tantra sAra sangraha - rAja yoga perspective

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krishNa bhaktas,

Srinivasans have been doing a wonderful series on the pooja details

as laid out by sri Jayatheertha. Many thanks to them for the service.

What strikes me is that method laid out by all the modern pooja books

are identical to this. It is truly remarkable that the mAdhva community

has followed and maintained the method prescribed by sri Jayatheertha to

this day for six centuries very accurately.

 

I also find it striking that many of the practices prescribed below

are very similar to the meditation practices followed in many rAja yoga

schools. I want to describe the rAja yoga concepts behind the practices.

This gives a new perspective and explains some of the benefits of doing

these procedures. I am not an expert by any means, but I want to share

what I know.

 

If you have any questions, please post them on the

vms-philosophy . You have to be a member of the philosophy

list, if you want to participate in the discussions. You can also

contact me personally if you need more details.

 

Hare srinivAsa,

Regards,

Vasudeva Murthy

 

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>By repeating Om yam, Om ram, Om vam & again all these three, one should

touch the joints of the hands & >purify them.

 

Raja Yoga says that Om has a property to cleanse the pranic energy in

that area. By doing the above procedure, Pranic energy in the area and

near the body are cleansed. When doing all these following procedures,

it is important to breathe very slowly and deeply using the abdomen

area. It also helps to let the tongue touch the top of the mouth cavity.

 

> Then one should humbly bow to all the preceptors as

 

> 1. shrIgurubhyO namaha

> 2. shrIparmagurubhyO namaha

> 3. shrImadAnandhathIRThabhagavathpAdhAchARyagurbhyO

namaha

> 4. shrI vEdavyAsAya namaha

> 5. shrIbhArathyai namaha

> 6. shrIsarasvathyai namaha

> 7. shrIvAyave namaha

> 8. shrIbrahmaNE namaha

> 9. shrIlakShmai namaha

> 10. shrInArAyaNAyAya namaha

> 11. shrI ishtadhEvathAyai namaha

> 12. shrI vAsudhEvAya namaha

 

> Then one should bring mentally the Lord seated in the

heart lotus through the passage of the > suShumnAartery & place him at

the top in the middle of the head.

 

This is a very powerful meditation in rAja Yoga. Here we are

combining heart and the crown chakras (anAhata and sahsrAra chakras).

This cleanses the energy body and activates the chakras. Longer you do

this and concentrate on the top of the head, more powerful the effect.

The strength of this simple technique can not be emphasized enough.

 

>There after touching the left side of the stomach, one should think of

the person who is sin incarnate & whose >limbs constitute the different

acute sins like murder of the Brahmins, drinking of wine et vby

repeating the verse >brahmAhathyA shiraskam cha----- etc

 

>aanIya nAbhidhEshe tham vAyubhIjEna shOShayEth

>hRudhyagnibIjathO dhagdhvA bhasma vAmanasA thyajEth

>|| 33 ||

 

>Touching the navel & bringing the evil person to the navel, one should

dry him up by repeating the vAyubhIja as >Om

>yam, yam Om six times meditating the Lord Pradhyumna.

 

>Touching the heart & bringing him to the heart, he should be burnt down

meditating sankarshana by repeating >the

>annibIja Om ram Om twelve times. His ashes should be thrown out

through the left nostril.

 

>vAruNEnATha bIjEna shirasThAmRuthadhArayA

>plAvayEthsaRvagAthrANi kRuthvAthmAnam thathO hRudhi

>|| 34 ||

 

This is another very powerful meditation technique in rAja yoga. What

you are doing here is the cleansing all the negative emotions in the

body. Navel chakra (manipur chakra) is the seat of all the lower mental

emotions like courage, fear, anger etc. This is why if you are angry or

upset or nervous, it affects the stomach. Heart chakra (anahata ) is the

seat of all the higher emotions like love, compassion, kindness etc.

Concentrating on the chakra and chanting OM and bIjAksharas will cleanse

the chakras of all the negative energies. You can increase the counts

to get more powerful effects. YOu will notice that your mind will be

calm and quiet after you do these.

 

 

>Touching the top of the head, one should repeat the varuNabIja as Om

vam Om twentyfour times meditating

>shrIvAsudhEva & imagine that the nectar stream flowing from the head is

inundating the whole body & purifying >it. The

>Lord should now be brought from the head & placed back in the heart

lotus.

 

This another powerful technique. Nectar stream in the divine energy

that you can pull down by chanting Oms and concentrating on God's

forms. This energy will purify the chakras and the energy body. In

rAja yoga, similar techniques are used to heal diseases. You should

notice a feeling of calm, peace and quiet after doing. Again doing for

longer durations will increase the effect.

 

 

Next, the description goes to prANAyAma and meditation of forms of

vishNu in various forms of the body. These are again powerful meditation

techniques which cleanse and activate your chakras and make you more

spiritual.

 

In summary, the techniques described in tantra sAra sangraha are very

powerful meditation techniques. These techniques will cleanse your

chakras and activate them. Your physical and mental health will

improve. Regular practice of these techniques will help you to

accelarate your spiritual sAdhana. My suggestion would be to do them for

longer periods, 30-40 minutes if you have time. You will notice a

difference within in a short time.