KUNDALINI YoGAGUIDELINES FOR SADHANA (DAILY PRACTICE)

l (

LE}GrcISE & MEDITATION MANUAL

DEDICATTON

This manual is dedicated to Yogi Bhajan (Siri Singh Sahib BhaiSahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji) and to that golden chainof teachers and students extending from the Infinite Teacher,linking us all together through time and space as we are each,in turn. students to our teachers and teachers to our students.

HUKAM

Say, what lies with a man to do or not?

OnIy the Lord causes to happen what He wiII.

If man had the power, he would seize euerything to himself .

But he can do only what the Lord wants done.

Not knouing this, man dwells with illusion,

For if he knew, would he not saue himself?

But deluded bg doubt, he wanders in aII directions,

And rushes forth to explore all the four continents.

When, howeuer, out of His Mercy, God grants His loue,

Man qbsorbs himself in the practice of the Name.

i i i

"Sadhana gives one a disciplinedto integrate the body, mind, and

Yogi Bhajan, PhD

practicespirit. "

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TABLE OF CONTENTSSADHANA GUIDELINES

INTRODUCTIONBy Mukhia Singh Sahib Gurucharan Singh Khalsa

W H A T I S Y O G A ? . . . . - - - 4An Adventure in AwarenessBy Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib

Harbhaiin Singh Khalsa Yogiji (Yogi Bhajan)

KUNDALINI YOGA AND HUMAN RADIANCE. . . . . 10- - -gV

Siti Singh Sahib Bhai SahibHarbha;in Singh Khalsa Yogiii (Yogr Bhaian)

M O R N I N G S A D H A N A . . . . . . 1 4The Foundation of a SPiritual Life

By Mukhia Singh Sahib Gurucharan Singh Khalsa

MODELSOFSADHANA . . " " "25

OUESTIONS OFTEN ASKED

ABOUTSADHANA. . . . . . " 27

BASICS " " 30SITTING POSTURES, ASANAS. ... " ' 31

HAND LOCKS, MUDRAS. . . . . '34

SOUND CURRENTS, MANTRAS. . . . . .36

BODY LOCKS, BHANDA . . . . . ' 41

KRIYAS " " 43Index to KriYas

CREATIVE MEDITATION . . . 8 8lndividual Harmony / Universal Harmony

By Siri Singh Sahib Bhai SahibHarbhalin Singh Khalsa Yosiii (Yogi Bhaian)

M E D I T A T I O N S . - . - . . " 9 1Indexto Meditations

POSTSCRIPT. . - 107

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INTRODUCTIONBy Mukhia Singh Sahib Gurucharan Singh Khalsa

This manual is designed for both the new andthe experienced student. It focuses on the essentialpractice of Kundalini yoga: sr,dho,na. Quite a bit ofnew material has been added since the first edition.A section on basics and several beginners sets areto aid the use of this manual in the many collegecourses now being tought. The three lectures bySiri Sidgh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan SinghKhalsa Yoglji were added to give a broader intro-duction to the nature of Kundalini yoga and medi-tation.

All of the thought, inspiration, and techniquesfor this manual have come to us from the Siri Singh

Sahib. His openness and true humility in sharing theknowledge and secrets of the sages, the truthsdistilled from ages of human experience, is thekeynote of the Aquarian Age. Any mistakes arethose of this scribe, not of the teacher.

The Siri Singh Sahib spoke about sadhana atthe Winter Solstice celebration in December,1973,in Orlando, Florida. This excerpt from his informaltalk summarizes the essence and spirit of all thepages to follow. If this statement is taken to heartand put into practice, all other questions will beanswered.

A sadhu is a being who has disciplined you.' That is all it's about.

himself. Sadhana ii tne technique to It is a time and a process where people

discipline yourself. Those who create get up in the moming to chant the glory

separation in sadhana have not yet crossed of the Lord, in this way or in that way,

the barriers of their mind and ego. I will and then they clean their temple. This is

show you by example. I don't know how how sadhana takes place at the Goldenyou "itt be so idiotic to say someone who Temple in Amritsar, India. When we first

is doing a sadhana can create terrible go to the temple, we take away every-problems when actually he is blessed. thing, clean the floors, then give the mar-

Once we invited a teacher to Guru ble a bath with milk. We clean and polish

Ram Das Ashram and he chose to speak every part of it, then redecorate it. Thenon Kundalini yoga. He told me to come at 3:00 a.m. the gates open and the san-and sit by his side. I said, 'Nothing doing. gat is allowed to come. The sangat chantsYou are my guest and at any one time, there from 3:0O to 5:OO a.m. and then, inone teacher speaks.' So I made him sit a golden palki sahib, the Siri Guruthere and I sat in the area where the Granthsahibisbrought in.AtT:00a'm'students sit. We listened to 45 minutes the hukam* is taken. Those who haveof his speech against Kundalini yoga, gone to the Golden Temple know it.very calmly and very quietly, and it didn't In your own sadhana it is exactly thebother us. In the end he asked me to give same way. Your body is the temple ofa closing remark. I got up and said, 'God God, and your soul is the divine Gurubless you. You have given us a chance to within. So you get up in the morning;think how faithful we are.' And that's it. you meditate; you chant the mantras; you

A sadhana is a sadhana. In sadhana, do the exercises; you call on your spirit;ifJapJiisread,leteverybodyreadit.Let you regulate the breath; and you geteverybody sing with it, let everybody together in group consciousness becauseglorify himself. Or if there is a Grace of it helps each other. That is what morningGod course, where the ladies are partici- sadhana and group consciousness is: It ispating and they just want to participate a help to each other.separately, let the men go into a silent If I am trying to sleep, another is notprayer. Say, 'God, really make them a sleeping. If in this whole group one per-grace of God so that they will get off our son opens up to God just once, we allbacks!' Do you see what I mean? We will be blessed in His openness. That isalways can help each other so there is no what matters. If one has walked into sad-problem. But we have a habit of doubting hana with heart and soul in a prayerfuleverything to the extent that we become a mind, we all will be benefited. That is theliving doubt! Doubt, doubt, doubt, every' power of the group sadhana. All shouldthing doubt. participate. But you know, we still have

I feel that in the moming, when you go something of the past in us. We bring upfor sadhana, you are going to be sadhus. worries about who should lead: "Oh,

What does it matter if somebody just that leader has brought a very good sad-gets up to say, 'Hmmm Hmmm?' That hana; that one has freaked out the sad-person is still doing it! He is doing some- hana." We go through this every day.thing; he is not sleeping. It is far better The truth is that nobody freaks out thethan a person who is snoring. Do you sadhana and nobody makes it beautiful;understand? Sadhana is a willful effort to it is the Will of God which prevailsprove you are not lazy about your own through the soul. When you are a ser-infinity. When the sun rises early in the vant and act as a channel, it prevailsday, even idiots rise; but blessed are through you; when you are clogged upthose who rise before the sun to prove and mugged up it doesn't come through.that they are sons and daughters of the That's what it is.Almighty. Does it sound cleir to you? At somebody other than a Sikh (Sikh means

3,3O p.m. you will probably get up. But a seeker of the truth), what can I say to

those who have the guts wili open up the him? If in the morning sadhana one cannot

gates of the heart ui3,30 ..-., th"y *ill curtail the barriers and get to the oneness'

love their Lord, they will communicate with I don't think there is any other time it can

their God and they will tell Him, 'Wheth- happgn. One for all, because all is for

er you belong to us or not, we belong to one' That's the principle'*The Sikh scripture contains teachings and songs of divine inspiration of both Sikh gun-rs .+ Hi."9_Y "-ld Muslim saints and

b;;J.-r;;g;g?ro- tn" lilh tl-t;;;litft. iztft ienturies. A huiam is a verse chosen at random from the Siri Guru Granth

Sohib, reid 6ach moming as the direction for the day.

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What ls Yoga?An Adventure in Awareness

By Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib

Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji

I have just completed a national tour today.On my tour I found that people do not have a basicunderstanding about yoga. Some people think yogais a religion. Some people think it is for vitality andhealth. Some people think it is to promote theirpersonality. In reality, this is all a misunderstanding.The word yolto, as we in the West understand ithas come down from the biblical word, yoke. If yougo to the original word in Sanskrit, it is jugft Thede{inition of a yogi is a person who has totally leanedon the supreme consciousness, which is God. Yogois the union of the indiuidual's unit cottsciorrsnesswith the infinite consciousness. That is all it means.

Classically, your potential self is infinite, whetheryou know it or you don't know it. The fact remainsthat every human mind belongs to infinity and tocreativity. But in practical action, it is limited. So atechnical know-how is required through which aman can expand his mental faculties in order to bringabout the equilibrium to control his physical struc-ture and experience his infinite self. That's all yogameans in very simple terms.

In this life of ours, yoga is greatly needed. Todaythe human being does not understand why he is ahuman being or what it msans to be a human being.Talking about his infinity and knowing and exper-iencing infinity is a big deal. Remember that wisdomdoes not hold you. Wisdom only becomes knowledgewhen you experience it. Only the experience of thatknowledge, gyan, czrn hold and support you. Justbecause you know or believe something to be truedoes not mean that you can act on it. But if youknow truth and act on that path, and if you findbliss, success and fulfillment in yourself, then nopower on earth can make you do wrong. Once youhave seen the joy of that truth and have enjoyedthat beauty you are okay. Some people misunder-stand this. They say knowing the truth is alright.They say wisdom is good, but knowledge is not good.

@xperience. And anything which can holdand support you is knowledge. A guru can give youwisdom but he cannot give you knowledge. Andthis is where we normally mess ourselves up. Wethink that so and so is a wise man. I-earning fromhim, serving him, feeling good about him will make

everything alright. But no, it never works that way.He can give you the technical know-how but theknowledge is yours. His is the wisdom. So he hasan essential part to play in this, but ytrrr are an eqrmllyessential part.

The firstfactor as a human beingis to understandyour vehicle, the physical or gross body. You have avery complicated inner machinery. It is not just theflesh and bone you can see. It's a very systematicsystem. It has glands, blood circulation, a breathingapparafus, heart-beat pulsation, a brain, and a totalnervous system. All those systems combined over astructure of flesh and bone constitutes your physicalsystem. It is a functional system. Whatever is afunctional system needs cleaning, needs care, needstuning. lt also needs careful assessment of its capa-city of activity, its potential to be extended, andits possibilities of longevity. All that has to be takencare of to start with.

If somebody wants to mess himself up all he hasto do is overeat. After ten or fifteen days he'll be inthe hospital. There's no problem. In New York Imet a case. I said, "Why are you on welfare?" Hesaid, "I can't hold myself together." It surprised me.His problem was that he overate. He would getsick and go to the hospital. After he got out theywould ask him to take precautions and not do itagain. But he urould immediately overeat, get sick,and go back in. It was a total cycle.

The physical body is the basic temple in whichyou can deposit the treasure of happiness of life.You have to understand it. When you are young youcan play mischief with the physical body. But inold age the body has you payrng for the playing.You can ne\rer get out of it. So the body has to bescheduled. You have to calculate on a sliding scale.Suppose I must live a hundred years. Now, I haveto plan for that How should I carry this model 1929,or whatever model it is? From that year you want tolive a hundred years. Now, if you buy a car in 1970for a single driver, you oan expect that with regularservice, oil changes, etc. that it will get a certainmileage. But if you do not schedule it practically,after two years you will have to change the car.You are very happy to change a car because it givesyou status in socieg, and a nerw car is good to drive

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dl the time. But it doesn't work that way with thehuman body. You are not so fearless that after fiveor ten years you can say, "Alright, I can changethe human body, I can get into another." You havenot developed your individual consciousness to uni-versal consciousness so that you can do it. Thereare people, there have been human beings, who havedone it. It's not an unusual feature. But mostlypeople do not know how to do that. Therefore it isessential to make the best of what you have.

In this course, we will study the human body inthe light of yoga therapy to make it understandableto you and show how you can make the best use ofit. You must be able to keep it on the level of con-sciousness you choose so that it can senre you betterand better without a lot of trouble. That's the maxi-mum you can do.

A second factor in our human life is our mind.lf the horizon of thought and understanding, toler-ance and patience is limited, and if the mind is notso beautifully functional that it can see the unseen,and understand the consequences of actions, it ispractically impossible to live a happy life. Becauseif you do not have a road map, you do not knowwhere you are going. Then what are you doing?Just driving? That's what we do in life. I don't wantto pull your leg tonight. I want you to feel very happyand good, but I have to give you a basic humanassessment and overview.

What is the aim of your life? "Oh, everythingis alright." What is alright? Nothing! Ask anybody.Everybody has twenty complaints about himself.Why? Where does the time go? Early in the moming,you go to the office and earn money. Saturday youhave to pay your bills and buy the groceries. If there'sa long weekend you have to take care of your taxes.Three hundred and sixty-five days go like this. Onlyleap year adds an extra day and that only comesafter four years. We are that involved in life thatwe don't know any better. And when we do not knowany better, how's the better going to come? We havepassed our years with such speed that we do notknow how we are maintained, except with God'sblessing.

This functional structure of a human machine isso beautifully made by the Maker that it can recoverfrom normal jerks and problems. It is a real andvery rare mental shock that can dirmage your mentalenergy. When there is constant pressure and norelaxation, when there is no outlet or when there isconstant boredom in life or a constant cavity in thecapacity of mental life, it results in a shattered mindand the loss of happiness. Then you must get to apsychiatrist or a counselor or some yogi or do some-thing. You have to depend on someone. Then everywise man will have to put a string in your nose andcarry you through. But I don't believe in that. Ibelieve every man represents God.

There are three basic letters in the word "God":

G-O-D. These letters stand for the generating prin-

ciple, the organizing principle, and the destroyingprinciple. What we have done is taken the first letterfrom each of those three words and combined themtogether to make the word "God." God is not aguy standing on a seventh sky at the head of timewatching you. It is the generating principle. It is in-finity to infinity in relationship to the total creativity.Through its changing, everything happens. We havebeen brainwashed, but that has to be clearly un-derstood.

We always say, "When I pray, God will com€,"What is prayer? Have you ever understood what aprayer is? You create a vibratory eff.ect, it goes intothe infinite creativity around your psyche, and theanswer comes and is expressed in the energy of ajob done. Then you say, "Well, prayer works." It isonly your mind which has the power to concentrateand to work with that beauty.

Remember you have three aspects. You havethe lower self, the gross or physical self; you havethe central self, which is known as the existing self;and you have the higher self, which is a powerful,sophisticated and delicate self. So you can work onany level and you can go up and down, but you haveto train yourself through your own experience.You can get knowledge from A, B, and C. It doesn'tmatter. If you can get wisdom from anybody, it isalways a beautiful bounty. It is a special treat if youfind some person who can stand by you and let yougo through that experience. You are a God-consciousir,ldividual because you have the power of mentalinfinity.

I am talking in two languages now. In one wordI am saying it scientifically, in the other I am relatingin a mystic language. This way you can understandboth. When you say, "I am a God-conscious person,"it only means that you realize your mental capacityand ability. There is nothing more than that becauseeverything you have is your mind. If somebody isbeautiful or ugly to you, it is your mental evalua-tion. Somebody seems rich to you even though hedoesn't give you a penny. He is rich to you becauseof your mental appraisal. You may imagine some-body is p(x)r, even though the guy may have a milliondollars sitting right under his seat. You call himpoor because of your own mind. Actually, every-thing is your mental outlook. The problem with yourmind is that as you think, so you are. How can mandevelop his mental faculty to perceive everythingcorrectly? I would like to train you that way so thatyou may have a happy life around you.

The third factor as a human being is the soul,the spirit. As no lamp can burn without methylatedspirit in it, so no life can exist without a relationshipof spirit in it. Spirit has many meanings, tones andfacets. If there is a central thread in it, all it is, is thegeneral flow of the cosmic energy. In Catholicismwe call it God, in yoga we call it cosmic energy.The meanings are exactly the same.

You have to understand your physical relation-

nein for your own purposes, so that you can have

healthy, huppy, holy, wholesome life, a fulfilled

with that infinite energy and how you can don't agree with me anywhere. If you have any

point of disagreement, come out with it' I love argu-

ment, but t want another man to provohe it' I don't

want to put a question in the mind of the peoplg'

We all *urri to have good hedth. Many people

feel we get sick because we do not know better'

My p"r"Jr,ul feeling is very different. I dofr't believe

that anybody wants to be unhealthy' But I also

don't believe we do not go unhealthy' We do' We go

and get sick sometimes.ih"r. are two types of sicknesses: intentional

and unintentional. Intentional sickness is when we

know we are going to get sick but we still do it' I

get into intentional sickness very often and I know

th.t. Do you think a man of my awareness is an

idiot since for 18 days I didn't get any sleep? I am

not aware I'm going to get into trouble? From the

day I put myself on the plane and started on tour

uniil I ieturned today I didn't get the chance to sleep

even though I tried. The schedule was automatic,

the demand was heavy: from one meeting to another

meeting, discrrssion after discussion, etc. We opened

up oui drug program with a press conference in

Washington. After that everybody became curious'

The news spread. Then people would not let us

sleep. The subconscious midd did not allow us not

to dL sadhana. We also let anybody who wanted to

talk to me have a chance. If somebody wants to

know something we must share with him. You some

times ask why I just don't share. But I can't do that'

I thought we would have five days of rest in Canada'

To my surprise they had a full schedule and I said,"Ahi!ht. Wg wilt not go by any schedule. Anybody

-n Jo-" in." That was the only way to safeggard

that all the services would be completed' I was

aware that I was getting sick intentionally. The body

can only go to a certain extent. You can ride a horse,

and you can go on beating it. But it can only go a

certain number of miles before it will start dropping'

These are intentional sicknesses.There are also unintentional sicknesses' For

that I have a lot of compassion. We do not know

how to eat, we do not know how to digest, we do not

know how to live, we do not know how to take care

of this body and we do not worry about whether

our glands are funclional or whether our nervous

systern if alright. We do not know to check if our

cLaning is perfect or our rest and activity are bal-

anced. That is unawareness. And that makes us

sick. And that is where the main pain lies. This is

especially true in this society today.This morning I was talking on television' I told

them that I had to catch a flight and I had to go. They

said, "Well, you cannot leave that way. We definitely

have to talk to you. Not all the people could come

to that church to see you because the church had a

limit€d spaae; it couldn't hold more than five hundredpeople. The people have forced us to have you come

and answer certain questions on the television"'

I think T.V. is the best way to get into the living room

abeautiful life in which you can perceive in your'

the contentment of existence. You should be so

contented that if you had to quit this planet you

would just say, "Thank you." You have got to give

thanks. And if the bad times are coming, iust say''Wonderful." Good days are coming, say, "Fine"'

After all, what is life? lt is a wave. The light

must follow the night as night must follow the day'

Sunshine must follow the clouds, clouds must follow

the sunshine. But you feel you are really something

special. You want sunshine all the time. If man is in

tlr" ,un all the time the nose gets burned and the

eyes can't see. No one can live in this world with

sunshine all the time. ls there anyone willing to do

that? No. This up and down is the beauty' Having

happiness all the time is a very boring thing' You

can'i liu" that way. You have to have a little pull

sometimes and just feel where you are and where

you should be. That's why we cal this life a vibra-

iion. What is a vibration, actually? Vibration is that

which vibrates. And what is it? A path of vibration'

Up and down! A wave. As a wave moves' so life

.r*. What do we want otrt of it? What do we desire?

We desire a mind which is neutral, which under-

stands the wave. You all know about surfing? When

there are heavy tides people go surfing. They enjoy

it. Other people go crazy. A mind which is developed,

artistic, and self-controlled rides on those waves

in life and enioYs it.If a persLn with such a mind experiences a bad

time, he can sit down and say, "Oh, God! Wonderful!

What do you want? A bad time? So, what's it to me?

I don't care." He communicates, he talks, he feels

the fun. He's not upset. He knows after this night

there will be a good warm day. He's going to have

a lot of fun. So he preserves his energy. He keeps

himself together. When the time comes that he can

expand and enjoy, he comes out with all his energy

to enjoy it all the way. That qualrty of mind has to

be developed. It has to be trained; it has to be made

and felt. The faculty and the capacity of the mind

has to be geared into those grooves of action' lf

that is not possible, nothing is possible. This process

is another imPortant Part of Yoga.Actually Kundalini yoga means awareness'

Awareness is a finite relationship with infinity'

That's what it meians. This dormant energy is in you'

This awareness is sleeping in you and you only

experience your capacity to a limit. But when it

can be extended to infinity you remain you' anltway'

But in that state there is nothing lacking. This is

what is called the basic human structure, the frame-

work through which we have to function. Do you

like it? Are you willing to agree to all this? I'm going

to focus on this structure and its work. I do not

know whether you will agree with me and I don't

want you to agree with me. Remember one thing:

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Iwithout breaking into the house. Television is quitea procedure. You get into that box and you talkabout anything you like.

When I went on that program they were havinga discussion with a trained specialist, an expert,who does not believe in marriage. He feels marriageis going to be wiped out of the western countries.It is the most unrequired thing of the past. I askedhim, "Then why are you talking about it?" He said,"l don't think it's essential." I said, ..Well, yourmother must have married your father. That's whyyou are discussing it with me today. Your existenceis out of that action which should come out of thematrimonial relationship." And he said to me, ..1

want to ask a question." I said, "Well, go ahead.You are very anti-marriage, and I am very muchfor it. You are an outcome and a by-product of amarriage. Therefore, you cannot speak too heavilyagainst it." We had twenty minutes of laughingand happiness. I enjoyed it and he enjoyed it.

Later on when the interview was over he said,"l am a great fool. I have made a total idiot of myselfbefore all of Canada. (This was a coast-to-coastprogram.) What have I done to myself? I thoughtyou were a simple yogi and that I would take youleft and right." I said, "I am very simple. That'swhy I asked you very simple questions. you thoughtthat by asking me two or three of the intellectualtype questions you could just blow me up. But thatis not true. You have to raise your mind to the capa-city of my mind, and you will overcome it. If youdon't have that mind, you are limited. you are justintellectually trying to argue left and right. But whatis left and right about truth?"

To approach yoga in its totality, you have toknow what living is. You have to know what a rela-tionship is, what values this life can give you. Ifyou know what you want then you can find it. With-out any knowledge, are you just going to close youreyes and start walking? Where will you go? "I amgoing to the beach." You don't know. You may endup in the mountains. You have to keep yourself re-aimed. Your compass must tell you at what altitude,latitude and longitude you are going. It is a totallyplanned life because the "o" of the word, "God,"

G-O-D, means organization.We often misunderstand or deny our basic

nature in our social habits and communication. Firstof all, we are people of faith. Our first impulse andour greatest capacity is faith. Suppose we find ahappy man. We know he is a good man and thathe talks truthfully. We believe him. If he says some-thing, we can act on it, and we can get happiness.Then we share it. But we do not relate this way.Instead of receptivity, we say, "Well, why are youhappy? Convince me before I listen. I don't believeyou." We always live on our insecurity. We cannothide it. We cannot discuss anything with any otherhuman being without first questioning his person-ality. "Who are you? What are you doing? How

can you say that?" Why do we ask those questions?First of all, we do not know who we are.

Actually, we can go through life in two styles.We can act as if everybody were thieves until provensaints. Or we can act as if everybody were saintsuntil proven thieves. Which style of life your mindhas as a conception and an action depends on howstrong a nervous system you have. people who liveone style walk on every walk of life with an evenattitude. If you ask them, "How are you doing?"They reply, "Oh, I am fine." If there are certaindangers they might encounter they say, '.Oh, I don'tcare. No danger is going to bite me." people who livein the other style are completely different. lf youtell them, "The road is clear. It has been checked. Itis beautiful," they will say, "Oh, I don't believe it.I can't go. I can't walk further."

The basic insecurity in mental attitude and struc-ture is often very elemental to a person's conscious-ness. I counseled a particrrlar case in Washington, D.C_We discussed everything. There was a little marriagedispute, something normal. We cleaned it out. Butthe man said, "I understand that she has understoodthe mistake and when she understands, she neveracts wrongly. But still, I can't believe her." Shesaid with anger and frustration, "The thing thatbugs me the most is that he always says he can'tbelieve me!" When I went deeper into his person-ality I found that his not believing the woman camefrom his background of experienced knowledge thathe got from the activity of his mother. It took mefour hours to tell him, "Your mother was yourmother, and this woman is your wife." He said,"That is my problem. I can't always believe it."So I said, "What are you up to? Don't you under-stand that she is your wife, not your mother? Whydo you want to punish this lady because of yourmother?" Then he told me that he had spent thou-sands of dollars going from one expert to anotherand still didn't know anything better. I said, ..Alright.

