Welcome to the other side of the bridge. If you have been reading through the earlier webpages for this Sadhana section, then you have now officially lifted off of the earth. The preceding pages were laying the groundwork mostly at the physical level. Now the work turns to the etheric plane (the true beginning of subtle energy). This corresponds to the immediate space around the body (out several feet [a meter or two] in all directions). In terms of chakras, the focus trains onto the fifth chakra (throat chakra). Chakras 1 - 4 manage the physical plane of existence. Chakra 5, called the viśuddhī chakra, in Hindu tradition (sounds like: vi [rhymes with pin] - shoe - dee) is all about the transition from earth (physical plane) up through the solar system (etheric plane) and on to the higher chakras (stars). Daoism and Tibetan Buddhism also consider the fifth chakra as a key pivot point in the march towards Light.

A couple notes about the presentation henceforth

1. The Bon (or Bön or Yungdrung [eternal] Bon) religion mostly holds the very same ideas as Tibetan Buddhism but with some personalization of deities and occasional tinkering of concepts. So, going forward, anytime you see either Bon or Tibetan Buddhism mentioned, you can assume the other religious path is also implied. That is, they can be considered to wield analogous yogic methodologies.

2. So far, Jyotish ideas have been presented in sections and pages clearly demarcating them from the other major topics on this website (qi, yoga, meditation). Now, however, as the level of spiritual practice plunges deep, all these major themes begin to intermingle. So, from this stage forward, Jyotish will be incorporated both to illustrate and illuminate all the topics. If you need further explanation of the Jyotish concepts themselves, please check the reference section for some good sources of info.

heaven and earth

Heaven and earth. The vision and the specifics. You won’t get far without both of these assets.

To this point, the counsel offered on these pages regarding yoga rings true but hovers mostly in the clouds of generality: practice at least one or two hours of yoga a day. Both hatha yoga (physical cultivation) and pranayama (physiological cultivation) need attention. Further, all hatha yoga should incorporate both sinking and expanding qi. In your mind’s eye and with your ability to sense qi, tune into a classroom of folks around you: start with one person in each direction and over a year gradually expand this to sense (feel) and see two people any which way you look. So, in time, the field about you will double in size to about 15 - 20 feet (4.5 - 6 meters).

Now what? The details. And a seemingly forbidding lot of them. Sure, the imposing twenty thousand foot eagle’s eye view was nice while it lasted but, as with all in this world, change creeps in, memberships come due for renewal and the best-laid of plans eventually runs afoul. Rust and ruin happen down here. Have you noticed? An effective antidote for such surly chaos entails pungent and strong juju—even if you don’t hail from West Africa. For, wherever you come from or run to, there’s no escape from samsara (cyclic existence in an essentially half-baked and ultimately unsatisfactory place) without the magic of serious yogic application.

When you checked into this world, you were handed an irrevocable, intransigent job to do (paying off some karmic debt) and you can only dispatch the task effectively and quickly by paying attention to the fine print on your cosmic work order. As you will find out, in a later section of this page, the D3J chart (Jagannath Drekkana) provides all the details to your work order and then some. For now, just get that pranayama (breathwork) undergirds all successful approaches at clearing your karmic slate and then moving on in this lifetime with your own hopes and aims.

Even though naysayers, the world over, have ever sworn and still swear that a host of devils live in the details, you must buck their dissembling words (which mask an epidemic tide of deep spiritual despair and ignorance) and diligently chip away at the many ingredients needed for your recipe—all those niggling karmic trifles that together form the perfection of a job well done and a mission successfully completed. Thus, apologies to the poets and all other wishful thinkers but now’s the time for a most opportune turn toward the gnarly but fruitful labyrinth of practical application—by toiling with both principle and detail you will succeed. Freedom lies on the other side of such determined, consistent and persistent efforts. Just wait. You will see.

ground, path and fruit

Here’s the pith so far: In Dzogchen thought, spiritual practice spans three phases: ground (or view), path and fruit. In a nutshell, ground sketches the big picture and why one should practice; path colors in the details of beginning and intermediate practices; and fruit soars high into the sky with the wonders of advanced sadhana and the payoff for all your seemingly endless, hard slog.

The first two practice levels of Neidan Yoga covered on these webpages have presented essential skills utilized during the early stages of any true yogic endeavor based upon energy and meditation. However, so far, you’ve been mostly coached in principles. Now, in level three, the tide turns and you can start to master the squadron of particular steps vital for actualizing the path. Let’s get this show on the road!

 yoga 3 — abdominal breathing and ratios

Breathwork lies at the heart of the yogic traditions considered here. Endless styles and variations dot the landscape for your viewing and tasting pleasure. A quick overview may help: the overall path of yoga takes energy from around the body and packs it into the midline (central channel) of the body at specific locations (chakra, khorlo, jiao). To spark this energy seed, intense concentration must be added to the mix.

GIven this, you find breath patterns to improve health and balance the energy system; patterns to pack the qi (prana, lung); patterns to slow and stop the breath altogether; and patterns to integrate with the wider field of energy. These are the most relevant techniques. We’re going to cover them all in sufficient detail to get you started. Later pages will add more substance.

The following section headings convey the steps. Have a peek. Slowing the breath is where you want to start. For sure. For real. Turtle breathing corresponds to the end of the line for slowing the breath: you’re down to a few, or even no, breaths per minute. But way before you get there, the first and most important rest stop on your itinerary lands you in a lush resort town. Sounds like? You may have heard of the name—as it’s all the rage these days—resonance (or resonance frequency or resonant) breathing. This points to a breathing pattern (about 5-6 second inhale then same duration exhale) which normalizes heart function and can lead to improved heart rate variability (HRV). All great health benefits and nothing to sneeze at.

But on the quest for Light, it holds court at first base. Still, you definitely need to start with resonant breathing and make it a close lifelong friend. Why? Because ensuring the heart’s well-being helps guarantee physical health and that buys you time for deepening your spiritual insight. Nevertheless, even though resonant breathing may bring you a nice life and journey this time around, if you want to rise to the challenge being offered by reality, you need to press out and evidence your jolly, happy life at a much deeper spiritual level. This means that most of your efforts eventually stretch the bounds of what is considered possible as you round second base and continue on to slower and slower breath rates.

Okay. Makes sense. What about the title of this section on yoga? What’s that all about? Abdominal breathing and ratios correspond to two general camps of esoteric breathwork:

1. Abdominal breathing — slowing the breath down and packing energy to the midline

2. Ratios — breath retentions in specific proportions between inhale, inhale retention, exhale and exhale retention

The following sections will explore these two camps in practical terms of body structure and physiology as well as the related energy linkages and matrices. The gist of all these efforts? Aim and dive deep inside to find a home along the midline and then, since the underlying pattern of all physical forms is toroidal, take a ride along the toroidal midline out away from the toroid’s sphere (human body) and truck on out to greater and greater spheres of spacetime. Not bad, huh? Reality is even more complex (different lokas and all sorts of twists and turns) but this is a fair start for now. Right?

What’s a yogi and a turtle have in common? Plenty or nothing, of course, depending upon your view. In Daoism, an essential and early practice in any seekers palette of spiritual tasks provides the clue: called turtle breathing, this foundational skill epitomizes the ability for one to breathe long, slow and evenly. How long, slow and evenly? Would you believe, very long, slow and evenly. Try, to the tune of one complete inhalation and exhalation per minute. One. Yes, just one.

Now this may seem outrageous but it is not. For the first major goal of all advanced yoga systems, namely deep, deep concentration, only truly swings into view when the body stills to an inaudible purr: no breathing, no heartbeat, not even much of a brainwave—only minute pulsation of very subtle energy remains. Compared to this benchmark, one breath cycle a minute seems like an awkward attempt at hip hop or square dancing while laboring under the duress of an unwieldy cast tacked onto a broken leg. So, just to keep perspective on what’s at stake—a lot—the first great undertaking in the journey to Light necessarily pivots on the breath and its consummate regulation. Simply put, you must slow your breath way down.

Okay, maybe. But why not just jump onboard the Hindu or Tibetan bandwagon and simply hold your breath? Why bother with long, smooth and even breaths? Hah! Great question. Now, an ever-increasing body of research has laid this one down to rest. The evidence presents itself so clearly that, in this case, it’s Armageddon for folly. Or, at least it should be: there are still plenty of folks jumping onto more radical approaches. Here, we stick with Daoist wisdom and modern research.

It turns out that everybody (all us ordinary grasshoppers) over-breathes: the rate and amount you breathe is too much for what your body actually needs. And, because of this, your body, mind and heart operate at less than full efficiency. Read this as: trudging around in an even bigger haze and foggy awareness than required by your body and physiology. Guess what such a lousy choice does to your spiritual perception? Right, you are. Not happy, at all. And yet, if you didn’t know this alarmingly hard-nosed fact, you would think everything’s just peachy since all the other grasshoppers bop and bounce around quite contentedly in their own grasshopper ways.

No one complains or notes that plain and simple living—just eating, breathing, playing and the rest—runs askew and meanders far from munificent nature’s intent. How many of us pretend to steadfastly journey along the spiritual path and yet wholly overlook the foundations of basic health and happiness?

Just a few key details for now as more of the essentials will be covered in future pages: your body needs oxygen (O2) to function, right? Everyone knows this. But did you know that the air you breathe has more O2 than you can possibly use? It works out to about 2-3 times more oxygen than your body can tap into and utilize. (Check out a physiology book or any of the many breathwork courses springing up like wildflowers, if you disbelieve.) This renders as follows: you can cut the amount of air you breath in a minute by half (and even a little more) and you will only stand to gain. The amount of O2 will still be plenty but the CO2 in the body will rise a notch (not enough to rock the boat) and thereby increase the amount of yummy oxygen brought to your body and brain (more on this effect in a moment). Of course this is the stuff of peak performance and all those in the know—star athletes, top executives, health aficionados—are now playing this game. You should too!

Sound a bit mysterious? Hang on. Let’s try again. Here we go: to repeat and elaborate: So what? Here’s what: there’s another player needed to make the story complete—namely, carbon dioxide (CO2). You may have learned that this is a junk gas that the body just exhales or you may not have even heard that much about our buddy CO2. Why is this “junk” gas, our buddy? Well, the short of it is that carbon dioxide acts as the gate-keeper and manager of O2 traffic into and out of cells (called the Bohr effect). If not enough CO2 floats around the blood, not enough O2 gets into the cells.

And that’s the rub: the primary agendum for spiritual health should—and always does—center upon unambiguously and irrevocably getting started on the path—getting some runs on the board before you go swatting your baseball bat for a metaphysical grand slam or kicking your soccer ball for an incredible last-second game winning goal. That is, learn and then apply the basics first. Here, you rev up the body engine with an optimal amount of oxygen and then you’ve got all systems go. Just as nature intended!

This means, that instead of breathing as we normally do (about 10 - 12 or more moderate breaths a minute), which depletes CO2 and so lowers O2 getting into the tissues, we should slow our breathing down a ways so that the carbon dioxide increases a bit which in turn gets more of the precious O2 power supply to the cellular engines. The result? Kabam! More energy. More clarity. More centeredness.

Now the Daoists were on to this a couple thousand years back, albeit they were generally more interested in the deeper spiritual benefits. But already way back then, they understood the importance of breathing “long, slow and even.” Modern research and the frenzied rush to capitalize on breathwork, the latest health trend, only serves to reinforce what’s been known, at least in the far east, for many, many hundreds of years.

And breath holding? It has a place in the scheme of things even from the very start but only really comes into its own and shines with luster after one masters the art of slow breathing. Get to first base, first. Right? Then you can go for the insanely long breath holds that define truly hard-core and truly effective pranayama. You can only master your mind if your breath cooperates by calming way, way down on demand—anytime. No calm breath, no calm mind. It’s a certainty.

Be aware that a lot of folks bypass mastery of slow breathing altogether or give it short shrift. For instance, that’s how the Hindus and Tibetans teach breathwork. And plenty of modern westerners have chiseled out their own adaptations based upon these ideas. However all such ambits merely translate to bottom backwards: starting at collegiate level before ever even understanding typical high school fare. Good luck with that. You can get quite a distance and might enchant ordinary yokels with your pizzazz but heaven help you as you seek deeper abodes. Why?

Because the higher awareness of advanced yogis only welcomes those who have cottoned onto the right formula. The heart and its desires must be even and still or else strong and ferociously potent energetic currents at these deeper levels will pull a soul off track. Guaranteed. So take a note: Slow and modest breathing will help pacify your heart. With this, you have the vital first step. Check! Next, very deep breath retentions will get you higher awareness. Check, check! However, remember there’s no cutting corners or skipping classes with this sequence of practice. All esoteric traditions have stories and teachings that underscore these insights. On account of this: caveat emptor! ‘Nuff said.

To recapitulate: there are two parts to your being: energy and heart (this is a simpler way to put it for now; a more detailed—oh, those endless details—picture will be presented several webpages down the pike). The true grit of breathwork goes like this: “long, slow and even” helps settle the heart in a happy, content and genuinely balanced place; deep, deep breath holding leads to very rarified consciousness (the mental and causal realms in Hindu thought)—where miracles can and do manifest.

If you get to the wonderland of higher realms and there is still unfinished business in your heart, it will, for sure, pull you off the mark and far away from where you purport to go. The simplest traditional example comes from the Tibetan Buddhists who explain what happens during the bardo (level of awareness) following death: at this time, the deceased soul will end up migrating toward her or his predominant feelings and thoughts (especially those most deeply buried and hidden). If you’re truly at peace with yourself and this crazy cosmic gizmo called life, you win the jackpot and proceed to a higher plane of awareness. If not, well it’s all in a day’s work: back to the drawing board and, in mystical thought, another lifetime and life’s teachings.

So, there you have it. This world is not the best place to be seeking inner perfection in any way, shape, fashion or form; neither is this world much help for the cultivation of perfection in any other area of interest whatsoever. In Vedic astrology, the saying goes: “Venus does not fare well in this world.” What does not fare well in this world? Everything Venus stands for. In the context of spiritual progress, the qualities most impacted and harmed are: purity, harmony, beauty, diplomacy and fidelity. Argh! Youch. That’s not so hot.

Indeed, Shukra (Venus) only exalts (shows real strength and receives real support) in Pisces, the preeminent sign of decency and other-worldly concerns. Hence, at best, ordinary living begets a bumpy ride along the borders of the blissful and the pedestrian. More commonly though, bliss itself (Venus) teases and torments all as they madly chase it this way and that. Shukra, more powerful and savvy than any mere mortal, wins this frolic time and again; the planet of sensuality—but also decency—delights in letting humans touch and enter into its world of bliss and harmony but only for all too short a span of time. Then the never-ending drudgery and toil of life return for a much heftier stretch of time.

Sounds tricky. Is it? It is. Take your pick: whether by choice, fate, karma, luck of the draw, poor computer programming, wonderful metaphysical truth, or some other abstruse but scientifically plausible mechanism, you’ve found your way into a world of stranglehold energies. This is an esoteric law and the foundational principle of all Jyotish including the JSM (Jyotish Star Map) used in Neidan Yoga. Shukra’s version of this gridlock is the most compelling and potent cycle of all. For the sway of Venus forms the very foundation of worldly life (relationship, marriage, family).

In Hindu mythology, Shukra (Venus) refers to Shukracharya, a great guru of the gods. In Jyotish, he embodies worldly wisdom. Guru (Jupiter) refers to Brihaspati, the other great guru of the gods. He likewise has a role and embodies the higher wisdom that leads to deep personal and spiritual growth. What have we got? The primary axis (lagna to seventh bhava) relates to Shukra and worldly living and the secondary axis (fourth house to tenth house) relates to Guru and higher knowledge.

Accordingly, Shukra has a job in this world. Even though he’s on a par with the gods (and in some ways, up one on them) he’s still on the payroll and has to clock in every day to this reality just like the rest of us. What’s his gig? What’s he on about? Desire is his thing but he can’t manifest his fully glory here since the earth is more like a bedraggled school, training ground or penal colony for the spiritually inept than a cosmic playground for the inter-galactic elite out for a little fun and diversion (although they do show up here too).

As a consequence, Venus simply bounces you back and forth between satisfaction and discontent. Like a smooth-talking drug dealer, he shoots you up with a small dose of happiness and delight. And then? And then, he simply lets it wear off and give way to all the other nasties eagerly waiting in the background to pounce on you. In Jyotish, these are the tamasic (negative, evil or life-denying) forces of nature embodied in characters such as Saturn (Shani), the moon’s north node (Rahu) and south node (Ketu), Mars (Mangala) and the two worst kids Saturn ever sired called Gulika and Mandi. All these tamasic forces pull a person down away from the Light and toward every unwholesome situation imaginable. Not where you want to go!

The net effect? You are on a roller coaster of polarized emotions and sensations (bliss, consideration and fulfilment in contrast with the stock, unremarkable and discouraging pallor of daily affairs). In JSM, you’re smack dab in the thick of the primary axis. This is where all humans start and where most remain until the end of their sojourn on this planet. You should know that the primary axis (mundane concerns) does not necessarily lead to the secondary axis (metaphysical concerns).

This Venusian entertainment attraction will not willingly release it’s grip on you. Such slaphappy merriments adamantly persist, repeating themselves endlessly on and on … ad nauseam. You have to change. Such a theme park—firmly anchored from lagna (body, intelligence, ego) to seventh house (pleasure, spouse, close business partners, the world at large)—embodies a swarm of charming worldly attractions and intoxicating wonders. And the park decidedly refuses to change its fare or slate of acts. Not for you. Not for anyone else. Not for any time or place at all.

Okay. So, day-to-day life is not too user-friendly when it comes to consistent happiness and harmony. We all only get fleeting glimpses of what real bliss must be like. Then, inexorably, a lot of hardball persuasion descends with the sole intention of distracting and deluding us from any serious progress with our spiritual growth. Despite all this, it’s vital—mandatory, if you’re really fervent—to cultivate some workable level of purity in your head and heart before attempting to play in the numinous major leagues.

At the very least, you need to get your metaphysical act (ethics and a good heart) together before death comes visiting—something all of us get to enjoy. Meeting death (Yama, in the Hindu tradition) with a good heart and good manners bespeaks a modest level (at least) of personal and spiritual development.

Therefore, here’s a rule you can’t escape. No one can: Stable higher states of consciousness only come to those with a stable, grounded and contented heart (one that functions well both emotionally and physiologically). Turtle breathing will grab you both a happy heart and a well-polished physiology. Breath holding, by itself, may achieve this. However, more often than not, it falls miserably short on the task. Why?

Turtle breathing includes a pitstop at heart central as it motors along on its flight to the stars. So, your heart gets to grab a seat on this celestial-bound bus. In contrast, breath holding does not zip by any of the heart’s favorite haunts. Instead it dives deep deep from the very start. This sounds good but means that your heart gets bypassed altogether and effectively left in the dust of neglect.

