PADA SHASTRA (FEET POWER)

                                  PADA SHASTRA

                   (THE POWER OF YOUR FEET)

                              IN INDIA, IT IS A TRADITION TO BOW DOWN AT THE FEET OF REALISED BEING OR A GURU. IS THERE ANY SIGNIFICANCE BEHIND THIS?

                          ANS : IN YOGA, THERE IS SOMETHING CALLED PADA SHASTRA. "PADA" MEANS "THE FOOT", PARTICULARLY THE SOLES OF THE FEET. IN MANY WAYS, ALL THE SWITCHES TO TURN ON ALMOST EVERYTHING IN YOU ARE THERE IN YOUR FEET, IF YOU KNOW HOW TO DO IT.

                     WHEN I COMES TO RECEIVING, YOUR HANDS ARE POWERFUL INSTRUMENTS, IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE, IF YOU TOUCH ANYTHING WITH YOUR HANDS, YOU WILL IMMEDIATELY KNOW WHAT IT IS. IF YOU TOUCH IT WITH YOUR SHOULDER OR YOUR BACK OR THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD, YOU WILL NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS, BUT IF YOU TOUCH IT WITH YOUR HAND, YOU WILL KNOW WHAT IT IS IMMEDIATELY, NOT JUST IN TERMS OF FEELING AND SENSATION - MUCH DEEPER PERCEPTION HAPPENS WITH YOUR HANDS.

                     BUT IF YOU WANT TO GIVE YOUR ENERGIES TO SOMETHING, FEET ARE VERY POWERFUL INSTRUMENTS. AT ONE TIME, WE WERE TEACHING PEOPLE HOW TO MANIPULATE THE FEET TO CREATE DIFFERENT STATES OF EXPERIENCE - WHERE TO PRESS IF YOU WANT TO RELAX SOMEBODY, IF YOU WANT TO MAKE SOMEBODY BLISSFUL , IF YOU WANT TO MAKE SOMEBODY LOVING. ALL THE SEVEN DIFFERENT CHAKRAS ARE MANIFEST IN YOUR FEET. IF YOU KNOW HOW TO HANDLE THE FEET, YOU CAN DO MANY THINGS WITH THE WHOLE SYSTEM. TODAY, THEY CALL THIS REFLEXOLOGY, BUT THEY ARE TALKING ONLY ABOUT HEALTH. BECAUSE WE ARE INTERESTED IN LIFE, WE TALK IN TERMS OF EXPERIENCE.

                      ABOUT TOUCHING OR HOLDING FEET, FIRST OF ALL, THE ONE WHOSE FEET YOU ARE TOUCHING SHOULD HAVE SOMETHING TO GIVE, THEY SHOULD BE IN A CERTAIN LEVEL OF ENERGY. IF YOU ASK A PAPER FOR A LOAN. IT IS NO GOOD. IF YOU WANT TO ASK FOR A LOAN, YOU MUST ASK SOMEBODY WHO HAS CASH TO DISPENSE. IF YOU GO AND ASK FOR A LOAN FROM A BANKRUPT OR A KANJOOS, THERE IS NO POINT. YOU KNOW WHAT A KANJOOS MEANS? LESS "JUICE". YOU DON'T ASK SOMEBODY WHO IS JUICELESS OR SOMEBODY WHO IS STINGY. YOU ONLY ASK SOMEBODY WHO IS PLENTIFUL AND WILLING TO GIVE.

                      YOU DON'T GO AND HOLD SOMEBODY'S FEET WHEN HE HIMSELF IS BANKRUPT. IF HE IS BURSTING WITH ENERGIES AND HE IS WILLING TO SHARE, THERE IS A CERTAIN WAY TO CONNECT, LIKE A PLUG POINT. PLUG POINTS COME IN DIFFERENT WAYS. IF YOU WANT TO CONNECT TO THAT PARTICULAR PLUG POINT, YOU NEED A PARTICULAR KING OF PLUG.

