The
ancient writings of the East offer many important
teachings to the modern world, but there is a major problem in discovering and
understanding the secrets of the East. This problem can
be laid at the feet of such people as Descartes and King
Louis XIV of France who placed the highest worth of
humankind upon cognition, genteel behavior and elegance.
Today greatness is primarily associated with models of
elegance in the athletic, entertainment or political
realms.
The
secrets of the East are subsequently hidden because they
cannot be found by looking outward into an idyllic
society and its institutions or into the heavens above. They are not to be found in
the beauty and majesty of life but rather are found only through the conflicts and
chaos of life and then only by looking deeply within the
self.
The
secrets of the East have long been covered over and
altered to fit the above Western ideals of genteel
perfection. As an introductory example, consider the
popular Hatha Yoga programs that are generally presented as being gentle
stretching and quiet contemplation. The truth is, however, that the word
hathayoga in Sanskrit
means ‘violent and forced union’ and not quiet inhalation and exhalation as commonly
taught. This constitutes perhaps the first revelation of
a secret of the East. This secret can be stated that any
complete union or change in life requires violent and forced (vital) effort or energy and that
the barriers to change must be broken and overcome. (If there were
no barriers to be overcome, the change would have
already taken place.)
The
shift in the meaning of hatha and the nearly
complete obscuration (a favorite term of Indian scholars) of
the ancient secrets of India, we assert, took place
during the colonization of India by the British. During
this time the Indians were forced to become subjects of
the Crown, in body and soul. The British made English
the national language, wrote and published Sanskrit to
English dictionaries, and translated the ancient sacred
writings into English, which absolutely destroyed even
the references to the existence of secrets. The British
can be accused of a blatant arrogance during this period
as their academicians decided what the ancient writings
really meant or should have said and what the history of
India really should have been. (Only recently are the
theories of the Aryan invasion and the superiority of
the white-skinned northern Indians starting to be
discounted.)
The
British did not directly interfere with the religious
observances of India but did alter the underlying
philosophy and science through language. This can be explained in part because
the underlying philosophy and science were neither
acceptable nor understood. This alteration took place
with methods that had already proven very effective in
the West.
One
powerful method of changing a philosophy or belief is to shift the use of the old descriptive
allegories and metaphors that helped describe the
teachings so that the allegories and metaphors
themselves become the object of study. Perhaps this
point can best be explained through the elaboration of
the old Chinese epigram, ‘The finger pointing at the
moon.’ It is not difficult for most people to envision a
person pointing to the moon and then making his or her
finger some sacred evidence of truth. The pointing individual then becomes worshipped as the
source of wisdom, and the moon diminishes in importance and concern. In
concentrating on the allegories and metaphors, the
underlying teachings or truths could be ignored or
suppressed. Since by nature allegories and metaphors
are not well defined, they can then be easily altered to
point to another teaching.
However,
there is another even greater method of attacking
teachings or truths and that is to attack the original
‘finger’or source of the allegories and metaphors. The
most common method is to belittle the qualifications of
those who teach. We are amazed at how many Indians today
will
cite some Western academician as an authority when his
presented view conflicts with their own experimental or
practical evidence.
There is
one more method that we find quite offensive and that is
when the writers or founders of the original concepts or
truths are described as being high on a special
psychedelic drug. This has been done to those who
brought forth India’s oldest truths, the authors of the
Rig Veda. What is surprising is how many modern writers of
Indian philosophy and religion continue to support this accusation. As an example,
there has been considerable study as to what this
particular psychedelic drug of the Rig Veda might
have been, with implications that such a drug can
actually be found. Yet there is absolutely no evidence
that any drug could have the capability of producing
such wisdom as evidenced by the original Vedic seers and
revelators.
Before
we attempt to shed the added interpretations imposed by
the English translators on ancient Sanskrit documents,
perhaps the question as to what constitutes an important
and worthwhile secret needs to be briefly reviewed. The
West is primarily looking for happiness, which is readily reduced to the finding of increased
possessions and powers over one’s immediate world. Most Westerners would surely not reject having the
ability to turn lead into gold, levitate at will, heal themselves and others instantly, and have
immediate access to any bit of wisdom (which many people believe are the secrets of India).
