra n a t h ro u g h a lternate n ostrils. They fu n ction somewhat l i ke a n a i r-con dition i ng u n it a n d a fu rnace, tu rn ing on a n d off, switc h i n g back a n d forth from h eati n g to cool­ i n g every two a nd a h a lf h o u rs, keeping you r tem pe ratu re n o r m a l and you r energ ies i n balance. You r pitu itary gland - the master g la nd of the body - serves as the thermostat to control the switches. The left nostri l d raws i n the cooling, soothi ng, m i nd -expan d i ng energy of the moon. It is the "water" ele­ ment. The rig ht nostril draws on the sun's energy. This is for vitality, activity, and menta l alertness; it h eats the body. You can experiment right now and fin d out which ��"" of you r nostri ls is working. P lace a finger u nderneath you r nose a n d gently exhale. You wi l l d iscover that the a i r is flowing mostly out of only one nostri l . The rig ht nostril controls o u r energy level and the left controls o u r emotions. Conseq uently, if we a re ti red, breathi ng long and deep th roug h the rig ht nos­ tril wi l l g ive us added energy. B reath ing th rough the left nostri l can calm us down when we are u pset a n d emotional, a ngry, frightened, or j ust g e ne rally d is­ turbed . Although you r body has its own rhyth m for a utomatica l ly alternati ng n os­ trils for breath ing, there a re times when you wil l benefit from consciously con ­ trolling this function . M any pranayams use one, both, or alternate nostrils, depending u pon the effect desired .

LfFT NO�TRIL BRfATHI NG : CALM DOWN AND COOL OFF If you're u pset, ang ry, ag itated, menta l ly/emotionally d istu rbed, or just plain moving too fast and fee l i ng p ressu red a n d stressed out, try th is: Find a private place where no one wil l d isturb you, and take five m i n utes for th is pranayam . Sit with you r spine straight. Using the thumb of the right hand, keeping the other fi ngers together and pointing straight u pward l i ke a nten nae, close you r rig ht nostril . Begin long deep breath i n g i n and out through the l eft n ostril only. 30 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPTfR 4

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BRI:ATH OF UF£

TWENTY-SIX long deep breaths through the left nostri l wi l l do the job. When you are calm, then you can decide how to deal with whatever situation req u i res you r action, because you won't be triggered into any emotional knee-jerk response.

ALT�RNAT� NO�TRIL BR�ATHING: £N£RGIZ£ AND CALM TH£ N£RVOU!'! !'!Y!'!TfM Here's a b reathi n g tec h n i q u e using alternate n ostri ls to soothe a n d ca l m a n d at the same ti m e energ ize you r whole nervous system . I t works because the energy of you r nervous system is d i rectly p ro po rtional to you r b reath . I n only three to five m i n utes you can revital ize you r whole nervou s system . This particular tec h n i q u e can come i n h a n dy when you feel "off-cen te r" a n d yet h ave t o fu nctio n a t you r job, or i n school, or a t h o m e . S u p pose y o u h ave an i m portant business meeti n g sched u le d but you ' re feeling extrem ely n e r­ vous a n d i rritable. This p ra nayam ca n h e l p you ca l m d own so you can be effective in you r com m u n i cation at that m eeti n g . H e re's how: Sit comforta bly with you r spine stra i g ht. Use you r th u m b and i n dex fin g e r o f t h e rig ht h a n d . M a ke a " U " o f you r t h u m b a n d forefi nger. U s e the th u m b to close off the rig ht n ostri l w h i l e b reath i n g i n o r out th ro u g h the l eft n ostri l, and the i nd ex fi nger to close off the l eft n ostri l w h i l e b reathi n g in or out thro u g h the rig ht nostri l . Keep you r othe r h a nd i n you r l a p, or resti n g on you r l eft knee. The b reath seq uence goes l i ke this: Close the left nostri l; i n ha l e deeply th ro u g h the rig h t n ostri l . At the com ­ p letion of i n ha lation, close t h e rig ht n ostril a n d exh a l e th ro u g h t h e l eft o n e . N ow i n h a l e th rough t h e l eft n ostri l fu l ly a n d deeply. T h e n close the l eft n os­ tril and exhale th rough the rig ht o n e . Aga i n, i n hale th ro u g h the rig ht n ostri l 31 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Etornal Powor

THING� TO KNOW

a nd exhale th rough the l eft. Conti n u e this b reath i n g pattern for th ree to five m i n utes. B reathe fu l ly on both i n h a lation a n d exhalatio n cycles. After th ree to five m i n utes, i n ha l e d ee ply, h o l d the b reath in for a few seconds, then l ower the h a n d a n d exhale th ro u g h both nostri ls. Relax a n d fee l g reat!

"TH� ON� M I N UT� YOG I " Catch youn,:glf brgath i n g ! When you' re wa lking d own t h e street, sittin g i n a resta u rant, open ing you r m a i l, waitin g for the l ig ht to cha nge, d u ri n g the TV com mercial- catch you rse lf b reath ing ! Wake u p to the fact that you a re b reath i n g a nd therefore you a re al ive. Reme m ber WHO is g ivi ng you each i n halation, and say "Th a n k You ! "

Meditation on the breath i!: one of the highe!:t form!: of meditation. Never Undere!:timate The Power of Your Breath.

32 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPHR 4

f=' R

•

A N A

God is not off somewhere Inaccessible and far. Each inhalation confirms God's presence in you Right here, right now, right where you are. Why should Truth between man and God Not be spoken aloud? What is that lie man told to man To keep him from feeling proud?Proud of the God Who breathes within Divine Being of Light Covered with skin. When a body "dies " there 's still air inside What's gone is PRANA, essence of life itself, Can't be bought with the greatest wealth. Prana, subtle essence of God Primal energy released when the atom was split Basic building block of the universe All human life depends on it. God's loving gift of life constantly renewed, Power to hear and see and sayHow you choose to use it liberates or condemns you Moment to moment, every day. Take away Prana,

Breathe slowly, breathe deeply

Only a shell remains

Your mind will be calm

No matter what wealth

Besides, you 'll live longer

Or material gains.

And seldom be wrong.

Value your breath, it's sacred, it's pure If there's anything Divine in you - it's your breath for sure! 33 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPITR 5

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MANTRA

5

Mantra

HI!!TORY. MYTH.

"Magie Word�··

l[G[ND

One story I read when I was a child told about a beautifu l princess who was held prisoner in a tower. She gai ned her freedom by guessi ng the name of her captor. (It was " Rumplesti lskin," i n case you've forgot­ ten .) Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves fou n d the treasure cave by sayi ng the magic words, "Open sesame," whereupon a h idden door miracu lously a ppeared . These words were, in effect mantras. It's no fairy tale, it's a fact, when you know the "magic" words, you can fi nd the hidden treasure! The scientific use of sou nd to affect consciousness is called Mantra Yoga. Next to b reathing (necessary for any endeavor), the use of Mantra is the most i m portant aspect of the practice of Kundalini Yoga . "MAN " means mind. "TRA" means t o tu ne the vibration (j ust a s one tu nes the strings of a gu itar). Mantra is a sou n d cu rrent wh ich tunes and controls mental vibration. It is the "di rective psyche, " a word or words, combinations of syl lables, wh ich ..Manfram !:iddhyam, help focus the mind. Such words have enor­ !:iddhyam Parame!:hwaram. '' mous power. "What does it mean to master a m antra? HQ who magfQrg m antra . When you have repeated it so m uch, so often, magfgrg God H i mgeJf. and so wel l that you hear it with i n you r being, and it comes handy to you - especial ly at the moment of death - you have mastered a mantra ." 1 35 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

Claims for mantras may seem like mi racles, but mantras a re actua l ly form u­ las that work accord i ng to physical and metaphysical laws. " Repeati ng a mantra (aloud) restructu res the patterns i n the m ind that allow experience. Silence makes you aware of the many experiences in the m in d . "2

GOOD VIBf� I We l ive in a sea of energy. Energy vibrates. Everythi ng i n the m a nifest cre­ ation is vibrating. Even seemingly solid, inanimate objects a re constantly vib rat­ i n g . They a re simply vibrating at a slower or lower freq uency than a n i m ate objects. Some vib rations a re audible, they a re sou nds we can hear with our ears. Thoughts a re silent sou nds, electromag netic vib rations. The higher the fre­ quency, the less dense and more etheric the quality of the vib rations we hear and speak, the more our own vib rational freq uency is raised . Raisin g our own vib ration brings us closer to experiencing and merging with the highest vibra­ tion of all, GOD, the original cause of the creativity of the u niverse. O u r e ntire u n iverse was b u i lt on sou nd, on vi b ration . Puttin g it poetica l ly : G od spoke, a n d t h e world cam e into bei n g . O r, m o re p recisely, God vib rated, a n d a l l the u n iverses a n d worlds, sol a r systems, ocea ns, l a n d, a n d s ky, a n d the myriad of beings that i n h a b it the m a p pea red . There's a vibratory freq u e n cy that corre­ sponds to everyth i n g in the u n iverse. By vibrat­ i n g a particu l a r com bination of sou n d s, you tu n e in to va rio u s l evels of i ntel l i g en ce, or consc i o u s n ess. S ituations, people, and events respond to the sig n a ls you send out. The vib ratory fre q u ency of a m a n tra d raws to you whateve r y o u a re vibratin g . You a re l i ke a m a g n et attracti n g vib rations to you by what you sen d out. Cha nti n g m a ntra s, either silently o r a l o u d, is a conscious m ethod of contro l l i n g and d i recti n g you r m in d . H a p p i n ess o r sor­ row, joy or reg ret a re vibrato ry freq u e n cies i n the m i n d . We ca n ca l l t h e m atti­ tudes, or beliefs, but fu n d a m ental ly, they a re vibratory frequenci es or tho u g ht 36 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

CHAPITR 5

•

MANTRA

waves. They d eterm i n e the k i n d of p rogram o u r m i n d "plays . " Wh ich scen a rio we choose to hold o n to becom es our vi b ration, d efi nes h ow we fee l a n d what w e p roject t o others . We c a n exercise o u r rig ht t o choose a t a ny ti m e . When w e chant a mantra w e a re choosing to invoke t h e positive power con­ tained in those particular syl lables. Whether it's for prosperity, peace of m i nd, i ncreasing i ntu ition, or a ny of the other m u ltitude of possible benefits i n herent i n mantras, simply by chanting them we a re setting vibrations into motion that shall have an effect. It doesn't actually matter if we u nderstand the meaning of the sou nds or not. We are creating with every word we spea k, and even with every word we thi n k. Words a re l i ke boomerangs, every vi bration we send out shall com e back to us sooner or later. We get what we tune in to.

YOUR P�R�ONAl MANTRA Some people thi n k they need a personal mantra. Actua l ly whatever mantra you chant becomes you r personal mantra ! As the Master of Ku ndal ini Yoga h im­ self has said: "The word ' mantra' means mental vi bration to the infin ite m i n d . It's a direct con nection between G o d and you . Mantra is personal. It affects us personally. Its vibrations a re personal. Because, if it is you r heartline telephone, and you're dialing it, a n d you' re reach i ng God, it's not m ine, and it's not a nybody else's. It's you rs." 3 "The conversation of the m ind with the sou l is the essence of mantra . Mantra means to project and protect the m i n d . It gives the m i n d d i rection . . . When lang uage a n d rhythm blend to i nstil l a thought at the deepest level, it is a powerfu l "Day by day in every way. mantra. It i s sacred speech . It is a special use of rm getting bgtfgr and b etter." lang uage. "4

TH� POW�R OF PO�ITIV� THI NKING WORK� Dr. Emil Coue created a major sensation in the early part of the twentieth century when h is affi rmation, " Day by d ay in every way, I ' m getti ng better and 37 l
better, " beca me the rage. The concept of positive th i n king seemed revolution­ a ry! Dr Normal Vincent Peale reached m i l l ions of people with h is famous best sel ler, The Power of Positive Thinking. Dale Carnegie appl ied these same princi­ ples in his How to Win Friends and Influence People. These men d iscovered and taught the creative power of words. The yogis u nderstood this power very wel l . I n yogic terms, positive th i n king i s the substitution of a positive thoug ht wave i n the m i n d for a negative one. Positive affi rmation is a form of mantra . Positive words c a n heal, uplift, and inspire. The other s i d e of the c o i n is that careless, u n ki nd, negative words can h u rt. Words a re l i ke sharp tools, which people can use like a s u rgeon's sca l pel to save a l ife, or a butcher knife to � "-..� kill . It's been said, "The pen is m ightier than the sword ."5 Each word we th i n k or say l iterally starts a creative p rocess i n the u niverse. Don't u nderestimate you r power of the Word . Be carefu l what you say. I n fact, be especial ly carefu l wh at you pray for, you're l iable to get it!

WHY DON'T Wf CHANT IN fNGU!!H? Sometimes we do. However, to achieve the g reatest i m pact on our con­ sciousness, we use mantras in G u rban i, a language based on the science of NAAD. These mantras are the most effective. Affi rmations and m antras i n Eng l ish certainly have a n effect on our m inds a n d emotions, but t h e most pro­ found changes in our consciousness take place on a m uch deeper level. The actual chem istry of the brain has to change for us to experience I nfi n ity.

THf !!Ci fNCf OF NAAO "Naad means harmony, a p rocess of harmony th rough wh ich the "Aad, " the I nfin ity, can be experienced . N aad is the basic sound for all lang uages th rou g h a l l times. Th is sou nd comes from one com mon sou rce cal led t h e sou n d current. It is the u n iversal code beh i nd language and therefore behind h u ma n com m u ­ n ication . "The Science of Naad works between the movement of the ton g ue i n the mouth, th rough lang uage, and chemicals in the b rai n . There is no nerve con­ necting system from one section of the brain to a nothe r. There is no wi ring, 38 l
CHAPTfR 5

o

MANTRA

instead there is a sol ution, neu ro-transmission fluid. Different chemical liquids a re secreted from all d ifferent parts of the brain . Messages are tra nsmitted very fast from each part of the brain th rough the fl u ids which are cal led " N aad Nam odam Rasaa. " Naad means com m u nication, namodam means add ressing and rasaa means j uice ... " 6

COMBI NATION LOCK In addition to the vibrations set in m otion, someth i n g else h a p­ pens when you cha nt. This is real ly i m portant. There a re eig hty-fou r m e ri d i a n poi nts, o r p ressu re poi nts i n the roof of the m outh . Every ti m e you speak you sti m u l ate them with the ton g u e . By sti m u lati n g these p ressu re poi nts o n t h e u pper pa late i n a particular seq u en ce, using the rig ht access code, you i n c rease the secretion of the hypo­ thala m us g la n d and a ctua l ly b ri n g a bout a c h a n g e in the perm utatio n a n d com bi n atio n o f you r b ra i n cel ls. You affect t h e chemistry o f t h e b ra i n . W h e n g ivi n g i n structions for c h a nti n g certai n m a n tras, Yog i B haja n has been specif­ ic i n sayi ng," Use the ti p of you r ton g ue . " "Yo u ca n feel t h e u pper palate with t h e ton g u e a n d experi ence its d iffer­ ent s u rfaces. There a re two rows of meridian poi nts on the u pper pa l ate a n d o n t h e g u m beh i n d t h e u pper teeth . T h e ton g u e sti m u lates those m e ri d i a n poi n ts, a n d they i n t u r n sti m u late the hypotha l a m us w h i c h m a kes t h e p i neal gland rad iate. When the p i n ea l gland rad iates, it c reates a n i m p u lsati o n in the p itu ita ry g la n d . When the pituitary g la nd g ives i m p u lsation, the enti re g l a n ­ d u l a r system secretes a n d a h u ma n being obta i n s b liss. T h i s is the scie n ce . " 7 It's as if you h ave a n electro n i c, com puterized secu rity system i n you r m outh . P u nch i n the rig ht code o n the u pper pa late a nd you g a i n e ntry to the b ra i n and you r i n ner c h a m bers of h i g h e r consciousness! When we chant, we a re also using p ra n a, the l ife force of the u n iverse ("ato m ic energy") to create a sou n d c u rrent. No wonder chantin g is so pow­ erfu l .

39 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of f.ternal Power

KNOW

TfCHNICAl TfRM� (in eagQ you'rQ intQrQgfQd) K I N D!! OF !!OUND We usually thi n k of sou nd as audible but sound can also be subtle. It can be vi brated with one part of you, or with you r whole self. The yogis define several d isti nct kinds of sound or shabd . • BHAKRH�: Using the tip of the tongue to form the syl lables aloud is cal led "Bhakree. " It is the easiest way to chant.

• KHANT: This is the sound cu rrent that you hear in you r mind when you read silently, without moving you r l i ps. It is subliminal vocal ization . The "sound" is silent, but the syl lables vi brate at you r Th roat Chakra (Fifth Center of Consciousness).

HARDAY: This is the sound cu rrent that vibrates in the heart. Th is is how a mother can "hear" the voice of her wou nded son crying out from the battlefield six thousand m iles away. •

ANAHAT: This sound cu rrent is sometim es cal led the "Unstruck M elody. " It is when the mantra resou nds i n every atom and fiber of you r being; every nerve is attu ned to it. Its vib ration becomes a part of you . It is a n in ner sou n d . It i s created when the sound i s produ ced from the navel center (Nabhee) using the tip of the tongue. Th is combination triggers the higher glands to prod uce the "nectar of bliss, " a m rit. •

Because of its power, the science of mantra was kept a carefu l ly guarded secret in the Orient for thousands of years, but Yogi Bhajan has ope n ly taught the "secret code" words and the techology to open the doors of our i n ner per­ ception . His attitude is, "What is that Truth between God and man wh ich can­ not be spoken aloud?" In the Things To Do section you wil l find the mantras I 've selected to share with you, with detailed instructions on how to chant them for the best results .

40 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

C.HAPITR 6

•

C.ONQU[R TH[ MINO

6

Con qu(!t th(! M ind, You Conqu(!t th(! Wotld 1 "Mind your own bu�in����� UMind your mann�r�'' .. M ind ov�r maff4lr" "'N �v�r msn d . . ." .. Mind your moth�rl" .. 1 don't mind if I do . . ." ·

C

o ntrary to popu l a r belief, you r m i n d is n ot you . You r identity is m u ch m o re permanent tha n that. Th i n k h ow often you r m ind c h a nges (or you "cha nge you r m i n d ") . But you r i d entity d oesn 't change. You ' re sti l l "yo u , " n o m atter what you r m i nd is th i n ki ng, p l a n n ing, advising, o r a rg u­ i n g a bo ut. j ust as you r physical body is not "you," neither is you r mind. It is eq u a l ly a veh icle, to help you fu nction here on earth. It's supposed to be you r useful servant, you r friend, not you r boss! H ave you ever watched you r m ind? It can be a very educational experi­ ence! The very fact that "you" can watch you r m i n d demonstrates that the mind is not you . The mind is someth ing separate from you, an "object" that you can observe. M astering the mind is one of the aims of Kundalini Yoga (or a ny yoga) because u ntil you can control the mind, you can 't get beyond it to liberatio n . Liberation is the experience of you r own i nfin ity, a n d l ies beyond t h e m i n d . That doesn't mean that you th row away t h e m i nd, or destroy it, or s u p­ press it. I n fact, you want to make the m ind sharper, clearer, and even more useful than ever. 41 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Hornal Powor

TO KNOW

You can use the breath to control the mind, for the mind always follows the breath and the body fol lows the m i n d . Self-mastery starts with the b reath . If you haven 't a l ready done so, please go back .,.Thg m i nd bgl!omg� a mon�tgr whgn and read the chapter on breath . And look u p the Basic Breath Series that is especially it bgl!omg� your ma�tgr. Thg m i nd recom mended to h e l p make the m i nd sharp and clear. i� an anggJ whg n it i� your �grvant. ••

-Yogi Bh�an

THRff: MIN D!! ARf B fTTfR THAN O N f C.ON!!CIOU!! M I N D!! You actually have th ree m inds (no wonder sometimes it's so hard to "make up you r m i nd"). Count 'em : 1 . The first mind is your p rotector, it acts as an alarm system . It is called the N egative M i n d . It warns you of the d a nger or d isadvantage i n any u pcom in g situation or d ecision . It's val uable. You need it. It's the ;: m i n d that keeps you from ste p pi n g i n front of m ovin g trains. B ut · �� ';/ � J you d o n 't want to m a ke it the fin a l a uthority i n you r l ife. When carried to extrem es it cou l d m a ke you afrai d of trains that a re DANGER sta n d i ng sti l l . �� 2 . The second m i n d is the Positive M i n d . Th is is the m i n d that ·��-reveals to you the possible g a i n or a dvantage you can get out of a situation . It should start com m u n icati ng with you with i n a few seconds, a l m ost i m m ed i­ ately after the N egative M i n d h as g iven its i n p ut. By a l l m eans l isten to you r Positive M i n d, but don't act yet. After you receive a l l the pros a n d cons, you sti l l d o n 't know enough to m a ke a d ecision, u ntil you fin d out what you r th i rd m i n d has to say. 3 . You r th i rd m i n d is you r N eutral M i n d . It is n ot clouded by fea r a n d i nse­ cu rity. It's not fooled by wishfu l th i n k i n g . Its o n ly bias is to p rovid e the best, m ost conscious, wise sol ution to a ny p roblem . This is the m i n d you can trust. It has you r best interests at heart (an d in m ind).

f?:J;f::: /

.. __ .

��..?!_. . -·

42 l
C.HAPTI:R 6

•

C.ONQUI:R THI: MIND

Whether it's in you r business or personal relationshi ps, health, or where to spend you r vacation, in order to determine what's really best for you now and for the future, you not only need to be aware of what opinion is held by the Positive M i nd and what opinion is held by the N egative M ind, you also need to consult you r Neutral or Med itative M i n d for a d ecision. The p ractice of Kundalini Yoga h e l ps to develop the Neutral or Meditative M i n d so that it becomes more and more powerful and active and you can go to it very q uickly for problem-solving advice .

!!UB-CON!!CIOU!! M I N D I n addition to you r conscious m ind, you also have a very active su b-con ­ scious m i n d and deeper tha n that, a vast subterranean a rea of t h e unconscious. The conscious mind is just the tip of the iceberg . Most of what motivates us is below the surface. A h uge proportion of our beh avior is d ictated by promptings we get from the sub­ conscious m ind, wh ich doesn 't know fact from fiction. It is a catch-al l for the verbal i n put and even the nonverbal in put we receive constantly. It doesn't j udge what it receives, a nd pretty m uch accepts everything as gospel, coloring our habits of th i n king, speaki n g, and acting - with its l i m ited u nderstanding. You can use the gullibility of the subconsc ious to heal yourself. If you repeat "I am perfectly healthy" over and over, even while you're running a fever of 1 03°, you r subconscious will believe it and you wil l heal faster. Whatever the subconscious mind bel ieves, the body tends to manifest. "As above, so below. " Another reason why positive affirmation works! But u ntil we get rid of the fea r and the neuroses in the subconscious we are very handicapped in our l ives. Th i n k a bout a n elephant. They say elephants never forget (neither do people). H ave you ever wondered why a h uge two thousand pound elephant wil l stand so obediently i n one place, tied to a short stake i n the g round, held only by a thi n chain a round its a n kle? The elephant doesn 't try to move, because he has been p rog ram med to believe he can 't. 43 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow o f ftomal Powor

THING�

TO

KNOW

How? Simple. The baby elephant is tied to the stake when he is very you n g . Whenever he tries to move, t h e chain bites i nto h is leg . He can't get away, because he's not strong enoug h . Every time he tries to move, he gets h u rt - a lot. The elephant very q uickly catches on to the fact that movi ng is pai nfu l . I n order to avoid getting h urt, h e gives u p tryin g . Even after h e has g rown to fu l l size, a n d cou ld easily tear out the chain, a long with the post, a n d probably the whole circus tent, this gigantic, powerfu l elephant doesn't even try to get free, because he believes he can't. Similarly, we let ou rselves suffer from low self-esteem, thi n k of ourselves as "si n ners, " and accept defeat or fai l u re because our su bconscious m inds have accepted these false concepts. We bel ieve thi ngs that we've been told, th i ngs we may not even consciously remember heari n g . You c a n go to a psychiatrist or psycholog ist and spend a lot of hou rs and a lot of dollars to sort through and examine the self-defeating attitudes in the sub­ conscious. Or you can use the techniques of meditation and mantra, d issolve the pain, and just get rid of the garbage that is clogging u p you r su bconscious m i n d .

WH�R� DO THOUGHTf! COM� FROM? The intellect releases one thousand thoughts per wink of the eye. Yes, every­ one-geni us, idiot, and the rest of us in between, each person gets one thousand thoug hts every time he or she blinks! And these thoughts have to be processed .

WH�R� DO THOUGHTf! GO? Each thought becomes either a • Feeling • Emotion or • Desire When you r desires don't work out, you feel u pset. When you don't h ave intuition to guide you, mostly you won 't get you r desires fulfi lled . U nfu lfi l led desire becomes neurosis, and that can d evelop into psychosis. All thoug hts and feel ings go i nto the su bconscious. When that gets fi l led u p to ove rflowing, the excess spills into the u n conscious, and that becom es the sou rce of n ightmares for you . Once they fal l into the u nconscious, those atti­ tudes, feelings, and habits a re extremely d ifficult to reach to change or modify, 44 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPHR 6

•

CONQUI;:R THf MIND

m uch l ess eliminate. That is why it is so essential for san ity and survival to clear out the su bconscious on a regular basis, to prevent that "overload" of thoughts and feeli ngs going into the u nconscious.

D��P C.l�AN I NG I� N OT JU�T FOR �PR I N G Sadh ana, the daily practice of med itation/mantra, i s o n e of the best, most efficient housecleaning services for the su bconscious corridors of you r m i n d . Because sadhana i s a cleansing process, you h ave t o b e prepared for t h e d ust to fly. That's why meditating is not necessarily blissfu l . Old fears, buried a nger, deep negative emotions a re broug ht u p to the su rface by the process so that the power of the mantra can d issolve them . (One vi bration d issolvi ng/absorbing the other.) Otherwise they remain bu ried and becom e more deeply entrenched in you r su bconscious, or become a permanent part of you r unconscious, causing you even g reater suffering and u n happiness.

FOC.U� O N MANTRA When painful, negative thoughts and feelings come out, let them go on by. Keep b ringing you r mind back to focus on the mantra you a re chanti n g . And keep on chanting! This is su bstituting the positive thought wave of the mantra for the negative thought waves in you r m i n d . The high vibration of mantra, l i ke a good detergent, d issolves the g reasy, g ri my, painfu l thought waves. It's a p rocess. Go th rough it. Supposing you're just sitting and worrying, or you wake up with doubt or fea r in you r mind. "You can, by you r free wil l, create the thought that 'God is with me. God and me, me and God a re One.' To every thought that comes, if you m eet it with th is thoug ht, you wil l be plus, not m i n us . . . . Because you a n d G o d together wil l b e meeting t h e thoug ht, a n d y o u wi l l win ." 2

H OW TO WI N Choose an affirmation or mantra (See Chapter on Mantra and also the Persian Wheel Mantra) to use whenever you catch you r m i n d i n a negative mode. Use it so m uch that it becomes "second n ature" to you . Let that sound cu rrent carry away you r worry or confusion, doubt or fea r! 45 l
KNOW

Here are two �imple �ample �ound current� to clear your mind:

"GOD AND Mf, Mf AND GOD ARf ONf" Bo gum to affirm thig with eongeioug aeeoptaneo that ifg truo!

''ANG �NG WAJif GURU" (pronouneod Ung S!ung Waahay G'roo) {"God i!: in every limb, every part, every fiber of my being. "}

46 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPUR 7

•

MY!!URIOU!! KUNDALINI

7

M y�t�riou� Kundalini "Where fhere 'g magfery, fhere 'g

no

mygfery.

''

-Yogi Bh�an

K

u nd a l i n i energy is real . It is powerfu l, a n d it's flowi n g th roug h you r body rig ht n ow. It feeds you r entire n e rvou s system . For centu ries, k n owledge a bout it was kept secret because of its tremendous power. B ecau se of the secrecy a n d lack of accu rate i nformation, m a ny fa lse rep re­ sentations h ave been put forth by otherwise respectable, so-cal led a uthori­ ties. Someti m es people have had s ponta n eous experiences of the kundali n i energy risi ng, b u t h ave not h a d t h e p repa ration a n d u nd ersta n d i ng t o p ro p­ e rly i nteg rate a n d use the energy. That is w hy Yog i B hajan 's teachings a re so val uable a n d i m portant. U nder his g u i d a nce as m aster of Ku n d a l i n i Yoga, worki n g with the kunda l i n i energy becom es si m pl e, the raisi n g of the ku n­ d a l i n i h a p pens very easily, and the positive i nteg ration of the ta lents i n her­ ent i n the various chakras takes place a l m ost a utom atica l ly. Usi n g h is m ethod of teachi ng, p ractical ly a nyone can p ractice K u n d a l i n i Yoga . (If I can d o it, a ny bo dy ca n .) Let m e repeat, raising the ku n d a l i n i is relative ly si m ple. Keeping it flow­ i n g so that a l l the energy centers (ch a kras) a re o p e n a n d ba l a n ced is m o re of a cha l le n g e . To u n derstan d the val u e of this, we n eed to know more a bout the cha kras a n d especi a l ly the fu n ction of the p i n ea l a n d pituita ry g la nds. (See chapter on Chakras.) So, bea r with m e t h ro u g h this n ext "scientific" sec­ tio n . Lea rn h ow the g la nds, the c h akra s, a n d the " mysterio us" ku n d a l i n i a l l work together t o i m pact you r awaren ess. A n d y o u c a n learn som e yogi c terms. 47 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

Fi rst of a l l, the word ku n d a l i n i (fe m i n i n e gender) l itera l ly means, "the c u rl of the lock of hair of the beloved . " I t is a m etaphor, a poetic way of d escribing the flow of energy a n d consciousness wh ich a l ready exists withi n each one of us. S i nce a n cient ti m es, sacred truths h ave been hidden from the com m on m a n by usi n g sym bols a n d metap h o rs to pass along the knowledg e . H ave you ever n oticed t h e sym bo l p ri nted o n t h e p rescri pti o n you get from you r d octor? It's cal l a "Ca d u ceus. " It rep resents t h e flow of ku n d a l i n i energy. Th is ancient sym bo l o f the m ed ical p ro­ fession sh ows two serpents i ntertwi ned a ro u n d a staff. But, ku n d a l i n i is not s n a kes! It's just that i n mythology a n d fol klore, serpents a re often associated with wisdom, a n d the route the ku n d a l i n i energy trav­ els as it goes u p a n d d own the spine is serpenti ne. The Cad uceus rep re­ sents the ris i n g of the ku n d a l i n i energy th ro u g h two n e rve c h a n nels that i nte rtwi ne a ro u n d the centra l n e rve of the spinal col u m n . These two nerves act a s m a i n cond u ctors . O n e of them is cal led the Ida, the other, the Pingala. Each of them m a kes two and one- h a lf turns a ro u n d the centra l col­ u m n of the spine (Sh us h m a na), as they spi ra l u pwards from the base of the spine. The ku n d a l i n i energy they carry feeds the entire n e rvous system . The Ida and the Pingala con d u ct the basic positive a n d negative, sol a r a n d l u n a r energ ies of the body. The I da, the nerve wh ich ends at the l eft nostril, brings i n the cooling, sooth i ng, m i n d-expan d i n g energy of the m oon . The Pingala, ending in the right nostril, brings in the stim u lating, energ izin g, heati ng energy of the su n . I n add ition to the ku n d a l i n i energy which is a l ready flowing in us, there is a vast reservoir of u ntap ped, or "dorm ant" kundali­ n i stored u nder the fou rth vertebra of the spinal col u m n . Th rough the p ractice o f Ku n d a l i n i Yog a, w e sti m u late a n d rel ease th is u n used ku n d a l i n i energy, and a l l ow it (it is n ever forced) to rise up the cen tra l col u m n of the spine u ntil it reaches the top of the s k u l l, a ctivat­ i n g the secretio n of the p i n ea l g la n d . This b ri ng s a bout a m ajor c h a n g e 48 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPH:R 7

•

MY!!H:RIOU!! KUNOALINI

of consciousness. Whe n this energy retu rns d own the Ida a n d Pingala a n d activates a n d bala n ces t h e various energy cente rs, there i s a major change i n t h e person 's l ife. Altho u g h there a re cases of t h e ku ndali n i risi n g sponta­ neously, without p u rposefu l spiritua l p ractice, you r reservoir of k u n d a l i n i ener­ gy u s u a l ly rem a i ns d orma nt th roug hout you r enti re l ife. It's l i ke h avi n g a raci n g car a n d n ever g etti n g out of fi rst gear!

RAI!!I NG YOUR KUNDAU N I Raising you r ku ndalini is not d ifficu lt. I t hap pens so natu ral ly when you practice Ku ndalini Yoga that you may not even recog n ize the actual moment that it happens. If you ' re expecti ng bells to ring, can nons to go off or lig hts to flash, forget it. Seeing visions, hearing sou nds, h avi ng some physical sensation might som eti mes happen, and cou ld seem q uite im pressive, but it can also be very m is�wami Vivgkananda gaid . leading. S uch phenomena are not the goal of the practice of --wherever there wa!: any manifegtation Ku ndalini Yoga. There may be of what i!: ordinarily called !:upernatural no physica l sign at all, or possibly j ust a very slight indication . power or wigdom. therg a Iittig currgnt I n case you do experience such of kundalini mugt havg found itg way th i ngs, don't let you rself get sidetracked . They don't prove into the ghu!:hmana . Only. in the vagt a nyth ing. They are not the crim�ority 0f !:UCh cageg, peop 1 e h a d teria for whether the ku ndalini ignorantly !:tumbled on !:orne practice h as rise n . Yog i B haja n ca l ls them "g l itter at the bottom of which ggt freg a minutg portion of thg the ladder. " 1

coilfld up kundalini . All worghip,

congciougly or uncon!:ciougJy. Jgadg to thig gnd :'2 49 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

THING�

TO KNOW

The true te!:t of whether kundalini ha!: been rai!:od i!: in tho con!:i!:tont character and noble behavior of an individual . I !! TH[ KU NDALI N I DANG[ROU!!? The Master answers: " I s money dangerous? It is just a n energy. Ku ndalini is a latent energy that can be used for total consciousness. The only d angerous th ing is the person whose ku ndal ini is raised properly. That person is total ly conscious. He can n ot be l ied to or cheated or political ly swayed . The ku ndalini is essential. As long as you practice a total d iscipline or a com plete and balanced kriya, there is no d if­ ficulty. I n Kundal ini Yoga, you wi l l notice that every meditaion a n d kriya has som e form of mantra i n it. This ensures the cha n nelization of the energy." 3 ·

CR[ATIV[ POT[NTIAl "What ig Kundalini? The energy of the glandular system combines with the nervous system to become more sensitive so that the total ity of the b rain per­ ceives signals and interprets them, so that the effect of the sequence of the cause becomes very clear to the man . In other words, man becom es total ly, wholesomely aware. That is why it is cal led the Yoga of Awareness. As all rivers end u p in the same ocean, all yoga ends u p by raising the ku ndalini i n the m a n . What is t h e ku ndalini? The creative potential of t h e man . " 4

THf IUIDIVINf GLAND�" PITUITARY The pituitary gland, i n addition to bein g the master gland of the body, also controls i ntuition . Sometim es called the "Th i rd Eye, " the sixth energy center of the body (Agia or Ajna Chakra) i nvolves the pituitary gland.

