Saturday 27 June 2015

Integral Yoga-5
Man in coma, not declared dead, recedes into death zone and is declared dead, as soon as energy impulses carried by respiration abates, causing the pulses too to abate. In no time, life revives . The man declared dead and gone, is back into coma, and is declared 'surviving, not dead'.
Now see. What is that which which distinguishes a dead from a 'still surviving'? Breath? Pulse? Well these are gross terms. The core content of these is 'energy', impulses whereof , in complete transmission, into the brain hemispheres and then transmitted to the whole body system, sustains life.
That which departs, rendering one dead, is known in common parlance as 'Prana'. This term is not a synonym of either breath or the oxygen that breath carries . The one and the only synonym , close to its intrinsic meaning, is energy. What converts breath or its oxygen content into that form of energy which sustains life and activity, and how it happens, is a field into which a cryptic approach would not suffice. What is  necessary to understand is that the science of Yoga fully defined this form of energy as Prana, that renders the man dead once it bids good bye.
Prana itself has five broad divisions and many more sub-divisions under each. The five broad divisions , namely, Prana (subdivision), Apana, Samana, Vayana and Udana, are severally sprawled in the body system, holding specific fields of energy controls. Yoga texts say , imbalance in these five Pranas, account for imbalance in the 'ease' status, I.e the beginning of a state we experience as dis-ease, that assumes the form of disease of one or the other kind. Science recognises two forms of diseases. Psychosomatic. And Somo-psychic. 
From this stand point, one may begin to uncover for himself, what exactly , which form of Yoga, effects what.
(More to follow)
Integral Yoga-4

Of the four broad variants of Yoga , Hatha Yoga, has been discussed in some detail in the previous post. 
Before discussing the rest two out of three, Raja Yoga and Bhakti Yoga, it may be of interest to address Karma Yoga that Bhagwat Gita profoundly prescribes.
One seemingly weird though relevant question that one may ask, whether karma and karma yoga are both one and the same? This question is equivalent to that asked while discussing Hatha Yoga, whether Yogasana is physical culture of physical exercise and pranayama just breathing technique and the breath intake involves just oxygen enrichment?
It is so easy to give a straight no, for an answer, but not that easy to comprehend why?
All the same, without comprehending those 'whys' and 'wherefores', yoga which one practices in any form, is rendered more confusing than the question itself. 
So what, if the technique works, let it, without the need to address those confusions, one may argue.
But that is not a correct outlook, because practice of yoga in any form has at least one pre-requisite. Awareness. Not faith. Awareness means what is. Faith means what ought to be, though not within one's reach, vision or experience. The element of 'is-ness' in the form of awareness, takes into its sweep all that exists in the mind, including the confusions one might harbour. 
Therefore, practitioner engulfed in confusion about the technique itself, might have to battle with oneself in removing his own confused state with regard to the kriyas itself. In the result, much output of the efforts might get wasted or dissipated in the cob web thereby weaved at the very outset. 
It is, therefore, expedient that the theoretical spirit of yoga be first understood in general terms, before entering into the field of any yoga.
(More to follow)




Integral Yoga-3
Body is part of the mind, not that mind is contained in the body, as many misconceive.
Hatha Yoga is a means of mind management, using the body as its front. Practitioners having difficulty about directly accessing the mind, may find it easy to use the body as conduit, coupled with other requisite components, such as breathing technique, synchronised with body postures with the application of awareness . 
Surya Namashkar, for instance, is a complete pack, comprising dynamic postures, synchronised with yogic breathing called pranayama , incorporating the awareness component to turn the application into a meditational form, especially when it is followed by Shavasana which is expandable into psychic sleep, or sleepless sleep called Yoga Nidra. 
There are numerous yoga postures, which may be described as belonging to a very wide range, I.e, as easy to perform as may come handy even for one who is bed ridden while on the other extreme, as tough as requiring perseverance , patience and systematic training for a young who has no fitness issues.
Suffice it to say that the choice is so large and  result-wise so efficacious that no body would have difficulty in embracing a suitably picked up package of asana , pranayama, mudra and  bandha , besides Shavasana, yoga nidra and meditation. 
The main focus of Hatha yoga practices is on purification of the energy channels in the body followed by its purification by clearing the energy blocks. 
(More to follow)

