THE SCIENCE BEHIND YOGA

There is a beautiful story about a caterpillar that lived much of its life believing that it had come into being only to eat and sleep and do what the rest of the caterpillars did. However it was unhappy. Somehow it sensed that its life had another dimension not yet experienced. One day, driven by a strange longing, it decided to become still and silent. It hung from the branch of a tree, weaving a cocoon around itself. Inside the cocoon, although constrained and uncomfortable, it waited, sensing and aware. Its patience bore fruit, for when the cocoon burst open, it was no longer the lowly worm that went in, but a beautiful, resplendent, winged butterfly which dazzled the sky. It soared and flew, no longer limited to its worm-like existence, but free and unbounded. The caterpillar had been transformed into a thing of air and lightness, magic and beauty.



IN A DIFFERENT LEAGUE


Yoga: An Inner Journey


Once the transformation had taken place, it was impossible for the butterfly to return to being a worm. In the cocoon, the caterpillar had become one with its inner being and in this union of the body and the Divine, it reached its ultimate nature. What happened in the cocoon can be described as yoga. Yoga is the path towards being boundless.

Yoga transforms and liberates human beings so that they can reach this unbounded state. Humans, unlike animals, are not merely existing. They are becoming. To evolve as a human being is to become aware of one’s limitations; to strive, with intense passion, towards the transcendence for which we all have the potential.


What is Yoga?

Yogic science not only provides knowledge about the underlying basis of metaphysical principles and ethical values, but it also provides the necessary tools to completely transform human nature. Its aim is to bring about perspectives beyond intellectual understanding, and to foster experiences that bring life into a new dimension of perception.

The emphasis of yoga therefore is not on the external and perceivable areas of endeavour, which lead to bondage and limitation, but on the inner and intangible fields, which lead to freedom and perfection. It involves the alchemical transformation of a limited being into an unbounded one.

Yoga is both a philosophy and a science. The philosophy and the science of yoga are not only intertwined and inseparable but they also reinforce each other. The philosophy emphasizes the existence of the Divine within. The science is the method that verifies this doctrine by setting out certain kinds of discipline, certain techniques and practices that enable the emergence of this divinity within the self.

Liberation while living is the goal of yoga, the highest experience, a fusion of the individual with the universal. The human body with its physiological and psychological processes becomes an instrument through which the cosmic power reveals itself. Yoga is the path towards this union.

There are four different kinds of yoga. Each person chooses one’s own path of yoga depending on what is natural and dominant in him or her.

In Bhakti yoga, union takes place through love and devotion; Karma yoga is the way to liberation through selfless action, Gnana yoga leads to union through intelligence, while Kriya yoga reaches the ultimate goal by the transformation of inner energies.

In a specific context, yoga has come to mean spiritual union with the Absolute, the Absolute being oneself or the Divine within. This union results in self-realization - Mukti or Nirvana. Through perfect yoga this freedom is attained. Yoga is not something one does; it is the medium of one becoming the crucible of self-transformation. It is not a practice, but a certain way to be.


Beyond senses

It is arguably the most difficult thing to prove that one’s knowledge and perception can exist or develop beyond the five senses. If one were to take away the frame of the reference that these senses provide, for instance, if one were to describe a newly found object without using any of the familiar words indicating sense perception, how would one do it?

What does it look, smell, taste, sound and feel like?

Is it possible to describe the object without a reference to any of these? Yet the existence of the object cannot be denied merely because our powers of description are limited to the use of our five senses. Can language, which is premised, for all its expression and communication, on the information of our five senses, ever hold the possibility of explaining the unexplainable?

In brief, only that which is physical can be experienced through the senses and anything that is beyond the realm of the senses cannot be.


Moreover, not only do the sense organs become limited in their perception but also deceptive when one shifts the frame of reference to the realms beyond physical perception.

Every seeker looks for ways of getting beneath the surface of life as it appears, and to experience life as it is. Different people call this quest by different names: searching for God, longing for personal fulfillment, seeking enlightenment, or seeking meaning. But whatever it is, every seeker is looking for ways to free himself from the limitations of the logical mind.

Yoga deepens, broadens and strengthens the visionary power of the mind. It opens the door of that realm of sensing beyond the five senses.



BEYOND THE OBVIOUS...LIES


Flowers Within

In layman’s understanding yoga is body postures. But yoga extends far beyond these asanas, which only constitute its preparatory aspect. Central to the science of yoga is the awakening of the chakras, metaphorically symbolized as the astral lotuses. These are intangible; but the fact that they were discovered and known by the ancient sages reveals the power of yoga, that it can yield insights into aspects of the human body that are not ordinarily accessible to perception and thought. Just as there exists the physiology of the human body, as understood by modern science, there also exists a complete and complex energy system of the human body, which is understood in great depth by yogic physiology.

