:'( This Guy Would NEVER Join Our Site :'(
Meditationtime Forum Post
Date: Posted 5 years before Oct 06, 2017
Carlos Palacios 5 years ago
From "Light on Pranayama" by B.K.S. Iyengar
PG 179-180
"Bhastrika generates prana to activate the entire body. Just as too much stoking burns out the boiler of an engine, too long a practice of bhastrika endangers the lungs and wears out the system, since the breathing process is so forceful....Many people misconceive that bhastrika pranayama awakens the kundalini sakti. The authoritative books have said the same regarding many Pranayamas and asanas, but this is far from true. There is no doubt that bhastrika and kapalabhati refresh the brain and stir it to activity, but if people perform them because they believe that they awaken the kundalini, disaster to the body, nerves and brain may result."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This guy would NEVER join our site :'( and if he did I'm sure Michael would not only ban him, he would excommunicate him and send him into eternal damnation for writing such heresy!!!
Am I right Michael?
Carlos Palacios
MiBeloved 5 years ago
B.K.S. Iyengar is a great guru who became famous because of asana postures yoga alone. A majority of the females who are now licensed to teach yoga in the Western countries got their certification through his organizations. Of course that is not yoga but it is passing in the West as yoga, even though asana is the third stage of yoga.
According to what he said about why he began the practice of yoga it was to repair his bad health and he admitted that the higher stages which are meditation were not practiced by him initially for many years.
You have to take all that into consideration with this statement. This is based perhaps on his own experience and fear of the bhastrika and also based on his not wanting to be responsible for anyone practicing it.
In the way he mastered the asanas we have to conclude that he was a great yogin from his past lives.
======================
There is a book called Science of Vital Force by our astral guruji, Srila Yogeshwarananda as well, which you might want to peruse.
======================
Nobody is banned from Meditation Time. If you have courage to write something, then do so and face the music which blows back from the readers. I have nothing to do with it. You have to write on the basis of your experience and conviction. Every person is limited or freed by their experience. A man can only have conviction according to his experience.
This is an open site. Free speech is something we advocate. Dissent is a healthy part of any society.
If you read Iyengar’s line about the authoritative yoga books you will see that he is using this as a ploy not to have to teach it to anyone or be responsible for anyone practicing this.
But according to his history, his guru just taught him the asana for many years and then much later he began pranayama practice and there are many pranayama methods.
If one is fortunate to be able to do bhastrika and stay in good health and raise kundalini daily, then one is not concerned with these statements. One is not even concerned to object to them.
People who handle weapons are not afraid of carrying them. But all the same they do not go about denying the danger of weapons in the hands of people who are not accustomed to them.
A student who is steady in practice does not have the time to be going about affirming or denying statements about bhastrika.
Right now there is a big argument about it on Linked In and Alfredo, one of our main contributors, is involved with that. These attractions are really distractions. The case is this, that if you are fortunate to be taught bhastrika by a master of the system, then that is enough for you. Who cares what others say?
Pool 5 years ago
It's not just this rapid breathing practice, I always read about people claiming on other Pranayama techniques to have negative effects. Even on just raising Kundalini itself such as "if you are not ready, kundalini might make you crazy," or giving you psychosis, schizophrenia and other symptoms.
unlimitedsun 5 years ago
Timely and stimulating for me.
Why so much hocus pocus about this kundalini? Aren't we into much extended expressions of kundalini energy? Isn't kundalini the more grounded, the more stable, the more expert and most natural of this environment than soul and intellect?
It would be beneficial for me to get reliable information on documentation of noteworthy kundalini mishap(s).
Being objective in the meantime, by far the most dangerous activity I engage in these days is driving down Georgia avenue, through downtown DC, back and forth to work. But there is a clear benefit that makes it worth the risk in spite of the well documented death toll from automobile traffic, particularly as it affects pedestrians on such a major inner city artery areas.
The benefits of raising kundalini cannot even be considered in terms of live as we know it, so I read and hear (it is not a personal experience to-date).
Yes, agreeably awakening a normally dormant energy, an unconscious phenomena into vivid consciousness can be unsettling because of an innate fear of the unknown, as another expression of kundalini itself.
Still, it is a disservice as I see it to discourage anyone willing to move into the beyond with frivolous warning of said disasters, or psychological and mental havoc, or other types of mayhem.
Why not instead grow some spine (and free kundalini)? What happened to "dying for one's conviction?" Those who are serious as mentioned earlier are not concerned one way or the other anyways. I wish the melodrama out there would lightened a bit, perhaps not to the point of adopting a spirit of fun all along the sublime journey of self-discovery, as it is vehemently a heavy and serious responsibility.
Incidentally, and to add a perceptive, as a little boy in Mali (West Africa), we would sneak away and go watch a group that was into getting into trance, every Friday evening. They would start at dusk and dance in circles to a repetitive djembe drum rhythm (of tente tegrente, tente tegrente...) until they were all taken over. And, then we would have nightmares afterwards. Are such phenomena other manifestation of kundalini or of the spirit as usually claimed - for lack of a better term perhaps?
Just as kundalini is most natural, could traditional society have been actually awakening their kundalini a certain way for other aims? Is there only way of addressing the kundalini force? And since consciousness is virtually unlimited, would awakening kundalini always result in spiritual advancement?
Alfredo 5 years ago
Surya Ji!
What you wrote above contains a great deal of common sense and intelligence, and mostly summarizes my beliefs about this issue as well.
There is, unfortunately, often a feeling of envy in many of the warnings about the dangers of the so-called raising of Kundalini, a fact that we all know few hesitate to take when having sex, for example. This feeling of envy when confronted with advancements of fellow Sadhaks, comes in a package deal with ignorance.
That's why Michael's warning to me of not getting entangled in these type of discussions - when controversial, not like here with you of course - with others is very important, for finally...who cares? One should care, mostly.
So, like you, I am driving to Tampa today, and that is really dangerous, ha, ha. I will let you know if I get there!
As for Kundalini, and will try to raise her every day, I taunt her and ask her to kick my butt it needs be. I have no problem or fear about that.
Marcia Beloved 5 years ago
From "Light on Pranayama" by B.K.S. Iyengar:
"Just as too much stoking burns out the boiler of an engine, too long a practice of bhastrika endangers the lungs and wears out the system."
Marcia Beloved's Comment:
This is a true statement for me.
I have to gauge the length and pace of bhastrika I do, based on when it becomes counterproductive. I've had some respiratory health issues and if I breathe too forcefully I become de-energized, rather than more energized. The lungs stop absorbing any air. Aging of the body has also become a factor in that regard.
Interestingly, I had a dream this morning along these lines:
I was in a group bhastrika practice. I was breathing forcefully and loudly but at a much slower rate. The leader told me to leave and get a ticket!
Obviously, I am not a good example for intense bhastrika practice.
I would only advise practitioners to be attentive to what happens during practice. Those who have the capacity should not hold back.
