(Matter as condensed energy and the science of prana)
The Energization Exercises are based on the ancient teaching that the entire material universe is a condensation of energy. Scientists have long ago discovered that matter is energy: we can explode the atom and convert matter into energy.
True yoga, as you know, was never like gymnastics or sport. The cornerstone of the ancient yoga science has always been energy control (pranayama). But that control is impossible without a perception of energy. If you don’t first feel something, you can’t control
The famous scholar of Yoga, Georg Feuerstein (1947–2012), defines it like this in his acclaimed Encyclopedic Dictionary of Yoga: “Prana-dharana (the concentration of life force) is the technique to project life force (prana) into specific parts of the body, to restore a particular organ. To this practice, mentioned in the Tri-Shikhi-Brahmana-Upanishad (II,109), is attributed the ability to eliminate all illness and fatigue”.
(Recharging from cosmic energy as the exercises’ true aim)
The primary purpose of the Energization Exercises is to recharge the “body battery” with cosmic energy. That life energy is the source of youth. It renews, regenerates, heals, and strengthens your body cells from within. The following affirmation perfectly reveals the true purpose of the Energization Exercises. Repeat it, while following Yogananda’s advise to concentrate “on the forehead”:
To explain more clearly: yogis, after being instructed in the right mode of living (yama & niyama), learn energy control (pranayama). Withdrawing that energy, they attain a state of complete interiorization (pratyahara), which takes them toward deep inner concentration (dharana), then into true meditation (dhyana), and finally into ecstasy (samadhi).4
Our goal is not to perform astounding miracles, but to obtain a healthy body, a happy mind, a deep spirit and to reach our highest goals.
Even in old age he never missed practicing the Energization Exercises. He completely understood their value and importance. They form, he said, the very basis of Yogananda’s teachings. At the center of these teachings one finds this basic secret: energy control. Practiced correctly, the Energization Exercises are life-transforming.
(Prana electrifying the body against disease)
On the CD, Removing All Sorrow and Suffering, he explains that energy, distributed evenly in the body, is what keeps diseases from settling. He adds that there are millions of germs in our mouth and nails, but they don’t attack us: we don’t have to be afraid of germs, because if our body is electrified, they’ll be electrocuted. “That’s what asana, posture, does and the tension exercises are much better than even the asanas, because they electrify the body.”
himself gave a good example, as Durga Mata writes: “Master never missed doing his exercises, no matter where he was or how late at night or how early in the morning. I remember many times he, and all of us, stood in front of a hotel, or on a side street, highway, or beach to do our exercises, whether there were passersby who looked at us wonderingly or not. Then after exercising we went for a walk. Master was very adamant that we continue to do our exercises.”
(Prana as the body’s only true healing intelligence)
Prana and the BODY An essential feature of prana is that it heals through its inherent intelligence and power. In fact prana is, as we shall see, the only true healing power. It is the vis medicatrix naturae (“Nature is the physician of diseases”) of Hippocrates: the power of self-healing within our body, which defends and rebalances it, counteracting bacteria, viruses, sickness and injury.
grow
Yogananda affirms that when the yogi “has cleansed the brain cells, when the divine magnetism touches them, every cell becomes a vibrant brain, and you will find within yourself a myriad of awakened brains ready to grasp all knowledge. With the awakened brains, a myriad of mentalities will awake, and all things will be apprehended by you. You will study the vast book of nature and truth with twenty-seven thousand billion awakened and spiritualized microscopic brains and mentalities. Why be satisfied in half educating a small part of your brain only?”12
In fact, a main reason for not eating meat is that animals experience enormous fear at the moment of death, and the meat people later eat “retains the vibrations of the pain, fear, and anger of the dying animal.”13
You can easily perceive this truth in your own body: where do you feel anxiety? Perhaps in the abdominal area? And fear? Perhaps in tensed shoulders and in shaky knees? And emotional pain? Probably in the chest. Where does your worry physically manifest itself? Most likely in the forehead. Do you feel it? Where does aggression reside in the body? Usually, in many places, such as in the jaws, eyes, arms and hands. Psychosomatically speaking, where do you manifest timidity? Often in the walls of the ribcage. If you feel weakness and insecurity, to which body cells does this mental information go? Generally, to your spine. In other words, there is psychological information manifested in all your body cells. You are living, right now, with a body full of emotions of all kinds. But when, through the Energization Exercises, you send luminous cosmic prana from the medulla oblongata toward your body cells, it brings about emotional and psychological healing on a cellular level. Your cells will become happier citizens. Darkness disappears when we turn on the light. Yogananda even recommends mentally communicating with the body cells while tensing the body parts during the Energization Exercises, saying to them: “My children, wake up!”14 Similarly Swami Kriyananda advocates rubbing the body briskly, communicating with the intelligent cells: “Awake! Rejoice, my body cells!” In short, if your cells are indeed small intelligent beings, then let them be happy, full of light and charged with prana. Your tool for achieving this are the Energization Exercises.
