TRAINING OF THE SPIRIT - INDIA
Yoga is a method of psychosomatic mastery that is universally accepted by all of India's "paths to wisdom". Its goal is the state of stability known as 'samadhi', the ultimate stage in the training of the SPIRIT.
The psychological technique of Raja-Yoga (royal union) comprise a principal discipline, yogic meditation, or samyama, and its three phases: dharana (concentration), dhyana (contemplation), and samadhi (ecstasy). These techniques aim at once to mobilize and to control a number of organic and psychic functions. They are based both on theory of physiological and psychological mechanisms of the human being and on a meticulously controlled practical experience.
TRAINING OF THE SPIRIT - CHINA
The Chinese even before the advent of Taoism knew how to control the respiration so as to enclose the breath (chi) and channel it (yin-chi) by means of mental concenration to the various parts of the organizm. Here, then is a theory of breathing and breath that has much in common with the Greeks' pneuma and the Indians' prana.
The importance of "external breath" - that is, the air outside the body - had long been recognized. To breathe, to "nourish oneself with aerial breath" (shih fung chi), was to incorporate the life-substance (ching).
Ko Hung drew a distinction between the "living breath" (sheng-chi), produced from mid-night to mid-day, and "dead breath" (ssu-chi), produced from noon to midnight. He advised that residual air be replaced by living air by breathing in a great deal and breathing out very little. This method was called embryonic respiration (t'ai-hsi). For a long time the Taoist theory relied exclusively on the absorption of this external breath, the outside air. A special technique and time table allowed the devotee to "knot the embryo" and make the body immortal by nourishing it from within.
Around the middle of the T'ang period (618~907), however, Taoism discovered the internal breath specific to each individual. This was the "original breath" (yuan-chi). The orientation of the breath (hsing-chi) and its retention (pi-chi) are the basis of all Taoist breathing exercises.
The Taoist breathing have twelve basic breathing exercises; which are essentially the same as the Indian yogic practice called "swara yoga".
TRAINING OF THE SPIRIT - JAPAN
Buddhism was introduced into Japan in the thirteenth year of the reign of the emperor Kimmei (552), and on the same occasion King Syong-myong of Korea presented the emperor with a statue of Cakya muni (Lord Buddha). Under the emperor Shomu (724-749) Buddhism became the national religion of Japan.
The emperor's store-rooms at Nara Shoso-in became the depository for Chinese treasures of the T'ang Dynasty. Today these store-rooms constitute the oldest museum of the the history of medicine in the world and contain specimens of the instruments and medicines of eight-century traditionalist Chinese medicine.
Chinkon Gyo is used in Shintoism and the Japanese martial art 'Aikido' uses it extensively. The word 'chinkon' is a combination of 2 kanjis .. one for peace, tranquility and the other representing the soul.
Chinkon Gyo is a scientific technique to integrate mind-body-soul. It's kanji is the same as the word, 'mitama shizume' .
MITAMA SHIZUME is the form of meditation used. It involves the synchronization of slowed breathing to the sound of a deeply resonant Buddhist bell. Such breathing helps the practitioner relax, increase awareness, and focus. The practice also allows for a tracing of the movement of "ki," or energy, in & out of the body.
THE KONGO SCHOOL OF ZEN
Zen repudiates all holy writ and atleast in theory does without ceremonies and prayers.
Zen is essentially intuitive, no manual can by itself enable someone to master it. The student of Zen acquires the "unwritten learning" with every part of his being, so that in the end it becomes the natural rule of his life and permits him to attain the true Zen state, which is "the fact of being oneself". This is known as "Heijo Shin" (Everyday Mind), in the Kongo school of Zen.
The essence of Kongo Zen is Dharma (Universal Law). Seeking to understand the nature of Dharma is fundamental to training in Shorinji Kempo (The Discipline built on the philosophy of Kongo Zen). Buddha taught that the nature of the Dharma is best understood b the law of engi: All things are always in flux, changing because everything has unlimited potential. All changes are only relative, each influencing the others and being influenced in return without a single change taking place independantly of the others. In India the law of Engi is known as the Law of Action (Karma) and is considered one of the paths (marg) to enlightenment.
Kaiso Doshin So, founded his philosophy and disciplinary training based on Bodhidharma (Indian Monk and the 1st patriarch of Zen Buddhism). Bodhidharma is well known in Asia for his introduction of zazen meditation (sitting serenely) China. Aong with zazen he also taught Ekkingyo during his stay at the Suzan Shorinji (Shaolin Temple) in what is known now as Hunan province. These techniques were widely used by Buddhist devotees, and, in time, they formed the basis for the martial techniques which spread throughout China.
Kaiso divided his teachings the very same way as Bodhidharma taught: Chinkon Gyo and Ekkin Gyo, where the word 'Gyo' stands for 'discipline'. Chinkon Gyo is static meditation done in Zazen; Ekkin Gyo is dynamic meditation done in movement.
CHINKON (鎮 魂) GYO MEDITATION
By reciting the meditation (seiku), oath (seigan), and principles (shinjo), collectively termed teachings (kyoten), the practice of chinkon-gyo serves to reaffirm why we practice Shorinji Kempo.
During chinkon-gyo we practice zazen meditation to calm ourselves and develop mental composure (known in japanese as Heijoshin. In combat training, the "mental muscle" which must be developed to maintain heijo shin is known as tanryoku, the strength of spirit to withstand shocks. It is an aspect of ki strength, and is a kind of courage.)
Shorinji Kempo uses a very special and advanced method of breath control, and one must work to master it, as well as the proper practice of chinkon-gyo.