The majority would also certainly not be concerned with
cost as long as it was quick, easy and didn’t require
any changes in lifestyle. However, as soon as time, effort or
change in lifestyle is mentioned, any secret is no longer of
interest. Let the reader be warned that the secrets of
the East do take time to master, require a definite
effort and change in lifestyle, do not lead to increased
possessions or power over others, have no monetary value, and exist for only
one purpose: to lead you to joy and evolution into new worlds.
In our
opinion the basic source of all of the Eastern secrets
of joy is to be found in the Rig Veda. (Rig means ‘hymns (of)’ and
Veda means ‘knowledge,’ in the sense of fully knowing and understanding that
which is.) The Rig Veda is the oldest teaching of
India which came forth from the advanced Indus Valley society of which little is known, not even the language. One
important consideration is, however, that they left
behind no temples or any evidence of a strong military
power.
The Rig Veda is quite different from modern
Christian writings and is easier to compare with Greek myths and writings. It describes many gods in a
personal manner and refers to a drink called amrita[1] (‘not dying’) which can be
compared with the Greek ambrosia (‘not mortal’). One of
the questions that scholars have about the origin and actual nature of ambrosia may
be answered in the Rig Veda since the term amrita is but another term for
soma, which is well described both as to its effects and
it attainment.
However,
the effects and attainment of soma are both generally unknown in the modern West and
because of the suppression of both, we will have to introduce the subject with a step-by-step
approach. We encourage the reader to be patient.
Let us
start with the secret of OM. (This is the first
demand for patience.) One supporting bit of data for OM is that it is already known in the West as
tinnitus, but this is not a proof positive because the West
cannot prove the existence of tinnitus as will be discussed. With this confusing but hopefully
encouraging introduction, let us continue.
OM
in the modern world is now generally believed to be the physically or
mentally vocalized ‘aum’ that is believed to elevate the
mind to an external and universal, higher spiritual power. However, the original usage was much simpler,
referring to a perceived sound of an inner physical transformational power that you have already heard, at
least as a child or during some illness or intense personal demand.
We
introduced beginning students into finding this inner
sound to be used as the focal point in advanced
meditations. Students first learned to listen to the
sound of their breathing and then to let the body and breathing become more and
more relaxed. A little bit later they were taught to
listen for a rising sound in the background of the sound
of breathing like hearing the distant roar of the ocean,
a whistle or the continuous sound of a flute, which all
were able to do. They were then told to balance the
sound if they heard it only in one ear and then finally
to hear it coming up from their inner depths.
This
inner sound of OM was called the nadam, or
the pranava, and was considered by many ancient
teachers to be the ultimate object to concentrate on for
starting into meditation and the freeing of the inner
self from the conditioned thoughts. This is ironic, since Western medicine is well aware of it and calls it tinnitus, stating that it is injurious and spends a great deal of
money in seeking treatments for it. Researchers have tried to listen to
the inner sound with miniature microphones placed inside
the ears and tried to measure the frequency or pitch of
the sound, all to no avail. Physically it simply does
not exist.
It was
also noted that most young children hear the sound and like it. (Parents who would ask
their children about it would invariably report back
that their children were surprised that the parents didn’t hear it.)
Many
people hear the sound during severe illness or during
intense struggles or demands upon their bodies or minds.
One oddity is that even though it can seem as loud as a
freight train, a dropped pin can still be heard above
the roar. Some religions in India had described the sound as the sound of mixed
vowels plus the anusvara or a nasal after-tone,
which we think is a very good description. (Yoga describes eight different types of sound ranging from a
big bass drum to various instruments and the roar of the
wind.)
The next
secret of the East is also nearly impossible for the
West to understand. This secret is that the source of
joy is in the lower abdominal and sexual region of the body. One interesting but very important
aspect of this portion of the body is that it was
considered as the feminine portion of the body.[2]
All of the active organs that produce a higher energy are
considered to be feminine as well as the ruling powers. The modern West, in contrast, considers that this part of
the body is animalistic and dirty and should be hidden,
suppressed and tightly controlled at all times.
The
reluctance to consider the validity of this secret of
the lower body can be confirmed by looking at the
practice of sitting cross-legged. To most Westerners,
this is a primitive, uncultured and perhaps uncivilized method of sitting.
