Spiritual Matters

Actual Practice to Self-Realization: Yoga Ashtanga - Niyama (Part 3)

2009-09-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

The following is the fifteenth installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new installment comes out.

YOGA ASHTANGA (8 Limbs of Yoga)

(1) Yama (ethics - dont's)

(2) Niyama (recommended practices - do's)

(3) Asana (yoga posture)

(4) Pranayama (breathing exercise)

(5) Pratyahara (making the mind introspective)

(6) Dharana (concentration)

(7) Dhyana (meditation)

(8) Samadhi (enlightenment)

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(3) Asana (yoga posture)

Asana is the third step of yoga ashtanga, and it is one portion of yoga. There are many so-called yoga teachers who teach asanas only and call it yoga. Many of them don't even know and practice ashtanga and call themselves yoga teacher. Asana practice is not the way to become a circus star or to impress others by doing weird postures. And being a yoga teacher, is not a carrier or occupation. It is a selfless devotional service, and of course it is not a way to make money or to be famous attitude toward to be a yoga teacher should be no difference from being a monk or ascetic spiritual practitioner. (Actually it is so). Also priests and doctors (and politicians) should have this attitude towards their occupation. But looks like they are the richest unhealthy people in our low-consciousness society.

Remember, asana is a third step of yoga practice, and yoga practice is the way to self-realization.

There are uncountable benefits and effects that you receive by asana practice. Also you can expect miraculous effects thru this practice.

Proper attitude towards asana practice is to "Practice for the sake of practice." "Practice asana for asana." For example, you can lose weight, heal disease, become really flexible, through asana practice. But those are not the main purpose of asana practice. These are mainly side effects of asana practice. You don't (or not supposed to) practice asanas to lose weight, to gain flexibility or heal disease. When asanas are practiced correctly, these side effects follow naturally. And best results can be obtained when you totally forget about the results when you are practicing. Since spiritual practice is done to become egoless, selfless, the practice is the practice of no attachment. (Why egoless = no attachment? Who is attached to what?).

When one is practicing asana to obtain flexibility or to lose weight he or she is practicing for the effect itself. That is nothing but attachment and expectations towards the results. It is full of attachment towards "healing from the disease." Therefore you cannot heal and lose weight. Ironically, the best way to get the best effect is to forget about the effects. Completely and just practice for the sake of practice, because attachment (ignorance) is the source of suffering. This is the reason why many zen monks cannot attain enlightenment: so much attachment towards enlightenment, so much attachment to "no attachment"...

Actual Practice to Self-Realization: Yoga Ashtanga - Niyama (Part 2)

2009-09-15T17:37:00.000-07:00

The following is the fourteenth installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new installment comes out.

YOGA ASHTANGA (8 Limbs of Yoga)

(1) Yama (ethics - dont's)

(2) Niyama (recommended practices - do's)

(3) Asana (yoga posture)

(4) Pranayama (breathing exercise)

(5) Pratyahara (making the mind introspective)

(6) Dharana (concentration)

(7) Dhyana (meditation)

(8) Samadhi (enlightenment)

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(2) Niyama (do's) - practices that are recommended (continued...)

5. Worship of God.

In Tantra yoga, God refers to Lord Siva, the creator God of this world. Siva also refers to "pure consciousness" and is the founder of yoga. In this way, practicing yoga ashtanga itself also can be a worship of God.

Actual Practice to Self-Realization: Yoga Ashtanga - Niyama (Part 1)

2009-09-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

The following is the thirteenth installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new installment comes out.

YOGA ASHTANGA (8 Limbs of Yoga)

(1) Yama (ethics - dont's)

(2) Niyama (recommended practices - do's)

(3) Asana (yoga posture)

(4) Pranayama (breathing exercise)

(5) Pratyahara (making the mind introspective)

(6) Dharana (concentration)

(7) Dhyana (meditation)

(8) Samadhi (enlightenment)

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(2) Niyama (do's) - practices that are recommended

1. Cleanliness.

To keep the body and mind clean. Yogis in India take a holy bath three times a day to maintain the body clean. Controlling the breath by pranayama is an effective way to clean the mind. By practicing pranayama, mind becomes calm and strong and will not be influenced by outside stimulants. Breath and mind is always related to each other. Concentration and meditation to anahata chakra and ajna chakra is also a profound way to clean your mind.

2. Contentment.

Simply stop the mind of "I want this" and "I want that"; instead, appreciate and be thankful for the things that you already have.

3. Motification/Ascetic Practice.

Practices such as fasting, celibacy, very intense asana, pranayama and meditation practices. By practicing fasting, for example, one is able to control the most fundamental desire of a human being: the desire to eat. One can control the fundamental desires of man and able to control the senses and emotions which relates to the physical body thru ascetic practices.

4. Chanting.

Chanting of holy text. Mantras and chanting of holy sound Aum is an important yoga practice. Chanting is practiced is every religion. Chanting of Sutras (Buddhist bible) is one of the major practices in Buddhism. Even in Zen monasteries, the monks spend a lot of time chanting Sutras. (Zen Buddhism is known as a sect which does not depend on Sutras.

Holy Sound Aum

Aum is a sound of the Universe. Aum is the sound of God (or Aum is God). Aum is the origin of the word, and without words we wouldn't understand anything. We can see the tree without knowing the name of it. But to know about it w
e need the thought and word. Without word there is no thought. We would not know anything without thought in this phenomenon world. Therefore, this world is related with word, and word relates to thought and thought relates to the world. The Bible said "In the beginning was the word, and word was with God, and the word was God." In this way you can understand that nobody invented the word because the word itself is God. Aum is God.

Actual Practice to Self-Realization: Yoga Ashtanga - Yama (Part 3)

2009-09-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

The following is the 12th installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new

installment comes out.

YOGA ASHTANGA (8 Limbs of Yoga)

(1) Yama (continued)...

5. Contentment (own only things that are necessary).

I want this. I want that. I want that too! This is known as the desire to possess, an instinctive desire of a human being. By controlling the endless desire to possess we also create peace in our society and our mind. Try to practice to possess only what is necessary for life. Simplify your belongings and life. In life what is necessary and what you want is different. What you want may not be what's necessary in your life. Satisfying our "desire to possess" makes our materialistic society more materialistic.

Siddhis of Yama

According to yoga sutra (the holy text of yoga), when a yogi accomplishes complete non-violence, any being around this yogi becomes peaceful - even bad people, murderers, or violent wild animals will not harm him.

You can create results without action. In other words, you can make things happen by just saying without doing. This is the siddhi of no lieing, the speaking only the truth practice. By practicing "no stealing" very deeply and completely it is said that various treasures from the world will come to you without you desiring for it. (In this dimension, by just imagining having sex with somebody else's wife, is considered stealing a wife and is considered taking).

When one practices celibacy, one will receive great power after one has been practicing celibacy for a certain period of time (6-12 years), along with meditation practice. Those practitioners who are able to transform the sexual energy to spiritual energies, their body and mind becomes extremely healthy and clear, and the most peaceful state of mind can be attained.

By practicing "contentment" deeply one is able to see the past, present and the future with clarity. When you are free from the "desire to possess" mind becomes extremely clear, so clear that you can see through past, present and future.

NEXT WEEK: Niyama (do's)

Actual Practice to Self-Realization: Yoga Ashtanga - Yama (Part 2)

2009-08-18T17:12:00.001-07:00

The following is the 11th installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new

installment comes out.

YOGA ASHTANGA (8 Limbs of Yoga)

(1) Yama (continued)...

2. No Lying (speak only the truth).

This is common sense. I don't think I have to explain why "no lying." When you lie, people who you are lying to may not realize that you are lying, but you know that you are lying. This means that every time you lie to somebody, actually you are lying to your self. Again, when you lie, your subconscious mind will record it, and it will be reflected in your conscious mind. Therefore you will lose "peace of mind." In order to maintain peace in our society and maintain peace in our mind the precept of "No lying" is very important. One of my students said: "Yes, it makes so much sense and it is simple, but difficult to do." That's why we practice!

3. No Stealing (taking things away from others).

As zen master Dogen said, "You are myself and another individual is otherself", therefore, you and the other is one. When you steal, you are stealing from yourself... what a stupid behavior. Everything you do, good or bad, will stay as KARMA. In other words, everything is recorded in the subconscious mind. Anything that is inputted in the subconscious mind has to come out in reality. So, negative influence to your mind and body is created by the act of stealing. Also, you will be punished by society's law against stealing.

