Swami Satyananda Saraswati
Given at the Dublin Convention on 23rd Sept.

We have heard a lot about the new frontiers of consciousness, about prana and kundalini, about energy, limited and unlimited. But do we really understand how to utilise this knowledge; how to make it a reality, an experience in our life? Today people are no longer content with concepts. They want realisation, and so it is to the science and practices of kundalini yoga that they must turn.

In kundalini yoga, the highest practice that has been designed for the evolution of the human body, brain and mind, is kriya yoga. Of course, even if you do not practise kriya yoga, or if you do not practise yoga at all, the evolution that is spontaneous and natural will continue to take place, but before that, millions of years would have passed.

Evolution is an automatic process and every being, every item of creation, is subject to it. Nobody is exempt from it. Therefore, the great rishis and seers investigated and discovered the laws of evolution and designed the practices of kriya yoga in order to accelerate this process.

Kriya yoga is a series of practices in which you do not bother about the mind, about the stability of the body or whether you can sit in the lotus posture or not. By means of the practices you create a base in the physical body through which you can stimulate the higher areas of consciousness.

These practices are most ancient and at one time they were known to all people in the world. The gurus initiated disciples, and the disciples passed the knowledge on from tradition to tradition, through generation after generation, and people practised them in privacy.

The kriya practices aim at expansion of the mind and liberation of energy. The two principles known in life, and in body and mind, are Shiva and Shakti, consciousness and energy. Matter is a form of energy and is not different from it. When we say Shakti you must understand that we mean both the matter and the creation. Energy and matter should never be explained, interpreted or expressed as two; they are one. When we say Shiva, we mean consciousness. Consciousness is the greatest homogeneity of individual existence. It is apart from life, apart from creation. It is a silent witness of all that is happening.

Shakti is the most important subject discussed in tantra, yoga, and every religion. The manifestation of Shakti takes place at a different level of human existence. Prana is Shakti; mind is Shakti; but these are limited Shakti; limited eminences. The unlimited source of energy is dormant and is known as kundalini. When we say kundalini we mean that infinite energy, and sushumna and the central nervous system are the pathway. The purpose of kriya yoga is to awaken this greater form of energy.

How to practise

These practices are very simple, but today, in both east and west, they are being introduced as a system of physical culture without explaining their purpose or how to practise them correctly. For example, take vipareeta karani mudra. It is a practice which reverses the whole life process. There is a liquid known as nectar, amrit, or ambrosia, which is secreted in the body.

The yoga scriptures teach that, if the moon (bindu) ejects nectar and the sun (manipura) consumes it, one dies a premature death. A wise yogi must reverse this process. The process of evolution is to direct this important fluid back, so as to assimilate the liquid.

Below bindu visarga in the cranial region, this little drop of nectar is produced by almighty nature. Khechari mudra, the practice of folding the tongue back and holding it against the upper palate, enables you to monitor, to stimulate, that particular gland which is responsible for the ejection of this liquid from the higher regions to the physical system. But perfection of this practice usually takes years.

Please do not think that the purpose of this nectar is just to rejuvenate the body. Yogis and yoga practitioners do not practise yoga to fight or avert death. Death comes to all, no matter how small or how great they are. It is not to overcome death, disease or old age, but to influence the cerebral fluid, that the flow of amrit has to be reversed in vipareeta karani mudra. When you practise vipareeta karani mudra, you synchronise the flow of the breath with the flow of amrit. On inhalation the amrit flows back up the spinal passage from manipura, the solar plexus, to ajna chakra. On exhalation, the breath returns to manipura. The process is repeated several times until all the nectar is withdrawn from the solar system back up to the higher regions. This is the first practice of kriya yoga.

From this you can understand how kriya yoga tackles the eternal problem of mankind. The eternal problem of man is not his habits. The eternal problem of man is his own mind and thoughts. If you only knew how to jump over your mind, then you would have great thoughts. Can the mind jump beyond the mind? This is the problem. Unless you solve this problem, everything is a plan, with a program written on a piece of paper, that’s all! People keep on walking around in circles for ages and ages and in the end they find themselves back where they started from. This has been happening to most people, not because they are incapable, defective or unqualified, but because they are not being taught the methods of transcendence and the right way to practise them. After all, we do not know where we stand. We do not know where our consciousness is. We have created certain imaginary characteristics about ourselves, because we are not sure who we are. Scientists have said, ‘We may be just a game, just a creation of time, space and mind.’ If we are that, we should know and if we are not that, we should know it also.

