The textual study

Trataka (called trotaka in Hatharatnavali), as described in the important hatha yogic texts, consists of steady gazing in a well-composed manner, at a particular point or minute object, without winking, until tears begin to flow. (*1) Vacaspatyam quotes from Hatha Samhita that trataka is better performed in sukhasana, first at some object and thereafter at its after -image projected in the sky. It tells that the trataka on the nose tip (nasagra dristi) reduces mental tensions (kleshas) and trataka on the eyebrow centre (bhrumadhya dristi) facilitates attainment of khechari – a higher yoga practice. (*2) Satkarmasangraha (*3) advises the repetition of bija mantras – the Vam’ and ‘glau’ (i.e. those of Varuna, the water; and Prithivi, the earth) during the process of trataka.

The principal hatha texts demand that the practice of trataka should be greatly valued and secretly preserved, like a casket of gold. It might be due to the hypnotic and ecstatic effect of trataka. According to the texts, the process of trataka cures eye diseases and improves eye sight, prevents sloth and manifests ‘inward light’. By its constant practice, clairvoyance (divya dristi) is developed and sambhavi mudra, a higher spiritual gesture, is verily achieved. (*4) Bhakti Sagara, (*5) claims that whatever idea is contemplated during trataka practice, it will actually be fulfilled. However, this claim may be true only in advanced tratakas.

It is a recorded fact in the Aryan history, that an accomplished yogi can greatly mesmerise, hypnotise and control the psyche of others, by constant gazing into their eyes. For example, Yogi Vipula protected his master’s wife from the sexual designs of Indra by constant fixation of his eyes into her eyes, thus stupefying her from advances. Similarly, the great ascetic, Vidura’s act of inducing his psyche i.e. soul, into Yudhisthira at the time of his final departure, by steadily staring into his eyes, are proofs of trataka’s hypnotic powers that are old as the Mahabharata. (*6) Trataka, in fact, is the most important technique for concentration and is very old indeed, because the processes of gazing at the nosetip, eyebrow centre and any internal or external point etc., as described in the Gita and other ancient treatises (*7), are but the variations of this practice.

A somewhat similar practice to trataka is accomplished by staring at one’s own afterimage in the sky. This has been greatly extolled in the Siva Samhita (*8) by the name pratikopasana or chayasiddhi i.e. invocation of shadow. Expanding this technique, it is told that at the time of the rising sun or by the moon, let one steadily fix his gaze on the neck of the shadow he projects. Then, after sometime, let him look into the sky to see his full grey shadow (i.e. afterimage). This practice should be further developed for contemplation on the great Void (Mahat Shoonya) and on or beyond the Cosmic Egg (Brahmandabahya). Pratikopasana is praised as the means for emancipation, immortality, great bliss, absolute purity and victory in every field.

Trataka is possibly classified as a yogic cleansing (shodhana kriya or shatkarma) because it purifies the eyes by the constant flow of tears; or because it acts as a psychological cleansing process by activating the area of subconscious and unconscious mind. (*9)

The technique and principle of trataka

Traditionally many types of trataka are practised such as constant gazing at the tip of a Wick of a lamp flame produced from clarified butter (ghee) or upon simple candle light; staring at the rising (or setting) sun, at the moon, the green grass or tree leaves, the clear water of a lake, some transparent glass, the sky, the space, a small round object, a minute black spot on a white background, or an illustration of Aum. A black or green circle the size of a small coin, approximately one half to one inch in diameter and marked with a dot at the centre, painted on a squared paper can also serve as a good object. The best form of trataka, in view of the personal experience of this scholar, is to steadily gaze at the third eye (the space between the eyebrows) of the originator of yoga- Lord Siva’s picture. At a later stage, this helps to easily concentrate the mind at the midpoint of one’s own eyebrows, with eyes Open or closed and also activates many mystical experiences.

Trataka should be done in a meditative sitting posture such as siddhasana, padmasana, sukhasana or vajrasana. The eyes should be kept focused at the tip of the flame or at the painted dot far away but directly in line with the normal visual axis, till tears start flowing. The area of central fixation should be gradually reduced, because the smaller the area, the better the fixation. The distance between the object and the eyes should vary to suit one’s requirements, yet it should be kept between one and three yards. As soon as the tears begin to flow, close the wide-opened eyes (with or without cupped hands) for a few moments and contemplate upon the afterimage arising in the mental space. Then resume the practice again. Ten to fifteen minutes trataka without the least blinking of the eyes will start inducing some mystical experiences. The special importance of trataka on the luminous or light giving object is perhaps due to the similarity of the ‘mental afterimages’ thus produced, and the experience of the ‘inner light’ i.e. kundalini of the yogic theory.

Benefits of trataka

The trataka exercises including the nosetip gaze, eyebrow centre gaze and right and left shoulder gaze, etc., especially train and strengthen the eye muscles- particularly the four pairs of muscles controlling the upward, downward, right and left movements of the eyeballs. Defects of vision and other eye troubles, which force people to use glasses or contact lenses, are cured by trataka. Gazing at various objects of nature accustoms the eyes to the varied influences of light and environments etc. The eye muscles generally act asymmetrically in the ordinary use of the eyes, and thus produce eye strain or weariness, which further aggravates visionary troubles. The regular and systematic practice of various eye exercises of trataka can correct all these. Trataka can increase the vision so much so that even the smallest particle in the dead darkness (and also in the dazzling light) becomes visible. Inflammation of the eyes, trachoma, styes, astigmatism, myopia, hypermetropia and presbyopia etc., in short all the eye problems can be corrected by trataka. Trataka vitalises vision by accelerating blood circulation in and around the area of the eyes, and also naturalises eye infections by destroying the microbes through tears.

By directing the gaze at the eyebrow centre, the olfactory nerves and the optic nerves are stimulated, and as a result, the autonomic and the central nervous systems are awakened. There is a close relationship between mind and vision, thus trataka not only maintains the physical health of eyes but also helps a great deal in controlling the mind. It causes a soothing effect on the cranial nerves, thus enabling the mind to become one-pointed. It greatly improves memory and willpower, and helps to attain perfection in samyama (i.e. dharana, dhyana, samadhi) described in Patanjala Yoga. Laboratory tests on trataka have proved that it brings back certain repressed experiences to the level of consciousness. For ocular health, in addition to the trataka practice, stroking, moving, pressing, palming, light kneading and salakyam (as described in Satkarma-sangrahah) of the eyes are also quite beneficial. (*10)

Precautions

1. Trataka, like other intricate yogic exercises should be learned under the direct guidance of some accomplished yoga guru; otherwise there is every possibility that eye muscles as well as the nervous system may be damaged.

2. Eyes should be splashed and washed with cold water immediately after the trataka practice. This will stimulate the blood supply in the eye regions.

3. Avoid using external eye medicine or solution after trataka. Also avoid rubbing the eyes, even if in the beginning of trataka you feel some eye strain, which would be due to adaptation to eye exercises.

4. Avoid doing trataka on the burning sun. For better eye health, it is advised to sit with closed eyes, facing the sun. Trataka on the sun with open eyes should be performed in the early morning and late afternoon (i.e. sunset). However, trataka on the full moon of puma-mashi is the best.

5. Some bodily exercises before and after trataka are necessary to revitalise the tissues and nerves.

6. The continuous repetition and reflection upon the symbol of Isvara i.e. Aum, during trataka practice will be very beneficial spiritually.