Integral Yoga-2
Of the four broad vaunts of Yoga, namely Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga and Bhakti Yoga, the first one, I.e Hatha Yoga is often mistaken to be implied by its name Hatha, that means in ordinary parlance as obstinacy or may be by that discipline which tends to subdue the body-mind by the rigours of tough physical or mental controls.
That is just an opposite of what Hatha actually means and implies. 
Composed of two syllables, Ha and Tha which represent two energy currents.
Ida and Pingala are the two energy currents that power the two hemispheres of the brain, one that operates the senses and the other that powers the sensory organs. One is purely mental and the other physical. In scientific reckoning it refers to sympathetic and para sympathetic nervous systems. A balance between the two triggers the third one,  called  Sushumna  which refers to the central nervous system.
These are identifiable by the nasal flow, the left predominance means Ida is predominant and which implies that the right hemisphere of the brain dominates. The right flow likewise may be inferred as predominance of the physical energy that activates the sensory motors, controlled by the right hemisphere of the brain.
Hatha Yoga brings about balance between the two and it is this balance that opens up the central conduit called Sushumna and which energises the central nervous system, inferable by an equal flow in both the nostrils.
The impact and implications of the balance which practices of Hatha Yoga confers, may be discussed in detailed posts , but it must be understood, at the very outset, that it is this very balance that proclaims the beginning. Such a beginning is a pre-requisite in even other forms of Yoga, irrespective of the variations on the applied side.
Hatha Yoga comprises , practices involving purification intended at achieving a quality of mind , immersed in tranquility as part of the ultimate intent of attaining high evolutionary state, accompanying healthy body and mind.
(More to follow)
 

Integral Yoga-1

Yoga is generally known by its four categories, suitable for the requisite four categories of practitioner's temperament.
The four broad categories are;
Hathaway Yoga, Karma Yoga, Raja Yoga and Bhakti Yoga.
A product mix, incorporating all the four in a single pack , is Integral Yoga, as propounded by Swami Satyananda Paramhams, which is considered most efficacious.
(More to follow)

Friday 26 June 2015


IV

DSP Mehra Lynched. 
Remember?

I am drawing an allusion. On the one hand there is DSP Mehra Lynching case. On the other , the 1989 Bhagalpur riots .
There is nothing common in the two. Yet an allusion is expedient, to appraise the role of different contributing segments.
If one can recreate the picture of the scene of occurrence when policemen had discovered the DSP reduced to ashes, loaded police rifles with fingers ready on the trigger got trained against the unlawful assembly around that showed no signs of remorse. 
It deeply offended the policemen that despite their enough strength to avenge DSP's brutal assassination, the Police Superintendent was not ordering to open fire at the recalcitrant assembly around that had the audacity to refuse to disperse and rather to shout affront slogans , expecting the police to flee, rather than to go back. 
Had Anil Sinha given up the restraint he himself exercised and literally begged the cops to exercise, the scene would have transformed into a riot, between the police and the agitating weavers , mostly the minorities. It is this restraint that the policemen despised in the days that followed, which led to a virtual police revolt which too was very intelligently contained by Anil Sinha.
Nevertheless, one question remains unanswered yet.
What is there to draw an allusion between the DSP lynching case and the 1989 Bhagalpur Riots? 
The answer follows hereafter.




V

DSP Mehra Lynching
And 
1989 Bhagalpur riots
Drawing an allusion 

Police Superintendent Anil Sinha's apt handing caused the DSP lynching case to be registered as a heinous criminal event, besides abating its precipitation into any communal tangle, far less any communal riot. Now this very event may be recreated on the mental screen in the manner, the October 24 episode happened, from the point of view of its handling and official stand aided by the media.
On that fateful day, there are two P.Os (Places of Occurrence), one being the main road on which the Muslim School situates. The other is some furlongs away, I.e the Tatarpur Chawk.
The Ramshila Procession was on this route and was to pass through these two points, onward to the Gaushala in the heart of the city.
But the procession was interdicted, as bombs  were lobbed from inside the Muslim School. The procession was dispersed and there stood a large police force with two dejected district heads, S.P Dwivedi with District Magistrate Arun Jha. 
For an objective appreciation and evaluation , take a pause and notice the case as being akin to the DSP assassination case, notwithstanding the latter one being worse but the former otherwise comparably far worse if communal sentiments begin to take precedence over administrative  skill, which Anil Sinha had declined to do despite venomous calling of names for what the policemen perceived as symptoms attending a nincompoop police administrator. Dwivedi was no nincompoop of the definition which over enthusiasts among the enraged losing rationality often give.
It was this grotesque difference that caused the said administrative heads to refuse to either return or to prevent the retreating members of the procession in utter rage , from turning violent. 
The focus got distracted elsewhere, on Tatarpur Chawk, then perceived as if the same was an alien bastion to be captured.
The police contingent was having similar mindset as its counterparts had when they had discovered DSP Mehra reduced into ashes. So all were game. It took then a little less than an hour to reorganise and then to march ahead towards Tatarpur Chawk, with all preparedness to conquer the the "lost" ground by , by, by,  ....    well no body knew. Obviously, when rage overtakes reason, reason is dislodged by , ' come what may'- attitude. 
The District Heads thus moved on, fully powered with the will and strength to accomplish a mission that would redeem just failed mission in which, as though, the procession had stuck up in a Hyder pass.

