We see the instruction in the Shandilya Upanishad that the fluctuations of prana should be stilled via the practice of pranayama.
Why should we care about reducing these fluctuations?
In his Goraksha Shataka, the renowned siddha Goraksha Natha taught that as long as prana flows, mind moves, and when prana is stilled, mind is stilled as well.
- A quiet mind, like a still lake, may be utilized to view one's own reflection.
- Only distorted pictures may be seen since the lake's surface is ruffled.
- However, if the surface of the lake of the mind is calm, the mind may reflect whatever it is directed towards, in this instance the self, like a clear crystal.
- As a result, self-awareness is possible.
- As a result, yogis looked into methods for calming the mind.
- Based on the insight that thinking is driven by prana, pranayama emerged as the most simple technique for powering meditation.
- When the prana is stilled, so is the mind.
In his Yoga Taravali, Jagatguru (global teacher) Shankaracharya investigates the relationship between the upper limbs and pranayama.
- When pranayama is mastered, Kundalini enters what yogis refer to as the center energy channel (sushumna), then dharana (concentration, the sixth limb of yoga) and dhyana (meditation, the seventh limb) occur naturally.
- Pranayama enables Kundalini to rise, while Kundalini itself powers dharana and dhyana, according to Shankara.
- Dharana and dhyana are difficult to achieve without the Kundalini motor.
- In fact, you could monitor your breath for hours every day for decades without going very far.
- This is because if your prana is focused in one of the lower chakras, your mind will naturally gravitate toward themes like survival and fear (Muladhara Chakra), reproduction and emotion (Svadhishthana Chakra), and assimilation and riches (Svadhishthana Chakra) (Manipuraka Chakra).
- As Shankara says, if you raise Kundalini to the third eye (Ajna Chakra), you will enter deep meditation naturally and spontaneously, and his weapon of choice is pranayama.
- In a similar spirit, the Brhadyogi Yajnavalkya Smrti condemns people who believe that freedom may be attained only by knowledge to be ignorant, a reference to the Advaita Vedantins.
- Rather, freedom is attainable via the application of knowledge and the eight limbs, especially pranayama, dharana, and dhyana.
- This concept is known as Karma-jnana-samuccaya, which means that freedom is attainable via action and knowledge. This is the pranayama.
- As a result, the swami repeats what the yogic tradition has stated about meditation from the beginning of time.
- Of course, in today's world, few people listen to such expert counsel, and as a result, many people fall into the pit of intellectual torpidity and immobility.
The Ramayana is famous for depicting the hazards of meditation when not done with a sattvic mentality:
- The demon king Ravana, the most rajasic of the three demon brothers, practiced meditation with a rajasic mentality, and his anger was his undoing.
- Kumbhakarna, his younger brother, pondered with a tamasic mentality and went into a profound sleep from which he only sometimes awoke.
- Only Vibhishana, the third brother, pondered with a sattvic mind, and it was only his intellect that drew him closer to the Divine.
Despite being written after the Mahabharata, the Ramayana includes one of humanity's oldest orally passed-down epics.
- It contains numerous profound meditation lessons that, although mastered by sages of a bygone period, are no longer comprehended by contemporary practitioners.
- As a result, an increasing number of people are following in the footsteps of Ravana and Kumbhakarna.
- This world's basis is not being gnawed at by a widespread lack of meditation, since the whole globe meditates with deep skill on Mammon, the enormous dollar.
- What you concentrate on will decide your fate, since you will attract and become what you think on.
- The intellect must first be rendered sattvic via pranayama before starting on the meditation journey.
Andre Van Lysebeth, the author of many excellent yoga publications and the first westerner to meet Krishnamacharya's pupil K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, offers a similar warning but goes into more depth.
He claims that mastering asana and pranayama is required before activating the chakras; else, pranic short circuits may develop.
These are more likely to occur in individuals who do not adequately prepare themselves via asana and pranayama, and one could add kriya, or cleansing procedures, to this list.
I cite Sir John Woodroffe, author of The Serpent Power and many other timeless classics on Tantra, to conclude our journey into testimonials on pranayama from ancient experts. According to him, Shakti, or Kundalini, may be awakened in one of two ways: via mantra or through pranayama.
The author of the book Laya Yoga: The Definitive Guide to the Chakras and Kundalini, Shyam Sundar Goswami, makes it clear that mantra is energized via nadi cleansing.
Pranayama is the most effective way to do so. It must be practiced before moving on to more advanced parts of yoga, since it is the source of all upstream techniques of awakening Kundalini (those that pertain to the upper limbs).
Here, I aim to have shown to you that pranayama, not asana, is the most important aspect of yoga.
However, pranayama cannot be done without a solid foundation in asana practice.
However, continuing to practice asana without moving on to pranayama is like to plowing a field without ever planting the seed or repeatedly washing a garment without ever wearing it.
- It is clearly ridiculous to refuse to take the step that will result in a reward for one's efforts, yet the modern yoga movement is doing just that.
- Others who practice asana but fail to go on to pranayama are in contrast to those who rush right into meditation techniques without a foundation in asana and pranayama.
- Meditation is a vessel that may help us navigate across the sea of conditioned life. Kundalini is the vehicle's engine (roused life force).
- The fuel for this engine is kumbhaka (breath retention), which is the core of pranayama.
- This fuel, on the other hand, can only be lit in a body that has been created in the fire of asana.
Hundreds of millions of people have begun to meditate as a result of the visit of some rock band members to Indian gurus and the following New Age movement.
Some gurus claimed that meditating every day would guarantee success in two years or less.
- Now, some 40 years later, we can state unequivocally that such achievements, if they exist at all, are the uncommon.
- A meditation practice that is not driven by pranayama, like an asana practice that does not evolve into a pranayama practice, is unlikely to yield more than transitory benefits.
- It's also why so many spiritual searchers still depend on their gurus to generate results in them rather than being able to establish their own spiritual discipline on solid ground.
- When taught by the ancient sages, most meditation techniques were either done during kumbhaka (breath retention) or propelled by various ways of Kundalinirousing, which frequently incorporated one or more elements of pranayama.
As a result, pranayama is critical in bridging the gap between asana and meditation.
Asana provides the ground for pranayama to take place on.
Pranayama establishes the foundation for effective meditation. When done correctly, meditation may lead to the realization of the Divine.
You may also want to read more about Pranayama and Holistic Healing here.
