A Brief Idea About Siddha Kundalini Yoga

Let us look at the words "Siddha", "Kundalini" and "Yoga" in the reverse order. While the ultimate goal of Yoga is experiencing one’s true self, the ardent Yogi attains this goal by a science known as Yoga, which could be of many types and involves various practices and lifestyle adoptions that cause the integrated purification of body, mind and spirit, making the aspirant increasingly free from the dualities of nature.

Such purification paves the way towards the ultimate goal of experiencing one's true nature, while simultaneously making the aspirant increasingly deserving along the way, in all respects.

Kundalini is the name of that primal and living force within us all, which ordinarily lies spiritually dormant, but has the explosive potential to transform our existence from inharmonious to harmonious; from imperfect to perfect and thus in other words, from ordinary to divine.

Siddha here means “ready”. Like in ready-to-eat, ready-to-serve and so on. Most yoga practices aim at awakening the dormant Kundalini. Quite contrarily, Siddha Kundalini Yoga is a ready-to-experience Yoga, in which the awakened Kundalini is the starting point of the aspirant’s journey of self-purification.

There are various ways of awakening one’s dormant Kundalini. Swami Satyanand Saraswati of The Bihar School of Yoga mentions many ways, all which have to be under a Guru, such as, by Mantra, or by Tapasya i.e. the practice of austerities, or through the use of specific herbs, or by following Raja Yoga, or by Pranayama, or by Kriya Yoga, or by Tantric Initiation, or by self-surrender.

Spiritual Awakening or Kundalini Awakening essentially is possible only when the mind becomes subservient to the primal energy above referred. All the above mentioned methods involve doing something. This doer-ship means functioning through the mind and ego, the very elements which need to become subservient to another higher aspect within us. Needless to say, few can overcome this paradoxical situation.

He also mentions a way known as Shaktipaat, in which the awakening is performed by the Guru, by virtue of his being at a spiritually higher potential. Naturally, a person should be awake, to wake up someone else!

He authenticates thus: “This Shaktipaat can be conducted in the physical presence, or from a distance. It can be transmitted by touch, by a handkerchief, a mala, a flower, a fruit or anything edible, depending upon the system the Guru has mastered. It can even be transmitted by letter, telegram, or telephone.”

Shaktipaat or Kundalini awakening is effected by the Guru having authorization to do so in such a lineage or tradition. In Bharat, i.e. India, I know of two such traditions. One is known as the "Nath" tradition. The other tradition which I know and in which I haved received is the “Tirth” tradition.

Kundalini Initiation is also possible through some Gurus who do not have precedence of a lineage. Although such Gurus could be adepts, in such cases, the aspirant stands to lose the chance of uninterruptedly having behind him or her, the collective strength and guidance of the entire tradition through subtle spheres.

I will validate this important point some other time.

Vegeterian by Design

Recognizing that the body, mind and spirit are interconnected leads to the understanding that what we do to one of these aspects of ourselves will undeniably impact the others.

Food thus, is not just a sustainer of the physical body. There is more to it than just fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and proteins. Yoga recognizes many more subtle aspects of food and accordingly considers various food items as virtuous or otherwise.

The first glaring question is, whether humans should eat meat, or be vegetarians. To find the truth about this, let us at least observe some typical characteristics of other meat-eating and non meat-eating species.

Firstly, meat-eating animals (cat, tiger, dog, etc.) are born with their eyes closed, which open only after a few days, while vegetarian animals (cow, deer, elephant) are born with eyes open.

Second, meat-eating animals have canine teeth to facilitate tearing of meat, while vegetarian animals do not have such canines.

Third, vegetarian animals drink with a sucking action, while meat-eaters have a tongue-lapping action.

Lastly, natural meat-eaters digest meat within just a few hours and also have short intestinal canal so that the waste is excreted before it decomposes. On the other hand, meat eaten by, or forced upon naturally vegeterian vegetarian animals remains undigested for so long that in fact, this meat serves as food for putrefactive germs in the long intestinal canal.

Clearly then, Man is a natural vegetarian and only an un-natural meat-eater.

Those on the spiritual path will see another dimension to this issue viz., meat-eating amounts to causing serious disruption in the karmic journey of another soul, an act that would, by the universal principle of cause and effect, increase one’s own karmic bondage meaning that much distancing from attaining liberation or moksha.

However, the bottom line is, vegetarianism is good, but not everyone is spiritually evolved enough to embrace it.

Explore the Unknown Realms

A friend recently said that unless proof of a particular phenomenon is confirmed through the five senses, he will not believe the phenomenon.