This teaching is perhaps best understood using a metaphor: imagine you are watching a movie in the cinema, on a big screen. That movie is like this world, this creation, with all its colors, actions, and drama. But now look upward to the beam of light which is projecting that film. That beam is like the prana. Now retrace that to its origin: you will find the projector. The great “projector” of our world is Spirit. In short, working with prana leads us to Spirit. Try to intuitively grasp this teaching by repeating this particular affirmation:
“The healing power of Spirit is flowing through all the cells of my body. I am made of the one universal God-substance.” 18 Paramhansa Yogananda
Later I realized that all great yogis apply this same energetic “procedure”. True yoga teachings are transmitted to a great extent on an energetic level. It is a vibrational flow generated by advanced teachers to students who are able to receive it. Even when great yogis address a group, what they are really doing is projecting a field of energy and consciousness to their listeners. The real blessing is not the words they say, but the elevated magnetism they transmit.
(Prana defined: cosmic energy, liquid mind, intelligent light)
Two types of prana What is prana? It is the the basic source of bodily existence. It is finer than electrons or any other vibratory force existing in nature, and, most importantly, it is conscious. It is the hidden energy, or life-force, which permeates all creation, including your body. The ancient Chinese culture called it “qi”. It shines brightly, which is why Yogananda calls prana also the “life force of light” or “cosmic light” or “luminous lifetronic energy”. It is not only conscious, but also intelligent. There are two kinds of prana: 1)“Cosmic energy”: the omnipresent source of all living things, called mukhya-prana in the yogic scriptures. 2)“Specific prana”: the individualized life-force in any organism, including the human body. Let’s look more closely at both of them.
Prana and electricity Prana is completely different from ordinary electricity, which Yogananda called the “animal current in the energy world.”4 On the other hand, prana is “liquid mind”. In other words, it is, as we said, highly intelligent: a cross between thought and energy. Prana is what intelligently guides the entire material creation.
(AUM as the primordial word from which creation flows)
God, in other words, introduces himself to Moses as the “I AM”, instructing him to tell others that he was being sent by the “I AM.” “I AM” signifies pure consciousness, called “SAT” (Existence) by yogis. In the Christian tradition it is God the “Father”. Out of this primordial Consciousness all creation is born. How did it occur? The “I AM”, or God, emanates a powerful primordial sound. The Bible explains it as follows: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”7
From that mighty AUM, cosmic prana emanated, forming five basic elements (vibrations of various frequencies), which in yogic terminology are called pancha tattwa: earth, water, fire, air, ether.
In this way, the AUM ceaselessly flows into the body through the medulla oblongata. Its cosmic prana constantly sustains the three bodies: •The causal body, made of thoughts. Yogananda calls them “thoughtrons”. •The astral body, made of energy, or prana, or “lifetrons”. •The physical body, made of protons, electrons, and neutrons.