I'll tell you another way. Go and buy beads." So hebought the beads the next day. I said, ..When youtalk to this lady, catch your beads with a hand.Forget you are talking for a few seconds and re-member that you are catching something." He said,"What does that do?" I said, "It will remind youthat you are talking to your wife, not your mother.Simple. Whenever you talk to this lady who is yourwife, put a hand on the beads and remember thatyou are not talking to your mother. you are talkingto a wife. You married her. She's your life partner."He said, "Well, a woman is a woman." I said, ..Butwith this woman you share a bed. With your motheryou don't. You were a little child when you didthat. So please be mature." I had to be practicaland go very deep into his basic foundations of lifein order to dig him out of his insecurity. Then hecould start a new life by himself.

In every mental state of mind the subconsciousplays a large role of which we are not aware. We

all think we know "my past." There is no such thingas "my past." That past is only the experienceyou have in your subconscious mind and it does notlet you move forward in your life. In Kundalini yoga,we fry this subconscious mind. We make a toastout of it and eat it. It is one of the best dishes wemake. We have a technical know-how to approachthis subconscious mind which sits behind our mindand does the mischief. That is what subconsciousmind is. lt sits in the back and can spoil the imageof human life by repeating experiences which havealready been tasted and are recorded in the subcon-scious mind. So the subconscious mind must betaken care of and trained to be an aid to life.

Another pattern that must be confronted inKundalini yoga is our self-belittlement and the feelingthat we are very limited. "Oh, l, a poor humble self,can't do this. I am very miserable." We can playthis game. There are three ways of playing it. Some-times we play it to get sympathy from people, some-times we play it to get recognized, and sometimeswe really play it and we actually feel it. Everybodydoes it. It's just a matter of degree. Someone doesit one percent, another does it one hundred percent.It means your activity in realizing your mental capa-city is just that limited. You have not realized thatyour mind has an infinite horizon. There's actuallyno end to it.

Understand this today: There are no two peoplewho are alike. Neither are they physically alike, nor

are they mentally alike. They have only one like-ness: The input of infinity can be equalized to theoutput of infinity. And that is the only thing in uswhich counts. We all can reach the state of infinity,of bliss, of nirvana. There are two hundred wordsfor it. You can call it anything, it doesn't matter.But that's what it is.

Now I'll touch on a controversial point. What-ever religion you follow, no matter what you call it,you follow something meant for you to know yourorigin which is infinity. That religion should getrid of your self-belittlement and limitation and liftyou to the full human capacity. lnstead, what youusually end up knowing is prejudice, division ofhumanity, love and hatred on the basis of belongingto certain thoughts, or certain feelings, or certainpractices. That has done more harm to humanitythan the good the religions were intended to do.Today, we do not even understand the basic word"religion." It comes from religio and means lookingback at your origin. And what is your origin? Spirit!And what is your end? Spirit! So what are you fight-ing about? What is the discussion? If you are con-stant and under all given circumstances you relateto one thing - that you are a part of infinity and youalways lean on that power - then you'll never beunhappy. It is a practice.

We have never trained our minds to know ourorigin which is infinity. Instead we have run intorituals. All these churches, temples, and synagogues,

all the places of worship were meant to create group

consciousness. We start with consciousness thenprogress to group consciousness and universal

consciousness. These religious places were designed

so that all the people believing one way could come

and join together to praise the Lord and feel high.

That was the purpose. But now people come there

to fight elections and to think who should control

the synagogue or church. Or the minister speaks

and lays his number. It has become a regular mecha-

nized ritual - a systematic system within the system.

The purpose which was to get together to practice

and feel and experience the group consciousnessis gone. Man has become confused. For when a per-

son does not have individual consciousness and does

not develop that individual consciousness to a group

consciousness, he cannot attain the universal con-

sciousness. Barriers shall exist. And these are

those barriers which keep a man limited. The de-

velopment of group consciousness in the experience

of infinity is the bridge to universal consciousness

and the release of the unlimited self .

All the technology you need is in Kundaliniyoga. But we have a mental sickness. We are not

constant at anything. If you are very regular, if you

practice so that you can cater to yourself and have a

better experience, you will enjoy your life more and

extend its length. Hopefully you will do your best.

This knowledge and exchange is a brotherhood, it is

a mutual existence. There's no big and no small. It's

a sharing. It's very much a sharing. So if you are

willing to get into that kind of sharing, that kind of

love, that kind of existence, you are welcome.

Otherwise, we are happy, you are happy. Whereveryou are, you are; wherever we are, we are. There's

no problem.Man exists to help those who need existence. I

always feel that pushing knowledge on people is

pushing drugs. Pushing is pushing anyway, so I

don't want to be a pusher of anything. That is

something which I have never done in my life. I'm

not going to push heavy knowledge on you, but I'd

like to share with you certain things so that we can

experience certain things.ln Kundalini Yoga the most importont thing is

experience. Your experience goes right into your

heart. No words can be said because your consci-

ousness will not accept them. Your mind may or

may not. All we want to do is to extend your con-

sciousness so you may have a wider horizon of

grace and of knowing the truth. Then you can

smoothly plan your life to any extent you like. You

can radiate creativity and infinity in all aspects of

your daily life.Thank you very much for this evening. God

bless you.

Kundalini Yoga andHuman Radiance

By Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib

Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji

Tonight I would like you to ask any questionsyou like about Kundalini yoga, its nature or history.

Question.' I have a friend who is a psycho-therapist. He teaches Hatha yoga as part of histherapy. He was telling me that Kundalini yoga isan extremely dangerous form of yoga and can possi-bly lead to insanity if not handled right. Is this true?

Answer: It is very unfortunate that some peo-ple talk that way. First of all, they do not know whatthey are talking about. Second, they don't haveany real experience of it. Actually, Kundalini yogaproduces whole human beings, teachers, and yogis.A yogr is one who has a union with the supremeconsciousness. Some people teach it as if it is abunch of dumb exercises, but they have no right tocall themselves yogis. If flexibility posture is the onlyyoga, then people in the circus are the best yogis.

Question: He doesn't consider himself a yogl.He just mentioned that he had thought that Kunda'lini yoga is a very dangerous aspect of yoga.

Answer: Ask him why he is practicing all theHatha yoga postures. What is the purpose of Hathayoga? The purpose of the Hatha yoga is to raisethe awareness. It is a technology to bring the apanaand prana, the moon and sun powers, together toraise the consciousness through the central equili'brium line. In other words, its stated aim is to raisethe Kundalini. That is the purpose. But the problemis that it takes about 22 gears to raise it that wayeven with perfect practice. That is the long method.It is a question of time only. Purpose is the same.

Teaching Hatha yoga and Kundalini yoga isvery different. First of all, it is difficult to teach Kun'dalini yoga. A man who does not have a beam ofenergy within himself cannot teach it. That is thefirst fundamental. You have to be aware in conscious'ness. lt is a matter of a level of consciousness. Youshould be at a certain steady level of consciousnessto pull all the people up to that level. That is the realproblem. You could come and I could give you abunch of exercises. You would feel good, but whenyou talk about life and humanity and the total sumof existence and consciousness, then you have tofeel that magnetism come out of me. If I can't giveyou that, there is nothing to pull you to that level.That is the basic difference.

Let's talk this way. Actually, there was a God.He uncoiled himself, opened himself up. Thls un'coiling process or manifestation process is knownas Kundalini. What is dangerous about it? What isgoing to be uncoiled in you is alrady ln you. It isan unlimited power and it is going to uncoil in you.There is danger when something outside is artifi-cially put in you. But your system is already built tocontain the energy of Kundalini. You simply arenot utilizing that energy. If you start utilizing thatenergy, where is the danger? This talk of dangersometimes becomes the biggest danger and a bigproblem. All these yogis love me but they do notfeel very good with me. They love me because, as amaster of Kundalini yoga, it is very difficult to hateme. It takes a lot of strength to hate me. As a groupwe are a very powerful organization in the UnitedStates of America. We have a couple hundred thou'sand people. Name a large town, and there is acenter nearby. The growth has all happened in threeyears.' It is basically very difficult to put downsomebody with that kind of following and that kindof personality. Where is the root of the distrustand warnings? Why is Kundalini yoga put down?It is done either out of ignorance or simply becauseI teach it! It has never been taught publicity before.The other yogis feel guarded about the knowledgeout of a sense of national and racial loyalty. Youunderstand that India was conquered by the Brifishpeople who were Christians. So the lower classesand working classes of lndia were converted toChristianity. Traditionally, ln India, this class ofpeople is called untouchable. The majority of theChristians came from the untouchables, so evennow in their minds and hearts a Christian is sflluntouchable. They feel this great sovereign secretof Kundalini yoga was supposed to be learned onlyby highly special Brahmlns. Now this Yogi Bhajangot hold of it and he is just freaking out and giving ttto every American without discrimination. lt is verydangerous. It is dangerous culturally.

When I went back to India where I lived for thitty'nine years, the one question everybody asked was,"What ar€ you doing? What do you want to do inthat country? Why are you teachlng them?" All myfrlends were upset about it. They were not happy.'lg6YlgT2,dateof lecture 10

When I told them Amerlcans have the potentalto operiene the inffnity, they said, "OlL no, no, no.Wlrat has gone wrong with you?" When they startedquestioning me, I withdreur and said, "Alrlght, I arnlnppy with my Gunr, what do I care. It is my destiny."

There are certain things in my ltfe which I can'tov€rcome. They are in my destiny. I never came tothis country by my own choice. I had no means toreach all these people who have come to know me.People have come to me. I have nerrer even thoughtor intellectuallzed for a moment and said, "I did it."What I feel is thatthose souls who have to come andlearn from me are already in the body. I alreadyhave this knowledge which I am to share with them,so all I end up being is a postman to deliver theirletters. When my mailbag ls empty I can quit. Thatis how I feel.

What is Kundalini, actually? You experience itwhen the energy of the glandular system combineswith the nenous system to create such a sensidvitythat the totality of the brain receives signals andlntegrates them. Then a person understands theeffic*-t. of the effed. in a sequence of the causes. Inother words, man bomes totally and wholly aurare.We call it the yoga of awareness. Just as all riversend up in the ocean, all yogas end up raising thekundallni ln man. What is the kundalini? lt is thecreatve potential of the man. In one yeiar, about onehundred and ttrirty-five thousand people have prac-ffced Kundalini yoga and we have heard no com-plaints whatsoever.

Somebody may want to talk out of jealousy orignorance, but we don't have to answer to that.What is God consciousness? What is Christ con-sciousness? What you call Christ consciousness,we call Kundalini. Whbn man uncoits his potenfal,in activigl, that is what it is. When I started teachingKundalini yoga everybody told rl€, "It will not bepopular, you should start with Hatha yoga." I am agood Hatha yogi. When these Hatha yogis get sick,I treat them. I have a specialty ln yoga therapy,where you use Hatha yoga postures and certainmudras and certain kriyas. But I chose not to teachjust Hatha yoga. When I came to this country, I hadto declde, "Am I golng to do it for myself or am Igoing to do lt for these people?" I felt that the peoplehere needed the type of system which could givethem a positive result in realizadon ln a very shortdme. There is no better systern known to me thanKundalini yoga. Raja yoga ts very mental and a stu-dent has to be very prepared for it. The beauty ofKundalini yoga is that if you can just physicallysit there with your pranayam automatcally flxed,then wlth it, your mind isflxed. So a complete phys-ical, mental and spirltual balance is achieved lm-mediately in one krtya. That's why tt works so effec-ttvely ln a short time. To achierp univ€rsat onscious-ness through any method you have to ralse yourkundalint.

To do

needed. After the eighth year of life, the pineal glanddoes not wrete fully. It needs to get the resenreenergy that is stored at your belly-button area, thenavel point. That energy which developed you andgave you this shape and brought you on this earthhas absolutely no residue. It is a pure energy. Doyou understand what I am saying? That pure energyis stll there. All you have to do ls uncoil that energyand make a functional conneclion with your pinealgland. Once that master gland, the seat of the soul,has started secreting, it will give you the power toreach your self-realizafion in relationship to thetotal universal awareness. Scientifically speaking,that is what must happen. But some people are stillignorant. If I would have talked a hundred yearsago about atomic energy people would have said,"Oh, it is dangerous. It is impossible. Who wantsto do that?" First of all they didn't know about theatom. It is a human problem, not an indMdual prob-lem. Without knowing anything about'what so-e-thing is or what something actually means, we haveopinions. Not only do we have opinions, but we havesetopinions!

Occasionally you will find an awareness whichis unique in ertain people who may not be practicingKundalini yoga but are known as having a sixths€nse. They have inborn capacities. They have someintuitive power which tells them that the consequen-ces of certain sequences of actions urill be disastrousin the end. If you have thls intuitive relationshipbetween the individual consciousness and universalconsciousness, you can compute what someone istrying to say before they say it. What they actuallysay is unimportant. You will know what they intendand what they mean. It is not very difficutt. If a mancom€s to you, you may not even let him talk. youjust say, "Welln you haw oome and yqt ate ultimatelygoing to ask me for a hundred dollars, but frlend, Idon't have it." I used to do that sometimes but peoplestarted sendingword that I am agreatpsychic. That isnot a good reputation so now I am very quiet about it.This intuitive capacity is natural. Actually, you be-come sensitive to the auric radiance of anotherperson. As the signal comes, all you have to do iscompute it and you will know what he is talkingabout Hirs words do not mean anything. you alreadyknow what he means. Most people are not awarethat they have this ability in them. But with a littlemental work, it can be actrieved.

Our life as it is today has one basic human problem. We have to understand: A is A, B is.B, C is C.Because C doesn't understand what C is, he cannotunderstand what B is and what A is. And that isthe total conflict in this world and it is a sourceof unhappiness to the human being. lf C under-stands what C is, in that understanding his rela-tionship with B and with A will be very clear, andthere will be no place for doubt. Since C doesn'tunderstand what C ls, C doesn't understand what Bis either, but he does want to express himself about

1 1ttis, a little technology and science is

B and A. This kind of expression which is not basedon a clear understanding will always misguide. Thatis why this world has become a puzzle to us. Actu-ally, the world is very clear. We are all human beingson this planet. We are supposed to live with eachother in love, work as a worship and follow the pathof righteousness, goading our lives through the timecycle of human energy to get across to infinity.

Why do we not fit in, in spite of the fact that wehave the ability to fit in? There may be an ordinaryman who is a grade B medical student. He gets agreat opportunity. He rises above everything to thetop. Then there may be a doctor who is a very brilli-ant student at college, but he never gets the oppor'funity. The confusion occurs when in spite of ourequipped personality, we sometimes do not thriveand we do not understand why. There is a way tomake sense out of this. We understand it intuitively,but scientifically it takes a little time.

According to the yogls, the symbol of man is thearc of life that we call an aura. The human aura isthe arc of life. It is brilliant and white. Human exis'tence depends on that arc. Most people can't seeit and can't understand it. If you cian see it, youcan recognize the state of disease as well as theabilities of a person. All energy in existence hasits own cycle just as this human being has his owncycle. That's what makes a human being unique.Every magnetic field has to cross this magneticfield of your arc line. The strength of the magneticfield of your arc determines how the other magneticfields can or cannot enter and affect you.

Now a question arises. If there is a positiveopportunity or vibration, will this arc of light reflectit so it won't enter? No! That positive energy willmerge in it and will relate to the earth. If it is nega-tive, it will b€ cancelled out at the arc line. Any personwhose mental vibraton results in a strong arc willprotect all fragile areas of his life automaticallywith that arc.

When the magnetic field is strong, you relateto emotions differently. You can choose to relateto someone or disconnect from their influence. Whenyour radiance is strong and you direct it to someone,they will want to talk to you and be around you inspite of great differences or pains. When man hasthe energy and he has the power through his psycheto relate or to forget, then he has nothing to worryabout. The projection of his magnetic field will ar'range the rays of his existence so that his psycho-electro-magnetic circle can organize all the sur'rounding magnetic fields in tune. In other words,the environment will operate in fune with his purpose.

Let me say this in spiritual langiuage. Whenthe divine source that prevails through the man pro'jects out the light of God, all darkness will go away.Wherever he shall go, there shall be light, beauty,bounty and fulfillment. These two explanations arethe same, but one is in mystic language and theother is in scientific language. Kundalini yoga is

the science of changing and strengthening the radi'ance to give expanded life and capacity.

I'll give you an example of understanding humanbehavior with these two languages. Whenever theindividual consciousness, while radiating, feels a cutor dip in the area of radiance, the connection thatis trying to be made is not complete. When there isa cut, you cannot radiate correctly and the cycle ofenergy cannot complete itself into a creative action.What is a cut? A cut is division of energy.

Queslion' Well, what would cause a cut like this?Answer: I am coming to that. We all have set

patterns of behavior on which the pattern of con'sciousness is based. These patterns hold our per-sonalities. A Hindu, for example, cannot eat meatbecause in his consciousness he feels it is a sin.A Muslim cannot eat pork because in his conscious'ness he feels it is a sin. A Christian eats meat andpork, because in his consciousness it is not a sin.Your consciousness must form a pattern of flow.Once you fix the pattern and frequency of that flow,then any time that your needs conflict with thatestablished pattern, you cannot radiate. That's whysome people cannot look into your eyes and talk,and others don't like to face you. What is wrong?Nothing, but a pattern of flow has been set. lt isa combination of social environment and inner envi'ronment that forms the pattems. Those pattems formcavities in the aura. A cavity in consciousness is aduality. We act but we know that we don't thinkabout it. Whenever your intellect, the giver of thethoughts, does not correspond to your set behavior,you have a problem.

ln a church, we would say that this is the conflictof a sinful man. What happens when you go andconfess to a minister? What does he give you? Doeshe have some key to bind you up? You pour yourselfout and he tells you that you are forgiven. You havea set pattern of belief in him; therefore, you canbelieve him and you can !p on. Whenever somethingbothers you, there is only one way to get out of it.You have to have a captain, you lnoe to lurse a Wr'son urho will not betay your faith and who will oiun'sel you to refr.tm to the pth oJ rightrcusness. In otherwords, he should set the flow of the psyche in tunewith the surrounding magnetic field. In mystic orspiritual language, we say that a man who has com'mitted a sin comes and confesses in the house of theLord and the Lord accepts his prayers and blesseshim to the light. He again starts living in a bountifulworld. The two explanations are exactly the same.In this modern world, when there is a problem,people go to the psychiatrist who drinks coffeeand has the patience to listen to them and to makethem talk. Then through his experience he tellsthem that they have to work out the whole thing,cautiously. By charging a couple of thousand dollars,the psychiatrist makes the guy alert to the idea thathe has to stop somewhere and solve his own prob'lem. He has to put in an effort. This is what moti-

1 2

vatq him.It ls not the psychiatrist, it ls not thepriest in the church. It is your acceptance of theenvironmental behaviors and the urge to look backto your basic origin and start understanding thatyou are the creative source and nucleus of the;hokvibratory effeclin which you live. The moment youunderstand this, you are alright, there's no problim.Tle qo_qgnt you know you are you, the pioblem issolved. When you understand who and what you are,your radiance proiects in the universal radianceand-everything becomes creative around you. Thisconfirmed relationship of responsiveness in con-sciousness between the finite self and the infiniteself is the gift of Kundalini.

What is the problem that arises betrpeen a fatherand son? Is there any father who wants to denouncehis son? No. If he does denounce him, what forceshim to? Some action of the son. If a father wantsto accept his son, what makes his son the mostacceptable? Action. But aclion at what level? Theaction must be at the father's level of consciousness.If the father is a hunter and a fisherman, and theson goes and fishes and brings home a lot of fishes,the father sys, "Oh my, I'm impressed!" Supposeinstead the son used to go for eight hours and gettwo fishes. If he starts telling hii father, ..Fishi-ngis no good. It is just killing the life in the ocean foino reason. Don't do it. you can't even create onefish but destroy as many as you can hook. Howcan you kill all those poor beautiful things in theocean?" The father will get angry and say, ..Okay.

tou get off my back and hit the road. Eat your ownbread. Get out of my house and keep going. I don'tyant t9 listen to you." He wilt react tt is *ay Uecausehe can't understand the son's point of view.

What is our understanding? It's our pattern ofbehavior. What is a pattern oJ beha.riori It is th.rate of freq'-rency and the radiance of the psyche andthe magnetic field in relationship to the universalpsyche and magnetic force. If you can relate withttat universal radiation so the beam and frequencyof projection is clear, then you have communicatedwith the universe and it will support you just as ahappy father will support his son, his ireation. Thisrelatiottship of consciousness to the infinite rrrn-sciousness is the one tundamental requirement ofIifeandtheaimof yoga.

There once was a businessman who wanted tofind a man to manage his stores. He advertised.Everybody came with great experience and recom-mendations. The last interuiew was with a man whohad no experience. The businessman said, ..Whyj91't -Vou have any recommendations?" He said,"Sir, il yotr want to rwuit someone with a rsoommen-dation, you have already interviewed many. Justselect one. But if you ever need a man, rememberme and do call me. Thank you very much." He leftsmiling. The businessman started thinking. Is amanager a man or is a man a manager? He sat onthis problem for one week and finally came to a con-

clusion. A perfect manager may not be a man in thesens€ of activity. He discussed it with one of hisfriends. His friend said, ..What are you talkingabout? That man just said I am a man, and yoistarted believing him. What about his recommen-dations? These other people have already workedas managers of stores." The owner said, ..Theyare managers of stores, but none of them couldtell me that he is a man. I'd like to try this man."So he called him. He said, ..Alright. Vou managemy store." The man said, ..Sir, I have a problem.It is true I am a man. If you make a manager out ofme then I'll manage the stores. My problem is thatI am only a man, I am not yet i manager." Thebusinessman asked, '.How can I train you in allthose skills?" The man replied, ..It is nothing. Ifyou will just work for fifteen days as a manager, Iwill watch you and I will know." So the quner workedfor fifteen days and this guy picked up eve4rthing.He was perfect. Sometime liter the1r were sittingtogether and the owner asked, ..I would like tounderstand something. How can you have all myconfidence so that I trust you to do everythirrg p"i-fectly? You are not a very qualified m..r. youio.rlytraining was seeing me work for fifteen days.', ThLnew manager said, "Sir, one thing you must under-stand. I only know one thing: .I;;, I am.'My con_sciousness is very dear about the words .I am, I am!'When anything bothers me, I tell myself one thing:'I am, I am,'and I get to it. The moment you knowyou are you, there is no problem."

The basic unit of you is equal to your radianceplus your activity. That radiance is ihe mind andthe activity is the gross. Let me express this in themystic sense. When the soul opens up the heart,man becomes divine. you may iay it arry oray youlike. A man has to understand his existence in rela-tionship to the universe. Whosoever understandsthis knows the truth. The whole world around you_will-be beautiful if you understand that you are you.In all walks of your life remember you are you. .?am, I om. " That is the mantra. The Kundalini andKundalini yoga are very natural elements that rapidlymake you what you already are and bring you tothe practical experience of infinity.

1 3

Morning SadhanaThe Foundation of a SPir i tual Li fe

By M.S.S. Gurucharan Singh Khalsa

This is the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. It is

the cusp period of the time. It is the end of the ad-

olescence of mankind. But every adolescent experi-

ences growing pains and periods of struggle to ad-just to his adult potentials. In the next few decades,

we will experience tremendous sociological, psy-

chological, and physical changes. Our sense of

who we are, what our responsibilities are, and

what our potentials are will shift radically. Instead

of man viewing himself as a finite piece of dust,glorified with grand delusions, man shall see him-

self as an intricate and finite physical vessel linked

to an infinite source of universal consciousness and

energy. The tide of our evolution will wash away

the old concepts of individuality and establish newpriorities in life. The meaning and stability of life

will focus on the harmony between the individualpsyche and the universal psyche. We will strive to

create lifestyles which unleash our highest poten-

tials and serve a global and cosmic consciousness'The foundation of these new lifestyles will be scd-

hans: a disciplined practice to integrate body,mind, and spirit.

The techniques taught by Siri Singh SahibBhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji arean important part of forming the new age culture.The techniques of Kundalini yoga and the lifestyleand discipline of the Sikh Dharma offer an effectiveand efficient way to build the potential of eachperson in the context of humility and service to thewhole body of mankind. The first teaching of thislifestyle is to rise before dawn every day and do asadhana. The importance of doing sadhana has beenemphasized by every major discipline of conscious-ness that has been used successfully by people

to better themselves and the societies in which they

live. It cannot be overemphasized' It should not be

overlooked. The symbol for the Age of Aquariusis the bearer of truth. Its motto is "I know, thereforeI believe." So it demands a practical personalexperience to verify the ancient spirituai truths.To build the experience within yourself requiresconstant practice and a commitment to your higherconsciousness.