In my opinion, even if instruments attuning to extra sensory perceptions are claimed to be developed, what we will perceive through them is the modified version of the original phenomenon. Not reliable at all.


Mind is nothing but a play of energy in a particular section of our consciousness. If arrested in this section, this energy will move into hitherto unknown realms. You will get astonishing experiences.

If you devotedly practise the simple steps outlined below, there is a good chance of this happening.
 

1. Sit in any comfortable position. Relax the body to the maximum, as if the body is not there.
2. Close the eyes calmly, with deep devotion to the Divine Power. As soon as the eyes are closed, a wave of Prana-Shakti, the driving life current naturally rises up from the base of the backbone to the top of the brain.
3. ALLOW the NATURAL breathing to take place OF ITS OWN. Keep the eyes closed and simply observe the incoming and outgoing air.
4. Sit for three minutes or more and allow any autonomous movements or other happenings that may take place.

Probability of God Not Existing

Is There God?

Friends, I am posting an interesting article written by Sadhu Vishwamurtidas. I read it several years ago and have preserved it.

"Suppose you are walking along a sandy beach. Your foot stumbles over something. You bend and pick it up. It's a rough, irregular rock. Without much thought, you would probably throw it back. But, suppose you are the first human being to be walking on a distant planet orbiting another star at the far end of our galaxy Again, you stumble over something. You pick it up. It's a digital watch!


The discovery would be the most exciting event in human history because the watch could not conceivably have been created by some fluke of nature, like the rock back on earth. The digital watch is deigned intricately. We know that such a design can only be achieved through deliberate and purposeful manipulation of metals and minerals, by intelligent beings.


This analogy is known as Argument for Design, first advanced by natural theologist, William Paley (1743-1805) to demonstrate the existence of God as the creator of our beautiful and orderly universe and its meticulous governing laws. The glorious and majestic structure of the large-scale universe, the dynamics of planetary orbits around the sun and the sun's orbit around the centre of the galaxy are also examples of exquisite, purposeful design. The "Big Bang" explosion, which many say created the universe, is another example. Explosions are chaotic affairs. The Big Bang, however, was as harmonious and as co-ordinated as a world-class orchestra. What are mathematical probabilities of such an explosion occurring by chance? One thousand and sixty to one against.


Roger Penrose of Oxford Unirsity draws an analogy to this exceedingly improbable event. Suppose you place a one-foot wide target at the extreme end of the universe, say 15 billion light away. That's some 1,500 million, million, million miles away. Then, you take a random aim from the earth with a revolver specially loaded with bullets which are able to traverse that distance, fire and hit the bullseye! That is how precisely co-ordinated the Big Bang explosion was.


But the most fabulous proof of God's handiwork lies not in the galaxies or the stars, but our own selves. Life, it turns out and above all, human life, is an almost impossible occurrence. The basic building block of life is known as DNA. The miracle seems to lie not just in its amazing intricacy but also in its ability to self-replicate in ingenious combinations and fold and unfold only at the right moment.


The big question is, how did the complex DNA molecule come to exists? Evolutionists, for want of another idea, have pressed a theory of chance. It goes like this: by fortuitous coincidence, there came to exist on earth an ocean of primeval "organic soup" which contained the raw building materials of amino acids, vital ingredients of DNA. By pure chance again, over a period of one billion years, these enzymes, maybe with a little help from the sun's ultraviolet rays and lightning from the atmosphere, bumped and rushed against each other a sufficient number of times to combine and form new chemicals. Then, again by fluke, every single one of these billions of chance interactions conspired positively rather than negatively to create the famed DNA molecule.


Is evolutionary theory even remotely credible even if we stretch our imagination and fantasies to their limit? Fred Hoyle, one of the most eminent scientists of our age, and his colleague Chandra Wickramsinghe shake their heads in disagreement. "The trouble is," says Hoyle, "the chance of obtaining the required set of enzymes for even the simplest living cell was one in 10 raised to the power of 40,000, an outrageously small probability that could not be faced even if the whole universe consisted of organic soup."

Hoyle compared the random emergence of even the simplest cell to the likelihood that "a tornado sweeping through a junk-yard might assemble a Boeing 747 from the materials therein." Hoyle also compared the chance of obtaining even a single functioning protein by chance combination of amino acids to a solar system full of blind men solving Rubik's Cube simultaneously


The theory of evolution is at best speculative armchair philosophy. From the glorious myriad of spectacular sights and colours of the present day through to the lingering sounds and echoes of a beautiful cosmic' symphony played during the earliest moments of creation, we are incessantly forced to bare witness to the compelling and veritable evidence of a masterful and powerful Conscious Creator.