(Drawing solar prana through the medulla and skin)
Here is a special technique: “Take a sun bath and concentrate deeply upon the sun-bathed surface of the body, and drink the sunshine in through every pore of the body. Concentration upon the sun’s rays gives one hundred times greater results than taking a sun bath absent-mindedly.”3 Another technique for drawing great quantities of prana from the sun into our body involves the medulla oblongata: “Energy may be drawn from the sun by covering the whole body with a piece of thick blue silk or a blanket and keeping the medulla exposed with the sun shining there, on the back of the head. Concentrate upon the back of the head and feel it getting warmer and warmer. Feel the energy being stored in the brain and distributed through the body.”4
Yogananda writes: “The Hindus claim that the 11th day of the New Moon and the 11th day of the Full Moon are the best days on which to fast, because of certain electrical, pranic influences that operate on these days to keep the body supplied with subtle vitality.”3
During a longer fast you may feel weak during the first few days, because the life force has been accustomed to dependence on food. But later you will feel strong and will discover that the body is sustained by life force alone.
Working with our inner energy when we practice the Energization Exercises gradually makes us more sensitive to subtler realities: to energies, vibrations and thoughts, which are everywhere, for example in our houses. Yogananda explained it in his own colorful way: “Thoughts are things. Every house is decorated with the furniture of good or evil thought vibrations. For this reason you can feel almost instantaneously the good or bad vibrations of a home, place, or country.”5 I can testify to the truth of it. Three times Swami Kriyananda asked me to stay in his home, called “Seva Kutir” (cottage of service), while he was away touring. The energy I felt there was extraordinary. It was a blessing of blessings – never to be forgotten.
At one point, when listening to the newly recorded chant, “Door of my heart,” I couldn’t contain myself any longer. Rising to my feet, I began to dance, my arms outstretched in the air, in ecstasy. I was drunk with joy.
(The medulla oblongata as gateway, ego seat, and door of AUM)
The medulla oblongata is part of our subtle chakra system. Usually the 6th chakra, the agya chakra, is described to be the spiritual eye between the eyebrows. Yogananda explains it as consisting of two poles: the “negative” (receptive) pole is the medulla oblongata; the “positive” (active) pole is the point between the eyebrows.
In other words: the cosmic energy enters our body through the medulla oblongata. It is then stored in the highest center, the sahasrara chakra. From there it descends to the lower chakras, which distribute the life-force to our body.
Yogananda defined the ego as “the soul identified with the body”. Ego, then, simply means this common perception: “I am this body, this person, this personality”. Your true Self is the soul, formless, blissful, eternal. But when the soul thinks itself to be the body, it loses its consciousness of freedom and becomes identified with the trials and misfortunes of a small ego.
In short: if you trace your awareness – your self-awareness – back to its source, it’s in a little point of consciousness in the medulla oblongata. That is where our “I” is centered. The trouble is this: as long as your inner center remains in the medulla oblongata, you perceive yourself as an “ego”, as a body and personality. In this way you live in a false and limited identity, which is forever prone to all the pain and suffering of life, to karma and to death. If you want to free yourself, you need to gradually transform your identification from the perception “I am this body” to “I am pure consciousness”. This is done by shifting your consciousness from the medulla oblongata to the spiritual eye, by prolonged concentration at the point between the eyebrows, in meditation. Every true spiritual master, in fact, acts, thinks and lives from the spiritual eye.
You can practice this effective meditation method, taught by Swami Kriyananda: “Concentrate the attention first in the region of the medulla oblongata, and from that point gaze toward the Spiritual Eye. People’s awareness of their egos is often distributed vaguely throughout the body. By centering it consciously in its true seat, the medulla, it becomes possible to direct ego-consciousness toward its own higher octave.”9
We have come from oneness. That oneness in our body is experienced in the spiritual eye. Duality begins in the medulla oblongata, the seat of AUM, or “mouth of God”. It is the opening in the human body through which God breathes His cosmic energy, or life, into flesh. From the medulla, the energy flows downwards. The one cosmic energy must create through the law of duality and relativity, so it divides the one medulla “seed current” into two currents, positive and negative. This is the birth of the two astral ganglia chains in our subtle spine: ida (on the left) and pingala (on the right). These two branches of life current emanate from the medulla oblongata and intertwine themselves with the central sushumna at the point where the chakras are located.