Those groups who insist upon sitting cross-legged, such
as the Western martial arts groups, are not evidencing
much social elegance, and further they cannot explain why they sit
thusly other than by tradition. It is the West that
desires to get its rulers and great people far above the ground
into thrones or onto elevated platforms, while the East
places their great people on the floor sitting among
beautiful cushions or upon thick rugs.
In our
classes we attempted to duplicate the physical conditions for meditation that seemed to be so
important in old writings. Many writers advocated
meditation in a small isolated spot or mud hut with the
floor covered with dried cow dung or kusha grass
and then covered with a tiger or antelope skin. From some of the descriptions
of the practice we concluded that the meditator would squish his
buttocks around to accumulate cow dung or grass under the hide
so that it would press up into the perineum. We could not, of course, conceive of students bringing
cow manure into their homes and finding an appropriate
hide, so we hoped that a thinly rolled pillow or towel
might serve as well. This meditating stance fortunately
did yield several positive results. The first was an
increase in the loudness and control of the nadam,
and the second was the development of a wonderful
feeling in the perineum that must be considered as very
feminine as will be described in Chapter Eleven. This experiment gave
the results that sitting cross-legged on the proper
support can yield significant improvements in
meditation.
One of the secrets
that fell out of this combined perineal pressure and
nadam meditation was that the
response time of the body could be materially increased
after meditation. The response time normally slows
considerably as you age, and is experienced with the
longer time that it takes to hit the brake in the car or
the impossibility of catching a falling glass that you
used to catch easily . This loss of response is also
associated with the general loss of vitality and awareness of the outer world.
Looking for the
reversal of the reduction in reaction time came from
considering an ancient story about a group of men in
India who practiced some of the Yoga exercises including meditating upon the
nadam.
The story described how one day as these Yoga students
walked down a road in India they were attacked by a much
larger group of thieves. Although unarmed, the students
were able to move and respond so much faster than the
thieves that, much to their surprise, they easily
subdued them. Supposedly this experience resulted in the formulation and development of the
physical
practices of Yoga as well as the martial arts.
We had already noted some very rapid responses from
students in some of the class activities and therefore
ran a controlled test of the response time of students. We
selected those students who had managed to keep their
mind upon the nadam during meditation and compared
them with children and a control group of adults of the same age range.
The results
[3]
were quite spectacular with the special nadam
students one third faster than 12-13 year old children
and almost twice as fast as the adult control group.[4]
Something obviously was changing inside the bodies of the meditators.
This
rapid response was initiated by many individuals with a
preparation that felt like controlling or limiting the
breath within the lower abdomen. It might be like tightly controlling the breath while
listening for some scary noise at night. It is the
feeling of getting ready to exerting yourself, or the
feeling of girding your loins.
The next
problem was to locate and verify the source of this
change. The ancient writings about inner power state that they either originate within or are
controlled by the heart, hridaya in Sanskrit.
This led to the question as to where and what is this
heart? English translations generally gave the impression that it is in the chest and is
the same as the beating pumping heart. It wasn’t,
however, until we began actively translating Sanskrit documents that we could make progress in sorting out many
opposing and apparently nonsensical statements about the
heart. We were still hampered since we had to use Sanskrit to
English dictionaries, which were, of course, compiled
from English translations by Westerners who firmly
believed that the heart or hridaya was in the
chest as taught by the Christians.
What
amounted to a breakthrough came when we received an
unexpected book from India entitled Paratrishika
Vivarana written by Abhinavagupta in the 5th
century. We studied and read this book in a unique
manner since we perceived the main text as telling how
to translate an embedded ancient short document of
unknown origin entitled the Paratrimshika. When
we finally translated the Paratrimshika with this
help, it read like a technical document in that it
defined each term as it progressed. As for instance, it
defined the heart as existing between the thighs, and
that this heart was the dwelling place of the god of gods. This heart was also described as the
intermediary between the soul and the inner Divine god (Ishvara:
ish: ruler and vara: contained). At last
we had found a description of the location of the heart
so important to the ancients. This exciting find and
other definitions in this ancient document opened doors
to understanding both Eastern and Western writings.[5]
However,
before tackling the Rig Veda, let us introduce a very interesting
clue to another secret that will in turn provide a clue to a more complete understanding
of the Rig Veda.