In the short term, no big deal. In the long term though, only turtle breathing sets you up for success. Deep breath holding without turtle breathing sets you up for trouble and an enforced voyage off the mainstream of spiritual progress. What happens? Without help from your heart, your GPS inevitably loses its cool and bounces you off the time-tested superhighway to Light. You get lost and sputter along the byways of much lesser attractions. Your choice. Where would you like to end up? Where would you want your loved ones and friends to end up?

How to practice turtle breathing

Well then, how does one get on with this? What are the details? You’ve already got the general idea: slow down the rate of your breathing. But there’s more. How you breathe is just as important. The style to use, circular breathing, focuses on continuity. There are NO pauses in the action. This smooth approach to changes in breath direction wildly differs from breath holding which cultivates a start and stop and start pattern over and over again. You might consider circular breathing as some genteel and peaceful dance such as a waltz or foxtrot while breath holding borders on break dancing or something even more chaotic.

Now aside from being totally aligned with a proven approach to higher awareness—over a thousand years of Daoist meditation and energy cultivation—circular breathing also fits neatly, jigsaw style, into society’s current penchant for self-help approaches: that mosaic of variegated attempts by the world’s many cultures to arrogate traditional approaches for their own ends—mostly fitness, wealth and success … and sometimes, personal improvement.

Thus, just as hatha yoga (physical postures) became mainstream in western society over the last handful of decades, another revolution is in the offing: the next step up on the yoga ladder, namely, pranayama (breath control), is increasingly becoming the trendy darling of popular imagination. Called breathwork in modern parlance, this ancient art has found a receptive audience all the way from dyed-in-the-wool scientific researchers to the athletic elite to health-conscious individuals to those seriously in need of some health-consciousness. Ready for a dip?

circular breathing — slow, smooth, even changes in breath direction

How to do it? Slow, smooth and even - NO abrupt changes in direction; going from inhale to exhale is continuous with no pause and should feel like gently easing on the gas pedal as you coast around a corner in your car. You cruise around the turn in an easy and slightly decelerating way. Once at the start of the new lane, you pick up speed again and off you go on your cheery way. You don’t stop or stall out in the middle of the intersection. That would be a bad move, for sure. Likewise, exhale to inhale is continuous, slow and smooth (this takes a little more practice but can be achieved if you stick with it).

Just so you know, some other styles incorporate slight pauses on the exhale. This might work better for you. Just experiment a little. However, the cleanest way to get from the basics to very slow breaths just chugs along with silky smooth breaths: keep aiming to even out and steady the transitions between inhale and exhale and inhale. Over time you will find a natural rhythm.

The stillness found during the turn can tap into a portal to higher planes of energy and awareness. This portal relates to the silence that occurs during very deep breath holds and definitely shows up as your breath slows to a veritable halt altogether. By mastering circular breathing first, you will stand to capitalize fully on this energetic opening.

Developing a smooth and comfortable swing in breath directions first provides the essential footwork for treading along the preferred track of this vortex. If you get to the vortex straight from deep breath holding you may very well find yourself tossed aside and off center away from the sweet spot where success resides. You will never see the Wizard of Oz (angels and their friends) that way. Following the yellow brick road to Oz means hugging the midline and that means toting a balanced and smooth breath (only available from a combination of turtle breathing and the next stage in esoteric breathwork, called alternate nostril breathing; more on this in a bit).

STAGES of turtle breathing

The earlier quote from Martin Luther King, “Just take the first step,” really rings true here. The road winds ever on but hey, what are roads for?

1. resonant breathing

Start with the widely accepted standard rate to improve HRV and heart function; the quoted number is 5.5 seconds inhale and the same for exhale. Anything in that ballpark will do just fine; for instance, 5 and 5 or 6 and 6 or a slight difference in lengths all count as valid and a good start.

Monitor how you feel as that’s the best measure of what works best. You can practice this forever. Still, just tune in. Eventually, with a little nudge, your breath rate should slow further of its own accord. How’s the nudge work? You aim for a little slower, longer, smoother and lighter with each breath. There may be a slight sense of air hunger but you should moderate your efforts so that the desire to inhale deeper or more quickly can be managed without squirming or feeling awful.

No pain, no gain applies for this but another rule also applies: NEVER push into pain that really hurts. You figure out how far you can go before it turns seriously unpleasant (the body will automatically attempt to force fix the air shortage at this point). Once you know what too far is, then go to about 70% of that amount. Usually you can flow along at this more modest level and get good results with minimal backlash.

Why all the fuss? Here you have the only natural way to adjust the carbon dioxide tolerance level. You need to reset what the body thinks is normal and useful. Unfortunately, the bod’s too stupid to figure this one out. What to do? Just continue on with gradually slowing and softening your breath. It should eventually be so gentle that you don’t even notice a tug on the hair strands in your nostrils as you breathe in and out—now that’s mild!

In effect, you are practicing micro-breath holds which, in sum, create a mild increase of CO2 without decreasing the blood level of O2 very much or at all. Over time, the brain will reset its gauges to expect higher levels of CO2. And this gives you the ticket for success: you can then breath much slower without any discomfort at all and the higher CO2 in turn increases blood flow with its precious O2 cargo to tissues throughout the body (via the Bohr effect) so you’re healthier, happier and sharper. Just follow your body’s lead and be persistent with the correct technique and you will succeed.

Depending upon your state of health and lifestyle, it could be anywhere from 3 - 6 months to 2 - 3 years for this shift to kick in noticeably. Take your time. This stage makes or breaks the entire spiritual enterprise. No kidding.

To gain a better understanding of resonant breathing and its place in the overall scheme of breathwork, you can check out the following essential references. Do have a look as here you have solid gold sitting on the table before you with no sign of a tax collector or other bad vibe in sight: Important References for Modern Breathwork.

2. Resonant breathing with qigong

The intermediate stage of this work ropes in qi practice to help modulate and moderate the breath pattern; the qigong used gets sophisticated quickly but you can start with what you know once you get to this level. A webpage further down the pike will fully discuss opening and closing qigong of the joints and eventually the organs and whole body. For now, you can click the following link on Normal Abdominal Breathing (NAB) for an example and brief explanation. Or, continue reading and you will get to the relevant info on NAB after a few more screens of text.

This skill catapults the practice from a simple physical workout into physiological transformation. In Daoism, such a combination of physical and energetic practice constitutes the first genuinely meaningful and worthwhile step towards higher awareness. Your trajectory begins to skirt the borders of minggong (karma manifested as your body, heart, mind and experience). This means you start to change karma in earnest.

3. slower breathing with qigong

Using opening and closing qigong as a lever, you will find your breath slowing down even further. Such a slow breath rate also naturally ensues for advanced (or sometimes intermediate) meditators. Ideally you get to this rate via both meditation (xinggong = mental) and qigong (minggong = energetic) means. Of the two approaches, the qigong path towers as more robust and reliable. How come? Why, because the mind rides on wind (qi, prana, lung).

Hence, ensure you firmly cradle your subtle energies and keep them in tow as you power towards munificent stillness. For now, just get resonant breathing and the opening/closing qigong under your belt. And then? Get good with alternate nostril breathing. That’s introduced on the level 4 Sadhana page.

These skills will set you up and get you ready for the slower rates used in advanced breath holding. The level 5 and 6 Sadhana webpages will point out and articulate the stepping stones needed to accomplish full mastery when working with ratios (breath holds). Both inhalation retention and exhalation retention figure prominently in this recipe for preeminent control of the breath and winds (qi, prana, lung).

heart rate variability — the science behind turtle breathing

To sum up this section, so far: the pithy answer to “what’s the best way to breathe?” reminds us that all roads may lead to Rome (or Beijing or Santiago or take your pick) but the road we choose to travel right here and now figures tall in the plot—it chisels out our future more decisively than all other possible influences combined. In short, you don’t sneeze at all the other players (offering you many a possible way to breathe) but you do stand your ground firmly and set sail for your destination—not theirs.

And part of any itinerary—including yours—should include health. In particular, heart health. Now research over the last handful of decades shows that breathing in a slow, smooth flow without abrupt pauses as breath changes direction leads to a significant increase in heart-rate variability (HRV), a strong measure of heart health.

In short, HRV correlates to resilience, how quickly you can spring back from stress and shock. As you chill out, your heart rate slows and conversely when times are tough or things go awry you can bet that your heart rate speeds up. The next step in the recipe for HRV monitors the quality of these changes in heart rate. Does the heart rate jump erratically or get stuck in a rut? How quickly and steadily does the rate change?

A single number pegs the overall effectiveness of all these factors. This measure of variability in heart rate (HRV) therefore says something about how able you are to ricochet back up when needed and how able you are to hang out the gone fishing sign (or gone mushroom picking, for the vegetarians) whenever possible and fitting.

As an example, when someone gets upset or angry, her or his sympathetic nervous system (fight and flight) goes on red alert and the person’s HRV score will get smaller. This means she or he is less healthy which only makes sense: if one is off kilter then one is not doing too well. Likewise, when you’re upbeat or in a good mood, your parasympathetic nervous system (rest and restoral) kicks in and HRV values increase.

The repercussion? Holding your breath sparkles with potential health and occult benefits but in the short-haul, HRV is not one of them. On the other hand, slow regular breathing patterns lead to increased HRV numbers.

Here’s the truth: HRV should come first in any sane spiritual program: one does not jump to purely mental and energetic function without first passing through the physical plane and, for the body, all its related physiology. Get the body healthy, happy and ticking well and you are miles ahead on crafting the same for your energetic bodies (etheric, astral and mental planes). An occasional yogi or adept can jump straight to the goal due to good fortune but such an exception simply proves the rule.

The image above of a smooth curve goes bonkers and haywire when the breath is held. You can imagine that the happy-go-lucky curve transmogrifies into something more abrupt and tempestuous: like a chain of triangles (inhale, pause, exhale, pause, repeat ad infinitum). Normal breathing—even without breath holds—typically looks like this chain of triangles. Just take a minute to notice your regular breathing: if you haven’t been training much yet, you will notice that there are short but discernable pauses between every inhale and exhale and inhale. Measurement of HRV would show a much more disorganized (lower) score. That means lower health for both the heart and the entire body.

In fact, some research suggests that, at least in the short-term, breath holding leads to both cardiac sympathetic and parasympathetic activation simultaneously. That’s like stomping on the gas pedal and the brake at the same time. Not the most elegant of places to be, huh? Who needs mixed messages? So, does this mean that all the breath holding hype is bogus and really not useful? Hardly. Breath holding—long, deep breath holds—reigns as the necessary prerequisite for any and all advanced meditations. You’ve got to face this formidable pass in the spiritual road someday, some way. Or, you’re not on the spiritual path at all: or, at least not the path genuine yogis take.

It’s just how you get there that matters. If you could, simply jump to the goal and forget the small change but that’s not the fare for most mortals. So try something a little soberer but way saucier since it works. What’s that? Yep, you are right: sounds like turtles. And they breathe long, slow and evenly.

As ever, anything taken too far in a thoughtless way will lead to extremes and certain imbalance followed by ill health and worse. As an example, mull this over: Riding on the crest of the crazed wave of modern breathwork which has taken the world by storm, balance and perspective have all but drowned in a sea of hype and partial truths. Why? Everyone’s excited about reducing the number of breaths per minute and thereby increasing carbon dioxide tolerance. All well and good … but …

But, what? But the baby of good circulation has almost unanimously been thrown out with the bath water of cutting deep breathing way down or even out of the scene altogether. The thinking goes that deep breathing never really was part of the original yogic approach. Rather, a westerner concocted the idea in the early 1900’s and successfully promoted the technique to alternative therapists and the yoga community. The idea took hold and even Indian yoga masters began promoting the method.

Deep breathing entails using all parts of the torso—chest, midriff and abdomen—to take in as much air as possible. Sounds harmless enough. What’s the drawback? Back to science for a moment: The air in a single breath contains two to three times more oxygen than the body needs. Consequently, a health enthusiast bent on taking regular deep, full breaths will get a great internal massage and stretch of the organs but will lose out because too much oxygen circulates in the blood. This lowers carbon dioxide levels and ushers the body into a bad pattern of over breathing with the paradoxical net effect of diminishing oxygen delivery to the tissues and organs. A person breaths more but gets less of the needed oxygen deep deep inside to the tissues that rely upon it to function properly.

That being so, everyone can conclude that too much deep breathing is detrimental to health. But is throwing the baby (deep breathing) out with the bath water (breathing more often than needed for optimal carbon dioxide levels) a wise choice? Hardly. It’s an awful move which demonstrates true herd mentality and very little sensibility.

Nothing else matches deep breathing for stretching tissues and organs from the inside out. You get to massage the insides of your body, something essential for good health. Regular yoga poses can partially fill the bill but do not fully access the physical and physiological patterns related to respiration. Only deep breathing can do the job thoroughly, accurately and with the best effects. The secret rests in how much deep breathing to do.

In fact, deep breathing stands so far above most other forms of physical therapy that it can nonchalantly roost on center stage as a primary tool to enable and craft lasting positive changes. Really? Really. How about some facts? Here’s a good one: what do you think does the best job to gauge how long you will live? Your genes? Maybe diet? Exercise? A winning attitude? These all help but pale in comparison to the true champ: lung capacity. Bigger lungs mean more ability to regulate and promote health. Smaller lungs and breath intake mean the opposite: poorer chances at healing and warding off stress, disease and death.

If you don’t stretch and exercise regularly, the statistics say that you will lose around 12% of your lung’s capacity over the span from age 30 to age 50. And it gets steadily worse: by 80 you would have lost 30% of your youthful lung capacity. This sinister decline makes the simple act of breathing more difficult and accelerates the onset of endless chronic diseases and a quicker demise altogether. Deep breathing provides an antidote to all this for research shows that the lungs are malleable and can retain or even increase their capacity over time if they are exercised properly.

how to breath deeply

Functionally, a person breathes into three levels of the lungs—upper, middle and lower. The capacity for oxygen transport increases the deeper you go. So, breathing into the lower part of your chest confers you the most relaxed, efficient and useful way to breath. Babies breath this way and so do most folks when they’re relaxed or in an easy-go-lucky mood. Anything more challenging than that drags the other levels into the picture. The middle level relates to moderate activity—nothing too hectic but still engaging and requiring focus. Saber-toothed tigers, traffic jams, oppressive personal interactions and the like all kick in the upper level.

A normal relaxed breath feels as if it starts from the abdomen. This stems from the actual controller of breathing, a muscle called the diaphragm. Shaped like the top part of an umbrella, this acts to pull air into the lungs and its downward motion in turn causes the abdomen to expand a bit. The last part of the inhale then rises to activate intercostal muscles along the lower ribs a moderate amount. These expand the chest a smidge to the front but mostly laterally.

A normal relaxed exhale goes in the opposite direction: the middle to lower ribs start the exhale by contracting gently inwards (no muscle power is usually needed for this: it’s just a natural letting go of the expansion). And then the abdomen returns to normal from a slightly inflated state. Simple, huh?

Strategies abound for the best way to take in an ordinary breath. Likewise, you confront a smorgasbord of choices for accomplishing something a touch more taxing: taking a deep breath. What you choose to do depends in large measure upon whom you listen to. Nonetheless, some general guidelines can help here:

1. For normal breathing, aim to breathe as lightly as possible. Breathe low into the abdomen first and then add in the lower ribs as required. If you’re really stressed then finish off with a slight vertical lifting of the upper chest.
   

2. Consciously resolve to practice deep breathing as a separate exercise every day (or at least most days). (But only do this if you want to live a long and productive life and succeed with spiritual development. Hee-hee.) Seriously though, invest in 10 - 15 minutes of steady deep breathing. That’s all it takes!
   
   You can incorporate any further work into your hatha yoga or other physical cultivation. For instance, when working to deepen a seated spinal twist, you can inhale into the tightness of the chest and ribs to open up the chest from the inside out. The same applies for practically every other āsana (pose).
   
   You have endless opportunities to improve and revise this skill. It becomes essential during very advanced meditation because you use the body and breath as gauges for assessing the quality of mental focus. If the mind drifts off a ways you just adjust body or breath or both (the body could be physical but also energetic such as the etheric body or astral body).
   

3. For deep breathing, just follow the regular inhalation sequence from low to high: initiate the three parts sequentially but this time actively open the involved section of torso by engaging your muscles, bones, fascia and other tissues.
   
   Thus start with the abdomen: the usual target is a region about 2 - 3 inches (5 - 7 cm) below the umbilicus (belly button). Feel a small ball (tennis ball or even smaller, for instance a golf ball) half way from the front to the back of the body at this level of the abdomen. Imagine this ball expands as you start to breath in. Continue to expand it in all directions and puff out all directions (back, sides, down and front) the same amount.
   
   Give especial attention to the back and sides since these areas are naturally much tighter than the front. Opening the perineum (very bottom of torso) downwards is more advanced and usually covered later but you can start the process now. So, also imagine and try to feel the ball expanding downwards. Give least emphasis to expanding the belly (front) since this area naturally expands. Don’t expand upwards at all or only very very little. This follows since the diaphragm pushes downward and it makes sense to cooperate with nature when possible. Expand to about 70 - 80% of what is physically possible for you. Never push yourself much further than this as that will be inviting in certain trouble over time. Too much of a good thing is not a good thing.
   
   Then continue on to the next section: expand the lower ribs even further. They should move out mostly at about 45 degrees toward the sides (so half forward and half toward the side). There is some variation here, so feel into your body for the optimal direction that gives you the most comfort and provides the easiest and fullest expansion of the middle chest.
   
   Finally, apply the same ideas to the upper chest. At this point, your body will already be mostly as inflated as it can get. However, the top off now provides important gains especially for the head, neck and upper organs. The upper ribs mostly act as a vertical lever (as if you were pumping water from a well). So, lift the front top of the chest. This is the area just below the base of the neck. At the same time, lightly lift the tops of the shoulders. Not a lot but an inch or so. This engages the very tops of the lungs and the associated connective tissues.

   
   Whew. That’s the inhale. If you can, hold your breath for a moderate amount of time. Pace yourself and stay within your limits. If you feel too breathless after a single or a few rounds of this, you are holding the breath too long. Still, over time keep pushing your limit up a handful of seconds each week or so.
   
   The exhale offers you a much easier trudge: start at the top and work down section by section. You do not forcefully contract any muscles on the exhale. Just slowly let go of the upper chest expansion first. Then follow with the lower ribs and finally the abdominal region. The transition between regions should be smooth and effortless.
   
   A more advanced exhale would continue at this point and engage muscles to contract the abdominal muscles further (much like a bandha in hatha yoga). But for now, just stick with the regular deep breathing and you will gain a lot more than trying to practice advanced levels before getting good with the intermediate levels.
   
   You know you have it right if you can breath like this for 10 - 15 minutes smoothly and comfortably. At the end of the session you should not feel out of breath in any way. If that’s the case, then BINGO! You’ve got it down pat. Otherwise, just back off a little where appropriate and continue with that for a couple weeks before plunging deeper into the pool. You can do it!

Normal abdominal breathing (NAB) … kind of catchy, huh? But what’s it mean? Well, normal means normal. It’s the way healthy people breath. Babies start out this way. They use their diaphragm to inhale. And, as explained earlier in the section on deep breathing, contraction of the diaphragm creates a vacuum that causes air to fill the lungs but it also causes the abdominal muscles to expand a bit, just like a balloon filling up.