Reference
*1. Nimesonmesakam tyaktva suksmalaksyam niriksayet patanti yavadasruni tratakam procyate
budhaih. (Gheranda Samhita 1.53; Hathayogasamhita p. 13, v. 43) Also cf. Hathapradipika 2.32; Hatharatnavali 1.52; Satkarmasangrahah v. 40., Trataka karma takataki lagai palaka palaka som milai na takai. (Bhakti Sagara p. 117)
*2. Vacaspatyam p. 5402 …Siddhe’smin nasikagrek sanahatatanurkklesavan sadhakah syad bhrumadhyam ca …khecari…
*3. Satkarmasangrahah v. 40, …Vamglavikaranasthe’sminnantarjyotih prakasyate. *4. Mocanam netraroganam tandradinam kapatakam yatnatastratakam gopyam yatha hatakapetakam. (Hathapradipika 2.33) Also cf. Hatharatnavali 1.53; Satkarmasangrahah v.41 …antarjyotih prakasyate. Also Gheranda Samhita 1.54; Hathayogasamhita p. B, v. 44…Evamabhyasayogena sambhavi jayate dhruvam netraroga vinasyanti divyadrstih prajayate.
*5. Bhakti Sagara p. 117- Jete dhyana naina ke hoy Caranadasa purana ho soi.
*6. Gurupatnim samasino Vipulah sa mahatapah netrabhyam netrayorasya rasmim samyojyarasmibhih vivesa Vipulah kayamakasam pavano yatha. (Mahabharata Anusasan Parva 40.56,57) Tatah so’nimiso bhutva rajanam tamudaiksata samyojya Viturastasmin drstim drstya samahitah vivesa Viduro dhiman gatrairgatrani caiva ha. (Mahabharata Asramvasika Parva 26.25,26)
*7. cf. Bhagavadgita 5.27; 6.13; 8.10; Kurma Purana 2.11.53,54; Agni Purana 373.4; Srimadbhagavata 11.14.32; Goraksasatakam v. 41; Mahabharata Anu-sasana Parva 145; Advaya Tarakopanishad 6,11,12; Mandalabrahmanopanishad 1.2.4,7; 1.3.3,5; Yogiyajna-valkya 5.15; 9.31; 12.26. Also Bhakti Sagara p. 117- Amkha ulati trikuti meim ano yaha bhi trataka karma pichano.
*8. Siva Samhita 5.15-21; 160-168.
*9. Gheranda Samhita (Kaivalyadhama) Notes p. 137.
*10. For the various techniques, benefits, etc. of trataka cf. and contrast: Raja Yoga- Jnana Yoga Sadhana, 1st Edt, by Dr. Swami Gitananda pp. 23-26; Advanced Yoga Practices, 4th Edt., by Dr. Swami Gitananda p. 124, 128, 136, 140; Yoga Hygeine Simplified, 19th Edt., by Shri Yogendra pp. 89-97; Hatha Yoga- the Report of a Personal Experience, Edt. 1960, by Theos Bernard pp. 107-108; The Complete Illustrated Book of Yoga, 9th Edt., by Swami Vishnudevananda pp.34-37; Umesh Yoga Darshan (Part 1), by Yogiraj Shri Umeshchandraji pp. 185-192; Patanjala Yoga Pradeep, 4th, by Swami Omananda Tirtha p.403; Satkarmasangrahah v.81.83; Yogic Suksam Vyayama, 2nd Edt., by Dbirendra Brahmachari pp\ 197-198; Yoga XVIII No.3, ” Swami Satyananda Saraswati p. 19.

(Courtesy : Yoga Magazine, March, 1983)

Grihastha sannyana, which I prefer to call karma sannyasa, is not a new order which I am introducing. It is very old. There are four traditional ashramas, brahmacharyasharam, grihasthasharama, vanaprasthashram and sannyasashram. When your are not content with grihasthashram, you want to get out of it so you can be born spiritually. But if you cannot get out of it, the alternative is to live in it with a different awareness and a differen philosophy.

In the olden days, husband and wife used to retire to the forest. That was known as vanaprastha. These days it is not practical or even possible for most people to do this, but once spiritual awareness develops it is possible to continue in grihasthashram, but with a higher philosophy. That is called karma sannyasa.

Attachment and detachment

During grihasthashram you are involved in karma, and these karmas create more karma. They create samskaras to which you are bound because of anasakti or involvement. It is possible to associate with our family, our children, our responsibilities and obligations, either with total attachment or with detachment. However, we have only been taught to base our associations on attachment. Nobody has ever shown us how to live with our relatives, discharge our duties, solve our problems and interact with our family members, friends, wealth, money and property with detachment. The art of living a detached life is called karma sannyasa.

Detachment is not something that can be developed just by thinking or through any other intellectual process. Unless you have some experience which changes the quality of your mind, you cannot understand what detachment means. In order to understand anasakti, vairagya, sannyasa or detachment, you need more than just an intellectual process. You must have a different quality of mind. And for that purpose, the mind has to be trained and educated.

Intellectually you know that nothing belongs to you and that all is temporary. You may say it every day, but because there is so much mamata, ‘mineness’ and attachment, whatever happens to someone else affects you too, because you relate yourself to the happenings.

Once there was a sadhu and a mussulman living next door to each other. One day the sadhu heard his neighbour crying. He went to the mussulman and asked, ‘Why are you crying?’ He sobbed, ‘Maharaj, my goat is dead.’ The sadhu said, ‘So what? Sooner or later everything has to die.’ He explained that crying would not bring the goat back and he was able to pacify his friend.

After three months, the sadhu’s cow died. He became so miserable that he did not come out of his kutir for many days. His friend the mussulman wondered what had happened and he came to investigate. He entered the sadhu’s kutir and found him in deep depression. He asked, ‘What has happened to you?’ The sadhu replied, ‘My cow is dead.’ The mussulman remembered how he had been consoled by the sadhu’s wise words when his goat had died, so he said, ‘What if your cow is dead? Every being has to die.’ The sadhu interrupted, ‘Go away from here, I am thinking about my cow and I don’t want to hear your words of wisdom.’ The mussulman replied, ‘But when my goat died, you consoled, me with the same wisdom.’ The mahatma got angry and shouted, ‘That was all right for your goat but this is my cow.’

Developing a new philosophy

You see, this is a very simple thing that we experience every day in our lives. When the sadhu was talking to the mussulman he had a different quality of intellect which he did not have when his cow died. In order to practise detachment or anasakti, you don’t have to abandon karma, the elements or materials. You have only to develop a philosophy, and through that philosophy, you can have a different relationship with everybody. But, to have that philosophy you must have an experience.

You may read the whole of ‘Yoga Vashishta’ but if an accident takes place in your family, you are definitely going to feel it, because the ‘Yoga Vashishta’ has not brought about a fundamental transformation in the structure of your awareness. It has only enlarged the scope of your intellect. At the most you can say, ‘Oh, life is temporary’, but still you will be struck by the disaster. What is required is a transformation in the realm of awareness, anubhuti or experience, and that can be brought about by the practice of dhyana yoga, self-introspection, mantra and similar techniques.

Living as a part time sannyasin

Karma sannyasa is very important for every householder. It is the same as vanaprasthashram. Even if; you are not able to accept the idea of karma sannyasa, you can at least practise it for fifteen days every year. What harm is there if you behave like a sannyasin in your family, if not each day of the year, at least for fifteen , days?