This
clue was left behind as one of the few artifacts of the
lost and unknown Indus Valley culture. This artifact is most unusual,
to Western eyes, in that it is a cast or carved figure
of a swollen female pudendum called a yoni lying
horizontal with a smooth mound of flesh called a lingam protruding vertically out of it. It is called the
Shiva linga icon, and many modern Indians
considers it to portray the creative power of the God Shiva, considered to be the god of procreation and destruction. However, it is doubtful
that the early Indians considered the icon to be the
phallus of Shiva. The lingam is coming out
of a yoni rather than entering, it is not shaped
like a phallus, and the enemies of the early people of
the Rig Veda were accused of being evil phallus worshippers[6]
so the Indus Valley people were unlikely to worship any
phallus. The Shiva Linga might also be considered
as the three dimensional portrayal of the old Egyptian
symbol of creative power, the ankh cross, with
the shaft below the opening instead of within it.
Fortunately, being from a different culture, we were
able to study the sacred icon without preconditioned
thoughts and attempted
to uncover the secret or power that the icon was pointing to. Our search started with
the literal meaning of linga, which means the
sign or indication of something. The icon must therefore
have something to do with the indication of the presence
of Shiva. Since Shiva is the god of procreation and creation, the icon must refer to a protrusion as the sign of a
creative
force. We therefore started with the assumption that the icon
was pointing to something very real and not
mythological. This yielded almost immediate results as
we looked up references for a protrusion of flesh coming
out of the female pudendum and then rapidly had to
extend it to include men because of the large number of
references associating it with men as well.
One of the earlier
words to describe this protuberance was gula,
which is defined in the Western Sanskrit dictionaries as
a swelling like a ball similar to a clitoris or penis. The more common later term by the British for the
swelling was kanda. (Kanda
actually refers to the swelling of the yoni as
will be described later.) The term kanda means a
swelling or tubular growth and secondly the erroneous
application to the linga as a vaginal fleshy
excrescence with the dictionary addition of “but
apparently prolapsus uteri.” (We felt quite
confident that the Indians would not model a fallen
uterus and equate it with any form of creativity.) (For
those who find a protuberance and are concerned that it
might be a perineal prolapsed organ, there is a simple test. If the
protrusion disappears upon normal standing or with time,
it is probably not a medical problem, since holes in the perineum cannot suddenly heal themselves.)
To return to the Shiva linga, if Shiva were the god of procreation then the icon can be expected to include
individual creativity as well as procreation. This
hypothesis also turned out to be supportable. The lingam must therefore not be a phallus but rather
protruding flesh from the perineum that indicated inner creative as well as procreative power.
As we looked deeper
into Hatha Yoga
we found
why the word hatha, meaning violence, was used.
The violence and effort of hatha were designed to
stimulate the Shiva linga. Early Yoga students
were told that the function of Yoga practices are primarily to stimulate the
kanda
or
swelling of the perineum that in turn awakens the sleeping
kundalini
wrapped
around the Shiva linga, thereby liberating
creative powers to the body. The kanda is well described
as a tubular organ running from the anus forward to the
clitoris or penis. The practices called mudras and
bandhas
pound, press, squeeze and churn the lower abdomen, coupled with breath control and the inner lifting of organs and fluids.
(This is
of course much different from what is found in the
modern Western Yoga class that is countering social tensions and developing a beautiful body. Chapter
Eleven will describe
some of the practices in detail and the Appendix presents a comparison of the
basic rules of Yoga from the original understanding to the modern.)
Now
perhaps we are able to consider the Rig Veda. Most Western and many Indian writers
now follow the lead given by R. H. Griffith in 1890 when
he stated that the fluid, soma, attributed to stimulating supernormal inner power, was not internally generated as stated, but rather
came from some mysterious plant with psychedelic and stimulating properties. He persisted in this belief even though the
Rig
Veda stated that a person is mistaken if he believes
that soma comes from a plant.[7]
Other academicians attempted to trace soma to
some particular plant but with total failure. Griffith
could not believe in the reality of the reported gods nor could he envision them as
allegories or metaphors of the inner powers, so he made
them instead part of a religious scene experienced under
the strong drug of soma.