The following discussion and guidelines ofsadhana are offered as clarificadon of the techniquesand not as an absolute dictum intended to limit

its form. There must always be inspiration at the

heart of any real sadhana, and that precludes a

rigid structure.

PROCESS AND PROGRESSIN SADHANA

The essence of the progress and direction of sad-

hana is in the sequence sadhana, aradhqnq, andprabhupati, or roughly translated: discipline, atti-

tude, and aptitude or mastery. Sadhana is the over-

all practice as well as a part of the process' The

steps are really inseparable.To understand the first step which is daily

sadhana, you must see it within the context of

aradhana and prabhupati- Sodhona means anypractice of self correction that provides the mind

and body with a disciplined channel to expressthe infinite within one's self- It is a practice that

resets your cycles and patterns to the rhythm ofyour ultimate aims. It is a time each day to notice

all the negative habits that lead you away from

higher consciousness and to eliminate the desires

1 4

underlying those habits one by one. This is a con-scious activity. You consciously choose to wake upin the early hours of the moming instead of sleeping.You consciously exercise the body and exalt theinfinite in your heart with your voice and attitude.Each day is different. Each day, you are different.Every 72 hours all the cells of your body totallychange. Sickness comes and goes. Motivation waxesand wanes. But through all the flux of life, throughall the variations of our minds and palpitations ofunsure hearts, we consciously choose to maintaina constant and regular practice. By this commitmentwe establish a priority in life above all the changes:to exalt the infinite universal self in order todevelop our finite selves as better channels toexpress unlimited nature.

The yogic scriptures require at least 2-ttz hoursof sadhana before the rising of the sun. You mustdedicate at least one-tenth of each day to God. It isin these hours that the auric protection and guid-ance of the teacher is most prevalent to all whowish to meditate. It is in these hours that the prana,the basic life force of consciousness. concentratesand the physical cleansing is accomplished moreeasily in these hours than during the rest of the day.Few people are awake and busy, so the clutter andbustle of daily activities does not interfere with you.

Though many challenges may come to stopyour constant early morning practice, as youconquer each one, you will build your will power,your confidence, and the ability to beam your mind.This constancy linked with the natural circadianrhythm of the sun provides rhythm in your life.This is no small accomplishment. If at the same timeeach day, you tune all your mental and physicalrhythms to each other, then no part of yourself willbe out of step with any other part of yourself. Theentire day flows better. Besides this, a natural rhythmassociated with any activity helps you to learn thatactivity better. If you try to learn a particular taskat the same time each day, you will learn it moreefficiently. If you learn to meditate at the sametime every day, it becomes easier and easier.

In meditation, you are cleaning the subconsciousof fears and releasing new reservoirs of conscious-ness and energy to guide you. As each fear comesup and you look upon it neutrally, the fear losesits porter over you. You become more flexible andfeel more free. Most fears were learned at a particu-lar time of day. So, these fears tend to occur mostintensely at the time of day they were experienced.By meditating at sadhana time, you slowly attractthe anxieties from all other parts of the day.Normally you react to anxieties on their time andon their conditions. In meditation the effects of oldfears come to you on your time and under yourconditions. Since they come at the same time eachday, it becomes easier and easier to deal with eachone. Eventually the mind is cleared of the clouds offear and begins to see the light and power of creative

consciousness. Then the morning meditation clearsout the daily worries and proiections so no furtherlong-term subconscious fears can accumulate.

After practicing a regular sadhana for some time,the teachings and consciousness begin to seepinto the deeper parts of the mind. This period oftime may be 40 days or one and one-half years.It depends on the individual, the intensity of effort,and the starting condition. The efforts which youconsciously planted have grown roots, and theoffshoots are able to stand on their own. Thesubconscious mind finally gets your message. Itunderstands that you are sincere, that meditationis a priority, that every day at this time you beginto wake up automatically without the aid of analarm, and that even when traveling you will medi-tate every day on time. The subconscious begins tosupport you and sadhana begins to feel effortless.The subconscious, which directs about 60% of ouractivities and responses by habit, has now acquireda habit to have the consciousness of sadhana.

In the beginning, the conscious efforts ofsadhana may seem like a negative activity. Itimposes discipline at the cost of some other activi-ties such as sleep. It makes you deal with the manyinfluences that resist your attempts to be regular.But as sadhana becomes aradhana, there can onlybe positive feeling left as a result of experience. Youhave established a channel that allows the awakeneddesires of your higher mind to connect with theuniversal self. During this period, the mind becomesmore active in its subconscious cleaning. If you findresistance now it is not from the fast flux of exter-nal changes. You confront a basic question: Are youwilling to act and think in your highest conscious-ness, or do you want to hang on to your old identityeven longer? If the choice is for the higher self, thensadhana becomes a joy and you leap up eachmorning to meet it. If you put off the decision, youwill feel motivated, then unmotivated; you will feelmore tired or sick than you may be to avoid gettingup; and you may even fall asleep whenever youmeditate, in an attempt to avoid this commitmentto your self. A major pitfall at this stage is the feel-ing that you have "made it." Since the physicalhabit is firmly established, you become lax in themental discipline of beaming the mind to the infinite.It is just like climbing a mountain: when you reach ahigh plateau, your impulse is to camp and look atthe valleys below. You want to dine on succulentberries and rest from the strenuous climb. Butwaiting too long makes the muscles slack and soonyou may even forget why you wanted to climb tothe top when this level is so comfortable. You knowthe rest of the climb is harder, narrower, and colderthan what you have already experienced. So youresist the last step. This is an apt metaphor forclimbing the heights of selfhood. When we havepracticed enough to confirm an attitude, we relax.We make it to sadhana, but fall asleep. We will

1 5

chant the Nam. but sometimes feel the words arejust mechanical motions without meaning becausewe lose touch with our initial motivations. This ispart of the subconscious reorganization that affectsmotivation and intent. At some point in this, youmay feel absolutely no motivation to do what youhave set out to do and are doing. It is then that theregular habit of sadhana and the earlier commit-ments are essential. The thought of duty and of theNam itself may become your only reasons forcontinuing. If you are constant through this darktime, you can tap new sources of energy and strengthwithin yourself. You will build a dependence directlyon the infinite and never need to rely on a finitemotivation or structure for the sense of self, forthe sense of meaningfulness, or for the power to actcreatively.

Once aradhana has cleaned the subconsciousand confirmed your motivation to know, merge,and use the infinite, you enter into prabhupati, ormastery of God. This is the state of neutrality. Yourmotivation is neutral. No finite thing motivates you.No money, no fame, no sex, no personal advance-ment is enough to determine your actions. Youcease to be manipulated by things. Most of us areso attached to our possesions and hopes that wecannot creatively and freely act in the highest con-sciousness of each moment. We compromise ourpotential to possess our past. In this neutral state,you sense the infinite in all things. Nothing moti-vates you except the sense of the infinite existenceitself. Motivation comes from the center of your be-ing.

The stage of prabhupati represents the openingand atunement to the superconsciousness. Theconscious mind has merged with the subconsciousmind, and there is no conflict in the personality.Everything is experienced as a harmony even if thegross outward circumstance seems challenging ordisastrous. A person feels more of the pain of theentire cosmos, and more of its joy, but rests in theneutral and sublime state of mind - master'g of God.

It is the full awakening and integration of compassioninto the personality. Compassion gives man acapacity to forgive the unforgivable. God is boundto maintain the Law of Polarity throughout thecosmos. lf ill acts are created, then ill acts must bereceived. If you steal, He must steal from you. Thisgives order and law to the world. Since these lawsgovern the events of normal life, the time we livein acts to teach us to come in accordance withuniversal law and God's will. A man in prabhupatiis an exception. He can go beyond the laws of timeand polarity into the state of compassion. He canforgive a thief who has robbed him, and even plantin that person the inspiration to reach the infinite.An example of this is the story of Balmikhi.

Balmikhi was a thief and a head-cutter with anexcellent reputation for efficiency and success. Noone ever passed Balmikhi's hiding spot withoutgetting his head parted from his body and his coinplaced in the head-cutter's pocket. For generatiorrshis whole family had been taught this skill. Withdiligent study, he became the best of all. People whoknew of his reputation stayed away. Even the king'smen did not challenge him.

On this particular day a traveling holy man whohad not heard the stories walked by the robber'slair. Balmikhi jumped him with raised sword. Tohis surprise, the saint kneeled with bowed headand thanked the thief slyly, "You are most gener-ous to give me my day of liberation, kind thief. Ihave waited long to leave this physical body.Please hurry so I may join the Creator!" The thiefnever had a client who uttered such a strange plea.He raised his sword to accomodate the plea whenthe holy man exclaimed, "Wait! As a truthful beingI must be fair to you and not leave this world in ahalf-truth. If you kill me then you will die withinthree days. Now you know. Please go ahead."

This perturbed Balmikhi. He knew that saints'words always come true since the power of God livesin their tongues. He held back the fatal cut andasked, "I know what you say will come to pass. Isthere no way to escape this destiny?" The saintreplied, "If one of your family will voluntarily die atthe same time I do, you will be spared. But I do notthink they love you that much."

Balmikhi tied up the saint and went to his house.He called together his entire clan and explained thesituation. "l must kill this holy man to uphold myreputation. I have supported you all for years withmy special skills. Now who of you loves me enoughto sacrifice for me?" No one moved forward toconfirm his confidence in their love. He pleadedagain and again. When herealized he could persuadeno one, he returned to the holy marr. He sat next tothe saint and loosened his bonds. He became verydepressed. His mind fogged over with memories ofall he had done. He felt a basic lack of understandingabout life. He was never taught how to love, how tobe loved, and how to be spiritually great.,

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1 6

The saint saw his perplexed condition. He sawthe ignorance surrounding the man and his sinceredesire to understand the truth. The great saint gotinto a state of compassion. With a touch of hisfingers to the thief's forehead he. cleared the sub-conscious of its fears and ignorance. The thieflooked up with clear eyes in blissful devotion. Hesaid, "Great man, you have given me the vision ofmy inner infinity. Now give me a practice of sadhanaso I can conftrm this consciousness and teach itsfreedom to ot'hers." The holy man gave Balmikhi akriya. Balmikhi sat for three days without moving andwent deep into the meditation. The same disciplineand alertness he used to become a master thief andhead-cutter was now applied with force and sincerityto his nerv goal. The.same energy that made him athief now made him a saint. In later years, he taughtthousands the liberated life and has been rememberedeven to this day.

Compassion is the highest virhre. It can remakeeven the lowest part of the creation into the highest ofGod's creafures. In acts of compassion a kind ofvacuum is created, for the law of action and reactionhas been transcended. Nature does not love avacuum and neither does God. So he rushes to theservice of that saint who has the compassion toserve. God must assist that consciousness which isthe expression of the highest exalted form of GodHimself.

During the years when Guru Nanak lived ahouseholder's life, he was in charge of a storehousewhich issued grain to the Nawab's senrants inSultanpur. For three years he gave grain to all whoasked for it, according to their need.

A rymor came to the Nawab that Nanak wasrecklessly grving away grain and that the royalstores were now empty. The Nawab ordered aninvestigation. Very carefully the records werechecked and the grain was weighed. Not only wasthe storehouse full of grain, but there was evenmore than was to be expected. It is said that as

INanak counted out the measures of grain he would Ireach the number thirteen and endlessly repeat its Iname, "taira," which also means "yours." He iwould say, "Yours, O God, I am yours." as he gave Iaway all the grain. In a trance-like ecstasy, he aF Iways distributed more than was stored.

Guru Nanak's senrice to the people in com-passionately filling their needs created a "vacuum,"

an empty storehouse which was then filled by theOne who gives everything.

In prabhupati every moment of the day is atealized sadhana. There is no moment you areasleep and unaware of the present and requirementsof the universal consciousness. You cease to dowhat is right for you and do only that which is rightfor all.

The experience of sadhana is a daily initiation.No one in SHO ever initiates anyone into a kriyaor secret mantra. We feel there is no secret betweenman and God, so there should be no secret betweenman and man about God. The way to the infiniteis clear. It is open to all. It is clouded only by ouro*m ignorance, fears and lack of discipline. To takean initiation means to make a confirmed beginning.Every morning in sadhana, you bow before theinfinite. Your higher self initiates your lower selfand that is the secret of all secrets. The whole worldassists you in this daily initiation. As you beginsadhana there is nothing around you except dark-ness. Worldly activity is at a minimum. As you sit andmeditate on the infinite Creator, the day slowlydawns. Every cell of your being learns that exaltingthe Name leads from darkness to light. The entire sub,onscious is al€rt to the primd enperience of dawn andsens€s a rebirth. The mind projects sensitivity andtrust of the higher self's demands and is led past itsignorance and error to enlightened vision. To realizethis is true initiation.

The man who practices a perfect sadhanabegins to glow. He gains the ability to guide andinspire others. Just being in his presence helps clearyour mind of useless conflicts. He has opened theguiding potential of his supermind in his aura.

MENTAL STRUCTURE

Each person has an individual mind. Its expe-rience and understanding is limited by the structuresthat have formed it orlture, upbringing, sarnskaras,physical capacity of the body, etc-In order to growand be able to integrate its experience, the individualmind must experience the universal mind. Everyexperience the individual mind has of the universalmind contributes to the growth of a guiding con-sciousness or supermind. Every sadhana thatcontacts the infinite builds the supermind. yourauric radiance increases and others who come withinyour presence begin to experience that supermindand guidance as well.

There are two main ways to connect the indivi-1 7

rouldat its' H e

gavee al-

apermind. The first method is protyahar. In this

sthod you inject the universal mind into the indi'

clduat mind by a contraction process. You watch

mind to the universal mind and build the Most of the problems of contemporary societydo not stem from sex, guilt, power' etc. The basicproblem is a loss of the sense of meaning and valuein the individual self. The cultural beliefs and religioussymbols that were once very vital to us and acted asa supermind have been divested of their potency. Toreestablish our values so that we can focus on goals

that fulfill our potentials, we must reconnect withour own inner creative nature. The practice ofsadhana to stimulate the superconscious is the keyto this.

The practical effect of the supermind is tochange the perception of all ordinary things in theindividual's life. It invests everything with the self.It prepares the ground for self-realization. Thesupermind sees a tree as atree, but also as a symbolof life and patient growth. All parts of life become alesson and a grride to the individual mind. Theworld becomes the mirror of self, as your self be'comes the image of God. Problems in all parts oflife become smaller and the inherent integrative andcreative powers of our psyche are freed to operateand produce harmony.

GROUP SADHANAAND THE EXPANDED SELF

Sadhana is a discipline that moves us towardcosmic consciousness and self realization. To reachthat high state of prabhupati, we must master theintermediate state of group consciousness. A prac-tice and testing ground for this is the ashramcommunity.

A 3HO Kundalini Yoga Ashram and Sikh DharmaTraining Center has two basic forces in operation:the techniques of Kundalini yoga and the lifestyleof the Sikh Dharma. The yoga techniques stimulatethe basic evolutionary force in the psyche. Fromthis the urge to grow increases. Each person feelsthe expansion of his own energy or shokfi. As hisenergy increases he can see its effects in the abilityto influence people, channelize the will, and besensitive to subtle energies. It is possible that theexperience of expansion can lead to a great spiritualego which is less curable than cancer! The Sikhhumility and respect for the one Creator blocksthat. The House of Guru Ram Das puts the idealsof self-sacrifice, service, and humility into dailypractice.

It is important for a practitioner of a powerfuldiscipline not to become too self-involved. If all theenergy developed and released in sadhana werefocused through our own ego structure, we couldbecome imbalarrced and narcissistic. The scale ofego development of a yogi has five steps. Thelowest is that of egomania. Here everything is value'less unless it corresponds to the individual desire.There is no sympathy or understanding for anotherperson. The second step is that of egotism. A person

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each thought pattern that enters the mind. You

droose between them on the basis of whether itbftes you to the infinite or not. You substitute apsitive thought for each negative one so you be-

come neutral or at least positive. If you have desiresin the individual mind that require action, use thewill to act only on those that are universal. Once this

droice becomes automatic you are practicingpratyahar. Everything will lead you to connect anddraw energy from the universal mind to the indi'vidual mind.

The second method is Loyo. The word itselfmeans devotion, absorption and levitation. Theprocess suspends the self directly in a sense of theinfinite rather than by finding the infinite starting

with finite things. In Laya yoga techniques, yourecognize nothing in yourself except the infinite.

These techniques always involve the use of mantrawith a special breathing rhythm. The breathingallows the mind to release particular emotional andintuitive energies that power the consciousness toexpand. In this technique you go from the individualmind to the universal mind.

PRATYAHAR

LAYA

lM - lndiuiduallvlindSSM - Super NlindUM - UniuerslMind

1 8

in this stage is not as relentless in his ego. He appearsarrogant rather than maniacal. He is aware of otheregos as well as his own but chooses himself. Thethird step is that of ego-centeredness. Here the p€rsonis consciously developing his capacities. He mayinclude others in his existence but his main experi-ences are in the realm of emotion and action. Hisperspective will be limited. The fourth step is self-centeredness. This stage is often mistaken for thelast step. The person transcends the rigid barrier ofego and identifies in experience with a larger senseof self. He begins to realize that his capacity is beyondthat normally available to the ego. This is often apleasant vision of the self, full of discovery andexcitement. The last step is the stage of selflessness.Every identity of the self is still limited as before.There exists a broader but finite ego. But in thisfinal step there is a merger with the practical sens€of infinity. This is experienced in terms of service.The selfless person becomes an observer, even ofhis own actions. He has neutrality and equanimity.If he wants to rid himself of depression, he helpscure others of the malady. The stage of selflessnessgives the ability to forgive the past and live inharmony with the cosmos. This final stage ofgrowth is seldom reached individually. It requiresthe test and support of a group.

By living in a group that shares the same teach-ings, lifestyle, and consciousness, it is very difficultto do some spurious action that denies your newconsciousness. Everyone, or at least someone, willnotice and give you the proper feedback andencouragement to help you keep to your dharma.Remember, as much as we like to change instantly,the subconscious mind and old patterns form atleast 60% of our actidns. A strong group helps youto train that deep part of the mind. In an ashramcommunity, you become used to making decisionsthat benefit the entire group instead of just your-self. This lays the foundation for becoming anenlightened leader.

Doing sadhana in a group develops a higherinterpersonal sensitivity in the community. At thebeginning of sadhana everyone has a differentvibration. Some have traceis of dreams, others arealready filled with concerns for the day, and stillothers come with different expectations aboutsadhana. The more people there are the more theseindividual differences balance and cancel eachother out. The happiness of one person balancesthe sadness of another. Then the entire group findsits energy directed by the activity of the sadhanaitself. The individual auras merge and form a groupaura. If the group is well tuned into the infinite, arainbow'aura forms that reflects all colors. A bluishcolor of sincerity and devotion predominates. Onehour of sharing this type of energy can erase theeffects of a week of arguments and discord. Thestrength of a community is directly proportionalto the strength of their group sadhana. This auric

transformation aids the practioner in making thestep beyond ego centeredness.

By the end of morning sadhana, when every-one's energy has intermingled and merged, it iseasy to communicate and be on the "same wave-length." You see this effect throughout the day.There will be fewer misunderstandings in the areaof communications.

An ashram is the center of the community.It is where everyone gathers in the early morninghours. Literally, it means "house of the teacher."Its residents are servants and teachers of thathigher consciousness. If the ashram is to serve itsfunction in actively relating and adding to thecommunity, a strong group sadhana is essential.If everyone did an individual sadhana, the power ofunity would be lost and the individuals would onlymove toward ego- or self-centered activity.

If you are not in an ashram community, seeif there is a local ashram where you can practiceor get a few friends or members of your family topractice with you.

THE PRACTICAL STRUCTUREOF SADHANA

Knowing the mental and spiritual process ofsadhana is not enough. The essence of a goodsadhana is constant practice. Nothing, absolutelynothing, replaces the value and effects of practice.Without it, all studies, writings, and hopes becomeempty and meaningless.

There are many kinds of sadhanas, but there isa practical structure in a sadhana to give the optimalresults. There are special sadhanas for peoplewho have special psychological and physical prob-lems. We will only describe some ideal structuresfor a complete sadhana that apply to physically andmentally normal yogic enthusiasts. The models canappy to an individual sadhana, but they are writtenfor a group sadhana.

lt

1 9

There are five main steps to building a complete

sadhana.

PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENTS

It is difficult to imagine someone who would

choose to do a sadhana next to a busy street' lt is

possible, but choosing that environment is certainly

not an aid to normal meditation. In a meditative

sadhana you become supersensitive and the environ-

ment thai surrounds you has a huge effect on the

ease of going into meditation. Colors, sounds and

even the past usage of the room all register in your

consciousness and affect its energy' There are

rooms beautifully designed and used only for medi-

tation; just walking in one is inspired to meditate,

as being in the forest of the High Sierras auto-

matically draws us into a rneditative state.The first step is to choose a place that is used

mainly or entirely for sadhana. lt should always be

kept perfectly clean and neat. Arrange pictures and

other obiects that represent higher consciousnessa-sthetically around ihe room. If you are blessed

with Siri Guru Granth Sohib- in your ashram or

home, a separate room should be provided' If this is

not possible, then a curtain enclosing the Guru

Groith Sdhib, or some other appropriate form of

separation from the rest of the room is necessary'

The meditation room should smell fresh. Air should

be allowed to circulate and the temperature should

be moderate. Too much cold may harm the body in

deep meditations. Too much heat will induce sleep

andpoor circulation. The spot you sit on should be

coveied with an animal skin or a wool blanket since

they are non-static and insulate your psycho-electro-

mainetic field from the electromagnetic field of the

"utttt. tf a skin or proper fabric is unavailable, the

next best substance to sit on is wood. As you become

calm through meditation, you become more sensitive

to the wavls of energy within and without' Before

meditation you may have required a high level of

constant change and stimulation to be alert' Now

stimulation from the inner self is enough' Sharp

noises and constant interruptions should be mini-

mized during meditation and sadhana' In some

stages of meditation a closing door may sound like

an explosion. For a graceful meditation choose a

graceful environment.

PHYSICAL SELF

Create some kind of purification ritual that you

never fail to perform. Wake yourself gently in the

morning and do the standard wake-up exercises' *

Remember to drink a few glasses of water' Take

either a cold shower or a cold-warm-cold shower

while chanting songs of divine praise. Let the clear

'Wake-up exercises at end of article.

flow of the water clean your aura of nighttime

thoughts. Stimulate your circulation to flush the

residues of nocturnal cleansing out of your body'

You cannot meditate fully if your circulation is still

in patterns suited for sleep or drowsiness' Massage

the whole body, especially the feet, hands, face and

ears while in the shower. If you are extra kind to

yourself use some almond oil on the skin' A turban

or house turban should be worn by men after the

bath, and at least a chuni or scarf by women' Put

on clothing which is loose and flexible but which is

neat and clean. White is the best color for sadhana

clothes. Do not wear the same garments to sadhana

as you wore to bed. You must tell your conscious-

ness in every way that you can that sadhana is a

special activity that you prepare for and even dress

specially, for your mind will be more alert and far

more cooperative if it knows an important event is

about to take place. Choose a meditation blanket or

shawl made of wool, silk, or cotton. Use it only for

meditation. Over a period of time the shawl will

absorb the vibrations of sadhana. Then just putting

it on will immediately aid your efforts.

MENTAL ENVIRONMENTS.

If all the physical preparations have been cared

for, make sure that you set your mind for grouD

tonsciousness. If you are leading the sadhana, check

for unexpected visitors and guests- If they do not

know your procedure, make them secure with a

brief explanation. Make sure anything that is said is

very positive. If your thoughts are positive and

creative in the morning you will feel good all day'

Clearly establish who is to start the sadhana'

The more people in the group the better. When you

chant by yourself you are only one voice, but sitting

with others the effect of your sound is multiplied by

adding to the sound of others and by others hearing

and rellecting your voice. If you must do sadhana by

yourself, then while you are chanting imagine a

tt illio.t others all around you. Hear them all chant-

ing with yourself in the middle not moving at all'

Feel that you do not chant physically and yet are

leading the chant and letting the chant lead you' As

you imagine this, continue chanting.