50 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o fHemal Power

PINf.AL The pi neal gland is associated with the seventh energy center, the S hashara Chakra, sometimes cal led the "Thousand Petal led Lotus," "Te nth G ate, " "Gate Of Salvation," or "Crown Chakra . " (The soft spot on the top of a newborn baby's head, the fontanel, is at the 7th center.)

51 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING� TO KNOW

BALANC� I n Ku ndal ini Yoga, balance is extremely i m po rtant. That is why we teach a total l ifestyle, rather than just focusing on exercises to raise the ku ndalini ener­ gy. Everyth ing we do in our l ives affects our ku ndalini energy, and o u r kundali­ n i energy affects everyth ing we do in our l ives. The vi brations of every word we speak, every thought we th i n k, i nstantly raises or lowers our ku ndal i n i . It is as if we are reg isteri ng our thoughts, moods, words, and actions on the most del icate and sensitive thermometer ever invented . It responds instantly to the slightest change in our vibration . Keeping the ku ndal ini thermometer u p requ i res monitoring every thought and word, otherwise, our vibration or freq uency d rops, or falls into the lower chakras. Al l the chakras are valuable, and we need to use all of them, but when the ku ndalini energy is primari ly focused in our lower chakras, and we do not exercise a ny control over them, then we become slaves to our m inds and emotions. Without the consistency of mainta i n i ng a h ig her perspective by using the neutral m ind, (See Three Minds are Better Than One in Conquer the Mind) there is seldom contentment. No matter what we achieve, what success i n the world we have, it ends u p being hol low u n less we fu lfi l l the sou l's yearn ing to bring higher consciousness into our daily l ives.

The eggential nature of the goul ig purejoy. If I'm not experienl!ingjoy, then I'm not experienl!ing my goul..

52 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow ofHemal Power

CHAPITR 8

•

CHAKRM!

8

Chakra!: {fngrgy �nfgrg) ··where are you at?''

U

nti l Yogi Bhajan taught what the chakras actually are, and how they i nfluence our l ives, I had no desire to explore the labyri nth of Sanskrit terms and esoteric symbology in the yoga books I had seen. The bri lliantly col­ ored lotus flowers, petals decorated with deities, ani mals or other sym bols por­ traying the chakras were very pretty, but I d idn't u n dersta nd what con nection they had to my life. Fortu nately, what he has taught us a bout the cha kras does not req u i re a ny investigation i nto the occu lt. It's not mysterious at a l l . On the contrary, the nature of the chakras and their fu nctions is simple and to the point. The point being: wherever the majority of you r ku ndalini energy is focused or polarized affects the way you a re. The chakras do play a vital role in the way we h u ma n beings fu nction, so let me go into a l ittle d etail and share with you the understa n d i ng the master of Kunda l i n i Yoga has given us. Chakras a re centers of conscious­ ness. They a re focal points of energy which have a d irect, i m mediate and profound effect on our daily l ives.

53 J
TH� �T�RNAL FLOW OF POW�R H u ma n beings have been designed by the Master Arch itect with patterns of energy flows. Energy flows through our spine, th rough our arms a n d legs and through eight specific energy centers, or chakras . Six of the projected centers of consciousness that correspond to these chakras a re located in the body, whi le the seventh is just above the top of the sku l l, and the eighth chakra is the a u ra or mag netic field. The energies of the first five chakras correspond to the five basi c elements of wh ich we are made: earth, water, fi re, a i r, and ether.

WH�R � AR� YOU AT? The particular energy center or chakra where the majority of you r kundalini energy is primari ly focused-or polarized-influences your basic behavior and attitudes. Let me make that even stronger, the chakra that you use as home-base for your kundalini energy pretty much determines the kind of person you are. The location of the major portion of your kundalini energy also accounts for the kinds of situations you attract to you. j ust as in real estate, the th ree most important components are: location, location, location. Events become more understandable when we know where our energy is primarily located . Why? Because energy acts like a mag­ net. We constantly attract vibrations to ourselves that are on the same wave­ length as the chakra from wh ich we are operati ng. These vibrations are experienced as events and situations. People are drawn to us (not necessar­ ily consciously) by the vibrations we project-knowingly or unknowing ly. Yes, it's also true that "opposites attract." Raisi ng our kundalini to activate the neutral mind (sixth chakra) enables us to balance the forces of positive and negative that exist in every situation . Balance is one of the main keys to self-mastery and contentment. The yogi strives to achieve bal­ ance so that he is never th rown off base. In yogic terms it is said, "A yogi is not affected by the pairs of opposites." We practice Kundalini Yoga in order to balance and coordinate the functions _ -�LJt:;;;;::-­ of the lower chakras and to experience the realms of the higher !"" chakras. 54 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPHR 8

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CHAKRA!!

After the ku ndal ini energy rises and becomes accustomed to flowing freely through a l l the chakras, there is a defin ite change of consciousness, a noticeable transformation i n the character of an i nd ividual. The person looks at l ife differ­ ently, feels d ifferent and therefore acts d ifferently. The real "proof" that some­ one's ku ndalini has risen l ies in the u pg rading of that person's attitude toward l ife, h is relationships with other people, and with hi mself. Raising the ku ndalini has Cherdhi Kalaa. "high �pi rit�·· re�ult when to do with spiritual elevation. It is not to be confused with Kundalini returng down through Ida and hea ri n g s o u n d s or see i n g pinga 1 a an d openg a 11 th e ch a k ra�.I visions. Whe n the ku ndalini is a l l owed to rise th roug h the practice of Ku ndalini Yoga, it wil l not make a person weird or u nbalanced. Note that the operative word here is "allowed . " Kundalini Yoga does not force the kundalini to rise; it p repares the body to allow it to rise so that you can experience you r higher consciousness. The object achieved is to coord i nate and balance the fu nctions of the chakras that a re concerned with the needs of daily l ife with the u n iversal consciousness and expansion that a re found i n the higher chakras. When this balance occurs, you become em powered, you a re able to be a com passionate, conscious, and capable h u man bei ng. Some people think that merging with u niversal consciousness is a loss of identity. O n the contrary, it is a loss of l i mitation. It is the discovery and experi­ ence of one's g reater identity, which is i nfi n ite. Succi nctly put, "Sat N a m : Truth is you r identity."

T H f f i G HT C.HAKRA!! As my mother used to say, "There's a tim e and a p lace for everythi n g . " Each chakra has an i mportant and necessary fu nction to perform for us. We need all of them . N o one chakra is better or worse than a nother, no chakra is more i m portant than another. By u nderstanding their pu rpose, we can make the best use of their power. The energy of the fi rst five chakras corresponds to the five elements, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Ether. Thi n k a bout the characteristics of 55 l
THING!!

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these elements and you wi l l have some clues as to the properties of the chakras associated with them .

F I R!!T CHAKRA: farth The first chakra represents the earth element in us. It is located in the rec­ tum at the conjunction of 72,000 nerve endings. We cou ldn't get along with­ out the fi rst chakra . It enables us to eliminate solid waste, a most essential fu nc­ tion of the physical body. The fi rst chakra concerns h ave to do with the basic q uestions of security and su rvival. When function i n g properly, this energy cen­ ter gives a person strength a nd confidence. If it is not fu nctioning properly, a person l ives in fea r and insecu rity and can have a perverted approach to l ife.

!!fCO N D CHAKRA: Wat�r The second projected center of consciousness has to do with the water ele­ ment in our natu re. It is located in the sex organs. When the second chakra is fu nction i ng properly, a person is creative and imaginative, energized and l ively. Blockages in the second chakra can create an obsession with sex, to the point that noth ing else matters i n the person's l ife. There may also be an u n h ealthy i n d u lgence in many kinds of fantasy, not only sexual fantasy.

TH IRD CHAKRA: Fir� The thi rd chakra represents the fi re element i n us. It is located i n the navel point, a m ajor focal point of energy where all 72,000 nerve endings meet. It controls the fire of d igestion . The energy here is concerned with identity, domain, and j udg ment. If there is a n i m balance, it can manifest in the person 's character as excessive g reed and an overwhelming d rive for personal power. No matter how m uch a person gets, he a lways wants more. Noth ing is ever enoug h, no matter whether it is needed or not. As we do with the energy of all the chakras, we want to harness the energy of the thi rd chakra so we can use it for o u r own benefit. On the positive side, th ird chakra energy gives us in itiative a n d courage. Its fi re can ign ite a burning desire i n us to accomplish g reat deeds and g ive us the zeal to keep u p !

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lO�R TRIANGl� M��T� HIGH�R TRIANGl� Although God can be real ized th rough any one of the chakras, the fi rst th ree chakras are designed mainly to deal with the physical needs and concerns of worldly l ife. It is the fou rth chakra that is the balance point between these lower chakras and the h igher cha kras that are more concerned with u niversal con­ sciousness.

FOU RTH C.HAKRA. or H�ART C.�NT�R: Air The fou rth p rojected center of consci ousness is someti mes cal led the " Heart Center" or the "Center of Christ Consciousness. " It is located at the center of the chest, not i n the physical organ of the heart. The fou rth chakra relates to the element of a i r in us. The power to sacrifice, born of u niversal divine love, comes from this chakra. It is the home of true maternal love. Any selfless act of giving without expectation of retu rn comes from the heart center. It is the a rena of ki ndness (the highest virtue) and com passion . When we tru ly speak " heart to heart" with someone, our lang uage is sweet, kind, and u plifti ng, and the message gets across. When a n awakened h u ma n being dwells i n t h e fourth chakra, he i s accessi ble, con nected, lovi ng, a n d com­ passionate. Some people thi n k of the heart center as the open ing of feeli ngs and emo­ tions. Not true. Actually, it is the second chakra that opens sensory i ntensities, whereas the fou rth chakra gives you a relationsh i p to you r feelings that changes commotion to d evotion . It transforms passion to com passion. Coming from the heart center m a kes you act consciously about the whole range of feelings, it doesn't j ust intensify them.

LOVf

We guffer a great deal in our live!: becau!:e our kundalini energy i!: !:tuck in our lower three chakra!: (the lower triangle), mogt of the time. It i!: only when the heart chakra i!: !:timulated and become!: active. that true love can be experienced. 57 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of f.ternal Power

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What u s u a l ly passes for " love" i n o u r society is, at best, a busi n ess d ea l . It wou l d be m o re accu rately d escri bed as possessiven ess o r l ust. "I'll l ove you if. . . . " Tru e l ove has no bou n d a ri es, no demand s, a n d n o l i m its. I t is a total g iv­ i n g . Total acceptance. Love is b l ind, it d oes n 't q uestion, a n d it d oesn 't fin d fau lt. Very few of u s h ave ever experienced such true l ove, therefore w e d o n 't u n d e rstan d it. The saints a n d masters who h ave offered it to h u m a n ity h ave usua l ly been crucified .

··ro liv� ig to lov� . to lov� ig to giv�. to giv� ig to hav� lov� ." 1

F I FTH CHAKRA. thg THROAT CHAKRA: t:thg r T h e fifth energy center has to do with the power a n d i m pact of speec h . When w e speak from the fifth chakra our words a re d i rect a n d penetratin g . They also may be painfu lly blunt. One of the primary characteristics of this fifth chakra is the power of projection. Anyti me you succeed in penetrating with you r words, the fifth chakra must operate. The fifth chakra com ma nds by the word . Being p rimari ly focused at the throat chakra means we th i n k a bout, tal k a bout, a re interested in nothing but Truth (i.e., God). However, when not fu nc­ tioning properly, the energy here can make us h ig h ly opin ionated and what we com m u n icate is our own personal limited version of "truth . " The fifth chakra g ives access to the a rena of knowledge.

THt: !!IXTH CHAKRA: I ntuition The sixth chakra, or Ajna Chakra, located at the center of the forehead, slig htly a bove the eyebrows, is sometim es cal led the "Th ird Eye. " Here is where we can "see the u nseen, know the u n known . " It is from the sixth chakra that we gain access to, and increase our faculty of, i ntu�"" ition . The sixth chakra is the direct pipeline to the i nfi n ite sou rce of u n i� versa! knowledge and wisdom in each of us. When we function from the sixth chakra we can use our neutral or meditative m i n d; and tap into the knowledge of the past, the present, and the futu re.

�""-"-''� � �

,� � •

� -

·

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As you focus more and more on the sixth chakra, you r intuition becomes more active, and you wi l l increasingly recogn ize and cherish breath, l ife, and i ntuition as gifts you have received. The sixth chakra is the place to set you r goals and assess the long-range effects of your actions. It is the a rena of projection and sophistication . The more we sti m ulate the pitu ita ry gland via the sixth chakra, the more it will secrete, and the more powerfu l ly intuition will serve us. We will just know! I ntuition is a higher faculty than i ntel lect. It is in a d ifferent real m than the i ntel lect. Nor is being i ntuitive the same as being psychic. Psychic power uses energy from, and fu nctions th rough, the th ird chakra, not the sixth . Psychic a bi l­ ities can be very usefu l, but psychic powers have m a ny pitfalls. Being psychic is very i n d ividual and subjective, and there is a broad marg i n for error. Also, there can be a g reat tem ptation to use psych ic power to control other people.

TH� !!�V�NTH CHAKRA Someti mes cal led the "Thousand Petalled Lotus, " the seventh center of con ­ sciousness is a t t h e top of the sku l l . It is also referred t o as the "Gate of Salvation," "Tenth Gate, " or "Crown Chakra . " When a person raises and experiences t h e kundalini energy at the seventh chakra, he or she merges into a state of bl iss (anand) that has been described as "i ndescribable." Hence the mantra of ecstasy, "Wahe G u ru," wh ich means "Wow! The experience of God is so fantastic, wonderful, and g reat I can't d escribe it! " This state of d ivine union is known as "yoga " (sometim es referred to as samadhi) . When a yog i leaves h is body consciously to merge with the I nfin ite, it is th roug h the seventh chakra. These a re the e n l ig htened bei ngs. They teach us that "All th i ngs come from God and all th i ngs go to God . "

�IGHTH CHAKRA: Aura The Eig hth Chakra is the magnetic field generated by the vibrations of a h u ma n being. You r a u ra surrounds you . It norm a l ly extends several feet i n every d i rection. The q ua l ity and size of the aura reveals a lot a bout the person . It is either a projection of power or it can reveal the wea kness and depression of 59 l
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d efeat. This eig hth chakra is you r protective sh ield . It changes in color, strength, and size depend i ng u pon you r general physical health, a nd you r moment-to­ moment thoug hts and feelings. Many people a re a ble to see the a u ra, many a re not - but it's there. Kirlian photog raphy claims to capture the image of the aura on fil m . It is one of the many tech n ical devices people have used to explore ways to reg ister the changes in the a u ra and subtle body. 2 We may not see a person's a u ra, but we can feel it. We a re often attracted or repell ed by someone from our contact with thei r electromag netic field.

BALANC� Once the kundalini has risen u p the central col u m n of the spi n e and then retu rns down the ida and the pingala nerve chan nels to be d istributed a nd bal­ a nced in all the chakras, a person 's l ife takes on a new q ua lity. Not too strong, a nd not too weak, but J U S T rig ht (i n perfect balance), is the way we want a l l of our chakras to fu nction .

CHAKRA�. KUNDAU N I . A N D M Y HAP P I N��� Where my kundalini energy is primari ly focused affects how I am vi brating. Happi ness does not l ive in low vibrations. It can 't exist there. They a re m utual­ ly exclusive. It's a l l a matter of vibration . It's not a matter of moral judgment. It's al most a mathematical eq uation : thoughts and words of kindness, com passion, generosity, love, sacrifice, etc, h ave a high freq uency or vibration; whereas thoug hts, words, and feelings of anger, jealousy, resentment, g reed, egotism, fear, selfish ness, etc. have a very low vibration . And so, of cou rse, when we a re i nvolved in them, they pull us down to our lower chakras. It's al most like a piano keyboa rd . Whatever note you strike, that is what vib rates. When you h it middle "C, " that is where you're at. (Secondari ly, that tone vibrates all those notes that a re in harmony with it, even on other octaves.) You r consciousness is exactly, p recisely at that place, at any g iven moment, where you r thoug hts a nd words a re vib rating.

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61 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Hemal Power

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TO !!UMMARIZ�: You ca n i m p rove you r mood, l ift you r spi rits, a n d b rig hten you r d ay sim­ ply by raising you r ku ndalini e n e rgy. We suffer when we l et the fi rst th ree c h a kras control us, instead of contro l l i n g a n d u s i n g their val u a b l e energ ies for p ositive, constructive pu rposes. Each element has a positive a n d n eces­ sary fu n ctio n in o u r l ives. Watch you rse lf. Are you sta rti n g to get a n g ry? (You know that's bad for the d ig estive system !) Take a few long deep conscious b reaths, b ri n g you r concentratio n up to you r s ixth c h ak ra, and with you r neu­ tral m i n d, decide, d o you real ly want to l ose you r tem pe r? That fire energy ca n be tra n s lated i nto enth usiasm, i n itiative, and cou rage. You can even choose to ta ke th i rd c h ak ra e n e rgy a n d use it to ru n a rou nd the block. Do you r card io-vascular system some good . The point is to be able to c hoose a n d u se, i n stea d of l iving i n self-abuse where y o u l ose contro l . As you read t h e fol lowi n g cha pters, a nd try t h e vari­ ous sets of exercises, you ' l l be auto matica l ly using the energy of each cha kra to work for you, n ot against you . O KAY, you may b e thi n ki ng, that a l l sou n d s very n i ce, but just exactly h ow do we raise the ku n d a l i n i ? It's s i m ­ p l e : G o t o t h e Things To Do sectio n a n d l e a r n t o a pp ly the Root Lock o r M u l B a n d h . The n p ractice Sat K riya . Any exercise i n which you a p p ly the root lock helps to raise the ku n d a l i n i . The root lock closes off the three lower chakras (th e lower tria n gle) and therefore the k u n ­ d a l i n i energy m ust flow u pward . I t is l i ke closing flood gates. There's n owhere to go but u p ! !!at Kriya

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g

�tre!:!:, �tamina & Nerve!: of �feel

W

hen I was a l ittle girl back in M innesota i n the early thi rties, appli­ ances were built to last. I don't remember my mother ever buying a new toaster or a new i ron . But period ically she wou ld show us a frayed electric cord with the fabric wrapped around the cord worn so thi n that the copper wires inside were exposed. She'd say it was time to get a new cord, because a frayed cord was d a ngerous. She explained that without insulation, bare wires coul d cause a short, blow a fuse or even start a fire! I can sti l l pictu re those frayed cords, with their frazzled ends and the ba re wires exposed. When I think about the nerves in our bodies, I see a network of 72,000 "wires" intertwin i ng and con necti ng, carryi ng messages back and forth to the brain and throughout the nervous system . No matter how good our intentions, if our nerves a re weak, frayed and frazzled, we can, and often do, blow a fuse. However, when our nerves a re strong and wel l insu­ lated, they give us physical and emotional endu ra nce. Strong nerves make it possible for us to have patience. Othe rwise, when o u r nerves a re weak, we can fly off the handle at the slightest provocation and easily lose our tem pers. When anyone loses his tem pe r, it means he has lost self control. Unfortu nately, yel l i ng a n d scream i ng in anger cre­ ates a false sense of personal power. That rush of ad rena­ line feels g reat-for the moment. But it doesn't last. When a person gets angry, the adrenals kick i n to fuel the body's automatic defense system . The s u rvival insti nct of "fight or flig ht" triggers secretio n of the a d renal g l a n d s .

'

63 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of f.ternal Powor

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Secreti n g l a rge a m o u nts of a d renaline not o n ly overloads the a d re n a ls, but taxes the pa ncreas as wel l . Those of us with wea k ad re n a ls and those who h ave hypog lycem ia m ig ht just as wel l take poison as g et a n g ry! I t h as the sa m e effect. Self-con trol a n d com mon sense go o ut the wi n dow in a fit of a nge r. The rati o n a l m i n d stops fu n ctio n i n g . People often say and d o thi ngs they d eeply reg ret later. Feel i n gs can be h u rt, a n d long-term relati o n s h i ps can be d a m ­ a g e d o r d estroyed b y careless words spoke n i n the h eat o f the m o m e nt. Apolog izi n g can n ever e rase the i m p ri nt RgJation!:hi pg erumbJg whon of the pa i n that was i nflicted . People m ay forg ive, but they u s u al ly d o n 't forget. I n fact, you givg anggr a tum b Jg . there is a perma n en t l og of every word ever uttere d . I t is cal led the Akashic Record . It's n ot o n paper, but it's there, j u st the sa m e . Vi b rations set i n m otion when we speak d o n 't j u st d isapp ea r. So, if you a g ree anger is d a m ag ing, d oes that m ea n that you s h o u l d stifle you r e m otions? G rit you r teeth, bite you r ton g u e, a n d " stuff it" when you ' re p rovoked o r agg ravated? N o . N ot at a l l . Please rea d o n . There's a better way to deal with frustrati n g situations.

THt;: F IR!!T !!Tt;:P I !! TO B U i lD !!TRONG N t;:RV£!! M ost of us want to be kind, relaxed, and lovi ng people. We want to be wise and patient pa rents, u nderstanding spouses, and good friends. But how can we be a ny of those th i ngs when every nerve is so raw it's sh rieking in pain, and we're "on the edge, " about to "lose it, " most of the ti me?

!!TR£!!!! If our nerves a re not strong enough to withstan d the onslaught of l ife's daily challenges, then we a re going to suffer from the n u m ber one kil ler d isease of modern tim es : STRESS! Every day bri ngs some stressfu l situation, som e test, big or small, wh ich we have to face, to solve, to overcome. That's l ife, fol ks ! Life is a school, and earth is a gia nt classroom and the tests a re going to conti n u e u nti l we g rad uate. The outer events that occur, the daily challenges at h o m e, in the office, the super64 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Hornal Powor

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market, on the freeway, are all tests. They a re exercises i n learn­ ing to master our mi nds and emotions so that we a re not u ptight and u pset. Learni n g how to be patient, cal m, com passionate, and ki nd, no matter what happens around us, or to us, is not only a p ractical accomplish ment. It's a yogic ski l l ! I n California, w e have earthquakes. As yet no one h as fig u red o u t how to p revent them. No one can control them. It has been fou nd that the main cause of inj u ry is not the earthquake itself, but what hap pens when people panic. I nstead of waiting cal m ly for the danger to su bside, when pan ic takes over, peo­ p le ru n madly about and get hit by fal l i ng debris, or electrocuted by l ive wi res. We may not be able to change the circumstances happening a round us, but we can lea rn to control the way we respond. And I don't mean by sq uelching or sti­ fling our reactions or denying our emotions. Developing a strong meditative mind th rough Kundalini Yoga is a major step toward developing our own indomitable inner strength and seren ity with the a bi lity to cal l u pon it when­ ever we need it.

ROBOTIC. R[AC.T I O N

..Don't react-regurrect."

Th rough med itation, mantra, a n d pranayam, we -Yogi Bh�an can tap i nto the a bsol utely cal m and tranquil i n ner peace and stability that already exists inside us. With strong nerves and a balanced glandular system, we won't j ust " react" to situa­ tions. We wi ll be in such a stable and secu re mental a n d e motional cond ition that whatever and whenever challenging events occur, we will be com petent to evaluate our response and decide how we want to handle them. As aware yog is, we can stop bei ng reactive robots, and becom e cal m and capable h u ma n beings, masters of our emo­ tions and m inds. Strong nerves play a big part in helping us to achieve a l l of the above.

65 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

TO KNOW

There may be tim es when you want to act forceful ly, dyna m ically. There a re ti mes when you h ave to be assertive. That is d ifferent from being reactive. People who practice martial a rts know they d i m i n ish their effectiveness if they get angry. They uti l ize the breath to center themselves. They i n hale deeply before a p p ly i n g a ka rate chop or breaki ng cinder blocks with their bare hands. Remembe r, b reath has atom ic power. Use it wisely. There may be tim es when it's use­ ful to let people thi n k you ' re angry. There may be tim es when it's requ i red to yel l and scream . But as for me per­ sonal ly, I h ave had to give u p that "lux­ u ry" because j ust going th roug h the motions of bein g angry, m uch less really feel ing it, m a kes me physically i l l . M y system can't handle the adrenal i ne s o I can 't afford to b e a t the mercy of my emotions. I need to be able to choose i ntel ligently when a n d where and how to respond to all situations. Besides, I don't want to be just a reac­ tive machine, with buttons that a nybody can push. I d efi nitely don't want a nybody to have that kind of control over me! H ow a bout you? You do not have to let you r emotions rule you . You can start by recog­ nizing that you r emotions a re not you . You r emotions a re not you r identity! You can experience them and observe them happening at the same time, just as you wil l learn to observe you r m i n d i n action .

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N fRVf�. M U�Clf�. AND YOGA Our nerves support our muscles and give us endura nce. Endu rance allows us to exercise longer and develop stronger m uscles. When Yogi B haja n was a you n g man i n college in I nd ia, he was an all a rou nd ath lete and track star. He played hockey and was captain of the soccer tea m . He says he used to train for athletic events primari ly by doing yogic breathi ng exercises (pranayam). He knew yoga would give h i m the sta m i­ na and endu rance to win the trophies. And wi n he did ! . I n the "Thi ngs To Do" section of this book, you ' l l find some exercises that a re specifical ly for balancing you r g la n du la r system and strengthening you r nerves. Wil l they real ly work? You'll h ave to practice them to fi nd out. As we keep sayi ng, " Doing is believing." For a fair tria l, g ive you rse lf forty days of reg ular p ractice. It takes that long to develop a habit. It takes n i nety days to confirm it, and after 1 20 days, others wil l verify it!

67 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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68 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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Healing Doctor� diagno�f!. hf!rb�

&

mf!dicinf!�

curg , hgaJ ing i� a g ift of God .

F:

rom time i m memorial, there have been "healers, " people who seem to have a special gift to ease pain, bring comfort, and cu re others . Yet no person is real ly a healer however, everyBODY can be a healer, including you and me. Each of us can i ncrease o u r a bi lity to brin g m o re h ea l i n g e nergy to o u r­ selves a n d to oth e rs . We can d o this by tap p i n g i nto the sou rce of a ll h ea l i n g power, t h e O n e C reator who b reathes i n each o f u s, reg enerati ng u s with each i n ha lation . What d oes " heali n g " mean? H ea l i ng means b ri n g i n g l ife to a situation o r condition that i s d eteriorati n g . H ea l i n g means rep a i ri ng, rej uvenati n g, regen­ erati ng . Th rough the practice of Ku ndalini Yoga kriyas, breathi n g tech niques, and mantras, we increase the l ife force, the pra na, flowing th rough our bod ies . It flows th roug h our hands, our eyes, even our voice. We can use these as tools to heal ourselves and others. Th rough the use of words vi brating i n the form of m antra : positive affir­ mations and positive thi n king, we can hea l . Every word has its own wave­ length, or frequency of vi bration . Every word is a sound cu rrent (even if inaudi­ ble) which sets energy i nto motion . Th is energy goes out i n ri pples or waves and (to switch analogies in mid-ocean) the vibrations eventu a l ly retu rn to us like a boomerang, b ringing more of the same. There is power i n positive thi n k­ ing and positive affi rmations! That power can work to expedite the heal ing process for ourselves and others. 69 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

KNOW

��lF- H �AliNG Do y o u bel ieve it? C a n you accept the fact that no matter what t h e outer ci rcu mstances in you r life may appear to be, you h ave a rig ht to be, Healthy, Happy and Holy? Even if you ' re feeling lousy, especi a l ly if you a re fee l i n g lousy, a n d you' re ru n n i ng a fever of 1 0 3 · deg rees; o r y o u just b ro ke you r a rm a n d l ost you r job, the truth i s that there i s a l evel of you r bei n g that is perfectly healthy, h a ppy, a n d h oly a t a l l ti m es . W h e n y o u affi rm (state a n d repeat ) that you a re " H ealthy, H a p py a n d Holy," you l iteral ly change you r su bcon­ scious perception of what is h appen i n g . That perception accelerates the healing p rocess. We create whatever situation we affi rm . Everyth i n g is "in the eye (or ear?) of the beholder. " By m enta l ly cre­ atin g h ealth, we set up favorable cir­ cumstances for that condition to m a n i­ fest physical ly. I n the m ea ntim e, follow m ed ical p ro­ ced u res. Don't th row away the pre­ scription m edicine yet, but u nderstand (stand-unde r) a n d know that God is hea l i n g you rapid ly, and keep tell in g yo u rself t h a t you a re now a l ready vibra ntly healthy! Positive affi rm ation is done in the p resent tense, because it is happen i n g n ow in the sub-conscious. H ow we view events and circum­ stan ces d efin es the i m pact they h ave on 70 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

us! Using our conven ient TV analogy, we can "switch chan­ nels" on our i nner view screen from misery to com edy, from tears to laug hter at a ny given moment. We each h ave that power. Try it, you m ay l i ke it!

A m �ntal f!ondition can t!hang� ingfantly , th� phygif!al tak�g long�r. H£AU NG OTH£R!! Everybody is a healer and n obody is a healer. There is o n ly one true heal­ er, sometim es cal l ed God, or God Consciousness. It is o n ly th rough that O ne Divin e Power that healing really takes place. Some people d evelop themselves to be especially clear condu its for it. You r very p resence can heal othe rs when you r vibration reflects and projects the d ivine rad iance of you r sou l . Did you ever shake h a n d s with someone whose touch felt s o s l i my, you cou l d n 't wait to go a n d wash you r hands? It's as if you ' d been holdi n g a dyin g fish . O n t h e other h a n d (pardon the p u n), d i d you ever shake h a n ds with som eo n e a n d feel the warmth of love, stren gth, and kin d n ess 11 f flowing i nto you ? What y o u feel i n both cases is t h e othe r person 's e lectro­ m ag n etic field . H is or her vib ration is bei n g tra n s mitted to you . I t i s the vibrations people emanate that w e feel, especia l ly th rough touch. When a person is i l l, their vibration lacks prana. We can, therefore, influ­ ence someone else's conditio n by transm itti n g p rana th ro u g h our touch, o u r words, a n d o u r thoughts. One of the interesting th ings a bout h ea l i n g is that when we p ray to heal som eo n e e lse, we often heal o u rselves. The way it works is that "What g oes a ro u nd, comes a ro u n d . " "As you sow, so shall you reap . " The inju n ctio n to "Do u nto othe rs as you wou l d h ave them do u nto you , " is a very p ractical g uidel i n e for l ife.The more we g ive, the m o re we shall receive.

f

71 l
THING� TO KNOW

AC.RO!!!! T I M f AND !!PAC.f

RAA MAA DAA �AA �AA �A Y �0 HUNC

Here is the most powerful healing vibration/mantra that I know. (See facing page.) It tremendously enhances your effectiveness as a "healer. " Regular practice brings increased prana into your hands. For hea ling at a distance, th is is the mantra . It cuts across time and space so you can send healing energy to someone thousands of m iles away as easily as you can send it across the room. I have included the m usical notation for the way I first learned it, with the instructions Yogi Bhajan gave for chanting it. (Later, he taught other variations of this melody.)

72 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

CHAPHR

10

•

Hf.ALING

RAA MAA DAA � � � y �0 HUNG TO !![NO GOD#!! H[ALING POwt;:R

s

[N[RGY

To be chanted powerfully from the navel point for 1 1 minutes.

Sit in easy pose with the elbows tucked comfortably against your ribs. Extend forearms out at a 45 degree angle out from the center of the body. Palms are flat, facing up, fingers together, thumbs spread . Consciously keep the palms flat during the meditation . Be aware they may tend to cu rl up. Eyes are 9/1 0 closed . Pu l l in the navel point powerful ly on !!0 and HUNG and "clip off" each of these two syllables, making them short. Particu larly note that H U NG is not long and drawn out. You clip it off forceful ly as you pull in the navel. Chant one complete cycle of the entire mantra, and then inhale deeply and repeat. (Remember, chanting is not si nging, it is vibrating.) After 1 1 minutes, close you r eyes, inhale deeply and hold the breath as you offer a healing prayer, visualizing the person you wish to heal as being total ly healthy, radiant, and strong . Then exhale and inhale deeply agai n, hold the breath and offer you r prayer. . You can d o this several ti mes, each time creating in you r mind a picture of the person completely healed . You may want to imag ine the person completely engu lfed in healing white light. To com plete the meditation, inhale deeply, lift you r arms up high and vigorously shake out your hands and fi ngers. Relax.

