Powers of the Spine, Part 5
Author: Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami
Description: Start young, start young! Achieve nirvikalpa samadhi daily for many years, at least 12 years for Self Realization. The golden body of light. The sannyasin has a choice to serve mankind or to wait for mankind to unfold into the consciousness that he has attained; a bodhisattva or upadeshi, one who serves, or an arahat or nirvani, one who waits. When the kundalini force becomes strong within you, just sit and be aware that you are aware, kaif in Shum. Always continue to strive, never allow yourself to be complacent. Proceed with confidence, become a knower of the Self. Realize Parasiva. Related Shum series. "Master Course Trilogy" Merging with Siva, Lessons 265, 266.
Transcription:
Good morning everyone.
We are continuing this morning with Chapter 38, "Powers of the Spine" drawn from "The Master Course" 1967 and 1970. Lesson 264 [265].
"Kundalini, The Spiritual Force
"Hatha yoga (ha-pingala and tha-ida) balances the two forces, the ida and the pingala. The straight, erect spine releases the actinodic flow of the sushumna current. The mind centered in the contemplative atmosphere, cognizing timelessness, causelessness, spacelessness while sitting in the lotus position, awakens the pineal and pituitary centers, and the door of Brahman at the top of the head.
"The force of the actinodic causal body, the sheath of cognition, vijnanamaya kosha, a pure actinic force running through the sushumna current, is called the kundalini. As this kundalini force becomes activated, the sushumna power begins to grow, or the actinodic causal body begins to grow, and the higher chakras of cognition and universal love begin to spin faster. Once kundalini power has been activated, its force expands or contracts consciousness. As man’s consciousness expands into actinic spheres, more kundalini power is used. This power is lessened as his consciousness emerges into the limited fields of the odic world.
"Often known as the serpent power, the kundalini is coiled at the base of the spine in the instinctive man who resides mostly in the force fields of memory and fear. When this power becomes uncoiled, the serpent, or kundalini, luminously raises its head, and finally, after nirvikalpa samadhi, it lifts its power to the top of the head.
"When nirvikalpa samâdhi has been practiced daily for many, many years—according to the classical yoga teachings, for twelve years—and the golden body has been built, the kundalini force coils itself in the sahasrara chakra of the yogi, at the top of the head. This is known as the manas chakra, located about where the hairline begins at the forehead. This chakra eventually becomes the muladhara chakra, or the memory-pattern chakra, of the golden body. The manas chakra is fully activated when the golden body is fully unfolded. This is known in Hindu and Egyptian mystic schools as the golden body of light, for it registers in the minds of those who look upon it, to their soul body, as a golden ball of light or a golden body..."
So, comment there. We can see from the sentence, something very important. " When nirvikalpa samâdhi has been practiced daily for many, many years..." So the popular concept is you only need to achieve nirvikalpa samâdhi once, right? then you're Self Realized. And that's all you need to do. So Gurudeva's pointing out: That's the end of one practice but it's the beginning of a whole new type of practice. So we're supposed to learn how to achieve nirvikalpa samâdhi daily for at least 12 years. Start young, start young!
"...When the kundalini rises into the realms of pure actinicity, the pineal gland and pituitary center are activated. When these two centers are activated simultaneously, the forces of both of them merge, bringing man into nirvikalpa samadhi. Therefore, the aggressive odic force merges with the passive odic force, in perfect balance, and the actinodic power of the sushumna current comes into perfect balance, poised with the kundalini force. The yoga adept finds himself on the brink of the Absolute, cognizing That which he cannot explain, knowing there is something beyond which the mind does not know, conceiving That which cannot be conceived, because form, which is mind, cannot conceive formlessness. Then the yogî touches into the Self and becomes a knower of the Self, merges with Siva.
"When the ida, pingala and sushumna forces merge and reside in perfect balance, the third eye awakens. When the pituitary, pineal glands and the sushumna source are in perfect balance, man is able to perceive consciously into other worlds of the mind. The golden body, as it begins to grow after the renunciate, or sannyasin, attains nirvikalpa samadhi, is built by man’s service to his fellowman."
Then we get the Shum series here, relates to kundalini.
sium
A cliff; hill or a mountain.
sisium
Ascending, climbing, moving upward.
usisium
Sensing the kundalini energy rising in the center of the spine.
ausisium
Kundalini ascending through all of the seven kamshumalínga.
ayausisium
The kundalini force moving upward into the head.
m'ayausisium
Lifting the kundalini force from the feet to the top of the head.
Well, very profound series there.
Lesson 266
"The Way After Realization
"When a yoga guru brings others from darkness into light and from light into Self Realization, he is also strengthening his own golden body. When a satguru makes it easy for his sannyasins to remain in the practice of Self Realization, encouraging them and demanding of them the practice of nirvikalpa samadhi, he helps them hold their forces in check through the power of his golden body.