Intuition, Christ Consciousness, AUM “The Kingdom of God is within”, Jesus Christ declared13. But we are being dragged out of that blissful inner kingdom: “Almost every soul is a prisoner of the senses, which are entrenched on the surface of the body. The soul’s attention is lured away from its inner kingdom in the medulla, the spiritual eye, and the plexuses [chakras], to the outer regions of the body.”14 The medulla oblongata, then, is part of your spiritual kingdom. It contains precious qualities.
Also meditate, then, for a while on this special aspect of your medulla oblongata: it emits the “Thunder of AUM.”
During meditative breathlessness During deep pranayama practice, as in Kriya Yoga, the spiritual eye (center of Christ Consciousness and will power) becomes a positive pole and the first chakra (coccygeal center) becomes a negative pole. Passing up and down the spine between these two poles, the life current is turned into a powerful magnet which draws into the body, through the medulla oblongata, fresh supplies of life energy from the cosmic source. In this way the evolved yogi, entering even into a breathless state, does not die, but is sustained by the cosmic current.
Birth and the medulla When the sperm and ovum unite during conception, they create a first cell, which becomes the medulla oblongata. It is the “door” through which the soul enters the body. Therefore, the medulla is called “the gateway of life”, through which “prince soul” first makes his triumphal entry into the bodily kingdom.
Affirmations and the medulla The medulla oblongata is also the best place on which to concentrate during the practice of affirmations. In his book, Scientific Healing Affirmations, Yogananda in fact instructs people to repeat them “concentrating your attention on the medulla, unless otherwise directed.” Try it with this affirmation: “There is hidden strength within me to overcome all obstacles and temptations. I will bring forth that indomitable power and energy.”20 Paramhansa Yogananda
When I returned from that trip to France, he told me: “What a sad occasion for going”. But his eyes told a completely different story; they were sparkling with joy. Their message, it seemed to me, was that everything was alright: death is simply a passage into a higher world; a truly happy moment of freedom for the soul, which leaves the body through the medulla oblongata and enters a realm which we all dimly remember: a place of freedom, light and laughter. He told us that at the moment when a person leaves this world, he reviews his entire life and nothing will count: his religion, his job, his worldly importance. The only thing which will matter will be: “How much have you loved? And how much do you love God?”
His eyes were a different experience from the eyes of others. There was a stillness, something unmoving emanating from them. These eyes were rooted in some impersonal reality. Even today I still try to enter into that same unmoving consciousness. All advanced yogis live in an impersonal vast consciousness and their eyes reveal it. Their eyes are also a tool through which they bless others.
That awareness is reflected, in particular, through our eyes, which develop a deep and calm magnetism, capable of transmitting a higher consciousness to others.
Will Power: The Key For Increasing Your Energy
(Will power as the generator of energy and achievement)
“Consciousness” is essential, as it makes you aware. But “will” is just as essential, because it is your generator of energy. Will is the power which makes anything happen. Even to put your fork to your mouth requires will. Your will can be weak, or, by training, can again express the cosmic Divine will.
Will power, in other words, is the secret of achievement. Will power, on subtle energy levels, generates what looks like luck, because it magnetically attracts opportunities.
How can you train your will, how can you make it powerful? Make it a point to bring to a conclusion whatever you attempt to do. Daily give yourself a task, a goal, a challenge, and make sure you achieve what you set your mind to do. Start first with little undertakings, then proceed to bigger ones. Never give up.
Most of all vigorously practice the Energization Exercises, summoning all the will you can.
The right kind of will However, it must be the right kind of will power. Will power easily suggests a grim, tense kind of determination, or an exaggerated awareness of obstacles and difficulties, which immediately results in a “no” from the subconsciousness. To understand the kind of will power which will move mountains, reflect on the definition Yogananda gave:
Will power = desire + energy, directed toward fulfillment. The key word is “desire”, which comesfrom the heart. “I want to do it”, “I love to do it”, “I am enthusiastic about it”. If any activity you do is sustained by a strong “desire” and you direct it with “energy” toward “fulfillment” (toward your goal), nothing can stop you. In more spiritual terms: the strong “desire” in your heart chakra must be channeled with energy through the spiritual eye “toward fulfillment”. Try, therefore, to consider “will power” as “willingness”. It starts from the heart and is focused on the goal.