                       IN MANY HOMES, YOU HAVE A TRAITION OR HABIT OF TOUCHING THE FEET OF YOUR ELDERS. PROBABLY IN SOUTH INDIA IT IS GONE, BUT IN NORTH INDIA IT IS STILL VERY MUCH THERE BECAUSE OF THE VEDIC CULTURE. WHEN THEY SEE A FATHER, A MOTHER , UNCLE, OR AYBODY ELDER TO THEM. THE FIRST THING THEY DO IS TOUCH THEIR FEET. THAT IS ONLY TO OFFFER YOUR RESPECTS TO THEM, NOT TO RECEIVE YOUR UNCLE'S ENERGY! WHEN YOU SEE A DEITY, THERE IS ANOTHER WAY OF DOINT IT. IF YOU DO NAMASKAR OR PROSTRATION TO A POWERFUL BEING, NOT SPIRITUALLY EVOLVED BUT POWERFUL IN HIS OWN WAY, THERE IS ANOTHER WAY OF DOING IT. I DON'T WANT TO GO INTO THESE TECHNOLOGIES. I CAN TELL YOU THE OTHER THREE, BUT I DON'T WANT TO TELL YOU HOW TO BOW DOWN TO A GURU. WHICHEVER WAY YOU FEEL, YOU DO IT THAT WAY BECAUSE I DON'T WANT MY LEGS PULLED AND HELD ALL THE TIME!.

THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF THOUGHTS AND BREATH

                              THE IMPORTANT FACT

                               ABOUT  OUR BREATH

                                                                         ❤❤

                          I WANT TO ASK A QUESTION REGARDING BREATHING. SOME MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS SAY, "BREATH IS AN INVOLUNTARY ACTION. JUST BREATHE NORMALLY". SOME OF YOGA PEOPLE SAY, "BREATHE DEEPLY, IT HELPS YOU TO BE EFFECTIVE". WHAT IS THE REAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS?

                  ANS : WHAT YOU ARE ASKING IS ESSENTIALLY, HOW IS BREATH CONNECTED TO YOUR WELLBEING? BREATH IS NOT JUST THE EXCHANGE OF OXYGEN AND CARBON DIOXIDE. HOW YOU BREATHE DECIDES MANY ASPECTS OF WHO YOU ARE RIGHT NOW. HAVE YOU NOTICED, FOR DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THOUGHT AND EMOTION THAT YOU GO THROUGH, YOUR BREATH TAKES ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF PATTERNS? IF YOU ARE ANGRY, YOU BREATHE IN ONE WAY. IF YOU ARE PEACEFUL, YOU BREATHE ANOTHER WAY. IF YOU ARE VERY HAPPY, YOU BREATHE ANOTHER WAY. IF YOU ARE SAD, YOU BREATHE ANOTHER WAY. WHICHEVER WAY YOU BREATHE, THAT IS THE WAY YOU THINK. WHICHEVER WAY YOU THINK, THAT IS THE WAY YOU BREATHE.

                      THIS BREATHE CAN BE USED IN SO MANY WAYS AS A TOOL TO DO OTHER THINGS WITH THE BODY AND THE MIND. WITH THE SHAMBHAVI", WE USE A VERY SIMPLE PROCESS OF BREATH, BUT IT IS NOT ABOUT THE BREATH. BREATH IS JUT A TOOL, IT IS JUST AN INDUCTION. WHAT HAPPENS IS NOT ABOUT THE BREATH. PRANAYAM IS THE SCIENCE WHERE, BY CONSCIOUSLY BREATHING IN A PARTICULAR WAY, THE VERY WAY YOU THINK, FEEL AND UNDERSTAND AND EXPERIENCE LIFE CAN BE CHANGED.

                  IF I ASK YOU TO WATCH YOUR BREATH, WHICH IS THE MOST COMMON PRACTICE PEOPLE DO THESE DAYS, YOU THINK YOU ARE WATCHING THE BREATH, BUT ACTUALLY YOU ARE NOT. YOU ARE ONLY ABLE TO NOTICE THE SENSATIONS CAUSED BY THE MOVEMENT OF AIR.IT IS LIKE, IF SOMEONE TOUCHES YOUR HAND, YOU THINK YOU KNOW THE TOUCH OF THE OTHER PERSON, BUT ACTUALLY YOU ONLY KNOW THE SENSATIONS GENERATED WITHIN YOUR BODY, YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW THE OTHER PERSON FEELS.

