Ajna Chakra From The Bihar School Of Yoga
While knowledge of the external world is gained through the senses, it is through our sixth sense, ajna chakra, also known as the third eye or the eye of intuition, that higher intelligence, both unmanifest and manifest, is experienced. Awakening ajna chakra is opening the channel to experience answers to what lies beyond external reality, questions haunting every seeker.
Ajna Chakra from the Bihar School of Yoga
This new edition of Ajna Chakra by Rishi Nityabodhananda has been revised and updated. Included are discussions on kundalini yoga, ajna chakra in the tantric texts, yogic practices to awaken ajna chakra, attempts by science to validate dimensions of consciousness beyond objective external reality, and research into the role of the pineal gland and its relationship with ajna chakra.
The text deals with the essence of tantric philosophy and sadhana, elucidating the esoteric traditions of Sri Vidya, the Dasa Mahavidyas, kulakundalini, chakras and tattwas, and their usage to bridge the gap between the outer and inner experience. Sri Saundarya Lahari: The Descent, an exposition on the feminine divine, is substantiated and enhanced by the personal experience and in-depth study of the author. Also included are a comprehensive introduction, prayoga (uses of the mantras, yantras and especially the mandalas contained in the text), transliteration and index.
Both theory and practical instructions for a vast range of age-old meditation practices are presented, including yogic techniques such as antar mouna, yoga nidra and ajapa japa, as well as meditations from ancient Egypt and Greece, the Celtic and Taoist traditions, Tibetan and Zen Buddhism, Sufism and alchemy. Moving meditations as well as meditation techniques for children and for the dying are included.
Swara yoga is an ancient science of pranic body rhythms and explores how prana can be controlled through the breath. Traditionally a closely guarded science, taught only through direct transmission from guru to disciple, very little has ever been written about it.
In this book the theory behind swara yoga is discussed, including the topics of prana, nadis and chakras. In the practice section the techniques of swara yoga are given in detail. The last section contains the original Sanskrit text of the Shiva Swarodaya with an English translation.
To arrive at ajna chakra means sadhana, discipline, belief and persistent effort. When kundalini arrives at ajna chakra through sushumna, there is union between the three nadis when ida, pingala and sushumna unite. This union can be explained by the external example of sangam of Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati at Prayag. Just as Ganga and Jamuna from above and Saraswati from underneath meet each other at Prayag and the water becomes holy, in the same way ida, pingala and sushumna unite at ajna chakra. Even now they are united, but there is a difference. Ida and pingala are active lines. The energy is flowing in ida and pingala. There is a current in them but there is no current in sushumna. When awakening of kundalini begins then sushumna becomes charged with higher energy and the real union takes place, the spiritual union of the three. Your consciousness is transformed, your perceptions are changed, your awareness becomes different, it becomes higher awareness.
With our low awareness we can cognize, see the sense objects and on the basis of these we understand everything, but nothing more than that. If you want to understand something beyond this, you cannot because your perception is not high. If you want to see a caterpillar with the eyes, you can. You can see a rat or cat, but if you want to see a bacteria or virus, you cannot see with these eyes alone; you have to use a microscope. If you want to see a distant object, you cannot see with your eyes alone; you have to use a telescope. If you want to understand radioactive waves, you cannot feel them with your body; you have to use a sensitive instrument. Even if you know and read about them, it is not possible to experience them. To experience them you need a higher faculty, and this higher faculty automatically emerges when ida, pingala and sushumna join in ajna chakra.
Once ajna chakra becomes active, your perception becomes a superior perception, and it is not necessary for you to know how to reach sahasrara. With this state of mind, it is not possible to know how to reach sahasrara, but when that superior higher mind and perception develops, then you know. In my opinion it is not important for us to know how to reach sahasrara through ajna chakra, but it is important for us to know how to awaken ajna chakra.
All of us are in the state of darkness. Darkness means tamas, avidya, lack of perception, lack of knowledge. The Upanishads, yoga shastras and Samkhya in particular, say that the lower states of mind in which we are is tamisra. Tamisra means darkness. There are stages of mind such as andhatamisra, animal state of absolute darkness. In the dark when the mind and the senses cannot see, it is not possible for anyone to know how to go beyond ajna chakra, from that state of awareness to higher states. Ajna chakra is an instrument through which you can develop your awareness and know how to reach sahasrara.