MENTAL SELFThe most important step is to realize the pres-

ence of the teacher. Chant "Ong Namo Guru Deo

Nortno," and feel the inflow of energy and light to

your body and mind- Meditate on your higher teacher

and feel that in all devotion and humility you are

asking for guidance in sadhana' Pray that no matter

how fleble vour effort may be, the maximum bene-

fit will be returned to help you serve humanity in

the will of the Creator. Realize at this point that

no-student is the teacher. During sadhana the only

teacher is the Guru. Awaken yourself consciously

to the fact that you do not know what the results of

your efforts will be and dedicate the results to the

infinite.

2A

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I

II

Many people build a regular sadhana but fallinto the pit of boredom. They become bored becauseof false expectations. They want an experience offlashing light and sparking energy. Although thisdoes occur at times, it is more important to expectcontact with the infinite. Let the infinite determinewhat form the connection will take. Realize thatdoing the same chant or the same exercise you havedone many times before can give you a totally dif-ferent effed today. Today is the beginning of therest of your life. You are not at all the same personwho went to bed a few hours before. Your body'scells have renewed themselves, and in the deepslumber of nocturnal meditation you have forgivenyourself for all the errors made the day before. Youare fresh. Expect satisfaction of giving a sincereeffort. Let your individual mind rest in the neutralityof the infinite mind.

THE ESSENTIAL PRACTICE

After the whole group has tuned in, there aresix important parts to the core of sadhana.

Physical PreparationThis physical body is the temple of God. It allows

us to manifest consciousness and move about onthe material plane. It must be exercised to keepthe circulation balanced and strong, to remove ten-sions and blocks created by emotions, to alter theglandular secretions so they correspond to the stateof consciousness you want to attain, and to cleanthe blood system to prevent disease. With the bestintentions and good thoughts, it is difficult to do asadhana when you are sick. Take care of this physi-cal body each day.

A strong exercise series awakens your will. Youmust press through the minor pains of limberingand nerve strengthening. This inflow of will powerhelps you beam the mind and stay alert during medi-tation and chanting. The exercises you practiceshould be sets as taught by the Siri Singh Sahibor a series strictly following his guidelines. Theyshould leave you with a feeling of greater energyflow, mellowness, alertness, and enthusiasm. Toomuch exercise can tax the body so much that youwill feel drowsy and lack motivation. A very heavyexercise and cleansing sadhana should be donewhen there is plenty of time to relax afterwards.A few examples of such a series is included in thekriya section. A balanced series of exercises thatworks on breathing, nerves, glands and spine isperfect for sadhana.

MantraIn every sadhana you must chant an ashtang

bij mantra, the Adi Shakf Mantra or the Panj Shabad.It is only by chanting with a proper breath rhythmthat you create the Laya effect of suspending your-self into the infinite. We practice the physical prepa-ration to be able to better experience this state.Guru Nanak said:

Whenthehandsandbodyare couered withdirt,

Water un rinse them clean.When the clothes are dirty

and smearedwithsoil,Soap canremove the stain.When the mind is polluted

by enorandshame,It can only be cleansed by

the love of the Name.'

The Nam is the main solvent for mentalThis is very sensible. The breath rhythm givesaccess to the subconscious as well as themind. When you chant these mantras, your mindfixed on the infinite asp€cts of yourself. You dorelate to polarities. You go into a neutralneeded for a successful cleaning of the fearspatterns in tlre zubconscious self. If a negatiw tlxor fear comes to you, let it come but be consciousthe rhythm of Sa-l'a-Na-Ma or Sot Norr.thought does not get the standard resistancereaction it usually gets when coming intoness, so it moves more into the center of yoursciousness to provoke a reaction. The fear orlives on the energy you feed it by eitheror negative attention. By focusing on theyou appear neutral to it even if you become tempor.arily emotional. As no reaction is returned to it,since you are neutral, it becomes neutralized. If youchoose instead to fight the thought, you merelygive it energy by grving it identity. By the mantra,you confirm your identity as the infinite truth anduniversal existence. You mind may object so letyourself ride on the mantra beyond the mind. Ifyou decide to love the thought and become entrancedby it, you still give it identity. So to stop the continualproduction and maintenance of the dualities of con.sciousness, you must become neutral. This is ulti-mately achieved only through mantra, since soundis the basic creative potential of your being."'Jap Ji," Pree Ingrcn, M.S.S. Sardarni Premka Kaur Khalsa.

21

ilns.youiousrd is

While there are many mantras Yogi Bhajan hastaught that can be practiced as a part of your dailyspiritual practices, we have a basic morning sadhanawhich Yogi Bhajan gave in 1992, to be practiced untiltheyear 2013. It consists of seven parts and is de-scribed on pages 109-110 titled Part I. Morning Sad-hana for the Aquarian Age. Models of sadhana forother times of the day are described in Parf II. OtherI/lodels of Sadhans on pages 25-26.

MeditationDoing mantra is a meditation. Any activity done

in the right state of mind is a type of meditation,but here the reference is to silent meditation. It isthat point in sadhana where you plunge into thetotaldepths of the self with no outward stimulationto maintain you. This is where you test how wellyour inner being has awakened to support you.After every chant, take a few minutes to sit com-pletely still without any movement and try to listento the cosmic echo of the sounds you just produced.They are all around you, vibrating in the ether. Ifyou can catch the subtle sound it will carry youwithout effort beyond the body consciousness intothe sublime realms of self and bliss. It is for thisthat Guru Nanak said:

By the hearing of God's NomeEuen theblindfind their waY-By the hearing oJ God's Nome

One grasPs the inJinite.O Nonok' the Deuotee is

Euer in bliss.'By hearing the Lord's Nome,

His painond sin are destroYed.'

After every exercise you should rest a minuteand meditate to integrate the changes, experiencesand sensitivity the exercise created. By practicingmeditation after a kriya, you will be able to regainthe state of consciousness produced by that kriyaany time during the rest of the day by a few secondsof meditation.

DeeP RelaxationAfter exercises, chanting and meditation, you

should deeply relax. The ability to relax is a divinequality. You are more centered within yourself andyou become more sensitive to the energy patternsof your life. The effects of the kriyas and chantingare cumulative. They build for a long time afteryou have done them. Allow time for the energiesyou have released in the body and mind to circulateand come to equilibrium without involving your egoas a "director of the show." The energy knowswhere it should go; it is automatic. During relaxationyou should cover your body with the meditationblanket or shawl so that you do not get cold. Theamount of time you spend in deep relaxation de-pends on what you have done. Normally you should

" "JapJi Sahib," Peace Lagoon, M.S.S. Sardaml Premka Kaur Khalsa.

rest between l0 and 20 minutes. The state of con-sciousness you experience in this deep relaxationwill not be just sleep. The glandular balance in theblood is altered, as is the functioning of the brain.You may have out-of-the-body experiences, youmay have vivid dreams, you may remember nothingat all after closing your eyes. You will noi, however,go into a regular shallow sleep unless you continuerelaxing for an extended time. The best positionfor deep relaxation is corpse pose: lie on your backwith your arms at the sides, palms up, ankles un'crossed and eyes closed.

KirtanAfter you journey through inner space, you must al-

ways reconnect with the world and daily duties. Sitwith everyone and have a joyous song fest, singingthe praises of the Infinite and the joys of life. Kirtan isan active singing rather than a deep meditation. It isthe harmony of voices and instruments. It is realizingyou are in a group of people who have purified them-selves and are ready to actively live the day in truthand righteousness. Kirtan lets you reenter wordly con-sciousness but with a difference. You tend to remem-ber the tunes throughout the day and with everybreath, utter the Nam.

PrayerPrayer is a potent capacity in man. Prayer is when

the finite consciousness addresses the infinite self.Open your heart and be thankful for all the people whocreated and carried this consciouness through time soyou could enjoy it now. You can ask for anything youwant in prayer, for the Giver is infinite, and He givesall. If one's heart can open in compassionate prayer forhumility, every heartbeat can bring a miracle.

In the Sikh tradition, we always offer the*Ardaswhich reminds us of our historical predecessors andour present duty to uphold consciousness and right-eousness. A very universal way to offer a prayer isto dedicate part of your life force to what you pray

for. Yogi Bhajan often gives an example of a prayer

such as the following, which uses the breath:

lnhsle and hold your breath,

For the peace of the world,

For the heqlth of all, to make euerybody happy,

So fhose who sre lonelg may haue their partner,

And God may find mercY on euerYbodY,

on each indiuidual

Say this prsyer on this breath

And please exhale.This is the charity of the breath.

"- A copy of the English translation of this prayer may be found in

tn" "Rriu.," in PsvJe ot' the Soul by Dr' Sant Singh Khalsa (1993)'

nottionandughtrs ofThe, o r)us-:on-rghttivenite,or-it,

/ouely:ra,rndletIf

:eduaI)n-Iti-nd

w*dfr

IA

22

lnlnleagain.PrayJor all dear ones,

related ones, known, unknown,on the whole planet, tor thosewho are sick, those who are unluPPY,unhulthy or need spirit.

Send this thoughtby doingaprayeron this brenth,letit go.

Inlnle deep againto end oll causesand eflects which aff ect any manandmakehimunhappy,f or onything that brings waranddestruction,J or anything which brings lutredand jealousy,

&y a proyer on this breathandletitgo.'

The universality of prayer for self-guidance andhumility is shown in this prayer given by the SiriSingh Sahib at the end of a class:

Oh Formless in euery torm,Oh Infinite of euery finite,Oh U nkno w n, know n thr ough

the entire creation,Oh, Beyond, still bound by loue,It was Thy grace that you spoke

andYouheard,You made it possible that all people,Thy oeatures, could some

and could shore Thy grace.Giue us power to walk

onthe poth of righteousness;Giue us humility to serue

andtind loue of our brother;Giue us tranquility and pe to tlnd

the htgha rulms of anrdousness.lvlay Thy graceleadus

tothelightot infinity;May our trip to the worldfu wccwtul,To spread Thy seruice so the

J ellow mankind can share:Ivlay thisdaybringusa

p acef ul o nwar d j our ney.lvlay Thy grace preuail,AndmayYoultftus

to the leuitated consciousness.Oh God of Gods, oh Lord of Lords,

rf you haue been so kind and mucitulto bring us together with Thee,oh Intinite, oh Unknown, oh kyondstillboundby looe.

Giue us the power of luppiness,joy and blirss, so we canliueinthe ecstosy o;f consciousness.

Sof Nom.'

' UCIA Advanced Class; Guru Ram Das Aahram,Ios Angeles 3/26174.

SADHANA AS A METATHERAPY

Sadhana is a soothing balm for the tensiqns ofmodern civilization. The pressures and rapid tech-nological development of this century have radicallychanged the way people live. Our lifestyle in themegalopolis induces a split from nature's rhythmsand consequently from the natural attunement toour inner life. This leaves a split that runs betweenthe two sides of our Western brain. It is a popularnotion to recognize that our brain has two sideswhich have differentiated functions. The same dif-ference has been recorded by the yogls. The twosides deal with action, emotion, and perception inopposite ways. The chart below outlines the dif-ferent functions attributed to the two sides bypsychologists.

Quali t ies Attr ibutedTo the Hemispheres of the Brain

LEFT HEMISPHERE RIGHT HEMISPHERELogicalorAnalytical SyntheticPerceptual

( ln tu i t ional )Discrete DiffuseVerbalProposit ionalNumericalSuccessive

Non-verbalApposit ionalGeometricalSimultaneous

The West has pressed the left brain to the limit.We have filled our lives with action-oriented, goal-oriented, linear, logical, verbal thinking. The rightbrain that rules intuition and is the doorway to thedeeper self has not been valued. But the right brainactivities are equally as important as the left, andwe have an innate drive to use all parts of ourselves.The frustrated right brain leads us to great gnrllibilityin emotional and spiritual endeavors as we thirst forexperience and leap at every opportunity. Since ourleft brain predominates we are usually interested inquick attainment, flashy experience, complexphilosophy, secret cults, or rituals that give securigrthrough judgmental attitudes. Sadhana is a way ofhealing the left/right split and imbalance of ourconsciousness. It becomes a kind of therapy. Sinceit heals by stimulating the integrative mechanismswithout the individual having to go into the origin ofspecific conflicts, it functions as a metctherapy.

In sadhana, the exercises and concentration areleft hemisphere functions. The meditation and devo-tional chanting are right-brained. Pratyatnr is a left-brain process but Loyo is a right-brain activity. Theexercises stimulate what the yogis call the centralbrain, ruled by the pituitary and pineal glands. Doneevery day, these exercises ar€ not aimed at flashyexperienees but gradually awaken the roote of theself.

23

Another element in the sadhana process iscommitment. The Siri Singh Sahib once said that

90% of today's insanity comes from a lack of com'

mitment and the capacity to commit. Commitmentssetthe values of the self. The values of the self allowyou to subject the power of the self to create- Crea'

tivity allows detachment. Detachment allows

iudgment. Judgment plus forgiveness give progress

in the process of expansion of the self.Sidhana acts as a counselor to the two sides of

the self. lt encourages a central self to become

bitinsual and translate the languages of the two sides'

It cr-eates a meditative mind which can absorb all

the stimuli in the environment, compute it, and then

act wisely instead of just reacting. The inner observer

can understand logic as well as intuition, activity as

well as rest, science as well as art. We must develop

the bilingual self fully prepared with a clean setrse of

values and a deep capacity for commitment. This

capacity comes through sadhana.

WAKE.UP EXERCISES

Before you wake in the morning your mind

always gives you a signal to awake. At that signal,

turn on your back with your eyes closed. Make your

hands like cups and place them over your eyes.

Look into the palms and slowly raise your hands to

lYz feet. Then stretch the legs forward, the arms

over your head, and stretch like a cat. Arch the

spine and flex all of your muscles both left and right.

Then bring the feet together and raise them six

inches from the ground, keeping the legs straight'

Raise your head six inches and fix your eyes on your

toes. Point your fingertips toward the toes with the

arms beside the hips but not touching them. Hold

this position for I to 3 minutes with long deep

breaths or breath of fire. Relax for 2 to 3 minutes.

Then bring the knees up to the chest and hold them

to eliminate gas. Rock back and forth to massage

the spine. Then sit up and come into easy pose with

the arms straight and the hands in gyan mudra on

the knees. Take at least 26 long, deep, complete

breaths. Feel that energy is charging the blood-

stream and the breath irs recharging every cell in

your body. Then, to build your aura' put your arms

at sixty-degree angles from the horizontal with the

fingertips on the pads of the hands. Do rapid nostril

breathing (breath of fire) for I to 3 minutes. Inhale

and bring your thumb tips together over your head.

Then exhale and teel great!

MODELS OFSADHANAThe Models of Sadhana section is in two parts:

Part l.Morning Sadhana for the Aquarian Age

This is the morning sadhana given by YogiBhajan in 1992 to be practiced until the year

2Ol3.It is described in detail on pages 109-I 10 .

A number of beautiful examples of thissadhana are available as audio tapes andCD's. For ordering information, you maycontact your local 3HO or Kundalini YogaCenter or any of the following:

Golden Temple Enterprisestel 505-753-0563; fax 505-753-5603

Ancient Healing WaYs Catalogtel 800-359-2940 in US ortel 5O5-7 47 -2860 outside the US;fax5O5-747-2868

Satnam VersandFrankfurt, Germanytel O69/43 44 19; faxO69/43 85 71

Part ll.Other Models of Sadhana

These are to be practiced at other times of the

day, and are presented on pages 25-26.

24

PART II. OTHER MODELS OF SADHANA

For the yeats 1992 through 2013, Yogi Bhajan has designated a specific early morning sadhana.The following sadhanas can be practiced at any other time ol day, while the Sadhana for lhe Aquari-an Age is the early moming sadhana.

Model I is a good model of a 2-t/2 hour sadhana for the serious practitioner. It includes all aspectsof a good sadhana.

MODEL IA) Wake-rrp routine and preparation.B) Optional reading of the Banis or chanting of

an appropriate mantra to Guru Ram Das.C) Entire group chants Ong Nanno Guru Deo

No;no three to five times.D) Exercise 30 to 45 minutes.

1) Begin with 5 to lO minutes of limberingexercises to thoroughly wake up and stimu-late circulation. Emphasize stretchingthe life nerves and the spine. Exercisessuch as frog pose, cat-cow, spinal flexes,leg stretches or running in place are afew good examples.

2) Pranayam for l0 minutes. The teachershould guide this carefully.

3) A physical exercise kriya for 25 to 30minutes.

4l Deep relaxation for 5 to l0 minutes.5) Come out of the relaxation by rotating the

wrists and ankles; then rapidly rub thepalms of the hands and the soles of the feettogether. Cat stretch four or five times, leftand right. Pull the knees to the chest androck back and forth to massage the lengthof the spine.

E) Chant any of the following for approximatelyone hour:1) The 2-ttzbreath cycle Ek Ong Ko,r

Sa't No;m Sifi Whahe Guru.Minimum time for this is 37-ttz minutes.

2l The Panj Shabad Sa.To,-Na-Ma for 31minutes. Follow this with a total of 31minutes of chanting the 2Yz breath cycleEk Ong Kar, and the Sarab ShaktiMantra: C:tobinday, Ilf:ukolnday. . . etc.

3) The Laya yoga form of Ek Ong KarSdr Nanr Siri Wha Guru for 31 min-utes, followed by 10 minutes of the long$atNarn.

F) Immediately after chanting sit silently. Medi-tate on the sounds which have been projectedfor 5 to 10 minutes.

G) Deep relaxation for 10 minutes. Come out ofrelaxation as in "D5" above.

FI) Special or guided meditation for 5-31 minutes.

D Chant Guru Guru Wahe Guru, Gutu RalmDac Guru long enough to contact the divine.energy.

J) Grace of God meditation for L0 minutes.(this may be done at another time.)

K) Kirtan as time permits.L) Ardas and hukam.

MODEL I I

Same as Model I.Same as Model l, 2 through 5 only. Beginwith a powerful cleansing pranayam for15 to 20 minutes.Same as Model I.Vigorous exercise for l0 minutes, followedby a 15 minute meditation.Same as Model I.

MODEL I I I .

A-C) Same as Model I.D) Begin with 15 to 30 minutes of exercise as

in Model I; then do a kriya that optimallyis 31 minutes in length. This kriya shouldbe practiced only 7 to 1l minutes at first.Repeat it each day and gradually increasethe time towards mastery. Follow the kriyawith 10 minutes of silent meditation. At thistime you may choose another kriya to berepeated each day, gradually increasing thetime to mastery, or you may choose to practicea different one each day to become familiarwith other kriyas. This kriya shoulci be donefor only about 15 minutes. Again, meditatefor 5 to l0 minutes. End this section of sad-hana with 10 to 15 minutes of moderateexercise in which all the limbs have a chanceto move. Prepare to sit for chanting.

E-G) Same as Model I.H) This has already been included in "D"

of this model.I-L) Same as Model I.

A-C)D)

E-G)H)

r-L)

25

A-C)D)

MODEL IV.This is a model for those times when you

practice a 2Vz |rrour sadhana of chanting the

Nam. This should be done at least twice ayear by every student-teacher. TheZ% breathcycle of Ek Ong Kor should be done one

of these times. lf possible, the other time

should be reading from the Siri Guru .GranthSohib; otherwise, chant the Ek Ong Kolt

mantra again.Same as Model l.Exercises for 20 to 30 minutes that are power'

ful but do not require a long relaxation, andprepare you to sit.Chant for 2Yz hours in beautiful sonorous tones.

Meditate silently on the sound for 5 minutes.Relax for 15 minutes.Excluded.Same as Model I.VARIATION: Sometimes it is impossible to

do the ZVzhours of chanting all in the morning.It is permissible to split it into two parts; in

this case it is best to chant 1% hours in the

morning and the evening.

MODEL VIThis is an example of how you might startbuilding a morning practice if you have had

little experience and you want to increaseyour time commitment slowlY.

A.C) Same as Model I.D) Choose three short exercise sets (20 minutes

each). Alternate these sets in a three'daypattern so that no muscles become too sore

and each part of your system gets a thorough

workout.

E) Rest for 5-10 minutes.F) Chant the Adi Shakti Mantra for 3O minutes

or select a meditation that fits your needs'This takes about one hour a day and willgive you energy and balance. Change the

kriyas you practice every few weeks' In-

crease the time, moving toward Model I'

When you become accustomed to the yoga'

try doing the same set and meditation for

forty days.

E)F)G)H)

I.L)

MODEL V

There are times when you need to practice

deep silent meditation on the Nam. The prime

hour for this is between 2:30 and 3:30 a'm',

the calmest time of the day. The inner sound

current is loudest at this time. A simple alter-iiio" of the schedule to accommodate this

follows.A.C) Same as Model I.

D) Meditate 45 minutes to t hour.E) Exercise kriya 45 minutes to I' hour.F) Chant t hour.G) Deep relaxation.H) Kirtan.I) Reading of the Ardas, and receiving a Hukam'

26

KRIYASs A T K R I Y A . . . . . . 4 4BASIC SPINAL ENERGY SERIES. . . . . . . . 45FLEXIB IL ITY AND THE SPINE. . . . . . . . . . 47L IFE NERVE ST IMULATION. . . . . . . . 51KRIYA FOR LOWER SPINE

A N D E L I M | N A T | O N . . . . . . . . . s 2BEGINNERS CLEANSING SET. . . . 53EL|M|NAT|ON (APANA) EXERC|SES.. . . . 55ABDOMINAL STRENGTHENING. . . . . . . . . 57STRENGTHENING THE AURA . . . . . 59STRENGTH TO SACRtF tcE . . . . . . . . 60KRIYA FOR NERVE, NAVEL.

A N D L O W E R S T R E N d r x . . . . . . . . . 6 1STRENGTHENING

T H E I N N E R L I G H T . . . . . . . . . 6 3KRIYA FOR TOLERANCE.DISEASE RESISTANCE

A N D H E A R T H E L P E R . . . . . . 6 5CIRCULATORY SYSTEMS

AND MAGNETIC FIELD. .. , . .65MAGNETIC FIELD

A N D H E A R T C E N T E R . . . . . . 6 7VARUYAS KRtyA. . . . . .67SEX ENERGY TRANSFORMATION. . . . . . . . . . . . 69BREATH MEDITATION SERIES

FOR GLANDULAR EALANCE. . . . .72RESERVE ENERGY SET. . . . .73PURIFYING THE SELF . . . . . . 74S U R Y A K R I Y A . . . . . . . . . 7 sKRIYA FOR CONQUERING SLEEP. . . . . . 77SITALI PRANAYAM ... "79EXERCISES TO MAKE

T H E P O R E S B R F A T H E . . . . . . . . . . . 7 9PRANAYAM FOR PURIFICATION. . . . . . . .80EXERCISES FOR

EXPANDTNG LUNG CAPACITY . . . .80BASIC BREATH SERIES. . . . .81PRANAYAM SERIES NO. 1 AND NO.2 . . . . . . . . . 82B E G T N N E R S E X E R C | S E t . . . . . . . . . . 8 3BEGTNNERS EXERCTSE i l . . . . . . . . . E4P R E P A R A - I _ 9 ! Y E X E R C I s E SFOR LUNGS! MAGNETTc rJeto]

4 3 A N D D E E P M E D | T A T i O N . : . . . . . . . . . . . . . E 5

l-

SA T KRIYA

Sit on the heels and stretch the arms over thehead so that the elbows hug the ears (A). Interlockall the fingers except the first ones (index) whichpoint straight up (B). Begin to chant "$ctNarr',

emphatically in a constant rhgrthm about eight timesper 10 seconds. Chant the sound "Sort" from thenavel point and solar plexus, and pull the umbilicusall the way in toward the spine. On '.Narr" relaxthe belly. Continue at least 3 minutes, then inhale andsqueeze the muscles tightly from the buttocks all theway up the back, past the shoulders. Mentally allowthe energy to flow through the top of the skull. Ide-ally, you should relax for twice the length of timethat the kriya was practiced.

COMMENTS:Sat Kriya is fundamental to Kundalini yoga and

should be practiced every day for at least 3 minutes.Its effects are numerous. Sat Kriya strengthensthe entire sexual system and stimulates its naturalflow of energy. This relaxes phobias about sexuality.It allows you to control the insistent sexual impulseby rechannelizing sexual energy to creative and heal-ing activities in the body. People who are severelymaladjusted or who have mental problems benefitfrom this kriya since these disturbances are alwaysconnected with an imbalance in the energies of thelower three chakras. General physical health is im-proved since all the internal organs receive a gentlerhythmic massage from this exercise. The heart getsstronger from the rhythmic up.anddown of bloodpressure you generate from the pumping motion ofthe navel point. This exercise works directly onstimulating and channelizing the kundalini energy,so it must always be practiced with the mantra"SaitNan t."

