AUM and the lower tan tien

[Tibetan_Ice]

[Aetherous]

Have you gone back to the ocean from the lower tan tien?

 

It's interesting that lower dantien area is called 'the sea of qi' (the acupuncture point in the area is also called this).

 

There isn't necessarily a connection between Chinese and Indian traditions on that point...just interesting.

 

In nada yoga, I recall it's said that the inner sounds you hear are shakti itself.

 

The lower dantien is where the equivalent of kundalini is cultivated in Taoism, according to some.

 

Did you ever know that AUM was connected to the lower tan tien?

 

Yes, there are Indian practices which utilize om at the navel (navi kriya for instance). I can't comment on it any more than that, than to say it's probably important to have a teacher with this stuff.

[goldenfox]

Interesting experiences you relate. The subjective perception of various experiences is different for different people I would say. While i cant say ive ever experienced 'sparkles' i can definitely attest to the role of the lower dantien in deep pranayam practise.

 

When i did Kriya daily, religiously, i got to a point where real kumbhaka began to manifest. It was not simply a longer time between needing to inhale after exhaling, as the books suggest, but an actual lingering of the exhalation, as though even when the breath had left the lungs, a force continued to flow downward and into the dantien, like a magnet, rendering the need or even desire to breathe in again unnecessary. I did breathe in again, of course, but even then the primary motion seems to be the carry through on the exhale, so that it feels like taking breaths is just a secondary exercise, and all one's qi is continually flowing down and sinking into the lower dantien. Whenever i had this spontaneous experience, usually during or after meditation (after the kriya), the stillness and joy began to subtly be at the back of it. Its as though i could see what actual breathlessness in true samadhi would be like. It is in this same prolonged kumbhaka that the inner sound becomes clearly audible, and some aspect of the light at the brow point manifests. Paradoxically, as the flow of exhalation is so continuous and goes downwards, a flow of qi goes to the head. Often i felt as though the whole world was flowing toward the brow point from all sides. Could even see the stream of it converging there sometimes, like a crawling motion superimposed over everything visible (because it is an inner phenomenon).

 

This paradoxical flow downward and upward is due to undoing the tug of war going on between the two currents responsible for moving the breath (prana and apana). When you undo them by the friction of rubbing the breaths together (kevali pranayam) you get kevali kumbhaka, the spontaneous breathlessness. The apana current continues to flow down even during inhalation, and the prana current continues to flow up even during exhalation, because the two currents have been loosened from being so involved with each other, in a vying for supremacy that gives rise to the breathing process. Once kevala kumbhaka is made potent by a lot of kriya (or MCO), the prana current carries the consciousness to the brain centers, and apana keeps merging the qi with the samana current and ocean of qi in the lower dantien. There is also a tremendous influx of cosmic qi through the medulla center in the back of the head (jade pillow?) This is why yogis consider the upper dantien or brain to be a battery or reservoir of qi, but it takes untying the prana and apana currents to become aware of this and have greater capacity for intake of qi at that point (Bible says: man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.) It is the cosmic sound issuing forth at the medulla that the yogi is attempting to absorb the consciousness in. That is the one that brings infinite expansion in omnipresence beyond the body.

 

Aum is definitely significant in pranayam, and especially in kriya. Lahiri Mahasaya wrote that if one is not performing kriya by chanting mantra (Aum of first kriya, or the Dvadasaksari mantra of higher kriya) in each of the chakras, it is a tamasic kriya and the fruit will be tamasic (negligible).

 

If you really want to get the most out of pranava mantra, might i suggest mentally placing 'Aum' into each chakra as you perform the MCO, if you are practising that at all.

 

Really speaking, everything is the Aum, even just the feeling of qi (of the body), the inner sound and light, everything.

Edited May 9, 2012 by goldenfox

[Tibetan_Ice]

[Tibetan_Ice]

...