4. Celibacy (controlling desires).

No sexual behavior for certain period of time (celibacy). Sexual desires are one of the strongest desires of human being. By practicing celibacy one will be able to control the various desires that we experience in life. Fasting practice is similar to celibacy. Both practices will provide you a calm and peaceful mind. Mind suffers from various desires. So, if you can control your fundamental desires, then mind becomes free, calm and peaceful.

Actual Practice to Self-Realization: Yoga Ashtanga - Yama (Part I)

2009-08-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

The following is the tenth installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new

installment comes out.

YOGA ASHTANGA (8 Limbs of Yoga)

(1) Yama (ethics - dont's)

(2) Niyama (recommended practices - do's)

(3) Asana (yoga posture)

(4) Pranayama (breathing exercise)

(5) Pratyahara (making the mind introspective)

(6) Dharana (concentration)

(7) Dhyana (meditation)

(8) Samadhi (enlightenment)

Yoga is a method for awakening and developing the chakras and kundalini shakti. Yoga is a system to attain superconsciousness and it is a way to enlightenment.

There are eight steps to self-realization known as Yoga Ashtanga (8 limbs of yoga) and this is yogi practice. So being a yogi means the practice of ashtanga in life.

The eight limbs can be separated into three parts:

Basic moral practices.
Physical practices.
Spiritual practices.

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(1) Yama

1. No Violence (no killing).

Hurting and destroying other people, other living beings and things using violence, usually comes from the emotion of hate, anger, and lust of conquest (desire to subjugate) and not being able to control these emotions. After the violent act, emotions and thoughts of the guilty conscience and repentance becomes recorded in the subconscious mind. The conscious mind is affected by this process and the result is a very unbalanced mind that is not able to be at peace. This condition is very destructive to the meditation practice.

Non-violence is also very important to keep the peace in our society. This is why many spiritual and religious practitioners are vegetarian. How can you eat killed animals if you want to practice non-violence? "I did not kill them" you may say, but by purchasing and eating you are killing them indirectly and thereby contributing to violence. Generally speaking there are two different kinds of vegetarians. The first practice because of health reasons. These people are usually very healthy and happy because they practice vegetarianism for complete health. Another group of vegetarians are religious/spiritual practitioners. They practice no killing - non-violence of Yama - the very first step of all the spiritual practice. The benefit of this principle is very profound and receiving good health is merely a positive side effect. The real benefit one receives from this precept is incredible and only personal experience can explain this adequately. So in a sense, those vegetarians who practice vegetarianism only for health reasons, can be called "selfish vegetarians." I apologize for the label.... but vegetarianism is a basic must for those who attempt to awaken and develop the svadistana chakra, the second chakra. And also, those who claim to be a yoga teacher... must be a vegetarian, of course!!! Anybody who can not even step into a most basic practice of yoga, should not even think of calling him or herself a yoga teacher.

TANTRA YOGA (Part 9): Chakras - Sahasrara Chakra

2009-07-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

The following is the ninth installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new

installment comes out.

CHAKRAS (continued)...

(7) Sahasrara Chakra

You can leave your physical body through sahasrara chakra. You can ride on your astral body and leave this physical body (astral projection) and return to God, where you originally came from. In there, you'll hear the voice of God and realize the reasons for all existence, God, and be led to supreme ecstasy. (You have no more questions, you know everything). You can leave your body and get into another's body and give positive influence to the mind and body of others. The self (you) becomes wider, more free and able to be one with God in higher dimensions... siddhis of completely awakened sahasrara chakra. This itself is the completion of our evolution.

By the way, sahasrara chakras is the most high, supreme chakra of human beings!!! But it is the lowest chakra of divine spirits (gods), like muladhara chakra is the highest chakra in animal kingdom but lowest in our kingdom.

Look for the continuation of my book in the upcoming blogs where I will discuss the actual practice to reach self-realization: yoga ashtanga.

TANTRA YOGA (Part 8): Chakras - Ajna Chakra

2009-07-02T16:27:00.000-07:00

The following is the eighth installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new

installment comes out.

CHAKRAS (continued)...

(6) Ajna Chakra

The ajna chakra is located between the eyebrows or in the center of the forehead, known as the third eye. This is the first chakra that the practitioner should endeavor to awaken. Awakening of the ajna chakra will unwind karma. Ajna chakra purifies the mind and it has the ability to control all the other chakras. By concentrating and meditating on the ajna chakra, it starts to awaken, and the practitioner will experience great change in his mind and starts to purify the mind. When the mind is purified, then there will be no problems---problems occur only when the practitioner concentrates and meditates on other chakras (other than the ajna chakra). Because chakras other than ajna chakra carry various karmas, especially at muladhara, everything of karma is stored. Yogis usually meditate on this chakra to purify the mind. So when various karma rise up from various chakras, one's mind will not be taken over by karma. Therefore, yogis should not attempt to awaken the other chakras before waking up the ajna chakra. The principle of this chakra is consciousness.

Siddhis of the Ajna Chakra

When yogis start to realize the God within, the beginning of self-realization occurs---not human consciousness, but deeper and broader, higher consciousness---and the superconsciousness will be awake all the time. There will be a complete understanding of the past, present, future, and karma of yourself, otherself, past life, karma of place, country and planet. The most important thing about ajna chakra is that it will purify the karma and transcend the karma. In order for a human being to evolve to above human being (completion of evolution), complete awakening of ajna and sahasrara chakra is absolutely necessary.

TANTRA YOGA (Part 7): Chakras - Visuddha Chakra

2009-06-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

The following is the seventh installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new

installment comes out.

CHAKRAS (continued)...

(5) Visuddha Chakra (throat chakra)

The location of the visuddha chakra is near the throat/thyroid gland area in the physical body. Its principle is ether, and it is identified with hearing and it relates to voice/vocal cord and the ears. The visuddha chakra is directly related with sahasrara chakra, the highest point of human's awareness. The function of vissudha is to purify the poisons occuring in the body and poisons coming into the physical form from the outside, and to increase metabolism in order to be able to live for a long time. In other words, you can maintain your physical body for a long time. In my opinion, by awakening up the visuddha chakra completely, HIV can be totally purified from the system. It can also completely control food and liquids. So you can live without eating for a long time. The visuddha chakra is able to transform the energy of the mental (causal) dimension into a physical dimensional energy such as oxygen and protein, to substitute for food to maintain the physical body. Many of you have heard the story of yogis buried underground for several days or even weeks without any food and water, who do not die. This is the siddhi from awakened visuddha chakra and it is known as "underground samadhi". The siddhi of this chakra is one of becoming extremely sensitive towards the vibration of people's thought; in other words, the ability of telepathy. It is said that the manipura chakra receives otherselves' thoughts, but the reality is that visuddha picks up the vibration and transmits it to the manipura and then to various centers in the brain to recognize. The supreme siddhi of this chakra is the ability to completely understand the Veda, the oldest holy text of the truth of the universe.

TANTRA YOGA (Part 6): Chakras - Anahata Chakra

2009-06-16T16:27:00.000-07:00

The following is the sixth installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new

installment comes out.

CHAKRAS (continued)...

(4) Anahata Chakra

This is my favorite chakra and is known as the heart chakra or heart center. The meaning of anahata is "never stop" or endless. Nonphysical, transcendental, endless, beginningless sound, anahatanada exists in anahata chakra. Its location in the physical body is near the heart and cardiac plexus. The space of the heart in the physical body is very small, but the space of the heart in the astral dimension, which is anahata chakra, is very large and formless, and everything occurs from there.

The 3 chakras, from muladhara to manipura chakra, relate to the maintenance of the physical body---the senses that connect body and mind. Therefore, they are strongly related with worldly matters; in other words, cause and effect (karma) is very dominant. The lower three chakras are always related to karma. At the muladhara and svadisthana chakra state, the practitioner is completely governed by karma accordingly. At the state of the manipura chakra, the practitioner is still tied up with karma, but partially transcends karma and is able to control his life with will rather than be controlled by karma. Most people are born, grow up, and do various human actions through karma. Basically, anahata chakra is not influenced by karma which influences the lower three chakras.