QUINTESSENCE OF DHARMA
In India, many scientific principles about truth have been discovered by yogis and swamis in religious experimentations. They urge all men to follow "Dharma", which means, "those immutable principles which protect man permanently from the 3 fold suffering of 1. disease, 2. unhappiness & 3. ignorance".
Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda Giri's path has a holistic approach to dharma wherein he explains the science of healing and self realization. Life force in the nerves keeps the soul entangled with the messages of the sensations in eyes, ears, hands, and so forth. These sensations are threefold disturbances.
He further explains, " Concentration means freeing the attention from sensations, present thoughts and memory thoughts by consciously swithcing off the life-force (chi or ki energy), from the sensory-motor nerves, thus preventing thought-rousing sensations from reaching the brain."
Life force is the power that directly sustains the body. The purpose of concentration technique is to switch life force on or off at will from any part of the body or entire body. so that the life force and consciousness maybe withdrawn from sensory channels and redirected to the higher centers of consciousness in the brain.
When motion is temporarily halted in the outer and inner body, the deterioration of the cells stop's and no venous blood accrues. When nervous blood ceases to accumulate, the heart slows down, for it no longer has to send the dark, impure venous blood into the lungs to be purified.
When the heart is not given the work of pumping blood, the energy that ordinarliy is engaged in keeping the heart pumping slows down and begins to flow back toward the brain, instead of outward into the five sense-organs. The life-force is then switched off from the sense-organs and sensations are unable to attract the attention of the brain.
research sources : shorinji kempo fukudoku hon, 1991. Oriental methods of mental and physical fitness by Donald N. Smith.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
FIGHT STRESS AT HOME
Our rapidly changing world has necessitated many adjustments; most of us find that we are helpless in adapting to this constant change. The psychological price we pay in not being versatile to this change is what medical scientists call 'STRESS'.
The Socio-economic conditions coupled with our family tensions, inflict us with anxieties and stresses. The presence of mental stress as a part of modern living has been the subject of a number of books and journals.
In his #1 best seller book, "The Relaxation Response", Dr.Herbert Benson, M.D. validates the claims of Indian Yoga in being both a therapeutic and preventive science against stress-hypertension-stroke-heart attacks. Dr.Herbert speaks about the revitalizing and therapeutive techniques - which he has extensively tested in the laboratories of Harvard Medical School and Boston's Beth Israel Hospital. He exploded the prejudice against Yogic Therapy and scientifically stated that yogic therapy can release the body's hidden defenses against stress and stress-triggered illnesses (including high blood pressure).
Dr. Herbert Benson along with Miriam Z.Klipper states, "once learned, the relaxation response technique takes only ten to twenty minutes twice a day and, as millions have already discovered, can relieve the restlessness and tension that stand between you and a richer, fuller, healthier life.
Dr. Walter R. Hess, the Swiss Nobel Prize winning physiologist, produced the changes associated with the fight-or-flight response by stimulating a part of the cat's brain within the hypothalamus. Dr. Hess demonstrated a response whose physiologic changes were similar to those measured during the practice of meditation, that is, a response opposite to the fight-or-flight response. He termed this reaction the trophotic response and described it as "a protective mechanism against overstress belonging to the trophotic system and promoting restorative processes."
Dr. H.H.Shultz, a German neurologist, devised 'Autogenic Training' technique which is a medical therapy based on six mental exercises. It is to be practiced several times a day until the subject is able to shift voluntarily to a purportedly less stressful state, or the trophotropic state of Hess.
Dr.E. Jacobson, a physiologist-physician who devised 'Progressive Relaxation Technique', argues that anxiety neurosis and other related diseases are caused or aggravated by skeletal muscle contraction, whereas muscular relaxation produces opposite physiologic states. Progressive relaxation emphasizes the relaxation of voluntary skeletal muscles - that is, all muscles over which you have conscious control. This technique seeks to achieve increased control over skeletal muscle until a subject is able to induce very low levels of tension in the major muscle groups, such as in the arms and legs.
'Hypnosis', may be defined as an altered state of consciousness which is artifically induced and characterized by increased receptiveness to suggestions. The hypnotic induction procedure usually includes suggestions (auto-suggestions for self-hypnosis) of relaxation and drowsiness, closed eyes, and a comfortable position. Following the induction procedure, an appropriate suggestion is given for the desired mental or physical behavior. So far it has not been possible to find a specific set of physiologic changes that characterize the hypnotic state. Instead, the physiologic changes vary according to the suggested state.
Drs. Thomas H. Holmes and Richard H. Rahe, psychiatrists at the University of Washington Medical School, have devised a scale of stressful events. Hundreds of persons of varying ages, backgrounds, and classes were asked to rank the relative amount of adjustments required to meet a series of life events. Holmes and Rahe have called this list , 'the social readjustment scale.' The doctors subsequently found that ten times more widows and widowers die during the first year after the death of their partners than all others in their age group; that divorced persons have an illness rate twelve times higher than married persons in the year following the divorce. According to the doctors, change whether for "good" or "bad" causes stress to a human being, leaving him more susceptible to disease.
Dr. Herbert along with Dr. Mary C. Gutmann at the Harvard Medical School's Thorndike Memorial and Channing Laboratories at the Boston City Hopsital, defines stress as, 'Environmental conditions that require 'behavioral adjustment'. Their research provided a starting point for measuring how stress interacts with blood pressure.
How Yogoda System helps in prevention of stress and works as a curative for stress, hypertension, stroke, and heart attack?
The Hindu scriptures speak of the body as a machine fraught with six delusive deficiencies:
It exists;
it is born;
it grows;
it changes;
it decays;
and it is completely annihilated.
Through long and devotional practice of the YSS [YOGODA SATSANGA SOCIETY OF INDIA/ SELF REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP] techniques of meditation one can achieve complete calmness in the heart, lungs, and other organs.
