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between the inner and outer worlds will always be a
topical one as long as the human race exists. The last word on it can never be expected, for each
culture, even each phase of individual life presents new perspectives. It is by the great visionary
works of antiquity that we are most deeply touched-- we who have become so clever.
(24) Mind and prana are related to each other like milk and water. If the one dries up the other one
also dries up. In whatever chakra the prana is concentrated mind becomes fixed, and where the mind
is fixed prana is conquered.
The fact that men's cultural levels differ so greatly is not simply a problem of society; nor does it
depend on ambition, or even on intelligence. It is really the chakras that cause stratification in
culture.
Genius is the product of the highest development potential of that chakra by which it lives. As long
as our mind is not nourished by that same chakra we only comprehend the lower levels. At the
highest level our understanding is no longer limited. There we need no intellectual hints; we perceive
the spirit everywhere, even in silence.
The chakra determines whatever level of development we are on, and this level determines the
measure of our consciousness.
(25-27) The one is dependent on the other. They
[mind and prana] act in unison. Suspension of one causes suspension of the other. Without
intervention the senses [the indriyas] become victorious. If they [mind and prana] are suspended
there is liberation [moksha]. The nature of mind is like mercury: in ceaseless motion. When both are
made motionless what on earth cannot be accomplished? Oh Parvati! Mercury is held fast and
prana steady! Now all diseases are conquered and it is possible to rise into the air.
Alchemy and magic--or only kindred symbols? Mercury is the symbolic square of the earth, the
mulandhara chakra. The alchemical process represents the rising to the second chakra, svadhisthana.
He who transcends the three lowest centers attains the fourth chakra, anahata, the vibration domain
of the air. "He rises into the air." That is, he ultimately rises above the worldly spheres of earth,
water and fire, into higher regions. As long as the spirit is not free from the lower spheres, it is not
"held fast."
(28) When mind is held fast, prana is also held fast, as is the bindu in which the sattva element of the
MIND AND BREATH 83
Yoga Swami Svatmarama. Hatha yoga pradipika
body is established.
In the first sloka of Part Four we translated the word bindu as "sense," (that is, the principle of
intelligence). However, the word is so ambiguous that this translation is just a stopgap. Bindu may
stand for: drop, period, zero, seed, the void. These appear to be quite different concepts, and one asks
how the translator can add a sixth. Here we get a glimpse of the depth of the Sanskrit language, for
each of these concepts has enormous significance.
Period (dot).
It does not stand like a tombstone at the end of a Sanskrit sentence, but is the sign for vocal
vivification. The dot above the consonant (which is always connected with a vowel) changes a dull
ka into a rich kam or kang, a ta into tarn or tang, pa into pam, and so on, through all the consonants.
It adds vibration to the dull sound. It is especially significant that it raises o from the chest vibration
to the 0m sound in the head, the higher sphere. Thus it raises the physical sound to the chakra of
consciousness, the ajna chakra between the eyebrows, and gives it meaning. In this way, the dot
becomes the symbol for "sense."
The zero.
Just as the dot is both a "nothing" and the symbol for sense, so is zero. By itself it is a symbol of
no-thing. Added to a figure it increases its value tenfold. It gives the figure a value, a value that the
figure by itself possesses only potentially. It catalyzes something essential without possessing a
tangible value of its own.
The seed.
Only when it falls upon fertile ground can it sprout. Like the dot, like the zero. And here the latent
value is especially clear.
The void.
Here again it is the meaning that makes emptiness purposeful.
Thirty spokes unite around the nave. The void between them makes them useful as a wheel. We
shape a pot from day.
Its usefulness depends upon the void that clay surrounds. The house is made of walls, windows and
doors. The void between the walls makes it a habitation. We need what is; What-is-not makes it
useful. Lao-tzu, Too Te Ching II
Now it should be clear why bindu means "sense." The sattva principle in which the "sense" is
founded is fulfilled purity in the saint, who is all sattva.
(29-30) Dissolution
[laya] depends on nada. Laya produces prana. Prana is the lord of the mind [mano]; mind is the
lord of the senses [indriyas]. When mind is absorbed in itself it is called moksha [liberation]. Call it
this or that; when mind and prana are absorbed in each other the immeasurable joy of samadhi
ensues.
MIND AND BREATH 84
Yoga Swami Svatmarama. Hatha yoga pradipika
We enter a church and feel the sattva element that governs the lofty sacred room. Something like a
shiver of enchantment pene- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]