An important contribution to this experience is the awakening of the seven chakras or the invisible energy centers on the human body.

These chakras are manifestations of specific convergence of the nadis or energy pathways of the body, each chakra creating a completely different dimension of experience and possibilities.

Vast reserves of unmanifest energies exist in latent form, not only in every human being but also in every atom of the universe. This energy is referred to as Kundalini, symbolized as a coiled serpent lying at the base of the spine. Often, an individual’s Kundalini lies dormant throughout a lifetime and the person is unaware of its existence. The object of yoga is to awaken this cosmic energy.

This latent cosmic energy, which lies at the base of the spinal column, can be aroused and made to reach the higher energy centers only when the nadis, or the subtle channels of the body, are clear. There are 72,000 nadis in the human system. Though attempts have been made to identify these energy pathways within the anatomy of the physical body, they are unfathomable to direct empirical observation. If the nadis could be revealed to the eye, the body would appear as a highly complex network of energy. The most important of the nadis is the central channel, Sushumna, and its two flanking channels, the Ida on the left, and the Pingala on the right. The Sushumna runs from just below Muladhara, the base chakra, and extends to the forehead through the spinal column. The Sushumna nadi remains closed at its lower end as long as the kundalini is not awakened.

When kindled, the Kundalini moves through successive chakras or psychic centers until it reaches the highest, the seventh chakra, or the Sahasrar. The process of yoga results in the peaking of each chakra, leading to an experience of a dimension beyond the five senses.

To awaken the chakras to a higher level of intensity it needs tremendous energies, awareness and skill. The legends of great yogis speak of the rigours of the quest: the extraordinary renunciation, the intense search, the wandering, the physical and mental discipline, the austerity, the persistence and above all the indomitable longing. When the turbulent stages of the quest are past and the still center that is the Divine stands revealed, there is the awesome moment of enlightenment. At this moment, not only is the enlightened being rapturous and ecstatic, but the whole world is also positively affected.


Patanjali

Where did this great spiritual discipline of yoga originate? It is said to have been gleaned from Creation itself. The practice and philosophy of yoga was codified, at any rate, in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. And who was Patanjali? We have little historical evidence of his existence, though some scholars identify him with the famous Sanskrit grammarian of the same name who lived in the second century B.C

But legend gives us a more meaningful version of Patanjali’s identity. Following the path of many Indian syncretisms, legend adds a further twist to this tale. Patanjali, legend says, is none other than Ananta or Sesha, the Cosmic Serpent on whom the Lord Vishnu reclines - who is, indeed, another form of the Lord himself. The Serpent, in the mythology of many peoples of the world, is itself a manifestation of the undifferentiated Ocean, from which all life springs, the womb of existence and renewal. It also symbolizes the power of the secret, the mystery of transcendence: Ananta, without end, the Boundless.


Guru - Shishya Paramparya (Master - Disciple relationship)

Among communities devoted to exploring the resources of the spirit, yoga evolved into a secret mystical practice, until recently transmitted only to the chosen few.

As the energy states addressed by yoga are not within the purview of the five senses, the guidance of a Guru is usually needed to experience these inner states. It was also seen that the raising of the chakras until the sixth chakra, the ajna, could be done through various other paths, but to reach beyond that requires the presence of a Guru. The Guru and the disciple, forming the Guru shishya paramparya, created an environment in which the spiritual aspirations of the disciple were allowed fulfillment, through the raising of the Kundalini and the heightening of the chakras. All relationships rely on mental, emotional and physical sharing but the Master disciple relationship is unique in that it is energy based.

Modern science, due to its total dependence on the five senses, has privileged an empirical or rational approach to the process of research or seeking, limiting itself to the more pedestrian powers of the human mind. Modern education has echoed this approach, ignoring and neglecting the receptive potential of the individual. In this climate, there is great skepticism about the ability of a Guru to possess insight that goes beyond rationality. Yet, throughout history, the seeker has time and again been intuitively drawn to a Guru. To fulfill this urge for spiritual guidance, some visionary Gurus have created energy centers that replicate the Guru’s presence and energy.

The Dhyanalinga is the prime manifestation of the Guru. It is the distilled essence of yogic sciences, a manifestation of inner energies at their peak. It is a unique wonder, both architecturally and spiritually. Its basic nature is primordial, formless, divine energy and in its vicinity anyone can reach the peak of consciousness. While the Guru-Shishya tradition has its own limitations, the reach of the Dhyanalinga is limitless. Any person in any state of consciousness can be elevated to higher states in the mere presence of this form.

SOURCE : WWW.ISHAFOUNDATION.ORG