Just as food powers the physical body, prana powers the astral body. The astral body corresponds to the physical. It is neither solid, course, nor gross in nature but subtle. Is not seen by the physical eyes. For instance, the Ida and Pingala correspond to the left and right sympathetic cords in the physical body writes Swami Vishnu-Devananda in his "Meditation and Mantras", Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt Ltd, Delhi, Om Lotus Publications, 1978. The Sushumna is the astral body's counterpart to the spinal cord in the gross body. Now I understand what Agathiyar meant when he diagnosed my ailment back in 2011. Please bear with me for often repeating these in this blog but I am trying to comprehend and understand what took place and is taking place. "Sciatica refers to pain that radiates along the path of the sciatic nerve, which branches from our lower back through our hips and buttocks and down each leg. Typically, sciatica affects only one side of our body." (Source: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sciatica/symptoms-causes/syc-20377435)
"The pain can be accompanied by tingling, ‘pins and needles’, or numbness, and sometimes by muscular weakness in the leg. Sciatica is usually felt in only one leg at a time. Sometimes, a sensation like an electric shock can be felt along the nerve. The nerve pain can range from a mild ache to incapacitating pain. Sciatic nerve pain is often felt when you sneeze, cough, go to the toilet, or when you’re sitting and may be accompanied by lower back pain." (Source: http://www.mydr.com.au/sports-fitness/sciatica-symptoms-causes-and-diagnosis)
Indeed what triggered the pain was a cough to expel the phlegm the first time and a sneeze the second time. The pain in the lower back although seemed to represent sciatica but the doctors ruled it out. So what was this pain that crippled me for close to three years? The doctors gave me a clean slate but put me on physiotherapy which I attended twice a week. This only gave me momentary relief but the pain came back. I had to bear the pain for some 2 1/2 years beginning in late 2010. Throughout this period Agathiyar watched silently from afar. Finally, in November of 2011, when I decided to ask Agathiyar in the Nadi, only then did he reveal the real reason for the injury. Although it was generated by my action in clearing my throat, he told me it was subtle in nature. He told me what was going on in my body and why I had succumbed to the back pain.
பாரிச (உடலின் ஒரு பக்கம்) பீடைகளும் வந்து நிற்கும்உற்றதொரு மூலாதார சக்கரமும்
உயர் விதமாய் உஷ்ணம் அடைந்ததால்
உரைக்க வரும் சோர்வுகளும் தேகம் தன்னில்
உரைக்கலாம் முக்கூற்று திரிப்பும் இப்போ
முறையாகச் சமநிலையில் இல்லாதிருக்கச்
சோதனைகள் வந்து நிற்கும் அச்சம் மிகுந்து
செப்பலாம் தவம் தன்னை நிறுத்திவைக்கப்
பங்கம் ஏதும் வந்திடாது கலக்கம் கொள்ளா
He spoke about the chakras and the movement of subtle energies, which cannot be seen or measured by instruments, to be the cause of my misery. Although externally the cough triggered the chain of reactions, the cough was in turn the result of certain changes happening in the subtle body. He said I faced discomfort and pain in the body due to the heat generated in the Muladhara from my yoga practices. The three Dosas too have run haywire and out of proportion. Hence he asks to stop all forms of practice. He suggested several Siddha herbs to consume. He classified it as Sparisa Unarvu, something that I understood now was related to the astral body. The pain slowed me down. I had to pull myself out of bed and drive to work. The pain surprisingly left me in 2012 after I was asked to perform the exercises the physiotherapist gave me before her at the government clinic. It was magical for her to out of the blue ask me to do something that was shown to me and that I did diligently at home for some 7 months.
Later the pain came back momentarily in 2016 and was treated by Dhanvanthri with his sacred ash. He too told me that Vata, one of the three Dosas was at its peak and causing me my agony. One fine day I realized that the pain had gone. The pain resurfaced in 2018 as a sneeze came on just as I was crossing the street. Lord Murugan came in the Nadi and through a devotee and treated me by stroking my back using the peacock feather. Later I learned that he had attended to my causal body then. Ruzbeh N Bharucha shed some light on what transpired that eventful day through his writings at https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/going-within.
"... disease first gets ingrained into our causal body and then moves into the astral and then resides in our physical body. That is why in the early days Fakirs and Sages, would caress the body of the devotee with peacock feathers, as they could see the illness lodged either in the causal or the astral body. Through their power and affirmations, they would clear the illness, which was still in the causal or astral body, and not allow it to enter the physical body. Or cleanse the auras so that the body would automatically heal." That is what Lord Muruga did that day using the peacock feathers. I guess all these pertain to either the causal, subtle, astral, or energy bodies, hence it is not detected through medical checkups.