How do you practise it? Sannyasins have a special way of living which was codified in the vedic tradition. Regarding eating, sleeping, walking, friendship, attachments, detachments, attending to deaths, births and marriages, there is a way they have been taught, If a grihastha lives the same life for at least fifteen days in a year, he will understand his grihasthashram and have a greater vision of the life he is leading.

The purpose of grihasthashram

Most people live the life of a householder, not out of respect or because they think this life has some sort of dignity, but because they are under psychological, emotional or social compulsions. If these compulsions were not there, I don’t think we would even like to live this life. That means we do not understand the proper place of grihasthashram in our evolution. Is the life of a householder meant only for wasting the mind on sensual objects? Is it not a stepping stone to realisation? Why was this order created in the Vedas? What was its purpose? Was it progeny? Was it pleasure? Or was it self-realization?

Grihasthashram is a stepping stone. It is not an end in itself. From grihasthashram you should step into vanaprasthashram or what I call karma sannyasa. When should you step into vanaprasthashram? At the age of 56, when you have your first heart attack? Or at the age of 76, when you have been completely squeezed of everything? No, the moment you realise that grihasthashram is the means and not the end, and that within the involvement of life you must develop a deeper and higher, more perpetual, enduring and abiding awareness, immediately get out! Ask your guru for a geru dhoti, a spiritual name, a philosophy to live by and a goal.

Make your life meaningful

A karma sannyasin has a goal. A grihastha has no goal, he’s just living. Provident fund, property, wealth, educated children- they cannot be the goal or the destiny. A karma sannyasin has one goal, not two, and the destination is one. There cannot be two destinations as far as the total cosmic existence is concerned. Every being, sentient or insentient, mobile or immobile, whether vegetable, mineral, mammal, reptile, human, rakshasa or deva, is just moving towards one destination and that is called perfection. That is called poorna or paramatma tattwa. You may call it God, nirvana, vaikuntha or kaivalya, but it means the same thing. Destination is only one, and when that goal is given to you by your guru, you are a karma sannyasin.

When you put on the geru dhoti, remember this colour represents dynamism- dynamism not towards external life, but towards your sadhana, your quest into spiritual life. Geru is the colour of vairagya, dhyana and anasakti, but this colour does not represent your passive psychology. It symbolises your dynamic approach to your goal. You must have two geru dhotis, and when you come back from the office or factory, put away your dress or coat and pants and take your geru.

Transform your mind

If you can’t do this, I have another suggestion. Go to any ashram, not with your family, but alone. Shave your head completely, put on geru, sleep on the floor, eat only once a day, practise complete brahmacharya (in thought, word and deed), and live like a poorna sannyasin- no smoking, no transistor radio, no newspaper, no politics, no business, no market, just one thing- your sadhana. Your guru will tell you what to do- japa, likhit japa, read ‘Yoga Vashishta’ or ‘Bhagavad Gita’, or practise asana. If he doesn’t tell you anything, just work in his kitchen or garden.

Even if you only live the life of a sannyasin for fifteen days, it will enrich you with very deep and abiding experiences, and it will create a new type of mind, personality and man. Then, when you return to grihasthashram, you will see things with different eyes. There may be births and deaths, marriages, conflicts and quarrels, but you will be able to attend to them as a different person.

Accepting a new way of life

When I spoke about karma sannyasa a few years ago, people did not understand it, but now more and more people are beginning to accept this philosophy. What I want is that seekers accept this role. You do not have to wear geru to the office; it is not necessary. When you are a karma sannyasin, you must play the role of a perfect householder and a part time sannyasin.

A philosophy is necessary, a goal is necessary and two geru dhotis are a must. You must also have a spiritual name, because the name your parents have given you relates to your body and to your religion, culture, family and race. But atman has no religion or race and your name should be related to your atman. My name is Swami Satyananda, and the day I took this name, my destiny changed. All that was written in my astrological charts has not come true, not because the astrologer was wrong, but because my whole destiny changed. The moment you enter into a new philosophical area, the moment you begin to assert your spiritual willpower or the moment you get into a new way of thinking, your destiny begins to change.

Karma sannyasa must become the order of the day, and it should revive vanaprastha. Don’t wait until you turn 55 years of age. Even while you are married, in grihasthashram you can be a karma sannyasin.

(Courtesy : Yoga Magazine Feb, 198

If you take a train from Munger to Calcutta, you pass en route a small station called Bolpur Santiniketan. Rabindranath Tagore’s father, Debendranath Tagore, soon after Rabindranath’s birth happened to visit a friend who stayed in a country estate 100 miles out of Calcutta. He had to alight at Bolpur which was the nearest station and proceed in a palanquin. There was nothing very attractive about Bolpur. Then only a smattering of trees, most of the land was devoid of vegetation and was in fact known as a dangerous place inhabited by dacoits. But for Maharishi, as he was called, the open stretches of this place unlike the rest of Bengal which is abundant in vegetation, had a special charm. He was enchanted and sat down under a pair of chhatim trees (saptaparna in Sanskrit) and did his evening meditation. He was filled with peace and after his meditation he decided to immediately purchase the site. He lost no time in doing so and called the place Santiniketan which means abode of peace. He planted the seed and left it for his son, Rabindranath, to nurture with light and energy. The growth of Santiniketan began many years later.

Rabindranath Tagore of Bengali heritage, was born in 1861, a time when many great changes were taking place in India. He was the youngest son of fourteen children, and grew to be a great poet, dramatist, educationalist, philosopher and composer of songs and music. His father, a busy man, was away for long periods of time and used to go into hibernation for at least six months of the year at the foothills of the Himalayas. His mother was fully occupied caring for a large household. “Rabin” they called him was put under the care of a tutor for his studies and servants to look after him.

To keep him out of mischief they drew a chalk circle and threatened him that if he took a step out he would suffer dire consequences. He was trapped like a bird but fortunately, the circle was near a window and he spent that time watching all the people passing to and fro, children playing, women filling their pots from the tank, people and bullocks bathing and he dreamed and dreamed when he would be set free to wander as he wished. In one of his poems he cries out:

“The child who is decked with prince’s robes and who has jewelled chains round his neck loses all pleasure in his play; his dress hampers him at every step. In fear that it may be frayed, or stained with dust he keeps himself from the world, and is afraid even to move.
Mother, it is no gain, thy bondage of finery, if it keeps one shut off from the healthful dust of the earth, if it robs one of the right of entrance to the great fair of common human life.”

The day of release soon dawned. Just after the great occasion of Tagore’s thread ceremony (Upanayan Samskar) his father decided to take him along on one of his travels. Rabi was overjoyed, no more boring lessons, no more school, and he was relieved not to go back there with his shaven head.

They set off and one of the first places they visited was Santiniketan. Maharishi was not a strict father, he loved Rabi and wanted him to grow and develop totally in mind and body. He had to rise before dawn and chant Sanskrit slokas together with his father. Then after breakfast he was made to read Bengali and English, but the rest of the day he was free to do as he liked. He wandered alone here and there tracing and drawing patterns in the soft sand and he felt as if he had the whole universe to tread on. In the evening his father used to teach him about the stars and the myths associated with them. Because his father enjoyed music and Rabi had a beautiful voice, he sang for him every evening.