You may build the time of the kriya to 31 min-utes, but remember to have a long, deep relaxationimmediately afterwards. A good way to build thetime up is to do the kriya for 3 minutes, then rest2 minutes. Repeat this cycle until you have completed15 minutes of Sat Kriya and 10 minutes of rest.Finish the required relaxation by resting an addi-tional 15 - 20 minutes. Do not try to jump to 3lminutes because you feel you are strong, virile orhappen to be a yoga teacher. Respect the inherentpower of the technique. Let the kriya prepare theground of your body properly to plant the seed ofhigher experience. It is not just an exercise, it is akriya that works on all levels of your being-knownand unknown. You might block the more subtleexperiences of higher energies by pushing the phys-ical body too much. You could have a huge rush ofenergy. You may have an experience of higher con-sciousness, but not be able to integrate the a<perienceinto your psyche. So prepare yourself with constancy,patience and moderation. The end result is assured.

If you have not taken drugs or have clearedyour system of all their effects, you may choose topractice this kriya with the palms open, pressingflat against each other (C). This releases more energythan the other method. It is generally not taughtthis way in a public class because someone in theclass may have totally weakened his nerves throughdrug abuse.

Notice that you emphasize pulling the navelpoint in. Don't try to apply mul bhand. Mul bhandhappens automatically if the navel is pulled. Con-sequently, the hips and lumbar spine do not rotateor flex. Your spine stays straight and the only motionyour arms make is a slight up-and-down stretchwith each "Sat Nam " as your chest lifts.

If you have time for nothing else, make thiskriya part of your every day promise to yourself tokeep the body a clean and vital temple of God.

44

1N

BAS'C SP''VA t ENERG Y SER'ES

.l) ,Sit T-easy pose. Grab the ankles with bothif::" ano oeeptyinhale. Flex the spine forward andln ye crtest up (14). O! the exhale, flex the spinep.gtryaras QB). Reep the head leveJ"o it ao." not-flipflop."

Repeat iog times, tfren-in'frafe. Restl minute.

2) Sit on heels. place the hands flat on the thighs.Flex spine forward with the i"il;it$, backward:J!lh th: exhate (2B). Think ..go1,,'fo the inhale,"Norm" on the exhale. Repeat l0g times. Rest 2minutes.

. 3) In easy pose, grasp the shoulders with fingersin front, thumbs in baik. Inhale ""a t ri"t to theleft, exhale and twist to the right. Si.uthirrg is longand deep. C,ontinue 26 times i"a i"frJl fal,ing f;ward. Rest l minute.

,jJ. !:.t 'he fingers in bear grip at the heart center(4A). Move the elbows in a Gaw -otio.r, Ur."ttinglong and -deep with the mouon iiilj;;"o nue 26times and inhale, exhale, pull on the lock. Relax30 seconds.

5) Il eas-y pose, grasp the knees firmly and, keep-ing the elbows straight, b"sin t"-fl;; the upperspine. Inhale fonvard, exhJe back. iepeat l0gtimes, rest I minute.

6) Shrug both shoulders up with the inhale, down

with the exhale. Do this for less than 2 minutes.lnhale and hold 15 seconds with shoulders pressed

up. Relax the shoulders.

7l Roll the neck slowly to the right 5 times, thento the left 5 times. Inhalg pull the neck straight.

8) Lock the fingers in bear grip at the throat level(8A). Inhale - apply mul bhand- Exhale - applymul bhand. Then raise the hands above the top of

the head (88). Inhale - apply mul bhand. Exhale -

apply mul bhand. Repeat the cycle two more times.

9) Sat Kriya: Sit on heels with arms stretchedover the head (9A). Interlock the fingers except for

the two index fingers which point straight up (98).

Say "$al" and pull the navel point in; say "Nanr"

and relax it. Continue at least 3 minutes. Then in-

hale-squeezethe energy from the base of the spineto the top of the skull.

10) Relax completely on your back for 15 minutes.

COMMENTS:

Age is measured by the flexibility of the spine;to stay young, stay flexible. This series works sys-tematically from the base of the spine to the top. All26 vertebrae receive stimulation and all the chakrasreceive a burst of energy. This makes it a good seriesto do before meditaton.

In a beginner's class, each exercise that lists

108 repetitions can be done 26 times. The rest peri-

ods are then extended from I to 2 minutes'Many people report greater mental clarity and

alacrity after regular practice of this kriya' A con-

tributing factor is the increased circulation of the

spinal fluid, wttictt is crucially linked to having a good

memory.A study done by Neil Goodman, Ph.D.' Decem-

ber, 1973, at University of Califomia at Davis, showed

that the spinal flex exercise created large changes

in EEG activity during and after the exercise' The

exercise has a "multi-stage reaction pattern" that

greatly alters the proportions and strengths of alpha'theta and delta waves. Ivlore research is being con-

ducted.

\g\

46

FLEXIBILITYAND THE SPINE

1) Archer Pose: Stand with the right leg bentforward so the knee is over the toes. T:he lefl leg isstraight back with the foot flat on the ground] ata 45 o angle to the front foot. Raise the right armstraight in front, parallel to the ground and make afist-as if grasping a bow. pull the left arm back as ifpulling the bowstring back to the shoulder. Feel atension across the chest. Face forward and fix theeyes above the fist to the horizon. Hold the position3 to 5 minutes, then switch legs and ar-" arrd repeat.

.2) Immediately lie on the back. put the heelstogether and tift both legs two feet from the ground.Hold the position I to 3 minutes with long deepbreathing.

- 3) Locust pose: Lie down on the stomach. Makefists with the hands and put them on the lower abdo_men inside the front hip bones near the groin.Keeping the heels together and the legs straight, liftthem up as high as possible and holJ this positionfor 3 minutes.

4) Bow pose: Still on the stomach, reach backand firrnly grasp the ankles. Arch the back up fromthe ground and balance by pulling the ankles. Holdthe position for 2 to 3 minutes.

5) Stand up straight and spread the legs two feetapart. Touch the right hand to the flooi in front ofthe left foot. The left arm is pointing back. Switchsides and continue this alternate mJtion with longbreaths. On the inhale, rise up completely; on thlexhale touch the toe. Repeat 25 times on each side.

47

6) Stand up with the legs 6 inches apart. Bendfonvard and place the palms flat on the ground andexhale (64). Inhale and rise up stretching back-wards with the arms over the head (68). Continue25times.

7)Stand with the legs 6 inches apart. Bend side-ways stretching the arm over the head. Alternatesmoothly from side to side, inhaling down andexhaling up. Do not let the body bend forward orbackward. Continue 25 times on each side.

8) Sit doum and extend the legs out in fronf spread-ing them wide. Grab the big toe of each foot bylocking the forefingers around the toe and the thumbpressing the toenail. Keeping a firm grip on bothtoes, inhale and arch the spine up straight. Exhaleand touch the head to the right knee. Inhale to theoriginal position, and exhale down to the left knee.Continue to alternate toe touches 25 times on eachside. Inhale, hold the breath and exhale.

9) In this same sitting position, bring the legstogether while still holding onto the toes. Inhale andarch up, exhale and pull the head down to the knees.Continue this pumping motion 25 times.

10) Plow pose: Lie flat on the back. Slowly raisethe legs over the head until they touch the floor.The arms should be over the head pointing towardsthe toes. Keep the knees straight and point the toestowards the head, stretching the heels back. Relaxin this position for 5 minutes. Slowly lower the legsback down to the ground.

Continued n€xt pago.

48

r 11) Shoulder stand: Come into this position byraising the legs straight up towards the ceiling (llA).Support the spine perpendicular to the ground withthe hands. Let most of the weight be on the elbows.Hold this position for 3 to 5 minutes. Then bringthe legs down in back of the head as in plow pose,but spread the legs wide apart (118). Slowly go fromthis position to shoulder stand 4 times. Lower thelegs and spine and rest on the back.

12) Come into plow pose with the arms along theground in back of the spine (l2A). Alternate fromplow pose to lying flat on the back (128). Continue50 complete times. The hands may be used to liftthe legs up and back. Relax for 3 minutes.

13) Sat Kriya: Sit on the heels with the arms over-head and the palms together. Chant "Sat" and pullthe navel point in, chant "Nam" and release it.Continue powerfully with a steady rhythm for 5minutes. Inhale, apply mul bandh and draw the en-ergy up the spine to the brow point.

14) Immediately bend forward in gurpranam: Placethe forehead on the ground and stretch the armsoverhead, keeping the palms together. Meditate atthe brow point by silently projecting the primalsounds, "Sa Ts Na Ma,." Continue for 31 minutes.

t49

bB)

15) Sit in easy pose. lnhale and raise both arms overthe head bringing the backs of the hands together(15A). Exhale and lower the arms letting just thefingertips touch the floor (15B). Continue this motionfor 5 minutes.

16) Stand up and extend the arms straight forwardparallel to the ground (16A). Begin 25 deep knee'bends into crow pose, keeping the spine straight andthe feet flat (168).

17) Cat-Cow: Rest on the hands and knees. Archthe spine down and raise the head with the inhale(l7A). With the exhale arch up the spine and lowerthe head (178). Continue for 5 minutes.

18) Deeply relax for l5 to 30 minutes on the back.Cover the body with a blanket to keep from gettingcold.

COMMENTS:

This set is an example of a series which wouldnot be given in a normal Kundalini yoga class. It isfor students who have attained a moderate degreeof flexibility and coordination in regular classes andsadhana and who want to eject residual poisons anddrugs from the muscle tissue. If the set is done everymorning for six months, it adjusts the spine so wellthat many future chiropractic bills will be unneces'sary. Before attempting this set under guidance, besure you have no major physical problem that willprevent you from doing any of the exercises.

Unlike most Kundalini yoga kriyas, you donot take a 2-3 minute rest between each exerciseunless it is explicitly stated. The set can be adaptedto a regular class by keeping the time of the exer'cises to 1-2 minutes and by adding rest periodscises to 1-2 minutes and by addingbetween the exercises.

50

LIFE NERVE STIMULATION1) Slt in a comfortairle pose. Massage the Achillestendon with the thumbs of both hands. The area torub is from the heel up the tendon .U""t 4 inches.!f you press correctlv, ihe toes will flex slightlv. RubI*tV and rhythmically. etter ruUUiig orr. foot for2 minutes, rub the other foot to, e moiZ minutes.

2, Come into frog pose: Squat down so the but-toclrs are-on your heels. The heels "r" "ff the grouniand touching each other. put the fingertips on theground between the hnees- Keep the- freaa up. tn-hale, raise the buttocks high, L."ii"s1h" find; onthe ground. Exhale, come down ana iet the buttocksstrike the heels. The exhale should be strong Con-tinue this cycle for 3 to 5 minutes.

3). Sft-ln-an easfi crcsslegg€d pose. Grasp the big be:l^f:Lff, *ijJr yo,r, Gnd". pr"" ttL-ne"rrv-p.rtot me big toe with lGlb lbs. pressure. Use the Ulu_Utip or knuckle of the thumb to apply the pressure.Ifuep the prelrsure strong ana constarit Bdj" to flexthe spine. Inhale - press the spine forward. Exhalea1d -!a the spine flex backwards. Confinue rhyth-S-{v-u!ft deep breaths for 3 minutes. Then i"f,"f",hold briefly, and relax the breath.

4) Repeat Exercise 2 for 3 to S minutes.

5) Strach both legs out straight in front on theground. Bend forward and gru"p the toes with bothhands. Pull back on the toes for 3O seconds. Thenhold onto the toes as you inhale _ arch up, thenexhale - bend fonyard. Do26of these pumps withdeep breaths, then inhale - arch tfr" h*h up. R"lu*the breath.

coI'MENrS.,

. pir kriya invigorates the heart and gives energyto the regenerative and-sexual systeir. Rubbiiinear the heels breaks up long.termirystat (calclurideposlt) build-up. This in turn tretps i.pi""" circula-fion to the legs. Two complete cycles o-f tni" kriya atmaximum fimes is a good workout.

51

KRIYA FOR LOWER SPINEAND ELIMINATION

1) Sit up straight with the legs stretched out. Bringthe left leg under the buttocks so you sit on the leftheel. Place both hands palms down next to the hips.lnhale deeply. As you exhale bend forward. Inhale -raise up. Continue for 2 minutes.

2) Do the same as in Exercise I but keep both legsentended straight forward. Continue for 2 minutes.

3) Lie dourn on the back. Inhale deeply. As youexhale, sit up, grasp the toes, and bend forward.Inhale and lie down again. Mentally vibrate "Sat"on

theinhale, "lllara"on the exhale. Continue with deepbreaths for 2 minutes-

4) Lie on the back. Raise the legs slowly up untilthe feet touch the ground over the head. This isplow pose. Let the legs back down. Sit up and graspthe toes. Continue alternating between plow poseand the forward stretching smoothly and continu-ously for 2 minutes.

5) Lie on the back. Bring the knees onto the chestand press them close with your hands. Extend thelegs straight on the ground. Sit up and grasp thetoes. Continue this cycle rhythmically for 2 minutes.

6) B€nd fonvard and grasp tlre toes with the legs outstraight. Do not let go of the toes as you roll backon your spine until you are in plow pose. Roll backand forth without letting go of the toes. Continuefor 2 minutes.

7l Relax completely.

COMMENIS:

The first, second and third chakras associatedwith the rectum, sex organs and navel point arethoroughly exercis€d in this kriya. It gives flexibilityof the spine and improves the power of digestionand elimination of waste and toxins. It is not goodto practice as a beginning set. You need some flexi-bility to do it well.

BEGINNERS CLEANSING SETf) Lyrng on the back, place the hands in back ofthe neck in venus lock under any loose hair (1A & B).Begrn breath of fire for lYz minutes, inhale andhold for 20 seconds. Repeat breath of ftre, inhale andhold for 30 seconds. Relax the breath. Inhale deeplyraising both of the legs one foot high (lC). Holdfor 15 seconds, exhale, inhale, and relix.

?l In this same position, spread the legs wide open.Begin breath of fire for I minute. Inhale - raisethe legs 3 feet from ttre ground and hold for 5 seconds.Relax the legs on the ground. Repeat B times, doingbreath of fire for I minute each time. Repeat breathof fire I more time, then inhale, raising the legs onefoot. Hold as long as comfortable. This kriya stimu-lates the sex energy channels in the upper thigh.

3) -Stretch pose Lie on the back with legs togetherand raise the heels six inches. Raise thJhead andshoulders six inches and look at your toes. In thisposition begin breath of fire and continue for 3minutes. Inhale and relax.

4) Sit up, with the legs out straight. put the left legon the thigh of the right leg. Keep the hands paraflelto the ground, palms down, on each side of the leftfoot. lnhale, exhale and reach past the toes (4A). In-hale deeply and sit up leaning back S0o (48). Exhalegrabbing the toes. Repeat 25 times and switch legs.

5) Sit up and lean back 600 from the ground. Putthepalms on the ground behind the back as a brace.Drop the neck back and look at the ceiling, fixingthe eyesight on one point. Do not wink or blink.Begin breath of fire for 2 minutes. Inhale - raiseboth feet 12 inches from the ground, keeping thevision steady. Hold for 15 to 20 seconds, exhaledown. Repeat breath of fire for I minute. Inhale -

raise both feet 12 inches. Hold for 15 seconds.Exhale down and relax completely on the back.

6) Lyrns on the back, inhale deeply. Exhale com-pletely. Raise hands to the sky, fingers outstretched(6A). Bring hands together into tight fists and slowlybring them down to the chest, bending elbows (68).Keep tension in the arms as if struggling so thatthe fists shake as they touch the chest (6C). Relaxthe breath. Repeat the exercise with the breath heldin. Deeply and completely relax for 5 minutes.

COMMENIS;

This easy series can beautify and lighten yourbody. Exercise 1 stimulates the navel point energyand blood circulation into the lungs. Exercise 2adds the creative power of the sexual energy. Exer-cise 3 restimulates the navel point. Exercise 4 adjuststhe chemical balance in the blood and helps thelower back and waistline. Exercise 5 moves theenergy into the brain and eyes. lt has helped casesof headaches and eye diseases such as cataract.Exercise 6 removes any residual tension and allowsyou to relax.

bs\

6c)

54

ELf Mf NAT| ON (APANA) EXERCTSES

l) Vatskar Kriya: Sit in easy pose with hands onknees. Make a beak of the mouth and drink as muchair as you can into the stomach using short, continu-ous sips, as if you were swallowing. pull in and hold.Roll the stomach to the left, then reverse the directionto the right when the breath has been held in forhalf its maximum time. Continue rolling the stomachas long as possible with neck lock applied. Whenthe breath can be held in no longer, straighten thespine and exhale slowly (not powerfully) throughthe nose. Repeat the complete exercise 2 times.Always do this on an empty stomach and not morethan twice per day.

2l Sit on the heels and touch the forehead to theground. Keep hands down at sides. Imagine thatthere is a big tail coming off the end of the spineand wag it. Imagine the tail weighs l0O pounds andtry to make it break the wall. Continue for B minutesfollowed by 5 minutes of rest.

3) Lie down on the back. Press the toes forward.Uft both legs three feet up. Start long deep breathing.Continue for 2 to 3 minutes. Inhale - hold brieflyand relax.

4) Llnng down on the back, bring the legs over-head and catch the toes. Roll back and forth fromthe base of the spine to the neck. Hold onto thetoes and keep rocking for3 minutes.

5) Sit up immediately in easy pose. As calmly aspossible, make a "(r" of the right hand and closethe right nostril with the thumb of the right hand.Use the little finger to close the left nostril. Inhale

through the left nostril, exhale through the right.Continue for 3 minutes, then inhale and feel theenergy radiate throughout the body, glving healthand life.

6)Sit in easy pose. Interlace fingers and thumbs infront of the chest at the heart level with the palmsfacing the chest. Tum the head left and right. In-hale as the chin goes over the left shoulder, exhaleas it turns right. Continue for 3 minutes.

7l Sit in easy pose, arms out parallel to the ground.Swing arms backward in a rolling motion as if swim-ming (7A). Continue for I minute. Inhale - bendthe elbows to bring the fingertips onto the shoulders(7B). This remagnetizes the electric current. Whilethe breath is held, the energy starts circulating. Ex-hale - let the energy flow to all parts and feel re-freshed.

COMMENTS:This is a good example of a simple but powerful

series that was kept secret by those few yogis wholearned it. This will allow you to completely masteryour digestive system and give a youthful appear-ance to your skin. Aging does not start with years;it begins with nutritional deficiency, intestinal prob-lems, and an inflexible spine that disrupts the flowof spinal fluid.

Exercise I adjusts the acid-base balance in thestomach, but it must be done regularly withoutmissing a single day. Exercise 2 strengthens theheart, Exercise 3 slims the waistline and cleans thegallbladder, Exercise 4 flushes the circulation andbalances the nerves. Exercises 5 and 6 distribute thepranic force and stimulate the thyroid and para-thyroid. Exercise 7 remagnetizes the aura.

56

ABDOMINAL STRENGTH ENING

1) Sit on the heels. Interlock the fingers (venuslocld betrind the neck. Spread the elbows wide apart.Begrn breath of fire for 2 minutes.

2, Lie on the stomach. Reach back and grab theankles. Pull the ankles toward the buttocks keepingthe chest on the ground. Hold for 2 minutes withnormal breathing.

3) Stretch pose Lie on the back. Raise the headand heels six inches off the ground. Point the handstoward the toes. Begin breath of fire for 2 minutes.

4) Lie on the back. Begrn a bicycling motion withthe legs keeping them parallel to the ground. Usedeep breaths. Continue for 2 minutes.

5) Still on the back, keep the legs together withthe toes pointed forward. Inhale and smoothly raiseboth legs to 9Oo. Then exhale as you lower them.Use deep breaths. Continue for 2 minutes.

6) Lie on the stomach. Place the palms on theground under the shoulders (6A). Slowly arch upinto cobra pose (68). Lift the feet up toward thehead (6C). Hold for 2 minutes.

7l Lie on the back. Bring both knees up to thechest and hold them there with the hands. Roll for-ward and back on the spine. Continue for 2 minutes.

57

r4)

8) Lie on the stomach. Extend the arms forwardwith the palms flat together. Arch the back so thearms, chest and legs lift off the ground. Hold thisextended locust with breath of fire for 2 minutes.

9) Still on the stomach, reach back and graspthe ankles. Arch up into bow pose. Do breath offire for 2 minutes, then relax.

f0) Stand up straight. Keep the legs together.Extend the arms to the sides, parallel to the groundwith palms facing down. Without twisting the torso,bend to the left with a deep inhale, then bend to theright with the exhale. Continue this pendulum'likemotion for 2 minutes-

11) Still standing, spread the legs 1% to 2 feet apart.Then swing one arm out to the side, parallel to theground as the other arm bends in with the palm onthe chest. Then switch arms. Inhale as the left armswings out, exhale as the right arm swings out.Continue for 2 minutes.

l'2l Still standing, raise both arms straight up withpalms facing up (12A). Exhale as you bend forwardand try to put the palms on the ground (128). lnhaleas you raise up. Continue for 2 minutes.

13) Lie on the back. Repeat the fourth exercise,the parallel bicycle, for 2 minutes.

f4) On the back, inhale while raising the left leg to90o. Exhale as you lower it. Repeat with the rightleg. For 2 minutes, continue this alternate leg liftingwith deep breaths.

15) Sit on the heels with the arms stretched up andthe palms together. Begin Sat Kriya. Pull in the na-wl point and say, '&1" relax the navel point and say"Nclnrn. " Continue rhythmically for 2 minutes. Theninhale deeply, hold, apply mul bhand. Relax.

16) Sit straight with both legs extended. Lift thelegs up 60" from the ground. Extend the arms paral-lel to the ground with palms down. Begin breath offire. Continue for 2 minutes. Then totally relax.

COMMENTS:

This kriya gives you a good physical workout.It strengthens the navel point, abdominal muscles,and lower back. It improves circulation. It strength'ens the nervous system so that your behavior canbe constant and direct. lt is an excellent set forstrengthening the digestive system.

58

STRENGTHENING THE AURA

f) Stand up. Bend forward so the palms are on theground and the body forms a triangle. Raise theright leg up with the knee straight. Exhale - bendthe arms and bring the head near the ground. In-hale - raise up to the original triangle pose. Continuethis triangle push-up for lYz minutes. Switch legsand continue for another I % minutes.

2) Sit in easy pose. Extend the left hand forward asif grasping a pole so the palm faces to the right. Putthe right palm facing down crossed under the leftwrist (2A). Raise the right hand up over the back ofthe left hand so both palms face right and the fin-gers lock (28). Inhale-raise the arms to 60" (2C).Exhale-bring the arms down to chest level. Keepthe elbows straight. Breathe deeply for 2 to 3 min-utes. Then inhale-stretch the arms up (2D). Relax.

3) Put both arms forward, parallel to the groundwith palms facing each other about 6 inches apart.As you inhale, let the arms drop back and stretchtoward each other. Exhale - bring them forwardto the original position. Continue 3 minutes withdeep rhythmic breaths.

COMMENTS;

This is a great kriya for keeping disease awayand developing your aura. The time can be builtup to 7Yz minutes for each side in Exercise 1, and15 minutes each for Exercises 2 and 3. That willcreate a tremendous sweat. lt will rid almost anydigestive problem. It gives strength to the arms andit extends the power of protection and projectionin the personality.

STRENGTH TO SACRIFICE

l) Sit in easy pose with the spine straight and the

chest lifted. Put the fingertips togettrer to form a tent-

like shape (1A). Hold the hands palms down at the

levet of the chin (18). Chant \M and me, me

md @d ane otrc-" Kreep the fingers pressed

tightly together as you chant. Continue for 3 to 6

minutes.

2l Lock the middle fingers of both hands together

at chest level. Pull the fingers as hard as you can'

Beconstant. Hold forl% minutes.

3) In easy pose with a straight spine, grasp both

wrists with opposite hands (3A). Place this lock

behind the neck and pull the hands and forearms

down (38). Hold the position with long deep breath-ing for 3 minutes.

4) Now grasp the fingertips of each hand by bend-

ing the leit arm behind the back with palm out, and

benaing the right arm over the right shoulder' Then

inhale, exhale deeply, hold the breath out and pull

the navel lock tightly. For 3 minutes, repeat the

breath and lock cycle.