When you have willingness, when you are happy, when you want to do things that make you cheerful, you find that you always have an abundance of energy. You even develop the inner energy which heals yourself. People who are happy, in fact, are less prone to be ill.
(Energy drawn through will, not food — vitality is a mental act)
Transform your life In daily life, your level of energy completely depends on your will. You draw more or less energy from the medulla oblongata according to your mental attitudes. You’ve probably observed that when you feel reluctant to do something, you don’t have any energy to do it, even if you have eaten a full meal. Whereas if you really want to do something, even if you have been fasting, you will still have all the energy you need to accomplish it. In daily life, practice keeping your will strong –a calm will, not a nervous will– then your body will be full of energy. It is, in fact, always by the power of will that you bring energy into the body and are able to use it. The greater the will, the greater the flow of energy. When you are at work or with your family, you can learn, through will power, how to draw that energy not only from food and oxygen, but from the Infinite. Never think you have a lack of energy. Every gram of flesh has within it enough power to light the city of Chicago for two days, as Yogananda used to say. Each atom is a dynamo of energy. You can vitally recharge every cell of the body by the exercise of will to tap into the cosmic source of power. If you keep your will intact, and use that will to perform all your physical and mental actions with cheerful willingness, your body and mind will remain vitally youthful. Affirm:
We have seen that mental unwillingness to work is always followed by a lack of bodily energy. Similarly, willingness to perform actions is always accompanied by a fresh supply of energy. From these facts we can deduce that there is a subtle relationship between energy and will power. Without willing we cannot make any motor movement, or even think, for before we think we must will to think.
A positive high energy never imposes itself on others. Swami Kriyananda was the man with the highest energy I have ever known. He had enormous will power. Yet it was never forceful, pushing it onto others. He always seemed powerful, but at the same time respectful and humble. He taught us, for example, that we should always listen with an open mind to everyone’s suggestion, even if it comes from a child. He himself was an example of that attitude.
4.Practice regularly upon arising and whenever tired. Even before getting out of bed, Yogananda recommends giving the body “a breakfast of energy”:
part. Remember: These exercises should be a joy to do. An inner smile helps the flow of energy.
Remember: Fresh air is full of prana.
- As you progress As you progress, perhaps after a year or so of regular practice, train yourself not only to feel (and visualize) the sending of the energy toward the body part, but also to feel its withdrawal during relaxation. Another advanced practice is to only mentally send energy to the body, without any physical tension. Yogananda explains: “When performing such exercises, keep your mind on the medulla and imagine the energy flowing into your body through the medulla and from thence to every part of the body. By keeping your mind thus fixed upon the medulla, you will soon learn to draw in energy from the ether and send it to all parts of your body at will, without the physical process of tensing and relaxing.”2
In general, Swami Kriyananda somehow brought out the best in me. For example, it was difficult for me to decide to marry. I was blocked by a great inner fear of locking myself up in a tiny cage, of being less spiritual, less silent, less meditative. But he encouraged me. When he gave me my spiritual name, Jayadev (“angel of victory”), he told me: “I give you this name to make you understand that being married is not less spiritual than being alone!” That specific name, of course, had a strong impact on my life.
The soul is like pure gold. It always remains gold, though it may lie buried under thick layers of the “mud” of human imperfections.
(Karma as personal responsibility and the law of cause and effect)
They explain that life works in a mathematical way, operating with the simple principle of cause and effect. This means that nothing is unjust and nothing happens by chance. On the contrary, you yourself have created your personal situation on all levels: your personality and character, your physical, mental, spiritual, social and family condition and circumstances, your love-life, your success, your happiness and whatever happens to you. The responsibility for all of it is exclusively yours.
Without will power there is no energy and without energy you will never change anything. With energy, however, your growth, transformation and evolution can occur quickly.