This journey which took him up to the foothills of the Himalayas had such a profound effect on his young mind that it was like a lotus slowly awakening in a still pond. He was not only able to watch the dance of nature at a distance, but to partake of it, to feel and touch and listen. He felt such a tremendous joy; why can’t everyone feel and experience it, why aren’t we all living side by side with nature and speaking and learning from her like our Rishis? Why must young children spend their sunlit energy memorising facts and figures, cramming for examinations, sitting for hours and hours in a classroom, listening to the drone of the teacher’s voice, being shouted at and attacked if not paying attention? Is learning only this much? An environment like this would certainly hinder their growth, they would never be able to think freely, to stand up and shout and dance and swing on the trees, to stretch their arms and embrace the fresh morning air.

These questions forced him away from the city and the world to Santiniketan where he started his ashram with four young students initially. They were awakened before dawn by songs of Tagore’s own composition. Then morning duties and classes under the trees. Even today, classes are being held under the trees, and there is an abundance of trees now.

Tagore loved the children. They were so much a part of himself- their simplicity and innocence, their joys and love of life, their energy, filled his soul with happiness.

“On the seashore of endless worlds children meet.
They build their houses with sand and they
play with empty shells. With withered leaves
they weave their boats and smilingly float them on the vast deep.
Children have their play on the seashore of worlds.
They know not how to cast nets. Pearl fishers
dive for pearls, merchants sail in their ships,
while children gather pebbles and scatter them again.
They seek not for hidden treasures, they know not how to cast nets.
On the seashore of endless worlds is the great meeting of children.”

Tagore loved teaching them. When inspired, he would break into song and verse and would get the children to enact during the class his drama, thought of on the spur of the moment. Consequently, his classes filled the children with delight and they were never restrained. Sometimes instead of a class if they wished to climb the trees he allowed them to; and what better way is there for children to learn botany? By observing, climbing, feeling with hands and feet, discovering the footholds of the trees, the natural seats and head rests, eating the fruit and breaking open the seed, replanting it and watching it grow again. Nature is such a wonderful teacher. The different kinds of soil, what they contain, why some plants grow in one kind and others do not, how each of them differ and has its own identity. Then the incredible animal kingdom, the butterflies, ants and bees. What a busy life they lead! An endless process of learning! Tagore believed learning should not stop after a degree or a job but the wonder and quest for understanding should never cease. Nothing remains static, everything evolves slowly and silently; we only have to watch and listen. No true learner will ever stop, will ever want to stop, unless he transcends all the visible and invisible barriers that exist.

Rabindranath laid great stress on the arts and felt music and art was the best way for children to lose all inhibitions and express themselves spontaneously. Tagore saw that his students imbibed a strong tradition and developed their own culture and also took them beyond its confines, away from their superstitious beliefs in order to make them think freely and openly. Tagore wished that all the doors of their mind would be opened and wanted a meeting of the internal and external to take place. One of his very famous poems reads:

“Where the mind is without fear and head is held high,
Where knowledge is free,
Where words come out from the depth of truth,
Where the world has not been broken up into
fragments by narrow domestic walls;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost
its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by Thee into
ever-widening thought and action-
Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let
my country awake.”

Rabindranath Tagore had to face many trying times, such as financial problems, and being an unusual school, people found his ideas and philosophy of education absurd. Many moments he despaired and wondered how much more he had to work for the fulfilment of his dream.

One evening, while he was sitting on the balcony at the point of total despair, he was suddenly transfixed at the sight in front of him. The sun was just dropping down below the horizon; the evening was absolutely still, not even the sound of leaves rustling- everything rested silently in the twilight. Rabindranath looked at his ashram lying below and stopped worrying about its future and the problems and let his whole being float in harmony with the evening. Tagore thought, “Why should I worry about Santiniketan? Can I fashion and shape its future? Who am I? Is there not a greater force more gigantic and brilliant than me? I am nothing. Let my ego dissolve into thin air and vanish completely from this earth…………

“He whom I enclose with my name is weeping in this dungeon. I am ever busy building this wall all around; and as this wall goes up into the sky day by day I lose sight of my true being in its dark shadow.

I take pride in this great wall, and I plaster it with dust and sand lest the least hole should be left in this name; and for all the care I take, I lose sight of my true being.” This was Tagore’s reminder till the end of his life.

Tagore allowed Santiniketan to take its own course. Today it is a very big university and perhaps it had to go that way. But one can’t say that his ideology and spirit do not still exist. It is there on the lips of hundreds of young boys and girls who sing his songs daily. Tagore and every great person have left the way open for us. Why should it end with their death? Sometimes we come to a standstill and can’t decide in which direction to proceed. We only have to look at the great seers and sages gone by- their teachings and inspiration. Their perception of the whole man was incredible. They went deep inside themselves searching for light and truth. A time comes in every man’s life when he yearns for that experience, for that illumination. It is a difficult way and We surrender too easily to failure……

“At last, when I woke from my slumber and
opened my eyes, I saw thee standing by me,
flooding my sleep with thy smile.
How I had feared that the path was long and
wearisome and the struggle to reach thee was hard!”

Rabindranath Tagore was certainly a great yogi, even though he did not set any store by the science of yoga. We, on the other hand, who are not like Tagore and other great sages, need yoga to take us step by step deep down within. If we want to understand the mind and soul of mankind we have to begin with ourselves first and then only everything else- the whole universe is revealed…………

“Have you not heard his silent steps?
He comes, comes, ever comes.
Every moment and every age, every day and
every night he comes, comes, ever comes……..”

(Courtesy : Yoga Magazine, Feb, 1983)

Can we balance our children through relaxation? Some teachers have tried it. Knowing that the child’s capacity for listening is closely related to his physical and emotional state and that restlessness grows year by year among the students, these teachers did not hesitate to shorten their class for the benefit of practising a few easy relaxation exercises.

Result: their pupils learn and express much more easily. If your children do not have this opportunity at school, you can teach them to relax at home even without ever having practised these exercises yourself. Only take care to adjust the instructions to the level of the child and do not force his attention for more than ten minutes.

Here are four exercises inspired by yoga. Each exercise has a particular quality.

Concentration before the effort

First is a famous exercise which has been adopted by countless American business men. Elbows are on the table, hands cupped in front of the eyes. Breathe in deeply and slowly breathe out. Practise twelve times. Evoke in the child a landscape or place that he likes. Let him imagine that he is there, one with the trees, mountains, sea or sky.

Attention and imagination

Place an object in front of the child. Eyes are motionless but without tension. Let him look at the object for 30 seconds. Then, with closed eyes, encourage him to see the object clearly. Then for a second time, let him look at the object in detail with open eyes.

Inner peace of mind

This exercise is based on listening to sounds. Lying, or better, sitting with the back straight and eyes closed. Ask the child to breathe six times, repeating mentally at the same time the word ‘peace’ or ‘relaxation’ at the end of each breath. Then, make him listen to the noises first in the distance, in the street, then in the house, in the room, but without trying to interpret them. A different way to practise for smaller children is to produce three different sounds, for example, those of crumpled paper, a click of a ball pen and the sound of a step (when someone walks). Then ask them in which order the sounds were produced.

Relaxation before sleeping

With the child lying down, name the different parts of the body which he has to feel without moving. Start with the thumb of the right hand, move up the arm and then down the right side to the toes. Practise the same way for the left side of the body. Finish with the head. Then suggest visualisation of pleasant pictures to imagine.

