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Re: Kundalini etc.

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Lakshmi Narasimhan • January 18, 2003 


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(Note from Moderator:  I have requested SrI Ramachandran to include in his next posting, some information on the place of yoga in our tradition.  I am hoping that it will include aspects such as yoga being one of the a'nga-s of bhakti, what our AcArya-s have said about yoga approach, etc.  It is true that if prapattti is compared with other more difficult approaches, prapatti is considered the best of them all.  This should not mean that we should not know that other methods exist, and should not prevent us from learning the basics of these other approaches.  I believe the discussion on this topic should be useful if we approach it from the point of view of learning about this discipline, rather than taking positions before the basics are stated and understood.  I again request SrI Ramachandran to give us the high level aspects of the place of yoga in the context of the veda-s, its role as an a'nga of the bhakti yoga, its role in the realization of Brahman, the AcAryas' position on this path, etc., so that w
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Srimathe Ramanujaya Namaha

Dear All,
First of all, kindly accept my apologies, in case, by any means I would
offend anyone with this mail, though it is never my intent.

I am so happy to see this e-mail on kundalini as it has given me an
excellent opportunity to share one of the BEST kalakshepams I've heard from
my swamy.

The kalakshepam started with the subject on various popular shastras that
are being condemened by great scholars in support of the Saranagathi
Philosophy. Each shastra is examined one by one.

Vyakarana Shastram: Essence - OM - the shabdham itself is God. Condemned,
because, it separates the OM shabdham from the superior qualities of the
almighty. By referring to Brahmasutras and to Shri Ramanujar's Shri Bhashyam
 one can easily prove that the paramatman is more than just the OM Shabdham.

Tharka Shastram: Essence - God exists and we may believe him, the reason
being anumana(presumption?). This world has been created. Hence, someone
must be behind this creation and must be of supreme nature. So, it may be
accepted that, God, the supreme personality exists. Condemned, because, it
decreases the faith on the Vedas. Vedas are the basis of all our
philosophies and if one does not believe the supreme personality based on
the vedas, but based on the anumana then it is not correct.

Yoga Shastram: Essence - You put effort to know him. Condemened, due to
numerous reasons. An example was cited by Shri swamy. A rich man exercises
everyday to maintain his body, i.e he needs the tools to maintain it. A poor
man works a lot and hence his body is in shape due to the very reason that
he is a worker by nature. The poor man needs no tools. Similarly, the tools
like yogabyasam etc are for those who do not work:) i.e who donot service
the ultimate after performing saranagathi. But for a person who has done
saranagathi, he needs no special exercise or efforts. The kuntalini is in
him and he is in the state of bliss all the time.

The rich man has a power. If someone doesn't give what is due to him, he
will send 10 people to scare and threaten and get the same. The poor man has
a power that is superior to this rich man's power. When anything unjust is
done to a poor man, if he heartily curses, it will bring 10 rich men to the
roads in no time. If in the lowkika life we see this happening, then in the
spiritual life, one can imagine what is the state of the one who has
performed saranagathi to the ultimate("akinchanaha; ananyagadhihi;
asaranyaha, tvath paadaravindhayugalam saranamaham prapadhye") when compared
to the one who performs the yoga etc to bring out the kuntalini by his/her
own efforts. The Yoga shastra is being condemed due to this path. I.E when
one puts his/her own efforts to seek the almighty, he/she actually ends up
enjoying the effort that was put in by him/her and hence on all
probabilities falls for the self i.e the atman. This means, yoga shastra
lets you enjoy your effort and before the time you seek the almighty, it
puts you in a trap where you think YOU had the capability to find HIM and it
was all YOUR efforts. This state is often described as "Kaivalyam" (the "Edu
Nilam" in tamizh). It has been mentioned that going to hell is better than
being trapped in Kaivalyam, the reason being, one will get back to this
world from hell and will be given a chance to think of the almighty while
those who are trapped in kaivalyam (it is one of the mokshams as mentioned
by our Purvacharyars) are never freed until the almighty really wants to
free them. And hence, Kaivalyam is probably the worst place one should not
go to.

Swamy concludes that, due to the various reasons cited above, those paths
need not be adapted for those who have fallen under the protection of Shri
Ramanujar's Saranagathi tattvam. He continues saying that there is nothing
called "Your Effort" to seek him. You belong to him. Our hands do not try to
know us. They do their duty and have maha-vishwasam with the atman, that it
will take care of them. Similarly we must do our service to him and must
have the maha-vishwasam on him that he will take care of us and the need for
other shastras will eventually fade away.


All credits go only to my swamy "Shri Chaturvedi Swamy" and anything that is
incorrect is purely my mis-interpretation and my apologies for the same.