Since
the Rig Veda could be viewed then as a religious
rather than a factual document, Griffith was justified
in relying upon traditional interpretations and
considering that flowery prose was of far more
importance than literal content. This shift is quite obvious with just a casual
comparison of his translation with the actual meanings
of the Sanskrit words. As for instance, he freely adds,
modifies meanings, or removes words in order to make the
text fit an acceptable view. In Indian philosophy this process is well known and is called
yathasambhavam, which is an acceptable practice (but
also lousy academics).
Griffith’s translation can be briefly summarized as
being collected stories of the mythical gathering of
some psychedelic plant and the processing of it by a complex religiously
controlled ritual consisting of using tools for
pounding, pressing, churning and filtering of the soma
of the plant. The stories then tell of how special
powers are obtained from different deities when they are
offered the prepared libation.
However,
the true content (pratishabdam) of the Rig Veda
is so fundamental, not only to India
but to the rest of the world, that we feel it a necessity to give the reader a taste
of its literal content. We therefore offer a translation
of a portion of the original Rig Veda that first
describes the preparation of soma and also the translation by Griffith (in smaller
type) for comparison. (The original Sanskrit text and
the literal meanings of the words are given in the
Appendix.)
To
assist in the reading the following definitions will be useful:
§ The name of the old inner god or
Ishvara was called Indra but is now called
Shiva by modern Hindus. Indra or Shiva is defined to be within the self and
the source of the unconscious interactions with the
outer world. Procreation is perhaps the best example. An individual
does not create a new life, but is certainly the instrument for it. The inner god
of procreative power is also the source of the creative actions, visions or insights that are not generated by
the conscious brain. (If the Ishvara is controlled by the
individual, then it is
easy to understand the concept that an individual is God if the inner gods are being directed by the self.)[8]
§ The
granary floor, khala, was used as a symbol for
the floor of the abdomen, since the granary floor was used for threshing of
grain as well as its storage. The description of the
threshing of grain is similar to the preparation of
soma with its
churning, pressing and pounding. The granary was also the site
for special ceremonies and rituals to insure the
continual production of food or energy.
§ Developed
abdominal muscles were used to churn, pound and press the inner glands or
organs to produce some combination of biochemicals
called soma.
§ The
East
as well as the West has lost the concept of the loins as being the source of strength such as implied in the
Biblical expression of ‘gird up your loins.’ Related to this is
the ignorance of most men and many women of the
existence of anything between the thighs other than the
pudendum. Perhaps the easiest method of finding the
area being discussed is to tighten the muscles used to stop the flow of urine or perhaps to steel
yourself to face something unpleasant such as falling
down a shaft. Sanskrit has a number of terms for this
area, with yoni being common even though it is
now also used to refer almost exclusively to a female
pudendum.[9]
§ The
perineum contains a gland called the gula that swells
when stimulated and is instrumental in the generation of soma. This
kanda can be
explained as being developed and swollen perineal muscles[10] that are largely undeveloped in
the modern world as will be explained later.
§
Griffith replaces the inner pressing and pounding inner muscles with an imagined stone mortar and pestle and the inner
muscle motions with the grinding in a mortar.
From
the Rig Veda, Book One, Chapter Twenty-eight.
(The
first reference to the preparation of soma.)
1)
Wherein, the firm broad root (abdominal floor) can
become the perfect hot threshing floor with its power of
Indra, coming up from below from the covered bulb (kanda).
There where the broad
based stone is raised on high to press the juices out. O
Indra, drink with eager thirst the droppings
which the mortar sheds,
2)
Wherein just so, these two, make and press out (soma) from the loins.
Where, like broad hips,
to hold the juice, the platters of the press are laid.
3)
Wherein, with a motion like a woman’s (inner sexual thrust), away and toward, everything is gained.
There where the woman
marks and learns the pestle’s constant rise and fall,
4)
Wherein, churning is controlled in the same manner by pressing to and
fro.
where as with reins to
guide a horse, they bind the churning staff with cords.