(Courtesy : Yoga Magazine, Feb, 1983)

It is not difficult to trace the origin of the other branches of hatha yoga like asanas, pranayama, dhyana etc. to Smritis, Puranas, Tantras and Yoga Upanishads etc., but the same is not discernible with regard to its purificatory processes. No doubt, the word ‘shatkarmas’ occurs in the tantric texts like Yogini Tantra, but there it is purely indicative of tantric practices such as santi, vasikarna, stambhana etc. (*1) having no link at all with yogic kriyas. Great wonder, the sole authority on raja yoga, Patanjali, and even his prominent commentators, nowhere refer to shatkarmas. Though considering vyadhi (*2) as the first and foremost of psycho-physiological disturbances (chitta viksepa), instead of suggesting any purificatory practice for its removal, Patanjali Yoga Darshana (PYD) recommends a purely spiritual-cum-psychological aid – the isvara pranidhana (*3), for this purpose. So much so, the scrupulous cleanliness (sauca) (*4), the strict yogic observance, has the least connection with shatkarmas, albeit later commentators on PYD like Narayana Tirtha (*5) have willfully and intentionally endeavoured to prove so, which effort is farfetched and imposed indeed.

One wonders, why even the works attributed to the father of hatha yoga Goraksha Natha, miss these significant kriyas which, in fact, are part and parcel of hatha yoga. Similarly, an important treatise on Gita, which has greatly been influenced and coloured by hatha yogic thoughts, the Jnanesvari and for that matter even the main Yoga Upanishads, are silent about shatkriyas. Yet, it is true that these practices are quite old. For instance, the technique of ghrit neti, as exists these days, appears to be as old as the buddhistic era. A famous physician of that age, Jivika, employed some practice of the kind to cure the fatal nasal-cum-head disease of a renowned merchant’s wife (*6). At a place in Siva Samhita (SS), (*7) there is a slight passing reference to dhauti prakshalana, though in a derogatory sense. In Siddha-Siddhanta-Paddhati (SSP), (*8) we find mention of shankhaprakshalana but again in a reproaching style. In Yogiyajnavalkya (YY), (*9) as well, a practice somewhat similar to trataka has been enlisted. Hatharatnavali and Hathasamhita, as quoted in Vacaspatyam (*10), refer to a few shatkarmic processes but these works are quite recent. For the first time in hatha yoga history, it is only in the Gheranda Samhita (GS) (*11) and Hatha Yoga Samhita (HYS) (*12) that shatkarmas find their rightful place, i.e. as the first aid to yoga. Hatha Pradipika (HP) (*13) though, recognises the value of shatkarmas but refrains from assigning them any independent position. Shatkarma-Sangraha (*14), no doubt describes a good many purificatory exercises, but the work itself is not very old.

These practices appear in and not before HYP, GS and HYS. Maybe, these existed in the olden times too, but being directly transmittable only in the secret guru/ disciple tradition; or because they were not absolutely obligatory, remained unrecorded in the old texts. Nonetheless, in order to solve this historical riddle, we must not confine ourselves merely to the yogic studies, but should have a peep into the ayurvedic works as well. Impartially speaking, ayurveda (which is as old as Chakra and Susruta) has certainly influenced and consequently contributed a good deal to the hatha yoga school. For instance, in case of bodily imbalances and diseases, hatha yoga has fully accepted the ayurvedic theory of tridosha in principle and practice. To quote a single example, while enumerating the benefits of dhauti-karma (*15), HYP guarantees that this practice cures twenty kapha diseases. But it does not name or elaborate on those diseases, therefore one has to look back to the ayurvedic texts (*16). It is similar with other ailments described at random.

So far as the original source of shatkarmas is concerned, it would be genuine to admit that hatha yoga has picked them from the panchakarmas of ayurveda, since both the systems employ them for the cleansing and purification of internal organs, especially the alimentary canal. The ayurvedic panchakarmas namely vamana (vomiting), virecana (purgative), basti (enema) and nasyam (nasal therapy) (*17) have good parallels in hatha yoga like vamana (dhauti), varisara (*19), basti (*20) and neti kriya (*21). But this similarity cannot be carried further, for we should not forget that in the methods of their performance, both systems vary a great deal from each other. Further, while yogis use only pure water and air for such irrigations, the panchakarmas prescribe medicated solutions instead (*22). Then the other difference, the yogis generally practise them daily for hygienic and preventive purposes, whereas ayurvedic panchakarmas are resorted to only as therapeutic measures when necessary (*23).

To record more contrast, shatkarmas help in the thorough and perfect washing of the internal organs, and impart massage and exercise to the organs, thereby increasing their tenacity and activity. Furthermore, once learned from an expert, they can be independently used without fear.

Nevertheless, shatkarmas, in line with other hatha yogic branches have the spiritual end in view (*24). For example, neti destroys kapha-doshas, and is said to bestow clairvoyance (*25) (divya drishti) and to facilitate khechari, which on perfection would lead to unmani- a higher end equated with raja yoga, advaita or sahajavastha. Karna-dhauti (*26), a physical practice for cleansing the ears, enables the practitioner to hear the mystical internal sounds (nadas) which are produced in sushumna after nadi shuddhi and ultimately culminates in manolaya, leading to emancipation. Trataka (*27), the eliminator of all eye diseases, induces divya drishti and helps towards sambhavi mudra, which on perfection makes the sadhaka one with Brahma. Varisara (*28) is said to transform the body into the divine form, whereas basti (*29) not only cleanses the rectum but invigorates the sense organs thereby bringing serenity of mind. The same is true of other yogic practices. Ayurvedic panchakarmas, on the other hand, do not help in spiritual elevation. Even then, we have to conclude that hatha yogic shatkarmas have their origins in the ayurvedic panchakarmas and not vice-versa, as some scholars think. This conclusion becomes more authentic when we observe the yogic purificatory practices from a historical angle.