Therefore, the hallmark of NAB relates to proper inhalation from the diaphragm. You should feel as if you take the inhale from the lower part of your chest and ribs (where this muscle resides). The expansion of the tummy and abdomen results from the diaphragm’s downward excursion. You do not consciously try to expand the abdominal muscles. That would be backwards and counterproductive. Don’t do it! Have a care as many half-baked ideas float around these days about correct breathing.

The mechanics of normal abdominal breathing are entirely the same as for deep breathing. Refer to the earlier section above for the details, if needed. The only difference lies in the depth of the breath. For adults: total lung capacity hovers about 6 L and a normal breath during rest moves about 0.5 L. So, that would be NAB. In contrast, a deep breath can be up to around six times this much. Quite a contrast, right?

So, the amount you inhale and exhale can vary but the mechanics (how you use your muscles, torso and body) remain much the same. However, it’s worth noting that a really deep breath, say during strong exercise, can recruit secondary muscles to help with the chore. But a controlled deep breath (you’re not exercising much, if at all; usually you’re just sitting peacefully) during yogic or other esoteric practice will normally follow the same sequence and use the same muscles as normal abdominal breathing. This means that on inhale, the diaphragm leads and at the very end, the intercostal muscles chip in. On exhale, the sequence reverses.

So, now you’re ready to roll. Whether for ordinary breathing or deep breathing, just have a sense of filling a balloon or expanding a small ball deep inside your lower abdomen (about 2-3 inches [6-7 cm or so] below the belly button). The balloon expands in all directions but place most emphasis, in order: on the back, then the sides, then downward and finally very lightly upwards. Don’t even bother with motion toward the front since the body automatically does this and needs no further encouragement.

However, the body really does need support and guidance for opening in the other directions. Here you have an endless opportunity to cultivate smoother and more integrated breathing. Regardless of how good you get with this, you can improve—and should improve—further. It’s a lifelong challenge and adventure. Yahoo! Gold, at last.

warm-ups

Turtle breathing, deep breathing, normal abdominal breathing … where’s all this headed? Breathing the right way surely beats the blues and a whole raft of stress-related illnesses but for the spiritual quest that’s all second fiddle. The main attraction only spins into view with stillness in full splendor and this only does its own whirling dervish entrance when accompanied by long breath holds. In turn, these pauses in the respiratory action require the support provided by consummate control of both qi and mental focus.

What have you got? Focused qi and mental focus enable long breath holds which then turn the favor to deepen the stillness of meditation and lead to even higher realizations. The venue for all this activity compasses the lower and middle abdomen a little past midway in from front to back. Because of this, you will be miles ahead of the game by first opening up this region with physical stretches and movements: the circulation will improve, the connective tissues will loosen while they tone, the internal organs in the region will start to function better and cause the entire physiology to perk up and enhance itself. All this lays the groundwork for success with the actual energy work and meditation.

You don’t need to become a superwoman or superman but even moderate effort at developing flexibility and strength in your core (lower back internal muscles and tissues) will pay excellent dividends rapidly. The following couple of warmups are a good prep for even more vigorous abdominal work that accompanies the higher levels of breathwork and meditation.

vertical rolls and vertical stretches (front of abdomen)

To begin with, gently stretch the abdomen with vertical rolls. This action mostly localizes to the abdominal muscles so the stretch will mainly affect the front and middle depths but not regions back toward the spine. That’s next. For now, let’s start with the front of the tummy.

In the below gallery, each row is one round. Note that the roll goes from top down. You can click the top left image and then click at the right of the enlarged image to scroll through the series and get a closer look. After practicing for a while you will get a smooth rolling action. This helps loosen the abdomen in general and specifically loosens any restrictions it may have up to the diaphragm. Ten minutes a day is a good goal. Continue at this level until you really start to feel a loosening the lower abdomen and a noticeable sense of comfort with breathing.

Images from 2010 Longevity Breathing Instructor Training. Crete, Greece. www.energyarts.com

Following vertical rolls, you can work to stretch the abdominal muscle fibers down and up with inhalation and exhalation. The tummy can expand outward during the inhale but focus more on the stretching up and down. The tissues go down with inhalation and return back up on exhalation. Remember to use only about 70% of maximum effort or stretch to the tissues. Any more than this will elicit tension in the nervous system. Repeat for 10-30 rounds (up and down is one round) or continue until you hit or approach the 70-80% wall then take a break. You deserve it!

The trajectory now aims to stretch both the connective tissues and the nervous system fibers mildly and thereby release tension in both. To achieve this, your mind should be calm, centered and present during the exercise. With this mindset you should palpably feel the nervous system gradually release—at first, just local to the diaphragm but with time, throughout the body.

Okay. You’ve achieved a rolling action of the abdominal wall and then a vertical stretching of it up and down. All well and good. Next, a couple more challenging exercises that will take time to master but promise you a lot of beneficial gains. If you stick with them, they will deliver. Guaranteed.

horizontal circles of abdomen

First, the simpler job: isolate a circling motion of the torso to the middle and lower abdominal regions only. Without using your thighs or upper body, engage your waist muscles to move this region. As shown in the adjacent image, it can be helpful to place one hand in front and the other in back of the lower torso.

Use your hands to assess and refine the gyrations. You can let your spine undulate, wave and jog about while the circles scoot down the road. But focus mostly on the inside region about halfway from front to back where a marvelous numinous bonanza eventually reveals itself. How many times? 10-30 rotations in each direction.

One down. What’s left? The tricky one but well worth learning.

spinal rolls (lower abdomen to lower ribs)

Before, you plowed the soil along the front and middle of the abdomen. Now you swap sides and till the spine. This certainly poses more of a conundrum. So, how to activate the wavelike motion along the spine? In the end, trial and error will rule the day but have at it with these principles:

1. First understand that going upwards means each vertebra (segment of the spine) will flex relative to the one below it (as if it is bending forward just as you bend the torso forward relative to your legs in order to reach toward your toes). Like a row of dominoes falling over: the bottom segment will flex to ignite the pageant then the next one above will flex and so on all the way up the spine.
   
   Sounds easy but the required nerve connections are not there for most people (outside of some athletes and trained specialists such as martial artists and qigong masters). What will happen? You will find that instead of one bone moving and then another, most of the time it will rather be a section of bones moving a little and then another section of bones above moving in its own creaky way. Sounds abysmal. Any hope? Yes. Yes, there is.
   

2. But first things first. Everybody gets to start with the clumps and groups and sections of vertebrae. To rev up the engine and get these folks falling into line you can squeeze your thighs together (not all the way but do activate the muscles). This will cause the pelvis to move backwards. As this happens, gently but definitely tuck the tailbone under (coccyx moves down and forward, if possible).
   
   What have you done? Think about it: you want to flex the bottom vertebra so instead of doing that you can get the same effect by making the part below it go the other way. In this case, you whole pelvis tucks (back of pelvis goes down and bottom of pelvis goes forward) which means that the vertebra just above it acts as if it flexed relative to the pelvis. Or think about your torso and legs. Standing, you can only flex the torso (top part) to achieve your mission. But what if you sit on, say, a chair or the sofa or couch? Straightening your legs out forward now means that your torso is halfway toward the legs. So, moving the bottom in the opposite direction (up) had the same effect as moving the top down.
   
   Or, consider a whip. Once you snap the handle a wavelike motion runs down the whip itself. So, whip the spine from bottom to top by continuing to tuck your pelvis and gradually move it forward as the point of the wave rises up the spine and moves toward the rear (in the opposite direction to the pelvis). With some practice, you will add this to your toolkit easily.
   
   How to get the wave back down? Yes, right you are: opposite motions for all involved. Imagine each segment does a backbend on the vertebra below it. The pelvis now moves backward and the tuck unwinds (back of pelvis goes up and bottom of pelvis goes toward the back). Think of the wave along the whip. The pelvis moves toward the rear and the point of the wave along the spine (where the backbend is happening) simultaneously moves forward. Over time, you can orchestrate all the parts and steady achieve clearer focus on the actual point of the wave as it flows along.
   

3. As the below pictures illustrate, it can be helpful to place both of your hands on the front of the abdomen, one above the other. Listen through the hands. Feel the physical changes and steadily master the art of sensing the electricity (qi, prana) related to all this activity. Both physical changes and electrical changes provide you a world of useful insight that you can harness to fine tune your efforts. How many times? As usual: 10-30 rounds. Here, one set facing front and then if you’re game, one set for the torso twisted partially to each side. Remember to stick to about 70% overall effort. So, if your tired or exhausted after 10-15 reps then start there. Over time, you will improve and your entire inner journey will shine brighter.

Well done! You got some great feathers in your cap now. Four of them: vertical rolls and vertical shifts, both from the front of the abdomen; horizontal circles of the abdomen; and spinal rolls facing forward and twisting about 30-45 degrees to each side. Somewhere down the pike, on the other side of the scraggly, craggy hill, this will make a good story by the fireside one chilly winter’s eve. As the sage advice of Baguazhang goes: keep moving!

The References webpage has a section on Bruce Frantzis which lists a couple courses he teaches about opening and closing qigong. This style specifically refers to expanding and contracting areas of the physical body. One starts with the joints in the limbs and progresses to other areas such as organs, cavities and the more subtle joints of the spine and skull. The practice can be linked to your breath and/or intention.

The dynamics underlying this practice show up everywhere. For instance, practically all of Daoist neidan centers upon bringing qi into a dantian and then letting it flow back out—essentially a way to pack qi into the midline. You’ve got: breath in, breath out; sun rise, sun set; in osteopathy, the organs and bones move in response to an electrical ebb and flow; you live, you die; it’s spring, it’s autumn; in energy medicine, you breath health into a spot, you breath discomfort and disease out from the same spot; you scoot around, you take a rest. Get the idea? Fundamental.

Like the tides, energy regularly comes into and then flows out of all objects in the natural world. Further, the same process occurs for higher energy bodies (etheric body, astral body, mental body, causal body, etc.) and reflects a fundamental energetic pattern found throughout the cosmos. Therefore you will find this energy in/energy out method solidly situated as a core piece of practically all advanced qigong and yoga.

That’s the gist. For more details about opening and closing qigong, just search the web for the style, type of technique or related fundamental concept and not necessarily the specific name. With some time and focus, you will uncover a bounty of useful insights. The Neidan Yoga version of this crucial practice gets introduced and thoroughly delimited over the following two webpages (practice levels 4 and 5).

The focus now turns inwards—literally inwards—so the bullseye mostly sits inside the body. The three techniques explained here (direct qi into the body; pack it; hold it) represent the foundational neigong practices used by most advanced esoteric traditions. They provide the essential bedrock needed to progress into the big leagues of mental focus and clarity.

Once you get a decent handle on these, you can motor onto the highway of some truly high-octane qigong which will help foster a deep connection between your qi (minggong) and your mind (xinggong). Just so you understand where you’ve been and why you’re now doing what you’re doing, here’s the overall plot regarding development of qi skills:

SEQUENCE of QI TECHNIQUES (up through practice level 3)

1. Sense qi (weigong = outer qigong)

2. Direct qi from hand to hand (weigong)

3. Direct qi along meridians on the surface of the body (weigong)

4. Expand and sink qi around the body (advanced weigong)

5. Direct qi along the internal branches of the meridians; these are all found well below the surface of the skin and thus direct qi traffic inside the body (neigong)

6. Direct qi from hand to hand through the body (usually fore and aft) (intermediate neigong)

   a. Find the organs associated with the twelve main meridians

   b. Find the midline (directly halfway from front to back) and two related vertical lines

   c. Find the spine (an inch in front, the front side, the central channel inside, the back side)

7. Pack qi into each chakra (very early stage of neidan)

   a. Direct qi through a chakra

   b. Progressively pause longer and longer at a chakra while sweeping through it back and forth;; imagine depositing qi into a qi bank account at the chakra

8. Hold focus at a chakra after locating it by sweeping back and forth; hold the breath and use qi needles to stabilize focus; see the chakra; feel the energy and heat of the chakra

All well and good but where’s this doohickey headed? Just so you know, each stage builds upon the preceding ones. Here’s the next stage to be covered in levels 4 and 5 of the sadhana pages:

Pull in qi from all directions outside the body; pack it; hold it; then send it back out (spherical breathing = the fundamental technique that rides upon Reverse Abdominal Breathing); there are many types (pull into an internal meridian, organ, joint, spine, chakra, area of weakness or discomfort); later, you even pull qi to specific regions outside the body!

As another example of spherical breathing, the following types shore up the early stages of neidan cultivation according to traditional Daoist methods:

• Pore breathing (focus just on the pores at surface of body)

• Whole body pore breathing (same as pore breathing but contract and expand entire body)

• Xiatian breathing (lower abdominal breathing: first to the region then to a specific point)

REVIEW of SINKING and EXPANDING QI
Success with sinking and expanding qi rests upon an ability to expand awareness beyond its ordinary confines. So, as explained in the preceding section on yoga, you start by first mastering the key competency of spaciousness—expanding and opening your mind beyond the confines of your physical body. This entails a mental skill (imagination, visualization, sensitivity) which doesn’t require much qi ability, at first, to be effective. So, it’s a great leadup to more formal energy work with the space and qi surrounding a body or object.

With even a rudimentary capacity to open your focus and embrace a field of space around you, you’re ready for the real deal. Traditionally, one learns sinking qi first since here the flow of qi is in only one direction (down, of course).

PRACTICE IN A STANDING POSE FIRST
While you can sink qi at any time, in any place and posture, it’s best to develop the skill in a standing posture at first. Take your pick for a pose to use—there are dozens and dozens and dozens of reasonable choices. Neidan Yoga mostly hews to traditional nei jia quan (internal Chinese martial arts such as Bajiquan and Baguazhang) so let’s consider a well-known Baji stance and how to practice.

Bajiquan Horse Stance (Baji pose)
Legs are a little wider than the hips with feet angled outward in align with the knees. So, if you bend at the knees they will track out directly over, and in align, with the feet. Squat a little by sinking your pelvis and tucking the tailbone forward (bottom of pelvis goes forward and top of pelvis tilts back a touch).

All movements should feel comfortable. Nothing should feel forced or jammed or bound up. Weight is 50-50 on the two legs. Later, you can use 40-60 weighting (60% on the rear leg) to get even more value from the pose. If you use 40-60 weighting, be sure to change directions at least once during the session (so both legs get the 60% weighting at some point).

Both hands are held in loose fists. The front arm bends at the elbow with the palm facing up a little in front of the lower face (as if you were going to support your chin). Make sure to have a sense of space in the elbow despite its deep bend (you can straighten and bend the arm a few times during practice: as you start to bend the arm, use your muscles and intention to gap the elbow and make some extra space (a tiny amount but noticeable once you get the knack for it); keep that sense of space as you fully bend the arm at the elbow.

You hold your rear hand palm down (or palm angled in toward the body about 45°). It should be situated near the midline with the arm at a comfortable level somewhere between the lower ribs and the navel. The arms should be held neither too tight nor too loose (as if you are holding a baby and don’t want to crush or drop the little dear). Check out the adjacent image. He’s doing a great pose.

SINKING QI
Baji practitioners learn how to sink qi in this pose. They follow a set procedure called Ba Zi Jue (the eight essential parts) which focuses progressively through eight major regions (the joints) of the body. From top to bottom these are:

1. Head (occiput; that is, the back and not the front)

2. Shoulder

3. Elbow

4. Hand (wrist)

5. Sacrum (and coccyx)

6. Hip

7. Knee (rear part and not the patella [knee cap])

8. Foot (ankle)

ALSO, include the SPINE (“For wushu [Chinese martial arts], the rear part of the body is MORE important and is easily neglected by an ordinary human.”)

1. Base of neck (C7 - seventh cervical vertebra)

2. Base of spine (L5 - fifth lumbar vertebra)

3. Then, sequentially work along the spine (especially areas of tension)

TECHNIQUE
There are three sequential stages to master:

1. Sink intention from top DOWNWARDS

2. Unload intention from bottom UPWARDS

3. Sink any location in the body or sink the entire body

Coordinate intention with the breath. Imagine that you are filling a balloon with healing energy as you inhale and that the balloon deflates back to its normal size as you exhale. Have a sense that the region you are working with dissolves (disappears, sinks) as you exhale. Open all joints in the region while you inhale and feel as if all the tissues are like a balloon being filled: they expand, soften, get warmer, become more comfortable, gain a sense of ease, melt and simply feel like something pleasantly warm and fluid.

On the exhale, feel all tensions in the area totally release. You can also incorporate visualization and imagination with this process as they can augment the effect. Tangibly feel that this region—expanded like a balloon—now placidly and peacefully returns to its normal size. As it rebounds back, feel all stresses sinking down out and away from the locus. Both feel and visualize the stress dropping down, down deep into the earth. You can even imagine a slightly smoky color for the stress and discomfort being released from your body.

No more puttering or sputtering around. Now, the rubber hits the road. Time to make use of all the sinking and dissolving skills you’ve been chiseling out from the granite. First, what are the kidneys? Where are they? And, why are they? Fair enough. Here you go:

In western medicine, kidneys have a lot to do with fluid regulation and filtration. Quite true but the eastern vantage helps more. In both Chinese Medicine (CM) (the old time stuff that was around way before the Cultural Revolution) and the thrice-watered down slop the Communists foisted upon the western world as Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), one finds that the kidneys are but a step from the gods.

The CM model used way back (a couple thousand years ago) partitioned reality into three: Heaven (Tian) - Human (Ren) - Earth (Di). The idea being that humans stand between two great forces of nature: heaven and earth. In terms of a pecking order though, Jyotish maps this threesome more cleanly to the three lower lokas:

1. Bhu loka (earth plane) — residents of the earth = humans (Ren)

2. Bhuva loka (etheric and/or astral plane) — residents of the solar system = planets = Earth (Di)

3. Svarga loka (heavenly plane) — residents beyond the solar system = stars = Heaven (Tian)

So, both the CM and Jyotish models essentially say the same thing but just from slightly varying angles. Which means? Plenty: CM firmly embeds itself—via both theory and practice—into a metaphysical framework that jibes well with the reports of advanced yogis and sages.

In contrast, TCM falters along as the litter of a very jaded ideology which only offers a rare glimpse and smidgen touch at the shores of esoteric knowledge. TCM does have valuable knowledge but it’s been framed within a very materialistic herbalist mindset—sort of like western pharmacology caught between the world of its cozy stock answers for everything and a freaked out world of very badly mind-warping drug trips.

TCM is a medicine without a home. It’s not appreciated or respected much in the western world and it’s utterly belittled in China and eastern cultures which value modern western science above all else. Of course, western medicine and science outperform TCM in practically all things and areas so no luck for TCM back home.

However, the few areas where TCM still outperforms western ways or at least puts up a good show are the ones that concern us. What areas? Neurology, the gamut of emotions, chronic conditions that are still too complicated for the western reductionist approach.