Raa maa-aa daa saa

saa sa-ay

so

hung

73 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

KNOW

WORD� THAT H[Al[D-NOTI The Power of Nogative Thinking j ust to heal the physical body is not enough . (See chapter on Ten Bodies.) If we don't also heal the mental and emotional causes of a p roblem, it wil l most likely return in the same or some other form . That is why we emphasize the necessity for positive th i n king and doing sadhana. (For information on sadhana, personal spiritual practice, see Chapter on Sadhana.) Followi ng is a true story. I know, because it h appened to me. It was one of those "cold" (for Los Angeles) rainy, wi nter days, and I was sit­ ting on the floor of my old apartment on Preuss Road, doing bookkeeping for our newly formed 3HO Foundation. I n the early 1 9 70's I had no office so I worked at home. The fi nancial department of 3 H O consisted of some shoe boxes with recei pts I kept in my closet. I held a fu l l-ti m e job at the Beverly H ilton, wrote letters for Yogi Bhajan, and handled the fi nances for his 3HO yoga classes in my spare time. That historic day, I decided I cou ld use a cup of hot tea to warm u p . So I heated up the ever p resent pot of Yogi Tea on the stove a n d carried a steaming cup into the living room. My feet felt cold, so I set the cup down carefu l ly on the floor beside my books and papers, and went into the bed room to put on a pair of socks. Tal k about putting you r foot into it! I came back into the l ivi ng room, a nd forgetting the cup was there, I stepped right smack i nto the boi ling hot tea . I let out a yel l and ran to the bath room . M ore accurately, I hopped on the other foot wh ile clutching wi ldly at the sock, tryin g to tea r it off as fast as I could, since of cou rse the wet wool retai ned the h eat of the liquid, and was burning furiously. I grabbed some ointment from the medicine cabinet and spread it on the injured foot, which a l ready was tu rn ing a bright and angry red . Yogi B hajan had just come back to town from one of h is teaching tours a n d I knew he was at G u ru Ram Das Ash ram, half a block away. I picked u p the phone and cal l ed h i m, assu ming he would come run ni ng over immed iately to comfort and heal me. Forget it! When I tol d h i m what had happened, he said, "Yo u ' l l be all rig ht. I ' m send­ ing Pink Krishna (n ickna med for her rosy com plexion, the happy resu lt of 74 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPUR 10

•

HfALING

m onths of eatin g only g reen vegetables) over to take care of you . " And so he did. She a rrived i n just a few min utes, and hel ped set up a place for me to lie down on the couch. I knew I couldn't possi bly sleep i n my bed, and I didn't expect to sleep m uch a nyway. I phoned the Beverly Hilton, told the manager I had severely bu rned my foot, so I wou l d not be able to come to work the next day. I lay down, closed my eyes and settled in for a restless night. I slept fitful ly off and on, but lo and be h o l d , when morn ing d awned, -'You'v� got to Ae-cent-U-At� th� Pogitiv� there was not the slightest trace of a burn . There was no d iscoloration of �-lim-in-at� th� N�gativ� and the skin and n o pai n . I was amazed Lateh on to th� Affirmativ�. and th rilled . Don't m�gg with Mr. lnb�tw��n... I cal led m y mother and said, -Hit !!ong by Johnny Murcur. circa 1940 "Gu ess what happened . . . " I told her the whole story of the hot tea, the burning sock, the amazing healing, and fi n­ ished by saying " I don't believe it!" I called at least fou r other people and repeat­ ed the story, each time ending with the words, "I don't believe it! " By fou r o'clock i n the afternoon my foot didn't bel ieve i t either. It started to ache and b u rn aga i n . The redness retu rned i n ful l force a n d I spent several weeks waiti ng for the slow process of nature to heal my foot. I learned that day about the power of my words! We do create with every word we speak, a n d the power of positive (or neg­ ative) thi n king and speaking is not a fantasy, it's a reality. I had a d ifferent opportun ity to experience the power of my words many yea rs later when I slipped and fel l down a fl ight of cement steps early one morn­ "

ing and broke two ribs. One of the advantages of breaking ribs is that they heal themselves back together perfectly (and people a re very kind to you while you' re recuperating). However, i n the mea ntime, you can 't laugh or cough or even take a deep breath without severe pai n . The pain, i n spite of medication, cou l d be q u ite intense, so I decided to try som e of the yog ic technology I had been p reachi n g . And, I discovered, " By George, it works! " Whenever I felt a major twinge of pain, I'd say out loud (or j ust th i n k), "Th a n k you God, I accept you r wonderful g ift of pain," and it wou ld ease up i mmed iately. 75 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of f.ternal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

G ratefu l ly accepting everyth ing that comes to us as a g ift of God i nvokes a rem arkably dynamic response from God . An "attitud e of g ratitud e" i nvites a n d a l l ows the power of God to work faster a n d easier to bless a n d heal us. Try it for you rse lf. W h e n ever a nyth i n g h ap pe n s - good, bad, p leasa n t, u n pl easa n t, d esi ra b l e, u n d es i ra bl e - see it a s s o m eth i n g that G o d is d oi n g . Then verbally exp ress a n d affi r m you r g ratitud e . S ee what h a p pe n s . A t l ea st h ave t h e faith t o try i t as a n exp e ri m e n t. Even i f som e o n e d oes somet h i n g l o usy, tha n k G od that it's n ot you d o i n g it! The pers o n d o i n g t h e l o u sy t h i n g has that l o u sy ka rma t o d e a l with . H ow you res p o n d becomes you r ka r ma .

GURU RAM DA� TO TH� R��CU� At one point in his l ife, when Yogi B haja n was th reatened and harassed by people trying to do him harm, he meditated and p rayed, cal l ing on G u ru Ram Das for help, and Guru Ram Das gave him this special mantra to use whenev­ er he - or a nyone - is in danger. (You can use it, too.)

G U RU G URU WAH f G U RU , G U RU RAM DA� G U RU When we chant to G u ru Ram Das, we a re not chanting to a person, but rather to the consciousness that he embod­ ied, and we a re invoking the special q ualities that he repre­ sented . " Ra m " in itself is one of the H i n d u names of God, and " Das" means servant. Ram Das was i ndeed, a beloved servant of God . He was a Raj Yogi a n d the fou rth in the l ine of Sikh G u rus. Each of the ten G u rus person ified and exem­ plified special vi rtues, a n d m a nifested certain q ua l ities, to demonstrate that a person i n a ny wal k of l ife can be d ivine. Loved and respected for his h u m i lity, service, and com pas­ sion, G u ru Ram Das was also a g reat Yogi, especially renowned for his extraord i n a ry gift of healing. 76 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Hemal Power

C.HAPH:R 10

•

HrAUNG

HAIL G URU RAM DA!!

a n d H fA L T H f WORLD l What you a re about to read is a true story. No names have been changed . Th is real ly happened . I n 1 9 38, when Yog i Bhajan was nine years old, he contracted a serious ea r i nfection . Neither his father, who was a physician, nor any of the doc­ tors and healers consulted, cou ld fi nd a way to cure it and the infection was spreadi n g . He was d iagnosed as incu rable. He was expected to d ie. During his sleep one nig ht, the you ng boy had a visit from Guru Ram Das who told him that he should ask his father (Dr. Kartar Singh Puri) to put some on ion juice in the infected ear. He told his father of the strange req uest. Sure enough, the treatment worked ! From that time onward, Harbhajan Singh Puri, later to become Yogi Bhajan, looked u pon Guru Ram Das as his special protector, teacher, and g u ide. 3HO Ash rams around the world a re named i n honor of the great sou l of G u ru Ra m Das. G u ru Ram Das was a "Raj Yogi . " The famous Golden Tem ple i n Amritsar, I n d ia, was built in h is honor. I t i s cal led Hari Mandir Sahib a n d i s considered the holiest of holy places by Sikhs a l l over the world. Open to people of all religions, all colors, all nationalities, it is a sacred shrine where tens of thousands of people come to be inspired and u p lifted by the vibrations of the G u ru, and to sip and d i p in the heal ing waters su rrounding the Temple. Hari Mandir Sahib is built half of marble and half of gold . As a young man, Yogi B hajan washed the marble floors of the Golden Tem ple every night for fou r years, to cleanse a nd pu rify himself praying to G u ru Ram Das. He went in as a yogi a nd cam e out a saint. Such is the power and majesty of G u ru Ram Das. 77 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

BRI�F l�!!!!ON I N HI!!TORY OF TH� !!IKH GURU!! Of the ten Sikh G u rus, one was a very young child, several were very old men, som e were married, some were sing le. Some were poets, some were sol­ d iers. G u ru Ram Das, who l ived from 1 5 34 to 1 58 1 , was the fou rth G u ru to carry the d ivine l ig ht and i nfin ite consciousness of G u ru Nanak, the first G u ru . G u ru Nanak taught that everyone i s i n herently d ivin e, a n d that people should not fig ht a bout how to worship the One God who b reathes i n everybody. His followers, or students were cal led "shishyas, " or " Sikhs . " Sikhs no longer wor­ s h i p a ny person as G u ru, but look to the Siri G u ru G ra nth Sah i b, the e m bodi­ ment of the Word of God (Shabd Gu ru), as their l ivin g G u ru .

78 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eforna/ Powor

CHAPITR 11

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lH'!! TAlK ABOUT FOOD

11

Lgt•g Talk About Food

H

ere a re som e cliches that are true (cl iches often a re): • • •

You are what you eat. Your body iY the living temple of God. £at to live, don't live to eat.

For thousands of people, controlling their d iet is one of l ife's biggest chal­ lenges. It's a daily battle of wil l power versus com pu lsion a n d h abit. Health clu bs, gyms, and spas a re overflowing with bod ies stretching a n d strain­ i ng, h uffi ng and p uffi ng, g runti ng and sweati ng to "get rid of ug ly, u nwanted body fat" and achieve ideal body weig ht. Fat or thin, we can be bad ly u ndernou rished, if we' re not getting the foods o u r bodies need . Dining on expensive gourmet food smothered i n rich g ravies and exotic sauces seems to be considered a sign of "success" i n o u r society. Of cou rse u lcers, gastritis, consti pation, and overweig ht, not to men­ tion high blood pressure and heart d isease, can resu lt from overeating or eating the wrong foods (and you don't have to be rich to gorge on foods way too high i n fat content or salt). Overweight is not only damaging p hysically but psy­ chologically. Dozens of d ifferent books promoting dozens of d ifferent diets are spil l i ng over the bookstore shelves. Television ads 79 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Hemal Power

THING� TO KNOW

a bo u n d with weig ht-loss p rog rams. Each one claims to have the perfect solu­ tion . However, being able to apply any sol ution req uires a change i n our ha bits, including our habitual way of th i n king about ou rselves. Fortunately, the yog is have g iven us methods to help us change our h abit patterns. (Please read the chapter called Creatures of Habit, and refer to the "Meditation to Change Habit Patterns.) Meanwh ile, let's tal k about food .

liVI NG TO fAT

or

fATING TO UVf?

There are two kinds of eating. The first kind is what is ca lled recreational eat­ ing. Th is is eating purely (actually not pu rely) for taste or to be sociable. Recreational eating often consists of junk food . What do I mean by junk food? Any substance that leaves an excess of toxic waste in the body that you can't eliminate within twenty-fou r hours . Any food that depletes the body of vitami ns, overstim u lates the nerves, or overtaxes the pancreas is j u n k food in my book! The second kind of eati ng is the kind of eating that nourishes, sustains, and energ izes the body. It's known as "eati ng to l ive . " We spend a large portion of our l ives eating. What and how we eat affects us p hysical ly, mental ly, ar.d emo­ tional ly. Let's tal k about eating from the sta n d point of the yog is, whose pu rpose is to g et the best out of every aspect of l ife. Let me share with you some yog ic information, keeping i n m i n d that each of us is d ifferent and has individual d ietary req u i rements. One man's meat rea l ly is a nother man's poison. Each of us n eeds to find the rig ht balance, the chem ical combination of foods that best serves our meta bolism and bod i ly needs. Meals should look appetizing and taste good, too. Healthy food doesn 't have to be d u l l and bori ng or taste l i ke straw. Eati ng a healthy d iet does not have to be d istasteful .

TO fAT OR NOT TO fAT? I n ancient books of knowledge, the Vedas, we can find instruc­ tions on how to eat, such as, "never eat to ful l stomach . " O n ly one-half of the sto mach's capacity is to be used for solid food, leav­ ing one-quarter for liquid, and the remaining one-quarter is l eft empty to a llow the d igestive process to take p lace more easily. 80 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

CHAPITR 11

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U:T!! TALK ABOUT FOOD

It is a lso recom mended to leave a gap of fou r to five hou rs between mea ls for the same reason . Otherwise, the blood is kept so busy worki ng in the d iges­ tive a rea that other parts of the body are cheated out of their blood supply. The eyes, ears, nose, a n d throat pa rticu larly need good circu lation. When these areas a re weak and u ndernourished because of poor circu lation, they a re vu l nerable to attack from bacteria and vi ruses that cause colds, fl u, and i nfections. If you need to eat more often, okay, but you don't have to eat a lot. Try a l ight snack when you r blood sugar gets low. A person with a hypoglycemic condition whose blood sugar level fluctuates wildly because the pancreas is not able to do its job correctly, usua l ly needs to eat someth ing every two hou rs. Do read Dr. Paavo Airola's book Hypoglycemia, A Better Approach. You'd also be wise to read the book called Sugar Blues by Duffy. You may be served the best, most delicious meal i n the world, but, as my mother used to say, if it doesn't "agree with you," if you can't d igest and elim­ i nate it properly, it's probably doing more harm than good . Food is supposed to g ive us energy. It's supposed to be fuel for the body, feed the cel ls, and be transformed into blood, bones, and tissue. Whatever we eat that is not used for these p u rposes becomes waste matter, and needs to be elimi nated . If the body can not eliminate it fast enough, it becomes toxic and we get sick. We have l it­ era l ly poisoned ou rselves. Whatever we eat shou l d be digested and assi m i lated with i n 1 8 hou rs for a female and 24 hours for a male. There's a way to tel l if you're CH fW., CH fW, C H fW! digesting you r food properly or not, which cou l d be cal led the You d o n•t h ave teeth i n y o u r !!tom aeh ! "float test. " If most of what you eat is being correctly uti lized by the body, and is servi ng to heal and nourish, then what is left over as roughage wi l l be m i n i mal, and when you eliminate, it wi l l float. If you r stool sinks to the bottom of the toilet, then you can bet you have not gotten m uch rea l val ue out of you r food i ntake. A major factor in proper digestion takes place in you r mouth . Food has to be wel l chewed so the digestive enzymes in the sa liva can m ix thor­ oug h ly with it. If you gobble your food in a h urry, you miss the crucial first step in the digestive process. Then when the food reaches the stomach, 81 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

KNOW

it's not prepared for proper digestion to take place. Take your time eati ng. Try cou nting twenty to fifty chews per mouthful-it wil l real ly slow you down . Another tip, if you're trying to cut down on portions: wait about five min utes before taking seconds on anything. Usual ly that waiti ng period is enough for the body to recognize it real ly has had enough . Otherwise, when you're eating too fast, you often keep on eating when you're not actually h ungry any more.

VVAT�R. VVAT�R. �V�RY\VH�R� (You NfH!d Moro Than A Drop To Drink) Another clue to good digestion : Dri n k lots a n d lots of water, but don't wash down your food by d rinking a ny liquid i m med iately after you take a bite of food . Wash i ng down you r food d i lutes the enzymes that a re needed for p roper diges­ tio n . Do you r kid neys a favor, start you r day with two g lasses of water after you brush your teeth . (See Chapter on How to Get Up in the Morning.) Keep a pitch­ er of water on you r desk at work, and d ri n k water a l l day. Eight g lasses a day a ren't even enoug h-try for sixteen-or at least twelve . At nig ht, j ust before bed, drin k a g lass of water. You can monitor the hea lth of you r kidneys by observin g the color of you r u rine first thing in the morn i n g . It should be lig hter tha n gold. If it is darker, you're i n trou ble. D ri n k more water. M aybe it's time to get a medica l check-up.

�AT TO LIV� O kay, so what is a healthy yogic d iet? Wel l, for one thing, it's not fanatic, or wei rd, or tasteless. It is a balanced combination of: • fruits • n uts • vegetables • g rains • legumes • dairy p roducts Despite what most airl ines th i n k, many veg etarians do eat dairy produ cts a lthough we don't eat eggs. When you p ractice Kunda l i n i Yoga with B reath of Fire, it tends to eliminate m ucous. Therefore, you want to replenish the system 82 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPTt::R 11

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LH'� TALK ABOUT FOOD

with a certai n amount of mucous wh ich dairy products can stim ulate. M ucous keeps the b reath ing passages l u bricated and protects the mem branes. If you a re a l lergic to cow products, then try soy or goat substitutes. Everyone is d ifferent, you h ave to fin d what works for you . You may have noticed that meat, fish, pou ltry, and eggs are not on our list of foods. You a re correct. Yog is don't eat them . You don't need them. You can get a l l the prote ins, vitamins, and m inera ls you need from other foods. We do our a rteries a big favor by avoid ing foods that clog them u p . A yogic d iet is a vegetarian d iet. There a re excellent reasons for this. Here a re th ree of them .

THR££ £XC£ll£NT Rt:A!!ON!! TO £AT A V£G£TARIAN Dlt:T �XC�ll�NT R�A!!ON # 1 When we eat meat we' re feeding ou rselves the poisonous ad renaline that was secreted by the terrified animal just before it was slaug htered .

If i t cou l d eve r wa l k . ru n . c rawl . !: wi m . �XC�ll�NT R�A!!ON # 2 Lions a n d tigers and or fly a wa y . I don ..t wa nt i t o n my p l a t� ! othe r carn ivores (whom God obviously i ntended to eat other animals, to keep the balance of natu re) a re p rovided with fangs, claws, and a very short intesti nal tract. They 411 -4 d can process flesh very qui ckly and eli inate it before it putrifies . . . and becomes tox1c. Our d1gest1ve tract 1s very long, so we can't. \ ,\\\ '� If you're worried about being weak without eati ng meat, th i n k ;;'}jl�� a bout the elephant. Th is g reat and powerfu l beast who feeds only on plants - l ives very long, and is extremely inte l ligent.

�

� �.-.-/��-, �

-_ :!:J '\�� _

£XC£ll£NT Rt:A!!ON # 3 M eat wil l leave a residue of u ric acid in the bloodstream . U ric acid is con­ sidered by som e to be a carcinogen (cause of cancer) . U ric acid is a toxin that makes it harder to reach the hig her, clearer meditative states because it is a n i rri­ tant in the bloodstream . 83 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of ftornal Power

COM MO N !!�N!!� Ancient yogic teach ings prohibit the eating of flesh and of anyth ing that is bu rnt, stale, or decayed . Food that is simple, wholesome, fresh, and as natu ra l as possible i s recommended.

POOR FI!!H I What about fish? You've heard the expression, " poor fish ! " Cau g ht by a cruel hook in its mouth, when i t i s d ragged painfu l ly out of its home in the ocean, river, lake, or stream, it d ies a n ago­ n izing death deprived of water. If fish is not put into water or ice i m med iately, it begins to decay and stin k. Even after it is eaten, it sti l l demands water. N otice how thirsty you get after eati ng fish? It is still demanding water. Eati ng fish dehyd rates the body. That sagging flesh u nder the upper a rms can be traced to eating fish. Any questions?

�GG!!: YOU HAV� TO D�CID� O kay, let's tal k about eggs. Setting aside a ny d iscussion about the l ivi ng or dead aspect of the potential chicken i n each egg, there is a very h ig h cholesterol level in eggs. If you want to be ki nd to you r a rteries, whether you ' re a yog i or not, you don't eat eggs.

THROW OUT TH� !!T�AK? Good g rief! No meat, no fish, no chicken (that's rig ht, no fowl either), no eggs, what am I going to eat? A vegetarian d iet does not mean to take a plate with a steak, a baked potato, and a serving of peas and th row away the steak. Nor does it mean to fil l u p on pasta a n d b read . There is a vast assortment of del icious food g rowing i n the g round, on trees, plants, and vines to c hoose from. And you don't have to l ive on a farm to get them . Hea lth food stores and su permarkets al most everywhere carry plenty of things that a re good and good for you . Aug mented with m a rvelous herbs and spices which add flavor and a re h ealing as wel l, vegeta rian meals can be g lorious expe­ riences. By following an intelligent wel l-balan ced vegetaria n diet, you can l ive longer, be more energetic, and even sleep better. The H u nzas a re said to live 84 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fterna/ Power

CHAPITR 11

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UT!! TAU< ABOUT FOOD

longer tha n any other g roup of people in the world, and they a re vegetarians. We shouldn 't forget that we live on prana. We need to g et p rana from the food we eat and the water we d ri n k as wel l as the air we b reathe. Some foods g ive us more p rana tha n others, depending u pon their quality and condition . I n the reci pe section of th is book you' l l find a few of my favorite recipes that even you r non-vegetarian family and friends wil l enjoy. I 've a lso l isted the cook­ books I personally recom mend to help you d iscover some creative and del icious meals you can make that wi l l be kind to you r body and satisfy you r a ppetite. For more information on meat eating, please refer to Diet For a New America by john Robbins and What's Wrong With Eating Meat? by Barbara Parham.

M U N G B�AN!! AND RIC� AR� N I C� One of the most nou rishing and easiest to digest foods is a d ish cal led Kitcheree. It's a trad itional I ndian reci pe made of m u n g beans and wh ite basmati rice. Polished rice is not recom mended because it has been stri p ped of its ben­ eficial vita m i n content. B rown rice is not recom mended either, because it is very hard to digest u n less it is cooked for many, many hours. The mung bean is a ti ny, hum ble l ittle bean, d a rk g reen in color. It packs a lot of energy, and is high in protein. A basic reci pe for kitcheree is in the recipe section of this book. You can vary it q u ite a bit to suit you r own taste and cre­ ativity. One of the best th ings a bout kitcheree, besides the fact that it tastes so good, is that it contains fou r of the most i m portant basi c yogic foods for heal­ ing. Read on . . .

TH� B I G FOUR: .. H �RB ROOT TRI N ITY'" PlU!! O N � On ions, garl ic, a n d g inger, often cal led the Herb Root Trin ity, work tog ether to c leanse the body and prod uce a n d maintai n energy. T h e beneficial effect of each of them separately is a m p li­ fied when they a re cooked together.

GARliC You may have heard that some ascetics wil l not eat garl ic because it makes them more sexua l ly potent . Garlic does h e l p p rod uce more semen (powerfu l creative energy) in the body. This i ncreased sexual energy is 85 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Hemal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

control led and moreover uti lized by the practice of Ku ndalini Yoga. So we a re not afraid of it. On the contrary, we want to i ncrease it so we can channel it u pward for g reater spi ritual awareness. Considered a sacred herb by the ancients, for its powerfu l therapeutic effect, garlic oil has been found to battle effectively against many types of viruses and bacteria. Garlic and garl ic extracts have been used agai nst gastrointestinal d is­ orders, septic poison ing, typhus, and even cholera . In fact, garl ic was known in the former Soviet Union as "Russian Penici llin" ! Best eaten raw, garlic can also be taken in capsule form (i n case you r friends don't share you r enthusiasm for this frag rant herb). You can make a very palat­ able spread for toast or crackers with finely chopped raw garlic mashed into avo­ cado. A whole b u l b of baked garlic is delicious spread over toast. You j ust sq ueeze out the individual cloves, after it's baked . Very gou rmet! Garlic is most at home cooked in combi nation with on ions and g i nger.

O N ION!! The on ion has a wel l earned reputation for being a u n iversal hea ling food. It not o n ly attacks harmful bacteria and purifies the blood, but it helps build new b lood . It has been recommended for such things as colds, fever, laryng itis, and diarrhea (dri n k onion ju ice mixed with hot or col d m i nt tea) . And it has even been said, "An onion a day keeps the cancer away. " If you ' re going to travel to a ny foreig n cou ntry where you r body wi l l have to deal with strange a n d u nfa­ m iliar bacteria, eating one raw onion every day for a cou ple of weeks before you r trip, as wel l as while you're away from home, wi l l help you avoid dysen­ tery. If you can't handle eating onions raw, at least eat them cooked . Get them into you r system somehow. There is even the claim that eating raw on ions helps mental clarity.

GI NG�R ROOT G i nger root is both soothing and strengthening to the nerves when the body is u nder stress. It helps strengthen the nerve cente rs in the spine by nour­ ish ing the cerebrospinal fluid. You can make a delicious a n d revita l izing tea out of g inger root very easily. j ust sl ice an inch or two of g i nger root (available in most g rocery stores, supermarkets, and of cou rse in health food stores) and boil 86 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Hemal Power

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it i n a q u a rt of water for a few min utes. For this recipe you don't even have to peel the g i n ger. j ust strain the tea after it has boiled for a while, and it's ready to d ri n k. You can add sweetener a nd/or m i l k if you wis h . Gi nger tea is particu­ larly useful for women to dri n k during menstruation . It is g reat as a "pick-me­ u p" if you' re feeling d roopy and debilitated . Try it. It strengthens the nerves i nstead of d estroying them the way caffeine does.

TURM[RIC Good for the skin and m ucuous membranes, especial ly the female repro­ ductive o rgans, tu rmeric is one of the main ingred ients in cu rry powder. It adds flavor and can be used i n many reci pes, casseroles, soups, g ravies, and sauces. It's a standard i n g red ient in Kitcheree. The virtues of tu rmeric h ave been lavish­ ly praised by Yog i Bhajan . One of its most i m portant properties is that it makes the bones a n d joints more flexible. j ust a smal l amount has a positive effect. See the reci pe section for Golden M i l k, a g reat beverage for you and you r children . Turmeric is on the spice shelf of you r supermarket. Warni n g : be carefu l not to spi l l it on you r clothes when you're cooking, because it stains when it's wet. Ku ndalini Yoga teach ings recom mend eati ng the herb root tri nity, garl ic, onion, a nd g inger dai ly. Also, it's a good idea to get some tu rmeric in you (not on you) every day and d ri n k at least one cup of:

YOG I T[A This section wou l d not be com plete (and as it is, it's only a ti ny peek at the vast a mount of information and technology avai lable about food . The Ancient Art of Self Healing by Yog i B h ajan descri bes many more yog ic uses of food), without a major m ention of Yogi Bhajan's famous YOG I TEA recipe. Yes, it's available now com mer­ cial ly, i n b u l k or i n tea bags. I n 1 969 Yogi Bhajan tau g ht m e h ow to make it from scratch. He told me how he used Yog i Tea when he was out i n the field, commanding a batta l ion of the I ndian Army. A serious epidemic of fl u broke out so all the troops were being sent home from maneuvers. However, he kept h is men h ealthy and they stayed on d uty because he had them fi l l their thermos bottles with Yogi Tea and d ri n k nothing else, not even water. None of them got sick. 87 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

This a mazin g beverage is a standard item i n the 3 H O way of l ife. If you'd l i ke to m a ke it from scratch, you' l l find h is ori g i n a l copyrig hted rec i pe i n this book. The fu n part of making you r own Yog i Tea usi n g the d ifferent s pices, as Yog i B h ajan tau g ht me, is that after the water comes to a boil, you add the cloves first a n d "watch the m dance . " S u re enoug h, they pair off, a n d d ance a ro u n d i n g ro u ps of twos and threes! Then, i n a m i n ute or two, when the cloves h ave su rrendered their essence to the water, that's when you add the othe r i n g red ients. The black pepper is to p u rify the bloodstrea m, the m i l k is to soothe the colon so the black pepper doesn't i rritate it. The ci n n a m o n is for the bones, ca rd a m o m for the colon, and cloves for the nervous system . The g i n ger root is o ptional, but is hig h ly reco m mend ed . If you want to clean out you r system, you can g o o n a Yog i Tea fast. For one or two d ays-maxim u m th ree days­ l ive o n Yog i Tea . D ri n k as m uch as you want, a n d d o n 't eat a nythi n g else. See how l ig ht and energ etic you feel . At l east o n e cu p of Yog i Tea per day i s a g reat idea . Yog i Tea i s more than a reci pe for a g ood tastin g d ri n k, it is a form u l a for a com plete self-healing ton ic ! Don't o m it the black tea; it's part of the form u l a . These days, Yog i Tea also com es com mercial ly packaged in various flavors. Ah, m od ern tech nology.

H IDD�N I NGR�DI �NT A m ost healing and effective ingredient in the food you cook, especially if you're a woman, is the VI BRATION you put i nto it. This is for rea l . It's not imag­ inary. When you p ray and chant over food wh ile you cook it, you enhance its power to nourish and hea l . Let m e tel l y o u a true story a bout vib rations g o i n g into food . A n u m ber of yea rs ago a you n g wom a n ca me to stay at the 3 HO cente r i n Los Angeles to sort out h e r m arital p roblems and g et her l ife on track. S h e was an excellent cook, and she wou l d p repare m eals for severa l staff m e m bers every d ay. The food tasted delici ous, but every afternoon after l u n c h we all felt sick. Finally we fig u red out that s h e was so a n g ry all the ti m e that it was affecti n g the food she cooked . We sto p ped eatin g her cooking u nti l s h e cam e back the n ext yea r. Then, since s h e was i n m uch better shape emotion a lly, we fou n d we cou l d 88 l
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enjoy h e r meals without g ettin g sick. (Much more on the subject of the extra power of women in the chapter on women.) Speaking of cooking, I used to worry and agonize over h avi ng to prepare m eals for a nyone, especially unexpected guests. I was never confident that they'd l i ke what I made. What Yogi Bhaja n taught me a bout cooking was to "use whatever you h ave, and chant while you prepa re the food . " Vibration real ly makes a d ifference. And, of cou rse, Yog i B haja n is a fabu lous cook. Many of his personal recipes were used i n the Golden Tem ple Conscious Cookery Resta u ra nts th roughout the world and a re included i n the cook book he wrote. (See the Cookbook section of the book list.)

FOOD� THAT U K� YOU A word i n p raise of zucchini. It's sooooooo easy to digest, h a rd ly seems to have a ny calories, and is real ly fast to cook. You can slice it or not and sim ply steam it, or you can saute it with onions and garlic and even put tomato sauce over it. Use lots and lots of g reen vegetables in you r diet. Use foods that are fil led with prana (life energy), such as ripe, juicy fruits and almost anything that is in season and fresh . Ideally eat fresh rather than frozen foods, and frozen rather than canned. You can squeeze lemon juice on vegetables instead of using salt. There are many salt substitutes on the market made from a com bination of herbs. The yogis say to avoid salt after age thirty-five. Read labels when you buy products. Avoid MSG and other chemicals. As m uch as possible use foods in their natural state, in other words, the less processing the better.

HOW �W��T IT I�! We a re a sweet n ation . Americans consume tons of sugar a n nually. Sugar depletes the system of Vita m i n B . Personal ly, I have fou n d, my body and my ner­ vous system can not tolerate white sugar. It makes me very short-tempered . If I lose my tem per, I blow out my adrenals and then I get sick. It has happened enough tim es for me to be sure of the sequence of events, a n d the conse­ q uences I suffer. There a re plenty of ways to avoid sugar if you ' re serious a bout it. For one th ing, taste can be conditioned . 89 l
THING!! TO KNOW

I try not to add any sweetener at all to my Yogi Tea or other beverages. There are other things to eat that can appease the desire for sweets, and that craving diminishes when you're eating enough of the good stuff that you r body needs. Applesauce cooked with cin namon in it tastes lovely. You can use van i l la for flavor in yogu rt or milk shakes. I like to put a frozen banana in the blender with milk (I use soy milk), a pinch of cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla. It can be made thick like frozen yogurt to eat with a spoon, or thinner like a shake - tastes g reat. For baking, maple syrup, maple sugar, or barley malt sweetener a re available. Honey, although a very pure food, unfortunately is so concentrated that it can be hard on the pan­ creas. Some people do fine with fructose, whereas some people do not. Watch out for aspertaine. It's been reported to produce u nwelcome side-effects. Did you ever notice how "hyper" children get after they have eaten the sugar candy, ice cream, or cake treats we give them? One th ing I know for su re, refined white sugar causes me to suffer, so I sim ply don't eat it. I can vouch for the d if­ ference in my life, health, and behavior since I stopped eating sugar. Read labels careful ly and proceed accordingly. Sugar can be hidden in unexpected places. �

C.HOC.OlAT� Chocol ate contains caffeine a nd theobromine. It is addic­ tive. If you m ust have chocolate, at least try to get it sweetened with someth i ng other than wh ite sugar. Sugar and chocolate seem to form a leth a l com binatio n . More and more people a re becoming aware of t h e detrimental effects of sugar and chocolate, and there a re a n u m ber of a lternative p roducts on the m arket. Check them out. You m ay actually l i ke them, and they m ay l ike you, too! The Surgeon General of the U n ited States issues warni n gs sayi n g that s mok­ ing causes can cer, but sti l l, people s moke. So I don't expect my readers wi l l g ive u p their chocolate h abits very easily. Some of us h ave weaned ourselves from 90 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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chocolate by training the taste buds to enjoy carob . Some people can tolerate chocolate when it's sweetened with honey or maple syru p, but personally, I don't want to get hooked on the taste of chocolate i n a ny form . One of the key i m pacts of chocolate is that it sti m u lates neurochemicals in us that a re cortical mood alte rers. It produces feel i ngs of con nection and intimacy. No wonder chocolate is addictive! When you need consolation and comfort, you m i g ht try tal king to you r soul, it's the g reatest chocolate kiss!

CAFF£1 N£ Caffeine depletes the pranas, and do I real ly have to say anything about what caffeine does to the nervous system? A yogi usual ly avoids all sti m u la nts. ' N uff said.

AlCOHOl For rubbing, if you need to take down a fever, alcohol can be useful . As a bev­ erage, it acts as a sti m u lant - at first - and then a depressant. It causes the l iver to deteriorate a n d damages the bra i n . Alcohol ics Anonymous can give you plen­ ty of i nformation a bout alcohol as a n addiction .

YOU �AY YOU AT£ A ROCK? If, perchance, by m istake you eat too m uch (we Americans ten d to stuff our­ selves at every opportu nity, eating too m uch and too often), there's a way to get some relief from that overstuffed feeling. Try sitting on you r heels for a few m i n­ utes. Probably best not to do this i n public, u n less you want to attract a crowd . But if you're at home, sit i n rock pose, Vajar Asan, for a few m i nutes after d i n ner. It is said that one can d igest rocks by sitting in this posture. Or, for med itation it's supposed to help you sit steady as a rock.