Suppose there is a river or sea and you have to go to the other side, how do you go? First, you go by train, car or any other vehicle up to the bank of the river. There you will have to leave the vehicle, horse, car or perhaps motorbike, and take a boat across the river. Exactly in the same way, when you have come up to the shore with the vehicles of the mind and senses, there is an area where they cannot operate. Then you must have a boat, a higher vehicle, higher mind or higher tool by which you can reach the other shore of ajna chakra.
When the awakening of kundalini is complete, ajna chakra becomes illumined. You achieve buddhi yoga. According to the Gita, buddhi means higher perception, not intellect. Buddha means enlightened. Buddhi yoga is the yoga of higher awareness.
Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati of Bihar School of Yoga in her Ascent says that this dharana refers to khechari mudra, which Shiva mentions in an earlier dharana as well, and that the dharana focuses on the ajna, third eye chakra. Bihar School of Yoga has excellent books on all as asana and mudras, with experts to guide people through these, and I shall leave you for further learning in the technique of the mudra with them.
The ajna chakra, situated in the middle of the eyebrows, is technically the last of the six energy centers, which start from the perineum point at the bottom of the spine. The sahasrara, the seventh chakra at the crown of the head, is more a gateway than a chakra. Ajna is known as the master chakra, controlling all others and links to the pituitary gland, which controls other glands.
Bindu is often merged with [seed] (or sperm) and ova. In the Yogachudamani Upanishad Bindu is a duality, with a white Bindu representing shukla (pure) and a red Bindu representing maharaj (mastery). The white Bindu resides in the bindu visarga and is related to Shiva and the Moon, while the red Bindu resides in the muladhara chakra and is related to Shakti and the Sun.[4] In yoga, the union of these two parts results in the ascension of kundalini to the sahasrara.[5]
In Hatha yoga, Bindu visarga is said to be the source of Bindu fluid, which contains a nectar (amrita) and a poison.[11] Bindu is identified with the semen, and it is controlled by techniques such as Viparita Karani and Khechari Mudra.[10] The fluid is released from the Bindu visarga, and can be stored in the lalana chakra and purified in the Vishuddha chakra. When the Vishuddha is inactive the fluid flows to the manipura chakra, where it is consumed (leading to physical decline). According to the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, a hatha yoga practitioner can prolong their life by controlling the flow of the fluid.[12] Through practice of Khecari mudra, a practitioner can manipulate the flow of the fluid from the lalana to the Vishuddha (where it is purified to amrita).[citation needed]
While knowledge of the external world is gained through the sense, it is through our sixth senses, ajna chakra, also known as the third eye or the eye of intuition, that higher intelligence, both unmanifest and manifest, is experienced. Awakening ajna chakra is opening the channel to experience answers to what lies beyond external reality, questions every seeker.
This new edition of Ajna Chakra by Rishi Nityabodhnananda has been revised and updated. Included are discussions on kundalini yoga, ajna chakra in the tantric texts. Yogic practices to awaken ajna chakra, attempts by science to validate dimension of consciousness beyond objective external reality, and research into the role of the pineal gland and its relationship with ajna chakra.
In a flash he was not an old man any more, but a young boy walking behind his father's coffin. He could see his brothers, the inscription on the coffin, the coffin bearers and all the other mourners which made up the procession. This young boy followed in the procession until it came to a hole in the ground. Then, as if coming out of a dream, he returned to waking consciousness and there he was, looking down at the gravestone which bore the inscription of his father. We can understand that this experience had exploded from the unconscious mind, but the eye which had witnessed the experience and coordinated all the movements in the physical body was his third eye or ajna chakra.
Ajna chakra is most significant amongst the whole gamut of chakras and nadis for those taking to the path of kundalini yoga. Kundalini Shakti rises and energizes those parts of the personality we develop, and it is through this intuitive third eye that we can perceive the wisdom of renouncing fame, name, wealth and other worldly and passionate pursuits. Knowledge of the external world is gained through the senses; however, it is through our sixth sense, namely ajna chakra, that other knowledge is gained. There are so many things we know to be true, yet there is no evidence for it, we just know it. 041b061a72