"After nirvikalpa samadhi, the sannyasin has a choice to serve mankind or to wait for mankind to unfold into the consciousness that he has attained. This is called being a bodhisattva or upadeshi, one who serves, or an arahat or nirvani, one who waits. The golden body begins to grow through service and by bringing others into enlightenment as a bodhisattva, or through the constant practice of nirvikalpa samadhi while living a strictly secluded life as an arahat, only mixing with those of his own level of realization.
"The sahasrara chakra at the top of the head and the ajna chakra at the brow, or the third eye, are the two controlling force centers of the soul body. These force centers become the two lowest chakras of the yoga master’s new golden body, svarnasharîra, as this body begins to build after his first nirvikalpa samadhi.
"The usual experience before nirvikalpa samadhi is for the aspirant to become a knower of the Self. This could occur at any time during his training. In order to attain this experience of 'touching into the Self,' he must have a complete balance of all odic and actinic forces within him. A noted change in his life pattern often occurs after he becomes a knower of the Self, for the soul body has become released into orbit, and he has then a subsuperconscious control of this body. In other words, the odic-force tie has been released. This body has quickly matured. Then, if practicing contemplation as prescribed by his satguru and finally working out the various karmic binds or holds in the lower odic force field with the help of the guru, he attains complete Self Realization, or nirvikalpa samadhi. Then the golden body, svarnasharira, is born through the merging of the forces of the pituitary and the pineal gland, setting the sahasrara into a constant spinning motion. This constant spinning motion generates the force which propels the yoga adept back into nirvikalpa samadhi. Each time he goes into nirvikalpa samâdhi he intensifies a little the spinning movement of this chakra, unfolding it a little more, and as this occurs, the golden body begins to build.
"When the yoga adept touches into the Self and becomes a knower of the Self, attains nirvikalpa samadhi, becomes Self Realized, yoga powers come to him. These yoga powers are often renounced, depending upon the rule of the order to which he be longs, whether it be a teaching order or an order of hermits. According to the need, a power is developed. The powers that a yogi can use are as many as the petals within the sahasrara chakra. They are 1,008. These powers are conceived through the nadis—small, elastic-like psychic nerve currents extending out into and through the aura of the body. The nadis work in conjunction with the chakras, and with the major currents of the body, ida, pingala and sushumna.
Realizing Parasiva gives you great power, but to use that power very sparingly or not at all is the greater thing to do, because the power itself works of its own accord. If you have powers, siddhis that are unfolded, it is best not to consciously use them. You can demonstrate to yourself to be sure you have them, but these siddhis are all connected with devonic forces that will work totally for righteousness without your demonstrating them. This is why no one wants to come up against a rishi. Similarly, a good king does not use his power. He makes everything flourish without appearing to be powerful. His greater power happens in unseen ways.
"Remember, when the kundalini force becomes strong within you during a meditation, just sit and be aware that you are aware—a blissful state called kaif in Shum, the language of meditation. You will feel very positive and experience yourself as a great big ball of energy. When the energy begins to wane, try to absorb it into every cell of your external body, then continue your meditation exactly where you left off. In this way you will build a strong, disciplined nerve system and subconscious mind. This will lead you naturally onto the next inner plateau, then to the next and the next.
"Never allow yourself to be complacent in your spiritual attainments. Always continue to strive. Even rishis, swamis and yogis who have totally realized Parasiva continue to work on themselves from within themselves. They don’t let down, because if they did it would be many years before they had the next experience of the timelessness, formlessness, spacelessness of the unspeakable Parasiva experience. The message, therefore, is, at the beginning of meditation and at the end, keep striving. Don’t turn back, but proceed with confidence."
Then we get related Shum series. English language.
aynuhkay
The act of preparing to strive.
iaynuhkay
Meditation, striving, striving, ; shumnuhm' has two parts: the striving to accomplish or doing at it, and the easy flow. Easy flow is namuhnuhmuhna; this portrait names the striving; the seeing of someone or oneself striving in shumnuhm'.
baiaynuhkay (This is interesting.)
The merger of the elemental forces of nature into simshumbisi; this portrait names this opening and merging and awareness of this power, but not the use of it; nikashum is a practice that names the point when the forces begin to withdraw into simshumbisi; when one becomes conscious in simshumbisi - he breaks from the third dimension; the point at which the breaking loose takes place and the energies begin flowing inward is what this portrait names; simshumbisi absorbs all of the emotion of the third dimension like a sponge; niimf then can be released from congested or habitual areas through the power of baiaynuhkay.
Thank you very much. A very deep lesson from Shum.