5) Stretch the legs out straight. Bend forward and

Srab the toes. Hold as still as a rock for 10 seconds'

Then relax.

COMMENIS;

The capacity to transcend the sacrifice of the

body is required of the yogi and the saint' For this

the nerves must be strong and balanced' The cir'

cumvent magnetic force of the aura must be so

strong that no negativity can enter your field' The

ability to teach w-[ requires the capacity to speak

directly only to receptive ears. You need the strength

not to be provoked to answers by foolish discussion'

Your words should be pure- A sense of reality some-

times comes in the transcendence of minor pains'

This kriya helps conquer two great negative gifts

of man: the ability and tendency to escape from

situations, self commitment, and the abliity to

hear only what we want to hear.

1B)

60

I

I

KRIYA FOR NERVE, NAVEL, ANDLOWER SPINE STRENGTH

f ) Sit with the left heel at the rectum and the rightleg extended straight forward. Bend forward andgrasp the toes with both hands. Straighten the spineand look forurard to the toes. Stay perfectly still withnormal breathing. Keep a light mul bhand applied.Continue for 3 minutes. Then inhale deeply andpull back on the toes. Completely exhale, pull backmore and apply a strong mul bhand. Repeat thisdeep breath 2moretimes. Relax.

2) Come into the kundalini lotus pose: Balance onthe sacrum by holding the toes of both feet, spread-ing the legs wide, and raising the legs off the ground60o. Keep the spine straight. Appty a constant mulbhand. Use normal breathing. Hold for 3 minutes.Then inhale deeply, exhale and apply a strong mulbhand. Repeat the deep breath 2moretimes. Relax.

3) Extend both legs straight. Reach forward andhold onto the toes. Pull the spine up straight by pul-ling back on the toes. Pull the chin straight bick.Begin long deep breaths. Continue for 3 minutes.Then apply a strong mul bhand on the exhale of adeep breath. Repeat mul bhand 2moretimes.

4) Form a back platform pose: keep the legs ex-tended straight. Put the palms on the ground behindyou. Lift the stomach and buttocks up until the bodyis straight with only the heels and palms on theground. Bring the chin to the chest. press the toesforward. Hold the position with normal breathing.Continue for 3 minutes. Inhale deeply, exhale andapply mul bhand. Repeat the breath 2 more times.Relax.

5) Lie on the stomach. Put the palms on the groundunder the shoulders. Push up off the ground withthe body straight until you form a front platform.Exhale as you slowly go down to the ground. Inhaleas you slowly rise up. Do not apply mul bhand. Con-tinue with deep, slow breaths 26 times. Relax.

6) Lie on the back. Raise up on the elbows. placethe elbows under the shoulders. Raise the buttocksup so the spine and body are straight. Only the heels

I

61

and elbows are on the ground- Press the toes for-

ward. Hold the pose with long deep breathing' Con-

tinue for 3 minutes. Then exhale completely and

apply mul bhand.

7l Sit on the heels. Slowly lean back until the head

ana po""iUtv the shoulders are on the ground' The

ur.r ut" relaxed on the ground beside the legs'

X""p u light, constant mul bhand applied' Begin

a-""p Ut"ultn". Corrtirr,r" for 3 minutes' Then exhale

;;;pba.lv, and apply a strong-mul-bhand' Inhale'

i"p"ut the-complete exhale and mul bhand 2 more

times. Relax.

8) Come into frog pose: squat down with the toes

on tfr" gr"""a, the heels together off the giround' and

iftl ii"i"t" on the ground between spread knees'

Inhale'- raise the buttocks up as the head goes

down. Exhale - squat down to the original position

Continue with deep breaths 30 times'

9) Lie on the back. Place the arms relaxed along

the sides with the palms up' Inhale - lift one leg up

to gO". Exhale - let it down smootNy to the

gi"""a. S*ia"tt legs with each breath cycle' With

iu.t irrt ut. apply i slight mul bhand' Continue for

3 minutes.

10) Sit in a comfortable meditation posture' Pull

in the navel point and apply mul bhand' Mentally

view the entire body. Then negate each identity that

comes to mind: "I am not a man, not a woman' not

a student' not a teacher, not sitting' etc'" You are

not the body, mind, or spirit but the consciousness

that gives rise to and integrates them all' Continue

at least 3 minutes.

COMMENTS:This kriya is not recommended for early begin'

ners. It is i good physical workout that requires

n""iUifitv and enduiance' The lower nenre plexi are

;;;;;t"-d and the vital energv is raised above the

hiaphragm. This set is of great value- for any con'

sistent difficulty with digestion or elimination' lf

you get very nervous and shaky under tense situ'

utiorr", this set is excellent' It is an excellent pre-

;;;;lorv kriya for meditations that release vou from

ialse identifications to the body or mind'

62

STRENGTHENING THEINNER L IGHT

f) Sit in easy pose with a straight spine. place theh-ands in gyan mudra with straight arms resting onthe knees. Close the eyelids and focrrs deeply. Inhaleand exhale deeply. This cycle will take about g sec-onds. Take a total of 12 breaths. On the thirteenthbreath cycle, exhale completely and hold the breathout. Pump the stomach in and out at a moderate pace.(You may add a mentally repeated ,,fut' as you pullthe belly in, and "Nollln" as you relax it and pushit out.) When you can no longer hold the breathout, repeat the exercise. Continue for B minutes.

? Stretch the legs forward. Keep the spine erect.Bend the right leg so the right foot rests on top ofthe left thigh at the hipgroin level. Bend forwardat the waist and grasp the toes of the left foot withboth hands. Keep the spine as straight as you canand look toward the toes. Breathe long anddeeply.As you breathe, constrict the tip of your nose as ifyou were "sniffing." Continue for B minutes. Theninhale, hold briefly, and relax.

3) Sit straight and meditate on the calm flow ofthe breath. Briefly visualize your spine from thebase to the top and then to the brow point. Relaxand meditate.

COMI|ENIS:

This kriya helps you gain endurance and con-stancy. The first exercise stimulates the navel centerand digeston. The second exercise gives energy tothe upper body and stretches the lifi nerves in thelegs. The third allows the energy changes to stabilizeand consolidate themselves.

In life, we must increase our wisdom and ex-perience so we can live normally but with higheronsciousness. The yogicaim is to livewith maximumlight and effectiveness but also very humbly. This iswhy a teacher remains a student throujhout hislife and grows more humble with age. This kriyalets the Self take care of the gross ".lf "o that tirephysical body can have the energy to carry outthe Self's desires. Regular practice of this kriyahe$sbalance the difference between your inner realityand your expression. A good way to practice thiskriya is to repeat the set g to 4 times, then deeplyrelax for 5 to 10 minutes.

63

KRIYA FOR TOLERANCE

1) Sit in easy pose with the spine straight. Lock thefingertips together like hooks with the right palmfacing doum. Push the side of the hands into the belly.As you press the hands in, exhale completely, holdthe breath out, then inhale and hold the breath for 7to I seconds. Continue this cycle for 3 minutes.

2l Sit on the heels and raise the arms over thehead with palms flat together. Pull in the navel pointas you say "Sct," relax the navel point as you say"Norm." C-antinue Sat Kriya for 3 minutes.

3) Stretch the legs out straight in front of you.Place the palms on the ground in back of the hlps.Raise both legs to a 6Oo angle from the ground.Hold this position and begin breath of fire. Continuefor 2 minutes, then inhale, exhale, apply mul bhand.Relax immediately into easy pose and belly laughloudly for I minute.

4) Sit in easy pose. Hold both arms bent with thehands as fists at shoulder height. Inhale deeplyand hold the breath. As you hold, begin punchingforward (as in boxing) with alternate hands. Whenyou must, exhale and inhale deeply. Continue for3 minutes.

5) Sit in easy pose. Alternate between camel rideand shoulder lifts; put the hands on the shins. In-hale - press the spine forward (5A). Exhale - pushit back (5B). Inhale - lift the shoulders up to theears (5C). Exhale - let the shoulders down (5D).Continue this cycle with deep breaths for 3 minutes.Then inhale, exhale completely, apply mul bhand.Relax.

COMMENIS;

To gain strength for tolerance and humility,the navel center needs to be developed. This kriyaworks on the abdomen, stimulating the navel energyto rise to the higher centers and then integratingit with the whole aura. It is a good preparation formeditation. Two cycles of this kriya give you a phys-ical tune-up.

N64

DISEASE RESISTANCEAND HEART HELPER

f) Sit in easy pose. Interlace the fingers of bothhands. Press the thumb tips together. put this handlock with pakns up in the lap. Apply mul bhand bycontracting and pulling up the rectum, pulling in thenavel point, and lifting up the se* oigan. Chant"efrd antd me, me olnd @d olre one." Witheach cycle of the mantra, pull up the locks a littletighter. C,ontinue for 3 minutes.

2l Sit in easy pose with the hands in gyan mudraresting on the knees. Inhale deeply, exhale slowlyand completely without dropping the rib cage. Holdthe breath out and pump the stomach in and out.When you cannot pump anymore, take anotherbreath and continue for 3 minutes.

3) Sit in easy pose. Bring the left arm in back ofthe torso. Bend at the elbow and stretch the lefthand toward the right shoulder. The palm facesaway from the body. Inhale deeply, eihal. co--pletely. Hold the breath out as long as you can.Apply mul bhand. Then inhale and repeat the cycle.ContinueSto5minutes.

4) Sit in any comfortable meditation posture.Meditate on the regular energetic flow of the breath.Feel your radiance and light.

COMMEIVTS;

The first exercise improves your health byinvigorating the first chakra and elimination. Itpromotes calmness and disease resistance. The thirdchakra, endurance, and nerve strength are stimu-lated by Exercise 2. Exercise 3 strengthens the heartand increases circulation above the diaphragm.Three repetitions of this kriya is a very effectivepractice.

CIRCULATORY SYSTEMSAND MAGNETIC FIELD

1) Lie down flat on rne back, arms straight alongthe thighs, heels and toes together. press the toesforward. Press the toes deeper and deeper for Iminute, then lift the heels 6 inches. Begin long deepbreathing. Keep the head relaxed down on theground and continue for 3 minutes.

2l Dead relaxation for 2 minutes.65

3) Again press the toes forward with the handsstraiglrt along the thighs and toes pressed downmaximumly. Hold for I minute. Now lift the heels upSinches only. Apply mul bhand. Relax.

4) Dead relaxation. Become disassociated fromthe body. Imagine that there are no legs, no arms,notrunk, no head. Continue for 2 minutes.

5) Sit in easy pose. Put hands on shoulders in a"U" with fingers in front, thumbs in back. Beginbreathing long and deep for 3 minutes, then inhaleand mentally circulate the pranic energy. Relax.

6) Make an antenna of the right hand with fingersstraight up in the air and the thumb closing off theright nostril. Begrn long deep breathing throughthe left nostril for 5 minutes. Inhale - hold for 3Oseconds and let the energy circulate in the body.Exhale.

7l Lie on the back. Lift toes and head 12 inchesfrom the ground. KEEP UP! Do normal breathingfor 2 minutes and breath of fire for I more minuteto relieve pain. Inhale - hold, and relax.

8) Deep relaxation to a gong or to the chanting oflong "Sof Nam's" (see "Basic Breath Series"), orany beautiful divine version of the Ashtang Mantracan be done. Relax for 10 minutes. Then rotate thewrists and ankles and stretch the spine.

9) Lie with hands at sides and legs straight to-gether. Begin bundle roll. Imagine the body is abundle of logs tied together and roll over and overwithout using the arms or legs, like logs rollingdownhill.

10) Without a rest, lie flat on the back, open themouth, and laugh loudly. Release the energy throughthe lungs. Relax for I minute and laugh again.Relax.

COMMENIS:

Blood is the life supply line to your cells. Didyou know that the blood cells act differently withdifferent magnetic idfluences? Exercises 1-4 raiseand lower the blood pressure and increase circrrlationto the limbs and head. Exercises 5-7 magnetizeand charge the blood with pranic force. This is likegetting a transfusion of fresh young blood. Thelast exercise allows the new energy to circulateand affect the entire body. With the bundle roll,you consolidate those effects for the rest of the day.

. ) l

MAGNETIC FIELDAND HEART CENTER

1) Sit in easy pose. Hold the arms up at a 60" an-gle with wrists and elbows straight, palms facingup (1A). Begin breath of fire for 1 minute. Then in-hale-hold the breath and pump the stomach inand out 16 times. Exhale-relax the breath. Con-tinue the cycle for 2 to 3 minutes.

2l Immediately sit on the heels with arms parallelto the ground at the sides. Let the hands hang limpfrom the wrists. Begin breath of fire for 3 minutei.Inhale - hold, and relax.

3) Sit on the heels. Spread the knees wide apartand lean back 600 from the ground. Support thebody with arms straight down in back (3A)- Tilt theneck back - inhale - pump the stomach in and outuntil the breath can be held no longer. Exhale. Con-tinue for lYz to 2 minutes. Then, titt the spine backfurther to 300 and continue the breathing cycle foranother lYz to 2 minutes (3B).

4) Still sitting on the heels with knees widespread,put the forehead on the ground with arms stretchedforward and relaxed. After I minute, begin long deepbreathing for 2 minutes. Then for 2 minutes chant:

Teacher: "Arg, orlg, orrg, ong.,,Closs: "Otrg, ong, otrg, orrg."

Tescher: "Sohung, sohung, sohung,sohung."

Class; "Sohung, sohung, sohung,sohung."

5) Grab the toes with legs slightly spread. Holdfor 1 minute.

6) Back platform: The body is straight with theheels on the ground and the upper portion of thebody held up by straight arms. Drop the head backand begin breath of fire. After 30 seconds, beginto "walk" the legs wider apart until they are spreadwide. Walk them back together again and continue"walking" while doing breath of fire for 30 moreseconds. Inhale, exhale and move immediately intoa front stretch holding the toes for I minute. Relaxon back for 3 minutes.

7) Sit on the left heel, stretch the right leg forwardand grab the big toe with the right hand. pullingback on the toe, grab the heel with the left hand.Keep the chin tucked into the chest and the eyesfixed on the bis toe. Inhale deeply - erhalo ancl

hold the breath out for 8 seconds keeping mul bhandand diaphragm lock tightly pulled. Inhale- Continuefor 3 minutes. Relax for 5 minutes on the back.

8) Lie on the back. Stretch the arms overhead onthe ground. Raise the left leg 90o and begin breathof fire for I minute (8A). Switch to the right leg forI minute, continuing breath of fire. Then raise bothlegs 12 inches only and keep up the breath of firefor I more minute (8B). Relax for 2 minutes.

9) Slowly come into shoulder stand. Spread thelegs wide open and begin breath of fire for 3 minutes.Relax on the back for 3 minutes.

10) Lie on the back. lnhale and lift both legs sixinches. Arms should be straight up from the shoul-ders with the palms facing in (10A), On the exhale,let both legs down and bring the head up pressingthe chin on the chest (l0B). Continue 3 minuteswith long deep breathing. Relax 2 minutes.

1l) Sit in easy pose and hold opposite elbowsacross the chest. Roll the head in a slow figure 8 for30 seconds in one direction, then 30 seconds in theother direction. Then inhale deeply, and bend for'ward to the ground. Exhale and rise up as fast aspossible. Repeat this 10 times.

l2l Meditate by chanting:

Godcindtne, tneandGod, otte.

COMMENTS:

This set works on coordination and repair of thenervous system by stimulating the heart center.Your normal feeling of happiness, connection, andwell-being depend on the balance of your individualpsycho-electromagnetic field. If it is strong, yourmuscles obey the message nerves, and the mes'sage nerves give good perception to the brain. Pro-per maintenance of the nerves depends on the basicelements and hormones in the constitution of theblood. This set will balance the blood.

Exercise I builds the psycho-electromagneticfield. If your elbows bend, the psycho'electromag'netic field will not be reformed and strengthenedproperly. If the exhale after pumping the stomach isrough or gasping, then your magnetic field is veryweak. The second exercise is for the heart. Thisstimulates the thyroid, parathyroid and navel center.If you practice these, you will never need cosmetics.A smooth, radiant complexion and a glow in theeyes and face is a nafural by-product of this exercise.

Exercise 4 feeds the newly-constituted bloodinto the brain cells and moves the spinal fluid. Thishelps repair the damage to the brain done by drugslike alcohol, marijuana, etc. Exercise 5 is for balanceand 6 is for the thyroid, lower back and heart. Exer'cise 7 is the great seal of yoga: Maha mudra. Itseffects fill pages. This exercise can be practiced byitself. Exercise 8 balances prana and apana. Exercise9 is for the thyroid and l0 and 11 are for the heartcenter.

The best results are always obtained if you prac'tice a set until you master it. If you cannot do theexercises for the full time period, do what you canand slowly build up to it. When you can keep upon all the given times and are in a good posture foreach exercise, continue the set each day for 40 daysas you master the mental poise and meditation ofthe full set.

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VARUYAS KRIYA

- Stand up straight. put the right foot slightlyforward. Stretch the left leg far baikward. pui ttretop of the toes of the left foot on the ground. Extendthe arms forurard parallel to the giound. put thepalms together. Tilt the spine slightly forward of thevertical position. Fix the eyes on the horizon or atthe brow point.

Take a deep breath, then begin a rhvthmic chantof "Sat lllcnr. " Emphasize the sound .tSor', as youqull the navel point in and apply a light mul bhind.Conffnue fot l%minutes. Then inhale. Relax.- Switch and place the left leg forward. Repeat

the exercise for an equal perid oitime.

COIIIIEN7S:

This kriya will make you sweat if you do itproperly. You may also notice a burning sensationin the cheeks. The time of practice can slowly beincreased to 7Yz minutes on each side. The practiceand perfection of this kriya is said to open the pituFtary secretion, regulate excessive sexual en-rgy,and increase general immunity to disease. It tesisthg "9ry" strength and rcbalances the magneticfield of the 9"4V. If you don't want to be shaky-whenyou are older, this is an excellent practice to startwhen y-ou are young. Besides practicing this kriyaby itself, it is enjoyable to do il after dmpletinjalong series of exercises that have worked on fl&i-bility and circulation. The kriya helps transform the"vitd juice," the ojos, into a forrn-usable in main_taining your entire nervous system.

SEX EN ERGY TRANSFORMATION

1) Lie on the stomach. place the hands on thegroynd directly under the shoulders (1A). Arch theneck back and lift up into cobra pose (lB). Inhaleand raise the hips straight off the gro.rrd coming in-to a front platformlose (lC). exhale as the hipi goback down into cobra pose. Repeat z6 times, thEnrelax 2 minutes on the stomach. The teacher sfioulJchant "AnO" - the infinite, creative consciousness,on the inhale; and ..Sohufrg,' - I am Thou, onthe exhale. This will keep a rhythm and keep themindfocused.

2') Come into cow pose (2A). Stretch forwardwith an enhale making the hips and chin touch thegr9u1d. Xeep the head up and arms bent (28). In-hale back into cow poseJThe teacher chants ,rbng-$hung":\)ngo onthe forward motiorg ,&huni-on resumlng cow pose. Repeat 26 times.69

3) Immediately without resting' lie on the back'

#"dil;k;;;" ind hold the ankles with the hands'

ftt sot". of the feet should stay on the ground next

to the buttocks (3A). lnhale - raise the hips up (38)'

Exhale - bring them down. Repeat 26 times, rest

for2 minutes, and repeat 26more times'

4) Immediately lie down on the back' Raise both

f.gt fg ;.t o ani start long deep powerful.breathing

iltO seconds. Bring one knee to the chest' then

;i;;th* with each deep inhale' Continue alter-

nating wittr this push-pu[-Tti9tt. for 45 seconds

io f iti"",". Inhie - hoH both legs straight out

for 5 seconds. Relax.

$ Lie on the back. Bring the sole-s oJ th€ feet

#","h*..a-stb ih.m with the hands' Rock back

and forth for 3G45 seconds'

6) DeeP relaxation for 2 minutes'

7)Stretch pose: Hold the feet and head 6 inches off

the ground-with normal breathing. The eyes are fixed

on ih" toes. Balance in this position and hold it for

up to 7 minutes. Inhale deeply, exhale, hold the

breath out and apply mul bandh. Hold the breath out

as,long as possible. Repeat the inhale, exhale, hold'

and mul bandh 4 more times. Then relax doum'

8) Completely relax for 5 minutes letting the

enery circulate. Think of God and God conscious-

n"""]-f""t unlimited. Then, lying on your back'

,lp"ui""t r"at "etud olnd lnn,e, me and God'-J"-on"" about 12 times, raising the pitch and

-fu-" ftuq"-Uy. lnhale @y, hold for 15 smnds'

then exhall. Start the chant again but oery potruer'

frtly. Chant loudly from the solar plexus' The eyes

rftoufa be closed. Do not feel shy' Inhale and ex'

frui" J""pfv eight times, then inhale holding the

breath in and raise both legs 9Oofor 15 *conds'Exhale and relax.

9) Sit in Sidhasana (perfect pose), or Sukasan (easy

pose). Use the tip of the thumb and the tip of the lit-

tle finger of one hand to close alternate nostrils. In-

hale through the left nostril, exhale through the

right. Meditate at the base of the spine and pull mul

bandh. On ttre inhale, think "Sat," the Truth; on

the exhale vibrate "Nam," the ldentity or Name'

Continue for 1 minute. Then begin breath of fire in

through the left nostril, out through the right for I

minutl. Without a break, inhale and exhale through

the left nostril only, moderately fast for about 15

seconds. Begin breath of fire through the left nostril

for 15 seconds, then through the right nostril for 15

seconds, then breathe again 5 seconds through the

left and 5 seconds through the right nostril. Inhale

through both nostrils and hold 5 seconds. Exhale,

holding the breath out and mentally repeat "Sat

Nam," making the sound follow an upward spiral up70

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the spine for 30 seconds. Then visualize the..Sat"going down both sides of the spine, entering thebase of the spine, and "Nam" rising up the -idal"of the spine. Hold the mind against every otherthing and concentrate. NOW is the time. Inhaledeeply. Exhale. Repeat the mentat meditation onemore time.

10) Chant "Ek Ong Kar Sat Nam Sar NamSiri Wqhe Gut.rrt" in the following manner:

Ek ong kaar sat ,taant sat naant

When chanting "Sat Nam" and ..Guru " apply andrelease mul bandh. Gradually the mul bandh willpe99me so strong and locked that it will be easy tohold throughout the entire chant. Continue chant_ing for 6 minutes. Inhale-hotd for 15 seconds. Re_lax or meditate.

COMMENTS:

In our culture, we are taught to view sex in termsof pleasure and reproduction. We are not educatedin the need for moderation in sex in order to main-tain our health and nerve balance. Sexual experi-ence in the correct consciousness can give you theexperience of God and bliss, but before that canever occur you must charge your sexual batteriesand possess a real potency. The seminal fluidsproduced in the male and female contain high con-centrations of minerals and elements that are cru_cial to prop€r nerve balance and brain functioning.The sexual fluid is reabsorbed bv the bodv if it isallowed to mature. Its essence, or ojas, is trans-ported into the spinal fluid. Running your mindwithout the ojas is like running a car without oil -you wear out quickly. About 9O% of your sexualenergy is used to repair and rejuvenate the organs ofthe body. The normal span of potency for a yogi isequal to the length of his life. In the United Staies,potency wanes even in the early forties. This kriyawill generate sexual energy and transmute it intoojas and healing force.

The first three exercises activate the sex chakra;then the navel point and lower spine. Exercise 3is especially effective for relieving tenslon and prob-

lems of the ovaries. Exercise 4 and 5 move theenergy out of the digestive system. Exercise 7 dis_tributes the energy from the navel point above thesolar plexus to the heart center. Exercise 9 uses prana-yam to completely open your psychic channelsand move the kundalini energy all the way to thehighest chakras. Exercise l0 uses the Kundalinienergy in the mantra to project the mind into theinfinity of the cosmos and beyond the normal earthlyconsciousness.

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Si--ree ws--he gu---roo

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BREATH MEDITATION SERIESFOR GLANDULAR BALANCE

1) Sit in easy pose. Break your inhale into 16 shortsniffs. With each sniff, mentally vibrate "Sat Nann."When you exhale break the breath 16 times, againmentally vibrating "Sait Nann " With this continu'ous breathing pull the navel point slightly with eachsniff. Start with 5 minutes of practice. Then addI minute each day to a maximum of 31 minutes.

2\ Lie on the back. Put the arms straight overheadon the ground with the palms up. Inhale - raiseboth legs 6 inches. Exhale - let the legs down andpress the chin to the chest. Continue with long deepbreathing for 3 minutes. Then rest for 2 minutes.