Muslim residents who were witnessing the scene from their roof tops were perceived by the marching contingent as a hostile army to be battled against  and vice versa. It didn't strike the administrative prudence of the district heads that the situation required to be defused, rather than lit up into a wild fire. Even before good sense could dawn up either, fresh explosions started. The DM and SP took shelter in a Muslim family besides the mosque and so did the SP. the battle was over even before it could begin. The police force had run belter shelter, either untrained or unprepared to endure such deafening explosions. 
It took some time for the smoke screen created all around, to clear. When visibility was restored, it seemed to the SP that the DM had been kidnapped in Bollywood film style, but soon his safe shelter in the house besides the mosque gave all a sigh of relief. 
The whole contingent retreated . But angered by its defeat at the battle on two successive fronts, the case which the police instituted said in clear terms that some 500 Muslims of Tatarpur had waged communal riot. That was not all. This alarming message in such clear terms as transmitted to each and every police station of the district, thereby transmitting an intrinsic message that licensed reprisal . That explains  how and why the a blaze turned into a holocaust, in contrast to that which DSP Mehra case failed turn into, courtesy the then SP Anil Sinha who is now CBI Chief. 


 
DSP Mehra Lynched.
Remember?
Police Superintendent Anil Sinha, as he then was, who is now CBI Chief, had waded through a sea of humanity on the narrow Nathnagar Bazar road on which DSP Mehra was reported not just beleaguered but feared fatally hurt by the agitating weavers whose electricity had been disconnected for the non-payment of enormous arrears that then exceeded Rr. 2 Crores.
When the SP reached there, he and the policemen that accompanied him froze , finding the place littered with stones, evidencing its fierce pelting, along and around  a burning police jeep that Mehra drove. As if that was not enough, a burnt, not just charred, body lay aside that was impossible to identify by human vision . But steel of the burnt belt had a tell tale picture to reveal.
It then transpired to the shock of the armed policemen , ready to burst  out with their bouts of ire, it transpired that the DSP was lynched in a roadside hardware engineering outlet named Hind Engineering, which dealt in agricultural implements, especially sharp cutting instruments that came handy for the marauders to be used as conventional weapons to lunch the DSP and then drag him to the police jeep that had already been set ablaze. Rest of the story can best be imagined than contained in words.
Simple story telling is not my cup of tea. The relevant part begins hereafter, involving media, official , public and other machinations.
Let me state for reference sake that hardly a couple of years or some months later, communal riots of 1989 broke out. My reason of telling this is to strike an allusion herein, that the said kind of communal rage could have seared the silk city at  this very point in time, but for the reason that Bhagalpur then had an Anil Sinha as its Police Superintendent, rather than a K.S.Dwivedi aided by District Magistrate Arun Jha . Their ineptness drove the city to a worst ever communal holocaust, equally contributed by the media that is ever ready to fish in the troubled waters.  
Question is what Anil Sinha did that prevented; and what Dwivedi-Arun Jha combine did to trigger the riots. And what was the role of media in both the above cases. 
The present series addresses these aspects.

(More to follow)