                    BREATHE IS LIKE THE HAND OF THE DIVINE. YOU DON'T FEEL IT. THIS BREATH THAT YOU DO NOT EXPERIENCE IS REFERED TO AS KOORMA NADI. I AM NOT REFERRING TO THE SENSATIONS CAUSED BY THE AIR, I AM REFERRING TO THE BREATH ITSELF. KOORMA NADI IS REFERRED TO AS A STRING WHICH TIES YOU WITH THIS BODY - AN UNBROKEN STRING THAT GOES ON AND ON. IF I TAKE AWAY YOUR BREATH, YOU AND YOUR BODY WILL FALL APART BECAUSE THE BEING AND THE BODY ARE BOUND BY THE KOORMA NADI. THIS IS A BIG DECEPTION. THERE ARE TWO, BUT THEY ARE PRETENDING TO BE ONE. IT IS LIKE MARRIAGE - THEY ARE TWO, BUT WHEN THEY COME OUT THE PRETEND TO BE ONE. THERE ARE TWO PEOPLE HERE, THE BODY AND BEING, TWO DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE ONES, BUT THEY PRETEND THAT THEY ARE ONE.

                    IF YOU TRAVEL THROUGH THE BREATH, DEEP INTO YOURSELF, TO THE DEEPEST CORE OF THE BREATH, IT WILL TAKE YOU TO THAT POINT WHERE ARE YOU ACTUALLY TIED TO THE BODY. ONCE YOU KNOW WHERE ARE TIED AND HOW YOU ARE TIED, YOU CAN UNTIE IT AT WILL. CONSCIOUSLY, YOU CAN SHED THE BODY AS EFFORTLESSLY AS YOU WOULD SHED YOUR CLOTHES.

                   WHEN YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CLOTHES ARE TIED, IT IS EASY TO DROP THE. WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE IT IS TIED, WHICHEVER WAY YOU PULL, IT DOES NOT COME OFF. THE SAME APPLIES TO THE BODY.

                    IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW YOUR CLOTHES ARE TIES, IF YOU WANT TO TAKE THEM OFF, YOU HAVE TO TEAR THEM APRT. SIMILARLY, IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHERE YOUR BODY IS TIED TO YOU, IF YOU WANT TO DROP IT, YOU HAVE TO DAMAGE OR BREAK IT IN SOME WAY. BUT IF YOU KNOW WHERE IT IS TIED, YOU CAN VERY CLEARLY HOLD IT AT A DISTANCE. WHEN YOU WANT TO DROP IT, YOU CAN JUST DROP IT CONSCIOUSLY. LIFE BECOMES VERY DIFFERENT.

                  WHEN SOMEBODY WILLFULLY SHEDS THE BODY COMPLETELY, WE SAY THIS IS MAHASAMADHI. THIS IS WHAT IS GENERALLY REFERRED TO AS MUKTI, OR ULTIMATE LIBERATION. YOU HAVE ARRIVED AT A GREAT SENSE OF EQUANIMITY WEHRE THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT IS INSIDE THE BODY AND WHAT IS OUTSIDE THE BODY. THE GAME IS UP.

                 THIS IS SOMETHING THAT EVERY YOGI IS LONGING FOR, AND THIS IS SOMETHING EVERY HUMAN BEING IS WORKING TOWARDS, WHETHER THEY ARE DOING IT CONSCIOUSLY OR NOT. IN SOME WAY, THEY WANT TO EXPAND, AND THIS IS THE ULTIMATE EXPANSION. IT IS JUST THAT THEY ARE GOING TOWARDS THE INFINITE IN INSTALLMENTS, WHICH IS A VERY LONG AND IMPOSSIBLE PROCESS. IF YOU COUNT - 1,2,3,4- YOU WILL ONLY BECOME ENLESS COUNTING. YOU WILL NEVER REACH THE INFINITE. WHEN ONE REALIZES THE FUTILITY OF THIS, HE NATURALLY TURNS INWARDS TO DO THIS BY UNTYING THE LIFE PROCESS FROM THE BODY.