Talk given by Swami Niranjanananda at Satyananda Yoga Centre, London.
It is nice being here with all of you, and before I say anything, I would like to continue with what Swami Pragyamurti was saying about our interest in the HIV+ syndrome. In India, there is not a proper support system for people who are living with the HIV+ difficulties and the public awareness is very immature. So, during the World Yoga Convention, when Swami Pragyamurti spoke of her experience, I can report that her lecture was published in local and national newspapers in India and she became an overnight celebrity. As a result of that input, we were bombarded with questions on how to create a structure for the Indian society, a support system for those who were suffering from HIV+ problems and it was the first time that we as sannyasins and yoga teachers, became aware of the need to have a proper yogic support system.
HIV+ in India
In the army at the present time there are two hundred HIV+ patients and in the country overall there are about a million people, which is an insignificant number considering the population of some eight hundred and fifty million. Nevertheless, we feel that if from the initial stages we are able to provide such people with a proper guidance to manage themselves, then it may well be possible, in the course of time, to build up the immunity so that we are affected less and less by the HIV+ syndrome. When we were thinking of how to manage this, as a basis for our programme, we remembered that sometime back in Australia, research was conducted on patients suffering from cancer.
This research was being conducted by the Cancer Foundation of Australia under the direction of Dr. Ainslie Meares. He selected some patients who had totally lost hope, for whom every kind of therapy had failed: diets, chemotherapy, radiotherapy, operations. The growth of the cancer could not be contained by the known systems of therapy. For one year continuously, every day for two hours, he gave the patients a yoga programme consisting of yoga nidra, pranayamas, the breathing techniques of yoga, and mantra meditation. These were the three major practices that he used. He found after one year that the patients who had totally given up hope recovered, and today they are alive and well and healthy and the doctor who treated them has left this world.
So we used this research as the basis for creating our own structure to deal with immune difficulties and we made a programme which is now being tested in the army's structure with the two hundred HIV+ patients. This programme consists of yoga nidra, pranayamas and mantra, combined with amaroli, asana practice, kunjal, neti and shankhaprakshalana. When Swami Pragyamurti spoke during the convention, we got ideas from her speech also and incorporated the other aspects of yoga, which were being seen as beneficial here. We hope that within a couple of years time, we shall be able to see something positive come out of this training.
Disease induced fear syndrome
I have coined a word which is DIFS. Yoga Nidra is not only a system of relaxation, rather it is a very effective method to manage the DIFS syndrome. DIFS stands for 'disease induced fear syndrome'. It is the fear which is more detrimental than the actual disease of any kind. Fear plays havoc in our mind. It creates a crisis of health and balance in our life. The moment we know that there is something wrong in our body, in our mind, no matter how insignificant the element may be, the power of mind then influences the physiological structure. The yogis have always believed that mind can control matter and the theory of mind over matter is generally seen when the mind influences our body to react and respond in a certain way.
Usually the negative aspect of mind, the fear aspect of mind, the insecure aspect of mind, is more powerful than the positive and it is this negative aspect of mind which controls our body. I have seen people who if they get a pimple or boil on their hands, begin to worry a lot about what kind of cyst or boil it is, whether it is normal or malignant and in their own head they begin to create the seed of disease which otherwise would never exist. The force of negativity which is being directed by the mind into the body, has the power eventually to turn a simple cyst into a malignant tumour. This is what we know as disease induced fear.
Increasing the levels of vitality
In the practice of yoga nidra it has been experienced that along with a physiological and psychological relaxation we also begin to experience a state of harmony between body, brain and mind. The moment this harmony is experienced by us, the barriers which are raised unconsciously and the blockages within our own personalities, that exist due to the outcome of our inner negativity, are removed. When these blockages are removed, then the positive aspect of mind takes control of the body and the allied functions and the healing power of mind begins to manifest. So, yoga nidra is considered to be a very important practice in order to develop the natural inherent healing ability, by lowering the defences which come up due to our own fears and negativity.
In the practice we also infuse the mind with positive suggestions of sankalpa. Initially the suggestions may look like, feel like and work like other suggestions, but in the course of time they act at a deeper level of our nature. They tend to develop the keen, one-pointed faculty in which the mental energies are not dissipated and can be focused to experience the state of mind over matter. So, by following the practice of yoga nidra with practices of breathing, pranayamas, we are able to increase the levels of vitality in our bodies. By increasing the levels of vitality, the pranic force or energy which is generated helps to harmonise the imbalances which are physical and mental in nature.
