SWAMI RAMA RAISED
THE SECRETS OF YOGA
WHAT IF YOU COULD HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR HOURS, EXPLORING WHOLE OTHER DIMENSIONS OF BEING WHILE YOUR BODY APPEARED TO BE DEAD? WHAT IF YOU COULD HEAL FATAL DISEASES IN A MOMENT, JUST BY FOCUSING YOUR MIND? WHAT IF YOU COULD ESTABLISH YOURSELF IN A STATE OF TRANQUILITY SO DEEP THAT NOTHING IN LIFE COULD EVER DISTURB YOU? THIS, OF COURSE, IS THE STUFF OF FAIRY TALES, PEOPLE CAN'T REALLY DO THESE THINGS. AND YET ADEPTS OF THE ANCIENT YOGA TRADITION CLAIM TO ACCOMPLISH THESE SORTS OF THINGS ROUTINELY. OF COURSE, ILLITERATE PEOPLE FROM SUPERSTITIOUS CULTURES WILL CLAIM ANYTHING.
THEN IN 1970, SWAMI RAMA, RAISED IN HIMALAYAN CAVE AND TRAINED IN THE CLOSELY GUARDED SECRETS OF YOGA FROM BOYHOOD, WALKED INTO AN AMERICAN RESEARCH LABORATORY. UNDER THE MOST RIGOROUS EXPERIMENTAL CONDITIONS, HE SIMULATED DEATH BY VIRTUALLY STOPPING HIS BRAIN WAVES AND HEART BEAT-AND YET REMAINDED FULLY CONSCIOUS OF EVENTS OCCURING AROUND HIM IN THE LABORATORY. REPORTS OF THE SWAMI'S ABILITIES STUNNED THE WESTERN SCIENTIFIC ESTABLISHMENT. SUDDENLY THE CLAIMS OF THE INDIAN YOGIS SEEMED LIKE SUPERSTITION AND MORE LIKE EVIDENCE OF AN EXTENSIVE INNER SCIENCE THAT, IN MANY IMPORTANT RESPECTS, VASTLY EXCEEDS THE PRESENT LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE OF WESTERN PHYSICIANS AND PHYSIOLOGISTS.
AS WE EMBARK INTO THE 21ST CENTURY, MODERN HUMANITY IS FINALLY LEARNING TO APPRECIATE PEOPLES. TRAGICALLY, JUST AS WE ARE AWAKENING TO THE EXTRAORDINARY VALUE OF MEDICAL LORE DEVELOPED OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS, THE INDIGENOUS CULTURES WHICH HAVE PRESERVED THESE TRADITIONS ARE VANISHING FOREVER. YET IN THE CAVE MONASTERIES OF THE HIMALAYAS AND THE FOREST HERMITAGES OF THE INDIAN SUBCONTINENT, YOGA MASTERS CONTINUE TO TRANSMIT THE TECHNIQUE AND UNDERSTANDING WHICH HAVE MADE THEM LEGENDARY FOR CENTURIES. AND THE KEY TO PERFECT SELF-MASTERY, THESE YOGIS MAINTAIN, IS SVARODAYA, THE SCIENCE OF BREATH.
BREATHING IS THE ONE PHYSICAL FUNCTION WHICH IS BOTH INVOLUNTARY (IT GOES ON BY ITSELF) AND VOLUNTARY (WE CAN CONTROL OUR RESPIRATION CONSCIOUSLY). THE STAGGERING SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS SIMPLE INSIGHT WAS OBVIOUS TO INDIA'S INNER EXPLORES. THE BREATH IS THEREFORE THE KEY TO CONTROL OVER THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM, THAT PART OF OUR FUNCTIONING WE WESTERNERS WERE TAUGHT LIES OUTSIDE OUR AWARENESS AND RUNS ENTIRELY UNCONSCIOUSLY. BY LEARNING TO MANIPULATE THEIR BREATHING PATERNS, YOGIS GAINED CONSCIOUS CONTROL OVER THEIR BRAIN FUNCTION TO AN EXTENT SCARCELY ANYONE IN THE WEST WOULD HAVE IMAGINED POSSIBLE - UNTIL SWAMI RAMA WALKED INTO THE LAB.
AT THE RATE AT WHICH WESTERN MEDICINE IN ADVANCING, IT MAY TAKE SEVERAL MORE CENTURIES BEFORE OUR RESEARCHES CATCH UP TO SWAMI RAMA. HE INSISTS, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT THE PHYSICAL BODY IS ACTUALLY ORGANIZED AROUND A FIELD OF ENERGY CALLED THE SUKSHMA SHARIRA (SANSKRIT FOR "SUBTLE BODY") THE VERY EXISTENCE OF WHICH MOST WESTERN SCIENTISTS STILL DISPUTE. YET IT WAS MANIPULATION OF THIS ENERGY FIELD WHICH ALLOWED SWAMI RAMA TO RAISE TO RAISE TUMOROUS GROWTHS ON HIS ARMS - AND MAKE THEM DISAPPEAR - WITHIN A MATTER OF HOURS. CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW THE TREATMENT OF CANCER MIGHT CHANGE IF MEDICAL INVESTIGATORS DEVOTED EVEN A FRACTION OF THEIR RESEARCH FUNDS TO EXPLORING THIS FIELD OF LIVING ENERGY?
THE SANSKRIT WORD FOR LIFE ENERGY IS PRANA. THE SURVIVING LITERATURE OF THE ANCIENT PEOPLES OF EGYPT AND CHALDEA SHOW THAT THEY WORKED CAREFULLY WITH PRANA. CHINESE AND JAPANESE DOCTORS AND MARTIAL ARTISTS STILL WORK WITH IT TODAY. THIS CHAPTER IS AN INTRODUCTION TO THE IMMENSE SUBJECT OF HOW YOGIS REGULATE PRANA THROUGH THE SCIENCE OF BREATH, WRITTEN IN TERMS A WESTERNER CAN UNDERSTAND. THE FIRST ESSAY EXPLORE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF VITAL ENERGY AS THE ACTIVE FORCE UNDERLYING ANY PHYSICAL ORGANISM.
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