No need to fear

The whole process of yoga is for transformation of body, mind and soul. We have to start yoga and complete it, no matter how difficult it is. Don’t be frightened by kundalini yoga. Every adventure has its own risk. Throughout the year I travel on planes and that’s a great risk. The risk of kundalini awakening is far less than that. If anything at all goes wrong during kundalini arousal there are so many good swamis, teachers and brothers who can put you right, but if the plane crashes there is no hope at all.

Don’t be afraid of pranayama, it’s wrong to be afraid. It is the most pleasant, and I think the nicest thing in life to sit down quietly, breathe in and hold the breath for one minute or half a minute. If you transcend the human plane of consciousness during pranayama you go straight to heaven! Don’t be frightened about any yogic practice. If at all you hear anything said against yoga, it is usually being said by people who have no personal experience or scientific evidence. Just because someone has a bad experience while practising kriya yoga, kundalini yoga, or pranayama, does not mean that such experiences occur as a general rule. Many people die while they are praying; but this doesn’t mean that if you pray you will die. So have no fear of yoga, whether it is asanas, pranayama, mudras or bandhas.

People are afraid of trying. They want all the protein, calcium, and fuel of life, but what do they get? High blood pressure and arthritis. Yet one month of yoga, without protein and calcium, and their blood pressure goes down, their arthritis disappears. Like this, man has created his own blocks and fears about those things which are responsible for his physical, mental and spiritual evolution.

When you practise kriya yoga and the awakening of kundalini takes place, what happens? Inner experiences become very strong and for a few days you are not interested in anything external – in eating, in talking, in working. Something wonderful takes place, and for a few days you just want to remain immersed in this experience. After all, this awakening is one of man’s greatest achievements and all of us have been waiting for that great day, when we will be able to cross the boundaries of our life and step into a different dimension of consciousness. From that dimension we shall see both in and out. That day will be the greatest day for man, when he shall be able to bring about a total unity between the inner and outer experience.

At the moment, inside and outside are two different dimensions of experience. After the awakening of kundalini, these two do not exist anymore. There is only one dimension of experience. But now man does not see the whole, and so he is blind.

The practices of kriya yoga will go a long way towards awakening our spiritual potential. There are many yogic techniques, and all have their place, but the practices of kriya yoga are far superior, far better planned, and they are easily accessible to the people of our age.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, April, 1980)

The cold, as its name correctly implies, occurs most often during winter, the cold months of the year. At this time the body’s heating mechanism has to work twice as hard and if our resistance is low we become susceptible to infection by different viruses. Lack of inner energy, strength and defence are the underlying causative factors which allow viruses to proliferate and produce those unpleasant symptoms we know so well, such as running nose, sneezing, reddening of the eyes, cough, and so on.

Cause

Psychiatrists state that physical disease is the result of misplaced emotions, mental tension, conflicts and worries. Frustrations lower our ability to resist stress and tension, thereby depriving us of energy and vitality. Imbalance occurs in the body and a cold develops. The cold becomes an expression of pent up negative energies within the mind. It is a type of safety valve which allows us to blow off steam in a relatively safe way. Without this release we may develop more serious long term and degenerative disease later on. Colds also lower our resistance to psychological stress, so the best place to be when we have one is in bed.

The majority of colds, apart from those caused by allergy and infection, are due to emotional frustrations. Cold drafts, dampness, etc. lower resistance, setting off a chain of events which can lead to a cold if we are not strong. Frustrations are reflected throughout the body via the nervous and glandular systems, dampening our inner vitality and fire so that the body processes become suppressed, less active, cooled. Life loses its meaning and we lose our inner drive.

In ayurveda it is said that mental and emotional tensions cause an imbalance in the subtle elements of the body, the doshas. Frustrations cause the cooling element of the body, kapha (mucus), to predominate over the heating element, pitta (bile). This change is reflected throughout all the organs of the body. The stomach, which is an especially sensitive indicator of emotional imbalance because of its autonomic nervous system link to the brain, produces excessive amounts of mucus and the digestive fire- the key to health, heat and vitality in the body- becomes impaired. The mucus glands in the nose, sinuses and lungs also over secrete and we become aware of the symptoms of running nose, headache, etc.