Yogis who have attained anahata chakra know that karma is a reality, but are able to transcend and be free from it. The function of anahata is to transcend this wordly dimensional karma, so one who has developed anahata chakra is free from karma and at the same time is able to control the world of karma at his will. In other words, he can accomplish anything which he desires in this karma world. There is a great difference in functions and siddhis up to manipura chakra and from anahata chakra. Up to manipura chakra, the practitioner is just receptive of his karma, but at the anahata the practitioner is able to accomplish any kind of desire he wishes. The anahata charka's function of "accomplishing anything desired" is a function of kalpavriksha. Kalpavrikhsa is a tree, the evergreen tree, known as the tree of hope inside anahata chakra. This "tree of hope" is in everybody's anahata chakra, but it only appears and functions in those who have awakened the anahata chakra completely. By the way, yogis who have awakened the anahata chakra are able to accomplish any desire or wish in life, but whether his wish is good or bad, it will be accomplished equally. Therefore, yogis who have awakened this chakra and yogis who attempt to develop this chakra must be selfless (no ego), maintain positive attitude towards life, and have a good personality. Otherwise, he will create disharmony in society (one individual can destroy the whole world). Hindus believe that the absolute one, the creator God, Brahma (macrocosm) is living in the anahata chakra as Atman (microcosm). Basically, Atman (self, soul, spirit, God-within, etc.) is Brahma (God, creator). Atman is always one with Brahma. This experiential philosophy is at the core of the Hindu religion. The principal element of this chakra is air. Therefore, siddhis occuring from this chakra are for the control of air and wind. Nonpersonal but universal love will be awakened and become eloquent with poetic genius. Desires and wishes come true. Increasing of healing power, such as prana healing by placing one's hand on a patient and and send prana (ki) to heal otherself. Otherself? Yes, you are "yourself" and other people besides you are "otherself". The word "otherself" is used by Dogen Zenji (Zen Master Dogen). Dogen Zenji has attained this high consciousness of myself and otherself through zazen meditation. Basically everything is oneness. I am you and you are me and I am everything and everything is me. This is the reality. But you simply could not see it that way. Simple because this is the state (level) human beings are at. This level is needed to evolve to "oneness" level. No matter what, we are going to be there anyway. In several hundred millions years time everybody will be there. We are in the middle of the evolution of the universe.

Everything came from nothingness and emptiness and became somethingness. Then why "somethingness"? To go back to emptiness! So blockage of this chakra causes inability communicate.

TANTRA YOGA (Part 5): Chakras - Manipura Chakra

2009-06-11T15:50:00.000-07:00

The following is the fifth installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new

installment comes out.

CHAKRAS (continued)...

(3) Manipura Chakra

This is the third chakra from the bottom. Its location is around the navel area, or solar plexus. The muladhara and svadisthana chakras are at an animal-like, instinct dimension. The principle of this chakra is fire. Therefore, awakening this chakra will bring loss of fear towards fire and the ability to control it. The siddhis that occur from awakened manipura chakra are clairvoyance, clairaudience, and control of strong passion and will power. At the state of muladhara and svadisthana chakras, the personality of the practitioner is still not completely purified, so the practitioner will demonstrate siddhis, but also demonstrates his egocentric self. In the state of the manipura chakra, the practitioner starts to see things that he's never seen before and understands them. In this way of understanding, the muladhara relates with the physical dimension; svadisthana is in between physical and spiritual; and manipura is in the spiritual dimension. Therefore at this state, the practitioner will leave the consciousness of the personal and emotional. Also concentration on this chakra will increase digestion.

TANTRA YOGA (Part 4): Chakras - Svadisthana Chakra

2009-06-09T16:55:00.000-07:00

The following is the fourth installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new

installment comes out.

CHAKRAS (continued)...

(2) Svadisthana Chakra

The location of this chakra in the physical body is near the sexual organs. Svadisthana chakra is a chakra of the subconscious. The subconscious mind is a foundation of human existence. It is a strong force, more powerful and active than our conscious mind. When the awakened Kundalini reaches svasdisthana, the practitioner will be influenced by the subconscious mind all the time. Most of human action is controlled by the subconscious mind, but our conscious mind is not aware of it most of the time. In our everyday life, our conscious and unconscious actions, useful and useless, meaningless actions, all our actions are automatically inputted and stored into the subconscious center is svadisthana, and also the karma of the process of evolution to human being.

This chakra's principle is water, and it is related to taste. It relates with the tongue, sexual organs, kidney and metabolism. When svadisthana chakra awakens, metabolism increases, so rejuvenation occurs, increasing reproductive power, long life, overcoming the fear of water, receiving knowledge of the astral body and karma or past lives. Blockage of this chakra causes jealousy and perversion. When chakra is evolved one step up, higher level chakras govern lower chakras. So that at muladhara, animal-like (instinct) karma is still active, but at svadisthana it is still a chakra of the subconscious, but it can govern muladhara chakra.

TANTRA YOGA (Part 3): Chakras - Muladhara Chakra

2009-06-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

The following is the third installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new

installment comes out.

CHAKRAS

The word "chakra" comes from Tantra yoga and belongs to the astral body. It is the center of psychic energy which is a higher level of ability in human beings, known as siddhis (extra superability, ESP, and/or psycho-kinesis ability). There are seven chakras in our body. These chakras are related to certain parts and organs of the physical body and also have a deep relation to the center in the brain. Many parts of this center in the brain are still undeveloped and not utilized or activated. In order to activate and develop these centers completely, it will take humans several million years to complete the process of evolution. The whole universe is evolving. We have evolved this much (...minerals ---> plants ---> animals ---> man). We are in the middle of a process. It is possible to complete evolution in one lifetime or several life times. In other words, developing the chakras will help process the evolution of mankind. Tantra already knows where we are going to evolve to the level of Buddha, the level of Jesus Christ, level of Jain, etc. They completed the evolution of mankind about 2000 years ago. In other words, they are several hundreds and thousands of years ahead of everybody. They are our examples of the way. Buddha, Jesus, Jain, Mohammed... they are not the only individuals that have attained enlightenment. Hundreds of yogis, Zen masters and various religious, spiritual practitioners have attained self realization. Therefore, there are many Buddhas and gods. Another meaning of Buddha or Christ is no different from Atman, the eternal self or soul. In this way, someone who lives next door to you could be a Buddha, or, everybody is God.

Locations and Functions of the Chakras

(7) Sahasrara Chakra (crown chakra) - top of head

(6) Ajna Chakra (third eye) - center of forehead

(5) Visuddha Charka ((throat chakra) - throat area

(4) Anahata Chakra (heart chakra) - center of the breast

(3) Manipura Chakra (navel chakra) - navel area

(2) Svadhisthana Chakra (2nd chakra) - sexual organ

(1) Muladhara Chakra (root chakra) - perineum area

(1) Muladhara Chakra (root chakra)

This is the 1st chakra. The meaning of Muladhara is Mula (root) Adhara (foundation or base), therefore, Muladhara Chakra is the basic foundation of the seven chakras.

Mula = Mulaprakriti.

Mulaprakriti is the transcendental orgin of nature. Nature, the phenomenon world that we see, everything came from mulaprakriti, and everything resolves to mulaprakriti. Therefore, mulaprakriti is the origin of nature's evolution. Mulaprakriti is basically responsible for the physical, material, psychological, and emotional --- everything that occurs in the human body. Muladhara chakra exists as a transcendental, non-material source in material (flesh) body, and it is supposedly fully developed and functioning in the future.

Muladhara chakra belongs to the earth principle; this principle is related to smell. Therefore muladhara chakra relates with smell, nose, and earth. The location of the muladhara chakra is at the perineum (in between the anus and the sexual organs) for man and at the neck of the womb (cervix of uterus) for woman and/or at the base of the spine and is the seat for the great dormant power, Kundalini Shakti.

There are seven more chakras below muladhara chakra, atala, vitala, sutala, talatala, rasatala, mahatala, patala --- they belong to animal dimensions. Muladhara is the highest level chakra of these seven chakras, but is the lowest in the level of human existence. In muladhara, animal-like instinct and passion are dominant but sacred shakti also exists here. Therefore, this chakra is highest in animal dimension and lowest in human existence. As the highest chakra in the animal kingdom, uncountable experiences at the level of the animal state before human is stored in muladhara as abilities and as karma. For example, sleeping, eating, feeling, sexual behavior, etc. We obtained these abilities while we were in the animal state in the process of evolution. It is still working at the human level and is a function of muladhara chakra. So muladhara chakra is an origin of our conscious (mind) and unconscious activities.

For regular people, Kundalini Shakti rests in the muladhara chakra. This serpent power is in a sleeping state. When Kundalini Shakti awakens, it will raise up the sushumna nadi (astral nerve tube in the spine) and open up each chakra. Awakened Kundalini power will bring siddhi (supernatural powers) to individuals. When Kundalini awakens, it activates the muladhara chakra. In other words, muladhara chakra is activated by Kundalini Shakti. One will receive the abilities of increased memory, strong will power, mystical power of sense of smell, astral travel, beginning state of clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc. Blockage of this chakra causes fear of death, fear of abandonment. This chakra is the dimension of the physical, egocentric (ego-oriented). Therefore, the yogi (practitioner) obtains siddhis but is still in the realm of the egocentric.

