Skip to main content

Purpose of Hatha Yoga

John Kaldawi learned that the main aim of hatha yoga is to bring a balanced flow of prana in ida and pingala nadis.  The word hatha is comprised of two beeja mantras "ham", representing the sun or solar force, and "tham", representing the moon or lunar force.  To bring about a balance between these two forces, the body must first be purified by the shatkarmas.  The aim of hatha yoga is to balance these two flows so that neither the mental nor physical faculties and dominant.  During the twenty four hour period of the day, the flow of ida should predominate for about twelve hours and the flow of pingala for the other twelve hours.

Doing more research, John Kaldawi learned that when ida and pingala nadis are purified and balanced, and the mind is controlled, then sushumna, the most important nadi, begins to flow.  Sushumna must be flowing for success in meditation.  If pingala flows, the body will be restless; if ida flows, the mind will be overactive.  When sushumna flows, kundalini awakens and rises through the chakras.

John Kaldawi also learned that all activities at the physical level, ida and pingala correspond to the two aspects of the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic.  Pingala coincides with the sympathetic nervous system and ida with the parasympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the stimulation and acceleration of activities concerned with the external environment and the deceleration of the organs which tend to utilize a lot of energy internally.  The sympathetic nerves speed up the heart, dilate the blood vessels, increase the respiration rate and intensify the efficiency of the eyes, ears and other sense organs.

The parasympathetic nerves directly oppose the sympathetic nerves for they reduce the heartbeat, constrict the blood vessels and slow respiration.  This results in introversion.  The flow of prana in ida and pingala is completely involuntary

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

John Kaldawi opinions about Compassion

John Kaldawi was inspired by the virtues of Compassion which is the complete flowering of true love in human beings. Love is our intrinsic quality, we are born with it, it is just a matter of being aware of it.   Awareness makes our love stronger and makes it a virtue and brings out the Compassion within us.   Doing more research, John learned that Compassion is the ability to identify and understand the emotional state of another person.   It has the element of reducing the suffering of another associated with the feeling to help.   If someone try to hurt us, instead of having negative feeling towards them, we assume instead that they had a good reason for doing what they did given their particular circumstances. John Kaldawi also learned that Compassion is a process of connecting by identifying and feeling one with another person.   This identification with others through compassion can lead to increased motivation to do something in an effort to...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sahasrara Chakra Mantra

John Kaldawi learned that Sahasrara Chakra is situated at the crown of the head.  It is not really a chakra but the abode of highest consciousness.  The word sahasrara means "one thousand".  Sahasrara is visualized as a shining lotus of a thousand petals, containing the fifty-two beeja mantras of the Sanskrit alphabet twenty times over.  Doing more research, John Kaldawi learned that in the center of the lotus is a shining jyotirlinga, lingam of light, symbol of pure consciousness.  It is in sahasrara that the mystical union of Shiva and Shakti takes place, the fusion of consciousness with matter and energy, the individual soul with the supreme soul.  John Kaldawi also learned that when kundalini awakens, it ascends from whence it originated.  Matter and energy merge into pure consciousness in a state of intoxicating bliss, the goal of yoga.  Having attained this, the yogi gains supreme knowledge and passes beyond birth and death. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

History of Yoga - Part 2

John Kaldawi learned that in ancient times, yoga techniques were kept secret and were never written down or exposed to public view.  They were passed from teacher or guru to disciple by word of mouth.  In this way there was a clear understanding of their meaning and aim.  Through personal experience, realized yogis and sages were able to guide aspirants along the correct path, removing any confusion, misunderstanding and excessive intellectual contemplation. Sage Patanjali's treatise on raja yoga, the yoga Sutras, codified the first definitive, unified and comprehensive system of yoga.  Often called the eight-fold path, it is comprised of yama, self-restraints, niyama, self-observances, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, disassociation of consciousness from the outside environment, dharana, concentration, dyana, meditation and samadhi, identification with pure consciousness. Doing more research, John Kaldawi learned that in the 6th century BC, Lord Buddha's in...
Post a Comment
Read more