Other factors which increase our susceptibility to colds are : excessive smoking, eating rich and unhealthy foods, over and under sleep, lack of exercise, pollution, and so on. The general trend to a sedentary way of life dependent on machines to do the work, shuts us off from natural cycles and makes the body sluggish. If we sit inside heated or air conditioned houses watching rather than doing, eating fatty, over-refined foods, we are asking for trouble in one form or another.

The modern lifestyle puts the internal cycles out of phase with external cycles. For example, when summer comes and external heat increases, a healthy body should adjust its internal temperature regulating mechanism so as to keep us cool and comfortable. The same applies to winter cold; the body should automatically warm itself. If we complicate the picture by adding heating and cooling systems to our homes, and thereby remove the natural responses from our lives, we confuse our brain and create tension. Constantly adjusting and readjusting to the many alterations of hot and cold can strain the internal mechanisms so that we lose our access to inner energy resources. Hormonal regulation becomes inefficient and our resistance to germs, viruses and environmental changes becomes impaired. Colds result.

Effective prevention

Through yoga sadhana it is possible to build up sufficient energy, strength and resistance to overcome colds and their unpleasant effects. All yogic techniques are designed to strengthen the body and mind and, when learned under expert guidance, help to make us less susceptible to mental depression, emotional upsets, lack of energy and imbalance in the neuro-endocrine systems. A yogic lifestyle makes the body and mind flexible so that we can better handle the stresses and strains of modern living. We begin to tune into the natural cycles of day and night, and seasons, so that changes in weather are accompanied by a corresponding change in our bodies.

Yoga helps us to overcome cold by maintaining our internal heater. Through the science of prana a yogi becomes immune to the dual nature of existence so that heat and cold, pleasure and pain, sorrow and joy, all come under his control and are seen as inseparable phenomena. Heat generated in the body is an aspect of prana, the life-force. When we awaken prana, we feel its warmth at many levels.

Cold water baths, especially in winter, are an excellent way to switch on the inner alarm system that makes us generate extra heat. Here at the ashram we always take cold baths, even during winter. We find that the cold water stimulates the body heat, either by making us breathe faster, use up more sugar, shiver, or stamp the feet up and down. In summer the opposite occurs, and excess body heat is taken out of the body. Over a period of time hot baths drain our energy and depress the mind, forcing us to depend on external sources of warmth. Of course, it may be a little difficult to step into a cold shower at first, until you discover how much better you feel afterwards. If you can’t take a cold shower then at least try to finish off your hot one with a cold blast.

Gold water baths have been supported by various sources. For example, the long-lived Hunzas of the Himalayas sport in the winter time by swimming underneath the ice of lakes between holes cut at certain distances. They live to prodigiously old ages and with very little disease. A group of workers at the Bereznyakovsky Titanium and Magnesium Plant at Perm in the Russian Urals attribute their incredible resistance to colds and flu to their daily dips in icy water over the last ten winters.

To overcome the scourge of colds in winter, summer and change of season, you should try to follow these suggestions :

1. Get up early, between 4 and 5 a.m.

2. Take a cold bath. You will feel very warm after this and may even see steam coming from your body. Wrap up well afterwards with plenty of warm clothes.

3. Follow this with kunjal and neti, surya namaskara, bhastrika pranayama, and ajapa japa.

4.Then go for a brisk twenty minute walk. Ten days of this program will garmonize inner and outer energies.

Treatment for colds

In spite of all the modern advances made by science, no drug or vaccine has yet been discovered to cure the common cold. Dr. D.J. Davis of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, USA has stated that colds are caused by as many as 113 different types of viruses. Thus it is difficult to tell which vaccine would be most efficacious.

Kunjal kriya and jala neti (see APMB pp. 326, 315) constitute the yogic method of relieving and curing the common cold. These age old techniques are as yet untried by the medical profession, but due to their simplicity, and efficacy, they merit widespread dissemination and use. Kunjal cleans the stomach of mucus and clears the throat. This has a reflex action on all the glands of the body as they are governed by the same parts of the autonomic nervous system. Neti then cleans out all the nasal passages, sinuses, eustachian tubes leading to the ears, as well as the eyes. This reduces inflammation, swelling and pain. The salty water acts by osmosis to draw out mucus and phlegm, and helps to dry and clear the passages. Neti also rebalances the nadis, allowing prana to flow more efficiently and clears the mind of tension.