Kundalini Shakti

Kundalini Shakti is the life force which carries superior abilities.
The cosmic force called Kundalini Shakti is the greatest energy in man.
Kundalini Shakti brings people's spirituality to a higher level. Successful activation will bring siddhis.

According to Tantric texts, the purpose of pranayama (yogic breathing technique) is to awaken the Kundalini Shakti. You understand that Kundalini Shakti is the most sacred, superior energy in human beings. But a wrong approach will create great danger to your life. Only a pure, sincere approach will bring its superior benefits. Great yogi Swami Devananda explained this matter in his literature this way:

"Only advanced yogis could take Kundalini to the highest center. That is to the Ajna Chakra situated between the eyebrows and above it to the brain center and retain it for a long time. Only few yogis can awaken Kundalini and take her at will to the anahata chakra or heart center for a short period. Some students of yoga who often speak of Kundalini only stumbled upon that power, and know either how to take her to the higher centers at will, nor how to retain her in the highest centers. Nowadays we can see many such people who, after stumbling upon that force, pose as teachers and claim to know everything. It is said that one should become completely desireless and be full of dispassion before attempting to awaken Kundalini Shakti. Otherwise, the awakened power will be uncontrollable and inflict a terrible feeling of pain and heat upon the entire body. No doctor can diagnose or cure it, because there will be no noticeable external symptoms. When purity of mind is attained through devotion and selfless service, pranayama, and meditation, then alone does the awakened Kundalini move upward and impart different kinds of experience, powers, and ananda (or bliss)."

"With the help of pranayama and the chanting of mantras, the sleeping Kundalini power is roused and moves to the next higher center, Sivadhisthana. From there onward the student with great effort carries the power to the next higher centers in regular ascending order: manipura, anahata, visuddha, ajna. Only when the power reaches consciously the ajna center in between the eyebrows may it be said that the practitioner has obtained success in controlling and manipulating the Kundalini Shakti, which appears like a brilliant flash of lightning. Even to reach this state, one has to work hard for several years and follow the method and contemplation taught by one's teacher. Nowadays, we can see everywhere pseudo yoga teacher who claim on public platforms that they can awaken Kundalini with their yogic powers if students can afford to pay a large amount of money. Yogic students are warned again and again that Kundalini can never be awakened by the power of such teachers, except through long and steady practices of meditation, chanting and breathing. A true teacher never expects anything from his students, and awaits the proper time --- perhaps years --- before he teaches everything to them."

TANTRA YOGA (Part 2): Traditional Religion and Esoteric Religion

2009-05-28T17:07:00.000-07:00

The following is the second installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new installment comes out.

In traditional religion the understanding of God, Buddha, or an absolute being is always related to this world. In other words, God appears in the form that we can understand. For example, God appears as Buddha, Kanzeon Bosatsu, or, in Christianity, as Jesus Christ, and, in Shintoism, as the god Amaterasu Omikami (sun), to protect peace on earth. So, traditional religion, basically, centers, on this world, relates to this world and worships God or Buddha who saves this world.

Esoteric Religion

The center of esoteric religion is not of this world. The center is God or Buddha, not this world (us). The main purpose of esoteric religion is to transcend being human and become Buddha, God. In other words, unite one with God. We have evolved this much (to human beings) but are still not completed. In other words, we are in the middle of our evolution. The practices taught by esoteric religion is for human beings to evolve to be above the human being. Tantra yoga is certainly an esoteric part of yoga. Generally speaking, you can consider that Hinayana, Mahayana, Jodo sect, Nichiren sects, etc., of Buddhism as traditional religions while Vajrayana, Shingon, Tendai sects, etc. as esoteric. Zen Buddhism? Zen Buddhism is part of Mahayana tradition so it is supposedly a traditional religion. But when you look deeper into its teaching and practice, you'll understand that its practice is a supreme form of Tantrism. And in Christianity, Protestantism = traditional religion and the esoteric part of Catholicism is Tantrism. Generally speaking, yoga has various styles and you can separate them into two categories: classical yoga and Hatha (esoteric) yoga.

Traditional Religion/Classical Yoga

To control or destroy the three dimensional, wordly desire of human beings in order to make this world holy/sacred---this is known as classical yoga.

Hatha Yoga

To use positive physical and spiritual practice, to reform consciousness rapidly, to make holy and sacred the third dimensional world view (outlook of the third dimensional world) to become one with God---this is known as Hatha Yoga. Therefore, Hatha Yoga is part of Tantrism, an esoteric religion.

So, classical religion = traditional religion, and Hatha Yoga is esoteric ( Tantra) yoga. Actually, Hatha Yoga is the root of Tibetan Buddhism, Taoism, Chineze Zen and Japanese Vajrayana (Shingon) Buddhism.

An important characteristic of Tantrism is the emphasis on actual practice and technique rather than philosophy. Therefore, a Guru (master of Tantric technique) becomes very important.

THREE BODIES OF HUMAN BEINGS

Tantra Yoga was founded by God, Lord Siva. According to Tantra, man is a totally "free being", almighty being. In the process of becoming God (evolution of mankind), we have three different dimensional bodies and minds. Step up one by one and realize and awaken the existence of a higher dimension of your body and mind and go to the land of God. Or be one with God or become God or return to God or enlightenment, self-realization or whatever you want to call it... finally, you'll be free from these bodies and minds... you are not body or mind, then who are you? ...I am not this body and I am not my astral body, I am not my mental body and I am not a mind. Then who am I??? You are eternal soul. You are spirit! Priests will tell you so (because the Bible said so...) Yes, we are eternal soul and spirit, there are many names for it. (Different religions have different names for it. Many names of one same thing. So don't fight over the different names). Body and mind is not you. You are the eternal soul. Opposite of eternal is temporal. So here unbalance occurs. Soul is eternal (beginningless, endless). Body is temporal. Our body lasts about 100 years, but the soul is eternal. Then where do you go after you die and lose your body? Unless you attain enlightenment (self-realization, to realize that you are an eternal being, realize that you are the God, realize who you really are), you will keep receiving new bodies, and this is called reincarnation.

THREE BODIES AND MINDS

Physical body and its mind (mind that is related with material body).
Astral body and its mind (emotional sense).
Mental (causal) body and mind (intuition).

In these three bodies and minds, the physical body and mind exist and function in this phenomenal (material) world. In the surface area of Yo (Yang), while it is supported by the astral and mental body, In (Yin). The astral and mental body cannot be observed by the five physical senses and mind.

Physical Body (Material Body)

The soul (self) is beyond the physical body. The physical body is just a vehicle for you. The physical body is the place to experience happiness (good karma) and misery (bad karma) and is made up of five elements. You obtained this body as the result of your past karma. All the problems (or suffering) in life comes from ignorance (I am the body consciousness), in this way almost everybody is ignorant (I am the body consciousness).

Astral Body. This is your second vehicle.

The astral body is made up of life-force or prana energy (also known as "ki" in Japanese or "chi" in Chinese), senses and mind. The astral world is also known as the 4th dimension. The physical body functions in this material (physical) world, likewise we use our astral body for activities in the astral world. Dreams come from the astral dimension, and when you practice your meditation, you are stepping into the astral dimension.

Our senses and mind are in the astral dimension, and when people die senses and mind still exist. Everybody has an astral body (or rather, the astral body has every body).

Mental (Causal) Body.

This is your third body, or 1st body rather.

The mental body is the cause of astral and physical body. The causal body is the cause of the mistake of "I am the body" consciousness.

These three bodies and mind exist in different dimensions. But the three bodies make one complete human being. Like there is no tree without roots.

These three different dimensional bodies interrelate with chakras. Chakras function as a center of the three different bodies and it mediates prana (ki energy) from the different bodies. It converts the physical prana to astral energy or converts astral energy to physical energy to vitalize the body and mind. Therefore, activating and developing chakras will bring people into a higher level of consciousness and also be able to support the lower level of existence.

TANTRA YOGA (Part 1)

2009-05-21T16:37:00.000-07:00

The following is the first installment of a new book on Tantra Yoga that I am writing. As a follower of this blog you have the opportunity to read this soon to be published book as each chapter comes out. So please make sure to check this blog as often as you can. Or better yet, sign up as a follower of this blog to be automatically notified via email when each new installment comes out.

