[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
is one of the most difficult tasks in his whole career. Proof: take one of the more difficult asana and
try to hold it longer than your physical forces can naturally allow. The signs of violence and undue
constraint, perspiration and trembling, will appear; heavy breathing and tightening of the lips will
also testify to a conflict. One fights against one's own self. One part wants to stop; the other to
continue. These manifestations are signs of undue force; it is quite different when perseverance and
patience areat play without any compulsion. But for this we need a certain noncompul-sive way of
practice that is the leitmotiv of the whole yoga system. It is difficult to learn from books and only the
guru can show us the true path: meditative practice.
The half-trained yogi pays attention primarily to the body when doing the asanas, i.c., to the various
positions of the limbs that he wants to place into the prescribed pose. And this is a gross mistake. He
should concentrate on the "asana as such," less on its physical manifestation, and far less on the body
that moves and gets into postures. The less conscious attention the yogi pays to his body the more
perfect will be his asana. If the phrase "asana as such" seems strange to us, this indicates that we
have not yet fathomed the deeper essence of asanas, their really great meaning.
In order to show you that asanas are more than consciously created gymnastic exercises, let me
describe a mysterious manifestation that is usually witnessed only by the initiated. The process,
called kriyavati, manifests in yogis who have awakened kundalini by way of hatha yoga.
The yogi sits in deep meditation. Breath is suspended, the body is cold and stiff. Only the topmost
center of his skull is feverishly hot.
Then he starts moving his limbs. An inner mechanism seems to be at work. Slowly, steadily, with
unencumbered ease his arms intertwine, the legs go into contortions, the spinal column twists: asanas
perfected to the utmost. He includes asanas no textbook has ever described; the guhyasanas,
positions that are imparted to the student orally only after certain initiations. They are asanas that can
be performed only by the yogi who has learned to govern his body completely with his higher
consciousness.
The yogi does not perform these asanas in waking consciousness. "It" performs the asanas in him,
while his waking state has yielded completely lo a state beyond the borderline of perception.
In this state the yogi is capable of superhuman physical achievements. Thus we find in Tibet the
lunggompas, yogis who in a meditative state cover hundreds of miles with great speed. Dizzying
precipices and snowstorms cannot hinder their course, much less stop them. Attempts to follow on a
galloping horse have always failed. No horse has ever passed this prodigious test.
In this state there is no trembling, no perspiring. This is one of the higher forms of yoga; we are still
working on a considerably lower level. The ideal we are now aspiring to lies halfway between our
usual awareness of bodily movement and the kriyavati state. The ebbing of physical strength during
practice manifests by trembling and perspiration; consciousness remains calm and relaxed. The
mind, not burdened with any feeling of
THE RIVER OF LIFE 46
Yoga Swami Svatmarama. Hatha yoga pradipika
compulsion to persist) rests in itself, in the "asana as such." This is the essential difference.
So when here on the first level perspiration breaks out, this 's a sign of compulsion only if
consciousness occupies itself with this fact. If the mind remains calm, there is no thought of
compulsion.
(13) Massage the perspiring body. This imparts lightness and strength to the whole constitution.
(14) At the beginning of practice the yogi should nourish himself with milk and ghee [clarified
butter]. When he is advanced such restrictions are no longer needed.
(15) fust as lions, elephants, and tigers are tamed [little by little, with patience and energy], so the
prana should be kept under control. Otherwise it can kill the practicer.
(16) By the practice of pranayama we deliver ourselves from all diseases. By faulty practice the yogi
invites all kinds of ailments.
(17) Then breath takes a wrong course and practice results in coughs, asthma, headaches, eye and ear
pain, as well as other sicknesses.
The classical example of wrong practice is told of Ramakrishna, the famous nineteenth-century
saint. In his youth his practice invariably ended in a blackout. Later bloodshot eyes and bleeding of
the gums developed, and the end result of this faulty practice was cancer of the throat, of which he
died. His saintli-ness was not the result of this type of practice; but self-destructive extremism is an
indication of the kind of ruthlessness man is capable of.
(18) Slowly one should inhale and exhale, and proceed gradu ally also with kumbhaka. Thus one will
attain the siddhis.
(19) When the nadis are purified, certain signs quite naturally manifest: the body becomes light and
bright.
(20) As soon as the nadis are purified the yogi is able to retain the breath longer, the gastric fire is
activated, nada [the inner sound] becomes audible and he enjoys perfect health.
Perfect health alone is reason enough to concern ourselves with nadi purification. About the gastric
fire and the nada sound we will learn more later. But it is the art of retention of breath that is so
essential in the development of pranayarna.
How is it that the power to hold the breath for a considerable length of time should depend on the
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]