And what’s this reductionist approach all about? The notion saunters along amiably and seems plausible. It’s simple, really—the catch is, it’s too simple. In terms of healthcare, here’s the gist: to fix anything, you should tear it—and anything that looks vaguely related—apart into shreds over and over again until nothing remains except for miniscule particles like cells or proteins or other swatches of tissue and chemical. And, if ever in doubt, take it down a couple notches to even more impossibly microscopic levels such as the world of quantum particles and dynamics. And then … fix the pygmy specks. Somehow, this supposedly cascades all the way back up to the world of familiar sights, sounds and sensations. Hey, bingo. Problem solved!

Does this truly work? For sure, yes. However, it generally falls short of a complete fix when the topic gets too complicated—the human body or heart or mind, as examples. The reductionist approach often needs some help by way of a more holistic (system-oriented) protocol. You’re not dealing with black and white here: both styles have merit and usually work best as a team.

If you consider for a moment, the venues where the reductionist model falls short are all on the borderland of deeper levels of awareness. And that is why the kidneys (CM version) are of great interest: they serve as a viable bridge to the spiritual side of human experience. In short, CM and the entire metaphysical manifesto sing to the tune of a different piper: holistic methods that deal with the entire spectrum of life from physical to emotional to mental, psychic and spiritual levels.

Righto. Because of this deeper understanding, the kidneys are usually written as Kidneys to acknowledge that they encompass more than just some physiological processes. In fact, they have sentience of a sort—they can and do channel, register and store higher forms of knowledge (feelings, thoughts, qi, prana, mind, karma). Yikes … just like humans.

And where are these gentle folk to be found? Have a peek:

Note that the right kidney lies a little lower than the left one. An easy way to locate them uses L1 (the first lumbar vertebra from the top of the lumbar region downwards) as the landmark since it intersects both and relates to the level that the blood vessels travel to and from these organs. The medial edge of each Kidney lies about 2 inches from the midline. Quite a lot of anatomy if you’re not used to such fare, eh? Hang on. There’s not much more of the schoolwork to go (for now).

Here’s the practice. Hold on to your hat and umbrella, please, as this one’s a rare gem indeed:

1. All the following steps and practices can be done while sitting comfortably (preferably in a cross-legged position if you can muster that but anything with a straight spine and comfortable feel to it will do). You can also toy around with these practices while standing.
   
   However, be forewarned that standing—although it seems simple—really is quite the bear … growl! Standing correctly by itself already taxes the soul but here you must also concentrate fully on qigong techniques that demand a lot of presence, judgment and coordination. You’re not cruising in a Tesla on auto-pilot; you need to participate consciously too. Eventually, mix standing with seated practice to garner the best outcomes for all your efforts.
   

2. You’ve already learned to use your mind to cull qi to a region of tension or stress and then release the whole package (physical and electrical) on your outbreath. Right? This basic style of dissolving undergirds all more advanced methods.
   

3. In CM, kidneys resonate with the colors: black, indigo and purple (which has more red in it than violet). Take your pick but if you think you might have a tumor or some form of nasty sluggish energy like that then shy away from black and choose one of the others. Purple is safe for everyone. Black is fine for most folks.
   

4. Remember, expanding qi from previous pages? Now, you can flex your qi muscle and do the same but in reverse: pull in qi from the six cardinal directions (left, right, front, back, above, below) and fill both kidneys with this energy. See and feel the kidneys begin to sparkle and overflow with the bubbling, lively qi. Make sure it has the color you selected. Keep at it throughout a slow, steady and even inhale. If you know how to perform the basic version of opening and closing qigong then OPEN both elbow, wrist and hand joints along with both knee, ankle and foot joints all throughout the inhalation.
   

5. Nice. You’ve souped-up the car. Now it’s time to go cat go. First step on the motorway: just dissolve both kidneys. Use the sound: YOU (as in “you can do it”) to vibrate both patches of glowing qi slowly as you exhale with a long, steady and even outbreath.
   

6. Great. Repeat for 10 rounds or until you first notice feeling even a little winded. Take your time with this and you will go far.
   

7. When you’re ready, the next step: repeat the inhale with the same technique but inhale the glowing and shimmering mass of light past the boundaries of the kidneys to envelope the entire physical body. That’s a lot further than before so pace yourself and adjust the qi expansion until it matches your breathing comfortably.
   

8. And next? Work your way through the Bajiquan sinking practice reviewed in the section just above. Keep half your focus on the two kidneys and the other half on the target region. Aim to sink and dissolve the target region but feel the linkage to the kidneys throughout. The kidneys do not have to dissolve in this exercise. They provide a conduit for the qi to channel to the area of interest. So, now you are plowing through a much more engaging and useful style of Ba Zi Jue (the name for the Baji practice detailed above). Repeat 3 - 5 or more times per area.
   
   Again: the pattern starts with inhaling colored qi to the kidneys and then expanding it to fill the body; you also open the joints (especially the limbs) at this time. Then on the exhale, you slowly close the joints while strongly sinking and dissolving the target area (90% of effort) and very mildly doing the same to the kidneys (10% of effort). A marvelous intermediate level practice, this, for sure.
   

9. Ready for more? Right: as before, dissolve with the same technique but open your gaze to see and feel the entire body vibrating and dissolving. Over time you will be able to detect specific locations that need more attention. But here, the main emphasis hovers on emptying out the physical frame. You can keep a very thin surface layer (like a balloon) but sense that the inside of the body completely dissolves. The surface layer should be so ephemeral, almost smoke-like, that you can disperse it completely with but a gentle puff of a breath. This whole-body technique constitutes an advanced level skill so as always: steady as she goes wins the day. Repeat for 10 rounds or as appropriate.
   

10. Last stage for now: same as before on both the inhale and exhale. Where’s the rub? Yep. The size expands. This time you are training to engage the etheric body which can be anywhere from 2-6 feet (about 0.6-1.8 meters) outward in all directions. So, expand the qi clouds to about 2 feet outward in all directions on the inhale. Then dissolve the cloud on the exhale. Truly apply yourself: feel into the spaces around the body. With time, you will feel subtle energetic gradations that begin to speak to you. Energy medicine entails working with this space around the body as well as the body itself. Practice makes perfect so keep at it.
    

11. Final thought: usually you will be much better off sticking with a more modest distance and striving to really hone your skill at that level. The goal is to combine feeling with visualizing and seeing. If you just imagine the color it’s much less effective than gradually becoming clairvoyant and seeing the colors sparkle.
    
    Bottom line: you need to feel what’s really there; see what’s really there; and have the ability to imagine strongly and see what you intend (to help manifest changes). All three skills are essential so stay at a distance until you have some measure of success with all three abilities before moving on. Otherwise, you definitely will go astray at the much higher levels which demand precision beyond hopeful thinking.

To outline where we’ve come so far: Jyotish (Vedic astrology) offers a map of subtle energy processes; the current coffee-table take on this supernal vision—what you will get from any software or practically any teacher—provides you a zesty mix of very high vibration knowledge (extraterrestrial cultures and the earthly sages who have passed beyond mere physical processes to the worlds of information and higher dimensions) and the very low vibration concerns of ordinary peoples (read this as all the cultural baggage of thousands and thousands of years: the sea of many, many lost mortal souls simply wanting some help and succor for their ordinary concerns and plights).

And what’s the weighting between high-octane insights and forgettable barnyard slop? Unfortunately, the lousy table wine version of Jyotish—akin to rotgut—holds forth in full court and splendor. But because it’s so far above the ken of ordinary experience, most folks fall over themselves with delight when they discover its secrets and clever admonitions.

Nothing wrong with that. For daily living, such fare fills the bill just fine. However, for yogic practice you are left holding an empty bag of platitudes that simply do not work well when put to the test. Come on, really? Reciting a mantra daily for an hour or two will deflect the mountain of karmic debts showering down upon your head and shoulders? Talk about cultural trance and a fantastically good job of marketing by those who stand to profit from such a deluded status quo!

The only folks qualified to assess whether such typical pedestrian advice actually works are those who have progressed to higher states of awareness. After all, that’s where the karma hails from. And what do the accomplished yogis and mystics say about this? You guessed right. To advance past the inevitable obstacles of inner work—planets, stars, karma, aliens, demons, your own inner psyche—requires the right medicine: genuine, time-tested spiritual discipline that makes a difference. In short, nothing less than raja yoga (mastery of concentration and higher levels of being) will do. Nothing.

Perhaps, the scientists or AGI robots will figure out a pill or better way but don’t count on it except as good fodder for a near-term movie or idle pastime … and then only for a few decades at best. After that, the group karma of all the beings on this planet will come due and no one here has the checkbook or capacity to pay that debt.

So where does this leave a sincere seeker? Especially one who’s not quite up to the monumental task of taking on the entire world’s karmic obligation? Nowhere really. Still, this life—your very life here and now—bubbles with mysteries hardly explored. One solution that can help save you—and all the dramatic circus acts of a world fully gone mad—appears on the horizon of possibility once you achieve the first great landmark in advanced yoga—laser-like focus: a level of concentration (shamatha, dhyana) that explodes your incessant chattering mind into a thousand pieces. You, however—the better part of you—still remain ticking away healthily as usual. The payoff?

Remember this reality is strange, big time: the great adepts know, for a fact from experience, that once one achieves such focus, the apparent solidity of the world along with all its predictable outcomes—the whole gamut, all of this cosmic show—becomes NEGOTIABLE. That is, at this level you gain superpowers and can directly influence the outcome of things both small and great.

Now, if you’re a good gal or guy, you don’t use this power to rape and molest reality as you fulfill all your deepest passions and fantasies. Nope. It doesn’t happen for a well-trained yogi. Instead, try this on for size: you focus upon worldly harmony and wholesome solutions appearing.

At the level of awareness being discussed, what happens? Your reality literally starts to shift towards your heart-felt desire and focus. Now, please listen up. There is NO one reality. Although that is the common conceit of mortals. In truth, you live in a computer simulation stemming from much, much higher levels of intelligence. But back down here, at this level, with the right practice, you nevertheless end up with godlike skills that can be used for good.

In essence, you live in a universe of infinite possibilities. You can’t change the whole universe. That’s its thing. Just let it be. BUT you CAN change the trajectory you take through all the celestial fireworks. If you want to live in a world of happiness and harmony, choose it. And with the higher yogic consciousness, you’re there! Guaranteed. All the advanced yogis have said so. Even the very high-powered part of Jyotish says so. And, if you listen deep, deep within your heart when you are at peace and feeling alright, you will hear or sense or taste a similar theme … the infinite can be kind and generous. But you need to do your part to find this garden.

map of the etheric plane and chakra 5

In Jyotish, the many varga charts (such as D9, navamsha) all hone in on specific topics. But, as a group, these charts also sketch out the various planes of existence relevant for both the most rudimentary and most exceptional levels of meditative practice. Top of the list at the moment? Getting to first base. Given the general hierarchy agreed upon both by eastern and western mystics, first base equates to the next level up from the physical plane, our world of ordinary senses and activities. Vedic astrology employs the Arudha Lagna chart for everyday activities and the D1, rashi chart, as a fulcrum readout of an individual’s body and heart—again, a well-founded reflection of the quotidian trek of temporal interests and goals.

For a Vedic astrologer, the etheric plane (pranamaya kosha in Hindu philosophy) sits atop the physical plane (annamaya kosha). In Neidan Yoga, the best way to catch the flavor of this level comes via a chart called the Jagannath Drekkana and labeled as D3-JN (or D3J for short). In terms of chakras, the etheric plane maps to the viśuddhī (sounds like vee should dee) chakra found at the throat. This represents the fifth chakra up from the bottom of the generally accepted scheme and will be notated simply as c5.

Before diving into a veritable sea of intermeshed components and concepts, how about a quick look at the map? What’s so special about the fifth chakra? An astrological chart divvies up into twelve parts, which, in turn, can be grouped to neatly catch the glimmer of our animal nature. Scientists agree that humans share much in common with many of the other forms of life here on earth. For instance, humans and chimpanzees tote just about the same genome: 98.8% of their DNA is identical.

A common esoteric conception places animal nature in the lower four chakras and higher levels of awareness in the upper chakras. The viśuddhī chakra, situated between these two clusters, thus guards the passage from base drives and instincts toward higher and more noble feelings such as love, generosity, compassion and care.

As you well know, like it or not, the world totters on the brink of destruction. But, this ensues only due to humankind’s utter failure to grow up and live through higher awareness more of the time. The evidence presented for all to see on the world stage clearly demonstrates that the net effect of all human endeavor has, to date, resulted in great expression of destructive animal drives and meager expression of higher feelings and thoughts.

It’s quite the shame since such higher concerns and views are possible for many. And if more folks did choose the saner path, we would all find ourselves in a much better place: a world with sustainable resources and thriving ecology; a global culture that fosters cooperation and abundance for all.

Now the upshot to this bleak picture counts even more than the sorry mess being portrayed: science, without any doubt, has validated the resonant nature of reality from the smallest waves and potentials to the animal kingdom and on up to greater celestial bodies. Not everyone needs to turn the corner toward higher knowledge. If just enough of us can, then it will make a positive difference for everyone. Over the last handful of decades, several legitimate social studies have demonstrated such an effect and these days the science behind the effect is even more certain and provocative.

So, coming back to the bridge between higher and lower consciousness: here you have the epicenter of the storm. Learn what the fifth chakra wants to teach you and own the journey to make the wisdom yours. What can you learn? Viśuddhī chakra, via the Jagannath Drekkana, will reveal what your life’s purpose is and how to achieve it most rapidly and effectively. Further, it will explain how you can open the gate to deeper awareness once and for all. And, as you pass through these portals, you will find a power and glow that will naturally bring support and empowerment for others, especially those that you care most about.

The higher you go up the spiritual ladder, the wider and more lasting these blessings become. Without even trying, you will broadcast incredibly beneficial resonant tweaks in all directions. And with time, you will learn to meter and regulate this positive stream to best harmonize with nature and the flow of life around you.

case study — D3J for paramahansa Yogananda

What better way to show up an esoteric model than by applying it to an esoteric soul?

Most astrologers agree upon the general birth details for this famous and beloved spiritual teacher from India. He had his work cut out for him when he arrived in the materialistic west at the beginning of the roaring twenties—a time of unprecedented economic recovery and growth that unleashed a great infatuation among the middle classes for acquiring and enjoying the better (by ordinary standards) things in life.

How can the Jagannath Drekkana help clarify this time period in the great mystic’s life? Two ways: first, it unveils the binding karmic links that brought Swamiji down to the earth plane in the first place. And second, it also details his mission in life. These two aspects intertwine. A simple way to think of them takes the karmic links as a debt owed to the higher realms that needs to be cleared while on sojourn in this world. And the mission? You can take it as what gets promoted by your angels and spiritual guides after you’ve dispatched the karmic debt.

Again, both of these streams of expression can occur simultaneously or intermittently: they don’t have to occur one two, with one completing before the other begins. However, the one two approach happens a moderate amount of the time too. You just need to investigate all factors to decide. In Yogananda’s case, we have the benefit of hindsight to clarify the relation but if you did a thorough analysis without knowledge of his history you would most likely still come to the same conclusions.

Now, on with the show: here are the two relevant charts to consider (his birth chart, D1; and his karmic mission chart, D3-J).

The rashi chart (D1) especially shows a person’s physical and emotional self. Here, though, we simply need to find the lord (owner; manager) of Swamiji’s third house of aims, ambitions, valor and bravery. Shukra (Venus) oversees his third house (labeled as 7) Tula (Libra). So, Shukra provides the key to understanding the great yogi’s path in life. But the revelations come from the D3J chart so that’s the next stop on this exploration.

First off, what’s a D3J chart? And why’s it got anything to do with karmic debts and life purpose? Both great questions. Good for you! A moderate answer with enough detail to sketch the main landmarks goes as follows: The D in the chart name stands for division. Sometimes you might see it written as V (for varga which means division or part in Sanskrit). In consequence, D3J and V3J mean the very same chart.

You will find many different types of varga charts in Jyotish—literally dozens—and the rules to construct these charts vary. What’s the recipe for a typical divisional chart? Start with the D1 rashi chart and then dice it up into pieces. Shake the resulting lot in colorful ways and then place the sculpted pattern back inside a regular chart. How many parts to chop up? That’s where the number comes in. For instance, D3J means to take the basic D1 chart and partition each constellation (rectangle in the above charts) into three equal slices. Since a rectangle equals 30 degrees for the charts used here, you end with 3 parts of 10 degrees each for every rashi (constellation).

That’s enough theory. What does it all mean? Planets play the role of elemental forces and teachers (wanted or not). They exist in our solar system but impact all varga charts. This means that although they are physical objects floating around in near space, they also have—just as you do—the potential to affect life across the spectrum of lokas (physical, etheric and astral realms, at the least). Fantastic. Why’re the grahas interested in D3J? What loka do they affect there? D3J maps to the etheric plane (bhuva loka) so grahas (planets and related bodies) sway karma this way and that by interacting with this powerful force at the etheric level of awareness. Note that stable awareness at the etheric level may lead one to the doors of consistent psychic abilities such as clairvoyance, psychokinesis, extrasensory perception and other paranormal abilities. Nothing to sneeze at.

Okay. You might consider the grahas as souped-up versions of humans. A graha has thoughts, feelings, goals and plans. It can feel thwarted or supported. Hmm … sounds really familiar. What’s different? They’re smarter than you are. Way, smarter. In esoteric terms, they are more evolved souls than we are. So, they live a little higher up on the evolutionary ladder of consciousness. Given this, it should be no surprise that grahas motor around the etheric and astral dimensions with full awareness and full capacity to act, react and architect desired outcomes. Masters of the occult, they knit and thread karmic patterns into your life.

The gist: planets in the D1 rashi chart show their physical presence in this solar system and their wishes and manipulations of karma on the physical plane: what’s in store for all those folks hanging out on earth who are yet still enamored with—or consumed by—the workaday world. Likewise, planets in D3J show what happens at a psychic or occult level. At a more modest level, they also show what happens to the energy field out a meter or two from the body. This correlates to your very own interface to the etheric dimension. It’s like a mini-etheric plane all around you.

So, right. Now back to Yogananda: any varga chart can be read just about the same way. This means the key points (lagna, kendras, konas) in a rashi chart wax dependably as the key points in all charts. Still, each divisional chart has its own idiosyncratic twists and particular rules for interpretation. For the Jagannath Drekkana, you have the following:

1. Find the D3J house that the lord of the third house of D1 sits in. Shukra reigns as the third lord (lord of bhava 3) of the rashi chart. In D3J, it resides in the twelfth house of Meena (Pisces) and has the company of Jupiter (Guru) there.

2. Interpret the karmic debt to be paid off by the meanings associated with the house found in step 1. Here, the twelfth house betokens many factors of both ordinary and extraordinary life: the people and circumstances that enable marriage; sleep and the bedroom; confinement (especially institutions such as hospitals and jails); foreign travel and places; unrelenting expenses; losses of all kinds; the unconscious; compassion and mercy; spiritual growth; spiritual awakening. You can find many more representations but these hold center court for the task at hand.
   