For those who are able to integrate both head and heart, the existence of God is not merely an idea or a belief. It is a wonderful, observable fact."

A Decent Start (Part 2)

Almost all who have attempted any kind of meditation complain that they “cannot concentrate”. It’s nothing to worry about. This is a valid point.

The fact is the human mind is endowed with immense strength. But this strength has come with the deadly price of instability. The unaccustomed mind cannot remain stable even for a short time. It keeps jumping, like a monkey, from one thought to another.

This instability is born of an inherent qualitative aspect within us, known as the Raja-aspect. Persons with domination of this aspect attempt to fulfill all their passions and desires by being continually and egoistically active. It is an aspect that un-stills the mind.

There are two more qualitative aspects in nature and hence in us also. They are the Tama-aspect and the Sattwa-aspect.

Tama-aspect represents inertia, ignorance and laziness. With the domination of this aspect, a person would then be tempted to simply snatch away objects of desire from others, without than engaging in any self effort.

Sattwa-aspect endows a person with the nature of discriminative intellect, a yearning for knowledge and experience of truth.

In the Order of Creation, it is these three aspects that manifested before anything. From these the chain of creation burst forth as opposing forces at each level. Needless to say, these three aspects are innately present in food too. Thus in addition to muscular strength, just as a magnet imparts its magnetism to a piece of iron if brushed against it for some time; so also, a person acquires the innate nature of the food that is consumed.

Food thus, is not just a sustainer of the physical body. There is more to it than just fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and proteins. Yoga recognizes many more subtle aspects of food and accordingly considers various food items as virtuous or otherwise.

Hence for a spiritual aspirant, who in fact is a seeker of increasing levels of truth, the importance of Sattwic food cannot be over-emphasized.

First and foremost, avoid meat because, in addition to moral issues, it is to be understood that most animals are composed from the Tama-aspect. Moreover, at the time it is killed, due to fear, many toxins are generated in that creature, which go against our system.

Even in vegetarian food, classical Yoga texts have very explicitly listed a variety of foods that a beginner in Yoga must avoid. Moreover, moderation in eating is most important. Never stuff yourself with food.

The least one should observe is to avoid Alcohol, Onion, Garlic, Hinga (asafetida), mustard, excessive salt and chilies. Even those aspirants on the path of Kundalini Yoga in any of its variations including Siddha Kundalini Mahayoga must strictly adhere to food discipline, as eating the disallowed foods would be akin to swimming with a boulder tied to the chest.

It is now easy to understand why many religions around the world have ancient laws forbidding certain foods or combinations of foods as unholy or unclean, contaminating to spirit.

At more subtle levels, consideration is given to even the nature of the person cooking the food and hence restrictions as arise in this regard too. These are just the first logical steps that will affect the way we think and support our spiritual growth.

In Which Asana should I sit

A reader had sent this via email and asked:

Dear Anand Kulkarni:
Thanks for the link. I will comment on reading the contents.
I am practicing meditation suggested by you in TOI for some time. I feel much better if I sit in Siddhasana. Any more suggestions?
In love and light,

Our Guru Says:

Good to know you are steady in your Sadhana. With Guru's Grace, we are all bound to progress.

"Sthiram Sukham Asanam" is the guideline for adopting meditation asana. Particularly in Siddha Mahayoga, any asana in which body is relaxed to the maximum may be adopted.

Regarding Siddhasana, our Guru says that it is not recommended for "Grihasta" ashram persons.

Do follow the blog regularly and keep giving feedback.

A.M.Kulkarni

A Decent Start (Part 1)

A reader had asked the question "how to make a decent start?'
Our Guru says:

Any person, who earnestly thinks that he needs to make such a start, has already made a start.

Yogis have experienced the entire creation as a mere play of energy forces. Mind, which is at the lowermost position in the creational matrix, is no exception.

Since everything is a manifestation of the same fundamental Mother Energy, we can say that all through the process of creation, opposing forces are at play at a particular plane of creation.

One’s spiritual journey essentially consists of neutralizing these opposing forces in the reverse order of creation.

At the lowermost level is the polarity represented by speech and mind. At the next higher level is the polarity represented by mind and prana.

Although there are many further levels to talk about, one can make a decent start at this second level itself. Through breathing, we are all taking in this divine Mother Energy. This energy, which is ordinarily spent in the sphere of the mind, needs to be arrested so that it gets automatically redirected to the higher spheres.

Once this Mother Energy is so redirected, the mind automatically has no role to play. Hence further meditation becomes a pure Sadhana in which the doer becomes the seer.

One’s higher self, viz. Prana is responsible for this Sadhana of self-purification.