* 1. Yogini Tantra, Edt. Kanhaiya Lal Misra, Pub. Laxmi Venkatesvara Press, Bombay, Samuat 2016 – ‘Santivasyastambhnani vidvesoccatane tatha. Mararam paramesani satkarmedam prakirtitam. (1.4.3.)
* 2. Patanjala Yogadarshana (PYD) 1.30.
* 3. Ibid 1.23-29.
* 4. Cf. PYD 2.32; Yogiyajnavalkya (YY), Edt. & Pub. Ramachandra Sarma, Sanatana Dharma Press, Muradabada, 1st Ed. Samvat 1994, 1.68; Trisikhibrahmanopanisad 2.33; Darsanopanisad 1.6, 20-22; Varahopanishad 5.13; Sandilyopanisad 1.14; (in ‘Yoga Upanishads, Edt. Pandit A. Mahadev Sastri, Pub. The Adyar Library, Madras, 1920); The Hatha Yoga Pradipika (HYP), Edt. & Trans. Pancham Singh, Pub. Bhuvanesvari Asrama, Bahadurganj, Allahabad, 2nd Ed. 1932, 1.17.
* 5. Cf. Yoga Siddhanta Candrika (on PYD 2.28), Pub. Chowkhamba Sanskrit Book Depot, Benares, 1911 – ‘Athava yoganganam dhautivastityadi satkarma-nam … anusthanad drdhabhyasajjnana dipti.’
* 6. The Mahavavagga, Edt. Bhikkhu J. Kashyap, Pub. Pali Publication Board, Bihar Govt., Nalanda, 1956- ‘……atha kho jivako komarabhacco tarn pastam saghim janabhesajjehi nippcitva setthibhariyam mancake uttanam nipjjapetva natthuto adasi. Atha kho tam sappim natthuto dinnam mukhto ugganchi. (8.2 Lines 12-14)
* 7. Siva Samhita (SS), Edt. Rai Bahdur Srisa Chandra Vidyarnava, Pub. The Panini Office, Bahadurganj, Allahabad, 1923; 5.5.
* 8. Siddha Siddhanta Paddhati and other works (SSP), Edt. Kalyani Mallik, Pub. Poona Oriental Book House, Poona, 1954; 6.9.
* 9. YY. 6.65
* 10. Vacaspatyam (V.), Vol. VI, Edt. Taranatha Tarkavacaspati, Pub. The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Varanasi, 1962; PP. 5401-2.
* 11. Gheranda Samhita (GS), Edt. & Trans. Srisa Chandra Vasu, Pub. Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, 1933; 1.9-10; also Gheranda Samhita (GS,K), Edt. Swami Digambarji and Dr. M.L. Gharote, Pub. Kaivalyadham, Lona-vala, 1978, 1.9-10.
* 12. Hatha Yoga Samhita, Edt. Vivekananda, Pub. Shri Bharti Dharma Maha Mandal Office, Banaras, (Kashi), 1921; P.3, V.l.
* 13. Hatha Pradipika (HP) of Svatmarama, Edt. & Trans. Swami Digambarji & Pub. Raghunatha Shastri Kokaje, Pub. Kaivalyadhama, Lonavala, 1970; 2.21, 38.
* 14. Satkarmasangrahah (SKS), Edt. R.G. Harshe Pub. Kaivalyadhama, 1970; V. 15-23.
* 15. HP 2.25 – ‘Kasasvasaplihakustam kapharogasca vimsatih, dhautikarmaprabhavena prayantyeva na samsayah.
* 16. The Charaka Samhita of Agnivesa, Edt. Dr. Ganga Sahaya Pandeya, (Part I), Pub. The Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office, Varanasi, 1961; 1.20.17- ‘Slesmavikaramsca vimsatimata urdhvam vyakh-yasyamah, tadyathatrptisca, tandra ca, nidra-dhikyam ca, staimityam ca, gurugatrata ca, alasyamca, mukhamadhuryam ca, mukhasravasca……svetamutrane travarcastvam ca iti vimsatih slesma vikarah. Also Cp. Sarangadhara Samhita, Pub. Pandit Pustakalaya, Kashi, 1950; 1.7.119-122.
* 17. Cp. Sarangadhara Samhita 3.8.64 – ‘Vamanam recanam nasyam niruhamanuvasnam, etani pancakarmani kathitani munisvaraih.’ Also Cp. Bhava Prakasa, Edt. Saligrama Vaisya. Sri Venkatesvara Steam Press, Bombay, Samvat 1918 – ‘Prathamam vamanam pascadvirekascanuvasa-nam, etani pancakarmani niruhao navanam tatha. (P. 428) Also for virecana, see Chakra Samhita 1.15f, Susruta Samhita, Edt. Narayana Rama Acarya Kavyatirtha, Publ. Nirnaya Sagar Press, Bombay, 1945; 4.33f; Astangasamgrahah, Edt. Ganesh Shastri Tarte, Bombay, 1888; 1.27; for vamana: Charaka Samhita 1.15f; 7.1.5, 12, 14, 15; Susmta S. 2.34f; Yoga Ratnakar P. 150; Astanga Hrdayam 1.18; for basti- Charaka Samhita 8.1.27f, 8.3.8f; Susruta 2.35-37, 4.35-38; Astanga Hrdayam 1.19; Astanga Samgrahah 1.28, 5.4-6; for nasyam- Charaka Samhita 1.5.56-63; Susruta 2.40.20f, 4.40; Astanga Hrdayam 1.20; Yoga Ratnakar P. 154; Astanga Samgrahah 1.29.
* 18. GS. 1.39; HYS P. 10, V. 29; HP. 2.26; SKS. V. 92-94.
* 19. GS. 1.17-19; HYS. P. 5, V. 6-7; SKS. V. 87-91, 96.
* 20. GS. 1.45-49; HYS. P. 11-12, V. 35-39; SKS. V. 132-147.
* 21. HP. 2.30; GS. 1.50-51; also Cp. Vyutkrama and sitkrama GS. 1.58-59; HYS. P. 12-13, V. 40-41 & PP. 14-15, V. 48-49; SKS. V. 42-48, 55, 67-69.
* 22. Cp. (YH) Yoga Hygiene Simplified by Shri Yogendra, Pub. The Yoga Institute, Santa Cruz, Bombay, 1980.
* 23. Ibid,
* 24. Cp. GS(K), Intr. P. xi; Yoga Mimamsa (YM), Kaivalyadham, Vol. IX.2.PP.6-7.
* 25. GS. 1.51; HYS. P. 13, V. 41; for unmani, raja yoga etc. Cp. PIP. 4.3, 4, 47.
* 26. GS. 1.33; HYS. P. 9, V. 23; for nada also HP. 4.68.
* 27. GS. 1.54; HYS. P. 13, V. 44; for sambhavi also GS. 3.67.
* 28. GS. 1.18; HYS. P. 5, V. 7.
* 29. H.P. 2.29.

(Courtesy : Yoga Magazine, Jan, 1983)

Recently, medical scientists have found an important connection between the reproductive metabolism and the heart. Excessive and uncontrolled levels of the male hormone testosterone in the blood are correlated with a preponderance of such traits as over-assertiveness, acquisitiveness and latent or overt aggression which characterize the cardiac personality, the type most prone to a sudden heart attack. Research has revealed the existence of specific receptor sites for this hormone in the Myocardial tissue of the heart, and also in the walls of the larger blood vessels, and it is now felt that Myocardial damage is induced by testosterone accumulation at these sites.

Heart attack is far more frequent in men than in women, up to the age of the menopause, but beyond that, the incidence between both sexes is similar. This strongly suggests that the female hormonal environment bestows a natural protection for the feminine heart whereas the male heart is endangered by excessive circulating levels of male hormones. In order to combat this, the masculine emotional and sexual metabolism has to be controlled. For this purpose we recommend the practice of meditation in siddhasana, where the lower heel exerts pressure in the area of the prostate gland in the region of the perineal floor, and the upper heel is against the pubic bone, above the root of the generative organ.

This posture stabilizes the two lower psychic centres- mooladhara chakra and swadhisthana chakra, redirecting prana upwards towards the higher centres. Blockage of energy within these two centres is responsible for many health problems and also poses a barrier which has to be crossed in spiritual life. Mooladhara is the root centre in which an infinite source of pranic energy lies dormant and asleep, while swadhisthana is the centre responsible for the sexual and emotional metabolism in which our psychic energy most spontaneously manifests itself. When our emotional life does not extend beyond this plane, blood pressure and cardiac function remain unstable and our role and purpose in life remains ill-defined and unclear. There is an ‘ache’ in the heart which never knows the experience of constancy, beyond the fickle and transitory emotional feelings. But the higher experiences of the human heart and mind remain impenetrable unless the energy can be stabilized and led up into the higher centres of consciousness. In this sense, heart diseases can be considered an evolutionary malady, where we suffer due to our bondage on the emotional plane, while our being aches to experience the constancy of human life which arises when emotional attachments and aversions have been transcended.

