From Sri Bala Ratnam,Founder, Vibrational Breath Therapy (based on Rishiculture Ashtanga Yoga), Australia

[Guest guest]

Dear Ananda, “GOOD WINE NEEDS NO BUSH” YOGA VIDYA: The Science of yoga WHY HAVEN’T WE MADE BETTER USE OF THIS MAGNIFICIENT SCIENCE? This is why it is imperative that the youth of our nation are awakened to the greatness inherent in our beloved nation and given the proper and systematic training in Yoga and our

cultural heritage. Catch them young must be our aim if we are to educate them about the greatness of our cultural heritage. My sincere and heartiest congratulations on your eloquent testimony on the Science of Yoga. May I, with my over twenty years of diligent study and dedicated practice and over 20 years of valuable experience as a Yoga Therapist, humbly state that one of the reasons why yoga has not spread far and wide is insufficient research into the practices, to ascertain their efficacy, and develop them into powerful programs, where necessary, which could develop one physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually, and rehabilitate

most of the physical or mental stress-related and immune deficient conditions. If this deficiency is addressed it will convince all and sundry including the youth that there is nothing beyond yoga (within the constraints of one’s karma). Much research is being done by leading schools of yoga on the benefits from the practices without a serious desire to find out whether they are sufficiently deep and subtle and whether there is room for improvement, and whether they are based on proper understanding of the essence of our being, which is Cosmic Consciousness and Cosmic Energy.. I sincerely feel that sufficient attention is not being paid to this vital aspect of the science of yoga. You rightfully mention “The Yogi views his being as a manifestation of the Divine and realizes that he is not only the physical body but also has four other bodies; the energy body, the mental body, the body of wisdom and the body of eternal bliss. This concept is known as the Pancha Kosha.” Please tell me how many schools of yoga are aware, except ours, that these five energy bodies are all manifestations of cosmic energy vibrating at different frequencies attuning to the primal sound of “AUM”, the Mantra of

Mantras (which attunes to the three planes of existence (physical, astral and causal composed of the same five energy bodies).That these five energy bodies (including the cells) need daily sustenance of energy and the vibratory resonant frequency of the primal sound “AUM”. How many schools of yoga are aware that Pranayama is the absorption and regulation of prana and that is possible only when the breathing is done at 70% and over of the lung intake in Mahat Yoga Pranayama (having done specific Hathenas - asanas designed to open the rib cage, stretch the lungs, and make the body flexible, supple and stable.)? And that when the breathing is done in different ratios it generates healthy blood and glandular cells and bodily fluids, and when these

are incorporated into a three month program one regenerates and rejuvenates. And when the intoning of “AUM’ is done while breathing in the above fashion one attunes to the vibratory resonant sound of the physical body (wakeful state of consciousness), mind (dream state of consciousness) and self consciousness (deep sleep state of consciousness) and integrates them, transcends the three states of consciousness and moves into Turiya, the state of causal silence within, the abode of peace, happiness, tranquility, creativity, health, knowledge and freedom. How many are aware that the intoning of “AUM’ also activates the Chakras, neutralises the emotional traumas and tensions of this and previous births stored in them, enhances their psychic qualities and initiates a process of healing at the three different planes of existence? And if I may quote from the article “AUM – The Cosmic Sound – As Defined By Science” appearing in the March 2006 issue of Yoga Life (page 28) to reinforce my contention: “The Yogis say the cosmos vibrates to the Pranava, the cosmic sound of AUM, the Mantra of mantras, the Vishnu Nama, universal name of God. This “Mantra” is said to be the abode of cosmic consciousness and those who are able to absorb themselves in it become ‘One with the Highest’”. Why I bring this

to the notice of my colleagues is because I have studied in a few other leading schools of yoga as well, and to my regret never heard these taught. . Without this basic knowledge and the practices integrated into three month programs, for it takes a minimum of three months for both body and mind to accept these practices and benefit from them, I sincerely do not know how one can achieve overall development, or treat successfully a stress-related or immune-deficient condition. For a condition like asthma, which is an airway obstructive disease, without teaching the patient how to breathe slow, deep and rhythmic, which was the ancient secret to good health and longevity, isn’t it sad to see some leading schools of yoga requiring the patient to do as many as 40 practices and more as part of their program.. It suggests that the majority of the leading Yoga Therapists/Consultants, being medical practitioners, are continuing to treat mainly the symptoms of the condition with a series of yogic practices put together to form a program. They appear not to base it on their own experiential knowledge of the science of yoga. Reminds me of your statement “Similarly the Yoga-Shikha-Upanishad warns of the snare of