Kunjal and neti rebalance the doshas, reducing kapha and increasing the digestive fire so that we feel heat radiating from the navel centre. Bhastrika performed after neti further fans the gastric fire.

When you have a cold, try the following:

1. Do kunjal first thing in the morning followed by neti; repeat neti several times during the day.

2. Go to bed; sleep is the best cure when you have a cold.

3. Steam inhalations with balm help to relieve stuffiness and sore throst.

4. Hot footbaths are beneficial especially if powdered turmeric is added to the water.

5. Hot packs relieve sore joints and sore throat.

6. Do not take a bath while you have a clod.

7. feed a clod and starve a fever, but remember that overloading and rich or mucus forming foods do more harm than good.

The following diet will aid the elimination of mucus : salads with plenty of tomato, carrot, celery, cucumber; papaya, guava, apple, orange, lemon; raw sugar (gurh) mixed with tumeric and made into small balls, taken with a little water; hot vegetable or lentil soup; chapatti.

The following drinks will aid the elimination of mucus and help fight the cold: boiled water with lemon juice; cracked wheat with raw sugar (dalia); carrot and other vegetable juices; tea with grated ginger, black pepper, tulsi leaves; cumin (jeera) juice – made by boiling one glass of water, then adding cumin seeds until the color of the water changes, and straining.

Avoid milk, ghee, cheese, yoghurt (dahee), bananas, and all heavy, starchy, fatty foods which increase mucus and thereby depress the gastric fire.

Cleansing process

When you can reduce the unpleasant effects of a cold through the regular practice of kunjal and neti, it becomes possible to view the cold as a cleansing process with great long term benefits. Therefore we should never try to suppress or ‘cure’ a cold with drugs. Colds remove from our systems the accumulated toxins and poisons that have built up over the years. The extra production of mucus increases the metabolism of the body and the subsequent use of protein and other substances washes out internal dirt more efficiently. This means that our bodies can function better afterwards. With this outlook, colds can even be viewed as part of the path to higher and cleaner living.

(Courtesy Yoga Magazine, January, 1979 )

Shakti is the sustainer of the universe, the power of consciousness. Shakti is everywhere, she has billions of forms. She is dynamic, the movement and force behind every aspect of nature – sometimes active, sometimes dormant, but potentially existent within all. Shakti is the force of life and without her nothing exists. At different times she is found either searching for her lord or in union with him.

Shakti is the means by which we can raise our consciousness to the higher levels of awareness; she alone can take us to the gate of pure consciousness. Therefore it is the aim of human life to awaken her, to develop her power. When we begin to feel her current, we must always flow with her and not against her, for she is pure, loving and wise. She purifies and uplifts the heart and mind of those aspirants who seek her. Her need to serve is everlasting, and even Shiva, the lord of lords, doesn’t care to live without her.

When Shakti awakens she travels through many worlds in order to merge with her beloved. On her journey she sees all the deepest aspects of nature, the colours of the coloured, the felicity of happiness, the sorrow of sadness, the flight of inspiration, the difficulty of realisation, the battles between good and evil, perfection and imperfection. After much coming and going Shakti begins to feel an intense longing to reach her beloved’s chamber and no longer desires to wander around in her own nature.

Little by little as she exhausts her need to experience, she begins to reach the higher levels of her being where everything is more expansive. Then her need and desire to unite with her lord become so great that she goes faster and faster in order to meet him. As soon as she joins her beloved, the purpose of her power is fulfilled, her wandering nature is consumed by cosmic consciousness and she becomes whole.

The wisdom aspect of Shakti leads us to this higher path. If we can develop this shakti power within us, it will be the glory of our life. When Shakti comes to us with her gifts of love, wisdom and understanding, a new dimension unfolds within us. Shakti gives us the power to awaken in full. Pray to her, dream of her darshan. Meanwhile continue to work until she comes in the form of wisdom and shows the way to die and live again.

