Guest guest Posted July 8, 2003 Report Share Posted July 8, 2003 Dear Member, Your mail is simply excellent. With regards,Jagannathan. --- "N.Anna" <anmar wrote: > > Yoga at the speed of Light, - By Linda Johnsen, > Courtesy & copyright Yoga International > > It is amazing how much Western science has taught > us. Today, for example, kids in grammar school learn > that the sun is 93 million miles from the earth and > that the speed of light is 186,000 miles per hours. > > Yoga may teach us about our Higher Self, but it > can't supply this kind of information about physics > or astronomy. > > Or can it? > > Professor Subhash Kak of Louisiana State University > recently called my attention to a remarkable > statement by Sayana, a fourteenth century Indian > scholar. > > In his commentary on a hymn in the Rig Veda, the > oldest and perhaps most mystical text ever composed > in India, Sayana has this to say: "With deep > respect, I bow to the sun, who travels 2,202 yojanas > in half a nimesha." > > A yojana is about nine American miles; a nimesha is > 16/75 of a second. Mathematically challenged > readers, get out your calculators! > > 2,202 yojanas x 9 miles x 75 - 8 nimeshas = 185,794 > m.p.s. > > Basically, Sayana is saying that sunlight travels at > 186,000 miles per second! How could a Vedic scholar > who died in 1387 A.D. have known the correct figure > for the speed of light? If this was just a wild > guess it's the most amazing coincidence in the > history of science! > > The yoga tradition is full of such coincidences. > Take for instance the mala many yoga students wear > around their neck. Since these rosaries are used to > keep track of the number of mantras a person is > repeating, students > often ask why they have 108 beads instead of 100. > Part of the reason is that the mala represent the > ecliptic, the path of the sun and moon across the > sky. Yogis divide the ecliptic into 27 equal > sections called nakshatras, and each of these into > four equal sectors called padas, or "steps," marking > the > 108 steps that the sun and moon take through heaven. > > Each is associated with a particular blessing force, > with which you align yourself as you turn the beads. > > Traditionally, yoga students stop at the 109th "guru > bead," flip the mala around in their hand, and > continue reciting their mantra as they move backward > through the beads. The guru bead represents the > summer and winter solstices, when the sun appears to > stop in its course and reverse directions. In the > yoga tradition we learn that we're deeply > interconnected with all of nature. Using a mala is a > symbolic way of connecting ourselves with the cosmic > cycles governing our universe. > > But Professor Kak points out yet another > coincidence: The distance between the earth and the > sun is approximately 108 times the sun's diameter. > > The diameter of the sun is about 108 times the > earth's diameter. And the distance between the earth > and the moon is 108 times the moon's diameter. > > Could this be the reason the ancient sages > considered 108 such a > sacred number? If the microcosm (us) mirrors the > macrocosm (the solar > system), then maybe you could say there are 108 > steps between our ordinary > human awareness and the divine light at the center > of our being. Each time > we chant another mantra as our mala beads slip > through our fingers, we are > taking another step toward our own inner sun. > > As we read through ancient Indian texts, we find > so much the sages of > antiquity could not possibly have known-but did. > While our European and > Middle Eastern ancestors claimed that the universe > was created about 6,000 > years ago, the yogis have always maintained that our > present cosmos is > billions of years old, and that it's just one of > many such universes which > have arisen and dissolved in the vastness of > eternity. > > In fact the Puranas, encyclopedias of yogic lore > thousands of years > old, describe the birth of our solar system out of a > "milk ocean," the Milky > Way. Through the will of the Creator, they tell us, > a vortex shaped like a > lotus arose from the navel of eternity. It was > called Hiranya Garbha, the > shining womb. It gradually coalesced into our world, > but will perish some > day billions of years hence when the sun expands to > many times it present > size, swallowing all life on earth. In the end, the > Puranas say, the ashes > of the earth will be blown into space by the cosmic > wind. Today we known > this is a scientifically accurate, if poetic, > description of the fate of our > planet. > > The Surya Siddhanta is the oldest surviving > astronomical text in the > Indian tradition. Some Western scholars date it to > perhaps the fifth or > sixth centuries A.D., though the next itself claims > to represent a tradition > much, much older. It explains that the earth is > shaped like a ball, and > states that at the very opposite side of the planet > from India is a great > city where the sun is rising at the same time it > sets in India. In this > city, the Surya Siddhanta claims, lives a race of > siddhas, or advanced > spiritual adepts. If you trace the globe of the > earth around to the exact > opposite side of India, you'll find Mexico. Is it > possible that the ancient > Indians were well aware of the great > sages/astronomers of Central America > many centuries before Columbus discovered America? > > Knowing the unknowable > > To us today it seems impossible that the speed > of light or the fate of > our solar system could be determined without > advanced astronomical > instruments. How could the writers of old Sanskrit > texts have known the > unknowable? In searching for an explanation we first > need to understand that > these ancient scientists were not just > intellectuals, they were practicing > yogis. The very first lines of the Surya Siddhanta, > for of the Golden Age a > great astronomer named Maya desired to learn the > secrets of the heavens, so > he first performed rigorous yogic practices. Then > the answers to his > questions appeared in his mind in an intuitive > flash. > > Does this sound unlikely? Yoga Sutra 3:26-28 > states that through, > samyama (concentration, meditation, and unbroken > mental absorption) on the > sun, moon, and pole star, we can gain knowledge of > the planets and stars. > Sutra 3:33 clarifies, saying: "Through keenly > developed intuition, > everything can be known." Highly developed intuition > is called pratibha in > yoga. It is accessible only to those who have > completely stilled their mind, > focusing their attention on one object with > laser-like intensity. Those who > have limited their mind are no longer limited to the > fragments of knowledge > supplied by the five senses. All knowledge becomes > accessible to them. > > "There are [those] who would say that > consciousness, acting on itself, > can find universal knowledge," Professor Kak admits. > "In fact this is the > traditional Indian view." > > Perhaps the ancient sages didn't need advanced > astronomical > instruments. After all, they had yoga. > > > ===== Jagannathan . ______________________ Send free SMS using the Messenger. Go to http://in.mobile./new/pc/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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