When the muscles and inner organs are freed from constant motion by relaxation, the breaking down of bodily tissues and the accumulation of wastes is temporarily inhibited.
This helps to keep the blood-stream pure, and hence is important to higher states of mental and metaphysical relaxation.
The cellular composition of the bodily tissues is constantly undergoing the dual process of growth and decay, old cells breaking down and being replaced by new ones. When this process can be stopped, even momentarily, an exceptional degree of physical rest is attained.
First of all, with the cessation of ordinary cellular activities of growth, assimilation, and elimination, there is no need for food and oxygen, which are brought to the cells by the bloodstream; or for carrying off impurities of waste materials, which are borne away by the bloodstream also.
The heart is thus relieved of its immense burden of pumping blood. (From the standpoint of actual weight moved, the heart pumps twelve tons of blood in a day.)
The cells and tissues then live directly by subtle life energy. Blood borne food and oxygen being no longer required by the cells, there is temporary cessation of activity on the part of the heart and also on the part of the lungs, which releases to the rest of the body an enormous quantity of life current ordinarily used by these two great engines. The trillions of cells, the organs, the muscles – the whole physical machinery – rest, sustained by pure energy.
The yogi (practitioner of yoga) who enters and remains in this state is practising the art of living by the inner energy coming down from the medulla oblongata. In this state it becomes possible to disengage the attention and energy from their identification with the world of sensations as experienced in the muscles, heart, spine, and so on.
Electricity passing through a rod made of a conductive substance electrifies it. Similarly, the body battery becomes fully charged with life force derived from oxygen through proper breathing exercises.
The whole body, including bones, flesh, marrow, nerves, brain and all bodily tissues, changes every eight years. At the end of every eight years, with a change of brain and all bodily tissues, the mind changes. Hence, it usually takes eight years to change any already –formed habit in the body or mind by changing the habit of eating and living by new and better methods. So, the powerful Yogoda Satsanga Lessons can only produce results if you form the Yogoda habits of fatiguelesssness, peace, concentration, and abundance consciousness by practicing the lessons patiently, deeply, joyously, and regularly. All the practice is done at home, thanks to the instrumentality of a postal system which brings the lessons to your doorsteps.
Daily disciplinary practise includes:
Relaxation
Self control
Right diet
Fortitude
An undaunted attitude of mind
Regular meditation
Practice of scientific concentration and meditation principles.
These are encapsulated in the Yogoda routine as follows:
After morning ablutions, practice of Energizing exercises. Benefit : Physical relaxation.
The Hindu scriptures speak of the body as a machine fraught with six delusive deficiencies:
It exists;
it is born;
it grows;
it changes;
it decays;
and it is completely annihilated.
Through long and devotional practice of the YSS [YOGODA SATSANGA SOCIETY OF INDIA/ SELF REALIZATION FELLOWSHIP] techniques of meditation one can achieve complete calmness in the heart, lungs, and other organs.
When the muscles and inner organs are freed from constant motion by relaxation, the breaking down of bodily tissues and the accumulation of wastes is temporarily inhibited.
This helps to keep the blood-stream pure, and hence is important to higher states of mental and metaphysical relaxation.
The cellular composition of the bodily tissues is constantly undergoing the dual process of growth and decay, old cells breaking down and being replaced by new ones. When this process can be stopped, even momentarily, an exceptional degree of physical rest is attained.
First of all, with the cessation of ordinary cellular activities of growth, assimilation, and elimination, there is no need for food and oxygen, which are brought to the cells by the bloodstream; or for carrying off impurities of waste materials, which are borne away by the bloodstream also.
The heart is thus relieved of its immense burden of pumping blood. (From the standpoint of actual weight moved, the heart pumps twelve tons of blood in a day.)
The cells and tissues then live directly by subtle life energy. Blood borne food and oxygen being no longer required by the cells, there is temporary cessation of activity on the part of the heart and also on the part of the lungs, which releases to the rest of the body an enormous quantity of life current ordinarily used by these two great engines. The trillions of cells, the organs, the muscles – the whole physical machinery – rest, sustained by pure energy.
The yogi (practitioner of yoga) who enters and remains in this state is practising the art of living by the inner energy coming down from the medulla oblongata. In this state it becomes possible to disengage the attention and energy from their identification with the world of sensations as experienced in the muscles, heart, spine, and so on.
Electricity passing through a rod made of a conductive substance electrifies it. Similarly, the body battery becomes fully charged with life force derived from oxygen through proper breathing exercises.
The whole body, including bones, flesh, marrow, nerves, brain and all bodily tissues, changes every eight years. At the end of every eight years, with a change of brain and all bodily tissues, the mind changes. Hence, it usually takes eight years to change any already –formed habit in the body or mind by changing the habit of eating and living by new and better methods. So, the powerful Yogoda Satsanga Lessons can only produce results if you form the Yogoda habits of fatiguelesssness, peace, concentration, and abundance consciousness by practicing the lessons patiently, deeply, joyously, and regularly. All the practice is done at home, thanks to the instrumentality of a postal system which brings the lessons to your doorsteps.
Daily disciplinary practise includes:
Relaxation
Self control
Right diet
Fortitude
An undaunted attitude of mind
Regular meditation
Practice of scientific concentration and meditation principles.
These are encapsulated in the Yogoda routine as follows:
After morning ablutions, practice of Energizing exercises. Benefit : Physical relaxation.
Prayers
Practice of concentration techniques – ‘Hong Sau’. Benefit : Perfect Mental-Emotional-Physical relaxation.
Practice of meditation technique – ‘Om’. Benefit : Peace and Love.