YOGA

The purpose of Yoga practice is to become one with sacred objects or God. What is a sacred object? Examples are chakras, mantras, mandalas, etc. as in Tantra Yoga teaching. It is simply to concentrate (deep concentration) on a sacred object or God and to become one with it. In order to be one with God or a sacred object, denial of "self" (egolessness) is necessary.

Oneness with an object happens upon complete denial of the existence of "self" (subject), which is opposed to the object. At that moment, the practitioner will transcend subjective/objective understanding or knowledge. Subjective understanding is just subjective understanding and objective understanding is just objective understanding and not complete understanding. Subjective/objective understanding is the dimension of our modern science. Scientists (subject) study or observe objects. The scientist never becomes the object or tries to understand the object. No matter how much you observe and study, objective understanding is just objective understanding. In science, basic understanding of objectivity depends on sense organs which belong to the physical body which exists in the physical dimension.

One transcends the dimension of relativity (subjective/objective) by denying the self (subject) which is opposed to the object and therefore no longer depending on the senses. Consciousness that does not depend on the senses, consciousness of oneness, consciousness of the absolute (non-relative = unity of subject & object) and intuition is known as super consciousness in Tantra yoga.

TANTRA

What is Tantra? I'll try to explain Tantra. Explain Tantra? ... Tantra, Zen, Tao and/or God (absolute being) are dimensions of the non-relative. It is in the dimension of the non-relative (absolute, not in the realm of subjective/objective). "Explanation," as our communication tool, is within the realm of relativity---subjective/objective dimension. Therefore, explaining Tantra means trying to explain the inexplicable. It is something like this: when you want to know about God, you'll read some holy text or go to a priest, or these days, you might turn on your computer and google some websites. They'll tell you God is like this... it looks like this... it is also like this... And they'll use many different stories and metaphors and never say "this is this". Once you say "this is this", then this (God) becomes that, and limits it to "that". God is not "that" but, rather, it can be that but it is also this and it can be this and it is like this too and so on and so forth.

Therefore, I'll use many different stories and metaphors to explain Tantra. In the process you may find conflicts among those stories and metaphors. For example, when explaining one thing using five stories, these stories may conflict with each other but do not get confused, because again it's the "it is like this, but it also is this, and it is this way too" business. And it's this way also. So your understanding towards "it" should be like this and it's like this and this way also. Although stories conflict with each other, mix it together and understand it as a whole. Also, conflicts between metaphors (teachings) occur when the same subject is discussed on different levels. Expand your understanding and consciousness.

The word "understand" is very relative---you (subject) understanding God (object). Subjective understanding is just subjective understanding, not absolute understanding (non-relative). Therefore it is not complete, it is just your understanding and it is a head trip---the dimension of modern science. You'll know nothing this way. Real understanding comes from the absolute dimension only. Therefore actual practice (experience) is emphasized (such as meditation) rather than intellectual studies. In Tantra truth is not in a Bible, truth is within you. Buddha, Jesus, God are also not in the Bible. They are within you. Also they are not in the sky or anywhere else. They are really within you. The Bible, sutras change all the time---it is a matter of your understanding---it changes all the time. The experienced practitioner will read and understand very deeply. Beginning practitioner only read the surface of the word.

For thousand of years, these sacred practices have been transmitted on this planet. Among these practices, especially, is the awakening and developing of Kundalini Shakti and chakras to bring human beings to transcend the state of human being to absolute freedom, and evolve to eternal beings. This practice is called Tantra Yoga. You can also consider that any teachings that talk about chakras, Kundalini Shakti, microcosm and macrocosm is a category of Tantrism. There is Tantrism in Buddhism known as Vajrayana (Tibetan Buddhism is very much influenced by Tantrism). There is Hindu Tantrism (Tantra Yoga). There is Tantrism in Jainism. You can find Tantrism in almost any religion.

Everything has In ([-] or Yin) and Yo ([+] or Yang). Everything has its surface, visible area and internal, inside, not visible parts. Take a tree for example. The visible "Yo" part of the tree you can observe - trunk, branches and leaves. The "In", the not visible part of the tree, the hidden part of the tree, are its roots. There is no tree without root or trunk. So everything is In and Yo. There is no coin without head or tail so therefore the head and tail make a complete coin.

Yo (Yang) + In (Yin) -

Siva........................Shakti

man........................woman

light.......................darkness

high........................low

positive....................negative

sun.........................moon

good.......................bad

right.......................left

out.........................in

rock......and.............roll (oh, excuse me)

One day, when I was lecturing about Yin and Yang, one of my female students had gotten very upset and said "I understand the philosophy, but why are women equated with darkness, bad, negative and low?!!! This very discriminating and is a very man-oriented teaching!"

When the winter comes and all the leaves fall the tree looks dead. But when spring comes and starts to get warm, new leaves start to come out and it looks alive again because of the roots, the In (Yin) existence. You can not recognize "light" without "darkness". Bad does not mean bad. It is just the other end of good. Negative does not mean negative. A complete balance of negative and positive will create electricity. Human being is not man and woman, man and woman make human being.

Every religion has In and Yo parts.

Stay tuned for the next article of this blog: "Traditional Religion and Esoteric Religion"

Positive Thinking

2009-05-13T14:05:00.000-07:00

"Playing in the realm of emptiness and nothingness,

the enlightened world."

In Buddhism we say that nothing exists in this universe besides mind --- in other words: everything is a product of mind. By positively thinking that something is possible, even when it looks impossible, it will be possible.

When you die, mind (in common understanding) disappears, but Karma stays. Cancer is nothing but an increase in abnormal cells. Naturally the immune system of the body wants to fight it. The immune system is influenced by the mind. Whether you are enlightened or not, believe that you have Buddha-nature. We come from Buddha-nature.

To use this energy and to depend on it, will make a big difference in your life. By thinking positively and acting in an affirmative way, you will experience not only how your health will improve, but your relationships will benefit as well.

When you are aware in this way, you can use what religion sometimes refers to as infinite power/energy, which is Buddha-nature.

When this awareness happens, good luck will be part of your life and you will feel miracles happen. When you feel this, it will be very difficult for you to fall ill. The best way to rid yourself of mental fatigue is to focus your mind (zazen meditation). A second way to rid yourself of mental fatigue is to use positive speech, for example by saying "I am filled with God's infinite power." If you want to accomplish something that seems difficult, the best way is to visualize that you have already accomplished it. What to do when you are "freaking out"? Behave as if you are not freaking out, as if you are perfectly happy.

Make your face happy and your mind will follow. In Buddhism, everything is cause and effect, therefore Buddhism does not teach in terms of destiny or fate.

Human beings can choose cause by use of mind and the appropriate effect will follow.

Nothing is therefore impossible. By effort and by mind we can then eliminate certain obstacles, which in turn will allow the desired effect to follow.

When you want to accomplish something, unless you remove the obstacle, whether internal or external, nothing can happen.

That is why you need effort and time. No matter how frustrated or upset you are, think in terms of cause and effect, so when the appropriate time comes and the obstacle is removed, your wish will come true.

To attain enlightenment is not difficult, only don't discriminate.

Reprinted from "The Spiritual" newsletter 1994.

The Rules For Being Human

2009-05-07T16:46:00.000-07:00

1. You Will Receive a Body.

You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time round.

2. You Will Learn Your Lessons.

You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called Life. Each day in this school you will have an opportunity tolearn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There Are no Mistakes, Only Lessons.

Growth is a process of trial and error: experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works".

4. A Lesson Is Repeated Until Learned.

A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning Lessons Does Not End.

There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. "There" Is No Better Than "Here".

When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here".

7. Others Are Merely Mirrors Of You.

You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What You Make Of Your Life Is Up To You

You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your Answers Lie Inside You.

The answers to Life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen and trust.

10. You Will Forget All This.

11. You Can Remember It Whenever You Want.

Above article taken from a spiritual paper.

NOBODY'S FAULT BUT YOURS

There is no such thing as somebody's or something's fault in life.

If you suffer from something or somebody, it is your fault, your karma to be in that situation. For example, if you are driving and some drunk driver hits you from behind, it is your fault!! It is your karma to be in that situation. You have nobody to blame, you can blame your karma.

KARMA

Karma is your behavior. Whatever you do, whatever you speak, whatever you think, becomes your karma. It's very simple to create good karma. Do Good, speak Good, think Good. That's all.

AUM.

Death and Karma

2009-05-06T12:00:00.000-07:00

WHAT IS DEATH?

What does it mean to die? You cannot take anything with you when you die. When you die, you cannot use your body anymore. Your body is just your body. You are not your body, so don't think that your body is you. You are you.

You are eternal, but your body is limited. The opposite of eternal is temporary. Since we are eternal but our body is temporary (only lasts about 100 years), then we have to keep changing our body. Therefore, to die means to exchange the old body for a new one.