�£lF-H£ALI NG KRIYA FOR DIG£�TION I n my youth, out of ignorance, I fool ishly tried some very fan atic experiments with fastin g . They left me with serious digestive p roblems. My d igestive system was so bad that when I met Yog i B hajan, I coul d n 't even d ri n k a g l ass of water without sufferi n g . He tau g ht me Vatskar D houti Kriya, and told m e to do it for forty days, without m issing a day. It helped me tremendously. Want to try it you r­ self? Turn the page . . . 91 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

MAKING A TRAN!!ITION I became a vegetarian in 1 95 6, when it was suggested to me that if I stopped eating meat, my health would i m prove. I d id, and it d i d . One approach to vegetaria n ism is to slowly and g rad u a l ly su bstitute meatless main dishes i n your mea ls and start eati ng more fresh fruits a n d vegetables. You cou l d try bei ng a vegeta rian for one or two days a week at fi rst, then g rad u a l ly i ncrease the n u m ber of days. Or there's the "cold tu rkey" (no pun i ntended) approach, such as the transition d iet Yog i B haja n gave in 1 969. That d iet consisted of thi rty days of eating just fru its, n uts, and vegetables. Many of the students who went on it 92 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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reported feeling ki nd of weak for the first few days, but they said after that the energy level picked up amazingly. After th irty days you add g ra i ns and dairy back i nto the pictu re, a nd, congratu lations, you have made a g raceful transition to a vegetaria n d iet!

THANK!!GIVIN G

..

Vgg eta ri a n g d o n ·t g a t a n y th i ng

At l east one d ay i n the year, most that h a d a m oth e r." America ns rem i n d themselves to be -Yogi BhC!_jan g rateful for the bou nty we receive from the Creator. B lessed a re those who g ive than ks every day, with every breath . G iving tha n ks before we eat anyth ing, asking the real Giver of the food to bless it, is a very valuable habit. Blessing food adds prana to it. P rayers don't a lways have to be eloquent and lofty. I 've heard Yog i B hajan say th ings like, "Thanks a lot, God, we were real ly h u n g ry and you gave us food . Please bless it and bless us. Tha n ks."

!!UM MARY To conclude this chapter, I suggest that you decide what you wou ld like to incorporate or change i n you r existi ng pattern of eati n g . I n any l ifestyle change, it's i mportant to be moderate and sensible rather tha n fan atic. If you've always been a big meat eater, don't try to become a vegetarian overn ig ht. On the other hand, some people have successfu l ly done it just that way. Use you r own best judg ment and com mon sense. And remember to: •

Che w eve ry mouthfu l of foo d t h o ro u g h l y .

•

D ri n k l otg of wate r.

•

Oon ·t e a t too often , d o n·t eat too m u eh .

•

la u g h a l ot .

93 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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TO KNOW

�OU

A R E WHA T

YO U

EA T!

Tigers have fangs and long sharp claws If they devour a deer or a lamb, they're obeying natural laws All carnivores whom God intended to be Have short intestinal tracts -Not long ones, like you and me. Whatever we eat has to take a circuitous route We're much better off with vegetables and fruit, Nuts and berries, grains, milk, and cheese Vegetarian diet designed to please. If it walks, swims, or crawls A vegetarian doesn't eat it at all Elephants live long and carry plenty of weight You won't find a steak on an elephant's plate. Whatever you eat, make sure it digests What's not used by the body

Must be eliminated in 1 8 to 24 hours-or less. Some foods may have a wonderful taste, But they produce lots of toxic waste Uric acid in the bloodstream is carcinogenic Roast beef may be tasty, but is flirting with cancer worth it? Ayurvedic advice, a word to the wise: Never eat to full stomach, whatever your size Leave enough room so you can digest Following proportions are deemed to be best: With solid food fill half, with liquids, one quarter This division is how the Vedas say we ought to Handle your diet for health and well-being

Chew your food well, saliva you 're needing.

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No teeth in the stomach, so don 't gulp it down Digestion starts in the mouth - and smile, don 't frown! Laughter is the best medicine, it's medically true Have a sense of humor, whatever you do. The h uman need for protein is highly overrated You can get all you require in the foods that I've stated Buy a cookbook, dare to try Eating to live before you die. A trio of friends I'd like you to meet: Garlic, onions, and ginger will make your life sweet. Onions purity blood and fight disease Garlic makes you potent as semen increases Ginger root strengthens nerve centers in the spine Drinking ginger tea eases menstrual pain. A dangerous spice I shall now introduce Be very careful in its handling and use When it's wet and it spills on your clothes It's hard to wash out (believe me I know!) What is the spice that does all this? It's called "turmeric, " put it on your shopping list. Fantastically healing and tasty too Makes bones and joints flexible-a tiny bit will do. Golden milk you can make, the recipe's here Serve it to all the folks you hold dear. Yogi Tea, more than a beverage, a formula for health Which, as you know, you can't buy with wealth Each ingredient a purpose to serve A scientific blend, a recipe to cure. Help your digestion, prevent colds and flu No medical claims (of course), but this is what the yogis do.

95 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

j j j j j j j j j j j j

j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j

j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j

C.HAPUR 12

12

Creaturgg

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C.RJ:ATURE!! OF HABIT

of Habit

T:

ere is no doubt that we are a l l creatu res of habit. A h uge proportion of what we do, how we feel, speak, relate, is si m ply habit. A saint h as saintly habits, a cri m i na l has cri mi n a l habits. I don't want to use the word "si n ner. " Thi n king of themselves as s i n ners has caused people too m uch damage a l ready. I don't s u b­ scri be to the idea of sin, except as the Vedantists say, the sin of bein g ignorant of your d ivine n ature. Habits control us so strongly that it is said we can actua l ly change our destiny by changing our h abits . According to ancient yogic wisdom, there a re six specific areas of habitual behavior to be changed:

way of walking

way of dea l i n g

way of talking

way o f eating

way of dre!H:ing

way of won: h i p

Of course, t h e best way to break a habit i s to replace i t with a d ifferent one. This is one way yogis p ractice the concept of " resist not evi l . "

TWO KI N D� OF HABIT�1 "It has been seen i n our entire concept of life, that we are 1 5o/o slaves to a rou­ tine, to habit. Man must have certain habits without which his l ife can not go on. But he can attain liberation by changing the character of these minimu m-required habits. "There are two kinds of habits : promoti ng habits and demoti ng habits. Demoting habits make you u n happy physical ly, mental ly, a n d spiritua l ly. Promoti n g habits make you happy physica lly, menta lly, and spiritua l ly. I n you r life, i f you h ave a l l the habits which are promoting habits, you wil l end up as a l i berated, divine per­ son . If you have demotin g habits, you wi l l a lways end u p as a p hysical wreck, men­ tal ly insane, a nd/or spiritu a l ly defu nct. 97 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

"Habit is a m ust of your personality and mind. For that period when you a re acting under a demoting habit, you are total ly in the negative personal ity. It is a lso a fact that if you get into any one negative habit, you wil l automatically attract its fou r sister habits, for they love to stay together. These five demoti ng habits of behavior and attitude are: greed, anger, lust, attachment, and negative ego. When one sister enters the house, she calls the others to joi n . " Each habit is supported o n two tri pods: It take� 40 day� to e�tabli�h a • Physical, Mental, and Spiritual, habit, 90 day� to eonfi rm it, • Past, Present, and Futu re. "There are two guiding i nsti ncts in man. He is 1 2 0 day�-eve ryone wi l l know itl either improving his futu re or blocking h is future im provement. If you are conscious of th is, and have an honest and sincere urge to im prove you r future, you wil l always have promoti ng habits. Oh man, if you are to care not even for God, at least care for the future. When you ca re enough for your futu re to have promoting habits, you wil l become a l iberated person . "A l i berated person is always a happy person . He does not lack in a ny material comfort. He does not know any power on Earth which can insult him. He lives in grace in this world and when he leaves the body he is respected for generations to fol low. Everyone can be l i ke that. "Yesterday's greatest sinner can be a sai nt this minute. The only thing required is a decision : 'Am I to guard my futu re and choose to be a liberated person, or am I to block my future and go by the material-physical aspect of the world?' . . . Maintain a positive attitude with promoting habits for forty days, and you can change your desti ny. " There is a fu ndamenta l meditation that works on changing habit patterns . It's cal led the SA-T A - N A - M A med itation . You ' l l find the original form, in which Yog i B hajan first taught it, in this book. Later he gave a beautifu l visualization technique to p ractice with it. I 've incl uded that for you as an optional bonus-extra. I thi n k you wil l enjoy it. You wil l also find a breath m editation designed to help control addictive behavior (habits).

rm �

�UGG�!!T�D PRO M OT I N G HABIT Do one special meditation every day for forty d ays. Kee p a d ia ry of you r p rogress, and the changes you go th roug h . 98 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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13

Drugg nThg C.hi ng�g took opium a n d lo�t thgi r �ivi li zatio n . I nd i a n� took marijuana and l o�t thg i r �ivi lization . Thg fgy ptia n � u�gd pgyotg a n d othg r hgrb� a n d thgy lo�t thgi r �ivi l i zati o n . Thg Grggk� and Roman� lo�t thg i r �ivi l ization with a l �o ho l . Thg Unitgd �tatg� ha� thgm a l l ." -Yogi Bh�an

W

hy do people take d rugs? To get out of facing real ity. But d rugs take you to non-real ity. The use of d rugs has become so widespread now, it's even considered "fashionable." Yet thousands of people conti nue to die from d rugs and thousands of l ives, careers, and marriages a re destroyed by d rug a buse. Babies are born already addicted because their mothers were users. The n ew "designer" d rugs a re even more lethal and dangerous than the d rugs com monly used in the '60s. I n 1 994 a promising you n g actor, just twenty-two yea rs old, River Phoenix, collapsed i n front of a club i n Beverly H i l ls and d ied shortly there­ after, a nother victi m - of what? D rugs? Ignora n ce? Arrogance? ("It won't hap­ pen to me.") Social pressu re? When Yogi Bhajan a rrived i n Los Angeles in December of 1 968, the "drug cul­ tu re" was a way of l ife for almost a n entire you n g generation . They had started taking d rugs in order to fi nd God. They had rejected society's material values and they wanted t o experience spi rit. Yes, they wanted to get " h ig h, " but for the majority it was a si ncere spiritual q uest, not just thri l l-seeking. U nfortunately, they didn't know the results of taki ng those d rugs. They didn't know how much they would suffer from the side-effects. Out of twenty m i l lion you ng people, millions died, were permanently damaged, or went insane. For those of you who were not there and d o not remem ber the 60s (and for those of you who were there and do not rem e m ber the 60s), the fol lowi ng q uote from Yogi Bhajan wil l i l l ustrate the point: 99 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Eternal Power

THING!!

TO KNOW

"There is a possi bility that some of you m i g ht feel, once i n a whi le, to rem e m ber the '60s. Some of you a re very i n n ocent. You do not u ndersta n d . I was addressi ng one situation today. At one ti m e that person had taken so m uch d rugs that the neu rons in the b ra i n were d amaged . You h ave seven p lates of n e u rons. If a plate is damaged because of acceleration and contraction, you can u nderstand the su btle damage. It is j ust l i ke a car wh ich has a very weak bat­ tery. The caffeine, the sti m u lants, and a l l these thi ngs, at that moment m ay h e l p you . But over a long tim e, they damage you . " When the Siri S i n g h Sahib, then known si m ply a s "Yogiji," saw t h e condition the young people were in from havi ng taken d rugs, his com passion was a roused and i m pel led him to teach them Kundali n i Yoga . He knew it was the fastest way to heal their bod ies and minds, and give them the spiritual awa kening they were seeki n g . He decided to teach Ku ndal i n i Yoga publicly, in spite of the fact that trad itional ly, because of the power it gives, it was forbidden to do so. H e u nderstood thei r d rive to use d rugs was a n atte m pt to change their con ­ sciousness, to fi l l a n i n ner e m ptiness. They took d rugs because they h a d not been taught any other way to take control of their in ner l ives . Drugs were a rejection of in ner pain and stagnant menta l states. But d rugs did not provide a way to build a ny real basis for a new consciousness. He knew that Ku n da l i n i Yoga creates i m mediate, actual changes i n consciousness. Although many d rug users thought of Kundalini Yoga as a nother way to get "high," it is a way to becoming the higher self! It is getti ng out of pain, su bconscious turmoil, a n d boredom. It does give you energy from withi n that can not b e given or created by a ny outside substance. Yog i Bhajan knew that by doing Ku ndali n i Yoga, the students wou l d n ot only experience an even higher "high," but they would be repai ring their ner­ vous system and brain. He said it wou ld take three years of doing Ku ndalini Yoga and eati ng a healthy diet to repair the damage that d rugs had done. That was the beg i n ning of the 3HO Drug Rehabilitation Program . We even sta mped a l l of o u r 3 H O outgoing mail with the slog a n :

"'Mak� thi � a d rug-fr�� nati o n . H�lp th� 3HO Fou ndati o n ."' 100 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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DRUG!!

Yog i B haja n never tol d students o utrigh t to stop taking d ru gs, but h e poi nted o u t t h e effects of takin g them, a n d h e g ave sim ple things t o d o as a n alternative : W h e n you feel t h e urge for some sti m u lant, take seven l o n g d e e p breaths, hold ing each i nhalation to the maxi m u m . Or (if you ' re not out i n public, that is), do B reath of Fire. It is the WhQn y o u fQQI thQ urgQ for a gtim ul a nt most powerfu l remedy! " If you do a half-hou r of takQ gevQn long deep breathg . holdi n g eaeh Breath of Fire every day, there i nhalation to the m axi m u m . O r ( if you're are a lot of troubles that you not out i n p u b l i e . that ig ) . do Breath of can keep miles away. 1 " Fire . I t i g the m ogt powerfu l remedy I H e let people discover for themselves they cou l d get higher on Kundalini Yoga than on anything else. He poi nted out that it's a per­ manent spi ritual experience. There a re no damaging side-effects. It's a lso legal and less expensive than d rugs. Not only did every yoga class help heal past dam­ age, but it gave a n i m mediate "up" experience. Armed with Yogi Bhajan's masterful technology, a special ful l-care, d rugless 3HO Drug Rehabilitation facil ity in Tucson, Arizona, was beg u n . Staffed by q ual­ ified professionals, it evolved i nto "Su perHealth, " a haven for anyone wanting to relax, rej uvenate, and regenerate. Using Ku ndalini Yoga as the main featu re of the program, g uests or clients were given massage, cou n seling, diet, and moti­ vational techniq ues to i m prove the quality of their lives.

lltRe e reat i o n a l d ru g � " i � a n oxy m o ro n . D r u g � n e ithe r e reate n o r re-ereate , they de�t roy . MARIJ UANA N ot even marijuana is "safe." Marijuana attacks the nerve centers i n the spine. Therefore, the entire nervous system, all 72, 000 nerves in the body, are damaged . Another major effect of marijuana is damage to the memory fu nction . 101 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!!

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The two hemispheres of the brain expand and contract depending u pon the activity of the nostrils. What happens when a person smokes "pot" is that wh ichever nostril is "open" expands the corresponding hemisphere of the b rai n . This creates the euphoric experience and the distortion of space per­ ception and vision, "spaciness. " The p roblem is that whenever the b rain is affected by d rugs, its usual control factor of the expansion and contraction is destroyed . From then onwa rd, whether the person is smoking "grass" or not, that hemisphere can expand any time, a ny place. People get spaced out, for­ get what they are doing from one moment to the n ext. My observation was th at marij uana made the most i ntell igent people incom petent a n d u nde­ pendable. Marijuana sti m u lates the brain cel ls and it constricts the spinal fluid. Yog i B h ajan poi nted out to us that m a rij u a n a g rows wild i n I n d ia, but n o body bothe rs to smoke it a nymo re, b ecause t h ey k now its d isastrous effects.

!!l��PI NG Pi ll!! Thi rty-five m i ll ion people in this cou ntry can n ot sleep at night. M a ny take sleeping pills. Sleeping pills make you neu rotic, because they make the body slee p, but they do not let the su bconscious sleep. Everythi ng gets pushed i nto the u nconscious. And when things get put into the unconscious, man is a l iving "crazy. " H e has a bsolutely no � " nervous control system . The parasym pathetic does n 't even come throug h . And there's not yet a medicine wh ich can cure this d isease, because they do not deal with the root cause. They just cover the surface. Yogiji taught us the yog ic procedu re for how to go to sleep at n ig ht with­ out pi lls, sleep better and deeper, a n d wake up refreshed. You can read all about it i n the chapter on Sleep.

CYCl�!! OF Uf� H uman beings have three d istinct tim e periods, or cycles when major changes take p lace. These a re in the real ms of consciousness (seven years), intelligence (eleven years), and physical (eighteen years) . 102 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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D u ring the first eighteen yea rs of l ife, the body is g rowing, so it seems as if we can get away with just about anything without noticing a ny i l l effects. Kids can eat j u n k food, go without sleep, get no exercise, even smoke and d ri n k, and sti l l feel pretty good . F rom eighteen to thirty-six the body goes on reserve and so it stil l seems as if we can get away with u n h ealthy habits because the body is using its strong recuperative power to adjust and adapt. But after the age of thirty-six, look out! Al l the damage we have done, a l l the a buse a n d the neg lect of the health of our physical body comes back to h a u nt us. We' re no longer on reserve. The body starts to manifest the effects of all the past m isuse and abuse. We get the aches and pains: bursitis, a rth ritis, and digestive problems that seem to come with age. It's not age fol ks, it's deficiency. Fortu nately, it's never too late to try to i m prove conditions. Even if you a re over th irty-six, don't despair. By p racticing Ku ndalini Yoga you have al ready begu n to mend and repair, heal, and strengthen you r body. Ku ndali n i Yoga is not necessarily "easy" -because you h ave to DO it, you don't j ust pop a pill in you r mouth, or stick a n eed le in you r a rm . Two of Yog i Bhajan's earliest sayi ngs a re worth q uoting here. They a re true!

T h e re/!: n o freed o m wh i c h i!: fre e . T h e re#!: n o l i be ra t i o n wit h o ut l a b o r. " I k now you m ay h ave taken LS D, you m ay h ave taken P C P, but you can g et rid of the after-effects of these d rugs if you a re h o n est with sad h a n a, (reg­ u l a r d a i ly s p i ritua l p ractice). This is h ow it works. These ki n d s of d rugs, sti m u­ lan ts, u ppers, d owners (include sleepi n g p i l ls i n this category), n o m atter what they a re, control the o pen i n g a n d clos i n g capacity of the worki n g of the b ra i n 's m etabolis m . It is permissible to take a d ru g o n ly u n de r d i re m ed ical e me rgency. Othe rwise, i n a ny normal fu n ction i ng b ra i n , when you take d ru gs, you m a ke it fu n ction a bn o rm a l ly. A l ot of p eo p l e who stick to sad h a n a (See chapter on Sadhana) h ave been fou n d t o be total ly c l e a r of t h e effects a n d abnormalities c reated by the use of d rugs. An a bnormality i ncludes a ny p hysical, m ental, o r s p i ritual abnormality. That is why sad h a n a has been d es­ i g nated and d esi g n ed in th ree p a rts: one p a rt rel ates to the p hysical, the sec103 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Etomal Power

KNOW

o n d p a rt relates to the m en ta l, a n d the thi rd pa rt relates to the s p i ritu a l . We want to d ispense this every morn i ng with the idealistic tho u g ht that the per­ son m ay g rad u a l ly benefit fro m it. " If you h ave to be addicted to somethi ng, be addicted to doi ng sadhana daily. Otherwise, addiction is not a sou rce of freedom. And you are not free by taking d rugs. The neurons of the brain will become feeble. Take the d rugs. What's it to me? But it's you who wil l lose you r nostri l pituitary sensitivity. You can never smell the su btlety of l ife. You'll a lways be d rag g i ng you r l ife. " 2

COCA I N � Cocaine g ives a person a false sense of i nvincibility, a n d that, of cou rse, is especial ly appea l i ng to young people. I guess they don't believe all the statistics that d emonstrate that cocaine is an add iction that is usual ly fatal . Or maybe they believe it but they thi n k it can 't happen to them. We a l l tend to thi n k that d isasters happen to "other people, " not to us.

HABI T OR ADDICTION? Behavior patterns a re the resu lt of the radi ance of the psych e a n d fre­ quency of the m a g n etic field in rel ationshi p to the u niversal psych e a n d mag­ n etic force. When I first heard Yog i Bhajan exp l a i n this, I h a d to write it d own and read it over and over to u n derstan d it. What is i m po rtant to u n derstan d i s that w e a l l h ave h abit patterns. We cou l d n ot fun ction without the m . H owever, w e often outg row the patterns that we've created. We change, so we wan t to change our patterns. O r, we want to change because we know that by changing o u r h a bit patterns, we can change o u r l ives! Whether it's overeating, ta kin g d rugs, s moking, d ri n ki ng, o r g a m bling, w e can get i n to h a b its that c a n b e very self­ d estructive. H ow to change these patterns? I ncrease you r freq uency. The tool for doing th is is the m antra !!A TA NA MA wh ich is the n uclea r form of the seed sou n d, !!AT NAM. M antra means m i n d p rojectio n . It is a tec h n ical d evice for regu latin g the mind. (See chapter on Mantra.) The !!A TA NA MA m ed itation was i ntrod u ced i n the Let's Talk About Food chapter, a n d 104 l
CHAPHR 13

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DRUG!!

referred to again i n Creatures of Habit. Here's more i nformation a bout why these syllabl es a re so effective. Seed sounds or " Bij" mantras are sounds which total ly rea rrange the habit patterns of the su bconscious mind. By vibrati ng the sou nd current of !!AT NAM you activate that particular energy in the mind that erases and esta bl ishes habits. It represents the soun d embodiment of Truth itself: !!AT (truth) is the reality of what exists and NAM (name, identity) is the vibration which creates what it names. !!A TA NA MA is the basic evol utionary force in the human psyche, and its effect is the same as spl itting the atom. !!A is the i nfin ite, the beginning. TA is l ife: from the i nfinite comes life and existence. NA is death : from l ife comes death or change. From d eath comes the Consciousness of the joy of the infi nite, which leads back to l ife, MA. or rebi rth . Turn the page for a meditation for B reaki ng Addiction, usi ng this " Bij" mantra . . .

..D iffi L! u lt th i ng g ta kQ a l o n g t i m Q : T h Q i m pogg i b i Q ta kQg a l itti Q l o ng Q r

..

"'3

105 l
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BRfAKI N G ADD I CT I O N

B y Rgarranging Your �ubeongeioug M i nd I n this meditation, the thumbs rest against the temples. The pressure exerted by the thumbs triggers a rhythmic reflex cu rrent d irectly under­ neath the stem of the pineal gland. It is imbalance in this obscure area that makes mental and physical addiction seemingly u n breakable. I m balance in the area below the pineal u psets the pulsating radiance that regu lates the pituitary gland. Since the pituitary reg u lates the rest of the glandular system, the entire body and mind go out of balance when the pineal is dormant. This meditation corrects the problem. It is excellent for everyone, but particularly effective for rehabilitation efforts in drug dependence, mental illness, and phobic conditions. Although this meditation wil l produce resu lts within 5 to 7 minutes, work up to a maxi mum of 31 minutes a day. Human habit patterns are set or broken in forty-day cycles. More deeply ingrained patterns may take longer to correct. Once the pineal gland has started secreting, it wil l give you rad iance. It wil l free you from old patterns. Sit in a comfortable pose. Straighten the spine and make sure the first six lower vertebrae a re locked forward . Make fists of both hands and extend the thumbs out straig ht. Place the thumbs on the tem ples where there is a smal l indentation about an inch beyond the eyebrows. This is the lower anterior portion of the frontal bone above the tem poral-sphenoidal suture. Lock the back molars together and keep the l i ps closed. Vibrate the jaw m uscles by alternating the pressure on the molars with the rhythm of �A TA NA MA. A muscle wil l move under the thu m bs. Feel it massage the th umbs and apply a firm pressure with the hands. Keep the eyes closed and look toward the brow point. Silently vibrate the syl lables �A TA NA MA there. Continue 5 to 7 min utes, working up to 3 1 minutes over a period of daily practice sessions.

106 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow o f Horna/ Powor

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H

ave you ever had i nsom nia? H ave you ever had to take sleeping pills? Do you som eti mes wake up in the morn i ng feeling as if you've been ru n over by a ten-ton truck, or stepped on by a n elephant? Do you thi n k you need more sleep? Do you wish you cou ld get along on less sleep? This chapter is for you ! The pu rpose of sleep is to allow the body and the m i n d to rest, recuperate, regenerate - and do some self-hea l i n g . You should wake u p rested, refreshed, and alert, ready to face the d ay. Do you?

FOUR !!TAG�!! OF !!l��P There a re several stages of sleep: 1 . The first stage is the tossing and tu rning and worrying stage. It's a big waste of tim e a n d energy. It's not necessary to go th rough it at a l l, if you prepare you rself properly for sleep! 2 . N ext is usual ly a l ig ht dream, " reverie" stage (also not requ i red), from wh ich you go into a n even more energy-draining stage: 3 . D ream state. You may thi n k you enjoy you r d reams, but the fact is that whatever adventu res you experience while you're d rea m i n g take ten times more energy out of you tha n if the events actually happened while you were awake. No wonder you wake up exhausted. Especial ly if you ' re being chased by tigers, or attacked by monsters from outer space. We don't n eed to experience this state either. What we want to do, what we're aiming to reach, is: 4. The deep, d rea m l ess sleep state. It is only i n this fou rth stage of sleep that we are actually rejuvenated, a nd o u r batteries get rech a rged . 107 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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fxp l o d i n g t h €1 f1 i g ht-h o u r m yth . HOW M UCH �l��P DO I N��D? Now that you ' re not going to waste precious tim e in the fi rst th ree stages of sleep, you don't need eight hours of "sleep, " honest! Here's why: When your breath becomes erratic, when it is not slow and steady, it tears down your nervous system. After between four and a half to five and a half hou rs of sleep, your rate of breathing changes, so it's not a good idea to sleep any longer than that at one stretch. The deep sleep state actually on ly lasts a maxi mum of two and a half hours. The faster you can access the deep sleep stage, the less time you have to spend in the other stages. However, most of us take a little while to get into the deep sleep state and a l ittle while to come out. A hea lthy, ful l-g rown ad u lt livi ng a reasonably healthy l ifestyle real ly doesn't need to sleep more than five and a half hours! (It is said that those who have perfected their sleep s ki l ls can get all the benefits they n eed i n only 3 1 minutes!) Such g reat achievers as Madame Curie and Thomas Edison were known for thei r ability to take periodic "cat naps. " They never slept for long hours at a ti me. One of the yogic powers m uch to be desired is the conq u est of sleep! Bei ng able to rejuvenate you rself in j ust a few m i n utes is a g reat asset i n l ife. According to a n a rticle in the L.A. Ti mes, 2 "President j o h n F. Ken nedy used to work i n the Oval Office u ntil 2 or 3 a . m . and then get u p at 7 : 30 a . m ., with daily one-hour naps. President Clinton tries to get by o n five hours a n d a nap. Salvador Dali felt he o n ly needed fou r hou rs of sleep a d ay. When overtired, he used to sit holding a s poon over a tin plate on the floor. When he fel l asleep, he'd d rop the spoon, waki ng hi mself u p, claiming to be com pletely refreshed. Leonardo Da Vinci d ecided to sleep five minutes every fou r hours, a total of a half-hou r each day. After five months he gave u p-reportin g that he felt all ti ngly arou n d the head and was biting his tongue freq u ently-an d went back to his reg ular fou r hours . " Wel l, obviously, Da Vinci went a bit overboard . H owever, w e can lea rn how to relax so com pletely that j ust an eleven-minute n a p ca n do wonders (in addi­ tion to a good yogic n i g ht's sleep, of cou rse). In fact, taki ng two such eleven min ute naps every d ay is highly recom m ended, especial ly for women . 3 108 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow ofHemal Power

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!!U:l�P

U nfortun ately, many of us go to bed so loaded with a nxiety that our minds keep going over and over the same problems and concerns, l i ke a b roken record . We even worry a bout whether we'l l be able to go to sleep or not, and that keeps us awake. If we do fal l asleep, it's a restless sleep. It's a vicious circle: if our sleep is restless, then our rate of b reathing becomes erratic. If the breath is erratic, the mind is d isturbed . If we a re menta l ly d istu rbed in sleep, the deep sleep stage may never be reached . Resu lt: We wake up more ti red than when we went to bed .

�A�T-W��T I� B��T For maxi m u m efficiency a n d benefit from sleep, place you r bed so that it is positioned east/west. Yes, you want to sleep in a l i n e that cuts across the earth's mag netic fie l d . J ust a s t h e n eed le o f a com pass i s always p u l led toward the north, you r personal e nergy wil l g et swallowed up by the p u l l of the earth's m ag netic field u n less you sleep with you r electromag netic field at rig ht angles to it. Positioning you r bed north/south cou l d be the reason you wake up ti red and g rouchy in the morning. Your entire nervous system is affected by the direction in which you sleep. It doesn't matter which end your head is at, the im portant thing is to have the lines of force in your body going .. Two wo rgf Q n Q m i Qg of y o u r !: p i n Q a rQ east-west. East-West is Best! a utomobi iQ!: a n d �OFT B fD� .'' WQ a l l

B� K I N D TO YOUR �PI N �

nQQd t o wa l k m o re a n d d rive le!:!: .

A soft bed may feel cozy, but to support you r spine prop­ erly, and get the best night's sleep, you need a very firm sur­ face to sleep on. This isn't meant to tortu re you . It's not nec­ essary (or even desirable) to sleep on a bed of nails. But if ... IlLII ...... ........... you want to give maxi m u m relaxation to you r enti re nervous system, you have to give maxi m u m support to you r spinal col u m n . All 72,000 nerves in you r body a re con nected to those twenty-six vertebrae in you r spine. So, "Good-bye waterbed, " "So long, thick feather mattress! "

109

Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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Get the firmest mattress you can fi n d . Or try a three-inch futo n or foam pad . You need to get rid of soft, non-supportin g beds i n order to experience the rest and relaxation you n eed and d eserve. M a ny people who can afford every luxury sti l l choose to sleep with only a Persian rug a n d a s h eepskin for padding on a carpeted floor! Okay, n ow you know h ow to get you r bed ready. The re's more to do before you get into it.

110 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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!!L££P

Other ways to set you rself for To bg ga n g . two t h i n g g y o u n gg d to successful sleep a re to: do gvgry d a y : !!W£AT & LAU G H ! • Read something inspirational ( MaybQ you can laugh whiiQ you'rg out wal ki n g ! ) • Say you r prayers • Meditate • Tu rn on you r auto-reverse tape recorder and play some beautifu l med itative music wh ile you sleep. Subliminal tapes do work. • Now you're ready for a big treat. It's you r foot massage! If you don't have anyone handy to give you a foot massage, you can do it you rself. (Complete instructions in the Things To Do section.) By the way, if you want your husband, wife, sweetheart, ch ild, parent, or sibl ing to total ly adore you, give them a foot massage! It is the kindest, most sooth ing, comforting act of healing. There's one more very i m portant thing to do before you go to sleep:

Bafora you go to gJaa p . taka a l l your worriag, eonearng, idaag, a nd problamg. wrap thorn u p i n a paekaga a n d put thorn o n a ghalf i n y o u r m i nd labalad G - 0 - o :· laava thorn thoro . You"ll ba a mazgd at how many a ra gona. golvad . a n d i mprovad b y tho t i m a you waka u p . T h o whola paekaga may hava van i ghad l .

..

Don't forget to set you r mental ti mer to wake you u p i n the morn i n g . Yes, you r subconscious mind has a g reat sense of time. I t wi l l respond to you r d i rective. j ust before you go to sleep, tel l you rse lf what ti me you ' re going to wake up. At first you'll probably also want to use a n alarm clock, j ust for i nsura nce. You'll be su rprised how q u ickly you can develop you r own i nternal wake-u p system . This ability wil l come in handy when you want to practice " H ow to Wake U p i n the Morn i ng " the yogic way. I n the Beginners Kundalini Yoga Series, I teach a special b reath medi­ tation to practice at bedtime. It's i n the Things To Do section, along with som e exercises that work wel l a t bedti me . Now you're ready for t h e yogi c secret t o d e e p sleep: 111 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Hemal Pow"f!r

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TfCH N I CAl !!TUFF I n case you ' re i nterested, h e re's a more scientific exp l a n atio n of the yog ic terms for some stages of sleep as d escri bed by M SS G u ru c h a ra n S i n g h Khalsa, P h . D., who knows a l l the tech n ical terms. I just know what works !

Awake i s n o r m a l awaren ess o f earth a n d d efi n i n g t h e self b y circ u m ­ stan ces a n d outer o bjects. Juga rat (or h owever it is spelled) is the self with the sense of the i n ner worl d : d reams, i ma g es, psych i c i mp ressions, the su bcon scious storages of self.

�oopan is heavy d ream stage. (Very exhausti n g !) �koopat, o r d ream less, is b eyon d the p u l l of the five e l e ments a n d i nto the sense of m e rg ed s p i rit where identity is n ot based on the worl d . Turiya is awakened sleep. Awa ke as I nfi n ite S p i rit a n d aware o f t h e oth e r rea l m s o f self. T h a t is w h y Yog i B h ajan says h e knows n oth i n g a bout d reams. " I n ever had one." He has a state of Tu riya i n which Reality of Self is a lways p resent. The su bconscious a bsorption i n to d rea m s a n d sym bols is not n eed­ ed . A sym bol experienced in Turiya is a vision o r an i ntuition .