Tuesday 23 June 2015

Once,Raja Janak, a mythological celebrity, was taken captive in an invasion of his kingdom.
 This,  he saw in a dream.
In a state of exasperation, the dream woke him up. 
So vivid and real was his dream that he gawked in wakeful state, mired in the misery that his wild dream had steeped him into. So much so that he stared around , gaping in utter disbelief .
 He was in a state of disbelief , not about his experience in the dream but about that which was there, intact, in his wakeful state. 
Such was the reality-content of the dream that , he continued in his utter disbelief about the apparent and about the real , about that reality, that he was still a king , whose kingdom had neither been invaded nor was he ever taken  captive in any invasion. 
Thoroughly confused, unable to come to terms with his wakeful state, the king rushed out to see that his darn at hall too was safe, sound and intact and so was every thing else in the kingdom. Belatedly though, it turned out to be 'seeing is believing', but the king was not an ordinary mortal as are we, who would give up, assured or reassured.
He wondered whether even his existing wakeful state could be a pleasant dream, as real or unreal as was his just experienced wild dream. 
Why can't the two states be both real in as much as reality content of one another abates, once the state itself abates and shifts to the other.
Doesn't the reality of the wakeful state abate in dreaming state and ,likewise, doesn't the content of the dream turns unreal after termination of the dream, he asked himself, pondering and introspecting.
Introspection is a mode of meditation which paved way for the discovery of a third state. That third state takes the subject beyond what is a so called wakeful or a dreaming state. The said dimension revealed to the king  all the realities about the fictitious aspects of both states, wakeful and dreaming. 
The king attained an elevated spiritual state, known as Jeevan Mukta, analogous of which are salvation, freedom, nirvana , etc.
The king then took to sanyas, bearing an adjective 'karma', that is Karma-Sanyas. These terms had vanished from reckoning but it's revival appears to have already set in. It may interest you to know, how?
(More to follow)

Monday 22 June 2015

IX

Moral codes define purity. Purity of mind forms basis for virtuous conduct. The converse is equally true. But how do virtues involute? By mugging up moral codes? Or by reading books? Or by listening to sermons? Or by undertaking religious or spiritual practices? 
This is indeed an intricate question which needs scientific evaluation, but it is expedient to reiterate in terms of the previous posts that the human mind, whether it is full to the brim with vices or virtues or whatever, is a powerful entity which bosses over an ordinary human being till such time the person is able to put the mechanics of the mind in reverse gear. Reverse gear means, exercise of voluntary access, if not control , over the involuntary functions. To repeat, previous posts may please be gone into in detail. 
The first principles of spiritual quest mandate a practitioner at the outset  to purge the mind. To purge doesn't mean to attain purity of the kind discussed above in a Puritan sense. Purging is a simple term but not as simple to attain in terms of the involuntary functions of the mind. 
The most peripheral ebb of the involuntary mind functions are accessible through simple observation of the mental thought processes. Ordinarily, one may find it is not within one's competence to make the mind obey simple command to stop thinking, or to dwell on a single thought or line of thought without interruptions. It may be seen that once one closes the eyes and start observing one's own passing thoughts, weird experiences would arise . 
The term purging the mind means, enabling the mind exhaust its train of thoughts that are filled with unnoticed turbulence . 
So that it does not seem a technical treatise , one may give it a try so that the concept of the law of karma may well be appraised in relation to the various mysteries which, once reasoned out, would lose its mysterious character, revealing facts of life in simple terms that hitherto keep one bewildered or confused about purity vis a vis purification or purging of the mind, the former being a moral prescription, the latter being a fact of life, better say life's biggest constraint until the mind gets befriended, if not tamed, by the practitioner of any spiritual discipline.
VIII

The man glued to the TV screen was distressed by what was going on , on his TV screen. The channel he switched appeared but in split seconds it either faded or disappeared or got distorted or disfigured or was interrupted by the channels he didn't click. What was wrong? He phoned the cable operator who came promptly to find these queer goings on , on the TV screen, which he failed to remedy. Ultimately he said , this was not unusual . This happens due to systemic defaults that are irreparable .
Don't , please don't raise eyebrows in utter disbelief , as the story is truer than even a believably true story , substantially though, not factually.
You, none else , but irbid you who is the TV viewer, glued to that which is akin to the TV screen , constituting the space that appears with eyes closed. Try yourself, switching any idea or line of thought from memory or from that what exists around. Try to stay on one single channel. Just for a few seconds, without interruptions. If train of thoughts don't intervene or interrupt , and if you are able to view your chosen channel as clearly as your TV screen outside does, you have a quality of mind that is pure enough, requiring no purification.
By purity is meant mastery over the thought process. A voluntary set of ideas running on the mental horizon , without uncalled for or unwarranted ones crisis crossing , is a state of mind that may be defined as pure. 
For God sake, please don't cover up your failure, by saying that this is usual and there is nothing unusual if the chosen channel doesn't appear clean and clear and is interrupted, intervened or interfered or even distorted. 
These unbridled train of thoughts do not appear only when eyes are closed. These run all through the day and night, while awake or asleep, motivating and prompting human actions, both which are either virtuous or vicious. 
These are not simple metal mechanisms. It may better be called machinations of the mind that the involuntary segment of the mind  captivates.
In order to analyse the law of karma, it is expedient to clearly deal with this aspect. 
(More to follow)

