Yoga and Transcendence
Yoga is the exercise of all muscle types, internal organs and the brain as well as the unification of vital energy, whereas fitness or gym classes exercise the skeletal muscles only. This is the difference between yoga and gym.
The body and mind must be working together while doing yoga. If one does yogic poses without concentrating on the breathing pattern, and without mentally visualizing particular organs during the poses, not all the desired results are achieved. Self-learners of yoga may harm their bodies or obtain only minimal benefits.
The body and mind must be working together while doing yoga. If one does yogic poses without concentrating on the breathing pattern, and without mentally visualizing particular organs during the poses, not all the desired results are achieved. Self-learners of yoga may harm their bodies or obtain only minimal benefits.
While doing yoga, you must transform your mind into a structure, unimaginable to modern scientific theory, which can pass through any physical objects and which can bring your body beyond everyday reality to the infinite. This is what is called transcendence.
Transcendence is defined as a state of mind capable of reaching beyond reality and clapping with one hand. Transcendence is a voluntarily produced, reversible process that turns a yogi into a crazy person (from the modern medical point of view) for a desired period of time. A yogi in a transcendental state can see souls, can endure severe pain, can predict events, can levitate and can perform numerous miraculous acts not in keeping with modern science.
Transcendental vision is achieved only by the third eye. The visible eyes are not able to see beyond the mundane. Only the third eye, located at the 6th major chakra, Ajna, can watch transcendental scenery.
Meditation to reach the transcendental state requires a completely inert body but an alert state of mind. With a double phase of inhaling and exhaling through nose, under the guidance of a Sadguru, with the immobilization and upward rolling of the eyeballs, and with the head tilted backwards—in super conscious state—one must keep the body completely still for at least 32 minutes.
It is recommended to close the eyes while doing meditation, but meditation can be done with open eyes too. Inhaling and exhaling, continuously and rhythmically, one should first try to listen to the inner ear sound, which is similar to an un-tuned radio signal "tin...n...n." In modern medicine, this sound is called tinnitus, (and hearing voices is taken as auditory hallucinations!)
After practicing continuously, with great devotion and belief in the Supreme, one can hear the signal, a high pitched tingling sound, similar to the sound created by hitting a brass bowl with a metallic fork. This sound is heard deep inside the head (brain) at the mid-point between the two ears. According to yogic philosophy, the sound is said to be produced constantly by the pineal gland. Having a deep faith, and being devoted to a Sadguru, one can practice activating the pineal gland. (Without the strict supervision and guidance of a Sadguru, the person practicing such meditation may turn into a mentally sick person with irreversible organic damage to the brain.)
In psychiatry, hearing such a sound is categorized under auditory hallucinations. In fact, we yogis create sensory hallucinations voluntarily depending upon our will/desire. We may switch our brain into an abnormal condition and switch it into a mentally deviated state (as defined by modern science) for a particular time, according to our desire. This is the difference between a yogi and a mentally ill person who cannot voluntarily return from the altered state of mind. The yogi can return because the yogi has learned control over the body and mind with the help of yoga and meditation.
Bhramari pranayama (bee breath), Kumbhaka (breath retention) and Rechaka (continuous exhalation), Tratak (gazing on the candle flame) and bending the brain stem front and back with a jerk may activate the pineal gland.
Om Shanti…
Yogacharya, Dr. Binod Baral, MD, PhD, CIC
Yogacharya, Dr. Binod Baral, MD, PhD, CIC