113 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Eternal Power

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SL

E E P Y T I M E S ON G

Shakespeare said t'was "Sleep that knits up the ravell'd sleave of care-" I guess he never had insomnia, nor dreamed he was chased by a bear Sweet dreams are not so sweet at all They take ten times the energy to run or fall T'would take if t'were happening awake So, yogis say, "avoid dreaming, for heaven 's sake!" Drink some water at bedtime we recommend Give your stomach a rest - it will be your friend Put your troubles on a shelf before you retire Mark it "G-0- D " and see what transpires In the morning they may be gone forever Meanwhile, forget them overnight - aren't you clever? Breathing slower and slower, your mind slows down too Left nostril engaged, sweet Morpheus woo Deeper and deeper you drift away To awake refreshed to a brand new day Prepare your body, instruct your mind Sleeping becomes a pleasure you 'll find! A foot massage is a bonus delight Sets your nerves at peace for the night (Wash feet first in cold water - feels great) Play your auto-reverse with an inspiring tape Firm mattress placed east and west (Yogis concur, this is the best) Do some exercise

you can't go wrong

And this is the end of my Sleepytime song! 114 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow ofHemal Power

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HOW TO GIT UP IN THI:: MORNING

15

How to Gt1t Up i n tht1 Morni ng

TH� WAY TH� YOGI� DO I T I You can, of course, set a n alarm, have a wake-u p service phone you, or . . .

ask someone to cal l you . But ideal ly (if you're smart), you wi l l have conscious­ ly set you r i nner alarm the n ig ht before by tel ling you r su b-conscious what time you want to get up. The subconscious mind has a very accu rate sense of ti m e and wi l l be happy to serve you !

A l wa y g com e o ut o f g J e e p g J o wl y a n d g ra d u a l ly . N o g u d d e n m oveg ( Be k i n d to y o u r n e rvou g g y gte m . If you leap out of bed when the a la rm rings, that a bru pt tra nsition from sleep to waking is a shock that damages you r nervous system . I nstead of the j u m ping-jack scenario, when it's ti m e to wake u p, try th is: 115 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o fEternal Power

THING!!

TO KNOW

K��P YOUR �y�� ClO��D I n hale very deeply and stretch you r arms way up and back over you r head . Take a few long deep b reaths, s-t-r-r-r-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g you r spi ne, a n d then do a:

CAT �TR�TCH Bend one knee u p to you r chest and swing it across the front of you r body to touch the bed on the opposite side; then do the sam e thing with the other knee. Twist and tu rn and bend to the maxi m u m . This i s good for you r circu lation and for the nervous system . You a re letti ng the electromag netic field balance itself. Stretching first th ing in the m orn ing is a major factor in helping you go th rough the day balanced and cal m . Be sure to do it.

TH� �y�� HAV� IT ! You 've done a l l the stretch ing with you r eyes closed . Now, lyi n g flat on you r back, p u t the pal ms of you r hands tig htly over you r closed eyes. Then, b u t not until then, open you r eyes, look d irectly i nto the palms of you r hands. Slowly ­ very slowly, conti nue to gaze at you r palms (reading you r fortu ne?) as you l ift you r hands straig ht u p to about eig hteen inches a bove you r face. This gives you r optic nerve a chance to adj ust g radually to the l ig ht and distance, and helps to keep you r eyesight strong . Protect you r eyesig ht, always avoid a ny sud­ den shock of l ight.

WAK� UP YOUR FAC� F rom the eighteen-inch heig ht, b ring you r fin gerti ps down to the center of you r forehead, and with a circular m otion, massage you r forehead from the cen­ ter out to the tem pl es and down both sides of the face to the tip of you r chi n . (There a re special p ressu re points on either side of t h e chin, wh ich a re l u n a r cen­ ters.) Now massage you r nose and you r ears, squeeze you r nostri ls a n d you r ear lobes briefly to get the circu lation going. Take a few more long deep b reaths to open u p you r l ungs a n d get ready for:

116 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

CHAPH:R 15

•

HOW TO GIT UP IN THf MORNING

!!TR�TCH PO!!� Lyi ng on you r back, legs straig ht, b ri ng you r heels together and l ift you r head and you r heels about six inches off the bed (twelve i nches, maxi m u m), bal­ a ncing on you r buttocks, whi l e keeping you r eyes open and focusi ng steadily on you r big toes (or the blan kets coveri ng the toes!). Hold the position for one m i n ute with B reath of Fire. Arms a re held straight at you r sides, pal ms facing you r thighs, but not touch i n g . (Sort of l i ke a sentry at Bucki ngham Palace, except that you can smile.) If you r eyes water, that's OK, it's good l u brication for them. If you r body shakes, that's okay. It ind icates the nervous system is adjust­ ing. If you can't maintai n stretch pose for the ful l minute, do it in seg ments, even if it's only ten seconds at a time. J ust do the best you can, and keep tryi ng! It's tim e wel l spent because:

�trgtf!h pogg a dj u gtg y o u r n avgl p o i n t . �i nf!g t h g n avgl i g t h g fol!a l p o i n t for a l l 72 . 000 n grvug i n t h u bod y . gfrutl!h pogu i g a t u n u- u p for y o u r who l u n g rvou g g y gtum ag wgl l a g y o u r d ig ugtivg g y gtu m . I t a l go gtru ngthung y o u r rup rod ul!tivg o rg a n g a n d g l a n d g ( thg guat of y o u r l!ruativity a nd p ro d u l!fivity ) .

N O� � TO KN � �� After one minute of stretch pose, relax for about 15 seconds a nd then bend you r knees to your chest, wrap you r a rms around them and hold them tight against you r body, l ift you r head and put your nose rig ht in between your knees. I n this position d o Breath of Fire for 3 0 seconds to one minute, pumping you r nave l . This stimulates the apana (out-going l ife breath) a n d helps you r elim ina117 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!!

TO KNOW

tion. j ust as prana is not breath itself, but carried on the i ncoming l ife breath, apana is the eliminating force of the body, carried on the outgoing, or eliminating breath . It is the cleansing breath of l ife that gets rid of the toxins. Add to the bene­ fit of this exercise by metally repeating the mantra WA H [ G U R U or gAT N A M over and over in your mind, synchronized with the breath . Hear it loud and clear as you inhale and exhale. Then in hale deeply, exhale, and relax the breath as you . . .

HAV� A H�ART! Keeping you r knees tightly clasped to you r chest, tu rn b riefly onto you r right side and rest for a m i nute o r two. This postu re strengthens the heart.

Warni n g : thig pogtun� may bQ dangQroug­ you·rQ liabiQ to fall back to gJQQP and bQ latQ for work.

TAK� A WAlK Now you're ready to get out of bed and wal k to the bath room . Don't put on you r slippers yet. It's better to go barefoot, so that you r body can d ischarg e a ny excess electromagnetic energy you 've accum u lated overnight. T h e fi rst stretching you did in bed was to b reak through the "cocoon " of you r i n d ivid ual electromagnetic field and reesta bl ish contact with earth . Touching the wal ls a n d touching t h e faucets with both h a n d s wi l l hel p conti n ue t h e process o f " g round­ ing yourself" for the day ahead.

BATHROOM Al�RT As we explain in the chapter cal l ed, " Let's Tal k About Food, " when you go to the toi let first thing in the m orn i n g, you can verify how wel l you a re d igest­ ing your food by looki ng to see if you r stool floats. If it does, it means you r body has gotten the benefit of a l l the food value in whatever you ate, a n d it is just eliminating what it cou l d n ot use to build blood, bone, and tissue. If you r stool si n ks, then someth ing is wro n g, either with you r diet or with you r d ig estive sys­ tem, and probably both . And, you can tel l by the color of you r u ri n e h ow you r kidneys are doing. The color should not b e darker than gold. 118 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

CHAPUR 15

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HOW TO GIT UP IN TH£ MORNING

BRU!!H YOUR TONGU£ N ot just to wh iten and brighten you r teeth, but for the sake of you r health, here is a yogic recipe for oral hyg iene: Take two parts powdered potassi u m a l u m 1 m ixed with o n e part of co_111 mon household salt a nd use it l i ke tooth powder to brush you r teeth . More i m portantly, brush the root of your tongue. Why? D u ring the nig ht, you r mouth tu rns into an i ncu bator, warm, moist, and cozy. I n that envi ro n ment, bacteria have a n o rgy a n d they m u ltip ly like crazy. U n less you get rid of that toxic accu m u lation, you wil l swal low it with the first sip of liquid. So, to avoid poi­ son i ng you rself, use you r tooth brush and reach way back to the root of you r tongue u nti l you gag and cou g h u p that d isease-producing m ucous. The two l it­ tle g la nds back there cal led "mon key g la nds" need to be cleaned out. Another benefit is that as you g ag, it m a kes you r eyes water. Ancient yogis cal l ed that "cataract" water, a n d said that it hel ps preserve the eyesight. So, a word to the wise: use this astri ngent com bination of a l u m and salt every morn ­ i n g . I keep the m ixture in a clean, d ry, e mpty m ustard jar. I pou r a l ittle, a bout the size of a quarter, i n the pal m of one hand, wet my toothb rush and dip it i n . You can finish with you r favorite tooth paste on you r teeth, if you wis h . I do.

Oil AND WAT£R. TH£ B£!!T M IXTUR£ N ext on the morn i ng agenda is the biggest chal lenge of the day, the ever popular 3HO trademark, the COLD S H OWER! But fi rst, before you get u nder the shower, yes, before you get wet, massage you r body ai r over with a l ittle oil. Oil is more easily absorbed by the skin when it ;,� �. is m ixed with water-an d you won 't be g reasy afterwards. ,' Al mond oil is h ig h ly reco m mended si nce the a lmond conta i ns 1 so many minerals, a n d it nou rishes the body throug h the pores 1 1 of you r ski n . Go for it! When the cold water hits the s u rface of you r skin (wh ich has fou r l ayers) all the blood from way deep i nside you r body rushes to the su rface i n self-d efense, vastly i m provi ng you r cir­ cu lation on the spot. This is cal led hyd rotherapy. It strengthens you r enti re ner­ vous system . People pay h uge sums of money for what is now cal led

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119 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow o f Etornal Powor

THING!!

TO KNOW

" Hyd rothermal therapy, " when i n reality a l l you need is you r own two h ands, col d water, and cou rage. An added benefit is that you wil l probably become very holy the m oment the cold water h its you r body, because it is very l i kely you wil l shout, "Oh my God ! " You m ig ht try exclaimi ng, " Wahe Guru" ("Wow, God is G reat!") or "Ang Sang Wahe Guru" ("God l ives in every l i m b of my bein g . ") Rememberi n g God is a lways a blessin g . Go i n and o u t o f t h e water fou r times, constantly massaging you r body u ntil the water no longer feels cold . Be sure to get the arm-pits (major nerve centers) a n d the i nsides of the thighs. You can even stand on one foot and m assage the top of it with the other foot, but don't s l i p or trip! Women, be sure to massage you r breasts. Then, you r first victory of the day achieved, d ry off b riskly with a rou g h towel til l the body real ly shines; put on loose, comfortable exercise clothing, and you ' re ready to do you r sadhana, you r personal daily spiritual p ractice. (See Sadhana: Your Spiritual Bank Account.) God bless you, you're boun d to h ave a wonderfu l day! Note, for women, there are exceptions to the shower ru le! One: Don't take cold showers d u ring you r monthly period . Two: No cold showers after the seventh month of pregnancy; take lukewarm, body-temperature showers instead . From the one hundred-twentieth day (when the new soul enters the wom b) u ntil the seventh month, give the baby a cold shower with a very good massage, but not more than three minutes, and you wil l hel p build a very strong, d isease-free baby!

" It's: n ot tha I ifa th a t rn a ttats:. it's: th a co u taga y o u b ti ng to i t. •

2

If you rea l ly l ove hot showers, won d e rfu l . Ta ke them at n i g ht, or some­ ti m e when you ca n wra p up afterwa rds in lots of b la n kets and sweat for at l east a n hour or two . But in the m o rn i n g, cold water is yo u r best frien d . The m orn i n g shower is for you r c i rc u l ation, a n d sti m u l ation of you r n e rvou s a n d g la n d u l a r systems. 120 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPHR 16

•

�DHANA

16

�adhana: Your �pi ritual Bank Account f n vy of thQ A n g eJ g (AnggJg C.an"t Do �ad ha na )

I

t has been said that even the a ng els envy us because it is o n ly when a being has evolved i nto the h u ma n form (after 8.4 m i l lion l ifeti mes i n other forms), that he/she can be l iberated from the cycle of birth and d eath . N o othe r l ife form has this opportu nity. N ot even t h e angels. To experience liberation we h ave to expand our awa reness beyond the l i m­ itations of our i ndivid ual consciousness. O n ly then can we merge into the vast­ ness of the U n iversal Self, which is our true identity. That expansion takes cou rage and consistent effort. It takes work .

..TH[R[ I!! NO liB[RATION WITHOUT LABOR1•• T h e m a i n work toward l i be ratio n is cal le d sadh a n a . Sad h a n a is the base, the fou nd ation of a l l s p i ritua l e n deavor. Sad h a n a is you r personal, i n d ivid u a l s p i ritua l effort. It is t h e m a i n too l you u s e t o work o n you rself to achieve the p urpose of l ife. It can be done alone o r with a g ro u p . Sad h a n a is whatever you d o consistently to clear you r own consci o u s n ess so you can relate to the i nfi n­ ity withi n you . To cover a l l you r bases, it w i l l i n cl u d e exercise, m e d itation, a n d p raye r. B efore you face the world each d ay, before you g o i nto you r kitchen to fix b re a kfast, before you ride you r b i ke to school, jog to you r office, o r get in you r car t o fig ht the battle of the freeways: d o you rself a favor a n d tun e u p you r n e rvou s system a n d attu n e you rse lf to you r h i g h est i n n e r self. 121 l
THING!! TO KNOW

The power of you r sad hana is enhanced by doing it with other people. To go from individual to u niversal consciousness, we have to go th rough g roup consciousness. G ro u p sad h a n a H ave you h ugged y o u r gou l tod a y ? develops g roup consciousness. You wi l l fi nd that com m u nication and deali ngs with the people who do sad hana with you is m uch easier than with other people, because you have created an harmonious inner avenue of com­ m u n ication .

A MBRO!!IAL HOUR!! - R I G H T T I M � / RIGHT PLAC� There are certai n times of the day that a re best su ited for med itation: the ideal ti me slot is fou r o' dock to seven o'clock in the morning. Then, to m a ke a positive transition from day to night-tim e, fou r to seven in the evening, D u ring what a re ca l led the "ambrosial hours" (the two and a half hours just before sun rise), when the sun is at a sixty-deg ree a n g le to the earth, the energy you put into you r sad hana gets maxi m u m resu lts. You r world i s q u ieter. It's easier to med itate a n d concentrate before the hustle and bustle of the day beg ins. This is the ti m e we need to be awake to receive that fi rst solar energy of the day. "Any foo l can sleep, but wise is that one who rises before the s u n . " 2

AR� YOU THI NK I NG

.

..

1 CAN'T G�T UP THAT �ARLY!"?

If you absol utely can not get up early i n the morning to do sadhana, then do it some other time! Doing sad hana at any time of the day or n ight wil l benefit you . However, it is a fact that the opti m u m time is d u ring the ambrosial hou rs. As Yog i Bhajan says, " If you can't have the best, make the best of what you have." I f you can 't do sadhana for two and a half hours, do it for an hou r; if you can 't do it for a n hou r, do i t for thirty-one minutes, or eleven min utes. I f you don't want t o do the sad hana outlined in this book, do some other sadhana, but for God's sake-(and you r sake)-do something! 122 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o fHemal Power

CHAPITR 16

0 N f:

H 0 L Y

•

!:AOHANA

M A N '!!

!! P f: C. I A L !! A D H A N A

O nce there was a very holy man who l ived i n a cave high i n the

mou ntains of the H i malayas. He p racticed austerities and penances for many yea rs. Every morn i ng he would appear at the cave entrance j ust before s u n rise, and stand waiti ng for the first rays of dawn to appear over the horizon, i l l u m inati ng a spectacu lar panorama of h u n d reds and h u n d reds of miles of l ush g reen forest. H e cou ld look down and see the m irrored reflection of his own snowcapped mountain shimmeri ng i n t h e crystal clea r river sparkling m i les below. Overwhel med with the beauty of God's creation, he never tired of the exq u isite sig ht. Awestruck at the wonder of God's creation that g reeted his eyes each dawn, he watched the sun rise, clapped his hands in glee and shouted at the top of his l u n gs, "Well done, God, wel l done!" This was his way of g iving thanks to his Creator. This was his sadhana.

123 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

guGGE!!TIONg: H OW TO D O M ORNIN G gAOHANA PR�PARATION M o rn ing sad hana real ly starts the n i g ht before. It starts with h ow you go to sleep at nig ht, so you can wake up early i n the morn i n g the yogi c way. O n e o f the m ost essential steps i n that p reparation for morn i n g sad h a n a is a cold s hower. Yes, col d . People pay thousands of dollars for hydrotherma l therapy, but you can ach ieve the same results for o n ly a few cents a d ay i n you r own col d s h ower. I can 't repeat often enough h ow val uable it is to take that cold shower. That's where you can o pe n up you r cap i l la ries, i ncrease you r circu la­ tion, wake up a n d strengthen you r entire n e rvous system i n a bout five m i n ­ utes. A l l y o u h ave to d o is m assag e you r body vigorously u nder c o l d water fi rst thing in the morn i n g u ntil the water does n 't feel col d . After this "tun e-u p" you ' re ready to tu ne-in for you r m o rn i ng sad hana. I'm going to d escribe i n d etail t h e sadhana p rescribed b y Yog i B h ajan, a n d p racticed b y thousands of 3 H O students throughout the worl d . P l ease join us!

lOCAT I ON It's best to do sad hana i n the sam e p lace every d ay. Ideal ly, you wil l fin d a 3 H O Yog a Center or Ash ram, a n d participate i n the g ro u p sad h a n a there . Everyon e benefits from t h e com b i n ed energy. You can, o f cou rse, d o you r sad­ hana at home. J ust sel ect a d ean, q u iet s pot where you wil l n ot be d is­ turbed . You m ay want to set up an a ltar of some kin d with pic­ tu res, flowers, statues, whatever sets a m ood of reverence for you . This a lta r becom es a focal point for you r m ed itative energy. After you tu n e i n by c h a ntin g ONG NAMO GURU OW NAMO (at l east th ree tim es), do a set of K u n d a l i n i Yoga exercises (re m e m ber to i nclude the relaxatio ns), then you ' re ready to beg i n c h a ntin g .

124 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPT�R 16

•

!!ADHANA

M ORN I NG MANTRA!! Sit i n Easy Pose, on either wool o r cotton padd i n g of some sort. Some people use shee pski n s, others p refer a fol d ed b l a n ket. You r fou nd atio n should be solid so you can sit sti l l . You can chant sitti n g i n a chair o r eve n lyi n g i n bed if you r p hysical condition requ i res it. B e s u re to kee p you r s p i n e a s straight a s you can . The words for a l l seven of the m o rn i n g sad h a n a mantras a re a t the e n d of this chapter. The sequence beg i ns with seven m i n utes of c h a ntin g Lon g E k O n g Kar's. This mantra opens a l l t h e chakras. (See the Things To Do section for specific directions for chanting it.) Al l of the othe r m antras for the m o rn i n g m ay be chanted to you r choice of melod ies, with o r without m usical acco m pa n i ­ m ent. There a re several a u d io tapes 3 available with d ifferent m usical versions of a l l the "Aq uarian Sad h a na" m antras. Try them u nti l you fi n d one that s uits you . O r, you can create you r own m elod ies . But be s u re to kee p the sam e com ­ parative length of syllables a n d m a i ntai n t h e sam e rhythm a s they wou l d b e s poken if you were sim ply recitin g the m i n a m o n otone, with out a ny m usic. This attention to rhyth m p reserves the " Naad, " wh ich is the i n ner sou nd, the power, of the syl lables. Th is is very i m po rtant. N ot every tape that has been p rod u ced is flawless i n th is regard , but as the scri ptu res say, " Mantram Siddyam, Siddhyam Parameshwaram. " H e who m asters mantra, masters God H i mself. Perfection can't be expected to be easily achieved . You wil l h ave to be the best j udge of which morn i n g sad h a n a tape works best for you . O n e of the m a ny adva ntages to g ro u p sad h a n a is that you can just s u rrender to the p rocess, as someone else leads the exercises and the chanti n g . (Or, you can l ead it and d o it "your way!")

TH� AGONY AND TH� �C!!TA!!Y I wou l d l i ke to say that m orn i n g sad h a n a wi l l g ive you a bl issfu l experi­ ence . I ca n 't honestly p ro m ise you that. The fact is, someti m es it can be d own righ t m iserable. It is a cleansing p rocess. G a rbage acc u m u lated from m a ny l ifeti m es g ets stirred u p a n d com es floatin g to the s u rface. You m ay fin d you rself o bservin g some very u n pl easan t, u g ly thoug hts wh i l e you ' re m ed i­ tatin g o r c h a ntin g . G a rbage consists of s u c h attitu d es a n d feel i n gs as a n g e r, 125 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

resentment, fea r, frustration, self-pity, d e p ression, i nsecu rity. The i mportan t th i n g i s , kee p on chanti n g ! The m a n tras a re d o i n g their job. You ' re clea n i n g u p a n d g etti n g rid of t h e negativity that h a s b e e n coverin g u p the d ivi n e l i g ht inside you . Negative vibrations create blocks of negativity. These blocks pile u p � forming walls of negativity, wal ls that separate us from experienc� lilt ,i_ ing the God i nside us. It is this sense of separation that m a kes us u n happy. By contin u i n g to chant, you're replacing neg ative vib raTf'!lii ,_. BR tions with positive ones, and the wal ls come tumbling d own ! If we don't clean u p the subconscious on a regular basis, negativity contin­ ues to accum ulate. When it reaches a satu ration point, it spi lls over i nto the u n conscious mind and then it's really hard to get rid of it. To be tru ly l iberated and in control of our m inds a nd our l ives, we can 't be pushed and pul led a round by i rrational com pu lsions from the sub-conscious. Did you ever do someth ing you really didn't want to do? P ra y i n g ig ta l ki ng to God . me d i ta t i n g O r do somethi n g you n ow i g l ett i n g G o d ta l k t o y o u . wish you had n't done? Wel l, the desires a n d the com p u l­ sions to action or lack of action, caused by fea r, come mostly from the s u b­ conscious. If we don't get rid of what's bu ried there, we can be i n real trouble! When you fin ish chanting for a n hour-and even d u ring that hour­ remember to give than ks to you r Creator. This is a n excellent tim e to pray. You have worked on you r physical body with Ku ndalini Yoga exercises. You have worked on you r mind, cleaning out the s u b. � conscious th roug h chanti n g mantras, now it's tim e to refresh you r spirit a n d i nteg rate a l l parts of you r being by offering you rse lf a n d dedicati ng you r actions for the d ay to the One Creator who m akes it possible for you to experience H is marvelous creation . It's tim e for worship, however you choose. It can be at you r own a ltar, at you r tem pl e, c h u rch, o r syna� � gogue. We who a re S i kh s g o to the G u rdwara (litera l ly, the " gate of the G u ru") whic h is o u r tem ple. " S i kh " s i mp ly means stud ent. '\J

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126 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Hemal Power

CHAPUR 16

•

!!ADHANA

Everyon e is welcome i n a ny Sikh p lace of worship. People of a l l beliefs, castes, colors, genders, and ages a re welcom e . W e b ow w h e n w e fi rst e nter t h e •• G o d re pe !!f!: m e whe n I wo rk. G u rdwara. Th is i s not o n ly good for t h e but H e l ove!: m e whe n 1 g i n g . " circ u lation, but i t a l l ows u s to express o u r i n tention to offer o u r l ives in service to G o d a n d acknowled g e that we belong to the G uru . We rem i n d o u rselves to "g ive our heads" to the G u ru, offerin g our p roblems a n d worries to the G u ru . Then we si ng, offer a tradi­ tion a l p rayer, listen to a n excerpt from the S i ri G u ru G ra nth Sah i b, to g ive us i ns p i ration and g u idance for the d ay. The S i ri G u ru G ra nth Sah i b is a vol u m e o f sacred writings com pi led from t h e words o f S i kh G u rus a s wel l a s e n l i g ht­ ened H i n d u, M us l i m, and Sufi sai nts a l l of whom experienced the h i g h est state of Yoga . These words a re, in effect, Words of God, a n d by reciti n g them a n d l iste n i n g t o them, w e raise our consciousness. It is the Livin g G u ru o f t h e S i khs. We then s h a re some G u rprashad, a trad itional sweet, made of whole wheat flo u r, h o ney, a n d clarified butter (l itera l ly: a " gift" of the G u ru). Tastin g this sweet m ixtu re rem i n ds us that everything we receive is sweet because every­ th i n g com es fro m G od . Then, as Sikhs, we a re s u pposed to " g o to work a n d earn rig hteously" so that w e c a n h ave a b u n d ance t o s h a re with others. The first Sikh G u ru was G u ru Nanak, who taught that God l ives and b reathes i n everyon e (sound fam i liar?) and that people should not fig ht a bout how to wors h i p that One God . Therefore, Si khs do not try to convert others to become Sikhs, and a re com m itted to respecti ng-and even d efending-the rights of othe rs to worship however they choose.

HAV[ A GOOD DAY H aving done sad hana, you have cleared you r m i n d and consciously pre­ pared you rself to go forth and be successfu l in h a n d l i n g whatever the day may b ri n g . You consciously strive to hold on to the remem b rance and the awareness of SAT NAM with every breath . Wherever you go, whatever you do, remember SAT NAM l ives and breathes in you ! (Remember in the chapter on Breath of Life we said, "catch yourself breathing! ") 127 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

S A D HA NA Kundalini Yoga, meditation, and prayer "Morning Sadhana, " your soul wants to be there. Be kind to your soul in the ambrosial hours Get rid of impediments and experience your power. You 're already divine, a Spirit Being of Light Clear away the debris so you can shine bright! My mind can be a wonderful friend, and I truly love it dearly But it doesn't always help me out, when I really need to think clearly. Bombarded all day with sounds and sights Cluttered with fantasies and dreams by night Subconscious is constantly programmed subliminally And the stuff we accumulate loads us down criminally "Garbage in: garbage out, " computer programmer knows Subconscious garbage causes most of our woes To clean it out, erase those files It only takes a little while Do sadhana each morning to get a fresh start Raise your consciousness and open your heart Series of mantras, one hour of chanting Re-record on the disc of the mind Sharpen your wits and hone your skills These are just a few of the benefits you 'll find

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Sacred vibrations in scientific combination Stimulate hypothalamus, change brain cells' permutation Chant God's Name before break of day Sorrow and tension melt away The process of cleansing I must admit, Brings negativity to the surface - that's part of it But unless it's removed, brought out to the light It festers and multiplies - and that's not right! Excess subconscious garbage not removed, overflows Into your unconscious, that dark, murky, bottomless pit below. Clean your mental house daily It really is a must Even if it does kick up a lot of dust Any fool can sleep late and miss sun 's first rays But blessed be the soul who wakes to the day! Two and a half hours before the sun rises Best time for sadhana-practiced by the wisest.

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!!PI R ITUAl BAN K ACCOU NT M orning sad hana is the best i nvestment i n the world . It is l i ke putting money i n you r spiritual ban k accou nt. It wil l a lways earn at least ten percent interest. For every hour of morn ing sad hana, you get ten hours of guidance and clarity! Therefore, the ideal sadhana lasts two and a half hours. You can be sure when you ' re doing sad hana in the a m b rosial hou rs that you're in the rig ht place at the right time doing the rig ht th ing. What a g reat feeling of self-esteem and self-assu r­ a nce, to start each day with that confidence! If you real ly want to "HAVE A GOOD DAY, " sadhana is the way to begi n it.

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17

Woman ig �pt1llt1d DoubJ g-Vou-0-Man Thi� ehapter i � written primarily for women, but I think man wil l find it worth readi ng .

D

!!hocking perhap�. but worth reading!

u r pre mise in this book is that everyone has the right to be healthy, happy, and holy. As women, there is a lot we can do to make this possi­ ble. Obviously something has to change. Any change starts with a change of attitude, a d ifferent idea, or concept. So I i nvite you to open you r mind to a d if­ ferent way of viewing our l ives, identity, and pu rpose as women . You may fi nd some of the thi ngs you are about to read u psetting, but twenty-seven yea rs of l iving, cou nseling, and observing the results of these ideas h ave convi nced me of lheir practica lity! Yog i Bhajan p u l ls no punches. He strips away fantasy and teaches reality. This is not always a popular thing to do. H e offers en lig htened and u n iversal knowledge of the true natu re and characteristics of each gender. He has gone i nto g reat d etail i n hundreds of lectu res and classes, explain ing how men and women a re d ifferent. Men may be "from Mars" and women may be "from Venus, " but we' re all here on Earth now, a n d we need to learn how to enjoy being here together. It's obvious that the cu rrent belief system of the "eq ual ity" of men and women has not brought us happi ness and fulfi l lm ent. Discontent, d epression, and frustration a re common. The d ivorce rate conti n u es to g row and the fabric of society is torn by bitterness and resentment on both sides of the gender l i ne. Thoug h i m po rtant, equal pay for eq ual jobs does not deal with the fu ndamen­ tal issue of our u nique strengths and pu rpose as wom e n and our i m pact on society. 131 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

-Yogi BhcU a n "You m ust w i n freedom a n d you r rig ht t o be reco g n ized a s h u m a n . You can not be paid less than a man, you can n ot be den ied o pportun ities because you h a p pe n to be a wom a n . I a m n ot aski n g you to becom e total tom boys, but I a m tell i n g you that the g race of wom a n demands to be treated n icely. S h e is the better h a lf. If somebody opens the door for h e r it is no tragedy. It is a male cou rtesy to h is own g race . . . l a m n ot askin g you to becom e fem i n ists, but to be very g racefu l, a bsol ute wom e n . " l Adi !!hakti !!ymbol

�V�RY WOMAN 1!:! A !:!HAKT I : GOD'!:! POW�R I N MAN IF�!:!TATION Probably the most stri king thing a bout Yogi B h ajan's attitude toward women is the p lace of respect and reverence he says is o u r God given right, and his insistence u pon the nobility and i nvincibil ity of wom a n when she claims her rig htful power and majesty as "Shakti . " The word Shakti means the fem inine aspect o f God, the Power th rough wh ich " He" created the creation . Adi Shakti is the P ri m a l Power.

TH� POW�R OF WOM�N Men may not l i ke to believe this, but women a re actua l ly sixteen tim es more powerfu l tha n men. Perhaps not in m uscu lar strength, but a woman has sixteen ti mes the emotional i m pact, sixteen times the i ntu itive awareness, a nd sixteen ti mes the p rotective sense. She's the creatu re who end u res childbi rth . She's the one capable of turning her blood to milk to feed her c h i l d . " G o d h a s g iven you sixteen times more cou rage a n d more com p rehensive biological p hysical strength than a m a n . H ave pity on th is g uy! He d oesn 't have 132 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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all you r biochem ical action, doesn't have the mental lunar reflection, doesn't have the sophistication and softness and doesn't have the nervous system to deal with it, and he's sti l l alive!"2 I s it a ny won d e r that a wom a n 's i nflu ence and effect o n a man can be e normous? Wom e n th roughout the ages h ave i ns p i red m e n to g reatness, or led them to their d oo m . What we say to a m a n ca n either elevate, i nspire, a n d enco u rage h i m, o r e mascu late, a ntagon ize, a n d som etim es destroy h i m . But, what about the exp l oitation of wom e n ? Yes, it is true, wom a n has been p ut­ d own, m is used, a bused, a n d b ruta l ly m istreated . But, this d oes n ot h ave to conti n ue. When we acknowledge a n d accept o u r power as women, we can clai m our rig htfu l status of d i g n ity, g race, and res pect i n society. H istory shows that any society or civi l ization i n which woman is not respect­ ed has u lti mately been destroyed .

FROM A CHI CK TO AN �AGl�: TH� I NVINCIBl� WOMAN Recog nizing the need to ed ucate women a bout women, Yog i ------ --Bhajan created a special summer i ntensive training prog ra m for ":-.. :._.::. --...__ · --women . The fi rst Khalsa Women's Training Cam p, KWTC, (Khalsa means "pure one") was held in 1 9 76, on land boug ht by Yog i Bhajan i n Espanola, N ew Mexico. C a m p ra n for eight weeks, a nd the women ran, too ! Everything from martia l a rts a n d march i ng, to m usic and med itation was taught. Yogi Bhajan personally lectu red and led Ku ndalini Yoga classes every day. He was determined to elevate and transform woman in th is cou ntry from a "ch ick" to a n eagle! He em phasized the nobility of woman. He taught special med itations for women, shared ancient secrets on health and diet for wom e n . He lectu red on virtually eve ry aspect of a woman's l ife including love, romance (versus reality), marriage, and childraisi ng, always building our self-esteem and rem inding us of the d ivi ne n atu re of Woman. H e tol d us, "You a re t h e G race of God ." Espanola sti l l hosts KWTC each summer for several weeks, and women can even come for just a weekend of rej uvenation, inspiration, a n d education . -

----

.._""""

133 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

WHAT DO�!! A MAN KNOW ABOUT WOM�N? Sometimes newcomers to cam p wonder how a man can know so m uch about women. For one thing, d u ring his childhood in I nd ia, young H a rbhajan Singh P u ri had the u n iq ue experience of attending an a l l g i rls Catholic school. It was the only school available in the a rea where his fam i ly l ived . So, Yog i Bhajan l earned early i n l ife to deal with many women. He tel ls stories of the hard ti me he gave the n u n s with his constant questions: u n nervin g and to the point! Yog i B hajan's mother was a very powerful, rig hteous woman whose tra i n i ng had an i m pact on him which he has never forgotten . He cherishes her memory to th is very day. H e has never forgotten the val u es she taught h i m . But his u n derstanding of women goes far beyond a ny male perspective. As a Master, as a Yogi, Yogi Bhajan always sees women-a nd m en-from a cosmic viewpoint. He never forgets that we a re p rimari ly sou ls, payi ng o u r karma a n d learn i n g our lessons in these two d ifferent forms.