VII

Yog-bhrasht . Bhrusht Yogi.
These two seemingly synonymical terms bearing meaning that are poles apart.
The former is an elevated position in one's spiritual quest, the latter refers to one who has fallen from grace.
We have numerous instances of those who have fallen from grace in the outfit of Yogi or Godman.
There are , likewise, others who bear no  tag of spiritualism as such, but are held in high esteem in one field or the other. Examples are many, but to cut a long narration short, a few names itself might suffice, namely , for instance, Satyajit Ray, Pandit Ravi Shanker, Bismillah Khan, in the Indian context, Newton , Einstein , Gallalio,  shakespeare, etc., in the western context. The name of Mahatma Gandhi is advertently omitted as the tag , 'Mahatma' might deflect the the basic theme that pertains to non-spiritualism , rather than spiritualism as the term 'spiritualism' purports to imply in general perception. 

The basic foundation of indian philosophy is the law of karma. Each act of omission or commission is a karma that is subject to the law which Newton discovered, but in material sense rather than spiritual. The term spiritual should not be confused with purity or with the moral codes that puritans define. The term spiritual, in its core , means that hard disk within the human system, say mind, that unfailingly records and registers every minute details of ones karma, that come back like sprouts of a seed sown into the soil, to bear that which one sows.
It is this cycle of karma that is responsible for human evolution by the act of nature. This process may be stepped up by the spiritual practices. The term spiritual has, in the recent times, been hijacked by the votaries of spiritualists bracketed as saints, swamis or godmen. But to exclude those who are purely mayerialist or, better say, non-spiritualists in general reckoning, is erroneous. The term spiritual refers to that which promotes evolution by means of whatever conscious process one may employ, say music, art, reasoning, scientific exploration :  political , legal, commercial or other contemporary or concurrent thought.
Though it might again seem a distraction, Krishnamurthy is one name that is worth mentioning, who gave a meaning to the spirit of spiritualism that was a complete departure from what others propounded in the name of higher life, yoga ,worship or religion.
The idea here is not to confuse, rather to drive home one single and one simple point that purity of mind and purification of the mind are not one and the same .
Purity is a moral code which is an external definition that man is expected to put on. That purity can not survive, unless the inner being is supportive. That is an ultimate object at issue.
The immediate one is purification. It has little to do with moral codes. It's main focus is the mind which is loaded with bundle of thoughts that are mostly involuntary.
To understand this aspect, just close your eyes and see what is going on on the mental horizon. Thoughts are rushing in without summoning. You can't stop it, unless you are an adept. Try to dwell on a single idea, barring others, but if you realise in a few minutes that this is nearly impossible, you may appreciate the point.
Cleansing the mental horizon of such rush of thoughts that are in disarray is the first challenge to meet in mind purification.
Don't think it is impossible. Rather it may be realised that these train of thoughts are those motivating elements that guide human actions, that are apparently recognised as voluntary actions though, materially and substantially, the same are involuntary in nature.
That is how and why humans are reduced to the level of biological robots, prompted by motivations that hide within the human hard disk, called Karma. Here Karma means both things, that which one enacts as also that which the mind registers and stores.
There is a hardware at the top of the brain stem, called limbic system , which has broadly two functions. The law of karma uses this system as a conduit. It's details may dislodge numerous confusions that keep arising and putting humans in visible conflict about the vast gap that we often see in human actions that are decried and which often put most of us in utter remorse for the breach of ethics and morality, though not intended all the time .
In this backdrop, it may be easy to define and understand a Bhrasht . So called, and a Yog-Bhrasht , the latter being not ignoble as the former may be.
(More to follow)