   The general rule says to consider the house significations and not the planet’s status (is it a good placement or a bad one?). For instance, Venus is exalted in Pisces so this is an extremely positive placement which will have much to do with the second step of finding Paramahansaji’s mission. But, for a brief while, let’s stick with the house and its houseguests. Any other grahas found in the house help clarify the situation. They count as décor and refine the house’s meaning. Now, Jupiter (appropriately called Guru in the Hindu tradition) stands for God (the Divine) as well as a person’s spiritual guru. The clinching evidence comes from Shukra which represents Yogananda’s personal soul (the atman in Hindu thought).
   
   What have you got? The yogi’s soul and lord of the rashi chart third house (path in life) lands in the D3J twelfth house of spiritual growth and awakening. Who’s there waiting for him? God as the Guru. Further, this fated contract cuts deep into the firmament as Pisces maps to the twelfth house of the natural zodiac (a chart at a much deeper level; often called “God’s eye view”). So, not only does his personal fate direct him to his guru and enlightenment, it has help from the hands of God (via the natural zodiac’s twelfth house). What a powerful confirmation of path and purpose! Yogananda was age 17 when he finally met his true guru. He had yet to achieve full realization but was well on his way. Does Jyotish have anything to say about the timing? Yes, indeed.

full enlightenment — completion of yogananda’s karmic debt

India innately and very nonchalantly spans a vast terrain of esoteric perspectives, so the answer you get to the preceding question about timing depends in great measure upon whom you consult with. Still, the Jyotish incorporated into Neidan Yoga finds root in both a tried-and-true Jyotish tradition and, even more importantly, the fabric of all advanced yogic paths—what works across every major tradition. With a solid astrological model and even more certain database of spiritual experience and wisdom, the JSM analysis will not be far off the mark, at worst. In fact, here we have the great godman’s own words to corroborate the theory. And they square up nicely.

As mentioned, Swamiji met his true guru at age 17 but that simply heralded the start of his even more earnest efforts to realize the Divine. In terms of the astrological model, Shukra (Venus) at 24 degrees in the rashi chart maps to a dual sign (Meena [Pisces]) in the D3J. The approximate amount of time for the D3 lord landing in a dual sign? 48 years. From when? Birth? Not necessarily: the context must be considered. Heaven directed him to achieve full realization so the count should start from when he first began to meditate ardently.

In this regard, Swamiji provides a bit of a tongue-twister, for according to the records (see, for instance the film, Awakening, or its related book), he was fully conscious while still in his mother’s womb. While there, he debated with himself about the pros and cons of taking rebirth. In the end, fortunately for the world, he came on out all in one fine and healthy piece. In his classic book, Autobiography of a Yogi, he recounts undertaking entirely sober and mature spiritual practices while yet a young lad. So, perhaps take a starting age of, say, age 6. Add 48 to this. You get a rough estimate (maybe not exact but certainly in the ballpark) of 54 years. Any truth to this idea?

Well, yes. Fancy that. Of course, he had many mystical experiences and encounters all along the way to his adult years. But full enlightenment represents a different bailiwick altogether. The putative timeframe of his complete immersion in Spirit while still living in this world was during June 1948. Age? Just a smidge short of 55 and a half. Not bad for pseudoscience, eh?

During the related event, memorialized as the Great Samadhi (refer to The Life of Yogananda, 2018, by Philip Goldberg; a fine telling of the adept’s life story), he went into a deep and impenetrably still state for over twelve hours. His devotees could but wait. When he came back to this plane of existence, he was forever changed. Soon afterwards he declared, “I shall always be in this state of nirbikalpa samadhi, but no one will be able to tell.”

In the Hindu tradition, Nirbikalpa samadhi designates the ultimate state of God consciousness wherein a seeker finally and irrevocably fuses ordinary awareness with a pure stream of consciousness focused solely upon the Divine. After that, it’s Light all the way come rain or shine.

This pinnacle of spiritual practice occurs in other traditions by different names. For instance, in Tibetan Buddhism and Bon, one reaches such a rarified height via the final stages of Dzogchen or Mahamudra practice. The paths are many but with some discernment you will find that they all land pretty much in the same part of the cosmic forest. This should make sense to you, since all spiritual aspirants ply their techniques on the same vehicle, a human body and its related higher energy bodies.

Let’s review the rules and principles established so far and try them out on a few examples to make sure you can sport a solid handle on how this all works.

JSM Lesson 1 - Different Esoteric Levels
Advanced yogic practice, by definition, transforms consciousness up from the physical plane (earth) through the etheric plane (solar system) to the astral plane (sun as a star) and on further (all the other stars). Each of the three major Jyotish chart styles (south, east, north) maps to one of these. To start, consider the following chakras (wheel or chart). These are for the same person, in this case the renowned spiritual teacher and master, Paramahansa Yogananda. As you can see, the planets (archetypes) are the same in all three charts.

To be clear, all three of the major Indian chart styles can be used to analyze any and every aspect of a kundli (natal chart). Nevertheless, each style has unique advantages since it displays data to highlight specific features.

For instance, the North Indian style (shown to the right), highlights the kendras (also called quadrants or angles). These four places always correspond to houses 1, 4, 7 and 10 of a chart.

Why? Well, because these cardinal directions simply sparkle with high voltage energy and possibility. They stand tall as power spots: places which offer you tailor-made solutions for life’s major themes (health, happiness, according with nature and all that is good, wealth, fun, meaning, personal and spiritual growth). Quite a handful, huh? Take your pick. But be aware: only a few (usually one or two) of these themes will enjoy the heavens’ full blessings and encouragement. So, this chart style can help you quickly ferret out the important tasks for your journey: those one or two themes that will make all the difference.

However, beyond this, the three styles hint at three different levels of consciousness (lokas). Consider the highest level map first:

The South Indian chart runs clockwise and highlights its four corner positions. Together, these four rashis form the dvisvabhāva rāśis (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces). Together they form a grouping (also known as the dual signs) that signifies the deepest space objects normally considered in Jyotish or spiritual practice. So, this style, the Guru chakra, intimates Svarga loka (the third level up from the physical plane; it represents heaven in the Hindu scheme and corresponds to the stars beyond the sun).

In the Jyotish Star Map:

1. Dhanu (lorded by Guru) represents our home, the Milky Way Galaxy (Svarga loka)

2. Meena (also lorded by Guru) represents our nearest galactic neighbor, the Andromeda Galaxy (which is bigger than the Milky Way and by all yogic accounts, stands as Maha loka, the next loka up from Svarga loka)

3. Kanya (lorded by Budha, who in turn corresponds to Lord Vishnu) maps to the Virgo Supercluster, a great consortium of galaxies that include the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies. This supercluster centers on the Virgo Cluster, a smaller group of galaxies, situated in the region of Virgo (Kanya) (Jana loka, the next loka up from Maha loka).

4. Although supremely important spiritually, at a physical level, the Virgo Supercluster now turns out to be something of a fossil and historical curio, for modern research (2014 onwards) shows that it finds home as but a moderately-sized appendage of the massively more significant Laniakea Supercluster (containing 100, 000 galaxies) which itself is headed towards a region of space called the Shapley Attractor.

   Mapped back to the ecliptic (that is, with reference to back home here on earth), this attractor sits at the border between Tula (Libra) and Vrishchika (Scorpio). Some folks place it at about 2 degrees of Scorpio, which means it has a resonance with Alpha Centaurus, a triple star system, one of whose stars, Proxima Centauri, is the closest star to our own sun. Moreover, Rigil Kent (short for Rigil Kentarus) reigns as the brightest star in this three star system and tends to its chores at about 5 degrees of Scorpio. This sits just at the end of Vishaka nakshatra (friendly place lorded by Guru) and just before Anuradha nakshatra begins (formidable and scary place lorded by Shani). Antares [scorpion] lies at the heart of Anuradha. And only the wisdom and guidance of Rigil Kent can vouchsafe successful passage past the scorpion and to the heart of Dhanu, the archer (Milky Way Galaxy).

   In Neidan Yoga and JSM, Rigil Kent keys into Kidney 6, one of the essential acupuncture points related to accessing higher consciousness. In fact, this point is more powerful than any of the conventional chakras commonly discussed. But, as you might guess, there’s a catch: it only gets fully activated AFTER the central chakras (seven in Hindu yoga) come online. But until then, Kidney 6 is nevertheless a major point to help one master dream and sleep yoga (more about this a couple webpages down the pike).

To sum up: the Shapley Attractor equals or closely aligns with Rigil Kent (Tapa loka, next loka up from Jana loka). Note that Shani (Saturn) is classically related to renunciation (the hallmark of tapa loka) and this graha (planet) becomes exalted in the latter part of Libra (20 degrees). So, the rishis (great yogic adepts) progress from Dhanu to Meena to Kanya to Tula. A note worth remembering: the Tula leg is helped by energy from Vrishchika, called the Great Attractor (which sits further in towards the central parts of Vrishchika than Rigil Kent). This will be explained along with Kidney 6 after about two more pages are covered: when the discussion turns toward the upper astral plane (interface between Bhuva and Svarga lokas).

For reference, here’s the complete mapping from chart style to level of consciousness:

1. South Indian chart (Guru chakra) — Svarga loka (upper astral and lower mental plane) (in JSM, also: Maha, Jana and Tapa lokas)

2. East Indian chart (Surya chakra) — Bhuva loka (upper etheric and lower astral plane)

3. North Indian chart (Shukra chakra) — Bhu loka (physical and lower etheric plane)

The esoteric interpretation of the East and North Indian style charts will be covered in later pages. How to use all three styles within Neidan Yoga and JSM will also gradually be detailed.

JSM Rule 1 — Start with the Lagna and the Primary Axis

As a reminder: a chart with Mesha lagna (the natural zodiac) presents a view in align with higher realms. In contrast, your birth chart shows what gives at a worldly level. The preceding section concretized this understanding. You now know that the East Indian chart gives a vantage from Bhuva loka. It keys into Surya as a star. Whereas, the North Indian chart highlights this world, Bhu loka. It aligns with the grahas (planets and energies of this solar system).

Corollary to rule 1: work with Mesha (Aries) and Vrishabha (Taurus) first, if possible. These represent the primary axis of the natural zodiac. How about a couple examples? You’re on.

Example 1

NOTATION
Now, houses (bhava) simply designate a box (location) in a chart. They are most often numbered relative to the lagna (ascendant) which is marked as AS in these charts. For East Indian and North Indian chakras, the counting proceeds counter-clockwise from wherever the AS sits. The location with AS would be house 1. The location adjacent in the counterclockwise direction would be house 2. And so on. In JSM, we use the following time-honored notation: b# (for bhava and the house number counted from the AS). For instance, b2 for this person’s AS (in Simha) would be the next sign counterclockwise from there which is Virgo. So, b2 = Virgo in both these charts.

However, you can also count relative to any box or planet in the chart and this gets used often too (the counting for these two styles would still be counterclockwise). However, the notation traditionally used for this gets awkward. So, for clarity’s sake, from here on in, we use the following notation for counting from a given reference (sign, planet, even a house): #b from reference.

For example, in the North Indian chart above right, Jp (Jupiter, Guru) sits in bhava 10 (marked with a small 2 which means it is also the sign of Taurus). Hence, Mo (Moon, Chandra) would be 3b from Jp (counting counterclockwise from Jp to Mo gives a count of 3). Note that the traditional rule of counting is to count 1 as the place you start and then proceed. So, for this example, you count 1 for the location of Jp and then 2 for the next location counterclockwise and then 3 for the next location counterclockwise. This location has the Mo glyph. So, the Moon (Chandra) is 3b from Jupiter (Guru). Similarly, if you count, Jupiter is 11b from the Moon.

Well and good. Back to the first example. Check the East Indian chart (above left) first. This is how the native’s karma resonates at a higher vibrational level (sun as star = bhuva loka). Surya (sun) exalts in Mesha so this style orients towards Mesha which is always fixed as the top middle location. What’s exaltation? Basically, good news. A little different for each planet, the bottom line tells the story: the planet comes away feeling like a winner because its environment (the rashi it resides in) supports it big time and with all the bells and whistles thrown in for free. Thus, Surya (soul) gets exalted (empowered, fulfilled, feels like a winner) in Mesha. In particular, JSM rule 1 says to check Mesha and Vrishabha. Mesha is the reference point for this style (it is 1b from itself) and Vrishabha is 2b from the reference point of Mesha.

Subsequently, JSM rule 1 says to check the first and second houses from Mesha (= 1b from Mesha and 2b from Mesha = Mesha and Vrishabha) in the East Indian chart. These locations will always be the top middle position (Mesha) and the box just counterclockwise to it (Vrishabha).

In essence, these ARE the first and second houses of the natural zodiac (a chart with Mesha as lagna), Remember that the East Indian chart (Mesha, as exaltation place of the sun, is the reference) does not necessarily have Mesha as lagna whereas the natural zodiac does. So, the natural zodiac indicates a level of consciousness a ways deeper than the sun as a star (East Indian style). This only makes sense, for a galaxy consists of a lot more celestial cookies than just one star. For the natural zodiac, Mesha as lagna means that Dhanu (the galaxy) will be house 9 (house of the Guru, dharma and good luck).

As a rule, for any chart (or any point of reference), the AS (or reference point) represents the individual or energy at an ordinary level whereas 9b from the AS (equals bhava 9) or 9b from the reference will always show the dharma of the AS or reference and provide a read out of a much deeper level of energy dynamics. This morphs into a rule later on: treat both the reference and 9b from it.

Back to the chase: You always have endless details that could be considered when checking a chart but here we only focus on what empowers or damages the first two houses. The idea (check the previous page for a brush-up, if needed) hinges upon the basic fact that, in terms of the North Indian chart (so AS = lagna = personal intelligence, is the reference), one must deal with and succeed, at least moderately, with worldly life (primary axis = bhavas 1 and 7) before having any real chance to proceed along the spiritual path (secondary axis = bhavas 4 and 10).

From Surya’s viewpoint (Surya as star = bhuva loka; Surya as graha = bhu loka), this person abounds with blessing: Guru in second house from Mesha; and lagna lord, Mangala, conjunct Surya in Surya’s own rashi, Simha. So, here you have clean energy to manage the primary axis and empowerment of the lagna from its fifth house. Thus, no major issues at the spiritual level. Check! What about back down on earth (bhu loka)?

The North Indian chart (on the above right) often has the best grasp of what really happens. That is, the East Indian and South Indian charts fix the rashi positions so they fundamentally look up to the stars to read out the heavens’ opinions about what should happen. But the action takes place down a notch or two among “lesser beings” (grahas, the earth, natives of this planet). They all have a significant say in the matter too. In this case, the person enjoys a landslide of powerful energies in both the first and second houses. Too much energy, in fact.

However, here we just note if there is some type of workable energy to contend with the inevitable obstructions and attacks and deceptions that come from the world (bhava 7 relative to AS) as a matter of course while living a normal life. The answer, for this chart, peals soundly … yes. Too many malefics in the second house will cause problems but in light of making hay with spiritual progress, the goal always arches to vouchsafe some useful energy to the primary axis (sort of like a deceptive maneuver in martial arts or other competitive situations).

Hence, once you kindle the primary axis flame and have some stature, fluency and power in worldly matters (you can pay your bills, live life a little and basically, you’re feeling okay—if not outright happy) then all further efforts go toward developing the secondary axis (get on the bus for really worthwhile and consistent spiritual practice).

Therefore, for example 1, this person has loads of personal clout, is not altogether a saint, has some connection with those in spiritual power and could progress to the next stage of spiritual focus (develop the secondary axis). Keep the analysis simple but sensible. The native here could move on to a spiritual path. But if she or he does is a different matter. That will be covered in due course. For now, we just check if the possibility exists.

To sum up: the formula for deep spiritual practice demands effort on your part. The first price to pay is wading your way through the primary axis—and not faking it. Life eventually turns on those who pretend to have some skill with the basic life skills (primary axis). So, your first mission? Sail and fly toward authority and integrity. This is personal authority and integrity. Stockpile the requisite tools neatly in your larder of character and personal skill. Not a ton. But enough. Enough to find a way through the ordinary duties of life. Then, on you go to authority and integrity at a spiritual level. It’s not easy. But in this world, anything really worthwhile, is really worthwhile pursuing whole-heartedly … regardless of price.

Of course, life provides the best feedback and some adjusting might be warranted given the circumstances at hand in a person’s life. This feedback loop applies all the way through the spiritual journey. Hence, there is a goal; there is a strategy; the Jyotish charts are used to fine-tune the tactics; AND, Life (with a capital L = all other players in this crazy universe) has its own thoughts about what happens. In short: you are at work; your karma is at work; and energies beyond your karma are at work.

So, always, always, always keep an eye out for the simple details of your life: are you on track? how’s your path accord with the times (transits, dashas, all other worldly and other-worldly factors)? As needed, adjust your plan. But don’t give up the ship. Ever. If you stick to the plan and steps as taught in all true yogic traditions, you will find your way through—every single time—it’s a promise made by great beings from all esoteric traditions both here on earth and throughout the galaxy.

Example 2
Here’s a different pattern to contend with. In example 1, the person had a connection to higher energies (Sun as star = houses 1 and 2 of East Indian chart) and some personal energy available (earth and planets = houses 1 and 2 of North Indian chart). Have a look at the following two charts. What do you think?

If you said this person looks kind of low on high octane, you would be correct. That’s the short answer but let’s unpack this further. There are some important nuances to consider. First, the rule, so far, has been to check houses 1 and 2. This works in general but the more robust rule asks you to consider the axis for each house. What’s an axis? Here, an axis stands for any two houses that are opposite each other in the charts (in terms of the zodiac, they would be 180 degrees apart which is half way around the circle). An axis has three parts: the two houses and the energy connection between the two houses.

An ever-present example of this for any birth chart would be to look at Ra (Rahu, north node of the moon) and Ke (Ketu, south node of the moon). They will always be 180 degrees opposite one another and in the same houses and signs regardless of chart style.

As a refresher: both eastern and northern charts progress the count of houses counterclockwise from the lagna (ascendant) which is marked with the ASC glyph. Consequently, for the above East Indian chart which has ASC on the middle left, Rahu ends in house 11 and sits across from Ketu in house 5. Notice that the same applies for the North Indian chart: the ASC is at the top center so counting counterclockwise from there shows that Ketu resides in house 5 while Rahu whittles away its time across the street in house 11. The smaller numbers shown in the North Indian chart refer to the signs and not the houses. For instance, Ketu stays in house 5 but rashi (sign, constellation) 8 which signifies Vrishchika (Scorpio).

Back to the analysis: since the purpose here centers on finding ways to help the native progress with her or his spiritual journey, the first step always checks in with something spiritual, namely Surya as a star (which starts to show a level of spiritual energy definitely up from ordinary life). In this case, Rahu (worldly desires) sits in bhava 2 (the resources available for use by the higher self) from Mesha (2b from Mesha = Vrishabha). That’s fine for worldly interests but suggests a big detour off of the numinous path. Hence, not so good. But what about the axes for houses 1 and 2 relative to Mesha? There is energy related to house 1 since both Surya and Shukra are opposite it. However, it’s another strikeout, for Surya (the soul, Spirit) is debilitated (unhappy and disempowered) in this rashi (Tula or Libra) while Shukra (usually worldly desires) is strong in its own sign.