!!U N and MOON Cosm ically speaking, the male carries the energy a n d the radiance of the sun, the female represents the moon, the l u na r energy. She waxes and wanes. H e does not. The sun is stationary, shining, and warm i n spite of the clouds. The moon is bright, beautiful, and reflecting. Take these two elements and you can u nderstand the character of man and woman . She shines her b rightest reflect­ ing the l ig ht of the sun. Reflect you r man and you've got h i m . And if he's warm and shining, fi rm, stationary and stable, he wi ns her heart. Does that mean woman does not h ave her own identity? N o, sim p ly they a re d ifferent. Without the moon to nourish and sustain, whatever g rows from the solar energy wil l n ot last. Male and female a re meant to com plement a n d su p plement each other. H e i s the seeder, she i s the nou risher a n d sustainer. She i s m eant to contai n the male, j ust as the word female conta i ns the male, and the word woman contains man ! W-0-M-A-N is spel led Double-You-Oh - M a n ! Expecting men t o react, feel a n d th i n k t h e s a m e way w e women do, is j u st setti ng ou rselves u p for d isappoi ntment. We fee l h u rt when men don't l ive u p to o u r u n real istic expectations. We get angry a t them for bein g men, for a thou134 Kundalini Yoga:

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sand things that men d o or don't do, sim ply because they're men . When we react emotional ly, remember we have sixteen tim es the i m pact, so when we blow u p at them, or break into tears, men really don't want to, or can't, deal with it. This is frustrati ng for them, so they can get ang ry, and then we have a real fight on o u r hands. But, you may be thi n ki ng, "Hold on a min ute, does that mean it is the responsibility of the woman to adapt and adjust all the time? What about men doing their share?" Good point. However, thi n k of it this way: J ust as a com puter can only print out what has been progra m med in, men and women have been program med to approach l ife d ifferently. We each cam e from the M a n ufacturer with a special software package u n iquely desig ned . It's nobody's fau lt! If you want to com plain, tal k to God, He's the Master Com puter who d esig ned us the way we a re. Woman is the embodiment of God's creative power. The word Shakti means "God's power in man­ ifestatio n . " Woman e m bodies the feminine aspect of God, throug h which "He" created t h e creation . That Primal Power is cal led the Adi Shakti and has been worshipped for centuries in the orient in the form of goddesses. Every wom a n has that d ivine goddess power in her own being, waiting to be recognized . Kundalini power is Shakti power.

fVfRY WOMAN I� A GODDf�� Thi� i� worth rgpeatin g :

fVfRY WOMAN I� A G ODDf���

!!araswati. Godduss of Wisdom. Mothur of floquuneu. Mosaie by !!hakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa. 1967. 135 l
THING�

TO KNOW

Yog i Bhajan's respect for women and h is teachings a re a reflection of G u ru Nanak's words 3 : "In a woman, we are conceived, and from a woman we are born With a woman man is betrothed and married. With a woman, man enjoys friendship and through a woman, the path of life is created. With a woman, man is engaged and married. When woman has passed awaYt man seeks another woman. To the woman, man is bound. Why call that one bad from whom kings are born. From a woman, a woman is born. Without a woman there can be none. Nanak, only the one True Lord is without a woman . . . "

A CTIO N PL A N FOR WO M £N (The following material is quoted directly from Yogi Bhajan 's lectures.)

Bf CALM . CONTfNT. AND CONTA I N £0 " N ever share you r weaknesses with you r man or you r child. Go inside to you r navel poi nt, concentrate on it, and you'll get you r answer i n seconds. The only thi n g that can m a ke you a fail u re i n l ife is a nxiety. Anxiety com es from the fact that you r sense of achievement and sense of tim i n g confl ict. Lea rn to listen to others cal m ly and you rself quietly. The moment you don't l isten to you rself, you wil l n atu ra l ly becom e a nxious. If you don't develop you r person a l ity so you r presence wil l work, you r words won 't work either. You r p resen ce should con­ vince a person that he is tal king to a goddess.

DI�PO�ABL£ " Life leaves very deep i m prints on a woman. A l ot of men try to use women as a toothpaste tube. They want her to be available when they want her, and when they a re ti red of her they rep lace her with a n ew one. A woman should understand her security before she i n d u lges i n relationships with men because all tem pora ry relationsh i ps a re very deeply i m printed on wom e n . Men don't have that faculty, they a re not affected the same way. 136 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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THE FLIRTAT I O U!! M I N D "There i s a sayin g : 'The re i s a val u e for a n arrogant m i n d but none for a fli rtatious m i n d . ' An a rrogant m i n d is stub born a n d demands i nformation, w h e reas a fl i rta""A wom a n i n Ame ri ca h a g o n l y two c h o i c e g : tious m i n d is self d estructive. A b e a Goddegg o r be a p ro gfitute .•, - Yog i Bh�an m i n d w h i c h wi l l d estroy the self wil l d estroy everyth ing with it. A fl i rtatious m i n d is the worst thi n g wh ich can h ap p e n to a wom a n . U nfortu n ately, because of her added m e ntal fac u lty it is som etim es very easy for her to becom e fli rtatious, as she d oes n ot know how to m o n itor herself. O nce a wom a n has an a u ra of fl i rta­ tious behavior a bout her, it is very d ifficu lt for her to reg a i n her respectability."

GGM: Gra eo of God Moditation O n Septem ber 22, 1 9 70, a group of women Ku ndalini Yoga stud ents i n San Francisco asked Yogi Bhajan how to control and chan ne l their powerfu l, some­ tim es overwhe l m i ng emotions. They recogn ized that women do, i ndeed, have a lot to deal with ! This was the day the GGM was born . For the fi rst time, he taught the special m ed itation that is desig ned to awaken the power of the Adi Shakti, the goddess, withi n each woman . H e cal led it the " G race of God Meditation, " "GG M " for short. You ' l l fin d it in the section cal led Take Care of Yourself as a Woman at the end of this book. Women were not created to com pete with men . Women were n ot i ntended to battle with men, but rather men and women were meant to com plement and supplement each other. What? N o more battle of the sexes? Yes, the battle of the sexes can end. And it can end with a win/win situation, when we as women acknowlege and a ppre­ ciate our power as women and use it positively.

MEN*!! COUR!!E!!. Of Cou n:ol For several years Yog i B h ajan tau g ht cou rses especi a l ly for m e n , and even p ut some M e n 's Courses o n video-tape. The M e n 's C o u rses were o n ly for one d ay, whereas Wom e n 's Cam p lasts several weeks each s u m mer. He explained 137 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fterna/ Power

THING� TO KNOW

that wom e n a re far m o re com pl ex than men, a n d i n the long ru n, men wou l d benefit m ore b y h is spending more tim e teac h i n g the wom e n h ow t o be suc­ cessful wives a n d m others.

YOGI BHAJAN'!! ADVIC� TO M �N "Whenever a woman can not tal k to you, raises her voice, or a rgues, she is covering her g u i lt. It has nothing to do with you . Her su bconscious personal ity is rem inding her of previous weaknesses which she d oesn't want to fal l i nto again .You a re j ust a scapegoat. By facu lty, she's not s u pposed to act that way. She is not tal king to you, she is tal king to her subconscious personal ity; she is in the past. Offer her a d ri n k of water a nd change the su bject."

WOMAN A!! H�R OWN P!!YCHIATRI!!T "The m enta l fac u lty of a fem a l e is m u lti ple. Whe reas a m a n can becom e 'si n g u l a r, ' t h i s is i m possible for a wom a n . B y n atu re s h e is meant t o p rotect a secon d l ife, that of h e r c h i l d . N ature has given h e r a s ubco nscio u s, i ntu itive person a l ity. Wom e n h ave their outward person a l ity a n d a lso this s u pplemen ­ tary personal ity. But u nfortu n ately the secon d person a l ity, which is t h e added person a l ity, c reates a s p l it person a lity. "Someth i n g which was given to h e r as a g ift to facil itate h e r m otherhood, is beco m i n g a psych iatric probl e m . . . The whole Western psyc h ological a n d psych i atric world is tota l ly baffled . They cou nsel wom a n witho ut u nde rstan d ­ ing t h a t wom a n basical ly has n o n eed t o be cou nseled . S h e h as to be awak­ ened . No wom a n n eeds a ny advice a n d cou n sel i n g . Wom a n can m o n itor her­ self, whereas m a n can not."

HOW TO A N N OY A WOMAN "You m ust u nderstan d that woman is m uch sharper than a male. No woman needs cou nseling . Her n atu re is to resist advice. If you want to a n n oy a woman, cou nsel her. She a lso g ets angry more q uickly tha n a m a n . A creatu re wh ich can turn its blood i nto m i l k to save and nourish its offspri ng can d o everyth ing else also. A c h i ld can m a ke a man crazy in ten m i nutes a n d n ot d istu rb a woman in twenty hours. The facu lty of a woman also extends to mental a n d spiritual 138 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o fEternal Power

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real ms. She h as a n i n born capacity to tackle everything. She l ives i n the center of her bein g . Whereas by nature man either l ives in his testicles or in h is head . H e does not h ave the n atura l tendency to l ive i n the center of his bei n g . B ut woman always pow�r of a woman ." l ives i n the center and works both u p and down . There is a sayin g i n the Kama Shastra, - .. Ladiug Homu Journal" Magazinu !!logan 'When a woman is in bed, and sexual i ntercourse is perfect, and she is total ly blended with the man, even at that time she can think that the tea may boil over."'

M A R R I A G � ... MARRIAG£ I!! A CARRIAG£ U NTO I NFI N I TY"4 The d ivorce rate i n Ameri c a is astronomical, but if a wom a n u nderstands the rea l pu rpose of marriage (instead of the fantasy a bout it) she has the ability to create a happy and successful relationsh i p and a cozy home that a man wil l love to n ever leave . (Not that d ivorce is necessari ly always the fau lt of the woman, but as they say, " N ever underestimate the power of a wom a n . " ) According to t h e highest spiritual understanding, m arriage is a m erger, a n amalgamation o f two souls o u t o f which a n ew alloy is formed . W h e n there a re two bodies with one sou l, it's a marriage. Wow! Tal k about com m itment! A lot of books have been written a bout male female relationshi ps and mar­ riage, but Yogi Bhajan's teach ings on the subject a re startli n g ly d ifferent. They requ i re a major re-eva luation of preconceived ideas. It's worth the effort, though. Women who h ave put these concepts into p ractice, have been helped to make d ramatic changes in their l ives. "You a l l have to rea l ize what a marriage is. Marriage is n ot a n easy path . Marriage is a l ife. Marriage is n ot a ceremony, marriage is God . "Marriage has not been u nderstood by the Western world at a l l . It was u nderstood by the Eastern world but it is forgotten there too. So at this time, the institution of marriage is i n total l i m bo. People d o n ot know what to d o with 139 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of f.temal Power

it; people do not know what to do without it. So what we have fou nd out via the media is that marriage then d ivorce, and d ivorce then marriage, is a con­ ti n uous process. But actu a l ly if we all u nderstand what m arriage is, then perhaps we can do better: "Marriagg i� a partngr� h i p of two "Marriage is a n institution of wil l ing ness, in which two identities want to amalgamate. bgi ng� of l ight who J ivg by thg i r It's an amalgamation of two egos to bring i ntuition , undgr�ta n d i n g . a nd a out a neutral new personality. eommon . ggnuing i ntgrg�t of "What is the advantage of it and what is the disadvantage of it? When this amalga­ wglf bgi n g . mation happens then divine power in the You a rg a hglp to gaeh oth g r. psyche starts to function . Without that, peo­ Thg p u rpo�g of thg rgfatio n � h i p i � ple are individuals and they wil l only yel l and scream at each other and good ness wil l t o rgJay t h g hgJ p . Rela-tion-� h i p : never come in that home. I t i s a g ranted fact. rgfay t h e �hi p . Del i ve r, dgfiver. "Marriage brings h appiness. I t's a n amal­ defivgr, dgliver. I t eomg� exaetly gamation of two psych es. And when these two psyches a re amalgamated, n either one to that . . : is a n i n d ividual. There is no q uestion of ' he' -Yogi Bh�an. KWTC Jung 29. 1 988 and 'she.' "To make a n alloy, you take two elements and put them togethe r. The alloy can not be separated . You can boil it, you can form the a l l oy i nto a, liquid, you can total ly burn it, but once it becomes an a l loy, it wi l l total ly keep its own qual­ ity, own quantity, own weight, own molecu les, own electrons, p rotons, and neutrons, and own com bi n ation. Whatever made b rass doesn't matter. B rass has its own faculty, own q u a lity, own weig ht, and own pro perty. And that is what love is, that is what m a rriage is, that is what l ife is, that is what good l uck is, when a male a n d a female merge together. That is why we m a rry before God . " As Yogi Bhajan says," Everybody h a s fau lts. You d ivorce a man with 26 fau lts, but then you m arry a m a n with a set of 2 7 other fau lts. What's the poi nt? B roken hearts, broken homes. God l ives in cozy homes, not in crazy homes." And it is the woman who creates the home, and it is the wom a n who becomes mother, the first teacher of o u r futu re generations. '

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TAK� I T LIGHTlY? Tod ay many people take marriage lightly, "Oh, if it doesn't work out, we' l l get a d ivorce." A n d even havin g children is a pathetical ly casual affai r. A s Yogi Bhajan put it, "You take more care i n preparing to plant a rose bush �,tl. � than you do to conceive a child." It is essential to u nderstand that parents, and particularly the mother, play a most significant rol e i n the shaping of the l ifelong character, values, and attitudes of every generation . M ore a bout this i n the Four Teachers Chapter.

��� ��� �»,�..;: e.� ��;�,�� . .

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M OTH�R·� 120th DAY

ti ��

There is a beautiful custom of honoring a mother-to-be on the occasion of her 1 20th day of p reg nancy. That is the day on which the sou l actually enters the womb. U ntil the 1 20th day, according to ancient wisdom, there is rea l ly no " life" in the wom b, o n ly a piece of flesh, u ntil the sou l enters. From the 1 20th day onward, the baby is receiving and a bsorbi ng i n put via the mother. What the mother hears, the baby hears; how the m other feels, the baby feels. What the mother says and does makes a d isti nct i m print on the child.

CHi lD �TAR I n her autobiog ra phy, Child Star, Shirley Tem ple Black, who was the most famous child motion picture star of all ti me, writes that her m other p u rposely went to museu ms, l istened to beautifu l music, read poetry, a n d even danced and sang while she was carryi ng S h i rley, so that she would be s u re to give birth to a talented, m usica l ly gifted child. In the Mahabharata5 it speaks of the future warrior Arjuna being a ble to plan a successfu l battle strategy w h i le sti l l a you n g boy, because he remembered a conversation his father h a d with h is m other while Arj u na was in her wom b ! I n 3 HO, we have a b i g party to celebrate t h e mother's 1 20th Day. But it's not a baby shower. People b ring g ifts-but they're not for the baby, they a re for the woman who is bringing a n ew l ife into the world. We honor her especia l ly on this day, for she is the veh icle th rough which the the world receives a child who shall become a "sai nt, a h e ro, or a giver." That is the mother's assi g n ment, to give the child spiritua l val ues, so he can becom e that. And, a l l the ti m e she 141 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

THING� TO KNOW

m ust remember that the child does not belong to her, but belongs o n ly to God. A child is no one's p roperty.

PAY TH[ R[NT Being a parent is a job, and it's a challenging one. Parents a re caretakers, teachers, and trainers. Parents a re the ones who " pay the rent! " Kah l i l G i b ran's often quoted poem rem i n ds us that our children don't belong to us. The attach­ ment of parents to child ren, and its negative effects, is one of the h a rdest con­ cepts for us to understan d and accept - because we usual ly m istake attach ment for love. It isn't. Learning the d ifference between m other love and "smother love" is one of our hardest lessons as women.

MAN I F[�T TH[ GOOD[�� ON[ DAY AT A TIM[ At the place where you relate to your Creator i n the morning, p lace a sign that reads, "This Day Wil l I Be G raceful?" That day you wil l h ave to be g raceful because you have asked the q u estion and the answer is, "You will ! " It should man ifest in you r way of speaking, eating, telephoning, behaving, taki n g a bath, d ressi ng, d riving a car, and so on. You r every action d u ring that day m ust rep­ resent you as g racefu l . The m ost beautiful thi n g a bout it is that if you can do that for forty days, you wil l h ave achieved a state of m i n d i n which l ittl e by l it­ tle you can becom e total ly perfect.

··o n e t h i ng eve ry wom a n !: h o u l d k now: !! H OW NO I N!!fC.URITY. Th i g i g

a

key to roy a lty . "

-Yogi Bh�an

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WOM�N

POW�R OF A WO MAN

Guidad Mad itation for Woman " . . . See you r power as a woman . Touch the heavens, squeeze it to you r­ self. Make all the oceans into j ust a d rop. And out of this d ro p, you m ust sq ueeze a l l the stars and suns and moon. Beyond that, there is a space where you m ust exce l . The gods sha l l l isten to the cal l of the woma n . "The sou n d i n t h e heavens, the m u rm u r of the leaves; t h e m usic of the breeze; and the sound of the waves; the clouds i n the skies and the d ust on the earth - a l l in salutation to the cal l of the woman . The a ngels, divines, the sages, the saints a re the existence of the very prayer of the woma n . The cal l i ng of the woman can penetrate th rough heavens a nd beyond all spaces into the i nfin ity of God, and that's the only one power p u re enough to manifest God on Earth . . . "

" . . . This is the truth . And you h ave to experience it. Woman is the only force. Living, vital, vi brating, her verbal sense is the on ly sense wh ich is creative, which is consciousness . . . " " . . . My dear ch ildren of God, there is a job to do. Put on you r a rmor, alert you rself, and get going. The heavens sha l l bow to you . The angels wi l l come. The dem igods shall obey, and the Al m ighty God shall l isten to you . Because you are the only way. " 6 . .

143 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

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FOUR T�CHH��

18

Four Teal!herg T hing !: Your M othg r N g vg r To l d You

U

nfortu nately, m ost parents, i ncluding you rs and m i ne, h ave to depend u pon their instincts and the patterns they lea rned from their parents. Most of them are not yog is. They can only g u ide us with i n the l i m- You r fi rgt t�ach�r i n th i g gchool of l if� ig its of their own knowledge a n d you r moth� r. g�cond i g y o u r fath� r. th i rd experience. Even with t h e best of ig th� �nvi ron m�nt ( r� lativ�g , gchool i ntentions, their own neu roses and biases color the way they t�ach� rg, fri�ndg), and fi na l l y , th� teach us to deal with ou rselves fou rth ig you r �pi ritua l T�ach�r whog� and the world. It is not only what parents job it ig to co rr�ct a n y m igconc� ptiong say to us, but what they do and you r�c� iv�d fro m th� fi rgt th r�� . what they are that deeply affects us and forms our basic attitudes toward ou rselves and everyone else. We in turn pass along this legacy to our chi l d ren, consciously or u nconsciously.

MOTH�R You r fi rst teacher is you r mother. From the 1 20th day fol lowi n g conception (it is on the 1 20th day that the sou l actually enters the wom b) th rough the first th ree yea rs of life, you r mother's i nfluence dominates. She is the p rimary, pow­ erfu l, most com pel l i ng shaper of the attitudes, habits, p rejudices, relationshi ps, 145 Kunda/ini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

KNOW

and self-images that usually stay with you for the rest of you r l ife. For better or for worse, you r mother's i nfl uence is almost i ndelible. The u m bi lical cord lasts wel l beyond the wom b. The seeds of g rowing u p with fea r of fai l u re, or fea r of success, a re planted d u ring these early yea rs.

FATH�R You r second teacher is you r father. From age three to eight, his i m pact pre­ dominates. He is the male fig u re (or absence thereof) who supplies the exam­ ple, the role model for a son . Dad is the a rchetype to i m itate, to love, or to hate. Father person ifies " m a n . " For a daug hter, Daddy or Poppa is the standard to which she wil l com pare every other man she ever meets, for better o r for worse.

R�lATIV�!! and FRI �N D!! The third teacher enters our consciousness at a bout age eight, i n the form of brothers and sisters, relatives, neigh bors, teachers, friends. They take on a major role of influence in our l ives. Peer pressure rears its ugly head, and continues to grow stronger until it becomes enormous during the teen-age yea rs. Of cou rse, given ideal circumstances, peer pressu re can be usefu l, supportive, a nd can encourage positive g rowth, but in most instances, it has the opposite effect.

!!PIRITUAl T�ACH�R The fou rth teacher is you r spi ritual teacher. M ost people born i n the West don't real ly know what a "spi ritual teacher" is. We suffer from a col lective cul­ tural deficiency, i .e., lack of education a bout the n ature a n d fu nctio n of a spiri­ tual teacher and the n ecessity and i m portance of th is relations h i p in o u r l ives. Who does he th i n k he is? It's not a matter of "th i n ki ng, " a gen u i ne spiritual teacher KNOWS who he is. H e has had the actua l experience of confirming h is identity beyon d q uestion. H is m ission i n l ife is to help other people achieve that same experience. And when you r sou l leaves the body, he's there to help you make the transition . He works more in the non-physical planes than on the physical . 146 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

CHAPTfR 18

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FOUR TfACHfru!

When you go mou ntain cl i m bi n g, you h i re a guide - someone who knows the way and the tech n ology to get you to the top without falling and breaking you r neck. He tells you where to step. You have the choice of �pi ritu a l ity ca n n ot b e ta u g ht , it hag to fol lowi ng his instructions or be ca u g ht , y o u h ave to g et it fro m not. You h ave that same gomeone who·g g ot i t . T h a t·g w h y the choice on you r spi ritual path. i n ne r co n nect i o n with a !! p i ritu a l You r spiritual teacher is l i ke the rope with the hook on one end teacher i g go i m po rta n t . that you can safely climb up on, because it's a nchored o n the top. He offers h imself a s that rope. You have to project a l i n k to it from you r heart and then hold on! He takes on the weight of you and you r karma as wel l as that of all the others he is helping to reach the same desti nation . That link is never broken by the teacher, but the student has the option to let go at a nytime, a n d many do. It is that link of the mind and heart which we create with our teacher that enables him to help us free ourselves fro m our past, from our pain, from our patterns of fea r, jealousy, g reed, and anger, wh ich cause us so m uch suffering and keep us trapped in our lower consciousness. Yogi B haja n is my spiritual teacher. Yogi B hajan descri bes the stu dent-teacher relationship:

Li ke a hammer and a ch igeJ with a gtone:

when they meet, the gparkg fly . The relationship of a student to a spi ritual teacher has to be described i n analogies, because i t i s fu ndamenta l ly s o d ifferent from a ny other relationsh i p you have. T h e relationsh i p is not between personal ities, a lthoug h t o t h e student it can appear to be! 147 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!!

TO KNOW

A spiritual teacher is l i ke a/forklift who has to come d own to earth, pick you up and l ift you to the heights of h is level of consciousness. When he m eets you, how you perceive h i m depends u pon you r degree of consciousness. He can play whatever role you need in order for you to evolve.

TI M f I!! A TfACHfR. TOO Life is a school. We can choose: We can either lea rn our lessons in the hands of Time or from a Teacher. Our spiritual teacher acts as a catalyst to accelerate the lea rn ing process. He saves us time (perhaps even l ifetimes). He d oesn 't nec­ essarily make l ife easier, but he makes our g rowth as a spiritual bein g the main focus. H e challenges us to fu lfi l l our highest potential . H e doesn't, and isn 't sup­ posed to, solve our p roblems for us, because that is O U R job. H e g ives us the tools and teaches us how to use them to cope with all the things we m u st face. He can suggest and recom mend, but he can not make o u r choices for us. I n th is Aq uarian Age, it is n o longer adequate to know about someth i ng, we have to experience it. A spi ritual teacher is not a preacher. Lots of people can give fabu lous lectures and q uote plenty of scri pture. A spi ritua l teacher g ives you an experience.

148 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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19

My �piritual TQaehQr YO G I BHAJAN

I

thought I "knew i t a l l " a n d I was not looking for a spir­ itual teacher when I m et Yog i Bhajan. I was al most forty years old. I had been to I ndia and had a l ready stud ied with many other teachers. Some of what I had learned was wonderfu l and some of it was not. H owever, it was all valu­ able for it led me to the ti me a n d p lace where I could become Yogi Bhajan's stu dent. Sooner or later, everyone gets one opportunity to m eet their spiritual teacher. Not everyone recogn izes nor accepts h i m . I almost missed my chance. �iri �ingh �hib Bhai �hib Harbh�an �ingh Khal!::a Yog!ji The day I met Yogi B hajan, I privately told the woman al!::o known a!:: Yogi Bh�an who introd uced us that I did not trust h i m . What I didn't know was that a real spiritual teacher is a m irror to our own consciousness. Come at him with you r ego in fu l l sail and you ' l l get zapped by the reflection of you r­ self right back at you - i n no u n ce rtai n terms! Having been bad ly betrayed i n the past by someone I had m istaken ly regarded as a spiritual teacher, I was fu l l of s kepticism. (And pretty ful l of myself!) Fortunately, I was strongly i m pressed by the depth of love a nd l ight I saw in the eyes of this cou rtly mannered, soft s po­ ken yogi . A true spiritual teacher has a l ready experienced the state o f "yoga, " or d ivi n e u n ion with h is own infin ity. He recog n izes that same, d ivine identity i n every other human being. Therefore, he truly loves and accepts everyone. These a uthentic spiritua l teachers, " masters, " "saints, " yogis, come to wake us up to 149 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Hamal Powor

reality. They usual ly shake us u p i n the process. They challenge us, they teach us, and they pray for us. Their m ission is to enable us to experience o u r true i d entity a s d ivi n e You a re not a h u m a n be i n g havi n g a !: p i ritu a l bei n g s i n h u m a n form. They a re often QXpe r i e n e e : y o u a re a !: p i ritu a l be i n g h avi n g cru cified for this a h u m a n expe r i e n e e . attem pt. It was December 22, 1 968, at a lecture at the East West C u ltu ral Center that I first met Yog i B haj a n . After the program, a small g ro u p of us went out to dinner together, including "the yog i . " I was q u ite su rprised when h e suddenly leaned forward from the other end of the table and said, "Your son's i n trouble, isn't he? I can help you . " I d id n 't know what to make of th is strange tal l man, with such a striking appeara nce. Since my son was indeed in serious trou ble, I didn't want to pass u p a ny opportu n ity for help. So, just a few d ays later, on Ch ristmas day, I phoned Yogi B haja n and went to see h i m . He not o n ly told m e the story of h i s l ife, he also tol d me t h e story of m y l ife ! The abil ity to see into a person's i n nermost being, to know what that soul has experienced, as wel l as to see its destiny, is one of the major attri butes of a spiritual teacher. Yogi Bhajan 's vision is not limited to outer appeara nces. This is what he told me: H e had been h i red to teach Kunda l i n i Yog a at Toronto U n iversity, but the day before h is plane from N ew Del h i landed, the head of the department who had h i red him was killed in a n auto accident. The job was no longer there. To make matters worse, h is l uggage h ad been lost en route. Of cou rse he had been warned by the pand its and astrologers i n I nd ia that he should wait u ntil a more auspicious ti me to make the trip. They had told him he would have a very hard ti me in the West u nless he postponed his depar­ ture. But as we have learned th rough the years, it is not in Yog i B haja n 's n atu re to retreat from d ifficulty. H e confronts chal lenge head on. He l istens to every­ one's advice, but he always acts according to h is own i n ner guidance. I n Canada, he was rea l ly a stranger in a stra nge land, dea l i ng with a very d if­ ferent cu ltu re. The cold Canadian wi nter had just set i n . He had to tie n ewspa­ pers around his shoes to kee p warm . He did n't know where his next meal was coming from. Someti mes it d i d n 't come. Then he got a job worki n g as a s h i p150 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

CHAPUR

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MY !!PIRITUAL T£ACH�R

ping clerk i n a book store. Whe n he was i nvited to come to Los Angeles for a weekend, he g ladly accepted . That's when I met h i m . After our conversation on December 25th, I offered to d rive h i m to a n a ppoi ntment the next day. That is when he gave me the mantra that changed my l ife. H e explained to m e that n oth i n g i n this world is more powerfu l than the p rayer of a m other for her son . He wrote d own the words �K ONG KAR �AT NAM �IRI WHA GURU o n a little p iece of p a pe r. H e tol d m e that if I wou l d chant this m antra powerfu l ly from the n avel point, a l l i n one b reath, for o n e h o u r every d ay before s u n rise a n d p ray for my son, h e wou l d be a l l rig ht. (At the ti m e I d i d n 't even k n ow whe re my son was, only that he h ad attem pted sui­ cide a nd gone A.W. O . L. from the U n ited States Army.) I a l ready had a spiritual routine I was doing dai ly, including several other mantras. When Yogi Bhajan gave m e this one, I asked h i m, "What about all the other th ings I ' m doing?" (Sufi chanting, Hopi I ndian mantra, and Vedanta med­ itation.) He said, "Go a head and do everythi ng, but try this a lso." That seemed reasonable to m e, so that's what I did . On the second day of chanting, I had such a profound experience that I could barely wait u ntil I cou ld phone h i m and say, " I don't have to do a nything else, this is it. " Now, twen­ ty-seven years later, although we chant many other mantras that Yog i Bhajan has taught us, those syl la­ bles a re stil l "mine." (I am happy to say that withi n ten days I heard from my son . He had been " rescued" u p i n Berkeley, which is a whole story in itself, with no space in th is book for it! We were able to work things out with the a rmy. I'm a lso happy to say that I saved the precious p iece of paper on which Yog i Bhajan wrote those eight magic words. It's carefu l ly preserved i n my scrapbook of the early days of 3 HO.) Yogi Bhajan had told me d u ri n g my fi rst interview with h i m, "You h ave been student long enough, you shou l d be a teacher. " He said that he had come to a tra i n teachers, not to get d isciples. At the tim e I thoug ht to myself, "Oh, s ure, fat chance." He said although I knew a lot, he cou ld " put it all together for me." I thoug ht, "Who does he th i n k he is?" 151 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Hornal Power

TO KNOW

I found out! He is a n amazing l ivi ng phenomenon of perpetua l creativity. When he lectu res, a spontaneous flow of d ivine i nspiration comes th rough h i m . P u t him i n any situation, he wi l l a lways attu ne himself to the needs of that par­ ticular g roup of people, ti me, and place. Yogi Bhajan is the pipeline, the " post­ man" delivering the d ivin e m essage that each of us is a soul, our identity is Truth (!!AT NAM) and we're here to experience That. He tells us that it is fool is h and a m istake to worship the m essenger, but I have observed it is equ a l ly foolish to ignore the m essage! Where Yogi B haja n is concerned, throw out you r p reconceived ideas of what a spiritual teacher is. Part of the job he d oes so mas­ terfu l ly is to confuse you r i ntel lect so that you have to go beyond you r mind. God can not be experienced so long as our perception is l i m ited with in the confi nes of the i ntel lect. Because he is a Teacher, Yog i Bhajan gives tests constantly. He often uses the "poke, provoke, confront, and elevate" tech niq ue. He pushes us to brea k out of the confi nement of our lim ited l ittle egos. This does not necessarily m a ke h i m popular. I n fact we (ou r egos, that is) can defin itely resent what he says. Truth about ou rselves is often hard to swal low, much less digest. I 've never met anyone so adept at " pushing my buttons" as Yog i Bhajan . But, alas, I know that so long as I have buttons that can be pushed, I ' m sti l l l iv­ ing in my ego and reacting, and that blocks my own spiritual g rowth . Sometimes the test is sim p ly to recog nize that what he says, or the situation we a re in, is a test! Test of what? Those qualities we need to learn i n order to g raduate from this earth school-of-l ife: non-attachment, patience, faith, kind­ ness, obed ience, surrender to the wil l of God, h u m i lity. Each of us is d ifferent, each of u s has a u nique curricul u m to master. Therefore, the spiritual teacher p rovides a specia lized tutorial for every i n d ivid­ ual u nder h is direct guidance, plus h e h as to provide u n iversal g u idel ines a n d pri nciples that a pply t o everyone. Yog i Bhajan's teach ings are based on such u n iversal Truths. To many people in the '60s a n d ' 70s Yogiji became the father figu re. Lovi ng ly, patiently, h u morously, he cajoled, encouraged, helped, a n d inspired a whole generation to try Kundalini Yog a instead of d rugs. He never said, " No, " 152 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

CHAPUR 19

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MY �PIRITUAl TrACH[R

or " Don't" do this or that, he gave alternatives. He taught th ree classes, six days a week, and a meditation class on Sundays for over a year. Mea nwhile, he was studying our cultu re, our attitudes, our personal histo­ ries of abuse and neglect, betrayal, and a ba ndon ment. Out of his com passion he began to create more opportu nities for us to heal a nd strengthen ourselves. He created 3HO events such as Sum mer and Winter Solstice Sad h anas, and Khalsa Women's Training Cam p (KWTC) . In 1 970, when he became the Mahan Tantric, he put hi mself on the line even more, taki ng on more stress by al lowi ng a nyone and everyone to participate i n the White Tantric Yoga g roup med itation courses he taug ht. (See the chapter Tantric Yoga.) Th rough the years he has given us many insig hts into his personal philoso­ phy of l ife. Here's one such gem :

FIV� CORN�R�TON�� OF YOG I BHAJAN'� �TR�NGTH 1 . Never let out that wh ich can harm a nyone. 2. Never let in what can harm you . 3 . Never let down friend or foe. 4 . Lig ht u p that corner where no one has the cou rage. 5. Keep up and keep the harmony. Perhaps you have never met Yogi B hajan . But I assure you, if you a re p rac­ tici ng Kunda lini Yoga, and certai n ly if you a re teach ing it, it is h is mastery that supports you r spiritual g rowth. He and a l l the spiritual teachers who h ave pre­ ceded h i m, a re cal led into service whenever you chant ONG NAMO GURU DIN NAMO. It is not the people, but their spiritual consciousness, their subtle bod ies, who a re with you, like g ua rdian a ngels i nvoked by those syl lables.