Practice of Maha Mudra, Kriya Proper, Jyoti Mudra. Benefit : Mastery over body and mind.
Practice praying unceasingly and deeply, forgetting time, in the language of your heart.
The teachings of Yoga is designed to blow up the bridge of feeling that connects our various experiences with the ego. Man needs to understand that his own intelligence controls the atoms of his body.
Opportunities in life come by creation, not by chance.
You can create opportunites now.
Steps on the ladder of success:
Hard work
Creative ability
Seek expert advice, use good judgment
Economy
Renewed effort after failure
Character
Regularity
Spend less than income
Try to make others prosperous
Spend naturally for God’s work.
One of the greatest enemies to success is fear, for it destroys initiative without which one cannot succeed. Mental laziness, lack of initiative, and lack of perseverance are barriers to success.
It is not success itself which should be the goal, but the kind of living which brings success.
The ten reasons why this could be the most important lessons of your life
Relieves fatigue and helps you cope with your anxieties
Relieves the stress that can lead to high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, heart attack and stroke.
Reduces the tendency to smoke, drink, “turn on” with drugs.
Can be used to help you sleep.
Conserves the body’s store of energy.
Makes you more alert and aware, so you can focus on what’s really important.
Reaffirms the value of meditation and prayer in daily life.
Can be learned without classes and lectures, in your own home.
Can be used anywhere, even on the way to work.
Has no side effects.
To Subscribe to these Spiritual teachings of Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda in India, please contact:
Paramahansa Yogananda Path,
Ranchi 834 001, Jharkhand.
Tel: +91-0651-2460071, 2460074, 2461578.
Friday, June 26, 2009
BODY PSYCHOLOGY IN EVERY DAY AILMENTS
- endogenous (breakdowns from within)
- exogenous (attacks from without)
- mental,
Any one of which can lead to any other.
Mental disease can arise from an imbalance in either the mental doshas (rajas and tamas) or in vata, pitta, or kapha, or because of intense emotions or misuse of intoxicants. It can manifest in the mind (as anxiety), in the body (as asthma) or both; constipation, for example, may be a purely mental condition, caused by intense mental attachment and 'tightness'.
PRAJNAPARADHA (literally, 'crime against wisdom')
The mental attitude that permits an organizm to act contrary to its own self-interest is known in Sanskrit as prajnaparadha, a word that reflects the importance of prajna (transcendent wisdom) to Buddhist philosophy.
On the most obvious level prajnaparadha is a 'violation of good sense'. both mental and physical, as, for example, failing to protect oneself against the cold or the rain when one goes outside. Such failings are due to allurement, the selfish desire of a microcosm to try to ignore the inherent rhythm of the universe (rtam) and the transcendent wisdom that arises from it, and rearrange the macrocosm to suit itself.
Prajnaparadha, which is universal, is an outpouring of energy in an inappropriate direction. When this energy gets trapped in an archetypical 'mould', which may be a bacterium, virus, metabolic pattern, mental aberration or other self-propagating 'parasite', a disease springs into manifestation as soon as the proper microcosmic conditions occur.
According to this theory, even such seemingly uncontrollable events as accidents are due to long-term accumulating stress, which periodically releases itself into the consciousness, like an earthquake, and causes one to put oneself, knowingly or unknowingly, into harm's way.
SYMBOLS and SYMPTOMS
The habitual thoughts of a person warns of an impending disaster through dreams. Dreams if rightly interpreted can prevent illness. When such a warning system arises through dreams, it is said to be 'symbols'. When one is ignorant of this dream-symbol science, it would manifest in the physical body. The General Physician would then read it as 'symptoms'.
THE MEANING OF SYMPTOMS
Symptoms are classified according to the various parts of the body. In reality, this kind of division into individual parts does not exist really, for all these parts are interrelated, and man should be regarded as a whole and not as a collection of individual organs, etc. In our opinion, even the division into somatic, physical, psychological and mental symptoms is not really justifiable, for all these symptoms are manifestations of one and the same problem or principle, differing only according to level. Therefore, it is important to always take the sum total of a person's symptoms into consideration.
The following is the classification of symptoms according to various parts of the body:
- Head
- Throat
- Respiratory System
- Heart/Circulatory System
- Digestion/Elimination
- Generative System
- Skin
- Locomotive System
- Infections
- Allergies
- Children's Diseases
- Cancer
- Psychological Problems
- Miscellaneous
Live Case Study : 1
Client Data : Male, 72 yrs of age in 2006, was admitted in a nursing home, chennai for viral fever. Within 2 days of admission, he has overflow of urine incontinence. He then feels numbness from legs upward to his neck. He looses power of legs and hands. This client was a high ranking IPS officer.
History : Hospital transferred the case to a bigger hospital and refferred to Neurologist and Neuro Surgeons. Under clinical investigations and MRImagery the following was evidenced
- Moderate fever on 9th /Novermber/2006. Was normal previously.
- Urinary disturbance - overflow incontinence from 11/November/2006.
- Rapidly progressive weekness of his lower limbs + numbness in order of below upwards upto the level of nipples [12th nov 2006 to 22 nov 2006]
- complaints of severe paraesthesia
- history of being treated for cervical spondylosis in 1983.
- MRI cervical spine shows C4-5, C5-6 disc prolapse with thecal compression.
- MRI revealed cervical spondylotic changes with pressure on the thecal sac.
- Quadriparesis, 3/5 power in upper limbs and flaccid paraphelagia.
- No demyelinating disease - confirmed by cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis.
- Spinal cord is well displayed and of normal size.
- No evidence of abnormal signal intensity lesions seen within the cord
- cervico medullary junction is normal
- the CSF displays normal signal intensity in all sequences.
- No evidence of any mass in or around the CSF pathway.