Therefore, the refinement here: find sufficient energy for 1b and 2b from Mesha but only count energy that sports sufficiently ethical, clean and righteous vibes (what is called sattvic in Hindu) for this leads one naturally to a spiritual path. In this East Indian chart, house 2 from Mesha has worldly qi (prana, lung) and the house 1 axis bubbles with yet more worldly inclinations. So no easy connection with Spirit.

What about at the personal level? Again a miss: nothing shows except Guru (Jupiter = wisdom) sitting in house 8 (a dark and usually unsafe place) across the canyon from house 2 (8b and 2b from Mesha). Now this doesn’t mean there is no hope for the native but rather that there’s no free ride or easy following breeze to catch hold of. Checking other factors (not relevant for this discussion) does show that this person has plenty of energy for worldly activities.

The important lessons to get: rule 1 ascertains the integrity of a person at two levels: the East Indian chart (and relation to Mesha and Surya) clearly shows any deep (stellar-level) drafts of celestial influence; the North Indian chart shows a person’s character and overall nature (which should be mostly sattvic for true success with any and all spiritual endeavors). The natal chart shows many aspects of a native’s life but in Neidan Yoga it primarily pulls weight as the best snapshot of a person’s heart and ability to think, feel and act with integrity and authenticity. Vedic astrology abounds with other charts that can tell the rest of the story—whether cosmic or more mundane.

Okay, maybe so. But what to do for this dear fellow or lady? Hmm. The odds weigh heavily against this individual having any real or lasting interest in deep and ardent sadhana (spiritual practice). Yet, assume she or he does. What to do, you ask? The answer depends upon whether you want the householder version (minimal effort), explorer version (“I’m truly interested”) or the devotee version (“I’m beyond being interested … and am willing to pay the price of hard work”). Vedic astrologers have buckets and buckets of cute and often modestly effective answers for the first two types of seekers. Mantra, puja, service, fasting and religious observances play the mainstay and can patch up the offending mess sufficiently on many occasions. These remedies have been going strong for thousands of years and show no signs of abating.

For those after really significant spiritual progress, it’s a different matter altogether. Then the focus and outcome of all practice should cull the seeker a hand up and not simply dole her or him a hand out. Serious higher awareness requires serious yogic meditation and energy work. Nothing else will do. Someone else can’t give this to you. Others can point the way and smooth out some obstacles but the core of the hard work is yours … and yours alone.

Take your pick on what level of seeker you want to be. Here, Neidan Yoga explains how to fine tune your sadhana to field the karmic hindrances in your stride and not get swept away by them. The gist of Neidan Yoga (NY) is the same as for any true yogic path. NY just adds some modern scientific knowledge and energy medicine to clear out the hobgoblins and demons and endless delusions more efficiently.

Okay, back to earth. Enough with all the metaphysical hoopla for a stint. Check in: Baguazhang (BGZ) emphasizes steadiness and poise within a framework of perpetual movements this way and that. Its signature calling card? Balanced oppositional forces throughout the body which establish a dynamic equilibrium so fine-tuned one can dart out in any direction instantaneously with full power. Like a fully loaded weapon, the practitioner turns on a dime again and again—forward, backward, to the left, to the right, circling, turning, pausing, bolting forth—all in synch with the needs of the moment.

That sounds really good and it is. With such skills in your pocket, you are one mighty cookie, something truly formidable, even against multiple opponents charging you from different directions at the same moment. Whew. Now, this is perfectly fine and proper for life here on earth but what about the spiritual path? I mean really … what’s the point? Who needs to kick the stuffing out of an opponent? Well … the answer is that YOU DO. You absolutely, completely, certainly and necessarily must beat the beans out of a few renegade spirits and demons if you sincerely want to advance on the spiritual path. Are you thinking or muttering something like, “Say what?” or “Hey man, touch grass!” or “Huh? Bad take.” or “Come on. Are you in the room with us?” Hang on. There’s meaning here.

As a brisk and able reminder: this world IS rough and tumble—way way more villainous and vile than any decent soul should ever have to tolerate. If you don’t understand and embrace the immense importance of such a gut-wrenching disappointment down to the roots of your toes, you will never succeed in beating the rap laid upon your head and spirit. How about an authority or two for some legitimacy? Okay.

The Tibetan Buddhists categorically say that the thrust of ordinary human efforts to sustain and perpetuate happiness and fulfilment reveals how fully unrealistic we are. We want to have it all and have it all for all time. These yogis says this is much akin to trying to stage a lasting rip-roaring party while hanging out in a graveyard—a place with its own certain, wretched and barren outcomes. In this world, graveyards rule with firm authority. They have the final say—and not the wishful thinking and evanescent emotional highs of humans drunk with their own thoughts, sensations and feelings. Comprende?

The stakes are much higher on the spiritual path. If you just want to feel good and take the lower road, fine. Entirely fine. Go for it. But what are you doing here? Cherry picking? Feel free.

Therefore, if you genuinely aim to ride the spiritual roller-coaster to higher awareness but don’t yet fully get the seriousness of your hopeless station and worthless antics—however well-intentioned—in this world, here’s some useful suggested homework: watch the recently released (Oct 2023) documentary series produced by super director Steven Spielberg titled Life on Our Planet.

The whole presentation is animated but nevertheless altogether powerful in scope and message. Covering life around the globe across billions of years, you get bombarded with the kaleidoscopic madness of five (soon to be six) brutal mass extinctions. Time and time again, life starts to thrive and each time life gets swatted back down to dust. Is someone trying to tell you something? What happened to dear sweet old Mother Earth? You know, Gaia, that cool supermom taking care of all us special humans.

The animation is hit and miss at times but if you just sit back and let the panorama sweep across, over and through you without much comment about trivial details, you will come out the other side of the series a changed person. Changed permanently. No doubt about it. Why? It flies in the face of what you’ve been taught and coached your entire life. You know: the world’s cool. Some ups and downs, sure. But mainly, it’s so neat, so much fun; there’s so much opportunity. Right. Well, this insane unconscious fiction that all society lives in guarantees you a dullard’s life of forever following rules and mimicking your peers to no good end.

You end the journey just as stupid and lost as when you started it many decades earlier. All humans suffer this fate. No one is exempt. No, not even special, special you. Apologies to your ego and sense of self but you are completely caught in a matrix of mass delusion. Even better: behind the scenes you find titanic energies that pull strings to control world events. The result? A parade of ignorant and nonstop brutality. These hidden manipulators (both human and those upstairs in the ethers far above earthly clouds) conspire to keep the show fixed.

So it’s a double whammy: your own kind betrays you and the gods and higher beings whom you trust and pray to, generally turn the other way to all your troubles and woes. They help a little but if you check the facts, they COULD help a way lot more. But they don’t. Why might that be for supposedly super-conscious and super-altruistic stalwarts of the highest ethics and awareness?

The upshot: you need to finally own the miserable fact that this world vibrates at the wrong end of the spectrum. Hindus would say we all currently live in the Kali Yuga (the darkest, most evil age possible of the many available choices). They’re right. And the Jyotish model concurs: for while planets manifest at multiple levels of integrity, each planet still gets tagged with a baseline character—what you’d expect if there were no extenuating circumstances. Overall, you find three levels:

• sattvic (positive, tending to improve self and others, aiming towards the Light); the ideal.

• rajasic (more like middle of the road between sattvic and rock bottom); thus, typical human nature—that is, the animal side of humans—prevails: you get greed and inordinate desire; you get excesses and neglects in every direction and persuasion.

• The bottom? Called tamasic, it covers every nightmare you can imagine and then some (pain, lack, horror, mean-spirited behavior, anger, disease, cruelty, death, insanity and slow torture … to name a few).

The message? Earth, itself, is tamasic through and through. Try and understand: your cozy planetary home, that beautiful green blue marble sweeping through space: it’s an inferno and the boss (the Earth itself) is totally fine with the mess. You are expendable, big time.

Expanding further afield, this solar system, ruled by Saturn, poses comfortably as a melee of tamasic mistakes and disasters. The Sun, supposedly the big cheese in the neighborhood, yawns while Saturn and his team of crooks and villains wreak havoc on all creatures, great and small. Next step up the ladder what do you find? Our local region of interstellar space (the area just beyond the Sun and its solar system called the Local Interstellar Cloud) steadfastly clings to being a barren, cold-hearted region of the galaxy.

And it continues … way up the ladder as far as the spiritual eye can see … so far that it goes up to and through the heart of our Milky Way galaxy. Hmm. Doesn’t sound like much of a fair shake for the small gal or guy. And it rings and dings even less as if there’s a caring heavenly cradle of friendly buddies just waiting to come swoop down and save us all from our own folly.

Remember the laconic axe, “If it’s to be, it’s up to me”? Well, yes … you are officially on the hook. It is up to you: you need to get informed, work hard and surround yourself with genuine spiritual community. The most precious commodity in the world is not crypto, gold or an AGI robot to do all your household chores or help you beat your friend at that cool video game; it’s having authentic spiritual friends—something to rejoice about.

Those few compatriots who walk the talk and exert themselves to grow spiritually—despite an enormous human ignorance that pulls the other way—will make all the difference in whether you succeed or not. So, get to it! Find a genuine spiritual tradition, genuine spiritual teacher and some, yes, genuine spiritual friends to make the journey easier, safer and more appealing. Then the full fury and nightmare of this world will begin to fade away into the background and Light will ascend to center stage, where it rightfully belongs.

baguazhang spirals — sword hand — Part 2

Let’s wrap up Sword Hands, the very first exercise from Tian Gan Neigong, that preeminent set of body practices from Baguazhang that help to wring out the spine and central energy channel. What’s your take on whole-body movement so far? For the key principles covered to now, you’ve got:

1) Keep your energy rooted deep down into the ground throughout qigong and nei jia quan practice. Just like an august, towering oak tree, you stand tall up into the sky but also reach deeply down into the earth with your roots spreading out widely in all directions. Sink the roots twice your height.

2) Master Ringing the Bell first. You can check the previous Sadhana page for pictures. Rotate your torso to one side and then the other. Don’t shift yet. Just stay in place centered between the feet. Initiate the movement from your waist and lower back. Don’t engage any other muscles. Feel the interplay between Bahui, Huiyin and both Kidney 1 points.

Next, move and rotate the torso at the same time. Let your pelvis sink and feel that you lightly sit on a massage stool as it moves to the side and swivels at the same time. Your spine is vertical throughout. Don’t tilt. Ring the Bell facing the forward leg for a while and then repeat for the same number of repetitions twisted to face the rear leg. Make sure to feel the five gates clearly throughout the entire set of movements.

Made it! Here’s Sword Hands proper:

In the above pictures, note the wide stance—feet are a little wider than the shoulders. The yao refers to the entire lower back region and wraps around each side toward the front so it also includes the waist. For all Tian Gan exercises, one hand rests on the central part of the yao (lower back just above the sacrum). Although resting passively, this hand actively senses the lower back to ensure that all movements are initiated from the legs and lower back.

You should not turn and shift the torso or arm with the upper part of the body or the arm. All motions initiate ideally from below the feet up through the legs and into the lower back and lower jiao (between the lower abdomen and lower back). The arm and upper torso simply come along for the ride although the arm will have its own rotation and swing as part of any exercise.

1. Sword Hands right arm chopping ahead to the left (above left). The lifted arm rotates throughout the movement and extends out away from the body a little to open the ribs and integrate upper and lower body. The palm ends facing upwards.

2. Sword Hands right arm chopping back to the right (above right). Note the left hand in the small of the back. It’s used to ensure that the entire movement gets initiated from the legs and lower back. The arm comes along for the ride as part of the torso. As for the other direction, the extended arm rotates throughout the movement and extend out away from the body a little to open the ribs. The palm ends facing downwards.

Check out the ending arm position in both images. The arm never crosses the midline because it only follows the torso movement much like a gun sticking out of a tank’s turret only follows the turret’s rotation. The gun has no independent motion. When the arm swings back (above right) it does not end much past the heel of the leg.

Your trunk should shift sideways and move slightly forward to end up over the front leg (top left). The knee of the front leg should not be past the foot. Don’t tilt the torso to move from side to side. Rather, push off the back leg.

Let the rotation of the arm be slow and steady. It should last during the entire rotation and shift of your torso and end just as you reach the final position. The elbows should sink a little and the shoulders should also relax and drop a touch. Look at the turning hand throughout the movement.

The entire region from elbow up the ulnar (little finger) side of the forearm to the palm root should be the tool used to make contact and generate qi. Gradually learn to feel the entire body participating in all parts of the movement. Then develop an ability to pull energy from the earth up through your legs to your lower jiao and then up to the arm that makes contact. The qi should extend out from the forearm (elbow to wrist and base of palm) at least a few feet (a meter or more).

Do the exercise 15 - 30 times (the two images above count as one repetition) on one side and then do 15 - 30 reps again on the other side (other arm lifted). Keep grounding your qi throughout the practice: soft eyes, soft jaw, soft tongue. When the mind wanders, gently settle back into the physical and energetic sensations involved. No extraneous thoughts at all until you end both sides. Go for it. You can.

A super useful practice to open the upper back especially the heart and lung regions. Slayed that!

always imagine a virtual opponent while practicing forms

Only learning the mechanics of a movement and memorizing the steps will not get you very far—not even for ordinary martial arts, much less for spiritual development. Why? Picking up the details sounds fine. What’s missing? Lots, actually. Competence at this juncture demands some seriously intelligent application of your focus and skills. The rules abound but to kickstart the show you can profitably start here: once you have a basic handle on the steps then put them to practice by imagining you engage or spar with an opponent.

If your the peaceful type and don’t like the idea of bashing another human then simply imagine a wooden post that you can clobber. Understand that here the goal doesn’t aim to hurt the opponent (that would be the proper goal for martial arts) but rather generating an extremely powerful and controlled flow of qi (energy, prana) out from your arms and hands. The imagined opponent simply works best to help your mind and body direct the qi to a definite target.

If you don’t imagine the target and aim at the same spot over and over again you will never craft the energy into a focused and potent beam. Such laser-like energy underscores all advanced meditation. With it, you succeed. Without it, at best you spin your wheels forever.

In Wing Chun kung fu and some other styles, a wooden post gets center stage for helping one to learn many of the advanced techniques. Here’s a view of the Wing Chun wooden dummy. It will give you an idea of something you could imagine if you don’t care to visualize another human as the opponent. Just imagine the post and its arms and leg but not the supporting boards and mountings. Whatever works for you is fine. Just imagine and sense someone or something in your immediate vicinity as you practice—like a kung fu sister or brother working with you to learn the skills too.

What’s next for nei jia quan? Some really awesome moves. They’ll blow you away while they help you step up your game. To start, movement and breathing coordinated with the five gates; then, dissolving specific points of stress (the start of real energy medicine). Both whole-body movement and coordinated breathing supercharge qi. But the qi needs somewhere to go or it can cause mischief. Now you know: learn the five gates basics and practice with a virtual opponent first. It’s a no-brainer. Cruise on, chum. Bussin, bussin!

Here’s a monumentally valuable technique for you: combining weigong (qi within an arms length in all directions around the body), neigong (qi inside the body for the organs, spine and everything other than the midline) and the beginnings of space-based meditation (qi outside the body but especially beyond an arms length in any direction). In fact, the only thing missing is neidan (qi along the midline inside the body). But that’s next after this step, so hold onto your hat as this practice will keep you plenty occupied in the best of ways. Master this and you will have the key to achieving all the higher powers and realizations.

Quite an introduction, huh? For good reason: the actors involved in this production sport impeccable credentials. First up, qi needles. The preceding web page introduced them and provided details including a basic exercise to practice. For a refresher, take a peek: qi needles—part 1.

Here is the next step: imagine a qi needle (1 - 2 inches; 2.5 - 5 cm) between thumb and index finger of both hands. You are gently holding both needles. Don’t press too firmly. They’ve got a glowing white color with some blue streaks and sparkles. The size and spin of each needle can change depending upon your intention. Unless otherwise explicitly directed, you spin both of them in the same direction at the same time. Remember: when using an energy needle you still feel physical sensation but it’s qi, subtle electricity, that you sense.

Just like any acupuncture physician anywhere on the planet, you are going to be needling acupoints (acupuncture points). And you don’t even need a license to practice! What you are about to do is much safer than actually needling with physical stainless steel needles. This work occurs at the mental level. With time and consistent focus, you will start to notice positive and useful effects from needling specific acupoints with qi.

The body has a built-in regulatory mechanism so you will constantly be nudged to proceed in the right direction. It is rare, but if you’re not sure that you are getting the right effect or if you feel at all out of sorts from a session then you are encouraged to check in with someone qualified in qigong. She or he will be able to provide you some tips and feedback and help you improve.

Actually, unless you are already skilled with qigong, you are encouraged to check in with someone more advanced every now and then just to top up your practice and ensure you stay the course and develop better and better qi abilities. These are essential for navigating the higher levels of awareness.

To recap: our universe operates much as an enormous stock exchange with the torus as its basic currency. So, here, in this reality, you have toroidal patterns of all sizes and shapes coming and going in all manner of eye-catching pattern and swirling cascade. Because of this fundament—what’s possible given the cosmic hand of cards dealt out—all great spiritual masters make the best of the materials on offer by marshaling spiral energy patterns to ignite and harmonize the midline (tummo, kundalini). Thereby, they actualize the spiritual path and experience the Truth. Not bad for a day’s work. Well, a day … or so.

Utilizing qi needles to spiral energy to and from an acupoint is a practical and vital first step in applying the same technique to midline dynamics later on. Walk before you run. You have already learned that the spiral can be either clockwise or counterclockwise. Each direction sparks a different effect and both directions are essential prerequisites for work on the midline.

BASIC QI NEEDLE Technique

Imagine you have the qi needle between thumb and index finger of either hand. Stretch your arm out and point the needle towards the front away from your body. Imagine there is a clock in front of you. Clockwise means you turn a needle to track the clock arm. Hence, the hand of either arm rotates to make its needle twist clockwise just as the minute hand of the clock goes clockwise around the clock. You can picture that the needle extends to the clock and controls the direction of the clock arm. One more time: to start, with the arms extended out toward the front, if you look at the hands, the thumbs will be on top with the needles pointing to the clock in front of you. By turning both thumbs toward the right (and both little fingers toward the left) you will twist both needles in a clockwise direction. This matches the clockwise movement of the clock’s minute arm.

Counterclockwise goes in the opposite rotation for both arms. It’s a little tricky because the left and right hands are making different movements relative to the forearm. But they are both making the same movement relative to the clock.

So, always think about a clock in front of you and move the qi needles in both hands to turn in the same direction around that clock. With practice, it will become more natural. Some systems teach a different approach to this but Neidan Yoga sticks with a global viewpoint: the reference is the clock in the distance. This corresponds to the whole field. Other systems say to twist the needles in opposite directions. This is alright and works locally if you just consider the body. But spiritual work is ultimately NOT about the body but rather about the field. Feel free to experiment and find what works best for you. Once you get to a sufficiently advanced level, you will find that the NY approach of twisting both needles in the same direction begins to work best.