TH� GOLD�N CHAI N Th rough the ages, the transference of spiritual awareness, consciousness, and power has been handed down from mas­ ter to d isciple, in a contin uous chain whose l i n ks a re forged of reverence, obedience, devotion, and h umility on the part of the student, a n d i nfi nite love a n d sacrifice on t h e part o f t h e teacher. T h i s ongoing con nection i s someti mes cal led the "golden chai n . " 153 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

MAHAN TANTRIC Yog i B hajan is u n iq ue among s p i ritual teachers beca use h e i s a lso the M a h a n Ta ntric of this era . This m ea n s that he is the o n ly l ivi n g m a ster of Wh ite Ta ntric Yoga i n the world, since there ca n o n ly be o n e on the p l a n et at a ny g iven ti me. H e is a world teacher, a very special i nstru ment w h o m G od has a p poi nted a n d a noi nted to awaken the m i l lions of sleeping sou ls o n this plan et. He is a Teacher of teachers. H is words h ave enormous power. H i s bei n g vib rates i n h a rmony with t h e u n iversa l consciousness a n d h e feels everyth i n g before it h a ppens. H e can n ot com prom ise t h e integ rity o f his responsibil ity a s a teacher, so h e can not tel l a l l that h e knows. H is power is n ot h is own, a n d h e knows it. H e says h i s power is his o w n i n n e r p rayer, w h i c h is cal m, q u i et, a n d peacefu l . (Thoug h outwa rd ly, m ost students wi l l attest, his e n e rgy com es across l i ke a tornado ! )

GO Cli MB A TR��? Yog i Bhajan tel ls a g reat story a bout one of the ways Sant H azara S i n g h, his Kunda l i n i Yoga teacher i n I nd ia (an d the M a h a n Ta ntric d u ri n g those years), tested h i m . Wearin g his best sta rched clothes and s h ined s hoes, he was traveling with his teacher to m eet som e d i g nitary. Sant H azara Singh tol d the d river to stop the car, a n d i nstructed you n g H a rbhajan S i n g h t o g et out. H e pointed t o a nearby tree a n d tol d h i m t o c l i m b it, a n d t o stay there u nti l h e cam e back. A s a g oo d stu­ dent, the boy d i d n 't ask why, he d i d n 't hesitate. He got out, cl i m bed the tree a n d waited . H is teacher d rove off. Th ree d ays a n d n ig hts went by. H e stayed u p i n that tree! W h e n h is teacher fi n a l ly cam e back a n d released h im, h e n ever asked h i m h ow he h a d m a n aged, n ever con­ g ratu lated him on h is obed ience and resou rcefu l n ess. The m atter was n ever d iscussed . Of cou rse that was in I nd ia, w here they u n derstan d what it means to serve a spiritual teacher, a n d what can be gai ned . Yog i B h ajan knew the ru les of the relationsh i p : n ever ask why, n ever d eny, sim ply say "Yes, S i r, " and d o it. God o n ly knows what o n e of us wou l d d o u nd er s i m i l a r circu m stan ces. A spiritual teacher n ever settles for a nythi n g less tha n the best from a stu154 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f fternal Power

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MY �PIRITUAl Tf.ACHfR

d ent. H is job is n ot to p raise us when we d o wel l, but to p resent the n ext l es­ son i m med iately so we can conti n ue to g row. He can n ever be satisfied . Yogi B hajan has told us many stories a bout his experiences as a student. One of them is about a time when he was a young m i litary officer, al ready q uite a n accomplished yogi . However, he wanted t o learn a particu lar kriya from a teacher whom h e had never met. Every day he would go to pay h is respects, hoping for a n audience. The teacher ignored him for months. Then he sent word that he should persona l ly prepare and bring a carrot pudding as a n offer­ ing every day. He also i nsisted that Harbhajan wal k the five m iles to get there. This went on for months before the teacher would even tal k to him. The you ng m i litary officer, i n h is i m macu late ly starched and pressed u niform had to leave his car and his d river beh i nd, and m a ke the trek barefoot, carrying that carrot pudding. He d id it. Wou ld you? In the West, we have not been taught to respect the cosmic laws which gov­ ern the student-teacher relationsh i p . I n fact, most people don't even know what they a re. So, i n our ignora nce, we a re not able to take fu l l advantage of the benefits and blessings a teacher can offer. It is also true that there has been exploitation and abuse of the role of Spiritual Teacher by people claim i n g to be "en lig htened. " Before you get i nvolved with a ny teacher, you s hou ld i nvestig ate this a rea for yourself. Come to you r own concl usions. I learned about spiritual teachers th rough read ing and th rough tria l and error d u ring fifteen years of exploring various spiritual paths before I m et Yogi Bhajan . One th ing I know for su re, watch out for a ny teacher who wants you to worship h i m . If you consider someone you r spiritual teacher, he deserves you r utmost respect and reverence . If he or s h e i s a genuine Teacher, and you want to excel, give you r obedience. For those who a re desti ned to lead m ust fi rst l ea rn to fol low. But always remem­ ber, the teacher is the g uide, not the desti nation.

T�ACH�R OF T�ACH�R!! True to h is word, Yogi Bhajan has tra ined h undreds of teachers of Ku ndalini Yoga. The 3HO Fou ndation, (Hea lthy, H a ppy, Holy Organ ization) which he founded in 1 969, is a teacher train i n g organization with centers a l l over the worl d . He told us: 155 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of f.tornal Powor

THING!!

TO KNOW

" If you want to lea rn somethi ng, read about it. If you want to u nderstand somethi ng, write about it. If you want to master something, teach it. " H e wants us a l l to be masters. He tel ls us to be "ten times g reater" tha n he is. And he means it. He also warned all of us who were to become teachers that, "You will be tested in three a reas: money, sex, or power-possi bly in a l l of them . " It is a g reat responsibility and privi lege to teach Ku ndalini Yoga. It is said that if a teacher betrays the sacred trust p laced i n h i m, he wi l l be reborn as a cockroac h !

1l11 D o n·t !: e rve l i n e ag e . !:e rve legacy . " -Yogi BhC!_jan YOG I BHAJAN·!! PO�TRY AND ART The Siri Singh Sahib, Yogi Bhajan h as written many, m a ny poems. A s pecial collection has been pu blished i n a book cal led Furmaan Khalsa. M a ny of his poems have been set to m usic and a re on tape. He has pai nted pictures, desig ned jewel ry, and gathered together a magnificent col lection of statuary, paintings and other a rt objects a l l of which he has donated to the Sikh Dharma a rchives. A m useu m is plan ned to house these treasu res.

BIOGRAPHY OF A YOG I Born Aug ust 26, 1 929, in the vi l lage of Kot Harkaran, now i n Pakistan, Harbhajan Singh P u ri was the son of a m ed ical doctor and a very d evout and powerfu l mother. He mastered Kunda l i n i Yoga when he was sixteen . Stil l only a teenager when I nd ia was partitioned, he took charge of leading a thousa n d peo­ ple out of h is vil lage to safety near N ew Delh i . During his youth he stud ied with many teachers, including h is revered g ra ndfather, Bhai Fateh Singh, a n d the Mahan Tantric, Sant H azara S i n g h . He attended Punjab U n iversity where he majored in Econom ics, was an a ll-aro u n d ath lete, and a champion debater. I h ave his prize certificates i n my files. Capta i n of the soccer team, track star, he used his Kundalini Yoga p ractice to get in shape for ath l etic events . H e was a winner! 156 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Hemal Power

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MY !!PI RITUAL nACHfR

He married l nderjit Kau r, and they had th ree ch ildren (and now five g rand­ children born in the U n ited States). He was a Command ing Officer i n the I ndian Army, starting out i n the Motor Transport d ivision, and he served i n the I nd ia n Govern ment for eighteen yea rs before coming to America. H a rbhajan S i n g h Khalsa Yog ij i beca m e a U n ited States citizen in 1 9 7 6 a n d earn ed his P h . D . i n psychology i n 1 980. H is d octoral d issertatio n is ca l l ed " Co m m u n ication, Liberation o r Cond e m n atio n . " H i s bottom line is:

U n d g r!:ta n d thg faet that God i!: in a l l , big a n d !: m a i L His motto is:

I f You Can't �gg G o d I n Al l . You Can't �gg G o d At Al l

157 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPUR 20

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COMMUNICATION

20

Communil!afion uco m m u n i e!afion ig v�ry m igund�rgfood by all h uman b�ingg

A

Wh� n Wh� n Wh�n Wh� n

you you you you

a r� a r� a r� a r�

angry , �motiona l . hurt. i ng�cu r� .

fter yea rs of m i n isterial cou nsel i ng I have come to the conclusion that most prob­ lems between people a re prob­ lems in com m u n ication . Yes, of O r wh�n y o u a r� i nto a n �go tri p course we a l l have our neu roses, Thaf"g wh�n you f��� you m ugf tal k . and trust is a major issue, but when two people rea l ly com m u­ And thaf'g w h y y o u m�gg u p l n icate with each other, a lot of p roblems can be solved . Even B�caug� wh� n y o u tal k if ghould b� for wars eventually have to go to the th� futur� . not for th� pagf or th� negotiati n g ta ble to fi n a l ize pr�g�nt. Com munication i g th� a rt of peace. Why not start there? There is a whole science to b u i l d i ng h�av�n in th� futur� :' 1 effective com m unication so that you r words wil l be received and understood the way you intend them . Yogi B haja n 's d octo ra l d issertation titled : " Co m m u n i cation, Li beration or Condemnation, " is on this very su bject. It goes i nto g reat detail about the use of the various chakras (energy centers) in comm u nication .

1 59 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

THING!!

TO KNOW

YOGI BHAJAN !!P�AK!! ABOUT WORD!! and CHAKRA!!: " . . . What should I say? The two most i m portant thi ngs in you r body a re the u p per palate, which is the base of the hypothalamus, and the tip of the tongue. Every word spoken by you is made with the palate and the tongue i n com bina­ tion with the hypothalamus, which controls the enti re neu rons of the b ra i n . The tongue h as a central nervous system controlling you r total psyche. You can change the whole world with the word . World is depe ndent on the word. W-O­ R-D and W-0-R-L-D. The central nervous system, sh ush mana, is at the ti p of the tongue. And you r enti re neu ron section is up here u nder the hypothalamus where the sti m u lation of the eig hty-fou r meridian points takes place. It's decid­ ed by the perm utation and combination . But there is a chakra i nvolved . Ask me a ny q u estion, I ' l l tel l you which chakra wi l l answer what. Q: What is the difference between com m u n i cating from the fifth center and the sixth center? A: With any com m u nication, one center is i nvolved . You have to decide what the p urpose is. If the pu rpose is to mess up som ebody, go with the fi rst chakra . If you want to seduce somebody, go with the second . If you want to bal­ ance out somebody, go with the th i rd . If you want to u pl ift somebody, go with the fou rth . If you want to be blu nt, go by the fifth . If you want to command somebody and take the responsibility a n d see it is done and del ivered, then go by the sixth . If you want to just get rid of somebody, go by the seventh . You know what the seventh is? 'I see the light i n you better than me. God bless you, you a re wonderful . ' The g uy will shut up i n two m i n utes. "

!!P�AKI N G O F !!P�AKI N G : D i d you ever analyze how m uch of what you say is encouragi ng, u pl ifting, and positive and how m uc h is not? M uch of our ordi­ nary, every day conversatio n is negative and self-negati ng. We barely notice the destructive n atu re of the words we use because the "put-down" is so com mon i n our society. Start l istening to you r words. If you real ly want to have a n adventu re, tape record you rself for a w h o l e day and then l isten t o what you h ave said . You 'l l be shocked, especia l ly when you rem e m ber you a re "creati ng" 160 Kunda/ini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

CHAPUR 20

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COMMUNICATION

whenever you speak. The old ad monition to "th i n k before you speak" is stil l good advice. It's easier to d o that when you h ave you r nerves u nder control . Nerves h ave to b e very strong so you don't automatical ly react to everything that happens the min ute it happens, l i ke a robot responding to a button being pushed . (/ hope you read the chapter called Stress, Stamina, and Nerves of Steel.) Another fasci nating experiment i n self-awareness is to go on silence for a few days. It can be qu ite a revelation . I 've done it. It was very h u m bling. If you real­ ly do it, you ' l l probably d iscover as I d id, how m u ch conversation is not really necessary or useful at a l l (including you r own !). I n the Things To Do section you ' l l fi nd two meditations Yogi Bhajan taught specifical ly to help us i m prove our com m un ication.

161 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hamal Power

KNOW

C HOOSE

YO UR

Words are the colors On the speaker's palate Evoking emotion In the ear of the beholder Some are dull and some are bright Some are wrong and some are right Some ennoble and some degrade One Word created this creation ...

So it was said

Be Careful Be Courageous Be Conscious Be sure Before you speakWill your words kill - or cure? Words can comfort Words can enrage Words can liberate Or words can cage Some Words are weapons Words are bandages Words are penicillin Words are poison Words are hot And words are cold Words speak Truth ­ With words, lies are told

162 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow ofHemal Power

WOR DS

CHAPITR 20

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COMMUNICATION

Honor your words Use your words with honor For words can heal Or words can kill Aim your words with extra care Lasers pierce targets everywhere Relationships built over many years One false word dissolve in tears Words reveal And words hide True Identity Divine inside Faith in the Word Dispels all fear Hold your words gently Hold your words dear Be honest, be kind Make yourself clear To belittle is common To uplift is rare Value your words Use them with care Power to speak comes from breath of life Surgeon 's scalpel or butcher knife Speak to your soul with respect in place You 'll speak to others with equal grace.

163 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Etomal Powor

THING!;! TO KNOW

The �na ke That Poi!:on!: 3 f:very body

It topples governments, wrecks marriages, rui ns careers, busts reputations, causes heartaches, nightmares, indigestion , spawns suspicion, generates grief, dispatches innocent people to cry in their pillows. Even its name hisses. It's called gossip. Office gossip, Shop gossip, Party gossip. It makes headlines and headaches. Before you repeat a story, ask yourself: Is it true? Is it fair? Is it necessary? If not, shut up.

How we perform as individuals wi l l

164 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow ofEternal Power

determine how we perform as a nation .

CHAPU:R 21

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HAPPIN�

21

Happinm:g

r veryon e wants to be happy. At least consciously. The problem is i n the C su bcon scious. Su bconsciously some of us may not be ready to give u p our

suffering. Some of us a re so used to feeling m isera ble that we don't know who we'd be if we stopped feeling sorry for ourselves! What would we have to tal k about if we quit complaining? Dr. Donald Curtis (Science of Mind minister) used to cal l it the " P. L. O . M . " syndrome. "Poor Little Old Me" is a pretty common self-image in our society. It doesn't lend itself to happi­ ness. Some people's self image is so tied u p with feeling victimized, or feeling "u nworthy" that they can't even imagine what it would be like to be happy. Yet happiness is the birthright of every human being. The true nature of the soul is joy! H a p p i n ess g oes way beyon d pleas u re o r enjoy m e nt. H a p pi n ess is an i n n e r state o f bei n g . It com es w h e n w e a re i n tou c h with the perm a nent part o f o u r­ selves, the God withi n u s, that is a lways i n b l iss. The essential n atu re of G od is d escri bed by Vedanta p h i losophy as " Sat, C hit, A na n d " : Truth, Knowledge, a n d Bliss . Happiness is NOT dependent u pon a ny outside person, event, or thi n g . We a re each responsible for our own happiness. It is how I personally choose to relate to a person, event, or thing; the kind of thought, feeli ng, or emotion that I choose to hold about it, that determ ines my happi ness or u n h appiness. I can't blame a nyone else for how I feel a bout my l ife. If I view what's happening from the telescope of the d ivine consciousness with i n me, I ' l l have a d ifferent experience tha n i f I look a t i t with the m icroscope of my personal emotions. Happi ness is a state of bei n g . Happy or u n hap py is how I "am . " 165 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!!

TO

KNOW

"' H a p p i n �!:g r u n !: i n a c i reu l a r m ot i o n , Lif� i g l i k� a l ittl� boat u po n th� !: � a . fv� ry bod y i g a part of �v� ryth i ng a n y wa y . Yo u ca n hav� i t a l l i f y o u l �t y o u rg� Jf b � . . . " -Donovan H a p pi n ess comes from g 1v1ng, a n d h avin g a n attitud e of g ratitude. H a pp i n ess has to do with being god - l i ke . That's n ot asking too m uch, s i n ce the core identity of each of us is S p i rit. That's why these Seven Steps To H ap p i n ess a pp ly:

166 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Hemal Power

CHAPH:R 22

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liFt: I!! A MOVI!:

22 THJ;: WORLD ACCORDI NG TO MJ;:. with a l ittla halp fro m

Vad anta P h ilogophy a n d a faw otha r taaehi ngg:

Lifg ig

I

a

Movi g

n 1 94 3, when I was thi rteen, my mother a n d I moved to the enterta i n ment capital ofi:he world, H OLLYWOOD, CALI FORN IA! It was the Golden Age of fil m . E erybody went to the movies reg ularly. I sti l l d . I love to be �-:_ ;:.. �--- ..:- _ entertamed, don't you? That's why we go to the mov1es, read books :-_:; and plays, a n d watch television. We' re fasci nated, i ntrigued, inspired, �����r,r:; frig htened, or a mused by the tales we hear o r see. We can experience 11!-1��3;�� a l l sorts of adventu res vicariously. The best teachers a n d p ublic speak­ ers a re the ones who a re good story tel lers . They entertai n us. Here's a good story for you : "Once u pon a time, before time began . . . " accord i n g to Vedanta phi losophy, God created this entire creation . It is said H e d id it for H is enterta i n ment, so this whole creation is known as God's " Leela, " H is "play." Everything we see a rou nd us is part of H is story, u nfolding for His enterta i n ment! I fig u re that m ust be why we, His creatu res, made by H im, "in His i mage, " enjoy stories (su bstitute "movies" here) so m uc h . It's because we' re "God-like" ! As I u n de rstand it, God was just kin d of sitti ng a round, not doing m uch of a nyth ing, sim p ly existing as a vast, shoreless ocean of existence, absol utely silent and sti l L Static. N o ripples, no movement, no activity. J ust a vast expanse of "being" - a timeless, beg i nn i ngless, and e n d l ess ocean with no surface a n d no bottom . I n othe r words, u nmanifest, i nfi n ite, u n li m ited i n a ny way. Then at one u n m eas u rable point, God set i nto m otion with i n H i mself, a vibration that creat­ ed rip ples a n d waves. In other words, God "spoke." With one mighty roa r, He created the creation . He made H imself colder i n som e p laces, forming icebergs; and hotter i n others, forming steam; H e laug hed a nd played, watching and experiencin g the i nteraction of H imself with H i mself i n a tremendous variety of

�

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.�� _

-­

167 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING� TO KNOW

shapes, and forms, and colors all taki ng p lace with in, and com posed of the ocean of H is own Bei ng-ness . His story became manifest. Descri bing or i mag ining God as an ocean is, of cou rse, just one of many a nalog ies people have used to try to u nderstand what God is. At least for me, the ocean analogy works. It makes it easier to u n derstand how God ca n be, and is always, everything and everywhere. I repeat:

God i � eve ryth i ng that eve r wa� . i� n ow. o r � h a l l eve r b e . ·'Aad �ul!h, Jugaad �ul!h, 1-/ahhee �ul!h. Nanak 1-/ogee Bhee �ul!h . . . " True in the beginning. True through all the agog, True even now, Nanak1 gayg Tru th ghall exigf forever.

RUl[!! OF TH[ GAM[ Let's go back to the ana logy of G o d as a n ocean of existence that created a game (out of the "water" of H is own bein g) of shapes and forms that interact with each other. It's the game of l ife. And God created a whole system of evo­ l ution withi n th is game. j ust as a child at play builds a sand castle a n d then knocks it over and builds it up all over and over agai n, God Generates, O rganizes, and then Destroys (or Delivers) everyth ing within His Creation. H e made the planets and the stars, earth, a n d s ky, and oceans (wet ones), rivers, lakes, and trees, and birds, and you, and me. And He made ru les for H is Game. These a re called cosmic laws. They include the law of karma. Karma is a utomatic. It is based on the principle of action and reaction . The way it works is sometimes described as "As you sow, so shall you reap." We get back what 168 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow ofHemal Power

C.HAPH:R 22

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LJF[

we send out, and that's a fact. However, it m ay take many l ifetimes to get a l l the resu lts - or reactions from the actions we have set i nto motion, u nti l every­ th i n g gets fi nally balanced out. Nobody rea l ly ever "gets away with" a nythi ng, even though it may seem l i ke it. Karma has to be paid, if not now, later; perhaps in a next l ifetime. Sooner or later "what goes a round comes a ro u n d . " However, with the blessing of God and the g race of the G u ru, karma can be softened by Dharma (path of rig ht­ eousness/sp i ritual path). You r spi ritual teacher can also help by taki ng on som e o f t h e karma you r sou l agreed to pay o ff i n th is l ifeti me. He can counsel you and guide you to make the decisions that wil l most effectively fulfi l l you r desti ny and teach you the lessons you came to this planet to lea rn . The spiritual teacher can save you lots of time and useless suffering if you're smart enough to l isten care­ fu l ly to h i m . Another a nalogy: Life is a schoo l .

!!C�N�: !!choolroom caiiQd �arth Everyone gets challenges and tests, because Earth is a school, and we have come here to l earn the lessons our sou ls need i n order to g rad- f i th e r we l e a r n in the h a n d g of Ti m e uate. (Th is i s part of the scri pt or fro m a !! p i ritua l Tea l! h e r. God wrote.) You r sou l agreed to be born at a certa i n tim e and p lace (yes, you chose you r own parents), with the scenery, cast, and crew chosen to support you in you r starri n g rol e i n you r personal story. The fol ks closest to you a re most li kely people who h ave some strong karmic con nection to you from the past. (We're back to the movie analogy:) This "movie" is God's game of l ife. It's God's show. God is playing a l l of the roles. He is actua l ly a l l of the actors a n d actresses! He is the a uthor, the screen writer, d irector, and p roducer, as wel l as the scenery and the audi ence. God is even the ticket-taker, the usher, a nd the boy who sel ls the popcorn !

(f/j

169

Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

KNOW

THt; !!HOW MU!!T GO ON When scientists split the atom back i n the '40s, the energy that was released was, and sti l l is, the very same energy that the yog is have known a bout and played with for thousands of yea rs. They cal l it " prana." It is the incoming l ife breath . It is prana that God puts i nto you every ti me He g ives you another b reath of l ife. Each ti me you in hale it is God breathing the essence of H i mself into you so that His show can go on. M aybe that's where the saying, "The show m ust go o n ! " originated . Choose the analogy you l ike, "ocea n, movie, game." I n a ny case, l ife is hap­ pen ing, and we a re acting (or reactin g) i n its story, playing the roles we were given . The th ing is, someday the show will be over and we must go Home. Going " H ome" means going back to GOD, from Whom we came i n the fi rst place. Wi n n ing the game of life means going home consciously. Consciously expanding you r self-awareness u nti l you remember, recogn ize, and experience that you a re the whole ocean . "You a n d God, God and you a re O N E. " That experience of you r own identity is the u lti mate goal of practicing yoga . It is the goal of all human existence.

"Al l th i n g g c o m f1 fro m God .,

H e re comes a rea l ly long sente nce: When we d ie, a l l we a re doing is taking off the cos­ a n d a l l th i ng g g o to God ."2 tume that we wore in this show, a n d leaving it (The re'g no plal!e eJgg to g o l ) be h i n d i n t h i s th eater ca l l ed Ea rth so we ca n retu rn to the absolute freedom, joy a n d bliss of the vastness of the ocean of God, wh ich is so marvelously fantastic a n d wonderful, that for those who h ave had this experience, all they can say i n tryin g to describe it, is "Wahe G u ru !" which means "Wow! God is g reat beyon d descri ption . " Meanwhile, while we're p laying o u r roles in these bodies, it's God's i nten­ tion for us to enjoy it. That's why H e created it i n the first p lace, remember? " Leela" means play! (Schools have playg ro u nds, too, and even classrooms can be fu n for good students.) If we're n ot enjoying l ife, it's because we've forgotten that l ife is a movie and we' re taking our roles too seriously. If we' re n ot h a ppy, it's because we're stuck i n o u r lower chakras (Energy centers. See chap ters Mysterious Kundalini and 170 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

CHAPUR 22

--::--�'

,-;:-: �;:;;

•

LIFf I!! A MOVII:

Chakras) and not uti l izi ng our h ig her consciousness. If we're l istening to our m inds instead of our i ntuition, if we' re emotional and com m otional - riding the rol ler coaster of emotional turmoil and reacting to situations instead of resu rrecting, we're most l i kely not happy cam pers! Which leads us back to Kundali ni Yoga . It's a technology to enable us to con­ trol our emotions and m inds (not suppress or deny them, but take charge of them, rul i n g kind ly but firmly over them, rather than being a slave to them) so we can enjoy the d ra ma, the comedy. We can go th roug h a ny tragedy in l ife without letting it overwhelm us or destroy o u r happiness. Happin ess, after all, real ly l ies within, n ot outside ourselves. My reality, my h appiness or u nhappi ness, is what I choose to fee l withi n my own bei ng, and it can 't be dependent u pon a ny outside i nfluence. The i nherent nature of the sou l i s joyful . When I ' m i n tune with, in touch with, i n synch with my sou l, I ' m boun d t o b e happy! Activating the Kundalini s o that i t c a n function i n the higher chakras makes it m uch more conveniently possible to do that. When circumstances a re not pleasant, I try to rem i n d myself that l ife is, after all, a m ovie . I want to enjoy the fil m, whethe r it's a comedy or a tragedy. And I want to remember that some day the l ig hts wi l l go on, the p rojector will be turned off, and we'l l all go Home! ,_-....

1 1

.

,

_ '

:�

�HOPPI N G FOR H I GH�R CON!!CIOU!!N��� ( anothar analog y ) You 've gone to buy l inens i n you r favorite department store. You push the elevator button to go up to seven, but on the thi rd floor, the elevator stops, the doors open b riefly, and you r eye catches sight of something rea l ly i rresistible and a ppea l i n g . You decide you'll step off for "just a q uick look. " You find more a n d m ore t o l o o k at, and g e t s o total ly absorbed i n b rowsing through all t h e fasci­ nating things - lots of them on sale, too (!), - that you lose track of ti me, and forget the o riginal m ission that broug ht you to the store. By that time the store has c losed a nd you're trapped . It's called " m aya . " Similarly, it's easy to get trapped in "spiritual maya." Occult powers a n d psych ic phenomena a re exam ­ ples of spiritual maya. 171 l
THING!!

TO

KNOW

• � ·

Al l the d istractions in our l ives a re maya. I n Sanskrit, "maya" literal ly means "that which can be measured ." It is the polarity to the i nfin ite. M aya is under­ stood i n Vedanta philosophy as the "apparent creation." All that we can see and hear and touch and taste with our five senses, anything measurable in any way, is maya. It can be fascin ati ng, . ,· it is enticing, it can be fu n, but it is not permanent. It can 't last . forever. There's nothing "wrong" with maya. It can give lots of : pleasure and excitement, but maya can n ot p rovid e happiness. Happi ness comes only from withi n, nowhere else. When you touch that real ity of God withi n you, that is happi ness. Li ke Pinocchio being l u red away to the fai r instead of goi ng to school, the glitter of maya can make us forget where we're going, too! So, before we invest a lot of time and energy in a nyth ing, a ny person, or a ny activity, it makes good sense to ask ou rselves, " I s this real ly the best use of my time? How m uch of a deto u r can I afford to take? Wil l this real­ ly take me towards Home, or farther away?" .

B UBBlf!! AND BRIDGf!!

"I am the bubble, make me the sea I am the bubble, make me the sea

So do Thou my Lord, make me the sea, oh make me the sea Thou and I are never apart, Thou and I are never apart. . . " I n the early days after Yogi B haja n 's a rrival i n America, I used to sing this son g from the Self-Real ization Fel lowship son g book. He real ly l i ked it. Bubbles, sea - it fits rig ht in with the ocean analogy. Analogies a re sometim es usefu l, but they're l i m ited . They are i ntel lectua l attem pts to clarify ideas, concepts that can 't total ly b e g rasped by the intellect. They do g ive us a bridge of understa n d i n g . But to rea l ly cross over the b ridge, we can 't j ust tal k about getting to the other side. We have to do somethi n g . There's a b i g d ifference between describing water and d ri n king it, or actua l ly j u m ping i n the ocean a nd swi m ming! What to d o, and how to do it, the ways and means to get you r own d i rect experience of God or Truth, is what Yoga is all a bout. 172 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow o f ftornal Powor

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UF£ I!! A MOVI£

173 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

THING� TO KNOW

1==' A S T

L I VE S

In what lifetime did we meet? For what reason did we part? Did you - or did I - break somebody's heart? What job is ours? What lessons to learn? What debt to pay? What credit to earn? Do we clash today Because of wounds long ago? Were we friends or lovers? (Would it help to know?) Past lives' fascination Pulls our focus off track We need to look forward Not go back Whatever was then Brought us to now The riddle of life To solve somehow This time do it right Once and for all Climb the heights No more to fall Look to the Light Open your heart Master's touch Gives a head start Truth beyond time Love beyond space Infinite souls Meet in this place. 174 Kundalini Yoga: The Row o f Eternal Power

(I wrote this poem while

facilitating

White Tantric Yoga in Espanola, New Mexico, Nov. 30, 1 99 1 )

CHAPTI:R 23

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OTH[R PATH!! OF YOGA

23

Oth1u Pafhg of Yoga

F

or those readers who are not fam i l ia r with the various paths of yoga, here a re some brief descriptions: Hatha Yoga is the most wel l-known yoga . It is a beautifu l d iscipline for strengthening the body, with emphasis on developing the wil l . It uti lizes eighty­ fou r traditional yog ic postures (asanas) and uses various breathing tech niq ues (pra n ayam). Practice of Hatha Yoga requ i res patience and emphasizes flexibility. M astery takes many years.

Bhakti Yoga is the path of devotion, i n wh ich the student or devotee focuses on a particular deity and offers a l l h is or her actions out of love to that " Beloved . " Cha nti ng God's name, reciting hymns i n praise of God, remembering God, s u r­ rendering, worsh ipping God in a personalized form is the way of the Bhakti yog i .

Karma Yoga i s the path of the man or woman of action . (Mahatma Gand h i was a n ad herent of Karma Yoga .) It req u i res o n e to su rrender the fruits of one's actions to God . The Karma Yogi a lways keeps i n m i n d that God is tru ly the Doer of everythi n g . Therefore, the results of a ny action do, in fact, belong to H i m (He/She/It: GOD) . Such non-attach ment to the results of one's actions frees a person from creati ng more karma . A n analogy often given for non-attachment is "to l ive i n t h e world but not of it, " or to "be like the lotus i n the pond," whose beauti­ fu l white blossom remains pure and u nstained a bove the water, u naffected by the mud clinging to its roots below. 175 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

Gyan Yoga is considered the path of the i ntellect, wh ich is by nature a d ivi­ sive i nstru ment, always separating and com pa ri n g . The Gyan Yogi m ight spend his whole life looki ng at the Creator and the creation as separate, wh ich would accou nt for the usual textbook descri ption " not th is, not that. " Peopl e some­ tim es th i n k that Buddha denied the existence of God because he wou ld never say what God is. I th ink Buddha j ust didn't want to l i m it God by trying to define or d escribe H i m . T h e intel lect i s a lim ited tool . Language can only take us s o far. Words can motivate and inspire, uplift and create, but we have go beyond words, beyond i ntel lectual u nderstanding, to have the direct person a l experience of merging with God . That merger is someti mes cal led "Divin e U n ion." It is "Yoga . " You not only get to New York, you become N ew York! By the way, I do not consid­ er reaching N ew York the u ltimate goal of l ife. This is j ust an analogy. God does, of course, l ive everywhere, including N ew York.

TRI-MARGA The Bhagavad G ita (See the Recommended Reading List) cal ls Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Gyan Yoga the "Tri-Marga" or Th reefold Path .

R� Yoga is the Royal path, whose m ethod has been preserved in the writ­ ten aphorisms of Pata njal i . These aphorisms h ave been tra nslated a n d com­ mented u pon in wonderfu l detail by Ch ristopher Isherwood and Swa m i Prabhavananda in t h e book, How to Know God (hi g h on my reco mmended read ing l ist). The eight steps on the path to l i beration or Samad h i beg i n with eth ical precepts, the "do's" and "don'ts" by which the aspi rant g uides his l ife. They a re cal led Yams and Niyams. Then Raj Yoga defines and describes the pos­ tu res (Asanas); the place where the yogi sits, and how he sits.: breath ing tech­ niqu es (Pranayam); becoming aware of a n d controlling the thought waves in the mind (Pratyahar). Pratyahar is the g reat-gra ndfather of positive th i n ki n g . It utilizes the tech­ nique of su bstituti ng a positive vi bration in the m i n d for a negative one. Concentration (Dharana); med itatio n (Dhyana); and a bsorption in God (Liberation or Samadhl) are the final steps. 176 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Hemal Power

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OTH£R PATH� OF YOGA

Pata njali a lso wrote about the natu re of the mind and the ego, the vari­ ous types of pu rification needed to follow the path of Raj Yoga, and the pow­ ers that can come along with its practice.

Mantra Yoga is exactly what the name i mplies, a path of chanting and meditatin g on sacred syl lables, raising one's vi bration th rough the repetition of sou nd current. If you thi n k about a d rop of water taki ng a r few centu ries to make a dent in a rock, you can understand why 1 �., mantras a re repeated over and over again . I n som e cases it takes a lot of time a n d repetition to make a change in our consciousness! There a re several kinds of sound wh ich a re described i n detail in our chapter on Mantra .

·

�/'!1,�

A

�·� 1

Laya Yoga may be considered the post-graduate p rog ra m in Mantra Yoga . It i s a more sophisticated use of sou nd, taking mantra another step fu rther.

177 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

j j j j j j j j j j j J

j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j

j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j j

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CHAPHR 24

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TANTRIC YOGA

24

Tantrie Yoga ..Thgrg'g a d iffg rg neg l i kg day a nd n ig ht bgtwggn thg thrgg typgs of tantrie. Thgy a rg total ly d iffgrgnt.

P

Thgy a rg dgfi nitgfy d iffgrgnt i n

robably the most m isunder­ stood type of yoga in the world is Tantric Yoga. It's real ly q u ite sim ple. There a re th ree kinds of Tantric Yoga .

q ua l it y . quantity . d i rgetion . praetiegs, mgthod s . faegts. a nd usg ." -Yogi BhcUan

THR�� TYP�!! OF TANTRIC WHIT� TANTRIC

is to purify and u plift the b ei n g .

B lACK TANTRIC

is for m ental control o f o t h e r p eople.

R�D TANTRIC

is for sexual energy and senses .