A FRESH START

This sounds good, because it means that we can start again. You cannot take your house, money, wife, car, or power with you when you die; people think you cannot take anything with you when you die, but yes, you can take two things with you. Only two things: you can take your good karma and your bad karma.

TAKE IT WITH YOU

So you might say that you can tke ONE thing with you: your karma. This means all effects of all actions you have done, the complete total of all action including good and bad.

Your karma is going to influence you in your next new life. You can create karma three ways: through speaking, thinking, and acting. In order to avoid unnecessary suffering in your next life, try to create only good karma.

Speak good. Think good. Behave good.

INSTANT KARMA

Many times you don't have to wait until the next life to receive the karma that you create. It could come back immediately. So, in order to have a spiritual and good life this time.

Speak good. Think good. Behave good.

WHAT IS GOOD?

Nobody sees things exactly the same way. One hundred people will see the same thing a hundred different ways, so there is no absolute way to determine what is bad or good. What is "good" to some people becomes "bad" for other people, depending on the circumstances. As time and situations change "good" may become "bad", and "bad" may become "good". So what is good? What is bad? For our poor brain it is difficult to know what is good and bad, and finding out can be dangerous.

The law changes all the time. Something that used to be legal may become illegal; something illegal in one country may be legal in another country at the same time! So what is good and bad? What is legal and illegal? There is no clear answer.

HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO?

To find out what is good or bad, you can depend on the teachings of the various religions. They are generally safe and can be relied on, but I recommend the best way to find out what is good and bad for yourself is through meditation.

Be spiritual. Be religious. Meditate.

AUM.

Spiritual Healing

2009-05-05T15:00:00.000-07:00

WESTERN MEDICINE AND ORIENTAL MEDICINE

In many ways, Western and Oriental medicine are totally opposite, in both theory and practice. Their basic philosophies are very different. This is not intended as criticism! All I want is to make the world happy and contribute to the evolution of the consciousness of the universe.

When you have a terrible headache and go to a western doctor, he usually gives you "medicine" which is really only a pain killer made out of chemicals. You take the "medicine" and after a while the headache is gone. How wonderful - now you can enjoy your day again! You can appreciate the chemicals of modern science and western medicine, and you are thankful to your doctor.

But let us examine this closer. Pain killers only stop the pain by deadening the nerves so that you cannot feel pain. This does not mean you are healed. Your headache is still there, you just no longer feel it. You are numbed by chemicals so that you do not feel the headache and so you think you have recovered from it, but the cause of the headache remains untreated.

Unfortunately, if you get a more serious condition like cancer, the approach of Western medicine will be no different from "curing" the headache. They apply chemical poisons to the human body to try to kill the cancer cells. At the same time this poison kills other parts of your body. When the chemical doesn't work, they try to apply radiation to your body. Finally, they cut your body with a knife and try to remove the cancer from your body. Once again, they ignore the cause.

Everything has cause and effect. If there is no cause there will be no effect; this is the law of the universe. In order to receive a good effect your behavior must be good. This is your karma. So there must be a cause for the headache and cancer, too. Headache and cancer are effects. There is something causing these symptoms of illness. The approach of Western medicine is to deal with the symptoms (effects) by trying to simply eliminate the headache or the cancer. Unfortunately, if you don't stop the cause the effect will keep coming back again. It works something like this: if you have a lung problem caused by smoking, then no matter what you do (i.e., take pills, have an operation, receive treatments of radiation or massage, chant a mantra, etc.) your lung problem will never be cured. However, if you simply stop smoking you can allow your body to heal.

The approach of oriental medicine is to deal with the cause rather than the symptoms (effect). In addition, there are many techniques of oriental wisdom, such as herbs, that do deal with the symptoms, without injuring or numbing the body.

When I examine a patient with a terrible headache I often find that his neck and shoulders are very stiff. This indicates poor circulation. When the neck and shoulders are tight, the blood does not circulate to the head and may cause a headache. The tightness may be the result of fear, stress, bad posture, etc. For emergency treatment, Shiatsu (accupressure) or Hari (accupuncture) may be applied to eliminate the cause of the headache. These techniques are both safer and less expensive than western drug therapy.

One day, one of my yoga students brought her friend from work to have a healing session with me. She claimed that her fingertips were cold and numb. She had had this problem for several months and had been to various western doctors, but nobody seemed able to solve the problem. In oriental medicine, it is considered common sense that numbness or cold on the fingertips are caused by poor circulation around the neck, shoulders and arms. Beginning oriental medical students and even children know this simple fact.

When she first cam to see me, she came with a bandage around her hand, which had been applied by a doctor. It was kind of shocking to me that any doctor would do such a thing. Now we are talking about circulation - and a bandage cuts the circulation even more. On top of that, he had scheduled her for an operation on her right palm at a local hospital. Perhaps he thought that something was growing in her palm, but the explanation was not very clear.

"The hospital called me yesterday to confirm the appointment," she said with a worried face.

"How are your neck and shoulders?" I asked her.

"Very tight", she said.

When I touched her neck and shoulders they felt extremely tight, but I began to smile because I felt quite confident that I could help her to feel better without a painful and costly operation. I thought it would take a few treatments and some yoga exercises to cure her, but after giving her less than an hour of massage and accupressure treatment, her numbness was completely gone!

Causes of Disease

The best way to cure a disease is to treat the cause. The best way to be healthy is to prevent the causes of disease from entering our lives in the first place. Where does disease come from? Most diseases including serious ones like cancer are caused by the same three things:

1. Chemicals (poisons)

2. Diet

3. Attitude

Chemicals

There are poisons everywhere. We have poisons in our tap water, poisons in our so-called "medicine", poisons on vegetables and fruit and almost everything we eat. It is impossible to obtain pure food in our society. Take an apple for example: it is grown in a chemical soil with chemical treated water, chemical fertilizer, and finally sprayed with poisonous chemicals to kill bugs.

I have heard that there is not one living thing in the grape fields of California except grape plants and humans. All other living things such as bugs and insects are killed by chemicals, and these poisoned grapes are going into your body. We may eat this fruit, full of poison and say, "I don't feel anything bad", and you may not. However, slowly but surely you will feel the effects.

Although it is impossible to eliminate all the poisons from our daily lives when we find them even in the air we breathe, there are a few simple ways to help reduce the amount of them that we ask our bodies to deal with.

To totally correct these evil matters on the planet we may need to reconsider the whole system of our society, and perhaps our understanding towards life. Be a spiritual being rather than a material being.

Diet

Cancer and many other illnesses are caused by the food we eat. Almost everyone is familiar with the dangerous chemicals contained in many foods, but most people are not aware of the danger in eating animal products. And it is actually rather difficult to get foods free from animal products in our society.

It is scientifically proven that many animal products will create disease and sickness. The human body is not designed to eat dead animals. By eating meat, you invite disease into your body and create the karma of killing. Nobody has the right to kill anything. Ideally, we should all be vegetarians, or at least more aware and careful of what we eat. Animals are not aware of what they eat and commercial food-animals are filled with chemicals and hormones given to them by greedy growers. Many are given mega doses of antibiotics, to which the bacteria in their bodies become completely resistant. Then these super bacteria are eaten by humans, who will take more antibiotics to get rid of them.

Even without these added chemicals, the meat itself is difficult to digest and may remain in the intestines for weeks, months or years, rotting. By eating vegetables, nuts, grains, rice, etc. (a vegetarian, non-killing diet) you can never fall into deadly illness. By eating non-vegetarian food (meat, killed animals) people generally get sick. This is not just a moral judgment - Western science agrees that meat is very hard on the human body.

You must not eat in the morning. It is considered "common sense" in our society that everyone should eat breakfast, and eat three times a day. This understanding is totally wrong! I'm sorry, doctors, but it is wrong. Morning is not a time for digestion, it is a time for cleansing. Therefore, it is not appropriate to eat in the morning. Yogis who devote their lives to body health will eat only once or twice a day at the most.

There are many people bothered by stomach and intestinal problems for years who have become completely healthy and able to enjoy life after changing their diet to eating twice a day from three times a day. Western medicine fails to recognize this simple point and is therefore unable to help these people. In fact, it is still recommending that they eat breakfast. From my own experience, I feel much better since I stopped breakfast.