Yoga has this beautiful concept of energy working in the physical and the subtle dimension. This energy is known as prana, the vital force or the life force. The force w^ich infuses every aspect of being with vitality, with life, with consciousness and energy is known as pranashakti. Yogis have also believed that this pranashakti is responsible for maintenance of the body, mind and spirit. In the absence of pranashakti, in the absence of the sustaining and nurturing force, we would not be here, active and alive. Still a lot of investigation has to be done in understanding what pranashakti is, but through the practices of pranayamas, it has been found that physically one can increase the level of vitality. When the vitality increases in our bodies, simple deficiencies in the immune system can be rectified. Yoga also believes that every form of illness, from a simple cold to the advanced cancer, is a self-generated problem due to the deficiency in the strength and the ability of the immune system. So even a common cold affects our immune system, fever affects our immune system and other diseases such as asthma, hypertension and diabetes also alter the performance, the state, of our immune system.
Yoga therapy
Yoga has three main aspects: promotive, preventative and curative. In the promotive aspect of yoga, we simply build up the resistance of the body in order to deal with influences, situations and environments which can create physiological and psychological disturbances, thus reducing the efficiency of our inner systems. In the preventive aspect of yoga, if we feel we are going to be attacked by something external, if we can feel a cold is coming, if we feel we might be prone to cardiovascular problems or to any kind of other problems, then preventative measures can be taken to avoid the crisis. The third aspect of yoga is curative.
Now in the initial stages yoga can easily manage any kind of disease. Generally when we come to yoga for any kind of treatment, we come at the last stage; when our problems have increased a thousand fold and every other form of therapy has failed. It is at this moment that we come to yoga and to manage a totally disrupted personality is more difficult and is a time consuming process. Still, according to the research that has been conducted, we can see that some forms of cancer in their advanced terminal stages were greatly helped by the practices of yoga. Other problems, such as diabetes, except in juvenile diabetes, can be helped with the practices of yoga. Asthma, in its different varieties, except cardiac asthma, can be helped with yoga practices. What I am trying to say, is that if initially we can contain the imbalances which are being created by our lifestyle, by the environment, by different factors, then there is a total possibility of regaining complete health.
Vitalising pranayamas
The definition of health according to yoga, is harmony in the body, brain, emotions, mind and spirit, in all the five dimensions. Ifwe are able to obtain this harmony, then there is this total health. Otherwise health is always incomplete. With the different practices of pranayamas, we can increase the level of vital energy, thus strengthening the force of different systems which are active within us. A proper digestive system goes a long way in providing health. A good circulatory system goes a long way in providing health. A good immune system goes a long way in providing health, and it is possible to obtain this state of being with the practices ofprana-yama, especially the vitalising ones: kapalbhati (frontal breathing), bhastrika (the bellows breath), nadi shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) and surya bheda (right nostril breathing).
Internal purification practices
The third group of practices which are used in conjunction with pranayama are the cleansing techniques of yoga: elimination of toxins and impurities from the upper and lower digestive tracks and the small and big intestines. Sometimes it is a wonder to me how come medical science has totally ignored the role that the digestive system can play in human health and life. People are being operated upon constantly, thousands everyday, in every country of the world. Their bodies are being opened up and the doctors are observing the mucus formation in their body and they are also seeing how the mucus is becoming poisonous in their body. The putrid mucus which is not being eliminated becomes poisonous in our bodies. When the mucus becomes poisonous we have incredible blood impurities. We have gas formations. We have a build up of acid pockets in our body. So the mucus which holds the body acids and our bodies are continuously oozing out poison.
The purification practices of yoga include kunjal, the removal of excess mucus from the upper tract and shankhaprakshalana, removal of toxins and mucus from the stomach, small and large intestines. These are the most important practices to eliminate poisons from our body and to recreate a good mucus lining within our system, which aids the process of elimination. The moment we are able to eliminate toxins and poisons from our body, the responses of the body change.
If you have practised kunjal, neti or shankhaprakshalana you will know the feeling which you can have at the time of such practice. It is the feeling of lightness, the feeling of being free internally from different blockages of energy and mucus. Once the body is purified from the toxins, the effects from asanas and pranayamas increase greatly and the body becomes sensitive enough to respond to the changes that the asanas or pranayamas are demanding from the body.
Mantra practice
The next practice in this sequence is mantra. In my opinion mantra is the most important practice for every person, whether they are healthy or sick. Mantra is vibration. It is the sound combination of different vibrations. The yogis have experienced that our body can be regulated by sound vibrations. The condition, the state of our body, can be altered by sound vibrations. Not only the body, but also the psychological aspect of a human being can be harmonised by the force of vibrations. Many people, due to lack of knowledge and understanding, have said that mantras are religious prayers. They are absolutely wrong and misinformed. Mantras tend to act on our psychic bodies, the body which is composed of vibrations, and the awakening of the psychic body influences the mental and the physical body.