 

When i did Kriya daily, religiously, i got to a point where real kumbhaka began to manifest. It was not simply a longer time between needing to inhale after exhaling, as the books suggest, but an actual lingering of the exhalation, as though even when the breath had left the lungs, a force continued to flow downward and into the dantien, like a magnet, rendering the need or even desire to breathe in again unnecessary. I did breathe in again, of course, but even then the primary motion seems to be the carry through on the exhale, so that it feels like taking breaths is just a secondary exercise, and all one's qi is continually flowing down and sinking into the lower dantien. Whenever i had this spontaneous experience, usually during or after meditation (after the kriya), the stillness and joy began to subtly be at the back of it. Its as though i could see what actual breathlessness in true samadhi would be like. It is in this same prolonged kumbhaka that the inner sound becomes clearly audible, and some aspect of the light at the brow point manifests. Paradoxically, as the flow of exhalation is so continuous and goes downwards, a flow of qi goes to the head.

...

Hi Golden Fox

That is very interesting.

I have found that just "OM"'ing produces a stream of light which rises up the sushumna and accumulates at the brow.

I have never had breath suspension during pranayama. I do experience it whenever I stop the mind or go into a kind of trance state when I don't think of anything but it never lasts very long. There is some truth to "control the breath, control the mind" but there is also the other way around as written in Vedanta: "control the mind, control the breath".

The most notable experience I had when my breathing stopped was one night when I was falling asleep. I was laying on my left side and I focused on my third eye. All of a sudden I became a larger presence and I noticed that my body was totally imobile. Nothing was moving. I was not breathing or anything. No motion at all. I thought I had died. It really freaked me out, took me by surprise. I had no idea that just focusing on the third eye could do that..

I have heard of other people experiencing the stoppage of breathing and feeling the chi/prana still flowing. I'll bet it is an interesting experience.

 

There is also a tremendous influx of cosmic qi through the medulla center in the back of the head (jade pillow?) This is why yogis consider the upper dantien or brain to be a battery or reservoir of qi, but it takes untying the prana and apana currents to become aware of this and have greater capacity for intake of qi at that point (Bible says: man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.) It is the cosmic sound issuing forth at the medulla that the yogi is attempting to absorb the consciousness in. That is the one that brings infinite expansion in omnipresence beyond the body.

In my personal opinion, the lower tan tien seems to have a much larger amount of chi than the other tan tiens. And it seems to be more coarse than the higher ones. I think as we progress up the chakras, the chi/prana becomes more refined and specialized.. I have read that Yogananda believes the medulla is the mouth of God. I was a SRF member for 3 years... But I've also read that Yogananda was not aware of the lower tan tien.. Go figure..

Aum is definitely significant in pranayam, and especially in kriya. Lahiri Mahasaya wrote that if one is not performing kriya by chanting mantra (Aum of first kriya, or the Dvadasaksari mantra of higher kriya) in each of the chakras, it is a tamasic kriya and the fruit will be tamasic (negligible).

 

If you really want to get the most out of pranava mantra, might i suggest mentally placing 'Aum' into each chakra as you perform the MCO, if you are practising that at all.

 

I have done a few weeks of reciting the bija sound mantras (Lam, Vam, Ram, Yum, Ham, Aum..) in each respective chakra as a kind of test. What I found is that the lower and upper chakras become highly ecstatic (espescially the lower ones). That is when I discovered that Aum produces a stream of light leading to the brow.

It is no doubt in my mind that using "AUM" is a powerful booster to any practice. Using it is like turning on the power switch. Then, wherever you guide the current, you've got the juice to make things activate.. I think the principle would apply to any mantra or energy flow..

 

Oh, one last comment. You said:

Often i felt as though the whole world was flowing toward the brow point from all sides. Could even see the stream of it converging there sometimes, like a crawling motion superimposed over everything visible (because it is an inner phenomenon).