Sent from my iPad
VI

The nostril flow vis a vis  state of mind, is a subject of Swar Yoga, as Mr S.d.Ojha, the Assistant Editor had  rightly mentioned when I had engaged the Editor of the Searchlight in a kind of enlightenment that seemed to have got kindled in him.
But Swar Yoga was not on my agenda, Yoga as a science of consciousness was .
The nostril flow was an index, connected with the brain which nature has split in two distinct parts, the left and the right, as science does recognise.
Generally, either side predominates at a time while the other stands relatively subdued. The status keeps altering periodically during the day. 
How nature controls it and how nature may as well be synchronised by its internal manipulation so, is the subject of Swar Yoga but its impact on the mind and body can be demonstrated even by self application of the techniques to alter the flow.
There are several techniques which are not required to be applied, in that yoga being a way of life , sets up an auto mode in the mind and body which causes the right flow to come to the aid of the practitioner as and when warranted.
The left and the right  brain functions are connected with just the opposite sides of the nostril flow. 
Mr Mukker's right nostril was predominant, which implied predominance of left side of the brain. Had it been the opposite, the opposite side would have been inferred as more active. Likewise, equal flow represents, a clear balance between both sides, representing an optimum condition which occurs only in adepts . Adepts do not mean yogies or yogic adepts or religious heads or like stuff. An Einstein may belong to that category or even a Shakespeare or a Socrates or some one who never practiced any yoga nor followed any religious or moral discipline. 
The reason why I chose to guess that Mr Mukker's right flow was on, was that I guessed his mental energy stood subdued at that time while the physical one was more prominent , which hindered his concentration and prompted physical action instead , though the Editor was the engaged in a writing exercise that was just in conflict. His distracted attention in writing and in lending his focussed ears to me , was clearer.
So I asked him to alter his nasal flow, so that he would have a better concentration. I requested him to lift his right hand and to shift it backwards across the back of his chair, fixing his right armpit pressed against the top of the back rest. Even the left hand palm could be used to create this pressure. Mr Mukker complied, staying in that posture for about 45 seconds, to find that the left flow had begun to escalate . 
I requested him to stay in that posture for some more seconds , apart from becoming aware of his natural breath. 
How to do that, he asked.
Simple, I said, adding that he should say to himself, mentally of course, that I am breathing in while breathing in and I am breathing out while breathing out , preferably with eyes closed, apart from staying aware of what ever thoughts, sounds or whatever passed by, internal or external, which should just be witnessed rather than either analysed or perceived by meaning or as disturbance.
I asked him to stay with eyes closed but to assume normal sitting position, terminating the skewed arm position he had assumed with armpit pressed. He did.
After , say,  3 to 4 minutes , I asked him he could open his eyes, but stopped me as he signed , raising his right palm that we usually do to stay on hold. I and Mr Ojha watched him relax , reluctant to terminate that relaxed state.  However, he reluctantly opened his eyes and said he felt like relaxing more. I asked him to continue and voluntarily stood up, leaving the chair, but was asked to ensure that I was back tomorrow. He even asked Mr Ojha to discuss further with me , but not there, rather in his chamber, obviously implying even Mr Ojha to vacate. 
We both , accordingly, came out of the room but as I sought leave from Mr Ojha, he said he himself was practising yoga but didn't know those scientific facts that I had mentioned, so he too would be happy to see my story . I said I was not narrating any story, it was factual, not fictional. Mr Ojha burst into laughter, saying 'story' was the term journists ordinarily use for any write up, real or fictional, in that facts and fictions get synchronised once it gets inside  newspaper columns .
(More to follow)
V

The substance that I talked and that which immensely impressed the Searchlight Editor, breaking his  resistant attitude toward yoga that he harboured, may interest you, and especially that small tip which worked wonders, impelling him to apply it twice more after we had parted.
What do you mean by the term 'science of consciousness', Mr Mukker questioned when I said yoga was not a religion, nor something such as magic, occult or secret practices dependent on beliefs or assumptions or faith, religious or non-religious.
I humbly counter questioned whether he valued his body as a valued gift of nature. He said he did but refused to countenance a suggestion that the otherwise inaccessible terrains of the nature, contained in human body, were within human reach, accessible as also expandable. 
Mind is not a bundle of thoughts, thoughts get bundled up due to human default, and , more importantly, it is a misconceived idea that the body contains the mind, for it is the mind that contains the body , so much so that the mind extends even beyond the body and is expandable further, I said, adding that it was not a fiction and was demonstrable too. 
These spoken words couched in complex sentences , thoroughly confused Mr Mukker, but it aroused his inquisitiveness as was manifest from his body language . He had dropped down his pen on the sheet of the half written page that had earlier held him glued, in preference to talking , as though I was there to talk something as rubbish as most visitors and stringers ordinarily did on a routine basis during such hours of a working day.
Striking an exact chord , I said he was busy, writing something that requires focused attention. He nodded affirmatively with a raised eye brow, soliciting what I meant. Begging apology before I ventured to ask him, as if stupidly, to tell which nostril of his was flowing, left or right? 
Why, of course both, he answered with a tinge of irritation writ large on his face. The irritation vanished when I told him that his left flow was subdued by the right at that point in time , asking him to confirm or contradict. 
Mr Mukker checked but was unable to decipher his own flow, whereupon the Assistant Editor Mr S.D.Ojha butted in. He had already joined us in the meantime and was seemingly familiar with the system known as Swarg Yoga that he himself named. So he helped the Editor detect his flow, by demonstrating him the way, putting his palm in front of the nostrils while breathing out a bit fiercely as we do to clear the cold and cough inflicted  nostrils.
Mr Mukker the conceded that I was right, as his left was subdued whereas the right was prominent.
But how did you know my flow, he asked curiously.
I didn't know, I clarified, saying that I only guessed, in that if the actual status was just the opposite, I would have inferred his state of mind differently. It was as simple as that, I pointed out.  This led to a long trail of discussion , the substantial part of which is relevant, not the narrative thereof in a story form.
(More to follow)
IV