If there is fear, for example, with great will power affirm and practice courage, again and again; if there is greed, affirm generosity and put it into practice; if there is physical laziness, develop strategies to give the body its daily exercise. How long will this transformation take? It depends on you and on the depth of the karmic pattern. But always remember: what man has done, he can undo, as Sri Yukteswar said. Furthermore, all of us have moments – perhaps even right now – when karma is not only present as a tendency, but arrives as a “karmic bomb”: a personal tragedy hits you; or you get fired; or you are facing some enormous challenge; or you are going through a severe sickness; or your partner has betrayed you, testing you to your limits.
A – Quantity: “How high is my energy level right now, on a scale from 1-10?” Try to never allow your energy to drop too low. It’s much more difficult to raise a very low energy level. Observe your energy and never go below a certain level –70%, for example. Also, never go to bed exhausted. Raise your energy level at least a little, otherwise you will sleep poorly and will wake up still tired.
Observe your habitual thought patterns. They immensely influence your energy level during the day. Work on eliminating any thought which drains your energy, for example, “I am exhausted”, “this is boring”, “I don’t really want to do it”, “I am simply not an energetic person”, “I am lazy”, “It’s not my task”, “I can’t do it”, “this is too much,” “I wish someone else would do this”. Create a new strong habit: say YES and jump to it. Face your day with the strongest will you can summon up. Remember however that the will power we are trying to develop is a joyous willingness, not a grim inner tension of the kind “I will do it even if I die.”
When you feel energy flowing “down” during the day, immediately practice the 20-body part recharging, while sitting, standing or lying down. Next focus your will strongly at the point between the eyebrows for just one minute. Then repeat a positive affirmation and see if that helps to change the direction of your inner energy.
When you speak with a person, pay attenttion to his energy, with your newly awakened energy perception. What is he really saying? As Sri Yukteswar teaches in the Autobiography of a Yogi: “Try to feel the thoughts behind the confusion of men’s verbiage.”
Eat in a new way: ask yourself what kind of energy you perceive in your food?
What vibrations do you perceive from the pictures on your walls? They emit the energy and consciousness of their artist.
Work on re-identifying yourself in this way: “God made us angels of energy encased in solids – currents of life dazzling through the material bulb of flesh. But we are now concentrated on the frailties and fragility of the bulb, and have forgotten to feel the immortal, indestructible properties of the eternal life energy within the changeable flesh.”6 During the day, try to maintain this kind of Self-awareness. “I am not the physical body. In truth, I am energy.”
Reflect on the above. Remember it as you practice the Energization Exercises. Affirm: “Through my medulla oblongata, the great AUM enters my body and through it I am becoming aware of my eternal link with the Divine.”
If you want to build that strong flow of love, affirm often: “I am the avalanche of love which sweeps away all forests of hate.” 2
And how can you develop it? Take up one little thing which you think you cannot do. Try with all your might to accomplish that one thing. Then, when you have accomplished that, go on to something bigger and keep on exercising your will power. If your difficulty is great, say: “Lord, give me the power to conquer all my difficulties.”
Behind your will is the will of God. This is the way to develop your will: Before you will to do a thing, reason as to what you should do. Make sure that you are directing your will toward accomplishing something good and helpful to you. Don’t be passive. Those
Remember, in your heart you must love nothing more than God, who is a jealous God. If you want God, you must have the will to cast away from your heart everything but God, and if you want God, nothing wrong can touch you. Remember, you only want one thing.
Always sit on a straight chair with a woolen blanket placed over it and running down under your feet. Face the East and sit erect, without letting your spine touch the back of the chair.
Discussions at the restaurant turned to the Book of Bhrigu, also called Bhrigu Samhita: an astrological book written centuries ago, which contains prophecies, describing persons who lived long after the book was written. Still today one can find one’s own ancient Bhrigu-horoscope. It’s not easy, since there are many fake accounts.
The central Indian scripture, the Mahabharata (of which the Bhagavad Gita is a part) explains that the war of Kurukshetra occurred at the transition point between descending Dwapara and Kali Yuga (an explanation of the Yugas can be found in the next chapter).
The above words, applied to the Energization Exercises, mean: “Practice yourself. Personally perceive their value. Experience their beneficial effect. Then you are ready to teach them, from an authentic experience and conviction.”