5)
Indeed the asking for wisdom is connected to the resident giver of wisdom located
within the burning inner granary within the body. In
this place is manifested a pervading ecstasy like a victorious drum.
If of a truth in every house, O Mortar, thou art set for work. Here give forth thy clearest sound, loud as the drum of conquerors.
6) And
they always excite and control the stem or source with
the breath of the body. Now to find the protected powers of
Indra, go to the inner storehouse and produce
soma.
O sovran of the forest,
as the wind blows soft in front of thee, Mortar for
Indra press thou forth the soma juice that he may drink.
The
teachings of the Rig Veda became a model used by many groups in
India to explain life and its processes. As for example, a group of writings
in India known as the Tantras[11]
or Agamas[12]
includes the now well-known model of an inner soul and
spirit within the body even though confusion now exists
as to what the
difference between the two is. The Tantras also
provided a model for the energy of the body that became nearly worldwide.
There were two groups
in Bengal and Kashmir who became known for having
special inner powers as
well as intense joy in their interactions together by
using methods that were supposedly based upon the Tantras. These
Tantriks were believed to use
secret, powerful mantras or spells and chants
that could overpower other people and were believed to
have a secret ceremony that gave rise to these powers.
Participants in the ceremony were reputed to engage in
the very sinful acts (to Hindus) of eating fish, having
open sex, drinking alcohol, eating meat and taking aphrodisiacs.[13]
This accusation
followed no doubt from the five words that the Tantriks used to describe the result of their
practices. These five words became known as the 5 ‘M’s, since all
began with an ‘M’. The actual Sanskrit words are matsya,
maithuna, madya, mansa
and mudra, which with quite a bit of stretching
of definitions can mean the above sinful acts. However,
the more common literal meanings are much different as
stating that they have: increased vitality, close union or oneness, ecstasy or joy, sensuality and voluptuousness, and the ability to take on a new or different role.[14]
The Tantriks
developed a model of the body[15]
mentioned above that described the power and control within each individual. Rather than attempt
to give a discourse on the Eastern physiological view of
the body, let us point out what, to us, are some of
their secrets not mentioned above. The following secrets
should prove useful to anyone seeking to increase the performance of the body and mind.
§
There
is a division of the breath into two modes on either side of the middle or rest
position of the lungs (vishuvat). The West is
taught to breathe from the relaxed state (vishuvat)
of the breath up to fill the lungs, whereas the other
mode exists from the vishuvat down to empty the
lungs. The lower breathing mode is associated with increased physical and mental power.
§
The
body and mind can be energized by a controlled motion, tensioning or
churning (mantha) of the lower abdominal muscles (as noted many times in worrying or facing a threat).
Keeping the lower abdominal, anal and sexual muscles tense, as learned in the West, suppresses this normal, inner
energizing motion.
§
The
inner source of power and knowledge exists as separate from the conscious self and is
easier to perceive as a personal god contained within the sexual area of the body.
§
There
are four levels of existence. The most basic is the
awareness (pre-spirit) of the separation and distinction
from eternity. The second level is the definition
(spirit) of the physical and mental nature of the self. The third level concerns
the choice (soul) of the role to be played and the powers to be acquired and the
outer world. The fourth stage is the normal physical/mental
integration of the soul with the body and outer world.
If the self and world are to be changed, the change must start at the spirit level and not at the cognitive
level as taught in the modern culture.
There is one more
level of existence that is considered as beyond the
preceding four. We are calling this stage joy, which
India originally called samadhi. The literal
meaning of samadhi needs to be given because of
the large religious additions or changes to the meaning of the word.
Samadhi consists of
two words, sam which means ‘together in unison,’
while adhi means ‘to create or effectuate.’ Joy or
samadhi therefore means
the integration of a chosen future with others (and the
Ishvara) or the united
(maithuna) creation and playing of a game with others.
The
difference between the East and West might be a bit
clearer now if only the basic philosophical
point of who is in charge of your life is considered. The
Rig Veda seems to clearly point to a power within, whereas the West credits a power beyond the
self. The Eastern view is that individuals must activate
and direct themselves, whereas the enforced Western view
is that society and its institutions must be the source of guidance.
R. Peck,
Kundalini,
Sex and Yoga,
1985
Findingpower.com