Having got a green signal from the Searchlight Editor to come back with a write up on the way I explained yoga to him as a science, I rushed to the news room, looking for a type writer.
I took a typewriter from a friend in the newsroom and typed out just two pages, captioning it as 'The Science of Consciousness-I ' and went back to the editor in matter of minutes. 
He perished  it with visibly deep interest, leaving aside the page he was himself writing. 
Wonderful, he said, asking in lighter vein if I had mugged it up before pouring out such a profound writing. What's so profound about it, I asked in a modest and whispered tone. He said, it dealt with that involuntary part of the human mind and body which were  so easily accessible , yet were generally not known. He conceded that the application of one simple tip that he got yesterday proved immensely helpful in instilling serenity and concentration of mind. These techniques together with the accompanying  principles were expedient to be shared , he said, asking me not to break its continuity and to be prompt in filing further copies week after week. 
He asked me what did I signify by putting the figure 'I' in Roman after the caption. I said it would be a series of several weekly articles. My answer made him happy but he for reassurance to confirm that I will be able to keep it up week after week. I promised yes I would.
That's how the series commenced in the weekly magazine section of the searchlight , captioned 'the science of consciousness' which began with the theory part and developed into the practice part, which the newspaper never terminated, but it was I ho had to call it a day after the legal profession mixed up with my other preoccupations compelled me into such reluctant desertion of the opportunity that came my was so fondly.
(More to follow)
III

Mr Mukker, the Searchlight Editor, who terminated our discussions after he got a small yoga tip, was kind enough to clarify while I was leaving, that the meeting wasn't a termination but was, in fact, an adjournment for a day. It is another matter that I didn't expect the above modesty of the editor to mean an intended adjournment, for it was actually an end of the matter. Yoga didn't interest. Mr Mukker, I thought.
I nevertheless presented myself the following day, prepared for his 'no' but hoping for a 'yes'.
As the editor's attendant ushered me into the room, I was a bit surprised to find an otherwise serious and sober Mukker Sahab not just smiling, but waiting. It surprised me further when he himself told me he was waiting for none else , but for me.
But sir, I am not late , I said reminding him that he didn't give any specific time and had only asked me to see him in the first hour of the day to avoid the rush hour of the afternoon or evening.
No no I am not blaming you, he said adding that the yesterday's tip I gave had worked wonders , which he had repeated twice more without a clue whether its frequent practice could even harm. I said, no it wouldn't enter ally harm if applied at appropriate moments  and that if yoga was incorporated in daily life as a way of life, use or application of such techniques would not at all be required as the body system then turns on auto-mode.
But instead of explaining things in further detail, I was myself inquisitive about two things. 
Firstly and foremostly I was curious whether I had got through the editor's resistance and my secondary curiosity was about knowing the result of the application of the yoga tip Mr Mukker used yesterday and twice more as he said.
So I asked about the latter first, placing the foremost curiosity on a secondary ladder. 
Mr Mukker said, his concentration miraculously deepened, evaporating the distractions that usually bothered him. As such he repeated the application twice more, he said, requesting me to explain its rationale. 
This paved the way for a full length discourse on the subject which the editor not just heard with rapt attention, but also made him press the call bell to summon the attendant, directing him  to close the door , forbidding any visitors who he said should be redirected to Mr. S.D.ojha, the Assistant Editor.
After hearing me at length with such great attention, Mr Mukker asked me whether I could reduce into writing what I talked. I said, yes, of course.
Then he said he was game, asking me for a copy as soon as I could write it out.
I didn't buy time, and said I may be back with a copy within minutes,  but that nearly offended Mr Mukker as though I had committed some kind of sacrilege. It was not a stupid political address that I was going to report, he warned, adding that I was going to write about something so serious about something so great that even small aberration might corrupt its impact. More so because there would be none to be able to edit the copy, save and except for visible literal errors.
I assured him, that the write up wouldn't require any editing whatsoever and sought leave.
(More to follow)