3) Sit in easy pose. Grab your elbows with thearms across the chest. Inhale - raise to a straightsitting position. Exhale - bend forward and put theforehead to the ground. Continue for 3 minutes withlong deep breaths.

COMMENTS:

Your glands are the guardians of your physicalhealth and your stability in infinite consciousness.Their secretions determine, the chemistry of theblood and the blood, in turn, determines the compo-sition of your personality. If, for example, you lackproper iodine from the thyroid gland, you will lackpatience and seldom succeed in staying calm andcool.

If you are to gain mastery of unlimited conscious'ness in yourself you must master the physicalconsciousness to help you, not hinder you. It is bestto work on this while you are young. Once you areold, it is too late tci take care of old age. Prepareyour glandular balance now so that age, disease,and fatigue may not blunt the enjoyment of theGod-consciousness you are building.

If you keep the first exercise to 5 minutes, thenjust repeat the kriya 3 times to have a thoroughglandular workout.

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RESERVE ENERGY SET1) Lie on the stomactU heels togettrer. Inhale-rlse up to a push-up position. Only the upper side ofthe bent toes and the palms remain on the ground.Exhale dorm. Continue 15 ttmes up and dou'n in amoderately slow rhythm.

2, Lie on the stomach. Reach back and grabthe ankles, stretching up into bow pose. Begrnbreath of fire for 3O seconds. Inhale, exhale, andrelax on the stomach, hands straight at the sides.

3) Lie on stomach. Make fists of the hands andplace them'below the waisfline just above and insidethe bend of the legs. Inhale - raise the left leg up.Exhale - raise the right as the left is lowered. Con-tinue alternating with the breath for 2 minutes.

4) Relax into cobra pose. Hold the pose, but justrelax (4A). Heels are together, arrns straight, headback. Relax in this posture 45 seconds, then spreadthe legs far apart and bring the hands closer intothe body to create a deeper back bend (4B). Rollthe head back and forth by turning the chin from theright shoulder to the left shoulder, inhaling at theright and exhaling at the left. Conffnue 4 or 5 times.

5) Relax and lie down on the stomach, grabbingthe wrists behind the back. Roll left and right onthe chest with the legs straight and heels together.Continue for 3O seconds.

6) In the same position with arms straight alongthe sides, begin relaxing each part of the body. Godeep within yourself for 5 minutes.

7l Bundle rolh Lie straight on the back with armsat the sides like a bundle of logs tied together. Flipyourself over and over from back to stomach, stom-ach to back without bending the body, arms or legs.Do not bend anywhere eonfinue ior B minutEs.

8) Total relaxation on back for 1O minutes.

CO[f[fENIS;

To tap the resenre flow of the kundalini energyln your body, you actvate the sexual energy in exer-cise 1, the navel energy in 2 and 3, and move thatenergy up the spine in 44. During exercise 48, thethyroid gland secretes and opens circulation to theupper brain. This clears your thinking and addsenergy to the will. The last two exercises chargeand strengthen your electromagnetic fteld andstabilize the new energy state you have created.This set gives you an extra resistance to the fluctu-afions of the environment.

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PURIFYING THE SELF

1) Stand up. Then squat down, keeping the feetflat. Extend one leg back as far as you can with thetop of the foot on the ground. Most of the pressurewill be on the bent leg. Put the palms together atthe level of the mind nerve at the center of the chest.Focus on the brow point. Inhale deeply and holdfor 7 to 8 seconds. Repeat this cycle 3 times. Thenswitch legs and do it completely again. Continueuntil each leg has been extended back 3 times.

2l Sit in easy pose. Lift the diaphragm high. Raiseboth shoulders as high as possible. Place the handson the hips. lnhale and exhale very deeply whileholding this posture. Continue 2to3 minutes.

3) Still in easy pose, hook the fingers together atthe center of the chest with the right palm facingdown. Forearms and elbows are parallel to theground. Inhale deeply. Exhale completely withforce and apply mul bhand. Inhale - hold the breath,apply mul bhand and mentally raise the pranic energyfrom the base of the spine to the top. Continue thisbreath cycle for 3 minutes.

4) Sit in easy pose. Extend the arms out from thesides, parallel to the ground. Press the fingers up,palms facing out. Roll the eyes up and focus at thebrow point. Inhale deeply - hold the breath whileapplying a firm mul bhand for 20 seconds. Thenexhale and repeat the cycle. Continue for 2 to 3minutes.

5) In easy pose, press the palms together with thefingers pointing up. Pull the spine straight. Pressthe palms together with 30 to 50 pounds of pressure.Hold the position for 2 minutes. Then relax.

COMMENTS:

This kriya energizes you and helps purify themind and body. It is an excellent kriya to practicebefore Srving a healingrelaxing massag€ to someone.lf you massage people professionally, it can keepyour energy together and prevent you from gettingdrained. Exercise I will raise the sexual and digestiveenergies of the body. Exercise 2 will open the lungsand thyroid. Exercise 3 opens the heart and givesit strength. Enercises 4 and 5 increase healing powerin the hands and circulation to the upper body.

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KRIYA FORCONOUERING SLEEP

1) Sit on the heels with the palms on the thtghs.Keep the spine straight and lean back 30o from theverflcal position. Hold the poshrre with long deepbreathing for I minute. Then relax.

2', Still sttdng on the heels, fold the arrns acrossthe chest and hold onto Ore elbours. Rotate the torsoin a clrcle from right to left. Continue this grindingmofionforS minutes.

3) Immediately stretch the legs out straight. Putthe hands on the ground next to the hips. With theinhale lift the heels and body off the ground. Withthe exhale drop the body. Do 20 of these "body

drops" withthe breath.

4) Repeat Exercise 2 for 3 minutes.

5) Repeat Exercise 3 for 15 body drops.

6) C-omelntobridgepose Raisethehipsupandbend at the knees. The palms and feet are on theground. L.et the head relax back. Hold the pose for1 minute with normal breathing. Continue withbreath of fire for 3 minutes. Inhale, exhale com-pletely, and hold the breath out as you apply mulbhand. Rela:L

7l Repeat Exercise 3 for 1O body drops.

8) Repeat Exercise 6 (bridge pose) for 3 minuteswith breath of fire.

9) Relax ompletely on the back for 2 to 3 minutes.

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lrt-

10) Come into bridge pose' Raise the,right leg 60o'

iirrt-tt e toes forw-atd. po a powerful breath of

fire for 1% minutes. Then inhale deeply' exhale

completely, and apply mul bhand' Repeat the exer'

cise with the left leg raised. Relax'

11) Sit in crow pose. Squat down with the feet flat

".'tfr" ground. With the palms facing down, extend

the aris in front p.tJLl to the ground' Inhale

deeply as you stand up - exhale completely as you

.qu"ia""-. Keep the spine as straight as possible'

Do 30 of these crow squats.

l2l Lie on the stomach. Put the palms on the

ground under the shoulders. Slowly arch up into

ioliu p""". Hold the pose with normaltreathing for

i .in,tt". Then kicklhe buttocks with one leg for

2 minutes. Each time the heel strikes the buttocks'

exhale slightly. Kick with the other leg for 2 mcte

minutes. Relax.

f3) Sit on the heels in rock pose' Extend the arms

straight over the head with the palms flat together'gtilitn" palms down halfway toward the top of the

head-with the elbows slightly bent' Raisethe eyes up

and focus at the centei of the skull on the pineal

;iil-Jthrough the top of the head' Continue for

at least 3 minutes.

COMMENTS:

If sleep is a constant problem for you, practice

this kriya regularly for 90 days. lt can be done before

U"a ut "igttt "t inihe morning. We waste billions of

dollars on sleeping aids and stimulants when a

much safer and more stable approach exists in

exercise and meditation. Unfortunately, the exer'

cises take effor1q- a pill doesn't' If you choose to put

th" ,ffott irnto thic kriya, it will eliminate sleep

A.n tt"tto"" and give you alertness throughout the

day.

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SITALI PRANAYAM

Sit in a comfortable meditative posture with thespine straight. Curl the tongue and protrude its.liShtly past the lips. Inhale deeply and smoothlythrough the tongue and mouth. exfiate through thlnose. Continue for 5 minutes. Then inhale --hold.Pull in the tongue. Exhale and relax. Repeat this fortwo more 5-minute periods.

COMMENTS:

Sitali pranayam is a well known practice. Itsoothes and cools the spine in the ar.a of the fourth,fifth, and sixth vertebrae. This, in furn, regulatesthe sexual and digestive energy. This breath ii oftenused for lowering fever. Great powers of rejuvenationand detoxification are attributed to this breath whenpracticed regularly. Doing 52 breaths daily canextend your lifespan. Often the tongue may tastebitter at first. This is a sign of toxification. As youcontinue the practice the taste of the tongue willultimately become sweet.

EXERCISES TO MAKETHE PORES BREATHE

f) Sit in easy pose. place the palms together over-head with arms straight hugging the ears. Beginbreath of fire and continue foi 2 minutes. Inhale _hold for 2O seconds, exhale. Repeat breath of firefor 2 minutes. Inhale - hold B0 seconds, exhale.Repeat one more time. Relax for 2 minutes.

2, Sit on the heels in vajrasana (rock pose). Crossthe hands behind the head and hold onio the shoul-ders with opposite hands. Begin breath of fire andcontinue for 2 minutes. Inhale - hold. Exhale _relax. Repeat breath of fire I minute, then relax 3minutes.

3) Yoga mudra: Sit on the heels. Place the handsin venus lock behind the back. Lean forward andgradually bring the forehead to the ground. Raisethe arms straight up to 9Oo, maintaining the posi-tion to maximum ability. Hold for at least 3 minutes.

4) Relax completely on the back for lO minutes.

COIIMENTS:

The skin breathes. It is just as important tokeep its channels clean as it isior the nosl or lungs.Ttris series removes obstrtctions to the flow of pri.through the "third lung."

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PRANAYAM FORPURIFICATION

Sit on the left heel with the right leg extendedforward. Stretch the right arm straight up and makea fist. Take long deep breaths, but try to squeezethe breath through the right nostril. Mentally vibrate"Soit" with the inhale and "Narn"with the exhale.Continue for 3 minutes. Then switch legs, arms, andnostrils. Begin a deep, powerful breath again for 3minutes.

COMMENTS;

This breathing kriya is to eliminate negativityand the urge to slander others rather than purifyyourself. It stimulates the lymphatic system to cleanitself. It increases nerve energy in the entire body.

EXERCISES FOREXPANDING LUNG CAPACITY

1) Sit in easy pose. Raise the arms up so that theupper arms are parallel to the ground and the forearms are perpendicular to the ground. Bend thewrists so that the palms are facing upward, parallelto the ground. Maintain this position for I minute.Inhale deeply and hold for 10 seconds. Exhale.Repeat the breaths without rest 4 times. Then holdthe breath out and apply mul bhand. Inhale, holdbriefly and exhale.

2) Do long deep breathing for 10 minutes with thehands in venus lock in the lap (2). With each in-halation, raise the rib cage up high. Temporarydizziness may be experienced, but the results willlead to mind control. Firm concentration at the browwill alleviate most imbalances.

3) This exercise must immediatelv follow the oneabove. Sit up with the legs straight out in front.Bend forward and hold the toes. Inhalq, exhale andhold the breath out. Pump the belly as long as pos-sible, then inhale and exhale. Repeat 2 more times.

COMMENTS;

Exercise I turns on the energy to the lungs andheart. Exercise 2 uses the energy to expand the lungcapacity. Exercise 3 balances and distributes theprana. For a beginners' class, do this set 3 times,but allow only 2 - 3 minutes of breathing in exercise 2.

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BASIC BREATH SERIES

1) Sit in easy pose. Make an antenna of theright-hand fingers and block the right nostril withthe thumb. Begin long deep breathing through theleft nostril for 3 minutes. Inhale - hold for-10 seconds.

2l Repeat the first exercise, but use the left handand breathe through the right nostril. Continue for3 minutes. Inhale - hold for 10 seconds.

3) Inhale through the left nostril, exhale throughthe right using long deep breaths. Use the forefingerand little finger to close alternate nostrils.

4l Repeat exercise 3 except inhale through theright nostril and exhale through the left.

5) Sit in easy pose with hands in gyan mudra.Begin breath of fire. Totally center yourself at thebrow point. Continue with a regular powerful breathf,or 7% minutes. Then inhale, circulating the energy.Relax or meditate for 5 minutes, then chant long"$,olNantr."

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COMMENTS:

This set opens the pranic channels and balancesthe breath in the two sides of your body. It is oftenpracticed before a more strenuous, physical kriya.It is great to do by itself whenever you need a quicklift and a clear mind.

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PRANAYAM SERIES

Pranayam Series #1l) Sit in easy pose, the hands in gyan mudra withthe arms straight. Begin breath of fire and continuefor 7 minutes. Inhale - hold the breath for 30seconds, exhale.

2) Begin long deep breathing through both nostrils.Breathe deeper than normal so that the entire ribcage lifts several inches. Continue 5 minutes, theninhale - hold 15 seconds, exhale.

3) Lnmediately @in to breathe in through puckercdlips and exhale through the nose. Continue 3 min'utes. Then inhale - hold briefly, exhale.

4) Do a powerful and regular breath of fire for 2minutes. Then inhale deeply - hold as long as iscomfortable. Focus at the brow point.

5) Meditate with normal breathing. Feel the flowof energy through the whole body.

Pranayam Series #2

Sit in easy pose, hands in gyan mudra. Make a"U" out of the right hand. Inhale through the leftnostril holding the right one shut with the thumb (A).Exhale out the right nostril holding the left one shutwith the little finger (B). Think "Sat" on the inhaleand "lllarrr"on the exhale. Continue for l0 minuteswith deep, regular breaths. Then inhale, exhale,inhale, exhale completely and hold it out. Applythe mul bhand.

COMMENTS:

The first kriya is a good blood cleanser andenergizer. The second is for emotional balance.If you get up some morning and feel that you "got

up on the wrong side of bed," this exercise willrebalance you for the day.

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BEGINNERS EXERCISE I

1) Sit in easy pose. Place the palms flat togetherwith the fingers pointing up. Put the hands at thecenter of the ctrest. Close the eyelids and concentratethrough the brow point. Create a positive flow ofthought. Project to become healthy, happy, andholy. Continue 7 minutes.

2l Lie dorm on the back. Point the toes fonvard.Begrn long deep breaths for 5 minutes. Then relaxfor2 minutes.

3) Sti[ lying on the back, begin breath of fire for Iminute, then inhale and hold for 15 seconds. Take8 long, deep, complete breaths. Repeat this entiresequence 3 times.

4) Relax for 2 minutes.

5) Lie on the back. Point the toes forward. Liftboth legs 6 inches off the ground as you inhaledeeply. Hold the position for 15 seconds. l,ower thelegs. Repeat this 5 times.

6) Deeply relax the body part by part for 10 minutes.

COMMENTS:

This is an easy set to practice for beginners.The effect of the breath is to open the lungs anddiaphragm and to slightly stimulate the navel c,enter.The stimulation of these two energy resourciesallows a deep relaxation. This set is excellent forreleasing a normal day's tension build-up.

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BEGINNERS EXERCISE II

Sit on the left heel. Extend the right leg forwardand point the toes. Bend fonvard and grasp theright toes with both hands. Keep the spine as straightas you can and look toward the toes. Hold thisposition for 2 minutes, then begin breath of fire forI minute. Switch legs and repeat the exercise. Relaxfor l minute.

2l Lie on the stomach. Grab the ankles and stretchup like a bow. Do breath of fire for 2 minutes. Thenrelaxdown.

3) Sit between the heels (celibate pose). Raise theanns up at a 6O" angle to the horizontal with thepalms facing each other. Bounce up and down withthe breath. Inhale as you raise up and exhale as youdrop down. After I minute, exhale deeply. Hold thebreath out and apply mul bhand. Repeat one moretime.

4) Stand up. Stretch up on toes. Raise the armsstraight up. Stretch up. Then bounce up and downfor five seconds. Then sit down in easy pose. Slowlycome up without using the hands. Continue to repeatthe exercise cycle for 2 minutes.

5) Sit in an easy posture. Put the hands in gyanmudra. Go deep within for 5 minutes.

COMMEIVTS:

This kriya transforms sexual energy into medi-tative energy. It strengthens the nerves in the upperthighs that regulate sexual potency. Exercises I and2 release the Kundalini energy for self-healing.Repeat the kriya 2 to 3 times for a more advancedworkout that will make sweat.

84

PREPARATORY EXERCISESFOR LUNGS, MAGNETIC FIELD

AND DEEP MEDITATION

1) Stt In easy pose. Stretch the arms straight upoverhead wtth palms together. Arch the spine asfat up and back as possible. Begin long deep breath-lng through the mouth wlth a whistle both on theinhale ard the exhale. C-ontinue this for 5 minutes.Relax.

2l Stretch the arms straight out in front fingerslnterlocking with the palms facing outward (2A). Ex-tEle, bdng ffre hands in tounrds fre drest eB. Inhale,shefich the arms out snralght agairL Continue for 2mlnubwith a fatuly rapid motion. Then inhale str,etcfitlp arms q'd snraight in ftont, the ftngprs int€rtocldngu,ifi fte palms fadng outunrd (2A). HoH the breathand bring the arms straight up over the head (2C).Brlng them back down parallel to the floor (2A). Ex-hale and bring the hands in toward the chest (28).lnhale, stretch the arms out straight in front again,and repeat the sequence for 2 minutes.

3) Without resting, stretch the arms out straightin front at a 6Oo angle to each other. Inhale - slowlyclench the fists. Hold the breath and, with tension,bring the fists to the chest, bending the arms at theelbows. Exhale - release the tension. Repeat for3 minutes, maintaining an angty face throughoutthe exercise.

85

4) Place the hands with fingers interlocked andpalms facing upward behind the neck (4A). Inhale -

Itta"tt arrns up overhead (48). Exhate down behindthe neck. Continue for 2 minutes.

5) Stretch the arms straight up overhead, palms

together, thumbs crossed. lnhale and twist to the

left. Exhale and twist right. Continue for 2 minutes.

6) Interlock the fingers at chest level, with palms

facing down (6A). Inhale, bring the hands up to eye

larel (68). Exhale back doum to chest level. Crntinuefor2 minutes.

7l Place the hands on should,ers, fingers in front,thumbs in back. Inhale - twist to the left. Exhale -

twist to the right. Continue for 2 minutes.

8) Sit in easy pose. Place the hands on knees (8A).

Inhale - flex both shoulders up (88). Exhale down.Continue for 2 minutes. Then begn to flex the spine.Inhale fonvard, a<hale bach. C.ontinue for 2 minutes.

e)at

Roll the eyes up as far as possible. Concentratethe top of the head. Meditate for 15 minutes.

COMMEfVTS:

This series begins by purifying the blood and ex-panding the lung capacity. Then the circulatoryiystem is stimulated. The thyroid and parathyrord

secretions are added to the increased circulationand the upper magnetic field of the body is enlarged.This is an exceltent preparation for beginners who

8)

need to learn deep meditation.

MEDITATIONSL A Y A Y O G A M E D | T A T | O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 2SEVEN.WAVE

"sAT NAM" MEDITATION. . . . . . 93RAJ YOGA MEDITATION

WITH MAHA BANDH. . . . . 94K I R T A N K R I Y A . . . . . . 9 5A TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION:

MAHA SHAKTI CHALNEEI N D R A M U D R A . . . . . 9 7

HEARTBEAT MEDITATIONI N T H E T R I P L E L O C K . . . . . 9 9

M A H A A G N I P R A N A Y A M . . . . . . . 1 0 0GURU GOBIND S INGH

S H A K T I M A N T R A M E D I T A T I O N . . . . . . . 1 O 1MEDICAL MEDITATION

FOR HABITUATION. . . . . . . , IO2

TAPA YOG KARAM KRIYA. . . . . . 103MEDITATION FOR

T H E L O W E R T R I A N G L E . . . . . . . . 1 0 3MEDITATION FOR BHROSA. . . . . . .104MEDITATION

F O R H U M A N Q U A L I T Y . . . . 1 0 4WAHE GURU KRIYA

F O R N E R V O U S B A L A N C E . . . . . . . 1 0 5B R A H M M U D R A M E D I T A T I O N . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 6

LAYA YOGA MEDITATION

l) Sit in easy pose with a straight spine' Take

your right thumb and block off the right nostril'

begin deep breathing through the left nostril' Close

the eyes and survey the body up and down ten

deep breaths through the left nostril, following with

ten deep breaths through the right nostril' Con-

tinue for 2 minutes.

2\ Put palms together and bring them to the chest

uL"u, the level of ttt" heart, three inches above

ih" "t"rn,r*. Apply a slight pressure to the middle of

the chest. Begin long deep breathing for 2 minutes;

then breath of fire for 1 minute.

3) Put the hands in gyan mudra and the arms

at 60 o and do long deep breathing for 2 minutes.

4l Keeping the hands in gyan mudra, lower the

arms, resting the wrists on the knees with the elbows

straight. Begin the SYz'cycle spin chant, pulling

mul bhand. With the breath, spin the sound current

up the spine. Let go and get lost in the spin' Visual-

ize the sound spinning from the base of the spine

to the top of the head. Use the Adi Shakti Mantra:"Ek Ong Kcir-o., Sot-o Nam.-a, Siri Wha-a He

Guru." On "Etr," pull the navel point. On "a,"

the diaphragm lock (uddiyana bhand). On "He

Grtrrt," relax the lock. Continue from 11 to 31

minutes.

COMMENTS:

There are two voices within us: One is the

voice of the ego and the other, the voice of the

soul. Justify yourself before the Creator, not before

others. Consciously remember the l ink between you

and your Creator.If you can keep away from negativity' you

are a l iving god on this earth. This meditation

enables one to get lost in the sound current' "Medi-

tate and feel God for 40 daYs and

liberated."

be

92

SEVEN.WAVE..SAT NAM'' MEDITATION

Stt tn easy pose. Place the palms flat togetherat the center of the dte6t, thumbs totrching tlre qrterof the sternum. With the eyes closed, look up slight-ly, focusing at the brow point. Inhale deeply, con'centrating on the breath. With the exhale, chantthe mantra ln the law of seven or law oJ the tides.Vlbrate "!*rt" in six waves, and la "Narm" be theseventh.

{Sa -a -a -a -q -q - t J l larn

On each wave, thread the sound through thechakras beginning at the base of the spine in therectum. On "lll6nq" let the energy and sound radi-ate from the seventh chakra at the top of the headthrough the aura. As the sound penetrates eachchakra, or center, gently pull the physical area itcorresponds to. The first center is the rectum, thesecond is the sex organs, thethird is the navel point,the fourth is the heart, the fifth is the throat, thesixth is the brow point and the seventh is the top ofthe head. Conffnue for 15 minutes.

COMMENTS:

If you can build this meditation to at least 3lmlnute 6 smnds per day, the mind will be deansedas the ocean waves washthe sandy beach.

This is a bf (seed) manda meditation. Bij mantrassuch as "Sol lllcnr" are the only sounds which cantotally rearrangs the habit patterns of the subcon-scious mind. We all have habit patterns. We couldnot funcdon without them, but sometimes the pat-terns we have created are not wanted. You havechanged, so you want the patterns to change. Byvlbrating the sound crrrrent "Sat Jllorn" in thismanner, you activate the energy of the mind thaterases and establishes habits. Consequently, thismditafion is good to do as an introducdon to Kun-dallnt yoga. It will open the mind to new experi-ence. A long-time student will still meditate in thisway, pardcularly to clear off the effects of a hurriedday before beginning another deep meditation.After you chant this mantra, Vou will feel calm,relaxed and mellow.

93

RAJA YOGA MEDITATIONWITH MAHA BHAND

1) Sit in any easy sitting posture. The spine must

be perfectly straight. Rest both hands gently in the

fupifAl for a female, the left hand rests on top of

tfr" tigt t. For the male, it is reversed (18)' Close the

eyes Ind concentrate at the brow point' Focus the

aitention at the tip of the big toe and mentally draw

itulif" force abn! the entire length of the leg to the

rectum and rotate the energy around the ring of the

rectum. lnhale deeply - pull the rectum up, then

release it. Continue rhythmical pulling and then

exhale. Repeat the cycle, inhaling from toe to rectum

Each time try to pull the rectum further up'

2l Inhale and pull the sex organ as well as the

rectum. Contract it and pull up 5 times per breath'

3) Pull the navel point' sex organ and rectum 5

times per breath. Try to massage the spine with the

navel point. Pull the lower triangle further up each

time until the energy is pulled all the way to the

diaphragm.