On the wall there is a picture of the different chakras. These chakras are the energy centres which are situated in our psychic body. They are represented in the forms of flowers with different numbers of petals. In each petal a specific vibration has been represented in the form of a consonant, in the form of a vowel. Mantras are combinations of these sound vibrations. For example, if you mentally say the mantra 'Om Namah Shivaya' there are five sounds in it. These five sounds relate to five different chakras and they awaken the power, the faculty of that chakra, which begins to vibrate in our psychic body, which begins to stimulate the energy of our psychic body. The stimulation, the awakening of energy alters the normal patterns and functionings of the physical and mental bodies.
In the research which was conducted for the management of cancer, mantras played a very important role, as just through vibration, the frequency, the resonance of the chanting, definite changes were brought about in the physical structure. The change which happens through the use of mantra is very subtle. It is an internal process of experiencing harmony and balance, of experiencing strength and power. Physically one can have the sensation of great relaxation and of being at peace with oneself. Mentally one would feel that the mind has become stable, the will power has become focused; there is clarity of thought, greater comprehension, understanding. Emotionally there would be more balance and stability.
These are the external manifestations and experiences of mantra, but the mantra acts on the psychic body and it is the awakening of the psychic body in every person, which gives one the ability to control matter through the forces of the mind. So the use of mantra is a vital aspect of yoga and if we are able to incorporate the mantra practice in our own life, then we will feel the positive benefits of it. In my understanding, a good combination of practices such as yoga nidra, pranayamas, cleansing techniques, mantra practices, along with the other allied systems of asanas and amaroli, can be a very effective therapy to manage different imbalances which manifest in our body.
Satsang with HIV+ Students
How is a mantra chosen or how is it decided that a mantra is appropriate for a person? How much time should be given to the mantra practice?
There are two ways of choosing the mantra. One is the intuitive method. For this, intuition has to be greatly developed to be able to assess the level of a person's psychic development and giving a mantra to take them from that point onwards. The other method is by observing the date of birth, by knowing the zodiac sign, knowing the structure of the mentality and personality and giving the mantra to help evolve the normal personality as defined by the zodiac. For the practice of mantra, it is recommended that you devote at least ten minutes of your time in the span of twenty four hours, exclusively to experience your psychic nature. I am sure that most of us can devote ten minutes in twenty four hours. In those ten minutes we should not be distracted by duties or thoughts that come, or desires or families or environment or society. Ten minutes are for you alone, without any interference from anyone. In those ten minutes, you repeat the mantra. You can either whisper it or say it mentally. If you are alone, you can even sing it in the form of a kirtan. After you have identified and experienced the vibrations, the force of the mantra, then you can stop the practice.
Another form of practice is mentally repeating the mantra in your daily life. Mentally you keep on repeating it while you are doing normal work, walking, travelling, eating, sitting, waiting and there can even be continuous, mental repetition. Active repetition of mantra will harmonise your inner being. The moment you begin repeating the mantra, you are tuning into your inner being. So both ways can be adopted: selecting ten minutes a day which are exclusively devoted to your personal growth, or saying the mantra continuously'at anytime. However, one should not practise mantra during moments involving intense concentration, for example when driving a car.
Swamiji, should one do all the yoga practices every day?
If you can make a good programme consisting of twenty minutes of yoga nidra, fifteen minutes of asanas, ten to fifteen minutes of pranayamas and devote about an hour and a half of your time for the yoga practices that is the best thing that you can do for yourself. If you have difficulties in adjusting your time, then do it in two parts, half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening, but it is better that you work on different layers of your personality at the same time. So it is better if you can, to make a good complete programme for yourself, work on the physical level, on the mental level, on the psychic level and on the vibratory level at the same time.
I would like to know more about the concept of sankalpa. When we do yoga nidra, I never know what to say. Could you please talk about sankalpa?
Sankalpa is an affirmation which you make to yourself to overcome any weakness which you may experience affecting your performance, life and body, and to awaken any other strength which you may feel necessary to provide balance within yourself. To give you an example, I have seen people make a sankalpa of quitting cigarettes. They find that in the course of time, their willpower develops to a degree where the cigarettes leave them and the person does not have to leave the cigarettes. It is a positive affirmation to yourself, that I am expressing this positive quality within myself. Do not say, I am going to leave anything. Rather, give a complimentary thought to it. I am developing, I am expressing the positive nature, and in that way you can make a sankalpa according to your choice and wish. Treat the matter as if it has already happened. Be one step ahead of what you want to achieve.
Do you think that we should pay particular attention to our diet? Are there any special foods or diets?
Yoga has given some thought to the diet and it says that anything you eat should be easily digestible and it should leave the system, the stomach within one to one and a half hours. It should not just sit there so that you begin to feel tired and lethargic because of the heaviness. The food should be sattwic. Sattwic means that which does not strain or overstrain the body, but is digested as per the normal routine of the body. I think we have to adjust our diet according to the availability of food. Yoga of course will say go the natural way and eat vegetables, greens, natural proteins and vitamins, but at the same time be open to the other needs of the body or diets which a therapist prescribes to control certain diseases and ailments. Whatever diet you eat should be light, easily digestible and it should give you a feeling of lightness and energy, not heaviness and lethargy.
