Mysteries of Mind

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Today and Tomorrows Book Agency

Page 72

THE UPWARD FLOW OF ENERGY
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body. It simply activates the cells of the body and is not sufficient enough to bring about commotions in consciousness for which we need subtle energy. Subtle energy can be produced by tapa and bhāvanā (contemplation). If the practitioner avoided drinking water during a period of fasiing, he will produce extra energy. We can also produce energy by remaining exposed to heat. Every deed we do needs energy. The more the action, the more the expenditure of energy. Physicains prescribe rest to the patients so that they may gain energy. Rest enables us to collect energy. It is on this basis that the practitioner is called upon to restrain his body, mind and speech so that he may collect as much energy as possible.
How to push vital energy upwards ? Various sitting postures help us in collecting energy. Ordinarily we do not understand and appriciate the value of sitting cross-legged or the lotus-like sitting posture or of sitting with the knees bent upwards. In sādhaná the sitting postures have been recommended for specific purposes. They enable the practitioner to push his energy upwards by exerting pressure on the body.
Somebody told Mahāvīra that he wanted to understand the practice of brahmacarya or celebacy. He was advised to perform kāyotsarga or relaxation and restraint of the body in a standing posture because this posture carries vital energy upwards and the blood-stream downwards. Sarvāngāsana, śīrşāsana, vrkṣāsana and padmāsana postures push vital energy upwards. All the physical postures recommended for meditation are meant to serve the same purpose. The upward movement of energy brings about the transformation of personality which happens with a sudden bursting of energy. For the ordinary practitioner there is a dividing wall between the three auspicious leśyās and the three inauspicious leśyās which it is difficult for him to pierce. This wall gives way with the explosion of energy and the emergence of consciousness. As soon as this has happened the practitioner comes into an area illuminated by the three auspicious lēśyās i.e. the tējolèsya, the padmaleśyā and the suklalēśyā. He becomes more and more enlightened.
The science of Ayurveda says that the heart is the seat of the soul as well as of energy. It is from the heart that the upward movement of energy begins. This movement begins