II
Searchlight Editor, Mr Mukker too had a resistant mindset, what is Yoga and why should we promote Yoga, he  snorted.
We are not promoting anything, we are only spreading awareness regarding a science, I said.
What science, he shot back, wearing a confused face when I told him I was talking about a science that could be called a science of consciousness.
What has yoga to do with consciousness, as it was nothing but a physical culture that he himself practised side by side other aerobic exercises. With this he was about to go the S.K.Rau (his predecessor editor who gave me his refusal, about yantra, yantra and yantra that he thought yoga actually meant.
The conversation that then followed, suddenly turned the table, arousing Mr Mukker's interest in Yoga. 
That conversation being a bit lengthy would be dedicated in continuity and the same may interest you as well.
(More to follow)
A day has been dedicated to Yoga the world over.
This sends my recollection back to early seventies. I had just joined the Searchlight and UNI as Bhagalpur Correspondent.
Since the age of five I have been a Yoga Practitioner under Paramhams Swami Satyananda, who inspired all his disciples to share with the world all the secrets that the science of Yoga and Tantra had in store for the welfare of mankind.
These disciplines had all through been held under closed fist, to be revealed only by the word of mouth, as between guru and disciple. This is still so with numerous spiritual institutions .
It was Swami Shivananda of rishikesh who was among the first few who broke this kind of reservation. 
Swami Satyananda was assigned the task of spreading yoga from door to door and from shore to shore. He left his guru rishikesh ashram in 1956 and travelled down to Bhagalpur's shiva Bhagwan family of his guru behen-bhai Adyawati Sahai-Nakulrshwari Sahai.
That is how he became our family member from whom not only me, but numerous people learnt initial practices of yoga, which we mastered after an Ashram named the Bihar School of Yoga was established in munger in 1963-64.
(More to follow)

Sunday 7 June 2015

Rahul Gandhi's dig at PM Narendra Modi amused me. It was about what Rahul perceives as Modi's non-fulfilments of the several promises he made to the people.
However, his insinuatory remarks were not plain, simple or straight forward. Instead if performing, Modi would be doing yogic acrobatcs on Rajpath.
Rahul may have good reasons to allege non-fulfilment. But what is the implication of pooh poohing Yoga in his alluding Yoga with Modi's non-performance, if any?
We are not aware what Modi means when he promotes Yoga on the international platform or on the home turf. That will become obvious in the days to come. What we are given to understand, Modi himself is a Yoga practioner, as even Nehru was, but the difference between these two practioners is very clear. Nehru never talked about Yoga as a way of life and treated it as plain and simple acrobatcs. Modi rightly defines Yoga and even Gita as way of life.
What do politicians mean or say, has been an enigma. Are Modi's antics too nothing but enigma? Only time will tell, but as of now, Rahul owes an answer.
What Rahul understands by the term Yoga? Acrobatics or physical culture? Or something wholistic? Like Nehru, Rahul's mental programming is rooted in non-Indian cultures of the west. That does not imply Rahul's complete alienation from Yogic culture as is/was Nehru's case. Fortunately or unfortunately, the scientific dimensions of Yoga are better defined and known in the west. It may seem affront, but fact remains, Yoga was furst exported to the west, as until late seventees, even Indians misconstrued it as something meant for saints or sages or renunciates, and firbidden for the Grihastas, especially women, as it might interfere with the Bhoga-orientation of the material life. 
The above obsession was broken by several Indian Yogis, who travelked abroad fro door to door and from shore to shore, including Swami Satyanand Paramhams, Maharshi Mahesh, Swami Rama, and many others who picked up the cue from what Swami Vivekananda and Swami Yogananda had initiated and had left behind for the newer generations to pusue.
Coming back to the pivotal question, what is Rahul's outlook and comprehension about Yoga? That which Nehru himself misconceived as a practitioner, or that which Rahul might have inbibed in the west about the Scientific and Emperical side of Yoga? 
Can some one elicit? By means of sharing the post with onward sharing request?