Siddhasana is the posture which is recommended by Dr. Christian Barnard, the heart transplant surgeon, to stabilize cardiac function in his patients. We have found that it proves most beneficial when learned during the late teens or early twenties, when the emotional and sexual drives and passions are likely to be unruly. At that time, siddhasana is found to rectify problems such as excessive nocturnal emission. If followed throughout life it bestows protection from emotional ravages and stabilizes the passions, preventing later cardiac demise. The heart is protected when there is neither suppression of, nor anarchical expression of the emotional complexes. The key to preservation of the heart lies in controlled expression of our desires, instincts and drives and this is learned by following the precepts and practices of yoga throughout the different stages of life. By incorporating some asanas, pranayama and meditation into the daily program from an early age, the penalty of an overtaxed heart is avoided in middle age, and the emotions are channelled and expressed in a more creative way throughout life.

The central role of cholesterol should be understood. This fatty substance is the precursor from which the sex hormones are synthesized by the gonads and the adrenal glands. It is also required in the production of the spermatozoa by the testes, along with other fatty protein complexes known as lipoproteins. These are needed to provide the structural requirements of the sperms, and also to provide the machinery which gives every sperm such an enormous energetic and motile capacity.

If the emotional and reproductive metabolism is unruly and uncontrolled then the turnover of new sperms must occur at a rapid rate and an enormous amount of energy must be constantly provided to synthesize these replacement sperms. As a result a high level of cholesterol and protein is necessary, and this usually comes from dietary sources. This necessitates a high protein and fat diet, and demands that the physiological systems of digestion and cell synthesis operate at a very high rate, pushing up the metabolic rate and basal temperature in the process. Strain on the heart, the digestive organs such as the liver, and the eliminatory organs such as kidneys, bowels and sweat glands, is inevitable. Excessive wear and tear on the physiological systems is the end result and cardiac strain is one foremost effect.

Clearly the emotional metabolism must be stabilized if the body is to be preserved. This can be attained by the twin approach of dietary regulation, where a decreased protein and fat intake is recommended, coupled with the growth of self-knowledge, self-expression and self-control, which develops by following the royal path of yoga in the midst of the various worldly confrontations and difficulties. These measures are the best insulators against heart disease in the community as a whole.

In this regard, it is not enough to simply follow the precepts of a traditional religion. While this may provide a degree of mental and emotional security, it is actually suppressive and anti-evolutionary, for it does not allow us to come to terms with the emotional and instinctual factors of our nature directly. Traditional religions offer only precepts and concepts, but yoga offers psycho-physiological practices which channel emotional energy correctly. The key to an enlightened emotional and sexual life, free of mental conflicts and physiological exhaustion lies in the practice of yoga techniques in conjunction with our normal daily life experiences. Yoga does not require renunciation, but leads its practitioner to a fuller enjoyment of every aspect of life. The experiences of life should be enjoyed and understood if we are to progress and evolve. Blind adherence to dogmas only blocks this evolutionary process, leading to mental illness and physical disease, but yoga offers the sublime way to fully appreciate life and complete our evolutionary journey.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, March, 1981)

What is the yogic approach to cardiac patients and to heart disorders in general?

Well, the yogic management of the diseased heart is slightly different from that devised by the medical scientists, but in my experience, both systems can be used in conjunction for the patient’s benefit. As you know, many yoga experts in India have appeared publicly from time to time and stopped the heart completely for some minutes, hours or even for many days. In earlier times, people either witnessed these events or believed in them, but in recent years, such feats as burial underground followed by resurrection have been carried out in the presence of physiologists and cardiac physicians, using laboratory monitoring equipment, and the results have been validated scientifically and widely publicized in medical journals and newspapers in India and other countries.

The clinical definition of death is stoppage of the heart for three minutes or more and a death certificate is issued on that basis. But these experiments on yogis have shown conclusively that the human heart can be voluntarily stopped and then induced to function again after more prolonged time periods, as a result of yogic training.

How is this relevant for cardiac patients?

In the first place, it leads to the conclusion that the heart is not an independent organ failing of its own accord, and that heart disease is an effect or result of an imbalance or loss of control occurring elsewhere. Where then does heart disease originate from? Surely, it is in the brain, where specific vasomotor centres have been isolated which control the rate, intensity and regularity of the coronary impulses. Therefore if someone is suffering from cardiac arrhythmia (uncontrolled, irregular heart beat), angina (pain due to cardiac insufficiency) or a slowly failing heart, we should really say that he has some malfunction in the coronary control centres of the brain, rather than something fundamentally and irreversibly wrong with the heart itself.

The most important factor leading to derangement in the coronary impulses emerging from the brain is a prolonged, excessive build up of anxiety and emotional conflict arising in domestic, marital or employment situations, coupled with a high level of subconscious intra-psychic stress arising from deeper unresolved and suppressed conflicts and memories from childhood and early life experiences. These cause fear and insecurity whenever they bubble up to the surface of the mind. When deep feelings of anger, competitiveness, jealousy, aggression, rejection and so on are not vented but are denied expression and suppressed back within the mind, the cardiac impulse becomes unsteady. This occurs when that tension and strain is relayed down to the heart as an excessive level of sympathetic nervous activity. As a result, the heart strains and labours excessively, and heart strain and failure is the end result. Therefore, our mental and emotional metabolism is directly reflected in the performance of our hearts, and this is why in yogic therapy we approach the problem here at its roots, whereas medical science, which focuses more upon the heart itself, relies on long term drug therapy to bolster up the failing heart mechanism, with little reference to the underlying causes on the mental and emotional planes.

If a yogi can stop and restart the heart through specific psycho-physiological training, then surely a cardiac sufferer can learn to recognize and gain control over the anxiety generating mental patterns which are constantly throwing his own heart mechanisms into revolt and disarray. We have found that lasting cardiac relief cannot be gained while the load of environmental and intra-psychic stresses remain suppressed and unresolved.

Approaching heart disease in this way, we follow a yogic treatment program which has proved tremendously effective for cardiac sufferers. Initiation into these practices of yoga brings immediate relief to the cardiac patient, and a new awareness of his situation soon emerges. He begins to recognize and understand his problem more objectively, in the light of this relaxation, as confidence in his ability to relax his mind is gained. By going beyond the constructive confines of his mental anguish into a refreshing realm of relaxation, a new, more joyful person begins to emerge spontaneously, confident of his abilities to live. He no longer feels confined in an impossible predicament in which he is estranged from his own failing heart, but sees that the root cause is his own thinking, and that he possesses the power to heal his own heart and mind through yoga.

Can you tell us briefly the yoga practices you use?

Yes, of course. First and foremost are the practices of yogic relaxation, but they must be administered by a skilled yoga therapist. This is because it is the whole concept of relaxation through yoga which must be conveyed to the sufferer, who is often completely beset by fears about his heart, his family, business and so many other things. It is an experience which has to be conveyed and then mastered by the sufferer himself so that he can confidently short circuit the enormous load of anxiety he carries with him, and enter into a more relaxed state of being. In some countries, yoga teachers prescribe yoga nidra and pranayama, while strictly avoiding asana, but in our Indian ashrams the approach is not like that. We prefer to teach these patients more dynamic methods of relaxation.

Yoga nidra is a wonderful relaxation practice, but it is a passive one. We prefer the practice of nada yoga, where you are aware of the mantra or sound and just that. You concentrate on the sound, tracing it to its source. As you know, sound vibration has a very powerful influence upon the mind because it is appreciated and understood at a purely intuitive, feeling level, without any intellectual analysis. In fact, it effectively renders the intellect incapable of its normal operation, and in a fearful, neurotic and tense mind this brings an instant release of tension which is soothing, relaxing and totally absorbing. Different mantras have different effects on the mind and the psychic centres, including the heart, and there is a whole science which can be applied very effectively.