 

I've experienced a phenomenon that, during intense mantra repetition while focusing on the third eye, I could see hundreds of visions and colorful thoughts all whizzing past me like I was in a giant kaleidoscope. It was quite disconcerting. Yes, it was a stream of pictures. Like being caught in a cable TV wire.. I didn't know what it was but it would happen for each meditation for weeks. I finally got tired of it, not knowing what it was and why it was happening. I thought, "This isn't meditation".. The only thing that I could figure out was that by repeating the mantra, I was creating all these thoughts and visions and they were being sucked into the third eye. Is that what your experience was like? Like hundreds of visions and colors whizzing by?

 

 

Thanks for your comments.

 

TI

[goldenfox]

I dont really buy into the theory that Vedanta can be realized before there is success in Yoga. All these Advaitins jump on Sankara and Ramana Maharshi as prime examples of the 'already enlightened, just have to recognize it' school and while this is a valid viewpoint, the actual practise of recognizing is still a very long process for the vast majority of sadhaks. Maharshi's Self-inquiry is actually also Yoga, just that its Jnana Yoga, and Sankara was a Raja Yogi, though he expressed himself through Jnana. Vedanta itself means the flowering of the Vedas, or in other words the final realization to be had after the Vedas have been practised to fulfilment; in other words when Yoga has been perfected. Vedanta is strictly speaking the same as the attainment of Nirvikalpa Samadhi of Yoga, and the state of Kaivalya of Samkhya philosophy. Advaita (and thus Vedanta) cannot be known by an unripe consciousness.

 

The lower dantien is no doubt an ocean of qi, but the qi coming in at the medulla is the cosmic qi, to which there is no limit. It is the entry point of the whole ocean of qi beyond the body. The only reason one thinks that projection of the consciousness into the infinite is occurring at the brow centre is because it is a reflection of the medullary cetre; that is where it is actually occurring. Kriya focuses on the upper dantien and medulla as the ocean of qi because cosmic qi is the shen, fresh and vital, which is the same reason MCO is done in Taoism, so that the stale jing gets recycled by being transmuted to qi, then shen, and fresh shen gets brought down to convert to qi and jing. Medulla is the psychic gate also, because infinite shen or cosmic qi carries all the 'data' of omniscient knowing with it as it enters the body.

 

Yogananda did know of the lower dantien. It is evident in his posture and the way he stood. You can see it in the photos. All the kriya gurus had well developed bellies from abdominal breathing. All the kriya masters tended to have well developed chests also, even breast like chests to a degree, which indicates cultivation of the middle dantien. It is an unspoken fact that lower dantien gets well developed through kriya, but it is necessary to sit a long time in meditation after the performance of pranayam. That is when alchemy begins to happen without having to be explained. As youve seen, Navi kriya is a kriya of Lahiri Mahasaya's which actually works on the LTT a certain way, combined with the Om mantra. This kriya is not taught in SRF Lessons, but there is evidence that Yogananda taught it to certain people, just as he taught the full kechari mudra to certain people.

 

The streaming qi to the brow centre was the result of kriya. It was not accompanied by light or visions, it felt as though the whole world was flowing towards a point in the brow. With eyes open i could actually see the streaming of qi continuously flowing there from all sides, thats why it seemed like it was the whole world, when in fact it was occurring within my body. It is the same with kundalini. When it awoke, and went to the brain, it felt as though the whole world (whole existence) had gone from below to the head. It was incredibly powerful a sensation and also not a little unnerving. These experiences were present in or out of meditation, and always verified constantly by the presence of certain siddhis like vyapti. It is quite amazing but also a bit frightening, well it was for me.