Do not eat too much! We can live up to 125 years easily by eating proper food and not eating too much. Physical problems caused by eating too much lead to problems in society. Many diseases (including deadly ones) have been cured by fasting (not eating for many days). Many people have experienced the technique of fasting and have received almost unbelievable benefits from it. The wisdom of fasting has existed on this planet for thousands of years. Both religious leaders and practitioners have used this technique over the years, including Buddha and Jesus. Look at dogs and cats: when they are sick they do not eat. They lie around all day and rest, because their natural instinct tells them not to eat while they are sick. Nurses tell patients in the hospital, "You must eat this!" but patients do not want to eat. They have no appetite. Natural instinct tells them not to eat.

Do not be brainwashed by the so-called authorities in our society. Our instincts are very accurate, but modern science kills our instinct by telling us not to trust our natural body intelligence. They want us to deaden our bodies with pain killers and too much heavy food instead of changing our habits and lifestyles. Now people do not know what to eat, what to do, what is right or wrong. Never go to the hospital, especially if you are sick. The hospital is full of sick people and sick "ki" (prana). There is sick energy all around, plus the vibrations of worry and fear of the patients. You must be with healthy people, especially when you are sick. Healthy people give off healthy "ki" and healing energy from their bodies and minds.

Attitude

A positive attitude towards life is the first step towards being healthy. Without a positve attitude, there is no cure for disease.With complete positivity, your body is immune to all illness. Of course, if your attitude towards life is negative, you will attract various negative forces into your life and body, such as cancer and breakdown of the immune system. The effects of the mind and body on health cannot be separated.

Simplicity

Simple is best.Our life in society becomes more and more complicated and we receive too much information. Therefore we fall into very complicated ills and problems. Remember every phenomenon we perceive is based on cause and effect. Therefore, oriental techniques are based on cause and effect. Healing techniques of Oriental Medicine are very simple - almost too simple and therefore inexpensive.

Healers who try to make big business out of these sacred techniques are increasing - so watch out!

Few people in the West believe in these simple techniques, and even many Orientals no longer practice them. This is a laughing matter for Oriental people because this wisdom has existed in our culture for thousands of years, but because of lack of respect for the wisdom of our ancestors, we have forgotten these basic truths.

The cure is not only simple, it is simplicity. Remove complexity and you remove anxiety - the main cause of bad attitude and disease.

Spiritual Life

What is spiritual? The opposite of spiritual is material. The spiritual life involves leaving the material life for a simple life. Many people try to find happiness in material things ...Happiness is not in having a so called good job; happiness if not in being good-looking or having an expensive car, a house with a swimming pool, or looking for a rich and good looking mate. These are material values and will only bring you a momentary happiness. This is known as illusion.

I know a lot of people who have everything materially but are still not happy. They even seem to suffer from what they own. People are not content with what is "here" but always seem to want what is "there". When they actually get "there" it becomes "here" and no longer satisfies them, because now they want what is "there". Human nature is never satisfied and keeps wanting more. (see "Spiritual 1")

Real happiness is within, and you can only find happiness in the non-material dimension. Non-material means things that you cannot see, things that you cannot buy or put a price on.

Modern science has invented a lot of wonderful(?), comfortable(?) material things. The automobile for example. Such a great invention - we have received a lot of benefit! At least this is what we think, but instead we end up walking less and less. So the body becomes very weak and more prone to disease. Large amounts of driving also creates pollution which becomes a danger to the whole planet.

"What is the name of your best friend?" I asked a little child and he answered, "Color Television!" Certainly television will not give you happiness, but watching TV will give you the following results:

It wastes your time and keeps you from doing anything of value.

It damages your eyes and other parts of your body with harmful radiation and poor posture.

It fills your mind with unnecessary information and causes it to be very busy instead of at peace.

It creates unnecessary desires.

You will become brainwashed.

Watching TV is a bad habit which you should try to stop immediately. After a while, you may find your life has become more creative and realize that many ills come from watching television.

So please try to maintain a positive attitude and avoid all things which work against your efforts.

CURES FOR DISEASE (Healing Yourself)

From the health point of view people are torturing themselves. Most of you would agree with me on the causes of disease I have just described, but many of these things are hard to control.

At the moment, I'm living at the Kanzeonji Buddhist Temple in Los Angeles, but it is very difficult to obtain pure food. There are chemicals in vegetables, chemicals in rice, chemicals everywhere. Even with a lot of effort, it is very difficult to get everything organic. The system of our society does not allow us to eat pure food. In other words, living in this society is like living in the hell of poisons. Because we cannot avoid all these poisons it is important to know techniques for healing. (This article was written in the 1980's)

Blood Circulation and Healing

All the impurities from bad environment, bad diet and bad attitude.

All of the impurities from bad environment, bad diet and bad attitude end up in the blood. It is a simple fact that if you eat good food you create good blood.

Pure food = pure blood

Junk food = junk blood = get sick

Every single problem in the body will show up as impurities in the blood. If you had perfectly pure blood, you would never get sick! So, if you are sick, improve your blood quality and you will be healed. If you do not, the blood will circulate your problem to all parts of your body.

Poor Blood Ciruculation

You cannot expect clean water if the river is not flowing well. It is the same with blood. Poor circulation creates poor blood quality.

Poor Breathing Technique

A perfect nutritional diet is useless if you do not breathe properly. It is like an automobile: you put the best quality gasoline (perfect food) in your car but if it does not get enough oxygen the fuel does not burn completely. In order to create good quality blood (not too rich, not too thin - fuel mixture) the food has to burn completely. Therefore breathing technique is one of the most important techniques for good blood quality.

What Does Blood Do?

Blood carries energy (nutrition and oxygen) to the billions and billions of cells in your body. Those cells which do not receive enough energy will starve and become dead cells. Therefore poor blood circulation creates dead cells. On top of that, blood cannot wash out and carry away those dead cells if the circulation is poor. This is the reality of every sickness. If you have absolutely no dead cells in your body, you could drink a glass full of cancer viruses or even AIDS virus and you would never get sick from it; it would all eventually wash out.

If you have no internal bleeding in your intestines, disease, bacteria, and viruses can never harm you! People should not be afraid of disease at all. Internal wounds are the most scary things in the human body because they allow disease to enter. Zen Yoga healing methods starts by correcting blood circulation and good blood quality.

So all diseases can be washed out of your body by the blood circulation system. This method does not contain any violence at all even towards deadly viruses. Western drug therapy is based on killing (violence). Doctors try to kill disease with medicine (poison). This is no different from dropping bombs! Diseases also want to live and they do not want to get killed. So they fight back. Sooner or later, they will get stronger so you have to apply stronger poison to kill them. In this process you are poisoning other parts of your body and creating more internal wounds at the same time, as well as creating more and more impure blood quality.This method reflects the attitude of our society (or is it the other way around?) We try to gain peace (money) by violence (war).

The cause of sickness is not in disease - the cause of sickness is in your poor health. Scientists say that viruses are everywhere in the air. If the cause of sickness were disease, then everybody would be sick. The cause of sickness is in your dead cells and internal wounds - not in disease. It is better not to kills anything including viruses.

Here is a simple but very effective method to create blood circulation:

Asanas (yoga posture/exercise)

Hot Water Bath

Sun Bath

Air Bath (remember we are breathing from our skin too)

Shiatsu (accupressure/massage)

Hari (accupuncture)

Natural Herbs (for very sick people and emergency use)

Never use so called "medicine" chemicals

Air Bath and Blood Circulation

When you take a look at the human body from the health point of view, it is not really designed to wear clothes. In fact the skin gets weaker and weaker when you wear clothing all the time. The body is always breathing from the skin. Even when you consciously stop brething, your skin is breathing. And our skin functions like a kidney and a liver. The function of the kidneys and the liver is to excrete poisons from the body. So when the kidneys and liver get weak, the blood becomes impure. This is one of the most important reasons to avoid using chemicals. Taking chemicals damages your kidneys and liver. When the kidneys and liver get weak, your skin starts to function like a kidney and liver trying to excrete toxins from the body. 99% of the time any skin problems or skin diseases, including pimples and dirty skin, are a sign of weakness of the liver and/or the kidneys.

Doctors give a skin cream made out of chemicals to patients who have skin problems. But this only covers the problem and prevents healing. Ladies apply chemical skin creams all over their beautiful bodies to try to make their skin look beautiful, but instead it keeps the skin from breathing. It makes me cry every time I see these things. So if you want to have beautiful healthy skin, simply clean out your kidneys and liver. An air bath with no clothes on is one of the most simple but effective healing techniques.