Nada yoga can be practised from shavasana, and the musical scales of a harmonium can be used. The patient just lies down quietly, free of all restrictions, such as shoes, tie, tight belt etc, with lightly closed eyes and mouth. The legs of the patient should be a little elevated, so as to promote the return of the circulating blood to the heart. In this way the deepest experience of physical, mental, emotional and cardiac relaxation is experienced. An alternative is for the instructor to chant the mantra Om, asking the patient to let go of ail preconceptions and ideas and just follow the sound, absorbing himself within its vibration.

I have said that we do not teach pranayama, but I should qualify this. We do not teach conventional pranayama, but we definitely make use of the breath as a vehicle of relaxation. Our approach is that there is never any question of straining, withholding or resisting the breath. Rather, the patient learns to make friends with the spontaneous inflowing and out flowing breath, but makes no effort to control it in any way. He only witnesses it effortlessly, and gradually he chooses as his best vantage point the navel, which rises and falls spontaneously with the breathing cycle. No strain should be generated, but navel awareness grows gradually. This is found to automatically alter the filling pattern of the lobes of the lungs, and the chambers of the heart, and respiration becomes deeper and more efficient spontaneously. The heart rate slows and the cardio-respiratory efficiency increases automatically. This is a vital step for many anxious cardiac patients, firstly because they are often fast, shallow breathers, unconsciously confining the breath to the chest cavity, in parallel with their cardiac anxiety. This practice effectively unties the physiological, psychological and psychic knot in the heart region, where it has often been confined for many anxious years. Again, great relief is experienced.

Another practice we use is known as brahmari. This is actually both a pranayama and a practice of nada yoga which is practised in a sitting position. In the scriptures, the heart centre is termed ‘the centre of un-struck sound’ and also as ‘the cave of bees’. In brahmari pranayama the humming sound of the bees is produced and traced towards its source. This produces deep mental and emotional relaxation and is extremely effective in cardiac disorders and in other diseases characterized by a high level of mental tension, such as epilepsy and asthma. However it must be learned correctly, because the whole process is very subtle. It is a process of inner absorption into the humming sound, which is produced with very gentle exhalation. The practice must take place effortlessly, without any strain to prolong the vibration unduly, or to make it loud. It should be spontaneous and it can be very soft. It is essentially an internal sound, and when the ears are blocked with the fingers, the patient is instructed to follow the inner vibration and discover its source.

Many doctors are very timorous about prescribing postures for cardiac patients. What is your experience?

I believe asanas can have an important part to play in restoration of cardiac function. They are very valuable, but of course one has to use common-sense and have some experience. For example, even the patient who has just endured a Myocardial infarction will gain relief if his legs are slightly elevated on a pillow so as to enhance venous drainage to the failing heart and that posture is known as uttan padasana. In his subsequent recovery, the pawanmuktasana series is a very simple way of promoting the circulation of blood and lymphatic fluid to the heart. In the beginning it will be no more than the movement of toes and ankles, but if practised with relaxed awareness, such simple exercises provide relief for the mind and comfort for the spirit. It is not just a matter of their physical effects. Of course, there should be no strain. After all, asanas are for enjoyment, and a few of them should be practised daily by everybody according to their needs and capacities. Cardiac patients are not exceptions, and they should not be excluded from these practices.

You have to remember that heart disease is a general term which includes many degrees of incapacity. We have been talking about the acute infarction situation, but yoga has a lot to offer those with long term cardiac disabilities such as angina, drug-controlled heart failure, arrhythmia, scarred Myocardial muscle from a prior infarct. Every case is slightly different, but they have in common a constant and fearful awareness that the heart is vulnerable, and usually so many precautions and restrictions have been recommended. Some doctors insist that asanas and regular exercise be avoided by this group, but I feel that this only serves to sustain the cardiac neurosis.

For example, in angina, it is our experience that an immediate improvement is experienced if we completely remove the patient from the family circumstances and situations. The family problems and business problems hurt the patient very much. They are far more important in causing angina than is physical effort. Emotional factors are more significant but they are underrated in medical circles, while the restrictions on effort and exercise are excessive. So we first change the environment. In our experience a few weeks in a yoga ashram provides the ideal setting for recovery and rehabilitation of such cardiac conditions. Here, the patient is instructed first in pawanmuktasana, a series of light exercises involving every part of the body. He learns both the anti-rheumatic and anti-gastric series, perfecting them carefully and in a relaxed, enjoyable manner which allows yogic self-awareness to develop spontaneously. Only a few of the more dynamic exercises are excluded from the program, and relaxation in shavasana is incorporated as a matter of course, so that the state of physical and mental relaxation can soon be effortlessly attained by the patient alone. This is an important step in cardiac disorders, because the cardiac personality is very often the tense, ambitious and aggressive one to whom relaxation in its deeper sense is an unknown experience.

Then major asanas are taught, beginning with the vajrasana series, and few limitations or restrictions are imposed. They perform matsyasana, bhujangasana, dhanurasana and so on, but in the beginning they usually avoid sarvangasana and paschimottanasana. Only the teaching must be correct. The postures are for relaxation and enjoyment, not to stress and strain the system, nor to compete or compare with anyone else. Nor do we impose severe restrictions on pranayama, but kumbhaka and bandhas are avoided. Nadi shodhana pranayama is practised with the breath just slightly deeper than normal. Bhastrika and kapalbhati are not contra-indicated, but they must be learned subtly and correctly. This is very important.

Do the cleansing kriyas of hatha yoga play any role in cardiac management?

Jala neti is a simple and refreshing practice which releases blocked energy from the autonomic nerve centres in the region of the hypothalamus and the eyebrow centre (ajna chakra) where psychic tension accumulates. Therefore, we recommend it daily for cardiac patients. In general, kunjal and shankhaprakshalana are avoided in the beginning, not because they are not beneficial, but because these practices, which demand that a large volume of saline water be taken into the body, can compromise the fluid and electrolyte balance of such patients. Certainly a patient with some degree of long standing circulatory failure, who is taking diuretic medications to help the kidneys eliminate excessive body fluid, is recommended to avoid these kriyas.

Sometimes, we find that chronic constipation and overtaxing of the digestive organs has been a major predisposing factor in genesis of the patient’s present cardiac condition, and then it may be necessary to practise laghoo shankhaprakshalana (short form of intestinal cleansing). In this situation we use warm water with very little salt added and we supervise the patient very closely to avoid adverse reactions.

If you have an angina patient in your ashram, Is he personally attended or placed in a class situation?

As a rule, we have only individual classes. Placing two heart patients together in a class is not the best arrangement, because I believe that even though the name of the disease may be the same for two persons, their backgrounds, personalities and levels of physical resistance are never identical. For this reason, the yoga teacher has to deal with each patient individually.

Many people claim that by following the precepts of natural diet their cardiac health is assured. Is this enough?

It is not enough to seek to preserve cardiac health by dietary regulation alone. This is only part of the picture, because cardiac health depends on mental and emotional factors, as well as dietary ones. Here lies the mistake of many people who place undue emphasis on diet alone. Deeper blockages which demand release can be transcended only by following the spiritual discipline of meditation. To follow the natural life is commendable, but to really evolve beyond personal limitations and inadequacies, yoga is also necessary.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, February, 1981)