Edited May 10, 2012 by goldenfox

[Tibetan_Ice]

I dont really buy into the theory that Vedanta can be realized before there is success in Yoga. All these Advaitins jump on Sankara and Ramana Maharshi as prime examples of the 'already enlightened, just have to recognize it' school and while this is a valid viewpoint, the actual practise of recognizing is still a very long process for the vast majority of sadhaks. Maharshi's Self-inquiry is actually also Yoga, just that its Jnana Yoga, and Sankara was a Raja Yogi, though he expressed himself through Jnana. Vedanta itself means the flowering of the Vedas, or in other words the final realization to be had after the Vedas have been practised to fulfilment; in other words when Yoga has been perfected. Vedanta is strictly speaking the same as the attainment of Nirvikalpa Samadhi of Yoga, and the state of Kaivalya of Samkhya philosophy. Advaita (and thus Vedanta) cannot be known by an unripe consciousness.

 

Hi Golden Fox

I'm not very good at drawing distinctions between Yoga and Vedanta. I certainly appreciate what you are saying. I will also mention that I'm always leary of someone who, at a very young age, without any formal practices, all of a sudden experiences enlightenment (dies) and then proceeds to outline practices that might produce the same result. Ramana's self inquiry, which I interpreted as not just asking the question "who am I?", but actively pursuing the watcher, or the self during meditation (turning the attention around to who or what is perceiving) is a very powerful practice in it's own right. Yes, we are all at different stages of ripeness, it is up to us to find what works, whether that be from the gound up or the top down..

 

I was pointing to the fact which I learned through Tolle's "sensing the inner body", or Buddha's Anapanasati, that shutting off the mind seems to stop the breath, or even slowing down the mind slows down the breath..

 

The lower dantien is no doubt an ocean of qi, but the qi coming in at the medulla is the cosmic qi, to which there is no limit. It is the entry point of the whole ocean of qi beyond the body. The only reason one thinks that projection of the consciousness into the infinite is occurring at the brow centre is because it is a reflection of the medullary cetre; that is where it is actually occurring.

That is so interesting. I remember commenting to a few people over the last couple of years that it seemed to me that the light in the third eye is a reflection, that the third eye is a mirror of sorts. Since then I have actually seen the hole between the brows, so I'm not all that sure about the mirror phenomenon anymore.. But that is interesting that you mention it.

 

Yogananda did know of the lower dantien. It is evident in his posture and the way he stood. You can see it in the photos. All the kriya gurus had well developed bellies from abdominal breathing. All the kriya masters tended to have well developed chests also, even breast like chests to a degree, which indicates cultivation of the middle dantien. It is an unspoken fact that lower dantien gets well developed through kriya, but it is necessary to sit a long time in meditation after the performance of pranayam. That is when alchemy begins to happen without having to be explained. As youve seen, Navi kriya is a kriya of Lahiri Mahasaya's which actually works on the LTT a certain way, combined with the Om mantra. This kriya is not taught in SRF Lessons, but there is evidence that Yogananda taught it to certain people, just as he taught the full kechari mudra to certain people.

 

Do you have a history of Kriya Yoga experience? Were you ever initiated into SRF? (just curious)..

 

The streaming qi to the brow centre was the result of kriya. It was not accompanied by light or visions, it felt as though the whole world was flowing towards a point in the brow. With eyes open i could actually see the streaming of qi continuously flowing there from all sides, thats why it seemed like it was the whole world, when in fact it was occurring within my body. It is the same with kundalini. When it awoke, and went to the brain, it felt as though the whole world (whole existence) had gone from below to the head. It was incredibly powerful a sensation and also not a little unnerving. These experiences were present in or out of meditation, and always verified constantly by the presence of certain siddhis like vyapti. It is quite amazing but also a bit frightening, well it was for me.

 

Golden Fox, what is vyapti? And how does that tie into the Buddhist idea of dependant origination?

 

TI

[goldenfox]

Hi Golden Fox

I'm not very good at drawing distinctions between Yoga and Vedanta. I certainly appreciate what you are saying. I will also mention that I'm always leary of someone who, at a very young age, without any formal practices, all of a sudden experiences enlightenment (dies) and then proceeds to outline practices that might produce the same result. Ramana's self inquiry, which I interpreted as not just asking the question "who am I?", but actively pursuing the watcher, or the self during meditation (turning the attention around to who or what is perceiving) is a very powerful practice in it's own right. Yes, we are all at different stages of ripeness, it is up to us to find what works, whether that be from the gound up or the top down..

