AN INTRODUCTION TO THE HISTORY OF NATHA YOGA – Part 3

THE VARIOUS LAYERS OF THE HUMAN BEING.

Modern science is slowly catching up with the old traditions, the Hindu, Chinese and Japanese , traditions.

We know now that the earth is one huge electro-magnetic ball, with the electro-magnetic currents running from south to north. These currents are generated by the liquid core inside the earth turning. A bit like a huge dynamo.

In the same way our bodies are electro-magnetic fields, electro-magnetic bodies. We all have experienced getting electric shocks when you touch the metal door of the car, or from synthetic clothing, or by caressing your cat.

We are also children of the earth. We are ‘glued’ to the earth. Our feet are in contact with the earth. You can imagine that our feet are like the electric plug that you plug into the wall to charge your batteries. So our feet are like the plug that charges the body from the electro-magnetic field of the earth. In fact when you walk barefoot on the beach or on the grass you can feel that you are being charged through the soles of the feet.

THESE ARE THE VARIOUS BODIES THE HUMAN ‘ONION’ IS COMPOSED OF:

The physical body is the final result or the sum of all the layers of the human being. It is, so to say, the tip of the iceberg, visible above sea level, while the bigger part is under the sea level, unknown to many people.

Next to western words to describe those parts, I will use also the Sanskrit words, which are very clear.

The physical body is made of physical material, flesh, bone, nerves etc. which we can see, touch, examine, but which in itself is only inert material. At death when the energy body ‘leaves’ the physical body is ‘life-less’.

The bricks that construct the physical body is the food that we eat and the drinks that we drink. Therefore in Sanskrit yogic language it is called annamaya kosha, or the body made of anna (food).

The annamaya kosha (also called stuhla sharira or gross body or physical body) cannot move by itself, as it is just meat without power or intelligence, and at death is shed like the snake sheds its skin.

To move the annamaya kosha or the physical body we need the brain. The brain is also made of matter, but it emits electric waves, and it is those that eventually move the physical body.

Everything that the physical body does begins with commands in the brain. However, it does not do so directly, but indirectly.

The brain programs all the movements of the physical body and all the other processes of the physical body.

This centre of organization in the brain is called in Sanskrit in the yogic tradition manomaya kosha.

In this word we can recognize the word ‘man’ or ‘hu-man’ in English, for instance. Also mind.

This is the organ that distinguishes us from the animals, who have it, but in a more rudimentary form, less developed, and which makes us ‘human’.

There is however one thing that most Western doctors do not know, but which the Orientals and the yogi’s have always known, which is that the brain or the manomaya koshaCANNOT act directly upon the physical body. There is NO connection between the two.

That which many people know, without knowing that they ‘know’, is that between the brain and the physical body, between the manomaya kosha and he annamaya kosha, THERE IS ANOTHER BODY.

Acupuncture, shiatsu, tai chi, shao-lin and many other disciplines, do not act directly on the physical body, but on another body, a subtle, electric body.

This electric body (think of the meridians in acupuncture or nadi’s in yoga tradition) is called in yogi tradition pranamaya kosha, or subtle or etheric body.

According to yoga, and the name itself says it already, this body is made of prana.

As we saw, prana is not air, not oxygen, not energy, but is the basic material of the universe, which is LIGHT, photons.

The subtle body, also called sukshma sharira, is made of photons. It is a Light body, or Body made of Light.

Those who have done Kirlian photography have seen that this light can be seen coming out of the body, the hands and the feet .

In yogic tradition the mindful practice of breathing, called pranayama, is a very important part of the practice. With pranayama, as the name says, we inhale air, oxygen, but in the first place we inhale LIGHT.

Therefore the mindful breathing, pranayama, fills the subtle body or pranamaya kosha with light, strengthens it and makes it shine. In the winter, when there is little light we feel more depressed, dull, but in the summer when there is a lot of sunlight we feel uplifted, full of energy.

According to Wikipedia:

The subtle body (Sanskritsūkṣma śarīra) is one of a series of psycho-spiritual constituents of living beings, according to various esotericoccult, and mystical teachings. According to such beliefs each subtle body corresponds to a subtle plane of existence, in a hierarchy or great chain of being that culminates in the physical form.

The subtle body has various focal points, called chakras, which are connected by channels, often called nadis, that convey the prana . These are understood to determine the characteristics of the physical body. Through breathing and other exercises, a practitioner may direct the subtle breath to achieve supernormal powersimmortality, or liberation (kaivalya).

The subtle body in Indian mysticism. A row of chakras is depicted

from the base of the spine up to the crown of the head.

This subtle body is the ‘blue-print’ of the physical body, and is similar in shape to the physical body, or rather, the physical body is similar in shape to this subtle body, having been ‘created’ by it.

The subtle body or Light body is that body that acts between the brain and the physical body. The physical body in itself cannot execute the commands of the brain or the manomaya kosha.

The brain or manomaya kosha, composes a certain command for a certain movement and sends this command to the subtle body, which in turn ‘collects’ energy, prana, to execute the command and translate it in a movement of the physical body. When it has gathered sufficient prana it can move the physical body. This process is called intent. It is this command, this intent which started in the manomaya kosha and sent out to the subtle body or pranamaya kosha which moves the physical body or annamaya kosha.

It sounds very complicated but this process in reality goes on all day, but for 99 % it is on an unconscious level. Each movement that we make follows this procedure: brain > electrical body > physical body..

So what is the difference between the daily movements and the mindful yogic movements?

The difference is that in our yoga practice we apply mindfulness, also called total attention, to each movement make. Every movement, every asana is done under the complete and CONSCIOUS control of the mind and the subtle body.

I want to come back to the connection between the electro-magnetic field of the earth and us: The earth has something which is called the Schumann resonance.

WHAT IS THIS SCHUMANN RESONANCE?

The Schumann Resonance is nicknamed the “heartbeat of mother earth” and can occur in bands which match up to the ranges seen in our brainwaves: alpha, beta, gamma and so forth. 

There is an atmospheric cavity between the earth and the ionosphere. Every second about 1000 lighting flashes around the globe harmonize these pulses which travel around this cavity sending electromagnetic energy signals to all microorganisms. These lightning flashes are also called romantically ‘Elves’ and are visible from the satellites.

These signals couple us to the Earth’s Magnetic Field and are also thought to be inversely influenced by the mass emotions and the sum of human consciousness.

This, for us who practice yoga, is of the maximum importance, so I repeat: influenced by the

mass emotions and the sum of human consciousness.

The Schumann Resonance is normally at 7.83 HZ, but it seems that ultimately, during this time of the covid virus, it is increasing.

Humans are tuned to the resonant vibration of earth. 

“Human beings vibrate, and the frequency they emit ranges from 5-10hz. We are in the same range as the 7.83hz of the earth. 

This is why nature is healing to people. It helps them match the earth frequency of 7.83 which boost the body’s natural ability to heal and regulate itself.

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