- The Atlanto-axial & Atlanto-occipital joints are normal.
- The pre and para spinal regions do not show any abnormal soft tissue lesion.
- Degenerative changes of cervico dorsal spine.
- MRI dorsal lumbar spine revealed posterior disc bulge at L4-5 minimal impingement of nerve routes at L4-5.
Diagnoses :
- Since the clients paralysis and his clinical assessment and the imagery results did not coincide, The client was considered to have the possibility of viral menengitis with post infective demyelination.
- Client was started on methyl prednisolona and continued for 4 days. Improvement of muscle power of all 4 limbs was observed.
- In-dwelling catheter for bladder as urinary incontinence persisted.
Medico data: a total of 6 medicos worked on the case spanning 2006 to 2007. It included Neuro Physicians, Neuro surgeon and neurologists. The case was finally abandoned on the assumption of : paraplegia due to viral fever.
One Neuro Physician in the team advocated:
- antibiotics
- quadriceps exercises
- walker mobilisation
- neuro rehabilitation
--------------------------------------------------------
The above case was assessed by Sensei Maxwell from 18th June 2009~ 26th June 2009, as follows:
Body analysis
- Improper Posture due to Occupation affecting the Spinal-vertebrae column
Mental and Emotional analysis
- Client was extremely under Fear and Terror
- Client was also very rigid in his mannerisms
- Client was very inflexible to other's views.
- Client constantly felt that he was inadequate to the demands of life.
- Client was forced to live up to the expectations of the society and higher authorities.
- Client was having a superiority complex
Recommended Therapy:
- Positional Release
- Soft Tissue Manipulation
- Counselling and Auto Suggestion
- Shiatsu
Conclusion : The client was wrongly attributed to an incurable disease name and was treated as such. The case is certainly curable as client showed strong motor-sensory movements in the paralysed legs. The impingement at the sacro-lumbar should be remedied first and parallelly worked on the cervico-dorsal impingement.
Friday, June 05, 2009
UNDERSTANDING SEIHO - ANCIENT EASTERN HEALING SYSTEM
BRIEF HISTORY : INDO-SINO-JAPAN CONNECTION
Kongo Zen's Seiho began with the founder Nakano Michiomi's (popularly addressed as So Doshin) direct healing experience from his Daoist Master in Martial art, in China. The Daoist Master named Chin Ryo, took pity on the child and started treating him for his heart complications. He devised a method which Doshin So took to eventually as a way of life. The Daoist Master prescribed a set of exercises, meditation and techniques for healing. This gives us the vital clue to the ingredients that make up 'Seiho'.
The Daoist (also written as Taoist) philosophy and healing techniques are recorded in two books called 'Tao Teh Ching' and 'Tao Tsang' (Treasury of Tao) by Lao Tze. Lao Tze patterns his healing on the objective observation of Nature and builds his techniques from the union of opposites. Researchers have concluded that Lao Tze was probably the Indian Sage Bhogar, and he had gone under this chinese name during his tavels in China.
What the Daoist-Chinese call 'Chi gong' or 'Chi Gung' the Yogis-Indian call 'Pranayama'. This entire system of healing based on 'Energy' which is categorised as Universal Energy and Bio-Energy originated in India by the Rishis of India. The concept or Tattwa of duality was first founded in India which is mother to 6 schools of Philosophy (Nyaya, Mimamsa, Sankhya, Yoga, Vedanta, Vaishesika). Later Buddhism was also added as the 7th philosophy of India.
The concept of duality is fundamental to Sankhya Philosophy which is the mother of Ayur Veda and Raja Yoga. Ayur veda is the art of living in harmony with the laws of nature.
Thus we see that the entire science of Seiho is based on Energy and is essentially derived from Indian Pranayama and Yogic Systems. Though India originated this science, it has evolved tremendously and gained much popularity in China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Sri Lanka, mainly through the instrumentality of Buddhism.
THE TECHNICALITY OF SEIHO
Founder Doshin So, re-established the healing system when formulating his science to combat the evils of society and war. Its aims and objectives are to maintain the perfect health of a healthy person through prevention and to cure the disease process in an unhealthy person trough proper diet, lifestyle, rejuvenation techniques.
The body, mind and spirit exist together in daily life as one unit just as all things in the universe exist together in harmony. In reality we are 'CONSCIOUSNESS', pure 'AWARENESS', and the body is an expression of that consciousness. This aspect is known as the Three Great Vessels in the Kongo school of Zen. They are : Shin, Tai and Chi (Spirit, Body and Mind).
While Kongo Zen deals with the philosophy of Psycho-Physiology of the Human Creation; Shorinji Kempo gives direct expression and clinical experience by dividing the philosophy into 2 essential categories known as Shugyo (discipline or way of life). The 2 categories are Ekkingyo and Chinkon Gyo (Moving and Static Meditation or Discipline).
Under Chinkon Gyo : the pranic scientific principles such as breathing, bodily locks of energy, moving of energy within the micro and macro orbits of the body are dealt with. Chinkon Gyo explicitly deals with preserving the vital essence and energy of a healthy body.
Under Ekking Gyo : The pranic scientific principles are expressed in active inactivity, technically termed as 'Hokei' and 'Heijo Shin'. Ekkin Gyo explicitly deals with combating social evils and restoring harmony in mankind.
Seiho is that specific healing science which is both complimentary to Chinkon Gyo and Ekkin Gyo as well as conventional healing practice. Seiho is subdivided into 4 branches which are:
Kongo Zen's Seiho began with the founder Nakano Michiomi's (popularly addressed as So Doshin) direct healing experience from his Daoist Master in Martial art, in China. The Daoist Master named Chin Ryo, took pity on the child and started treating him for his heart complications. He devised a method which Doshin So took to eventually as a way of life. The Daoist Master prescribed a set of exercises, meditation and techniques for healing. This gives us the vital clue to the ingredients that make up 'Seiho'.