WHIT� TANTRIC YOGA M ost energy we experience is either perpendicular or horizonta l . Tantric energy is d iagonal. White Tantric Yoga is t h e g u ided (by t h e Mahan Tantric) use of tantric energy which serves to accelerate the psychological tra ns­ formation of the individ ual, dissolving deep-rooted su bconscious neuroses. It is an a ncient a n d very u n ique form of yog ic science. It can o n ly be practiced u nder the a uspices a n d direction of the Mahan Tantric ( Master of White Tantric Yoga), at a time a n d p lace specified by h i m . You cou l d search the world over, clim b the highest mou ntains of Ti bet, seek out the deepest caves of I nd ia and not fi nd a nyone else p roperly q ualified to 179 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!! TO KNOW

teach you White Tantric Yoga, because the one a n d only person on the planet em powered to do so is Yogi Bhajan. He is the desig n ated Mahan Tan tric of th is ti me. Clea ring out the deepest corridors of the su bconscious m ind, Wh ite Tantric Yoga is a very powerful g roup meditative experience. It uses mantra and yog ic breath ing techniq ues. You work with a partner. The Mahan Tantric con nects with the students and guides the d iagonal tantric energy using his s u btle body. You can learn more about the su btle body in the chapter called "Ten Bod ies." White Tantric Yoga is not someth ing that you can go home and p ractice on you r own . Th is prohibition m ust be very strongly emphasized . Al l the participants sit i n rows, faci ng each other. The tantric energy travels i n a zig-zag pattern u p and down the rows. The students may med itate silently or at other ti mes chant a loud, depending u pon the instructions g ive n . Sometim es the eyes a re open, someti mes closed . Various m u d ras (han d positions) and postures a re give n . Although it is practiced with a partner, White Tantric Yog a is not a "sexual" yoga. On the contrary, it transm utes the sex energy from the lower chakras (energy centers) to the higher chakras. I n just a few m i n utes of White Tantric Yoga med­ itation you can accomplis h results that wou ld take m·o nths to achieve with a ny other practice. Yogi B haja n says, "Wh ite Tantra is not the car, but it is taki n g the car th rough the car wash . Wax and clean and polish it, then kee p it goi n g . " Each person's experience of Wh ite Tantric Yoga is d ifferent. Each gets what he or she needs at that point in their jou rney along the path . It is a very deep and transformational cleansing process, yet people with no prior tra i n i ng or practice i n yoga can partici pate i n the Cou rses. " F ro m our ch ild hood we have subconscious blocks and Wh ite Tantric Yoga is nothi n g but a conscious penetration th rough those blocks . . . lt wi l l give you a new start a n d a better l ife. It is neither a religion nor a philosophy, nor a n exer180 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

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cise, noth i n g . It j ust works right there, in a cou ple of hou rs . " 1 We use the telephone to con nect with other people at a d istance, and we don't th i n k that's u n usual. The way we con nect with the Mahan Tantric is very similar. We con nect with him th rough h is su btle body. He uses it to guide the d iagonal tantric � nergy which penetrates and breaks up the blocks of a nger, g u ilt, and fea r b u ried i n our su bconscious. The Mahan Tantric does not have to be physica l ly p resent to do his job. He has created Video cou rses i n wh ich he teaches White Tantric Yoga. He has given the privilege of facil itating these cou rs­ es to a few individ ua ls who travel with his video tapes on specific dates to spe­ cific cities. I hope you wil l have the opportun ity to attend a Wh ite Tantric Yoga Cou rse. There is noth i ng like it anywhere.

181 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Eternal Power

Just remember, in spirit, in flesh, in eons, from time to time, space to space, for centuries, for lives we have been together, playing the play of God in the planet Earth, the Universe, which is for us called life. Sat Nam.

-Yogi Bhajan, 1 99 1

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TH£ HN BOOI£!!

25

Th g Tg n Bodi g g

W

e know that we have a physical body. We can see it, touch it, feel it and so can other people (if we let them). But m ost of us a re not aware that we h ave other bod ies, which a re eq ually real, if not more so. The fun ny th ing is that we identify so strong ly with our physical bodies, that we th i n k of ourselves primarily in physical terms. It seems as if the physical body becomes the focus of our whole identity. As i mportant and val uable as the p hysical body is, it is not who we a re, because who we a re, our essential self, can never change. You certai n ly don't have the same physical body you were born with, yet you know you' re sti l l you . Since th is is practica l ly the whole point of this book, I'm going to keep repeati ng it over and over: "you " are not you r body o r you r m i nd (s). You a re m uch more permanent than that. Sat Nam isn't born weighing six pou nds-n ine ounces, g rowing to 1 20 pounds; Sat Nam doesn't get the m easles, go th roug h menopause, or worry about dry s ki n . Sat Nam is you r etern a l true identity. It is who you a re, who you were, and who you wil l be, now and forever. Truth is you r identity. You m ig ht visualize you r various bodies as layers of clothi ng, the physical body bein g the overcoat you wear for a l ifeti me. D u ring you r whole l ife, rain or shine, summer or winter, you never take i t off, s o you don't see the beautiful jacket or suit underneath, m uch l ess the d ress or shirt u nder that. U ntil you d evelop a special ki nd of "x-ray" vision, you defin itely never see the body that is wearing all those garments, which is the:

183 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING!!

TO KNOW

1 . !!OU L BODY The fi rst body is the Sou l Body. It is you r very best friend. It is God's light which l ives in you r heart. The Soul Body never d ies. It goes with you forever. It's a good idea to get acquainted with it as soon as possible and d evelop a n ongoing com m u n ication. Best time to get the conversation going i s d u ring morning sadhana. (See the chapter Sadhana: Your Spiritual Bank Account for a detailed g u ide to sadhana.) T H R t t M t N TA L BO D f t:S

Here's a brief summary of the three main aspects of the M i nd, the body that many people mistaken ly identify with . You can read more about you r mind(s) i n the chapter called Conquer the Mind, You Conquer the World. 2 . T H t N t:aATIVt M I N D protects you by warn ing you what could be the danger

or loss in any situation. g. TH � POS ITIVI;: M I N D inspires you by telling you what is the possible gain, the

advantage to you, in any situation. 4. T H t N t UTRAL M I N D l istens to the intellectual in put from both the Negative

Mind and the Positive Mind and then leads you to the best decision, using u n bi­ ased intu itive knowledge. Whenever you want to reach outside of you rself, reach out with your Neutral Mind. It is a most g racefu l, wonderfu l secret of success. 5. PHYS I CAL B O DY

The Physical Body was given to you so you cou l d participate fu l ly i n l ife on this planet. It is a tem ple for God to l ive i n wh ile H e sees th rough you r eyes a n d hears th rough you r ears. You were given t h e p hysical body s o G o d cou ld expe­ rience and enjoy (!) H is creation . The physical is a balance point between heav­ en and earth . The key to perfecti ng the Physical Body is balance: balance i n d iet; balance i n exercise; balance i n work, i n p lay, a n d rest. It always m a kes sense to avoid extremes. Don't be lazy a nd don't be fan atic.

184 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f fternal Power

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THf: UN BODI£!!

6 . ARC BODY The Arc Body is a l ine of energy that goes in an arc from ear tip to ear tip . It is sometimes cal led your "halo. " This spiritua l body projects who you are to other people without a word being spoken. It a lso protects you from negative energy d irected towards you . Have you ever felt someth ing, and tu rned arou nd to find someone was staring at you? That's one experience of your arcline in action . 7 . AURIC BODY The Au ric Body is a sphere of electromagnetic energy that su rrounds the physical body. It can extend u p to nine feet in every direction. This body pro­ tects you and a lso gives you the ability to uplift yourself and others. Some peo­ ple can see the a uric body as a field of flowing colored light. You may have expe­ rienced the a u ric body when you were near someone and simply felt their ener­ gy. Being in the aura of a spiritual and loving person is peaceful and healing. As the energy field of their a u ra i nteracts with ou rs, it a utomatical ly elevates us. (Remem ber, " S p i ritua l ity ca n n ot be ta u g h t, it h as to be caug ht, l i ke the measles. You get it from someone who's got it. ") 8. PRA N IC BODY The Prank Body controls the breath and takes in Prana, the l ife force energy of the u niverse. The Pranic Body gives you energy, cou rage, control over your m ind, and healing power. When you breathe, you are feeding your Prank Body. As you practice pranayam, you' l l experience the expansion of strength of this body. 9. SUBTl£ B ODY

The Subtle Body gives you the opportun ity to u nderstand and master the subtlety of l ife. It can hel p you understand what is going on a round you and how th ings work. Those people who can tu ne i nto situations easily or pick u p new skil ls a s i f b y magic, have developed the Subtle Body. As the Mahan Tantric, Yogi Bhajan has explained that he always teaches with h is Subtle Body. We have experienced the projection of h is powerfu l presence d u ring his White Tantric Yoga video cou rses. Even though h is physical body may not be there, his Subtle Body most defin itely is p resent and actively engaged with us. 185 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

THING!!

TO KNOW

1 0. RADIANT BODY The Radiant Body gives you spi ritual royalty and rad iance. The strength of the Rad ia nt Body wi l l make you cou rageous i n the face of a ny and every obsta­ cle. Good thi ngs a re drawn to you th roug h a developed and powerful Rad iant Body. On a p ractical level, people with wel l d eveloped Radiant Bodi es a re said to have "charisma." Their very presence works for them before they say one word . They virtua l ly "sh i ne."

186 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow o f Hemal Power

CHAPT£R 26

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Going

Y

•

GOING HOM�

Home

ogi Bh�an !!poakg on Doath And D y i n g 1

"What is d eath? Death is a process where you r consciousness d oes not exist withi n the control of you r ego . You can be b ra i n -d ead and sti l l a l ive. D eath - yo u share it every d ay with you rself. At a certai n moment when you sleep you d o n ot know if you a re a m a n or a wom a n, o r a person, or who you a re, o r what you r status is, a n d you a re "gone." It is that com pl ete sleep i n a bsol utely a state of tu riya (deep, dreamless sleep-see chapter o n Sleep) which g ives you r body what it n eeds for the n ext d ay. If that sleep is taken away fro m y o u for twenty-six days, you wil l die auto m atical ly, there is no lethal i njection req u i red. If you do not u nderstand, go to those people who can not sleep at nig ht. Look at their l ife and their story. It is most m isera ble. " I have d ied once i n my l ife. And I'll tel l you my personal experience a bout d eath . . . " Yog i Bhajan went on to descri be in d etail a trip he took to a holy tem­ ple in I nd ia wh ich was at the top of a very high mounta i n . He says, "It was a very painfu l journey." After a long and strenuous climb, he was so hot and ti red, as he p uts it, he "did the biggest blu nder of my l ife. " He d ra n k a g lass of ice-cold water. The shock of the ice water m ust h ave been too m uch, for he collapsed on the g round. H is friends carried him inside and sent for a doctor. When the doctor a rrived, he was declared dead ! " . . . When I woke u p, I had a blan ket over my face." Then he saw everybody run n i n g a rou nd in excitement and d istress. According to their records, he had been dead for 45 minutes. The doctor had d e c lared him d ead. But Yogi B hajan woke u p and said, "Oh, I was dead?" They said, "Sir, yes you were." 187 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

" Now I ' m not? I'm a live?" "Yes S i r, you are alive. " I said, "You are a doctor here?" He said, "Yes, I'm a doctor." I said, " H ow did I d ie?" He said, "We do not know, outside at the stall you fel l u nconscious. So you were brought here and I exam i ned you, and there was no heartbeat and every­ thing was over with . And then you r friends were run n i n g a rou nd trying to con­ tact you r headquarters to report that you were dead and to find out what to do n ext." So, I asked for them to come i n and I looked at them and said " I ' m fine." Here he goes on to descri be more of what he experienced while he was dead: " ... After I fai nted, it was l i ke a cyli n d rical rou n d, what you cal l ' lift' (eleva­ tor). You m ig ht all be afraid of dying, but dying is the most beautifu l, wonder­ fu l experience. Once i n a while as a Yogi I get to that experience. (He then sci­ entifical ly d escri bed the stage of meditation that brings ecstacy.) We then get into someth ing l i ke that. It's a g reat experience. I was thi n king, thi n ki ng, thi n k­ i ng, going down, as our l ifts someti mes go down, a nd down, and d own and don't stop. And I cam e out. And there was a rou n d square (like a town sq uare). It was h i g h ly l it. There were two sides to it. Right a n d l eft. Left side l i ke a bar or cafe. Very warm, very hot and people were tal ki ng, you cou ld hear voices. And you see on that left side a l l you r relatives. Bel ieve me or not. And on the rig ht side also you see relatives, but it is l i ke a place with snow, l i ke you a re going to a h il l station [I ndian outposts high u p i n the mountains] . And you were right i n the center, and from both sides you r thought relatives cal l on you . " I decided to come u p. I took the l ift, neither I went rig ht nor I went left. I came back, sat in the l ift, came u p and I woke u p and o pened my eyes. That is my experience of death . "An d it shall happen to you a l l . What happens i n d eath, when you have to d ie, you have exactly 30 seconds. "There a re th ree types of death . One is disease a nd sickness, you pay you r karma a n d you struggle i n the e n d of l ife. People say it's a m iserable d eath . It's 188 l
CHAPU:R 26 • GOING HOM[

the best death because you take a l l the pain on you r body. M artyrs take on their body, and h umans take on their body and they pay their karma. It's a very painfu l d eath . It's every day, l ittle by l ittle, sickness. You know you a re sin ki ng, you know you a re going and that's the last time when you can consciously con­ n ect with you r i nfi nity. You a re goi n g . Pain is there. H OW you a re goi ng, H OW you wil l deal with that pai n . H OW y o u c a n create con"D�ath i!: n o th i ng b ut a good g J � � p ." q uering that pain ? If you can conquer that pain, in you r language-not i n m y language-you have a l ready fou n d the " heavens." I f you surrender to that pain, you have a l ready fou n d you r hel l . There's nothing i n between . A l l this meditation, all this spirituality, a l l this whole getting u p i n the morn ing, th ree o'clock and cold water, two and a half hours, g ivi ng 1 /1 Oth of the earnings, h avin g g reat tem ples made, and m i l l ions of people following you means noth ing if you miss that 30 seconds. Period. All these practices a re preparation towards death . It doesn 't mean a th ing. It is a bsolutely a joke that a l l you do is to l ive. All you r comforts a re to l ive. You have never prepared to die. It amazes me - a l l over t h e world I go - that nobody u nderstands t h i s is t h e eventual u n-defyable act. We all have to d ie. Whether you a re a Sikh o r a H i nd u, Ch ristian, you a re short or tall, death is inevitable. And every day, med itatively you m ust die. If you want no fea r of death i n the end, you h ave o n ly one th ing to do. You m ust vol u ntarily d ie. It's called turiya jagat s u u pa nat . . . lt's cal led turiya stage. ' l can d ie, a n d I can l ive again,' consciously. And p lease fin d some good yog i, o r a good teacher who can teach you . I f you ' re a j ew, g o to som e Rabbi who knows about it. If you ' re Ch ristian, find some Priest. If you' re a Sikh . . . " Death com es five times to every person . F o u r tim es i t can b e avoided, averted . Fifth tim e it h appens. " Death is noth ing but a good sleep. A Sikh looks at d eath as u n ion with the Beloved Creator. It is a time of joy because the sou l has longed for this moment of utimate yoga (wh ich means u n ion). Sadness at th is tim e is a n experience of one's i n d ividual l oss for the departed . Sikhs regard this tim e as an opportun ity to love and accept God's wi l l and sing His Praises. " 189 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING� TO KNOW

YOU'R� H U MAN AR�N'T YOU 'l M a ny years ago, I was d evastated when a m ost wonde rfu l you n g m a n, w h o m I l oved very dearly, d ied i n a n automobile a ccident. B hai Sa h i b Dayal S i n g h was bare ly twenty yea rs old when h e was ki l le d . Despite my i ntellectu­ al, p h i l oso p h i c acceptan ce of the fact that h i s d eath was s u re ly a l i be ration for h i m, I was g ri ef stricke n . H owever, I believed I was s u p posed to mai nta i n a stoic "yogi c" n on -attach ment so I d i d n 't wa nt a nyon e, especial ly my s p i ritu­ al teacher, to see m e cry. Yog i Bhajan had just returned from a lectu re tou r when he was told of Bhai Sah i b Dayal Singh's death . There were several of us sitti ng i n the l iving room, sti l l in shock from the news. Every few min utes, overcome with emotion, I would go i nto the bath room and cry. Then I wou ld splas h cold water on my face and retu rn, tryi ng to keep my com posu re. After a few such exits and entrances, Yogi Bhajan asked me what I was doing, I said, "I know I shouldn 't cry, but. . . " He wou ldn't let me fin ish the sentence. He sim ply said, "You're h u man a ren't you?" Yes, of cou rse there is a leg itimate reason a n d a need for g rieving. It is to soothe and comfort us for our loss, for our fee l i ng of separation, our m issi ng the joy of that person bei ng here with us. We go th rough a g rievi ng process for our own wel l-being. Prayer, faith, and the loving s u p port of friends and fam i ly can help us d u ring a time of bereavement. H owever, what the person who has d ied needs, is for us to l et go, and release that sou l, and not keep it tied to the earth with o u r g rief. If we truly love som eone, we wil l want to make their jou rney home to God smooth and d i rect. There is a mantra to chant when someone d ies. It sends out the vibrations that help carry a sou l across all the p la nes to reach Home. That mantra is "AKAAL. " Aka a l means "undying." When som eone has d ied, it is a Sikh practice for the cong regation to chant AKAAL three to five tim es . The second syllable " kaa l "-wh ich means death-is held a long time. A deep breath p recedes each repetition of the mantra. This is done d u ring the Ardas, the traditional prayer, that is recited at every Sikh worship service a n d celebration. Anyone can use this mantra. One of the most consoling experiences I have ever had was bei ng a bl e to hel p facilitate the transition when my m othe r d ied . She was 92, a n d had been 190 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

CHAPITR 26 • GOING HOMfO

seriously i l l for some ti me. Even so, I fou nd it hard to "let go." Cutti ng the u mbil­ ical cord at a ny age is more d ifficu lt than I had real ized . By chanting AKML with fou r friends at her death bed, I fou nd myself g reatly comforted and very g ratefu l to know that I had done someth ing to hel p her on her way. Death is a fact of l ife. The more often we rem i nd ourselves of the u lti mate real ity, that a l l things come from God and a l l things go to God eventual ly, including us, the easier it wil l be for us to handle that final jou rney home, for ourselves and for those whom we love.

191 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Hornal Powor

e--r H E

CHOI C E

Two things are inevitable they say, Death and taxes, you have to pay. Country to country, taxes may vary But death's a reality you simply can't bury. It's only a body the soul is leaving behind So, for a Yogi, it's liberation time! Free at long last of the restrictions and limits The physical body imposed The Yogi, awake and aware, consciously chooses The place where the soul finally goes. There are two paths that open before you When you leave earth plane below One is warm and cozy, very appealing, With friends and family that you know Calling and beckoning, inviting you in But it's a trap, delusion of maya trying to win Trying to keep you from going beyond And reaching your ultimate goal. Turn away from temptation

Choose the road covered with the snow. The cold and snowy route will take you Home where you belong So when the time comes to turn left or right, be sure to remember this song: Take the cold and snowy route, ignore temptation please! This final choice you have to make; So you can meet your SELF, the GOD, with ease.

192 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Hornal Powor

CHAPH:R 26 • GOING HOMf

May th� long tim� gun ghin� upon you All lov� gurround you A nd th� pur� light within you Guid� your way o n .

Th is "Sunshine Song 1 " is sung at the end of every 3HO event and every class in Ku ndalini Yoga. It is a positive affi rmation bringing blessings to all.

193 l
�gf!fion Two

THING� TO DO

GfNfRAL GUIDRIN�

GQnQral GuidQiinQg for thQ PracticQ of Kundalini Yoga • Use common sense. If you have med ical problems, consult with a doctor and let you r Kundalini Yoga teacher know you r situation . • Begin each session by chanting O N Q N A M O Q U R U D J;V N A M O . • B reathe th rough you r nose unless otherwise instructed . • Wait at least one or preferably two hours after eati n g . • Take you r socks off. Best to have bare feet. • Keep you r spine covered . • I dea l ly, stick to the prescribed ti mes ind icated in instructions. You may, however, decrease the ti me you do a n exercise, if you need to, but do not increase the time that is specified . • I n general, it is advisable to relax briefly after each exercise, i.e., sit or l ie down motionless, approximately 30 seconds to one m i n ute. • For maxim u m benefit a nytime, u nless another mantra is indicated, in hale th i n king SAT and exhale thi n king NAM . • I deal ly, cover you r head . • Women, please take special note: d u ring the heaviest part of you r month ly menstruation, avoid stren uous yoga. I n particular do not do the followin g : Bow Pose Breath of Fire Camel Pose Locust Pose Root Lock Sat Kriya Shou lder Stand or a ny inverted posture Stren uous Leg Lifts

197 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

M a ntra

&

M Qd itati o n

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

MANTRA & MmiTATION

Key to P ro n u n ciati o n

A AA AY AI U

l i ke l i ke l i ke l i ke l i ke l i ke

the the the the the the

'a' i n a bout 'a' in want 'ay' in say 'a' in hand 'i' i n bit 'u' i n put

OO iike the 'oo' i n food 0 like the 'o' in go E like the 'ay' in say EE l i ke the 'e' in meet AAU l i ke the 'ow' in now

I m ust confess, some of the more common words that occur i n the various mantras in this book h ave not been spelled according to the a bove key. For instance, the word " G u ru" should probably be spelled G'roo,- but I don't l i ke the way that looks, so I have to trust that you ' l l know how to pronou nce it cor­ rectly wherever it a p pears! Similarly, "SAT NAM" wou ld be spe l led "Sat Naam" phonetical ly (though I have ind icated near the begin n i n g of the book that it rhymes with " but Mom"-un less you ' re from Can ada where "mom" sounds l i ke " m u m "). Anyway, we'l l try to catch all the places where you m ig ht need a c lue to pron u nciation, and spell phonetical ly for you . The best th ing, of cou rse, is to get a tape, or fi nd a Kundali n i Yoga teacher so you can l isten and actually hear the sou n ds for you rself. Beyond the a bove simple vowel sounds (I hope they're sim ple for you), some t's and d 's, th's and dh's are reflexive, som e a re aspirated, but that's a bit more com plicated than we need to deal with here. My suggestion is that if you're i nterested in a more detailed explanation of how to pronou nce G u ru mukhi (the language in wh ich the sacred mantras were orig inally written) you read Psyche of the Soul, which does a wonderfu l job of explaining. You ' l l find i t l isted i n t h e Recommended Reading List o f books in t h e Sou rces and Resources section of this book.

201 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of fternal Power

MANTRA s MI:OITATION

H o\N to Cha nt Thg Tgeh nology of M a ntra Here a re some i mportant g u idelines to a pp ly when chantin g a ny mantra. 1 . Remember, chanting is not singing or spea king, it is VI B RATI N G . You want to "feel" the mantra vibrating. 2 . Keep you r spine straight. 3. Chant from you r n avel point for maxim u m power. 4 . H EAR the sou nd of the mantra coming th rough you . (After a l l, you aren't real ly chanting a nyway, the One who breathes i n you is doing it!) 5 . If you're chantin g with other people, l isten to the leader a nd/or the g rou p vibration a n d m atch it, stay with it. 6. When chanti ng a loud, be consciously aware of the activity of your tongue on the meridian points i n the roof of your mouth . Some m a ntras, such as Har; or Haree, a re supposed to be chanted only with the tip of the tongue, without moving the l i ps at a l l, whi le other mantras, such as Wahe Guru, at certain times, cal l for exaggeratin g the movement of the l ips. Read a l l the instructions and fol­ low the m . Do the best you can, and let God do the rest!

WHY M�DITAT� 'l " M editation is one p rocess through which you can reso lve confli c t and m is­ fortune, rather tha n playing it th roug h in real l ife. So for every child of a h u ma n, to learn the a rt of med itation is a m ust." 1 }ap is when you repeat with the tip of your tongue • Ohioan is when you meditate at the focal point at the tip of the nose or the chin with the o ptical nerve. 2 • Simran is when you recite menta lly. •

203 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Eternal Power

TO OO

" M a n has two parts i n the body which have to be worked on . . . That's the u pper palate of the mouth and the frontal lobe of the forehead . If these two a reas a re undeveloped in you r l ife, you don't have a chance, it doesn't matter, despite all the education on this planet and everything else. • •

Frontal lobe controls the personality. U pper palate, the hypothalam us, controls you r automatic systems.

"You have to b reak the lead here (forehead) . You have to meditate that way. That's why Ku ndalini Yoga is very easy and is for householders . It doesn't requ i re a ny condition. It's j ust simple: Close you r eyes n i n e-tenths, look at the tip of you r nose. Or close you r eyes, rol l them down, look th rough the c h i n . And with the ti p of the tongue, utter six words:

HAR HARAY HARff WHA Hf G U RU "Sta rt practici ng to develop your intuition . Lock you r eyes at the tip of you r nose a n d chant the mantra, "WA H E GURU." You r intu ition wil l get clear in 9 0 days. Sit with a straight spine. Close you r eyes n i n e tenths of the way. Focus you r eyes a t the ti p of the nose. B reathe long a n d deep. Listen to the tape, jai Ram, Siri Ram 3 • After th ree m i n utes, inhale deep. Open you r eyes. Relax. "Whenever you wil l meditate l i ke this, 4 this frontal lobe wil l become hard . And the more you meditate, it wil l become l i ke lead . And the fun ny th ing is, one day automatical ly it will not be lead. It's b roken . You will h ave i ntuition to see the unseen, know the u n known, and hear the u nheard . And you r l ife wi l l not be the same as you a re now. " 5

204 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

MANTRA & M£DITATION

I nvoki n g thg Flow of �fg rn a l Powg r O NG N A M O G U RU DfV NAM O The first step i n i nvoki ng the Flow Of Eternal Power i n you r l ife is to chant Ong Namo Guru D(}v Namo. This mantra cal ls u pon the Creator, the Divine Teacher, i nside every h u ma n being. It establishes a strong and clear con nection so that you can receive the highest guidance, energy, and inspiration. Always chant it before beg i n n i n g a ny practice of Kunda l i n i Yoga .

ONG is the Creator NAMO means reverent g reetings, sal utations GURU is the g iver of the technology (G U= darkness, RU=I ight ) DrY m eans transparent (non-physical)

Ong Namo Guru Dev Namo ig a vary U!:!:(}ntia l . i mportant m antra . Remem ber to ehant it at lea!:t three time!: before you begi n eaeh !:e!:!:ion of Kundali n i Yog a .

(Detailed instructions for chanting are given in the chapter o n Tuning In) 205 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

DO

!!AT NAM

SAT N A M (rhymes with "but mom"). I t i s the seed (bij) mantra.

It rei nforces the divi ne consciousness i n everyone. Use it as a greeting, a nytime, anyplace . B y saying "Sat N a m " to each other, we acknowledge the highest con­ sciousness in each of us. For that moment, we a re relating as sou l to soul, and we are truly "One i n the spirit." (Then we can go o n and agree or d isag ree about anything we want!) > Lin king the breath with �T NAM is one of the easiest ways to maintai n a

constant reinforcement of you r Self-awareness. > Truth IS you r identity. > I n hale SAT and exhale NAM whenever you can .

Whe reve r y o u g o a n d whate ve r y o u d o , re m e m b e r, !!AT N A M l iveg a n d b reatheg i n y o u .

206 l
MANTRA s MfDITATION

Ra i gg fhg Ku nda l i n i

CHAKRA M fD ITATI O N I n this meditation, you successively focus on each of the eight p rojected centers of consciousness, a p p lying the M u l Ban d h (Root Lock: See Energy Up! in this sec­ tion) with each repetition of the mantra �AT NAM . � Sittin g i n Easy Pose, spine straig ht, i n hale deeply, chant �AT NAM (long d rawn out syl lable "Sat" a n d s hort "Nam" as you apply the M u l Bandh a n d concentrate at the first chakra, the rectum) . � Release the Root Lock, i n hale deep ly again, a n d chant �AT NAM, a pplyin g the Root Lock and focusing at the second projected center of consciousness, the sex organ.

� Rel ease the Root Lock, in hale deeply, apply the Root Lock, c h a nt �AT NAM as you focus on the third center of consciousness, the navel p oint. � Continue this same process, going next to the fourth chakra, the Heart Center, at the center of the chest as you chant �AT NAM and apply the Root Lock. � Then to the Th roat, next to the Third Eye (between the eyebrows and up about 1 /4 inch), then to the top of the head (the Crown Chakra) and with the eig hth rep­ etition of the mantra, visualize the sound going into the Aura that surrounds you . You can repeat this complete sequence over a n d over aga i n . Consciously bri n g you r concentration successively u p th rough a l l the chakras e a c h time. B reathe very d eeply before each repetition . 207 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

THING� TO 00

MfDITATION FOR CHA N Gf

!!A-TA-NA-MA 31- M i n utu Mud itation Thu Powur to Cha ngu Habit Patturng Want to pull i n a l l the loose ends, focus, and concentrate? Here's a mantra to help you consol idate and CHAN G E YOU R HABITS. This m antra is a catalyst for change. So don't be su rprised if you r spi ritua l cleansing p rocess is vastly acceler­ ated ! Be prepared, you r status quo is about to be s h ifted into high gear. Here's what the syllables mea n :

!;!A TA NA MA

Total ity (Al l that ever was, is or shall be) Creativity (The Pri nciple of Creation) Destruction (Crucifixion) Regeneration (Resu rrection)

�(A) �

�B)

(A)

!;!A

th u m b and forefi nger

TA

th u m b and m i d d le finger

NA

thu m b and ri n g fi nger (C)

MA

th u m b and l ittle fi nger (D)

208 Kundalini Yoga: The Flow of Hemal Power

(B)

Sit with you r spine straight. Eyes a re closed . With you r hands resting on you r knees, press the tip of the thu m b of each hand firm ly to each of the finger tips of that hand in seq uence, starting with the forefingers while chanti n g each syl lable in turn . Be sure as you chant each syl lable to press firm ly enough so that when you release the p ressure, the tip of the finger is briefly wh ite . If you press too gently you ' l l p u t you rself t o sleep! Keep m ovin g you r fi ngers throug hout the entire med itation .

MANTRA s. M�OITATION

>- First five min utes chant ALOUD

>- Next five m i nutes chant in a LOU D WH I SPER >- Eleven m i nutes chant S I LENTLY

>- Five m i nutes LOU D WH I S PER >- Five m i nutes ALO U D

I n hale deeply, l ift a rms straight u p i n the air, vigorously shake o u t the fingers (ap proximately 1 m i n ute). Relax. SA TA NA MA is someti mes cal led the panch shabd (five sou n d c urrent mantra). The fifth syl lable is "A" wh ich is com mon to the other fou r.

qf2ll J SA

P I CT U R�

J J

TA

lll

NA MA

T H I � !

M g d itati o n With Vi !:ua l izafi o n Although you d o n ot have to know the meaning of the syllables, you may want to th i n k about the concepts as you chant the m . I n fact, at one time Yogi Bhajan gave us some visual i mages to use wh ile chanti n g this m antra . For those of you who wou l d enjoy VI SUALIZ I N G, th is is what he taug ht: >-

Each time you chant "SA" pictu re all the galaxies, planets, suns, moons, and stars. >- Each time you chant "TA" visualize tremendous rad iance, the bri l l iant, dazzling l ight of a tri l l ion suns. >- Each time you chant "NA" see a winter landscape. The b ranches of the barren trees standing silent in the snow, all of n ature dormant. >- Each ti me you chant "MA" pictu re thousands of spring flowers i n a burst of glorious techn icolor, bri ll ia nt blooms joyfu lly blan keti n g the hil lside as far as the eye can see! 209 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of Hornal Powor

THING!! TO DO

Cha ngg of H a b it Brg afh M g d itati on

The law of the u niverse is change. Everyth ing changes. However, with every change in our l ife, one th ing seems not to change: the attachment to our own ego. You can change, but you r ego d oes not let you see you r own maturity or potential . Th is creates a cond ition of constant h assle in the m i n d . T h e d ifference between your real ity and you r perception of it, th roug h the ego, creates doubts and doubts create m isery. Dou bt steals th ree feet of you r a u ric radiance. B u t the ego wil l n ot let you change easi ly. I t blocks comm u n i­ cation . You m ust assess yourself to come out of the darkness. U lti mately, to be happy throug h a l l change and to have the ful l radiance of you r sou l, there m ust be surrender of you r self to you r h ig her Self. To aid the process of self-evaluation and to probe the ego to change and u n block su bconscious com m u nication, p racti c e this med itation each day. l

210 Kundalini Yoga: Tho Flow of f.tornal Powor

H EALTH/F ITNESS I

uThe kundalini experience does not mean you have gone into a deep breathless trance and are beyond this world

•

•

•

It integrates you more fully with reality and giv1

you a broader vision and sensitivity so that you can act more efficiently. " -Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D.

his is the definitive guide to Kundalini Yoga­ taught for thousands of years, and revealed to the West in recent decades by the master Yogi Bhaj an. This "sacred science" is surprisingly simple to learn and, practiced regularly, it can strengthen the nervous sys, tern, balance the glandular system, and harness the energy not only of our bodies, but of our minds and emotions. Fully illustrated with photographs, this gen, de introduction to Kundalini Yoga covers: +

Poses and positions ranging from beginners to more advanced levels •

•

Breathing and stretching techniques

•

•

Diet and lifestyle

Chanting and meditation exercises

General guidelines that help us gain the greatest benefit from yogic practice

Kundalini Yoga

can help you handle stress, improve your health, overcome depression, feel more energetic, enjoy your life, and love yourself more deeply than ever before. With this guide, you can begin to bring yoga into your daily life today-and discover a new way to meet your physical, psychological, and spiritual chal, lenges.

Shakti Parwha Kaur Khalsa was the first woman to study with Yogi Bhajan in the United States. He is the leader of the Sikh religion in the West and the founder of 3 HO ( Healthy, Happy, Holy Organization) , which has 300 Kundalini Yoga centers around the world. Shakti has been teaching Kundalini Yoga for nearly 30 years,

and was ordained as a minister of the Sikh Dharma in 1 974. I SBN

0-399-5 2 4 2 0-7

I

9 780399 524202

51 695>

I