“textbooks” (Shastra-Jala) referring to bookish learning without accompanying experience.’ Whereas I get the asthma patient to do only the practice of intoning “AUM” in Pranava AUM Pranayama (while breathing in Mahat Yoga Pranayama) in the morning and complement it with harmonising and tranquillising Savitri Pranayama during the day and Yoga Nidra, a deep relaxing technique, when going to sleep, to create a state of well being during the greater portion of the waking day. And within three months (at times a little longer) of daily practice the patient invariably rehabilitates him/herself wholly or manages the condition in a greatly improved way. All this inspiration/direction/intuition comes from within. “As we have certain hours for our outer duties, so we must have a time that we devote to our soul culture. When day after day we strive to cultivate this inward sight, we cannot fail to unfold it”. Last year I was doing five hours of sadhana and this year I have extended it to six, and find I that these things are becoming very clear to me by the day. Please tell me how many of these practising Yoga Therapists/Consultants do sadhanas of some duration of this experiential science? When the half blind are leading the blind, depending more on

theory than practice, how do you expect yoga to catch on with the public, leaving aside youth? Yoga is an experiential science. And what Dr. I K Taimni, an eminent scholar known for his excellent work on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (The Science of Yoga) states is 100% true: “This science of sciences is too comprehensive in its nature and too profound in its doctrine to be fitted into the framework of any particular philosophy-either ancient or modern. It stands in its own right as a science based upon the eternal laws of the higher life and does not require the support of any science or

philosophical system to uphold its claims. Its truths are based in the experiences and experiments of an unbroken line of mystics, occultists, saints and sages, who have realized and borne witness to them through the ages.” (italics mine) To his list I may add sadhaks of today. In my experience and humble opinion Pranayama holds the key to unravelling the mysteries of the science of yoga. I had practised yoga from different leading schools for twenty years and qualified from some of them before I came

to learn under Yogamaharishi Swami Gitananda Giri Guru Maharaj, (Swamiji) a world renowned authority on Pranayama, in 1988/9; from him I learnt among many other practices the most important Mahat Yoga and Pranava AUM Pranayamas. It was a mind boggling experience to learn that prana could be absorbed and regulated and practised to experience vim, vigour and vitality. For in other schools of yoga, Pranayama was more the absorption and regulation of the oxygen and carbon dioxide content in the air we breathe in and not prana. So how can the five energy

bodies sustain themselves? How can the physical body regenerate and rejuvenate despite one’s age? I was 68 years of age when I learnt from Swamiji and to my great delight for the first time in my life I felt I was only so many years young rather than old. Thanks to the divine guidance of a Yogini from the foothills of the Himalayas I successfully integrated and developed the component practices I learnt from Swamiji into powerful programs of three months duration. I now present them under the caption “Chakra Mediation for Good Health & Longevity” & “Chakra Meditation for Self Healing”. They have become inspiring and invigorating symphonies, a pleasurable and rewarding daily experience to experience good health or rehabilitate oneself from any serious condition. (I have recorded them in CDs. Please visit my website for more particulars) Leaving aside others who have healed themselves of a range of serious conditions, I healed myself by my discipline, Vibrational Breath Therapy, of a ten year old hay fever in 1990, rehabilitated wholly after a heart attack in 1996, a stroke in 1997 (the heart attack and stroke were due to doing an advanced breathing technique without safeguards) and today in the process of overcoming an unstable high blood pressure condition. Of course it demands a serious commitment and the discipline of the daily practice. In my humble opinion there is an urgent need to research the depth and subtlety of yogic practices/programs, test them over a period of time, and be confident of their efficacy before teaching them. I normally take several years before I perfect a practice/program, and present it to the public only when I’m confident of its efficacy. We are expected to act most responsibly in this deep and subtle science. If the practices (or programs) are truly beneficial, they will always attract the attention of the public at large, and that includes the youth as well, for almost every one is seeking after good health and happiness and a state of wellbeing. Sri Bala Ratnam Founder, Vibrational Breath Therapy (based on Rishiculture Ashtanga Yoga) Email: sribala Website:www.vbt.com.au

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