 

I was pointing to the fact which I learned through Tolle's "sensing the inner body", or Buddha's Anapanasati, that shutting off the mind seems to stop the breath, or even slowing down the mind slows down the breath..

 

Yes, the Maharshi's method of Vichara is a direct means, but the process of dharana, dhyana and samadhi is the same whether the approach is bhakti or jnana. The flow of unbroken attention and eventual merging is the principal thing. Knowledge of Vedanta cannot be had until it is experienced in actuality.

 

That is so interesting. I remember commenting to a few people over the last couple of years that it seemed to me that the light in the third eye is a reflection, that the third eye is a mirror of sorts. Since then I have actually seen the hole between the brows, so I'm not all that sure about the mirror phenomenon anymore.. But that is interesting that you mention it.

 

There is a great text about the pathway of the brain nerves and the process of sadhana above the medulla, in Pranab Gita volume 2. You can find this at www.yoganiketan.net in the library section if youre interested. Pranab Gita is the Gita commentary of Pranabananda Swami, the great kriya disciple of Lahiri Mahasaya, who Yogananda met and described in his book ('Saint With Two Bodies' chapter).

 

Do you have a history of Kriya Yoga experience? Were you ever initiated into SRF? (just curious)..

 

Yes I was initiated by SRF some 15 years ago.

 

Golden Fox, what is vyapti? And how does that tie into the Buddhist idea of dependant origination?

 

Vyapti is a siddhi much like telepathy, except that it is more like the impact of mind upon whatever the object of consciousness is. It is a very subtle but extremely potent phenomenon. It is like being tapped into the whole universe but you are only affecting whatever is in range of your mental vision. It is something that happens automatically with or without conscious awareness, you are influencing your surroundings and creating your reality (how the world responds to you) moment to moment. Your most fleeting thought or feeling is affecting whatever object is present before your consciousness. Suppose someone comes to you and complains about another person. In that moment the other person however far away they may be is feeling the effects of what is being spoken about them before you, but the effect it has on them depends on how you inwardly react to what is being said. A bit like Neo, you are basically plugged into the Matrix with no insulation between your mind and the consciousness underlying the whole universal structure. It is an awesome realization of your omnipresent nature, and can be very uncomfortable if you have little control of the mind, as instead of creating and dreaming for yourself beautiful phases of consciousness (and hence experiences in physical reality) you are creating nightmares to have to deal with. It is like a constant ebb and flow of good and bad according to how you feel about any given thing, but you are all the time seeing how your destiny (and sometimes that of others) is being created every moment by the contents of your mind.

 

TI

Edited May 11, 2012 by goldenfox

[Tibetan_Ice]

Hi Golden Fox

I hope you are still around.

First off, thank you for that information and your responses. I appreciate it.

I had seen the www.yoganiketan.net site before and spent a couple days there checking things out. There is much information in those writings and I must admit I was kind of bewildered at all the variations and the non-specific guidance.

 

 

You said:

Yes I was initiated by SRF some 15 years ago.

 

I should explain.. I have two years worth of lessons from SRF and practiced every day fervently for around three years. I even learned the Energization Exercises and practiced them until I got to a point where I was so energized that I could only sleep 3 hours per night.. However, I never received the initiation nor the kriya practices because I live in Canada and I was too young and poor to travel to California at that time.

 

Are you familiar with Norman Paulsen? He was one of Yogananda's disciples. He wrote a book called "Sacred Science". Here is a brief synopsis of the book, which I read a couple years ago:

 

-Norman Paulsen says that the third eye reflects the visions/images of the chakra that the person is currently in. It reflects like a mirror. So, in whichever chakra you are stuck or dominant, that is what you are going to see.

