Читать книгу Ashtanga Yoga - The Intermediate Series - Gregor Maehle - Страница 50

As the process of creation continues, the gunas now swing from the manifest into the subtle state. During the subtle state of the gunas, the sound state of madhyama is produced. The madhyamic state brings forth the fifty letters of the Sanskrit language, which are composed of sixteen vowels and thirty-four consonants. This is significant for the following reason: During the subtle state the gunas bring forth egoity (ahamkara), and only from this moment on can we strictly speak from I-thought, I-awareness, or I-consciousness. Then the gunas produce the subtle elements/essences (tanmatras). Finally, both together — egoity and subtle elements — produce the subtle or energy body (sukshma sharira), which is sometimes also called the yogic body or energy body. The subtle body consists of pranas (vital currents), nadis (energy channels), bindus (energy points), personal vasana (conditioning) and samskaras (subconscious imprints), and, importantly, chakras. As a result, the subtle body understands and reacts to Sanskrit. You can chant your mantras in English or any other language as long as you wish; they will not transform the subtle body. To use an information-technology analogy, Sanskrit is the programming language that has been used to write the operating system of the subtle body. If you want to reprogram your operating system, you have to enter your new instructions in Sanskrit. Otherwise you will talk only to your conscious mind, which can be useful but is not nearly as effective.

Let’s have a look now at how information is encrypted into the subtle body. Each chakra is related to certain Sanskrit letters and certain root syllables, or bija aksharas. The bija aksharas are mantras that are used to activate, open, and energize their respective chakras. They are also used in an important technique called bhuta shuddhi, the purification of the elements, which was described in chapter 1. During bhuta shuddhi, each element represented in and manifested through its respective chakra is dissolved into the next higher chakra. This process is called involution. It reverses the descent of shakti, which during the process of evolution crystallized down through all the elements until she came to rest in the muladhara chakra — at which point we lost awareness of the Divine within us. Bhuta shuddhi is not possible without using the root mantras of each chakra and element. This is because the Great Goddess/prakrti/shakti manifested and programmed the chakras and elements by emitting the root mantras during the madhyama state of sound. In this process lies the secret of many yogic techniques.

All phenomena are made up of vibrational patterns called shabda. Divine intention uses shabda in the form of mantra to shape reality. The ancient seers heard these mantras in deep samadhi and related them down to us. We now can use these precious mantras to shape our reality. The rishis have taught us mantras so that we could ultimately realize the divine intention that stood behind their initial use. Through the correct application of mantras we can raise shakti up through the six lower chakras to Sahasrara, where shabda Brahman is realized.