The Daoist (also written as Taoist) philosophy and healing techniques are recorded in two books called 'Tao Teh Ching' and 'Tao Tsang' (Treasury of Tao) by Lao Tze. Lao Tze patterns his healing on the objective observation of Nature and builds his techniques from the union of opposites. Researchers have concluded that Lao Tze was probably the Indian Sage Bhogar, and he had gone under this chinese name during his tavels in China.
What the Daoist-Chinese call 'Chi gong' or 'Chi Gung' the Yogis-Indian call 'Pranayama'. This entire system of healing based on 'Energy' which is categorised as Universal Energy and Bio-Energy originated in India by the Rishis of India. The concept or Tattwa of duality was first founded in India which is mother to 6 schools of Philosophy (Nyaya, Mimamsa, Sankhya, Yoga, Vedanta, Vaishesika). Later Buddhism was also added as the 7th philosophy of India.
The concept of duality is fundamental to Sankhya Philosophy which is the mother of Ayur Veda and Raja Yoga. Ayur veda is the art of living in harmony with the laws of nature.
Thus we see that the entire science of Seiho is based on Energy and is essentially derived from Indian Pranayama and Yogic Systems. Though India originated this science, it has evolved tremendously and gained much popularity in China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Sri Lanka, mainly through the instrumentality of Buddhism.
THE TECHNICALITY OF SEIHO
Founder Doshin So, re-established the healing system when formulating his science to combat the evils of society and war. Its aims and objectives are to maintain the perfect health of a healthy person through prevention and to cure the disease process in an unhealthy person trough proper diet, lifestyle, rejuvenation techniques.
The body, mind and spirit exist together in daily life as one unit just as all things in the universe exist together in harmony. In reality we are 'CONSCIOUSNESS', pure 'AWARENESS', and the body is an expression of that consciousness. This aspect is known as the Three Great Vessels in the Kongo school of Zen. They are : Shin, Tai and Chi (Spirit, Body and Mind).
While Kongo Zen deals with the philosophy of Psycho-Physiology of the Human Creation; Shorinji Kempo gives direct expression and clinical experience by dividing the philosophy into 2 essential categories known as Shugyo (discipline or way of life). The 2 categories are Ekkingyo and Chinkon Gyo (Moving and Static Meditation or Discipline).
Under Chinkon Gyo : the pranic scientific principles such as breathing, bodily locks of energy, moving of energy within the micro and macro orbits of the body are dealt with. Chinkon Gyo explicitly deals with preserving the vital essence and energy of a healthy body.
Under Ekking Gyo : The pranic scientific principles are expressed in active inactivity, technically termed as 'Hokei' and 'Heijo Shin'. Ekkin Gyo explicitly deals with combating social evils and restoring harmony in mankind.
Seiho is that specific healing science which is both complimentary to Chinkon Gyo and Ekkin Gyo as well as conventional healing practice. Seiho is subdivided into 4 branches which are:
- Seikei : balancing the central meridians
- Seimyaku : balancing the peripheral meridians
- Seikotsu : correcting bone position
- Kappo : resuscitation
The techniques involved are both manipulative and manual therapy. Under manipulative therapy one uses both pressure (Shi atsu: finger pressure) and massage (rubbing, kneeding, pinching, plucking). The ratio between pressure and massage is always kept as 80% - 20%. This makes the system highly effective.
Under Manual therapy, positional and postural release techniques are dealt with. It helps to release emotions which are negative and causing a dis.ease state in the body and mind.
Each practitioner of Kongo Zen Shorinji Kempo in India, goes through a unique and balanced curriculum that emphasizes the three major branches of healing (Goho, Juho, Seiho). And on week-ends, workshops are conducted in Seiho where the practitioners undergo lessons in human anatomy, physiology and pathology. Clinical studies and research are conducted first hand and serves as a scientific way of assessment of the techniques employed and its resultant cures.
Meditation is considered as a Medicative science in Seiho.
Any one can practise and benefit from this science of healing. It is both preventive health care and palliative care system. It has no side effects, no pharmaceutical drugs involved. It can be practiced by anyone and any age.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Curative Values in Shorinji Kempo - Varmam
Shorinji Kempo techniques are based firstly upon defence; attack is the last resort. The most important principle in the fighting system is the application of pressure points of the human body. This knowledge was liberally gleaned from ancient Chinese medical treatises. Shorinji designates 142 vital points on the human body, where a practitioner can inflict severe pain and subdue the opponent with damage
Throughout training, the principles of Kongo Zen and its disciplines are strictly adhered to. Much emphasis is placed upon training with a partner and through mutual experience identifying with one another the pain thresholds implied by the techniques. This avoids permanently injuring a fellow stuent, and at the same time, in following the edicts of Kongo Zen, a mutual trust and empathy with each other is developed.
An interesting practice for the health is implemented at the end of every training session, called seiho. This is a method of regulating the circulation, the nervous system and bone stress. Through severe training methods and strenous exercising a build-up of lactic acid occurs in the body. By observing the seiho principle, which in effect is a kind of massage, the acid accumulation is relieved, tension is lessened, and new energy restored, thereby promoting health for future endeavours.
AMAROLI and VAJROLI - ANCIENT HEALING TECHNIQUES
Question by Marieen (practitioner of Kong Zen Shorinji Kempo) to Sensei Maxwell : 'Sensei, whats your take on AUT (Auto Urine Therapy)'
Amaroli
Amongst the earliest of healing techniques, Amaroli finds its place. It has its own prerequisites for being effected as a healing technique.