 

- He says that that very bright light above the crown (the crown is just an opening) is Christ consciousness or the body of Christ.

 

- He says that by pushing up through the crown (once-soft spot at the top of the head) one can invite or request Christ's consciousness to come down into the body. His form of "Spinal Breathing" is this: one breathes up and down the spine, one pulses the root three times but does not persist in the root lock, one pauses after breathing the "Breath of Life" up the spine to the third eye, and then pulses the root three times to open the door to Christ's consciousness which reveals the light above the head. Then one visualizes the light (Christ) coming down to the third eye to sit on the throne. After that, the exhale is performed back down to the root with the visualization of the light also coming down. During the ascent and descent of the breath, there are 8 points/chakras that are in the spine that are activated. The extra chakra is directly behind the upper mouth near the medulla.

 

- He says that you have to activate the Christ consciousness first because if the feminine energy (shakti at the root/kundalini) arouses and cannot find her mate, she will become very displeased and will rise up hissing like a snake.

 

- He says that the feminine principle rises up and Christ's male energy comes down to meet at the bridal chamber in the heart producing the immaculate conception. A little Christ is born in your heart and if nourished properly, will eventually rise up to take his seat on the throne of God in the third eye.

 

- He points out the "Eightfold Path" which consists of proper Meditation, Conduct, Study, Speech, Association, Nourishment, Work and Recreation.

 

- He points out the "Twelve Virtues" which are Loyalty, Patience, Honesty, Perseverence, Compassion, Continence, Equanimity, Courage, Humility, Temperance, Charity and Faith.

 

- The last picture in the book is a picture of Norman Paulsen standing in the desert next to Paramahansa Yogananda during their last retreat.

 

- Norman claims that Paramahansa Yogananda appeared to him after he passed on, like Jesus did.

 

 

 

What I would really like to know is this.

How similar is Norman Paulsen's "Spinal Breathing" to Yogananda's?

Have you ever practiced it?

Do you bring the light down from the star above the crown?

Is the procedure documented anywhere?

And lastly, what do you think of a form of spinal breathing that, instead of going up to the star above the head, makes a 90 turn at the center of the head and stops at the brow (and then back down with the same path)? How effective would that be?

 

 

TI

[goldenfox]

Hi,

 

Yes ive read a lot by Norm. Years ago i came across an early edition of his book The Christ Consciousness. It was then called Sunburst: Return of the Ancients. Quite a revelation about some not so well known aspects of the path. He used to practice Yogananda's kriya with full kechari mudra for many years.

 

Sometime back i also got Sacred Science. The kriya he gives freely through that seems like a somewhat watered down version of SRF kriya. For one thing the sounds are not emphasized and he doesnt give the other steps that go along with first kriya, like mahamudra and jyoti/yoni mudra. His kechari is just the simple beginner kechari. In Lahiri Mahasaya's system there was a whole kriya given from the start just so one could try to get full kechari by working on stretching the tendon of the tongue (it was called Talabya kriya). Without giving too much away, the spinal breathing of Norman's is different from SRF kriya. SRF kriya and all kriya of Lahiri Mahasaya's is quite a bit more 'intent' on the movement of qi along the spine, and the correct sounds made during the inbreath and outbreath are very important (it is a form of audible mantra so to speak). Lahiri Mahasya also stressed the use of mantra in each chakra during the practise of kriya, something that was taught early on in SRF Lessons but later dropped. Only in higher kriya is there mantra involved (which is the same as Lahiri Mahasaya's higher kriya).

 

There are some versions of kriya which Lahiri Mahasaya gave differently to others, because the subtle makeup and situation of each sadhak was unique. There are versions of kriya which involve the crown right from the first kriya, but the majority of them are concerned with bringing qi to the brow (or sometimes the 'bindu' at the back of the head above and in from the medulla). This is because it is considered unwise to deal with the crown prematurely, and keeping ones attention there or bringing the qi to it is inviting the awakening of kundalini and bringing it to the crown to activate it. If this is done before a lot of the karmic cleansing (process of bhuta shuddhi - purification of nadis/meridians) is effected by kriya practise, there can be a lot of issues because the personal karmas of the sadhak get compounded by too early expansion of the consciousness beyond the body. The granthis or knots of the lower chakras are still in place and one is still firmly in the grip of ego despite having awakened the crown.