Clothes and Blood Circulation

I'm not trying to be anti-social. The intention of this discussion is to contribute health and happiness to our world, but our society requires us to wear some very unhealthy clothing. Neckties for example. Now we are talking about blood circulation. Most men are required to wear neckties in order to keep their jobs. Everybody is choking themselves by wearing neckties which do not allow the neck area to breathe. The neck is the most important part for blood circulation. Remember the body and the mind are totally related to each other. If everyone stopped wearing neckties, I think that there would be a tremendous decrease in automobile accidents and divorce in our society.

If you want to kill somebody, simply choke his neck with rope or something for a few minutes. He will easily die. It seems to me that many people are committing suicide a little bit everyday by hanging themselves with ties.

Do not wear tight clothes. Modern clothes use a lot of elastic for convenience: stockings, shirts, socks, shoes, underwear, etc, and people do not know what is "too tight". I consider clothes that leave a mark on the skin too tight, because they cut off blood circulation. I see the deep elastic marks on my patient's after taking off socks, underpants, wrist watch, bra. (I recommend not wearing a bra.) No wonder they are sick.....

Another thing that I have observed through my healing work is that most westerners have abnormally shaped feet because their feet are in hard shoes for so much of the time. The foot tends to become shaped like the shoes. It would be better if the shoes were the shape of the foot, rather than the foot shaped like the shoe. A foot should be shaped like a foot! Especially the little toe. Check your little toe. Is this a little toe? Oh yes, it is a little toe! It is amazing how the shape of the body changes by applying force over a period of time. By applying braces to your teeth for a few years, your teeth get straight. By having bad posture for many years your back will become bent. In other words, you can change your body any way you like. This is the teaching of yoga. In every part of your body there are reflexive zones and meridians that refer to other areas of your body and the internal organs. Therefore, an abnormally shaped foot will create problems in other parts of your body. Let your feet breathe, too.

High heels - You can imagine the harm of high heels! The human body is not designed to walk that way.

Make-Up - Another word for make-up is "fake-up" (excuse me!), painting your beautiful face with poisons (chemicals).Your face should breathe! From the simple, natural and spiritual point of view, make-up is not recommended. This is not just a matter of personal taste. It is quite unhealthy for both body and mind.

One student asked me "Why is make-up not natural?" I explained that she was trying to make a shadow on her face, but the sun is shining from the other side.....

Standards of beauty are different in each person, so absolute beauty does not really exist. Real beauty comes from the inside. When you start to use make-up regularly, your face will adjust to make-up, and you begin to look funny without it. When you stop using make-up, your face will adjust to being without it, and you stat to look funny with it on. Without make-up, the face can more easily express your inner beauty.

Abdominal Breathing (Tanden Breathing)

In a sense, most of us breathe incorrectly. Even when someone tells you to take a deep breath, you probably only inhale into the upper part of your lungs. This does not allow your body to get the maximum amount of oxygen into your lungs. The basic breathing technique comes from abdominal breathing. Abdominal breathing is called "Tanden breathing" in Zen Yoga. The Tanden is a psychic center of the body and central to the secret techniques for all Oriental martial arts. When you develop your Tanden, you tap into a source of great power.

Remember that your mind and your breathing are always directly related to each other. Usually when you are calm and relaxed, your breathing is very deep and slow. When you are confused, "freaked out", or upset, your breath is shallow and fast.

Everyone actually breathes properly at certain times:

In deep sleep you are unconsciously doing deep abdominal breathing

In meditation and yoga we learn to breathe properly

Directions for Tanden breathing:

When you inhale, your stomach/abdomen goes out

When you exhale, your stomach/abdomen goes in

(This is the complete opposite of lung breathing, where you stomach has a tendency to go in when you breathe in)

Always try to make the exhale longer than the inhale for best results.

Abdominal breathing is easy to master and is the fundamental technique for all forms of meditation, yoga, martial arts, and spiritual practices. So everyone should make an effort to master this type of breathing.

By correcting your breath (making it deep and slow), you can make your mind steady and relaxed. You can practice this wherever you are, at any time except right after eating or in heavily polluted air. Just as blood removes impurities from the body, proper deep breathing removes impurities from the blood, mind and spirit. Regulating our breath balances our entire lives.

Meditation

Proper circulation and breathing can cleanse impurities from the body, but we must also have a pure mind to be truly healthy. Everybody knows and talks about the happiness and peace within us. "God is within you." But where? Saying God is within us is the same as saying that a disease is within us - and it is a mistake. You are the disease, you are the God. It all depends on what the mind believes.

The actual location of the "God" (the real you: the body is only your body, the body is not you, you are the God) is realized through meditation on the ANAHATA CHAKRA (heart chakra). The "God" within is known as ATMAN by the Hindus, or the Buddha Nature by Buddhists.

Once you realize the eternal self ("God") within, you will realize that everything besides the ATMAN is merely illusion (momentary). Meditation on the God within is the most powerful healing technique because it is the ultimate spiritual goal of every human being, beyond the reach of illness in the material body.

AUM.

Who are you?

2009-05-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

By Reverend Ryugen Watanabe, Osho

Each one of us inhabits three bodies: a physical body (material), an astral body (emotions) and a causal body (wisdom).

The astral body is considered to be higher (more evolved) than the physical body and the mental body higher than the astral.

"You" use your physical body to exist on the physical plane, but at the same time you also exist in an astral body on the astral plane and in a mental plane.

Most people are only aware of the material body and the material plane which is also the lowest, the crudest and most complicated level of existence. The material body that "you" have, is just "your" body, but it would be a mistake to think that it is "you".

The same thing is true for the astral body and the mental body - they are not "you", but merely "yours". Many yoga and meditation practitioners have experienced how their astral body leaves the physical body and they have become aware of how their astral body acts and exists on the astral plane. They are in the same danger as people who believe that they are their physical body, when they start to think that they are their astral body.

Since the three bodies are merely bodies which "you" have, there must be a "you" somewhere. Who are "you"? All religions which exist on the planet basically teach who "you" are. Some religions call "you": "soul", Buddhists: "Buddha nature", and Christians: "the God within".

These religions, in some way or other, teach that you are God. They all talk about the same thing even though they use different words and language. People who get too attached to words and language make a mistake, because their attachment leads to disharmony and conflict. People kill and harm each other because of misunderstandings based on language.

The question can be asked whose fault this is. I was once asked by a student who the people are who end up in hell. My answer was: it is the priests who go to hell. It is important to understand this because many people today in America feel drawn to religion and yet they still want to fight within religion.

No Judgement

2009-05-01T17:22:00.000-07:00

By Reverend Ryugen Watanabe, Osho

Everything can be looked at in many different ways. Most people only believe what they see but forget that it is only their way of seeing and not necessarily somebody else's.

Zen teaches us to see things as they are. Almost no one sees things as they are. For example, three persons are talking about God, but all three have different concepts of God. While all three seem to be communicating well with one another, they are not really communicating at all.

In another example, two people are looking at a mountain, one of them admires the beauty of the mountain, its height, its color, its shape but when he turns to another person, he cannot understand why that person cannot appreciate the mountain, because he just broke up with his girlfriend of many years. It is the same mountain that both are looking at and yet it is a different mountain.

This shows us why people do not see things as they really are, they see the world through colored glasses - if you wear yellow glasses then everything looks yellow, green glasses turn everything green and if you are caught up in thoughts of sexuality, then everything you see is related to sex, whether you see a pencil or a cup. If people who think about stealing were to meet the Buddha, they would only see Buddha's pockets and not Buddha.

If a stranger owns a luxurious car and wears expensive clothes and another person drives an old car and wears simple clothing, we make judgments about them accordingly, even though the first person may be unenlightened and the other a Zen master.

Zen teaches us to see everything as it is, not through colored glasses, but rather through meditation which empties your mind: the emptying of the color of your mind.

People fight, countries wage war. The cause of disharmony lies in their seeing things only from their own point of view and not seeing things as they really are - they all see things differently. To bring harmony on the planet, everyone needs to practice meditation which enables one to see things as they are.

Many people, for example, think that to die is a bad thing. But is it really? Dying is part of a natural process and is not bad in and of itself.

Our mind attaches itself to things, but reality is not something attachable - every single thing in this universe is always changing and is thus part of the process of nature. The sun, the moon, planets, the earth and human beings, everything has come into being and will cease to be. Matter has its limitation.

Not a single thing is attachable and yet the nature of the human mind is such that it attaches to things: a husband, wife, car, etc. Most people are attached to these and as a consequence they suffer.

Meditation teaches you detachment.

Detachment is not a negative concept, it is rather full of love, full of unconditional love. Let us suppose that you act with attachment, you then do things for someone else because you love that person or need something from them - this is conditional love. But if you can do things without attachment, it is unconditional.

Zen teaches us not to have expectations.