I would like to know more about the cleansing practices. I practise laghoo nearly every day as shankhaprakshalana is too strenuous. Is there any harm in doing laghoo this often?
The short cleansing practice of laghoo is drinking two glasses of warm, salty water, practising the five asanas and then repeating this process twice more. The long version ordinarily is to be done twice a year, whereas the short version can be done weekly. For specific therapy do it for one week regularly and give yourself a break of fifteen days or even a month, it makes no difference, and then again do it for one week continuously. The benefits of this continued weekly practice will be as effective as the long practice. It is also a gentle flushing of the system; you flush a bit today, a bit more tomorrow, a bit the day after and so on. With laghoo there are no dietary restrictions, but after full shankhaprakshalana one has to go on a very strict regime which may be difficult to follow in a Western environment. If you feel that laghoo is a bit impractical because of the routine that you have, then do kunjal and neti everyday, and the short cleansing once a week.
I have to take drugs all the dme. How much conflict is there between Western medicine and yoga?
There is absolutely no conflict between Western medicine and yoga. We have never told anyone to stop taking their medication. Only when the doctors see the improvement and suggest reduction of medication should you reduce it. Otherwise go on practising your yoga and go on taking the medications, they will both complement each other.
In pursuit of helping my HIV+ condition, there are several different therapies I have come across. Are you saying that these yoga practices alone are sufficient?
If you can combine the yoga practices with other therapies then I am sure it will be a good combination. For those people who are not aware of the alternate therapies and are practising the yoga techniques, then constant and continuous practise of yoga therapy only would be enough. You do not have to exclude any other therapy if you begin the practices of yoga, that is a very important rule. Carry on with whatever you are doing and simply incorporate the necessary required practices of yoga into your lifestyle.
What do you think of the use of painkillers, for example, morphine, especially if someone is close to the point of death? In hospitals it seems to be a practice to speed the process up.
There are two kinds of pain: one is mental, one is physical. Mental pain manifests in the form of anguish, and physical pain can be unbearable. Drugs can be used to control the physical pain, if that is the need and the desire of the person who is suffering. Now I do not know, nor am I familiar with the medical use of such painkillers, but as long as there is a tolerable level of pain which you can deal with properly, I do not think that drugs should be used. When the pain becomes intolerable, then at that moment in order to maintain clarity of mind some people do use them. I would not use them, but it depends from person to person. The pain that we speak of in yoga is the tolerable physical pain and the mental anguish, which can be controlled with mantra. Inner anguish can also be transformed with the generation of different qualities in life.
Diseases come which cause much pain and suffering and death. Could you say what the reason for this is and what we can leam in the face of such conditions such as HIV+ ?
There is a poem by Swami Sivananda and I would like to begin with that. 'Nature throws a man into the crucible of pain in order to turn him into a sublime superman.' He used to sing this a lot. The outcome of pain and suffering should be the development of spiritual awareness. Spiritual awareness is the natural outcome of inner mental evolution, when the mind is fed up with the pains and sufferings of the external world. Coming to terms with yourself and learning to accept yourself is the beginning of spirituality in one's life. Learning to flow with the present environment and not struggle, is the beginning of spirituality in one's life. With the development of spiritual awareness, one begins to understand the inherent human qualities of love, compassion and ultimately universal brotherhood which is known as having the universal vision: the realisation of human qualities in their pure unconditional form.
We all experience love in our life, but at present that love is self-oriented and it is conditioned. If we can change the quality of that experience into an unconditioned love, if we can change the quality of compassion into an unconditioned compassion, if we can change the quality of spiritual awareness from a self-centred dualistic approach to life, to a unifying effort in life, the karmas can be managed. Karmas are deep impressions of our life, which make us act, live, think, behave and perform in a certain way. It is the programming of the computer of life. The programming in the computer can never be seen, only the outer function can be seen. In the same way, our own programming of life can never be seen, known or realised, mainly because we do not have and we have not developed the ability to observe that programming. We do not have the access code. But with the generation of human qualities, with the awakening of the human qualities we get access to the dimension of karmas and one can alter, purify and change the nature of karmas through this spiritual awareness. Pain and suffering, happiness and joy, they are states of the manifest mind; mind which is identifying with the world, with people. When the mind identifies wdth the spirit, then pain, suffering, joy, happiness all take the form of inner ecstasy. There is ecstasy in happiness and there is also ecstasy in pain. The only difference is that we have linked our mind with spirit, when normally our mind is linked with matter. So it is the switch over from matter to spirit which can be achieved by evolving the spiritual awareness and beginning to feel that God is in me, I am in God.
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