 

This is why you will find the majority of kriya lines teach bringing the qi to medulla then making the angle from there onto the brow and back down from there. I know of a variation that takes the qi up from the brow and over the crown along the top of the head and back down over the outside of the spine at the back, but that was an older version and got amended. As far as i can tell, the qi goes where it is able, whether you are practising kriya or Taoist orbit, it will first go along the outer channels. Eventually the kundalini will rise in the sushumna regardless but the real work is the untangling of the granthis or knots (of the tongue, heart, navel and coccyx) so the way for kundalini can be made straight. The knots are like the places where soul as ego is especially attached to the body through its functions in the associated chakras.

 

If you wish to read an in depth examination of the kriya system by a sadhak who has practised for decades, check out the online book at www.kriyayogainfo.net. He even mentions the Taoist orbit and its relation to kriya later in the text. It is if nothing else, a very interesting and informative read.

 

*One is of course advised not to practise without initiation by an authorized teacher. It is not good to jump in the deep end of the pool without first having learned to swim. Waking up the third eye and especially the crown without a master to guide you is the last thing you want to do. There is a lot of karma to release and growing to do before that should happen. "A liar who cannot keep his word is not a good man. His Father, that is, his Lord, is also no good." - Lahiri Mahasaya.

Edited May 16, 2012 by goldenfox

[Tibetan_Ice]

Hi Golden Fox

Thank you so much for your responses.

 

Hi,

 

Yes ive read a lot by Norm. Years ago i came across an early edition of his book The Christ Consciousness. It was then called Sunburst: Return of the Ancients. Quite a revelation about some not so well known aspects of the path. He used to practice Yogananda's kriya with full kechari mudra for many years.

 

Sometime back i also got Sacred Science. The kriya he gives freely through that seems like a somewhat watered down version of SRF kriya. For one thing the sounds are not emphasized and he doesnt give the other steps that go along with first kriya, like mahamudra and jyoti/yoni mudra. His kechari is just the simple beginner kechari. In Lahiri Mahasaya's system there was a whole kriya given from the start just so one could try to get full kechari by working on stretching the tendon of the tongue (it was called Talabya kriya). Without giving too much away, the spinal breathing of Norman's is different from SRF kriya. SRF kriya and all kriya of Lahiri Mahasaya's is quite a bit more 'intent' on the movement of qi along the spine, and the correct sounds made during the inbreath and outbreath are very important (it is a form of audible mantra so to speak). Lahiri Mahasya also stressed the use of mantra in each chakra during the practise of kriya, something that was taught early on in SRF Lessons but later dropped. Only in higher kriya is there mantra involved (which is the same as Lahiri Mahasaya's higher kriya).

 

There are some versions of kriya which Lahiri Mahasaya gave differently to others, because the subtle makeup and situation of each sadhak was unique. There are versions of kriya which involve the crown right from the first kriya, but the majority of them are concerned with bringing qi to the brow (or sometimes the 'bindu' at the back of the head above and in from the medulla). This is because it is considered unwise to deal with the crown prematurely, and keeping ones attention there or bringing the qi to it is inviting the awakening of kundalini and bringing it to the crown to activate it. If this is done before a lot of the karmic cleansing (process of bhuta shuddhi - purification of nadis/meridians) is effected by kriya practise, there can be a lot of issues because the personal karmas of the sadhak get compounded by too early expansion of the consciousness beyond the body. The granthis or knots of the lower chakras are still in place and one is still firmly in the grip of ego despite having awakened the crown.