One should experience this out by following these simple steps:

1. Sit in any comfortable position. Relax the body to the maximum, as if the body is not there.
2. Close the eyes calmly, with deep devotion to the Divine Power. As soon as the eyes are closed, a wave of Prana-Shakti, the driving life current naturally rises up from the base of the backbone to the top of the brain.
3. ALLOW the NATURAL breathing to take place OF ITS OWN. Keep the eyes closed and simply observe the incoming and outgoing air.
4. Sit for three minutes or more and ALLOW any autonomous movements or other happenings that may take place.

This is the Introductory Practice of Siddha Mahayoga, or Siddha Kundalini Yoga, which is proving to be highly effective because in Siddha Mahayoga, by the above practice, we simply establish Mother Prana Shakti as the supreme aspect within us and allow this Mother Prana Shakti to work through the body and mind for self-purification.

While there are many Yoga practices such as Hatha-Yoga, Mantra-Yoga, Laya-Yoga, Raja-Yoga, etc. it is easily seen that Siddha Mahayoga is definitely the simplest and highest form of Yoga because in this Yoga, the body and mind is freed from the doer-ship which is taken over by the Prana Shakti, the supreme aspect of creation, inherent in all.

The above practice, if done daily, for three minutes or more, slowly leads to self purification and also leads to elimination of many negative aspects of one’s personality.

Other benefits of this practice are innumerable – varying from person to person.

Trials of this practice have already been conducted and thousands of people have expressed the experience of positive changes taking place within.

Mind, Kundalini and Self-Realisation

Mind is an endless chain of thoughts. The moment one thought goes out, another one enters and takes its place.

Imagine a situation in which, when one thought fades out, the next one enters after a gap of some time. This gap would certainly give us complete peace. Why? The answer is, ordinarily, most of our thoughts are born of some desire and once such a desire-driven thought takes birth, there ensues a physical and mental struggle to satisfy the same.

Clearly then, such thoughts are a burden. Hence, attaining longer and longer time gaps with an “absent mind” is a state worth attaining. Man has thus tried various means to control and still the mind, but, except for the few who understood its real nature, has so far met with limited success.

Yoga, the science of self realization reveals that from matter to thought, all are complex modifications born of Cosmic Energy i.e. energy in its absolute, unmodified state, known to Yoga science as Prana, which means The Perennial Source of Energy or Mother Energy.

We all know that our body will one day perish. We also know that we do exist even without our mind. Hence, our permanent aspect is Prana, the energy that becomes the body and drives the mind as well.

Ordinarily, our awareness is at the body and mind level. Naturally, such awareness is ruled by the limitations of the mind. Now, if there were a way by which our awareness could be established at the level of Energy or Prana, there develops a possibility of experiencing the universe as a play of energy, without any dichotomy.

We must therefore, find a way to merge the mind into the energy aspect, Prana, into which, all disturbances will slowly resolve and be neutralized.

But Mind is stubborn. Pulled by deep rooted desires, it always jumps from one thought to another. The science of Yoga gives many yoga paths, such as Hatha Yoga, Mantra Yoga, Laya Yoga etc. to still the mind. However, it is the path of Siddha Mahayoga that is the simplest and the highest amongst all.

In the system of Siddha Mahayoga, the aspirant, with Guru’s Grace, easily establishes the supremacy of the Prana, by being initiated into easily merging the mind into Prana and hence has to take no further physical or mental effort to achieve the final goal.

With the mind being thus easily merged into Prana, the aspirant starts experiencing involuntarily, various movements of the body and mind due to the force and will power of the Prana-Shakti. Through these movements which are in fact yogic movements, the tendencies of the mind towards the external pleasures are slowly reverted to Inner Bliss.

The aspirant feels the current of the Life Force or Prana, which moves up from the base of the spinal cord, towards the top of the brain and also starts getting various astonishing spiritual experiences that are essential for the perfection of that particular aspirant.

Merging of the mind with Prana marks the beginning of one’s journey on the path of Siddha Mahayoga. In fact, such merging represents the awakening of one’s Higher Self or as the awakening of one’s Spiritual Energy.

This journey progressively takes the aspirant towards Immense Inner Joy as one by one, each desire which in reality, is nothing but a presence of opposing forces, get resolved into their original state of energy.

The possibility of experiencing everything as mere play of the same divine energy is then very real. This state is worth attaining because only when the Self is free from all desires, it is able to be free from the limitations of time and space, of body and mind. Only then can Soul shine in its own resplendent glory.

Only then can one experience the one ness behind all our individual differences and also the reason for these differences. This will surely also give rise to experiencing Universal Brotherhood.

This is Self-Realization, Man’s real mission of life and also the aim of religion.