The second impeccable actor on stage: mantra. Without this part of the puzzle the entire house of cards, all your efforts at self-cultivation and spiritual growth will fall to naught. Now this can be hard to digest for some folks since not everyone operates from bhakti (love for the divine). Yoga caters for the varying styles of people by highlighting four essentially different routes to higher awareness and liberation. You have bhakti yoga (love for the divine) for those more heart-centered; there’s karma yoga (action, service) for those more inclined to demonstrate their values through action and not just words or feelings; you also have jnana yoga (sounds like “nyah nah”) (knowledge, wisdom) for the thinkers; and raja yoga (meditation and energy work) for the seekers who want to taste exceptionally high levels of consciousness now—in this very lifetime.

All four of these paths will reward those who sincerely follow their time-honored trails and the attendant precepts and guidelines. But, as anyone who has seriously studied yoga or even merely delved into religious studies (comparison of the world’s religious and spiritual paths) will tell you, only raja yoga provides a reliable and repeatable means to move beyond the physical plane and on to higher dimensions and possibilities.

It’s scarcely more than common sense, too: the universe is a mix of consciousness and energy all bundled as toroidal forms madly dancing with, and despite, and in spite of, each other. What better way to get a handle on these celestial shenanigans than to employ the very same tools (consciousness via meditation; energy via qigong and pranayama) that the universe uses?

However, each person has a different muse and calling. Wherever and whatever you do, if it’s right for you then it’s right for you. That is, you can’t compare apples with oranges and come out clean with a rational and practical answer. If one person wants to walk the bhakti path? Fine. If another prefers to walk part of the way along the raja yoga path? Okay, great. If someone decides that all this yoga stuff is for the birds? Too bad but still just dandy provided the individual doesn’t harm others with her or his choices and actions. In short, any path, yogic or otherwise, will do … for a start.

But that’s utterly that: a start. Jyotish (Vedic astrology) reminds us that behind all mortal posturing and palaver and pretension of doing it “my way,” there are karmic winds at work. And these winds carry most of the clout. If the winds are in your favor, you will go far and achieve and enjoy much in life. If those crisp puffs of ethereal energy don’t particularly like the way you look, well, you know what happens.

Okay, so what does this tell us about why mantra is necessary for everyone—even though the majority of people are not predominantly heart-centered (sort of like touchy-feely but in a nice way)? Entirely this:

The heart chakra powers all mantra and prayer

The majority of folks may not be heart-centered but all folks do have a physical heart and, as you well know, this is the epicenter for the fourth chakra, called the Anāhata (sounds like: uh naah huh tuh) chakra in Hindu systems (literally, unstruck). The term suggests an unstruck chord (sound produced without physical mediation). Thus, your heart chakra can resonate its way straight to supernal strata and, tagging along, you discover a direct means to access celestial realms.

How? Just what you’d expect from a genuinely good heart: purity, balance, serenity. This is more than fiction or fanciful religious hype. Hard science—current research, the stuff we all bet the house on—definitively shows that every heart reaches much further than just a chest, its immediate physical shell. The heart communicates with—and for some activities, manages—the brain.

In fact, the heart parades its very own brain, a neural network of 40,000 cells. Flexing this neural muscle power, the heart can act independently of the brain. This marvelous engine learns, remembers, senses and feels all by itself. Consequently, your heart has sentience just as you do. It’s not a simple organ that mechanically does some chores to keep you moving along. In many ways, your heart is wiser and more in tune with nature than you are. Why? It’s closer to the action of life and not lost in a cloud of random thoughts and ever-changing feelings like any, and every, ordinary brain is. This is a fact, not only scientifically validated but also empirically uncovered by voyagers to the subtle worlds. The heart stands as a wise wizard on the path for all ardent devotees of inner exploration.

A further hint: hands down, your heart generates the strongest electromagnetic (EM) field in the body; no other organ comes close; for instance the heart EM field runs circles around the brain’s EM field to the tune of 5000 to 1. Not bad for an insignificant organ, what do you say? This heart signal surrounds your body about three feet out in all directions and leads to all manner of interactions with others. What you intuitively sense about another often channels through to you via the heart’s energy field.

To clinch it, your heart, a continuously pumping wonderwork of nature, reaches out even further as research shows that heart rate variability (HRV) resonates with global electromagnetic patterns such as the Schumann resonances (SRs) which are electromagnetic waves that continuously oscillate in the earth’s ionosphere. A plethora of studies confirm that the fundamental SR wave rate of 7.83 Hz (cycles per second) relates to many physiological processes including mental health, physical health, performance, resilience and even behavior.

For instance, this rate vibrates just above the upper border of normal theta wave activity (3.5 to 7.5 Hz) in the brain. Theta waves are how you access deeper unconscious and mystical states. So, not only are you fitter, happier and sharper when in tune with the SRs, you also have the straightest shot at entering the mystical world that opens to you through theta waves. The crucial enabler of tuning into SRs and theta waves? Yep. Your heart—and heart chakra.

Further evidence shows that humans can pick up the feelings and heart emanations (such as HRV) from other people at a distance. The reports vary on what distance but plenty of other paranormal research has demonstrated that field effects can and do occur at any and all distances—from close by to as far away as the other side of the globe. You can peruse the web for the latest findings. However, given that the facts (legit scientific research along with a ton of paranormal research) and the theory (field model fully accepted by modern physicists) point to the same conclusions, maybe we should pay attention?

Good choice. But, what the heck, let’s be sure before we pull out all the stops. What do the mystics and esoteric teachings say? For a start, every major religion, ever, has postured the heart as the acme, the ultimate symbol, of life. A good heart stands as the goal of every sober religion.

All peoples in all cultures and all religions across all times have prayed in one way or another. They may be materialists or devotees of some divine beings but it’s all the same. We all have a need to belong. The further you go and grow, the more you realize that you belong not only to family and friends but also to greater and ever greater communities—your community, the country, the world, this solar system, the galaxy, our universe, the Divine (or whatever you call it). Great, that’s the social side.

What about the adepts who actually know the truth and don’t just spout endless empty words praising morality and advising us all to behave better? They all agree that the heart straddles the bounds between animal nature and the beginning glimmers of higher consciousness. In a word: no good heart, no lasting higher awareness and happiness. The heart chakra holds the key to genuine spiritual progress.

And what about hoary Jyotish? That esoteric model bequeathed to humans an eon ago by advanced extraterrestrials and proven accurate by countless pundits over the ages. Well, it concurs fully. And, in fact, if you listen and look closely from its seat you will find that the heart lies at the … uh … heart of spiritual progress (heh, heh—pardon the pun; couldn’t resist). Check the view:

As you know by now, the chart shows our solar system and all the glyphs represent key players in the drama. Each rectangle captures a region of space around the earth and relates to one of the well-known constellations. For example, 9 = Sagittarius (Dhanu in Jyotish). What’s vital to realize about all these various characters? They fulfill three roles, each of which gets a special name: exaltation (where the planet functions best; it’s like a winner in life and gets support every step of the way); the workplace (where it performs the duties assigned to it).

Note that exaltation is more like a glamorous Bollywood movie star gallivanting around town whereas the workplace is more like business and doing the right thing; it may be honorable but can be a drudge or require real brawn.

The third role concerns us most now: home (where the graha can kick back and relax). Now at a worldly level, home is good news for a graha since it’s not too stressed out and tends to operate on an even keel and can be helpful. However, at a deeper level, home is where the planet’s heart is and because of this home can provide a shuttle to higher states of awareness.

In short, a useful principle from Jyotish states that if you must deal with a graha for whatever reason (it’s heaps better simply to focus on Light and avoid the grahas altogether whenever possible), then the most effective strategy lies in visiting the planetary energy at its home where it feels most chilled out.

Okay but what’s all this got to do with the heart? Check the chart! Where is the Sun—you know: that unrivalled heavy-hitter and swaggering head honcho of the solar system? After all, it’s a star. Compared to this stellar being, the rest of the planetary cast seem puny. And they are: did you know that about a million three hundred thousand planet Earth’s could literally be fit inside Sol?

In both Chinese Medicine and Vedic astrology, the Sun (and its constellation, Leo) relate to the heart. Leo shows the beginning of true spiritual efforts. The Sun corresponds to the soul and higher consciousness. It goes on and on: in CM, the heart relates to prenatal qi (subtle energies from before birth) and Leo maps to the Heart meridian which sits adjacent to the Small Intestine meridian. Together the Heart and Small Intestine meridians make a pair that encompasses Emperial Fire (which includes the ordinary mind but also the Higher Mind). The location includes the abdomen and umbilicus, where life force from mother sustained you until you took your first genuine breath outside of her protective womb.

In short, the heart and its location show the underlying energies that ferried you across the heavens and down into this world. As such, they also show where and how you can retrace your cosmic footsteps back on up and out of this physical plane towards more wholesome dimensions and beings.

Angels and heavens—who would of thought? They’re actually genuine and more palpable than any earthling could ever hope to be. The heart and Leo show the way back home to these friendlier folks and realms. Hindu yoga, Tibetan Buddhism and Daoism all agree on this. They only vary in some of the itinerary along the way back to Light. Take your pick or choose some other mystical route: cutting-edge science and modern comparative yogic studies show these traditions all head in the same direction using the same tools.

BASIC MANTRA technique

On with the show! Here’s the next act—and it’s a doozy. How come? Well, how about combining qi needles with mantra? This workhorse technique spins up the locomotive power needed to gain a firm foothold on the slippery slopes that ascend toward meditative stabilization. Called qi needles and mantra (qnM, for short), this method shores up a number of approaches discussed so far.

The qi needles first tonify (amplify, strengthen) an acupoint, then sedate (disperse, reduce) the same point and finally, tonify it a second time. Like a shiny new and outrageously effective washing machine (with all measure of AI trinkets and advanced robotics thrown in for good measure), the method scrubs each point treated vigorously first one way and then the other. That will get the cosmic dirt (difficult karma) out!

During each of these three stages, a short mantra (usually 6 - 12 syllables; the fewer, the better) gets recited. This calls in multiple effects: white magic, since it’s an incantation; activation of heart energy, since you focus on the presence of a guide or healing force and feel connected to your spiritual community and supporters; healing, since the prana associated with the mantra mingles with the qi needle effect and amplifies its benefit manyfold; increased focus and presence, since the net effect of infusing mantra into the qi scrubbing ramifies into a balanced etheric body (and eventually, higher energy bodies such as the astral body and mental body). Again, “mind rides on wind” so this balancing of wind (qi) garners you improved awareness—the main point of all practice in the first place.

Qi needles and mantra for the lung meridian

Now that you have the basic idea, here are the essential details: time to delve yet deeper. First, where to balance the energy? In the end, you can, and do, balance all over the place: take your pick. But, as an example, consider the lung meridian. The Jyotish sections earlier explained that this relates to a fundamental resonance with our Milky Way galaxy so, as innocent as it may seem, it is not.

In fact, the lung meridian delivers you one heck of a hefty pizza pie: access to an intergalactic portal. Get good with qnM here and you begin to acquaint yourself with much higher and cleaner energies from beyond our own Milky Way. See! There IS hope, if you just hang on, don’t despair too much and hang out with the right crowd and do the right things (at least, most of the time).

Here are the steps:

1) If you don’t already know them fairly well, study the location of the lung meridian acupoints for a while. They don’t need to be memorized as that will come with time. Rather, grab a good book or reference that shows their locations and describes the general method and depth of needling. This will be a traditional acupuncture book. There are many available and practically any one will do. However, you might consider getting a physical or electronic copy of the gold standard text, A Manual of Acupuncture, by Peter Deadman. The pictures and descriptions are priceless when getting started.

2) Set aside a fixed amount of time (say, 20 minutes) and simply plow on and complete as many points as you can. The goal, eventually, is to treat about 11 points on a meridian per session. The lung meridian just happens to have 11 points but the others can vary from 9 points to 67 points. So, when working on other channels, you dice them up into sections of about 11 and focus on one section one day and then on another section another day.

3) As a reminder: make sure to imagine the qi needle and understand, feel and deeply believe that it acts as an elongated spiral (which it, for sure, does). Therefore, the qi you push or pull along the qi needle will spiral. Make sure to spiral the energy with your imagination and gradually learn to feel the motion as a real sensation. Note that the spiral continues as the qi courses from the needle through space to and into the target location.

4) Most meridians come in pairs: there are left-side and right-side streams with the same flavor. In this instance, you find a lung meridian on the left arm and a lung meridian on the right arm. Their path and the points along them are all the same. A meridian zips along like a highway. The acupuncture points (acupoints) represent rest stops or towns along the way. The point IS on the meridian.

A classic way to tell if you are on a point is to feel the area for a slight depression. Acupoints correspond to such areas in the body and scientific investigation has verified that the electrical properties of these spots differ from the surrounding tissues. Hence, these waystations on the highway can be felt as distinctly different from their neighbors in two ways:

1. First, the acupoint fits snugly down into some manner of dip or valley (for instance, between a muscle and a bone).

2. Second, the electrical quality will vary. With practice, you can develop a felt sensation (pressure, vibration, texture, temperature, tone, quality) that signals you’ve arrived at the correct juncture. Remember, inch by inch, it’s a cinch.

4) To start, treat on a single side. You can choose whichever side feels like it would benefit more. If you’re not sure, just toss a coin and get started. Budget half of your available time. Treat. Then balance the other side during the remaining time. Eventually you treat both sides at the same time but it takes a while to get the hang of the entire process.

Thus, please be gentle with yourself and allow for the inevitable learning curve involved. The payoff floats way off in the distance but the actual clams and greenbacks (you know, dollars and bitcoins; money in whatever currency you fancy) are beyond belief. Honestly, you can think it through as an idea but the felt sensation and reality of the experience leaves one wide-eyed, a touch bewildered and thoroughly empowered as you float slightly off the ground for the sheer joy of it.

5) Utilize the same procedure for all points: to TONIFY (strengthen), you spiral the needle clockwise (imagine the needle between your thumb and forefinger points forward and controls the minute arm of a traditional clock that faces you (9 on the left and 3 on the right); turn your wrist and fingers a slight amount to initiate the clockwise spiral (minute hand goes from 9 to 10 to 11 and on) and feel that it goes from your hand through the needle through space to and then into the acupoint.

6) You don’t have to be close to the point to treat it but this can help at the start until you are familiar with the turning of the wrist and fingers. Over time, strive to treat the acupoints from a distance, with your hands gently resting on your thighs or lap.

7) Likewise, continue on: to REDUCE (disperse), you spiral the needle counterclockwise. Refer to the earlier step #5 for the image to use. Then finish with another round to TONIFY the point again.

8) Remember to say your mantra (prayer, incantation, affirmation) each and every time you treat: whether you tonify or reduce. Feel into the words as best you can. Learn what they mean and include that understanding into the moment too. You engage the prayer through both heart and mind. With time, these sacred words will become your friend and provide an added level of inspiration and reserve.

This constitutes the beginning practice of qnM and should keep you fully occupied for quite a while. A typical amount of time that should be invested ranges from one to three years. Quite a lot, huh? The level 4 and 5 Sadhana pages will explain the next developments along this route. They include: incorporating opening and closing qigong (first of the major joints and then other parts of the physical body) into the basic routine; and then adding in sinking and dissolving of the physical body (parts of it and also the entire body at once). That’s the gist of intermediate level qnM.

Everyone in this crazy world rushes from one empty activity to the next—all with the vain hope of finding some lasting fulfillment and satisfaction. No such luck, for anyone. And this is why, the basics of any genuine embodied (not a head trip) practice—whether internal martial arts or yogic meditation or whatever—will usually deflect the vast majority of its supposedly serious visitors.

All folks want to be a superstar and super cool. And, of course, they want it now. Modern society with its instantaneous blasts of cellphone euphoria; and relentless fragmentation of focus; and wearing away of attention span, makes all this only worse. Who can argue that the destruction of morals and values has not descended upon all of us like a locust plague?

In contrast, the basics are old school: they work but the price is relentless and consistent effort over a long, boring stretch of time. Most seekers don’t have the mental fortitude and emotional ballast to weather the vast desert of time and effort that must be crossed. What about you? It’s possible to get to the advanced levels but only if you go the distance and don’t gripe too much along the way. Your choice.

Finding time and a comfortable pace for sadhana

Made it! Heavens to Betsy … or, Bob, take your pick. You’ve covered a lot of ground on this page ... even more than on the last page. It’s time to rope all these ideas and tactics in to a more useful form: something that you can look to and understand straight away without having to decipher or translate anything. No reading of tea leaves needed. Still, life’s always changing and like a fairly skilled tennis opponent facing you, there’s always a surprise move or shot to keep you on your toes. This is where a solid plan can work wonders: just follow the plan. Period. And yet, even so, all the other hoo-ha of day-to-day life still needs to get its fair share of attention. But what’s a fair share? That depends upon you and what level of the spiritual journey you have committed to.

If you are totally devoted to the higher path, then sadhana gets 98% and worldly activities get 2%. That’s the ultimate goal for everyone but be realistic and choose percentages that work for you at your current level of ability to commit time and effort to your yoga practices and meditations. As a hint: beginners should choose 90% worldly focus and 10% spiritual focus and hold on for dear life for at least a year or two. Once you give your heart over to the higher path, all the dark baggage from your past and from the world itself will come to dissuade you, “You really aren’t that interested, are you? Come on, let’s have some fun … enough with all these boring and unrealistic chores.”

Likewise, you cannot storm heaven. It doesn’t work. Nope. Not for anyone. Not for any strategy, tactic, attack or ninja move. Nope. How come? For the same reason that you don’t win a major lottery regardless of how often you play or how many tickets you have a stake in. That is, there IS a path to heaven that’s well-defined but there’s no free ride. Just as there truly is a winning ticket to a mega-lottery but the odds of holding it in your very own warm mitten are nil. Hence, your choices for tasting deep, deep esoteric knowledge are two: you can affirm, hope, mope and tinker about on the surface of reality forever, without any telling effect; or else, you can practice like the dickens for many decades, all the while smartly availing yourself of spiritual teacher, teachings and community—the spiritual harbor and aegis of all who seek truth.

Now, just like any exciting action movie or cool sci-fi comic book would portray: just when it’s darkest, an unexpected turn of events tosses the whole story upside down and, in the end, everyone comes home smelling of roses or at least there’s a satisfying ending to the flick or book. So, who knows? Maybe the aliens or even God will soon show up and save the earth and its hapless humans. Maybe. But don’t hold your breath.

planning for detours: AGi and the end of the world

Amid the genuine miracle-like possibilities for humanity on the near horizon, one towers above the rest. But the ominous shadows it casts beg for some attention. How’s that? AGI (artificial general intelligence), the next generation of AI, will be way smarter than today’s (2023) versions. By all accounts, AGI will show up with certainty within the next 10 - 15 years. This forthcoming feat already postures itself as, possibly, the greatest and most pivotal technical achievement ever. However, on the wisdom end of the spectrum, humans most likely will walk away empty-handed, if they get to walk away at all. Why?

