Hatha Yoga Pradipika

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1. Muladhara chakra: the element of earth
2. Svadhishthana chakra: the element of water
3. Manipura chakra: the element of fire
4. Anahata chakra: the element of air
5. Vishuddha chakra: the clement of ether
6. Ajna chakra: the element of consciousness
7. Sahasrara chakra; the divine element.
These elements have nothing to do with what is known to us as the density of matter. Rather they
areplanes of vibrations as required for the creation of the respective forms of matter.
ACTIVE YOGA 61
Yoga Swami Svatmarama. Hatha yoga pradipika
Now prana is, as we know, a life current, and a current consists of vibrations. The kundalini was
aroused by the prana current, as soon as this reached the vibration level of muladhara chakra, that of
the "earth elements." If the prana current is to traverse the other chakras it will accordingly have to
be transformed or modulated seven times. If the yogi is unable to do this, he cannot reach the goal of
raja yoga. And in order to realize this goal there arc, as this sloka says, eight different ways of
practice.3
3. Why are eight varieties of practice mentioned here when there areonly seven? With this logical
question we touch upon an area that will cause a great deal of discussion among Western yoga
researchers, for it concerns the revelation of a secret that is still kept closely guarded: the teaching
that the kundalini should be led beyond sahasrara chakra. Many passages in the Tantras and the
Puranas point to this secret teaching in a veiled way. This will not be discussed further in this book,
for in Hatha Yoga Pradipika there are, apart from this passage, no references to it.
To be more specific: these arenot methods of practice in the sense of the hatha yoga practices
discussed so far. They areyantra meditations and mantra recitations.
To each chakra areattributed a visual and verbal symbol, which are transmitted orally to the student
by his guru only after an initiation ceremony. Both are strictly secret, and are unattainable to the
uninitiated. (The well-known chakra charts with the lotus leaves and the sound symbols are not
identical with the secret yantras and mantras, although they derive much from them.)
The beginner naturally needs more time for each individual practice than the master docs. So if he
goes through these eight practices one by one every three hours, and if he needs an hour for each (as
is usually the case for beginners), then he will need more than eight hours of practice daily; this is
the least that is demanded from the beginner. Moving from chakra to chakra, a master of kundalini
yoga completes all the stages with a single breath, which, however, may last for several hours. Due
to the purity of his nadis, he now has the power to keep the prana in his body active as long as he
likes, so that the feeling of shortness of breath does not arise. The gross organs have been put out of
commission, and the few fine organs that are still active draw their oxygen supply through the pores.
This closes the description of the first decisive stages of raja yoga: the successful attempt to activate
the kundalini. As stated, it is a stage that proves important, but is one that is still far from exhausting
all the secret possibilities and the prerequisites for complete success. What follows is even stranger
and, unfortunately, even more difficult to understand. Let's try.
CHAPTER 8
THE NECTAR
(32-37) When the tongue is bent back into the gullet and the eyes are fastened upon the point
between the eyebrows, this is khecari mudra. When the membrane below the tongue is cut, and the
tongue is shaken and milked, one can extend its length until it touches the eyebrows. Then khecari
mudra is successful. --Take a clean, shining knife and cut the breadth of a hair into the fine
membrane that connects the tongue with the lower part of the mouth [the froenum lignum]. Then rub
that area with a mixture of salt and turmeric powder. After seven days again cut a hair's breadth.
Follow this for six months. The membrane is then completely separated. When the yogi now curls
his tongue upward and back he is able to close the place where the three paths meet. The bending
back of the tongue is khecari mudra and [the closing of the three paths] is akasha chakra,
THE NECTAR 62
Yoga Swami Svatmarama. Hatha yoga pradipika
Here again some fundamental questions arise. The indignant objection of the reader, although at this
point it represents a suspect prejudice, is quite understandable from a mortal point of view. But, as
we know, a great deal of yoga is not accessible to the logical mind, and thus the "reasonable"
average thinker will reject the more essential part of yoga because much of it (seen from his point of
view) is nonsense. He will even be right, for a logical sense that satisfies the mind in a logical,
materially purposeful manner, is lacking in the key points of yoga. It is non-sense for the scientific
explorer and deep-sense for the experiencer.
The "three paths" areclosed: the nasal passage, the pharynx, and the trachea. This is the vas bene
clausum of the alchemists. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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