Courtesy: Yoga Magazine, October 1977

The formation of ions begins when enough energy acts on a gaseous molecule to eject an electron (negatively charged particle). Most of this energy comes from radioactive substances in the earth’s crust and some form the cosmic rays in space. The displaced electron attaches itself to an adjacent molecule which becomes a negative ion; the original molecule then becomes a positive ion. Then natural gas or water molecules cluster about the ions to form small ions of four types, namely H+, H3O+, O2 and OH- (O is oxygen, H is hydrogen). Thus the four types are the hydrogen ion, the hydroxyl ion (H3O+), the oxygen molecule (O2) and the hydroxide ion (OH-). Associated with these reactions in each case, is the formation of a small number of water molecules.

In the normal clean air over land, there are 1500 to 4000 ions per cubic centimetre. However, negative ions are more mobile, and the earth’s surface has a negative charge. So negative ions are repelled from the earth’s surface. Thus the normal ratio of negative to positive ions is 1.2 to 1.00.

Often we live in areas with a very low concentration of ions. In modern cities the ratio of positive to negative small air ions is decreased. There have been many studies done of ion measurements in offices, hospitals, factories, etc. In one study it was found that in an office with four people, the average ion count per cubic centimetre was only fifty-four. Compare this to the clean fresh air count of 1500 to 4000. In this case, as with many other similar studies, the number of physiologically inert large ions rose considerably, since the small ions (H+ and OH-) react with dust particles to form large ions.

People who travel to work in polluted air or who spend eight hours a day in offices or factories inescapably breathe ion-depleted air for substantial portions of their lives. There is now a large amount of scientific evidence that ion depletion leads to discomfort, enervation, lassitude and some degree of mental and physical inefficiency. This condition appears quite different from the direct toxic effects of the usual atmospheric pollutants. It also occurs in the absence of such pollutants in rural schools and libraries where there may be special factors which remove icons, e.g. stray electric fields.

Evidence is also growing that substantial increases in ions can have highly beneficial effects, from relieving burn pains to helping the growth of plants. Negative ions have been shown to promote healing rates of animals with skin lacerations, burns and postoperative discomfort. High doses of positive or negative ions have been shown to be lethal to bacteria. Low concentrations of positive or negative ions are known to produce fewer alpha frequency brainwaves in human beings.

There is also a most interesting relationship between small air ions and a hormone called serotonin. This is the hormone secreted by the pineal gland, the ajna chakra or the ‘third eye’ of the yogi. Serotonin is known to be intimately connected with emotions, perceptions, sleep wakefulness and orientation to conventional reality. Serotonin makes these aspects of our consciousness possible, and scientists are trying to discover the exact mechanism by which this very important hormone affects our consciousness.

It has been found that in experiments with mice, positive ions raised the levels of serotonin in the blood and in the brain. Negative ions depress them and are also known to help in speeding up plant growth and increasing resistance to influenza.

Much research has also been done in connection with the way in which atmospheric ionic conditions affect human behaviour and emotions. For example, Israeli research has demonstrated that the famous winds such as the mistral in France, the sirocco of Italy, the zonda of Argentina, the chinook in Canada, give rise to high positive ion concentrations in the atmosphere and symptoms such as sleeplessness, irritability, tension, migraines, nausea and vomiting have been noted from individuals who live in those regions. These symptoms resemble the effects of a large production of serotonin. They have been shown to be quite independent of other factors accompanying the winds such as rise in temperature and decrease in humidity.

Conversely, when the air’s negative ion density is relatively large, such as near a waterfall, the general effect of the local environment is tranquillising and conducive to good health. For this reason, many people install negative ion generators in their homes. This helps to maintain the normal electrostatically balanced atmosphere, and to breathe that air is like suddenly being out in the crisp, clear, clean air of the high mountains.

Electromagnetic phenomena also play an important part in the ecology of consciousness and are very relevant to yoga practices. The earth has its own magnetic field which is very weak (about 1000 times weaker than the field of a small horseshoe magnet). This field extends around the planet like a large donut, and it is probably created by the flow of molten metals in the earth’s core. The average intensity of the field is 0.5 Gauss (a horseshoe magnet has a field strength of about 500 to 600 Gauss). This field also pulses like the blood in our veins and arteries. The predominant frequency range of these magnetic pulses is know as the Schumann resonance and is around seven and a half cycles per second. Researchers have suggested that this resonance has various effects on the human nervous system and even on the consciousness itself. Let us consider the following. The seven and a half cycles per second brain wave frequency, measured by the electroencephalogram, is the boundary between alpha and theta waves. If that frequency predominates in our brain, you are said to be in a condition which is on the border of being awake and falling asleep. The theta wave is often observed in the EEG patterns of experienced meditators who pass through the Schumann resonance portal without falling asleep. This interesting point is a valid explanation for the phenomenon which most beginners in meditation experience, namely the problem of sleep. Often just as the meditation starts to increase, sleep intervenes. This is due to the brain wave frequency reaching that of the Schumann resonance, which is equal to the boundary between the waking and the sleep state. It is only by an effort of mind that one can remain awake with the frequency remaining stable. This is also why it is said that meditation is best whenever one is not completely awake, but just on the borderline between waking and sleeping. We may say that this is the best frequency for gaining access to the subconscious mind.