4) Inhale deeply and concentrate on the Divine

Po*"t in the breath. Feel it shoot up to the diaphragm

like a rocket as the locks are pulled' Lift up the

chest to lift the diaphragm. Exbale.

5) Inhale - pull all the locks and pull the chin in

to form the neck lock, or jolondharabhand, concen-

tiat" "" consciously raising the energy to the neck'

A heat wiU be created there.

6) Inhale - pull the energy all the way to the brow

point. Apply all the lower locks and press the eyes

up. Exhale.

7l Relax, meditate at the brow, and go deep within'

8) Meditate at the brow point, and chant very

sweetly from the back of your throat at the upperpalate of the mouth:

fu f i , -6 -s -s -a-s -s -a , l1

Create a continuous sound, inhaling when necessary'

Listen to the sound as though it comes from infinity'

After 5 minutes, inhale deeply. Tilt the head back

and look at the sky. I,et the breath out with a laugh'

Keep laugtring aloud for 30 seconds. Relax'

rA)

rB)

COMMENTS;

Parts 1 through 6 should be practiced 5 minuteseach. Part 7, the final meditation, may be as longas you want. The chanting of, "I'aaah" may be ex'tended to 11 minutes. It is best to practice this medi'tation % to I hour each day.

Raja yoga is a part of Kundalini yoga. There aremany meditations in this part of the tradition. Thismeditation awakens the God in you. There is noneed to find God. He already exists in you as InfiniteAwareness. It is only necessary to awaken Him.This meditation can open the third eye and giveyou the practical experience of a reality which can'not be put into words. Raja yoga relates the minddirectly to the soul or self. So, there is no automaticcontrol over the mind except will. Kundalini yogagenerally relates the body directly to soul so that themind has no option but to follow the will to infinity.

This series will automatically relate your cir'cumvent force to the universal magnetic field. Themore you consciously invest your mind into this,the more expansion you will experience. The prac'tice is self-styling and will direct your consciousenergy.

94

KIRTAN KRIYASit strdght ln easy pos€ (A). Medttate at the

brow polnt and produce the five primd sounds, orthe PanJ Shobod - I, T, N, t, A - tn the ortslnalwordform:

SA - lnfintty, oosmos, beginningTA- life, existencentA -deathDIA- rebirth

Ttris is the cycle of creaffon. From the tnftntte oomeslife and individual edstence. From ltfe oomcs deathor change. From death comes the rebirth of con-sciousness to the joy of the infinite through wtrlchcompassion leads back to life. Ttris sound currentls represented musically ttris way:

Saa Taa Naa IVIaa

E)

95

Each repetition of the entire mantra takes 3 to 4seconds.

The elbows are straight while chanting, andeach fingertip touches in turn the tip of the thumbwithfirm pressure.

On "SA" touch the first, the Jupiter finger,tothe thumb (B).

Qn "TA" touch the second, the Saturn finger,tothe thumb (C).

On "lllA" touch the third, the Sun finger, tothethumb(D).

On "DIA" touch the fourth, the Mercury finger,to thethumb (E).

Then begin again on the first finger.Chant in the three languages of consciousness:

human - things, the world; normal or loud voicelovers - longing to belong; strong whisperdivine - infinity; mentally (silent)

Begin the kriya in normal voice for 5 minutes,then whisper for 5 minutes and then go deep intothe sound silently. Vibrate in silence for about 11minutes, then come back to a whisper for 5 min-utes, then aloud for 5 minutes.

To come completely out of the meditation,stretch the hands up as far as possible and spreadthem wide. Stretch the spine and take several deepbreaths. Relax.

COMMENTS:

Each time you close a mudra by joining thethumb with a finger, your ego "seals" the effect ofthat mudra in your consciousness. The effecis areas follows:

SIGN FINGER NAME EFFECT

Practicing this chant brinS a total mental balanceto the individual psyche. As you vibrate on eachfingertip, you alternate your electrical polarities.The index and ring fingers are electrically negative,relative to the other fingers. This causes a balancein the electro.magnetic proiection of the aura.

If during the silent part of the meditation yourmind wanders uncontrollably, go back to a whisper,to a loud voice, to a whisper and back into silence.Do this as often as you need to.

Practicing this meditation is both a science andan art. It is an art in the way it molds consciousnessand in the refinement of sensation and iirsight itproduces. It is a science in the tested certainty ofthe results each technique produces. Meditationshave coded actions to their reactions in the psyche.But because it is effective and exact it can also leadto problems it not done properly.

Some people may experience headaches frompracticing Kirtan Kriya. The most common reasonfor this is improper circulation of prana in the solarcenters. To avoid this problem or correct it if it hasalready occurred, you must meditate on the primalsounds in the "L" form. This means that when youmeditate you feel there is a constant inflow of cosmicenergy into your solar center, or tenth gate. As theenergy enters the top chakra, you place Sa, Ta, Na,or Ma there. As you chant "5o'" for example, the"$" starts at the top of your head and the "A"

ends through the brow point as it is projected toinfinity. This energy flow follows the energy path-way called the golden cord - the connectionbetween the pineal and pituitary glands.

Chanting "SA-TA-NA-IIA" is the primal ornuclear form of "Sat Nsrn." It has the energy ofthe atom in it since we are breaking the atom (or bij)of the sound, "Sort Norrr,."

You may use this chant in any position as longas you adhere to the following requirements:

1) Keep the spine straight.2l Focus atthe browPoint.3) Usethe "L" form of meditation.4) Vibrate the Panj Shabad in all three languages.5) Use yogic oommon sense without fanaticism.

The Siri Singh Sahib said at the Winter Solsticeof 1972 that a person who wears pure white andmeditates on this sound current ior 2% hours a dayfor one year, will know the unknowable and see theunseeable. Through this constant practice, the mind

awakens to the infinite capacity of the soul for sacri'fice, service, and creation.

+ lst Gyan Mudra Knowledge

t 2nd Shuni MudraWsdom, intelligence,ptience

o 3rd Surya Mudra Vltaltty-enogyof ltte

T 4th Budhi Mudra Abtlltyto co�mmuntco,te

96

A TRANSCENDENTALMEDITATION: MAHASHAKTI

CHALNEE INDRA MUDRA

1) Sit in easy pose. Inhale with a deep whistlethrough the mouth. The lips should be puckeredlike a beak. Exhale through the nose. Concentratethe sound at the third eye point for 5 minutes. Listenjust to the pure sound. Continue for 2 more minutesmentally inhaling "fut" and exhaling "Illorn"with

the whistle.

2) Come into cobra pose. Arch the neck back andlook up. Fix the eyesight at a point on the ceilingstraight up. Inhale through the nose and whistle outthrough the mouth for 3 to 5 minutes. Inhale andslowly relax down out of cobra pose. Rest for 2minutes.

3) Lie on the back with the knees pulled to thechest. Hold them there with hands and fingers inter-laced over the knees. Lift the head up putting thenose between the knees. With the mouth closedmake the sound "hutrtt tttttnh." The vibrationswill b€ felt in the nose and throat. Continue for3 minutes.

97

j<

98

4) Relax on the back with legs crossed on theground as in easy pose. Ttris creates a delicate pres-sure in the lower spine. Maintain the position forSminutes.

5) Sit in easy pose, hands on the shoulders, thumbsbehind and fingers in front. Swing from left to right,inhaling left and exhaling right (5A). Synchronizethe motion with the breath for I minute. Then siton the heels and continue the exercise for 1 moremlnute (58). Inhale, hold briefly.

6) Still sitdng on the heels, lean forward and putthe forehead on the ground. Rest completely in thispose for 3 to 5 minutes.

COMMENTS:

This is a real transcendental meditation as itwas originally taught centuries ago. If the manyteachers who have come to the United States toinitiate students into secret mantras claiming to betranscendental meditations actually gave the undilu-ted techniques like this kriya, then we would be

able to research the science of consciousness muchmore effectively. Transcendental meditations alrvayshave a breath rhythm and a hand mudra linked tothe mantra.

In the yogic scriptures, there are six pages writ-ten to tell the benefits of this single kriya. It allowsyou to control the senses and thoughts. It balancesthe life nenes of prana and apana so that yourhealth is improved and the lung capacity is increased.Once your lung capacity for normal breathing goesbeyond 7(X)cc's, your personality changes. The extracapacity sends an increasod vital force to the nervoussystem with each breath. Nerues that are strong giveyou patience. In this exercise, the body maintainsa perfect equilibrium in the COz and O, exchange.The pressure on the tongue causes the thyroid andparathyroids to secrete. If you practice part I for15 minutes, you may experience some pain in theears. After 31 minutes, you may have a pain in theupper chest. These are the signs of the glands se'creting and gaining a new balance. If you sincerelypracticed part I for 31 minutes a day followed bythe remaining exercises, this kriya could change yourpersonality, your total lifestyle, and even yourdestiny.

58)

',*[o

HEARTBEAT MEDITATIONIN THE TRIPLE LOCK

Sit in easy pose or lotus pose with the hands ingyan mudra. The backs of the hands rest on theknees so the mudra faces upward (A). The touch ofthe fingers should be just hard enough to clearly feelyour pulse in the tips of the thumbs.

The essence of this meditation is to form thetriple lock in a relaxed, stable and attentive attitude.The triple lock is: 1) gyan mudra feeling yourpulse, 2) front teeth locked on top of each other,tip to tip, 3) tongue turned backward as much aspossible to touch the upper palate.

Meditate at the brow point on the constantrhythm of the heart. Keep the spine completelystraight. Continue for 11 minutes. If you choose topractice this, slowly build the time each day untilyou can be alert for 31 minutes.

COtrf[IEIVTS;

This meditation gives you the knowledge ofpast, present, and future. It directly activates thebrain to associate new areas of the brain and bal-ance the nervous system. If your spine is straightas you master this meditation, your entire destinyand self-concept will change and expand.

LAYA MEDITATIONON ECSTASY

Sit in easy pose keeping the arms straight withhands in gyan mudra resting on the knees. Sit verymajestically as though in the court of a king. Closethe eyes so that the energy of sight is not distractingfrom in-sight. Chant this laya mantra and enter adivine sound current. Concentrate and hear thesound within.

Wa-he Gu-u Wa-he Gu-u

Wa-he Wa-he Wa-he Gu-u

C.ontinue for 11 minutes, then inhale deeply andhold this precious breath. Concentrate the energy atthe top of the head. After 3O seconds exhale andrelax.

COMMENTS:

A fundamental motivation and instinct in manis to seek happiness. Usually we search all over theworld for the right time, the rtght place, and the

right partner, but we never find them all at one time,nor do any of them stay for long. Time, the greatteapr, has its harvest of our sorrows and insecu-rities, but all we want is happiness.

A state of ecstasy exists within ourselves all thetime. It is not dependent on the whims of circum-stance and personality. It is an infinite pool thatrefreshes the heart and gives us strength to create abetter self and a better world. This meditation leadsyou to that experience.

The mantra is a triple sound. As you continuethe meditation it will lead your mind through threestages. The first stage is rhythmic and your mindwill enjoy it, but it will still allow the thoughts of theday to enter. You will not like to put all your energyinto ecstasy. In the second stage your self-consciousmind will reward you to feel yourself. This willhappen because you will feel disturbed as your usualthoughts slip away. In the third stage you want toget rid of the self-consciousness and immerse your-self unconsciously into the ecstasy. You become socalm you want to sleep. It is the merging of a raindropinto a vastly calm and beautiful lake. You reflect all,cleanse all, refresh all. If you cross this third stage,you oan know the ecstasy living within yourself andenter into a conscious balance and play with thelnflnlte.

- - -

MAHA AGNI PRANAYAM

Sit in easy pose or lotus position and place thepalms together 9 to12 inches in front of the chest atthe level of the heart(A). Inhale and swing the head

from the right shoulder across the chest to the leftshoulder (B & C). Complete the swing by pulling thechin in facing straight forurard (A). Focus at thebrow point and proiect this mantra silently in per'fect rhythm:

Raa-- Raa-- Raa-- RaaMaa--j\Iaa--NIaa--NIaaRaa-- Raa-- Raa--RaaMaa--NIaa--LI aa--NIaaSaa-- Taa-- Naa--NIaa

Exhale and immediately swing the head with theinhale. The head swing is quick and will give a littlepull at the base of the skull.

Continue for 11 minutes and gradually build upthe time to 31 minutes with practice.

COMMEilTS:

This meditation can totally reorganize the brainsecretions. In Kundalini yoga, the two halves of thebrain are each divided into five main parts. Theparts alternate in dominance every 2Yz hours.During this kriya, the little fingers are touching fromthe base to the tip. This stimulates the heart merid-ian and connects the first and third brain areas,correlating your desires with what you achievethrough action, and so you become a more effectivebeing.

The head motion puts a pressure on the brainducts to recirculate the spinal fluid into the bloodstream. The circulation in the spinal fluid andmeridians is often blocked at the base of the neck.This is particularly true of those who have used adrug like marijuana.

The sound of this mantra travels the mentalorbit of your life. On "Ror||aRaf'a MaIiloDIaIVaRoRaRaRa IIlaIJIaDIaMa," you travel from yourcentral self into the orbit of mental life. "Ra" is thesun, ".Dfc" is the moon. You return with the biimantra, "SaTaNllDfa-"The rhythm is very impor'tant. lf you cannot set the time of the mantra intoa proper rhythm, the rhythm of the time cannots€rve you. The moment you can reflect and createthe proper rhythm of the time under the polarity offinite consciousness, then infinity has a right tos€nre you.

On the fourth and eleventh days of the mooncycle, there is a special pressure on the endocrinesystem to secrete and cleanse itself. To take advan-tage of this for your physical and mental health,practice this meditation for one hour on each ofthose days. The kriya will have the maximum valueto you on these special days.

100

I

GURU GOBIND S INGHSHAKTI MANTRA MEDITATION

Sit in easy pose with the elbows straight andhands in gyan mudra. Close the eyelids, concen-trate at the brow point and chant two completecycles of this mantra with each single breath:

Wa-he Wa-he Wa-he Gu-u

After chanting the two cycles, take a deep but rapidbreath and repeat. A complete breath takes 12seconds. Continue for 1l to 3l minutes. Inhale andconcentrate the energy at the top of the head.

COMMENTS:

This is the science of Laya yoga. It is exact andexacting and it is nobody's private property. Thosewho have turned this into the secret possession of afew do a disservice to humanity at a time whenpeople need every technique to grow. Laya yoga is ascience of relating breath, rhythm and mantra toproduce altered states of consciousness. Eachjapa (repetition of mantra) creates fopo (psychicheat). When you rotate the breath and volume ofsound properly, it creates heat that bums off thekarma. The knowledge cannot properly be transfer-red by secret whispering in the ears of disciples. Itmust be an open and conscious effort to expand yourhigher consciousness into practical enpression. Therelationship betlveen your life in the finite and infinitedepends on the rhythm of the breath. By controllingthe breath, this kriya gives you a consciousness ofecstasy and calms the nenres. This calmness can alsohelp to reduce fever.

MEDICAL MEDITATIONFOR HABITUATION

Sit in a comfortable pose. Straighten the spine

and make sure the first six lower vertebrae prelocked forward. Make fists of both hands and extendthe thumbs straight. Place the thumbs on the templesand find the niche where the thumbs just fit. Thisis the lower anterior portion of the frontal boneabove the temporal'sphenoidal suture.

Lock the back molars together and keep tnelips closed. Vibrate the jaw muscles by alternatingthe pressure on the molars. A muscle will move inrhythm under the thumbs. Feel it massage thethumbs and apply a firm pressure with the hands.

Keep the eyes closed and look toward the centerof the eyes at the brow point. Silently vibrate thefive primal sounds, "Sa Tq Na Mo.," at the brow.

Continue 5 to 7 minutes. With practice the time canbe increased to 20 minutes and ultimately to 31minutes.

COMMENTS:

This meditation is one of a class of meditationsthat will become well-known to the future medicalsociety. Meditation will be used to alleviate all kindsof mental and physical afflictions, but it may be asmany as 500 years before the new medical sciencewill understand the effects of this kind of meditationwell enough to delineate all its parameters in mea-surable factors.

The pressure exerted by the thumbs triggers arhythmic reflex current into the central brain. Thiscurrent activates the brain area directly underneaththe stem of the pineal gland. It is an imbalance inthis area that makes mental and physical addictionsseemingly unbreakable.

In modern culture, the imbalance is pandemic.If we are not addicted to smoking, eating, drinkingor drugs, then we are addicted subconsciously toacceptance, advancement, rejection, emotionallove, etc. All these lead us to insecure and neuroticbehavior patterns.

The imbalance in this pineal area upsets theradiance of the pineal gland itself. It is this pulsatingradiance that regulates the pituitary gland. Sincethe pituitary regulates the rest of the glandularsystem, the entire body and mind go out of balance.This meditation corrects the problem. It is excellentfor everyone but particularly effective for rehabili'tation efforts in drug dependence, mental illness,and phobic conditions.

102

TAPA YOG KARAM KRIYASit in a meditative pose. Extend the arms

straight forward parallel to the ground. palms faceeach other. Put the wrists together. Then spread thepalms out as fas as you can as though pushingagainst a wall. The eyes are slightly open lookintdown at the tip of the nose. Begin rhythmicallychanting: Sat lllara, Sat Nam, Sat lVcm, ScliNam, Sat Nam, Sat Nam, Wahe Guru. Con-tinue for l1 minutes_

COMMENTS:

We cannot improve the caliber of the humanbeing, but we can guide it. When we guide ourselvesand are not at the mercy of subconscious habitsthen we become master of the self. But overcomingold habits and starting new ones requires strongnerves and willpower. This kriya develops willpoweiand gives the capacity to understand the elementsof your personality. You can know what you arethinking and regulate the flow of those thoughts.This kriya is a perfect sadhana for difficulty in -om-pleting projects and doing what you intend.

MEDITATION FOR THELOWER TRIANGLE

Sit in easy pose. Make sure the spine is pulledup and stretched straight. Extend the righi armstraight up hugging the ear. Extend the left armto 60o from horizontal, with the palm facing down.On both hands, put the thumb onto the mound justlelow the little finger. Keep the eyes slightly oi"r,.Look down toward the upper lip. press the etbowsstraight. Stretch the arms up from the shoulders.Continue for ll minutes.

COMMENTS:

This meditation alleviates any problem in thelower spine. It is a direct healer for the kidneys andadrenal glands. Consequently it helps repair the9.9tgy drained by long term stress. This kriya alsohelps the heart. Although there is no breath speci-fied, the breath will automatically become longerand deeper as you continue. It is important to holdthe arms perfectly still to receive the full benefit.

103

MEDITATION FOR BROSA

Sit in lotus or easy pose. Arch the arms up overthe head with the palms down. If you are a male, putthe right palm on top of the left. Ladies put the leftpalm on top of the right. put the thumbtipstogether with thumbs pointing back. The armsare bent at the elbows slightly. Keep the eyelidsopen slightly and look down toward the upper lip.

Chant the mantra Wahe Gutu. Form thesounds with the lips and tongue very precisely.Whisper it so that the Guru is almost inaudible. Ittakes about 2Yz secondsper repetition. Continue for1l minutes.

COMMENTS:

This kriya is very potent and must be respected.When beginning fo experience this meditation, itshould be done for a maximum of 11 minutes. Thenincrease the time by I minute after every 15 daysof practice until you reach a total of 31 minutes.The effects are extensive. The meditation affectsthe element of trust in the human personality. Trustis the basis of faith and commitment and the senseof reality. It will give you the elevation of spirit soyou can stand up to any challenge. It builds andbalances the aura from the fourth chakra up.

MEDITATION FOR HUMAN QUALITY

Sit in an easy cross-legged pose, keeping thespine straight. With both hands form Ravi mudra:Touch the tip of the ring finger to the tip of the thumb.Extend both arms parallel to the ground with thepalms down. Spread the fingers wide. Put the sidesof the tips of the index fingers together. Raise thearms slightly so the index fingernails are at the levelof the eyes. Keep the eyes relaxed and open. Lookover the index fingertips to the horizon. Just holdthis position completely still. Continue for a maximumof 11 minutes.

COMMENTS:

We often fail in life and in our capacity for devo-tion because we are not trained to use our humanqualities. These qualities of endurance, creativity,and compassion are regulated by the third, fourth andfifth chakras. The first and second chakras are belowhuman. The sixth, seventh and eighth chakras arebeyond human. So it is only in the area of the heartthat we can fulfill our nature. This meditation opensthe power of the fourth chakra. It balances andrepairs the sympathetic nervous system. It helpsthe physical heart. It gives resistance to tension andhigh pressure environments. The greatest result isthat it connects you wit*r the inner sense of beinghuman.

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WAHE GURU KRIYAFOR NERVOUS BALANCE

Sit in lotus or easy pose. put the hands on theknees in gyan mudra. Let the eyes be nearly ctosed.Break the inhale into l0 equal parts or ..sniffs."

With each part of the inhale move the hands me-chanically (in small jerks) one-tenth of the waytoward the forehead. The palms face up and all thefingers are straight during the inhale. At the tenthinhale the palms are on the forehead with the fingerspointing up. As you exhale join the fingertips of thetwo hands and let the hands down slowly. Separatethe hands at the level of the navel point and returnthem to gyan mudra in the original position. On eachinhale mentally vibrate the manfa Wahe. On theexhale vibrate Guru. Continue for 3 to I I minutes.

COMMENTS:

This kriya builds the nervous system so nothingbothers you. It stimulates the pituitary to secreteand gives you an expanded intuitive sense. It makesthe mind clear and decisive. If the aura and nerveslack strength it is difficult to act on ideals you have.This kriya helps you directly direct yourself.

Begin the practice with only a few minutes. Thenbuild slowly up to 11 minutes.

GURU RAM DAS:RHYTHMIC HARMONY

FOR HAPPINESS

Sit in a peaceful meditative pose. Keep the eyesone-sixteenth open. Men take the left hand and formShuni mudra with the thumb and middle finger. Withthe right hand, join the thumb to the tip of the ringfinger (for women, the mudras are revers€d). Rest thehands on the knees. Chant in a soft monotone:

Guru Guru Wahe GuruGuru Rann Dqs Guru

Each repetition takes about 8 to 10 seconds. Con-tinue for l l to 3l minutes.

COMMENTS;

The Siri Singh Sahib said when he taught thisthat it "is to bring to the self a meditative peace. Thisis a moithuno. It's so vibratory even your lips, yourupp€r palate, your tongue, your entire surround-ings feel a vibratory effect. It's my personal mantra.It was given to me by Guru Ram Das in his astral

self, not when I was challenged, but when Guru RamDas was challenged. The beauty of this mantra isthat it was tested. When our lives were in danger Isaid, 'Folks, keep on chanting this. We'll always beprotected.' It's the same today. lt always will bethrough every moment of life. lt is called ecstasy ofconsciousness. The impossible becomes pure,simple, truthfully possible because you have thegiven values and you have given yourself, soul andspirit, to those given values righteously. It is thenthat God manifests everything. And that's why wechant in this mudra this simple mantra."

BRAHM MUDRA MEDITATION

Sit with the spine straight. Make fists of bothhands. The thumb should be on the outside of the fistwith Jupiter fingers pointing straight up. Hold the twohands so that they face each other. The left handis lower, the left Jupiter fingertip being exactly evenwith the lowest knuckle of the right thumb. The twohands are like conches pointing to God. The eyesare op€n, looking straight and directly at and throughthe space of the hands. Hold the hands about 1 tolYz feet from the face. Keep the neck straiqht. Men'tally meditate on Aad Guray Nameh, JugaadGuray Nameh, Sat Guray Nameh, Siree GurooDavy-ay Nameh. After l1 minutes close the eyes,hold the position, and chant it aloud as a monotonein a simple, moderate rhYthm.

COMMENTS:

This mudra symbolizes yin and yang pointingtowards God. lt is a mudra of immediate spirit andprotection. All previous incarnations, the present,and the future shall be directed towards right-eousness. This mudra changes the metabolism ofthe mind and develops a "funny mandala" called"Brahm Mandala."

Brahm mudra is good for outrageous behavior,tremendous depression, and inconsistency in char-acter. It creates happiness on the spot where thereis unhappiness.

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THE JOURNEYYogi Bhajan, PhD

"This world and our journey in life is actually very clear.Every aspect of it is organized and creative.

We are supposed to live with each other in love,Work as a worship,

And follow the path of righteousnessto propel our consciousness across the cycle of time."

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