Yatheendra Pravanam Vandhe RAMYA Jaamaataram Munim

Adiyen Ramanuja Dasan,
Lakshmi Narasimhan

 
-------Original Message-------
 
From: bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Date: Saturday, January 18, 2003 17:00:28
To: sv-rituals@yahoogroups.com; bhakti-list@yahoogroups.com
Cc: sujivenkat@yahoo.com; Oppiliappan moderator; Visu9@aol.com
Subject: Kundalini etc.
 
This writer is not sure about Guru mantra but one can share something about
Kundalini

The traditional viewpoint down the ages has been that there is a Kundalini
which is supposed to reside coiled up below our body, lowermost in the
center and this is expected to be awakened thru a series of practices of
body/mind/breath manipulation.

Once it stirs up, the Kundalini is supposed to travel thru the main nadis
(or nerve passeges) and reach the psychic center at the top of our crown
i.e. called Sahasra which is symbolised like a 1000 petel lotus and then
the ultimate is supposed to take place i.e. Samadhi, nirvana etc.

There are many versions on these aspects. Eventually, the writer will
also share a diagonally opposite and more relevant aspect of the Kundalini.

However, without intending to scare anyone, I would like to mention that
dabbling in Kundalini is fraught with serious side-effects and long lasting
problems if not done properly under a good guidance of a good,reliable
practioner/Yoga teacher. Essentially, the person either should have had
first hand experience and more importantly, he/she should not make this as
a money-making proposition and term it like a 'course'....

The writer has personally come across persons who have somewhat lost their
mental balance apparently due to the practice of attempting to get in touch
with Kundalini.

This does not mean this is out of bounds for ordinary mortals. There are
some pre-requisites.

1. mentally resolve that this is what you want to do/ attempt, There cannot
be two decisions, wavering etc. it has to be a firm single-point resolve

2. Get in touch with a good, reliable teacher. We will come to that later

3. Understand first by reading, then by practicing simultaneously and
experiencing the principles of Ashtanga Yoga as outlined by the Great
Patanjali who is none other than the resting couch of The Great Mahavishnu,
Adiseshan.

4.Incidentally, the Yoga text of Patanjali does not talk or refer to
Kundalini at all !!!!

5. Take a pre-primary- Kintergarten- high school-college attitude in your
approach i.e. step by step. You cannot graduate without going thru primary
school.

6. Mentally prepare yourself for a minimum rigour of 10 years. No joking.
Please this is serious. This is not to discourage but to lay the facts.
Kundalini involves inner, psychic power and this in short means your very
life, breath.

So if you are really, really serious then proceed. The results will be
sweeter and sure in the long run but you may have to make do with earthly,
mortal discomforts like sufferings.

It is said that during the process of getting in touch with the Kundalini,
one can witness certain powers which will first and foremost TEMPT you to
try and use them. These are extraordinary powers say for instance the
ability to understand talk of birds and animals. You cannot exhibit, try,
make use of these for any purpose whatsoever. Even for a good purpose.
Such is the nature of these powers of which only 0.001% perhaps could
result in you during the practice that you will automatically go out to
test and poof !!! all your efforts of 10 years will go waste !!!!

7. Emotional attachment to family, friends and other human forms has to be
slowly given up. Ashtanga Yoga contains the seeds and principles of
'Vairagaya' . This has to be practiced with a firm resolve. Pranayama can
help a lot in this.

8. Habits have to totally change and that too at a faster pace. You cannot
give time. Needless to say smoking, partying, drinking, eating outside
food, NOT DOING DAILY SANDHYAVANDANAM, fast life, late night outing,
indulging in excessive sensual pursuits, high flying jobs etc. must change
quickly.

(no offense meant for all the habit/life styles mentioned in para 8 but
these could prove to be obstacles in
your progress and hence they are to be eschewed)

9. You must first understand how to come out of Kundalini once it is
awakened. Before taking the ship take lessons in swimming.

LAST BUT NOT THE LEAST, you may have to give up the Gods too !!! A tough
proposition if at all. The reason behind this is with Kundalini etc. you
are attempting to somewhat roughly merge yourself, atman etc. into the
universal consciousness. Kundalini is the beginning and not an end. So at
that point there is no point in thinking of 'me' and 'god' and ' that'.
Shri Vaishnawism, Saivism, Buddhism etc. all come to an end. It is only
one primal ubsistence in silence inside a void!

The writer means every word he has written and has started this thread of
discussion and hopes someone from these groups take up and enlighten all
further. Nothing like back and forth exchange of factual communication and
learning.

Om tat Sat

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           - SrImate rAmAnujAya namaH -
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Archives: http://ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/
 

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