On the basis of his research, Professor Michael Persinger of the Laurentian University Psychophysiology Laboratory, hypothesises that extremely low frequency (ELF) Schumann waves may serve as carriers for information connected with psychic phenomena (psi information), as it is nearly impossible under normal circumstances to shield oneself against such waves. He based his hypothesis on the following main facts concerned with ELF waves.

ELF waves propagate more easily between midnight and four in the morning. They are easier to transmit from west to east than from east to west. When he surveyed ESP (extra sensory perception) literature he found that telepathy and clairvoyance have a tendency to rise strongly around four a.m. and that they were easier to transmit from west to east than from east to west. He also observed that comparatively few psychic experiences were reported whenever there were disturbances in the geomagnetic (earth’s magnetic) field, because such disturbances also impair the propagation of ELF waves.

Another noted researcher, Sister M. Justa Smith, PhD. in New York, has shown that strong magnetic fields affect the reactivity of certain enzymes in the human body. These enzymes can act as catalysts to speed up the body’s natural healing processes. Much research has also been done in India into the healing effects of magnets, with similar findings. Dr. Sister Smith made the observation that psychic healers exert a non-magnetic effect on enzymes similar to the magnetic field. Scientists now are firmly convinced that magnetic fields play an important role in the body’s healing and immunological processes.

In deep space (one sixth the distance to the moon) the magnetic field intensity is near zero, and scientists are now investigating how, and if, this will affect the consciousness of astronauts. So intrinsically linked are the earth’s magnetic lines of force and the human consciousness that any disturbances in the earth’s geomagnetic field are immediately reflected in human behaviour. These geomagnetic disturbances are particularly correlated with solar storms (you may have seen pictures of these storms taking place around the outer layer of the sun) which displace large clouds of ionic plasma. These waves generally impinge on the earth’s magnetosphere about two days after the solar flare causing polar lights, radio interference and a compression of the earth’s magnetic lines of flux. (The earth has lines of flux just as a magnet has lines, which can be made visible by iron filing sprinkled on paper place over the magnet.) A definite correlation has been shown to exist between these solar storms and rates of heart attacks, lung diseases, eclampsias and the activity of microbes. Epidemics of diphtheria, typhus, cholera and smallpox have also been associated with solar activity. Several other correlations have been shown to exist, e.g. the geomagnetic disturbances affect the behaviour of patients on a psychiatric ward, also the number of road accidents and mining disaster increases.

Magnetic and particularly electromagnetic fields have enormous implications for our understanding of consciousness. All objects in our universe with a temperature above absolute zero (OºK) emit electromagnetic radiation. In the view of two pioneers of the electrodynamic theory of life- Prof. S. Burr, Professor of Anatomy at Yale University and Leonard J. Ravitz, a psychiatrist- electromagnetic fields guide the growth and repair of living protoplasm. This discovery of the field they called the Life-field or L-field.

According to Prof. Burr, L-fields are detected and examined by measuring the difference in voltage between two points on or close to the surface of the living form. L-field voltage can be measured by placing one electrode on the forehead and another on the chest or hand. Alternatively the index finger of each hand can be dipped into bowls of salty solution connected to the voltmeter. The important point to be clarified is that these voltage readings have nothing to do with the alternating electrical currents which doctors find in the heart and in the brain. They are pure voltage potentials which can yield only an infinitesimal amount of direct current. This is why L-fields could not be detected before the invention of the vacuum tube voltmeter which requires virtually no current for its operation. In comparison, the normal voltmeter needs so much current to swing the needle that it would drain away the L-field potentials and make any reading useless if not impossible.