 

This is why you will find the majority of kriya lines teach bringing the qi to medulla then making the angle from there onto the brow and back down from there. I know of a variation that takes the qi up from the brow and over the crown along the top of the head and back down over the outside of the spine at the back, but that was an older version and got amended. As far as i can tell, the qi goes where it is able, whether you are practising kriya or Taoist orbit, it will first go along the outer channels. Eventually the kundalini will rise in the sushumna regardless but the real work is the untangling of the granthis or knots (of the tongue, heart, navel and coccyx) so the way for kundalini can be made straight. The knots are like the places where soul as ego is especially attached to the body through its functions in the associated chakras.

 

I didn't know that there was a knot at the tongue or at the navel.. I've read about the three knots, Brahma-granthi, Vishnu-granthi and Rudra-granthi.

 

If you wish to read an in depth examination of the kriya system by a sadhak who has practised for decades, check out the online book at www.kriyayogainfo.net. He even mentions the Taoist orbit and its relation to kriya later in the text. It is if nothing else, a very interesting and informative read.

Yes, I have Ennio Nimis' ebooks. Thanks for the suggestion. I have also found that "Kundalini Tantra by Satyananda Saraswati" is quite informative too.

link: http://www.light-weaver.com/vortex/pdfs/Kundalini.Tantra.by.Satyananda.Saraswati.pdf

 

 

*One is of course advised not to practise without initiation by an authorized teacher. It is not good to jump in the deep end of the pool without first having learned to swim. Waking up the third eye and especially the crown without a master to guide you is the last thing you want to do. There is a lot of karma to release and growing to do before that should happen. "A liar who cannot keep his word is not a good man. His Father, that is, his Lord, is also no good." - Lahiri Mahasaya.

 

If I may, I would like to relate an experience I had after reading Norman Paulsen's "Sacred Science" book.

 

From Jan, 2010:

I finished the whole book, all 150 pages..

 

Then I went to bed.

 

As soon as I layed down I noticed that whole inside of my body was no longer there. There was brilliant light everywhere. The light/star/Christ-light over the top of my head was brilliant. The whole sushumna was lit up. Well, I couldn't see the sushumna anymore or any distinct 'me' features at all. There was no more body. There was only vast bright colored light everywhere in this infinite space. I marvelled. It was like being a galaxy. Many galaxies. I did not exist, there was only space and an awesome expanse of multi-varied light.

 

After about an hour or so of watching this spectacle on the inside of me, moving my consciousness inward then outward and back and forth, I realized that I wasn't getting any sleep. I got up and had a drink of water (ok, and a cigarette). Then I went back to bed.

 

I started to get concerned about falling asleep. I could not. I tried hard. I had the overwhelming feeling that my body was going to fall backwards into this huge space of lights. What a strange sensation!

 

There was a definate split between the outer world and the inner universe. There was no place to run or find comfort.

 

I resolved that I should focus on the outer room and focus on sensations like rubbing my hands on the mattress, making noise while breathing, anything I could think of that was of the normal world in order to regain that comfortable thick body/sleep mind feeling. After some twenty minutes of doing this, of dragging my consciousness back into the physical, I must have finally fallen asleep.

 

Then, after becoming more proficient at Norman Paulsen's spinal breathing, I was having extraordinary experiences like the body splitting apart while riding an elevator (twice) and becoming conscious in other planes, and then overloading..

 

My main complaint about the practice is that after a few weeks, whenever I did the pratice, I would find myself in a large expanse of dark space, with very faint little stars in the far background and my body was no longer. Instead, I had become an eliptical frame of silver light webbing, just floating there, resembling the magnetic pathways of a bar magnet suspended in space. I could not find anyone that could relate to this experience and did not know what was really happening, but it did get kind of boring just hanging there by myself in outer space..

 

So, perhaps these are experiences from the "deep end of the pool" as you put it.

 

Have you ever had such experiences? Also, can you bring the light from above the crown down into the sushumna?

 

TI