Few points for consumption:
1. One should drink one's own urine. Not a donors urine.
2. Urine and Saliva have a secret alliance. Saliva is also being spat out as if it is a waste product. And Urine is generally treated as waste product. It is true in one way to call urine a waste product, as it helps irrigate the body system and runs out the toxins. If you see the diabetic patients urine, it is always attracting ants and smells with a particular odour. The smell of the urine can speak volumes about one's constitution.
3. Urine is not used as a healing for diseases. This must be noted carefully. It is used as a life style to prevent diseases. This is where the world is missing out on. It is dangerous to consume one's urine when the owner's body is diseased and especially when treated with drugs.
The Kidney
To understand urine, we must understand the Kidney. Kidney is the essence of vitality. It is the very core of life. You can say that Kidney is the second brain of the human system. Kidney is one organ which deals with a wide range of emotions and emotional shock. To discuss about the kidney one will go on for ever without being exhausted. It is a wonder organ. When one discusses about urine, one must see it as a discussion about emotions and the organ kidney.
You would have heard the jocular speech, " enna, unakku kidney nalla vela ceyyadu", while the person points to the head and denotes to ones intelligence as a figure of speech. In another expresion, "unakku kidney illaiya", while one is referring to the brain organ. In India every one knows that kidney and brain go hand in hand. Only they have forgotten the link and the originality of the science.
In varmam therapy, I work extensively on the Kidney. Many mental illnesses derive their origins from defective functioning of this organ. This organ criss-crosses all the 5 prana vayus. It is so very special. To me this subject is very special.
Vajroli
However, Vajroli science and practice takes precedence over Amaroli. For Vajroli is a direct application and the main system of healing, to which Amaroli is only a subsystem and is of less importance. To the Yogis, Amaroli is null and void while Vajroli is everything. More information can be had from the Yogoda System. With each days practice of the Yogoda techniques of healing, one would realize the importance of Vajroli over Amaroli.
The Science of healing system can be summarized as:
1. Conservation, Restoration and Transmutation of Vital Essence (Vajroli)
2. Assimilation, Circulation and Transmutation of Vital Energy (Kriya Pranayama)
3. Transmutation of Spirit (kevala pranayama, sarbikalpa samadhi, nirbikalpa samadhi)
Thus you see, nowhere Amaroli is given importance on the journey of Man's Eternal Quest.
Recent Uprise in Amaroli
The current world is now digging into the science of India and Tibet and advocates the use of this science in body healing. There is no doubt in the efficacy of this science when properly employed.
Amaroli
Amongst the earliest of healing techniques, Amaroli finds its place. It has its own prerequisites for being effected as a healing technique.
Few points for consumption:
1. One should drink one's own urine. Not a donors urine.
2. Urine and Saliva have a secret alliance. Saliva is also being spat out as if it is a waste product. And Urine is generally treated as waste product. It is true in one way to call urine a waste product, as it helps irrigate the body system and runs out the toxins. If you see the diabetic patients urine, it is always attracting ants and smells with a particular odour. The smell of the urine can speak volumes about one's constitution.
3. Urine is not used as a healing for diseases. This must be noted carefully. It is used as a life style to prevent diseases. This is where the world is missing out on. It is dangerous to consume one's urine when the owner's body is diseased and especially when treated with drugs.
The Kidney
To understand urine, we must understand the Kidney. Kidney is the essence of vitality. It is the very core of life. You can say that Kidney is the second brain of the human system. Kidney is one organ which deals with a wide range of emotions and emotional shock. To discuss about the kidney one will go on for ever without being exhausted. It is a wonder organ. When one discusses about urine, one must see it as a discussion about emotions and the organ kidney.
You would have heard the jocular speech, " enna, unakku kidney nalla vela ceyyadu", while the person points to the head and denotes to ones intelligence as a figure of speech. In another expresion, "unakku kidney illaiya", while one is referring to the brain organ. In India every one knows that kidney and brain go hand in hand. Only they have forgotten the link and the originality of the science.
In varmam therapy, I work extensively on the Kidney. Many mental illnesses derive their origins from defective functioning of this organ. This organ criss-crosses all the 5 prana vayus. It is so very special. To me this subject is very special.
Vajroli
However, Vajroli science and practice takes precedence over Amaroli. For Vajroli is a direct application and the main system of healing, to which Amaroli is only a subsystem and is of less importance. To the Yogis, Amaroli is null and void while Vajroli is everything. More information can be had from the Yogoda System. With each days practice of the Yogoda techniques of healing, one would realize the importance of Vajroli over Amaroli.
The Science of healing system can be summarized as:
1. Conservation, Restoration and Transmutation of Vital Essence (Vajroli)
2. Assimilation, Circulation and Transmutation of Vital Energy (Kriya Pranayama)
3. Transmutation of Spirit (kevala pranayama, sarbikalpa samadhi, nirbikalpa samadhi)
Thus you see, nowhere Amaroli is given importance on the journey of Man's Eternal Quest.
Recent Uprise in Amaroli
The current world is now digging into the science of India and Tibet and advocates the use of this science in body healing. There is no doubt in the efficacy of this science when properly employed.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
BEING A SIDDHAR - THE HOLY SCIENCE
COMMENTARY ON THE HOLY SCIENCE
This book eplains vividly the journey of man from self actualization to self realization.
Param Guru Sri Yukteshwar explains the Sanatana Dharma as never before witnessed.
In simple terms he tells the story of how a common man becomes a Siddha. Who is a Siddhar? When is a Siddhar born? What happnes next in a Siddhar's life?
It is a thrilling narration of the Vedic truths from the Jnana Avatar Swami Sri Yukteshwar Giri.