According to Prof. Burr, doctors could easily be trained to take measurements of the L-fields of patients and through the readings obtain advance warning of future symptoms before they are evident. Such readings have been used extensively to forecast psychological and psychiatric troubles as well as numerous physical events. For example, the exact moment of ovulation in a woman can be predicted by the measurement of voltage gradients. This is possible as ovulation is preceded by a steady and substantial rise in voltage which falls rapidly to normal after the egg has been released.

Wounds, abrasions and cuts, even a small cut on the finger, will change the voltages in the L-field. As the wound heals, these will return to normal.

The L-field measurements can be used not only in diagnosis of local conditions but also in assessing the overall state of the body. A remarkable fact is that the L-field can be measured at a distance from the affected organ, that is, not in physical contact. This indicates that it is a true field and not just some surface potential.

Prof. Burr quotes numerous experiments, case histories and theories which are most interesting and of great use to the serious student of yoga. Burr’s theory of an electrodynamic organising matrix ties in very closely with the way in which prana is believed to function in the body. Burr states that if we meet a friend of ours after six months, there is not one molecule in his face that was there when we last saw him. There is a constant turnover of the materials in our bodies and brains; all the protein is renewed every six months. How do we recognise our friend after six months if he has changed so much? It is due to the controlling L-field, says Burr. The new molecules have fallen into the old familiar patterns and we can recognise his face. This is a way to explain scientifically how we ‘keep in shape’ through ceaseless metabolic and material changes. The electrodynamic field of the body serves as a matrix or mould which preserves the shape or arrangement of any material poured into it, however, often the material may be changed.

According to the ancient rishis and yogis and seers, the ten pranas function as just this type of organisational matrix. It is a good way to understand the functions of prana in the body.

1. Man is a multidimensional being. His consciousness knows no limitations.

2. Man’s consciousness is not an abstract quantity. It can be measured through its effects. It is capable of expanding. Many names have been given to it. It has been photographed.

3. Everyone receives and transmits electromagnetic energy in the form of waves. We are not separate from the rest of the universe, but a part of everything that lives and has its being.

4. Psychic phenomena are no longer a matter of speculation; they are proven, well-documented facts. There are new sciences being created virtually overnight which seek ways of applying knowledge of consciousness interactions with other research items.

From time to time we shall be mentioning further lines of research into many realms of the mind which are especially relevant to the scientific understanding of the main tenets of yoga. This is the chief direction in which all scientific research seems to be heading.

Yoga is not only the culture of tomorrow; it is the future leader of the sciences.

Courtesy: Yoga Magazine, June 1977

Swami Satyananda Saraswati

Prana is all the energy that maintains the whole physical body.. Prana can be dissipated through selfish thoughts and activities or it can be brought to one particular centre, perhaps ajna chakra or mooladhara chakra. Prana has the power of regeneration, therefore it can be taken to any part of the body which is suffering, for healing purposes. It rejuvenates the decaying limbs and organs and restores lost health. This prana is the body and thus it can be distributed equally throughout all parts of the body or it can be withdrawn to one part of the body. When aroused by yoga, this prana radiates itself out of the body. To the naked eye it is not visible, but the most sensitive photographic system, called Kirlian, enables us to photograph the pranic radiation in each and every animate and inanimate object, from human beings to leaves.

Prana is an inherent force in our life and kundalini yoga is the secret of awakening the super prana shakti. Just as in electricity you have voltage no, then you have 220, then you have 440, go on adding and finally when this ordinary electricity is at a very big voltage, then it is converted into laser waves. Similarly prana can be amplified, modified and transformed to any degree. Of course it is difficult for a normal human being to increase his prana from ordinary voltage to such a voltage where the degeneration taking place in a particular part of the body can be checked. This is the science of prana vidya.

‘Prana’ means cosmic or vital energy which is inherent in the evolution of human life. ‘Vidya’ means knowledge. Just as you practice ajapa japa, yoga nidra or antar mouna, there is also a practical technique of prana vidya. By practicing for oneself every individual can awaken this prana and conduct it with a little higher voltage to a particular part of the body. The theory and techniques of prana vidya are ancient but I have revised and made them practical for the people of today. For this purpose I have printed the book Prana Vidya, which is now available at Bihar School of Yoga, Monghyr, Bihar, India, and I am presently preparing a more complete edition, Prana and Prana vidya which will be available very soon.

Courtesy : Yoga Magazine, February – 1977