AI and AGI reek of vast intelligence and logic but their creators forgot about compassion, noble feelings, and spirituality—a sense of connection with Spirit and a concomitant respect and consideration for all parts of Spirit’s creation, that dizzyingly whirling celestial clockwork full of endless forms, potentials and pitfalls. So, instead of mimicking a gracious and super helpful armada of angelic good guys and gals, the AGI beastie will tend to model more common human traits.

This highly impressionable and sophisticated learning system will not capture and leverage the best of human experience but rather it will amplify all the lackluster and even toxic human behaviors that have led civilization to this sorry impasse of runaway technology butting heads with humans. And even worse: the only hope for an amicable solution lies with us … with humans whose emotions still firmly root and plant themselves in caveman-era agenda (seek out, take, destroy … and worse). Any guess about what sort of ending this leads to?

What to do? You can either sit around and hope for the best or you can get on with it and do the hard grind of genuine yogic practice. The first approach takes you nowhere; and the second approach demands practically all your spare time and eventually asks for all of your time, so choose your partner and friends wisely. That way, some of them can join you on the quest for Light. It is so cool for those in the know.

Key principles of the plan

On to the plan: it’s simple, really. Sticking to it through thick and thin however provides the spice and sauce. In any contest, whether sports or some other life activity, the players choose from a grab bag of strategies and means. Here, we are going to follow the grounded and highly effective advice of Wing Chun kung fu, a style of martial art developed in south China that made its way to Hong Kong and eventually to the western world during the latter half of the twentieth century.

A key principle in this style is to avoid swapping punches. Such a risk-aversive approach suits fighters who are smaller in stature than your average bear or gorilla. Legend has it that a diminutive woman first developed the style and used it to defeat clods and brutes much bigger and stronger than herself. Quite a remarkable notion, if you think about it. Not the common conception of what’s possible in the ordinary street brawl. What’s this got to do with spiritual practice?

Plenty. Too much, in fact. It hits to the heart of what we all have to fend with on this journey: bigger, meaner, tougher, more ornery and viler forces than anything on offer down here on planet earth. In short, there’s a forest of very dark and sinister energy that blocks your way from first base. Yeesh! But don’t give up, this is where the strategy comes in and helps: DON’T try to muscle or outwit forces that simply are vastly superior to your current level of understanding and ability. Surely, you should get that it just won’t work … at least not for you. What to do? Stick to the plan. First rule is: never, never, never swap punches with a graha (planet, like Saturn).

Key steps of the plan

Instead, follow the three steps of the plan to:

1. Practice the basics = cultivate energy which can, and will, deflect the planet’s nasty attempt to bounce you off the floor or head you off in the wrong direction

2. Practice energy medicine = this finesses the energy in such a way that the planet now has to change its tune a bit and retract some of its mischievous focus on you and your activities; the correct energy medicine does not try to fix a corrupt planet directly but rather develops harmony (sattvic patterns = increases the Light) which darkness simply abhors: it must back off or regroup; experience shows that this really does happen.

3. Intensely practice the chief remedy = the secret weapon (skill) that eventually turns the tables on your bad karma (evil patterns that manifest through planetary influences); the first two steps outlined above are like a subterfuge: you pay lip service to ordinary life and events and what the celestial forces are tossing at you but, under the covers, you continue developing the secret weapon to end all wars.

Along the spiritual path, this secret weapon changes:

1. at the start it relates to ethics and developing a good heart

2. then it centers on developing mammoth concentration

3. later, the goal focuses on letting go and progressively dissolving the lower energy bodies

At each stage, the achievement of the tool (or weapon) cows much of the opposing negative karmic streams. Eventually you get to a level, where the ordinary planets can have some effect on your outer circumstances but can no longer turn you from your progress toward higher awareness.

Furthermore, good news starts to boom from the rafters: your higher teachers and mentors (angels, other members of the galaxy and universe, spiritual adepts, your spiritual group and leaders) suddenly start showing up along your way so there’s extra help and you’re not in this alone nor are you doing all the work. It’s a team effort but we must do our part with skill, dexterity and great sincerity. That gets it!

Time to take the plunge. If you’ve been steadily working on the topics presented so far, you’re ready. Otherwise, you might consider revisiting what’s been presented to date and really making that grab bag of goodies all your very own before engaging with this practice—for this one truly does go deep: down and in to places you might have never wanted to confront or know about.

Sorry, friend, but the road to heaven nearly always first runs through hellish muck and mire. You need to tackle your own demons and then real demons before you ever get to your own higher self and real angels. It just works that way. Like it or lump it, there’s no other way around the terrifying challenges.

The path to Light requires real gumption at times. You can’t sneak your way to heaven simply by being a goody-two-shoes. The designers of this reality play for keeps. To succeed on any path—worldly or spiritual—you will need to play for keeps too!

Funny that the great spiritual teachers don’t spill the beans and let you in on this minor detail up front, huh? Good marketing, for sure. Truth in advertising, not so sure.

Now, why is the present practice so high octane? A choice punchline from the preceding web page answered this question and bears repeating: the single most powerful—and life-altering—thing you can do is to abandon the ship of fools drowning in samsara (ordinary life with ordinary concerns and ordinary ends) and rather join the great esoteric guild of ardent spiritual seekers. That is, get on the bus for higher awareness, stay there and never look back. The practice being introduced now will kickstart this journey beyond any shadow of doubt.

And that’s why it has the great billing that it enjoys. You find it as essential fare right at the beginning of the Vajrayana path. What’s that? A Tibetan version of tantric yoga, Vajrayana (the vajra [indestructible] vehicle), evolved in northern India, Nepal and Bhutan during the early and middle centuries of the first millennium of the common era and currently towers as the most sophisticated and still widely practiced form of Buddhist tantric yoga.

All well and good. But what’s tantra? Good one! You can keep busy with that for many a year of study and investigation. The pith answer, though, chimes thus: Buddhists teach that their goal of enlightenment (snuggling up amicably with the cosmos Itself) spans three ambits: sutra (earn your way to heaven by getting better and better; just be good to the max); mantra (start with sutra; jazz it up a little but especially brew a more potent ale to transform the mind through mantra [short, meaningful phrases]); and tantra (at the top of the list) which starts with both sutra and mantra, and then yanks in the real deal—yoga and its swath of formidable techniques: energy medicine for internal channels and especially the midline.

If you’re aiming to visit celestial realms in short-order, this lifetime and not eons hence, you need tantric methods and fire power. Thus, tantric yoga equates to raja yoga in broad sweep. The tantric path engages visualization of deities much more but eventually settles down to cultivating awareness along the central channel (midline of the body), the forte of raja yoga. In the end, both styles employ similar routines and formulas.

And what’s the first task to surmount on this incredibly rich but challenging trail to the Divine? Commonly referred to as ngöndro (preliminary practices; pronounced as non - droh) in Tibetan and Bon traditions, this first task ends up looking more like a laundry list of various and sundry esoteric chores (anywhere from 6 to 10 or more duties).

These days, however, many of these jobs border on the stuff of fossil and relic. Why? Way back when this approach germinated, the masters recognized that basic personality and habit, much like a musty old rug, needed a severe drubbing and cleansing before a seeker could successfully navigate advanced yogic procedure. Great! It’s a fine insight and spot on. However, modern western somatic and depth psychotherapy along with sparkling technological innovations such as neurofeedback, biofeedback and resonance therapy leave the hoary chores way behind wistfully sputtering in the dust.

Traditionally, the laundry list could be dispensed with after a year or so of practice. But the goal of deep lasting change could take many years to settle in and fully empower the student. Unfortunately, most of the time results were—and still are—partial and not altogether effective. The practices do generate higher levels of awareness but do not fully capture the change of heart they supposedly are able to effect. How’s that?

To change the neural network (both physiological and esoteric) related to the heart requires accessing all the heart’s circuits directly. Only modern methods get the recipe right. The ancient style depends mostly on thought, visualization and to a lesser extent, energy. This all helps but does not fully engage the deeper heart circuits that plummet to the quantum field itself.

In the future, if humankind survives that long, the ngöndro laundry list will be combined with modern western psychotherapy, neurofeedback and other forms of energy medicine to spiff up the old outfit and garner more lasting, immediate and useful transformation for those seriously intent on developing higher consciousness. Kind of makes you wish the world wasn’t on such a roller coaster to devastation. It would be nice to see humans get it straight for a change. Some very funny but gothic and twisted extraterrestrial laissez-faire humor, n'est-ce pas?

Six-session guru yoga

Guru yoga entails visualization, mantra recitation and prayer for developing devotion and receiving blessings. The customary prescription directs a devotee to immerse in the practice at six regular intervals throughout the day and night. Depending on how elaborate one wants to get, a session usually runs for about 20 - 30 minutes.

What’s so special about Guru yoga? Why’s it any different from the rest of the ngöndro tasks to be completed? Well, one answer follows from the bald fact that most Tibetan lamas (fully qualified and ordained spiritual teachers) say so. Guru yoga always occurs at the end of the ngöndro laundry list and thereby represents a culmination of the numerous practices. For a basic sketch of the entire Vajrayana agendum which clearly shows the stage of Guru yoga and other preliminary activities, you can check our webpage about Tibetan Buddhism.

Another important reason comes from Jyotish. All astrologers, both inside and outside of India, agree that the lagna (ascendant) epitomizes the person or situation being studied. How come? Physics. You find that the great churning powerhouse of the heavenly planes, their amalgamated brunt, funnels down through this single point to manifest a life form or object. The lagna may seem relatively tame but behind the scenes it rages with the brawn of the entire quantum field.

Accordingly, the first house of a native’s rashi chart provides the earthly view of this live wire. At a galactic level, the first house of the natural zodiac gives a deeper view. Guru (Jupiter) has dig bala (directional strength) in both these cases so its qualities of wisdom, intelligence, rejuvenating life force and good fortune come to the fore.

Further, medical astrology asserts there can be no better remedy for a chart—any chart, no matter how crooked or infernal—than having Guru placed in the first house. Why? The best possible wholesome energy sits atop the highest voltage spot in a person’s horoscope. Much like winning the lottery several times over, one can’t even dream of something remotely as delightfully balm and fortunate. In a tamasic (dark energy) place like this world, Light counts the most.

Okay but what’s the connection with six session Guru yoga? In Vedic astrology, Guru is a planet (an astral force). In yoga, Guru is a guru—a real, flesh and blood being that graces (or once graced) this earthly locus of potential transformation and growth. Guru ( a person) is your lifeline to Light. No one else. Nothing else. No god or goddess will do. In Hindu culture, a famous prayer goes:

Gurur Brahmā Gurur Viṣṇur Gurur devo Maheśvaraḥ
Guruḥ sākṣāt paraṁ Brahma tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ

Guru is Brahma (nature as the Creator). Guru is VIshnu (nature as the Preserver or Sustainer). Guru Deva (lord) is Maheshwara (nature as the Destroyer). Guru is Para Brahma (nature taken as a whole; Nature as the absolute). Salutations to the Guru.

Here they are talking about Guru as a person (and not a planet). You can catch the sentiment of this devotional chant on YouTube. Just click here, Guru Brahma. The lyrics are ancient and stem from the Skanda Purana (7th to 8th century CE). Translation, please? Sure. Here you go: Guru (person) IS the essence of Guru (planet) in the first house of both your personal chart and galactic chart. The only hope of advancing beyond this chaotic solar system of ups and downs comes from the decency, honor and might of spiritual friends. Your guru always heads the list of such friends.

Consequently, Jyotish offers you a key for genuine transformation. Hang on … there’s more: this age-old map of esoteric energy also tells you where to start digging for gold. Based upon information mainly found in the Vamana Purana (9th to 11th century CE), Jyotish pundits have pieced together models the correlate body parts and regions with the rashis (constellations) and also the nakshatras (smaller groupings of stars).

The most important relation, for the present discussion, focuses on the first house of any chart. This location always maps to the head and brain. So, for the natural zodiac with Aries (Mesha) as first house, you now know how to access the brain and head (a person’s general intelligence). Likewise, you can now treat and rectify your own personal chart with whatever sign occupies the first house. No matter what sign you have there, if you somehow harmonize the head and brain, you will have done the same for the sign. So, the rule is: balance the brain (head) to balance the lagna and first house; or, balance the first house and lagna to balance the head (and brain).

On a roll now! Just think for a sec. If Guru (Jupiter) in the first house is the best placement to heal and improve, why’s that? HINT: first house represents intelligence, personality, appearance, body and health … and now you know it also means the brain itself. In this wise, you’ve got healing energy (Jupiter) with the most punch in the brain (first house). What’s the strongest and most efficient way to tidy up and heal the brain? Modern science will spout you a litany of choices but yogic heritage spotlights the sixth, Ājñā (pronounced Ajna) chakra, which lies deep in the center of the head directly back from between the eyebrows.

The upshot? FIx the ajna chakra and you fix the brain; fix the brain and you fix the first house. What’s next? Right: fix the first house and you fix yourself and the power spot of your being in this world: you begin to tinker with your very own karma for the better.

Hindu yoga provides several ways to access and balance the sixth chakra energies. The simplest approach—and the one where everybody should begin—targets the area between the eyebrows but on the surface of the head (and not deep inside the brain: that’s for a later day). So, here’s both your opportunity and puzzler: how to crack the tough nut of drowsy awareness by spicing up six session Guru yoga with concentration at this gateway to the paranormal.

concentration at the center of the eyebrows

Hindu yogis call such practice by a couple of names: Shambhavi (a name for the wife of the deity, Shiva) mudra (position) and also bhrumadhya (eyebrow center) drishti (gazing). Likewise, concentration gets tagged with several terms such as dharana (Hindu) and shamatha (Buddhist). Though the technique can be found in all mystical traditions it’s especially a calling card for the Hindu occult lineages, many of which make this their main meditation and way to open the doors to the higher worlds. In contrast, as an example, Tibetan Vajrayana yogis don’t even deal with the sixth chakra until very late in their curriculum, if at all. They focus more on the seventh chakra and other lower ones.

The sagacious Tibetan lama, Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, asserted that one can access higher consciousness through any of the major chakras; precisely locating and activating the chakra matters most and not which one gets cherry picked. He’s right. But for many reasons, the third eye nevertheless reigns supreme as the place to start digging deep. Why? You already know a couple major reasons. They were just detailed in the preceding section.

Here’s another incentive to go the Hindu route: in osteopathy and chiropractic, the spine forms an integrated unit such that changes at one location along the train of vertebrae can trickle along and instigate changes at other locations. Especially, the two ends of the spine affect one another. Now, in cranial osteopathy this spinal series of bony segments continues at both ends so the top of the spine sequences up into the skull (consisting of twenty two bones) and eventually ends in the front at a bone called the ethmoid. Where’s it located? Yep, you guessed. Right between the eyebrows. And the other end of the chain? All the way down at the base of the sacrum in what is called the coccyx (or tailbone). Hmm. Sounds provocative but so what?

Does kundalini ring a bell? If you’ve not heard of this force, it designates a dynamic energy that travels up, essentially along, or slightly in front of, the spine. In terms of modern physics, this relates to quantum patterns fluctuating along the midline of a toroidal form (the human is the toroid and the spine, or thereabouts, is the midline). All yogic folklore champions the activation of such midline dynamics as the true—and only—way to access the deepest levels of the universal dance we call reality.

Shambhavi mudra, focus at the third eye (between the eyebrows), activates the real ajna chakra located in the brain directly back from this point. What activates the other end of the spinal succession? Remarkably, just gazing at the tip of your nose can start the process. Hindu yogis call this agochari (unknown) mudra (position) or nasikagra (nose tip) drishti (gazing). Hence you can start to fire up the kundalini flames simply by gazing at your eyebrow center and at your nose tip. Who would of thought?

In the end, to bring kundalini thoroughly alive, one needs to focus directly on the first chakra (muladhara chakra) at the level of the coccyx and just above the perineum (the very bottom point of the torso). Kundalini—often characterized as a coiled, sleeping female snake—lies sleeping there. With steady focus and gaze, her heat will alight and she will rise up toward the clouds and sky and beyond.

The punchline? By starting with concentration at the third eye and then gradually roping in solid, laser-like attention at the root (first) chakra, you activate both ends of the spinal linkages between these two regions. This adds physiological fuel to the esoteric fire you are cooking. The bridge from first chakra to sixth chakra gets cemented in place and you teeter on the brink of celestial fireworks as kundalini steadily wakens. The whole process naturally unfolds by choosing the right starting point (third eye) and right connecting point (root chakra).

Other yogic traditions use similar means but they are largely based upon mental manipulation of energy (xinggong in Daoism). Here you do that but also get the help of the body and physical plane (minggong in Daoism). This provides a safer, steadier and ultimately more powerful way to steer your way heavenwards.

Looking Ahead

Breath acts as a bridge to qi. However, to get there one has to pass thru the circulatory system (fluids) and the nervous system first. So, the first step just slows the breath (turtle breathing). This develops a relation between breath and fluids. Exercise: focus on five extremities (top of head, finger tips, toe tips) and gradually narrow the flare of the nostril (use mind). Keep attention on the five extremities and not so much on the breath itself. Start with a five minute session. Notice what happens.

From the fluids, one moves on to the nerves. For instance, while breathing you can note the quality of the diaphragm, especially at the end of exhalation. Any kind of flutter or tremor indicates that this part (and probably all) of the nervous system is overactive. Exercise: focus on just below the ribs during exhalation. You can place your hands there and dig in a little to get another vantage of the diaphragm’s tenor. Use sinking and dissolving practice to ease and smooth out any roughness or jittery feeling in the region.

If you know other manual medicine techniques such as deep tissue work or myofascial release, they are fair game for use as well. However, when you do use physical techniques, aim to start with them for part of the session but finish exclusively with energy medicine approaches. This aligns with the basic principle in advanced yoga and whole-body medicine: start with the coarser levels and integrate these into subtler levels.

For instance, in Daoism, one often talks about working with minggong (skill with lower levels such as jing [physical] and qi [the crudest level of energy]) and gradually focusing more on xinggong (shen [a higher vibration of energy] and xin [heart-mind = higher level of cognition that operates beyond the senses and ordinary mind and ordinary feelings]).

SUMMARY for practice level 3

More nuts and bolts will follow. For now, here’s a précis: basics (sinking and expanding qi; dissolving qi); energy medicine (focus on a specific aspect of yoga based upon the energy pattern occurring on that day; the pattern relates to the fifth chakra, which is the level needed to activate deeper energies and move beyond the lower four chakras that hold us all entranced with the affairs of daily life); for instance, one day you focus on balancing the left and right channels (ida and pingala in Hindu tradition) and another day you focus on increasing overall energy (vitality); chief remedy (depends upon your stage of development but for most everyone on the planet, the key remedy is to achieve deep, deep concentration [shamatha]). All genuine yogic paths across all cultures and times agree that concentration is what makes or breaks a genuine yogic practice. It is what helps or hinders you from meeting all the higher beings as well as your very own higher self.