When a man is born, he is born in Illusion, which the Scriptures call as Maya (Ma=no, Ya=that :not that). Since he believes in things which in reality is not he is called Manus (as he identifies all things through the 4 idea producing Maya; Om, Anu, Kala & Desam). Man resembles the inferiority of the 'Anu'.
Sri Yukteshwarji now begins to narrate the epic journey of this special creature (creature of six senses) in self realization.
First requirement on Being a Siddhar
For a common man, who is enveloped in illusion (maya) is deluded (avidya= individual ignorance).However, being born with the sixth sense which is latent within him, he grows in love and compassion for all things. This is the first requirement for beginning the journey of Self realization. To love is the first and foremost requirement.
The Initiate (Pravartaka)
When man cultivates the heart's natural love, he obtains the guidance of a Guru, and starts his Sadhana (path of Spiritual discipline). He becomes a Pravartaka, an initiate.
True Disciple (Sadhaka)
By practice of Yama & Niyama, the eight meannesses of the human heart dissappear and virtue arises. Man thus becomes a Sadhaka, a true disciple fit to attain Salvation.
Divine Personage (The Siddhar)
He progresses in Godliness, hears the holy Aum sound, and becomes a Siddhar, divine personage. Note, a Siddhar is not a title bestowed after one attains salvation. One is called a Siddhar in the very preliminary stages of training when one hears the 'Aum' sound.
These first 3 classification in the evolution from a devotee to a disciple must be carefully remembered.
This book eplains vividly the journey of man from self actualization to self realization.
Param Guru Sri Yukteshwar explains the Sanatana Dharma as never before witnessed.
In simple terms he tells the story of how a common man becomes a Siddhar. Who is a Siddhar? When is a Siddhar born? What happnes next in a Siddhar's life? It is a thrilling narration of the Vedic truths from the Jnana Avatar Swami Sri Yukteshwar Giri.
When a man is born, he is born in Illusion, which the Scriptures call as Maya (Ma=no, Ya=that :not that). Since he believes in things which in reality is not he is called Manus (as he identifies all things through the 4 idea producing Maya; Om, Anu, Kala & Desam). Man resembles the inferiority of the 'Anu'.
Sri Yukteshwarji now begins to narrate the epic journey of this special creature (creature of six senses) in self realization.
These first 3 classification in the evolution from a devotee to a disciple must be carefully remembered.
Siddhar's Baptism
Upon hearing the Aum sound, The Siddhar now percieves the manifestations of Spirit, and passes through the Seven Patala lokas (or centers in the spine). He begins to perceive the true light, in the seven chakras or astrally shining places.
CONQUEST OF THE SIDDHAR
PLACE OF ILLUSION - having thus the perception of Truth, the Siddhar gradually passes through the seven places. The 7 shining places in the body, known in the brain: the sahasrara, medulla oblongata, the ajna chakra;and 5 spinal centers : cervical-visudda, dorsal-anahata, lumbar-manipura, sacral-swadhistana, coccygeal-muladhara,where the spirit becomes manifested.
He thus acquires the knowledge thereof, and when he completes the journey through the whole of these regions he understands the true nature of the Universe.In other words, The Siddhar now knows Anadi Vidya or Cosmic illusion. Avidya means individual ignorance. Maya is both individual and cosmic illusion.
PLACE OF ELECTRICIES
The Siddhar thus perceiving the true nature of the Universe (Anadi Vidya), he withdraws his self from Bhuvarloka the fine material creation.
The Siddhar enters into Swarloka, the source of all matter, fine and gross. There he perceives the luminous astral form around his Heart, Atom, the throne of Spirit the Creator, provided with fine electricities and two poles, Mind and Intelligence, of seven different colors as in rainbow.
Siddhar, in this Sphere of electricities, mind and intelligence, the source of all objects of senses and sense organs for their enjoyment, man becomes perfectly satisfied with being in possession of all objects of his desires, and acquires a complete knowledge there of.
PLACE OF MAGNETISM
Passing through this Swarloka, the Siddhar (son of man) comes to Maharloka, the place of Magnet (Anu -Atom), of which the ideas of manifestation (Word), Time, Space and Particle (Atom) are the 4 component parts. This Maharloka represents avidya (ignorance).
ASHTA SIDDHIS
Maharloka, the place of Magnet (Atom), is the door between two creations : material and spiritual.
When The Siddhar (Ego, the son of man) comes to the door, he comprehends the Spiritual light and becomes baptised therein. And passing through this door he comes above the ideational creation of Darkness, Maya, and entering into the Spiritual world, receives the true light and becomes 'THE SON OF GOD'.
Thus Siddhar, being the Son of God (Soul, Jiva atma), overcomes all bondage of Darkness, Maya, and becomes possessed of all aiswaryas, the ascetic majesties. These aiswaryas are of eight sorts: Anima, Mahima, Laghima, Garima, Prapti, Vasitva, Prakamya, Isitwa.
Knowledge of evolution, life, and dissolution; thus leads to complete emancipation from the bonds of Maya, delusion. Beholding the self in the Supreme Self, man gains eternal freedom.
CONCLUSION
Thus Man (manava) being the offspring of Ignorance which is the representation of the 4 ideas (manus), at the end of his conquest, realizes the origins or source of man. Because of yoga knowledge and power, man obtains supremacy over the 7 swargas (heaven). He achieves salvation by dissolving the four 'manus' or primal thoughts by which creation sprang into being.
Param Gurudeva Swami Sri Yukteshwar says : "Adeptship is achieved by purification of man's three bodies. It is also attainable through the grace of the Guru. The process of how these purification can be effected may be learnt at the feet of the divine personage, who witness light and bear testimony of the Christ consciousness.
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