When I had the dengue fever I collapsed thrice at home but picked myself up. Later I collapsed at the private clinic. My daughter who was admitted for a night a year earlier was blessed to have Agathiyar and Tirumular come by her hospital bed and raise her platelet count. This message was surprisingly conveyed in Suren's Nadi reading. Suren was in India during this time.
The other time I fell outside the bathroom and my body writhe in pain and bliss at the same time twisting and moving as a snake would. I do not remember what exactly triggered the fall. Neither do my wife and children. But Agathiyar confirmed it in a Nadi reading later on 5.9. 2019.
மும்மலங்கள் அற்றதொரு தேகம் என்பதாலேமுக்கணும் முறை திறந்து உட்சியும் திறந்து
From the site http://www.thekundaliniyoga.org/siddha_yoga/experiences_stages_of_siddha_yoga.aspx we learn that,
"Throughout this journey, although the Siddha Guru will always be there for specific guidance, the initiate will be guided automatically by his own awakened Kundalini energy. Consistent and diligent practice of meditation will gradually result in the opening and cleansing of the spiritual pathways (Nadis) needed for the Kundalini to eventually find its way to the Sahasrara Chakra (spiritual center in the brain) resulting in the Siddha yoga aspirant’s awareness merging with the Chaitanya, i.e. the Siddha sadhak achieving Self-Realization, and eventually, liberation."
In the initial stage or Arambha-avastha,
"He will feel Prana in everything he touches with his skin. He will get a whiff of Prana in everything he smells with his nose. He will sense Prana in everything he tastes with his tongue. And he will hear the sound of Prana in everything he hears with his ears. In other words, he will begin to sense the entire material universe as manifestations of Prana Shakti."
In short, his senses are enhanced.
In the second stage or Ghata-avastha,
"In this second stage of Siddha yoga, which usually overlaps with the first, the aspirant gradually begins to lose interest in material desires and begins to develop a sense of detachment from worldly attractions. This does not mean that he has to, or will, give up on material things (Samsaric). He may continue to live in the material world if he so chooses, but he will begin to develop a sense of non-attachment to material things. While the First Stage results in the aspirant feeling Prana within himself, the Second Stage leads the aspirant to sense Prana in everything. It is at this stage that he truly experiences the all-pervading universality of the Divine. By this time, many of the physical experiences will have been diminished and the aspirant will find himself sensing Prana within and outside himself, not just during Sadhan but at all times."
Ramalinga Adigal confirmed this. This is what Ramalinga Adigal meant when he told me I shall come to know if the Prana dwells, lives, and travels in me or if I live in the Prana. In other words, it's akin to what Agathiyar told us that he was the prapanjam and the prapanjam was in him.
பிராண சக்தி ஊடுருவிச் செல்கிறதே, அதுவே பிரணவ தேகம். முதல் படியில் இருக்கிறாய். பிரணவத்தின் சக்தி உணரும் தருணம் பிரணவத்தின் நீயே அதைக் காண்பாய். உன் பிரணவத்தால் ஊடுகிறாயா? அல்லது பிரணவம் உன்னுள் ஊடுகிறதா என்ற குழப்பம் ....என்று அப்படியில் காலடி வைகிறாயோ அன்று உமக்கு விடை பிறக்கும். இன்பத்தில் ஆழ்ந்து கொண்டுவா. அது பேர் ஆனந்தம். இன்னும் இருக்கிறது.
In the third stage or Parichaya-avastha,
"His perspective of the universe changes to where he constantly sees the universe as nothing but a manifestation of Prana. He sees that oneness in everyone and everything."
In the fourth stage or Nishpatti-avastha,
"This is the fourth and the final stage of Siddha yoga, where the Siddha yogi, having achieved Self-Realization liberates himself from the cycle of birth and death. He achieves a state of bliss (Samadhi) where he is completely beyond the physical confines of this universe. He feels neither hunger nor thirst, nor heat nor cold. His Awareness no longer dwells in the material, but constantly resides in Prana. He rests in his own essential nature – Self (the Atma-swaroop). When he chooses to depart from his body he does not need to be reborn and his Awareness stays merged with the Chaitanya forever."
உனது எண்ணத்தை நீ சற்று விலக்கு. நான் அங்கிருந்து உனக்குப் பதில் அளிப்பேன். அழுத்தமான உன் எண்ணம் தளர்ந்து போகும். அது தளர்ந்து போகும் நிலையில் நானே உள் இருப்பேன். நீயாய் சுவாசித்த பிராணவ வாயு இனி உன்னைக் கேட்காமல் உன்னுள் ஊடுருவும். எப்பொதுதெல்லாம் அது ஊடுருவதை நீ உணறுகிறாயோ இருக்கும் இடம் அறிந்து அதனுள் பயணம் செய். கலந்து போ. அதனோடு நீ கலக்கும் தருணமே தியானம்.
If in the past he started us with pranayama by asking us to concentrate on several spots in our head and torso, then both Agathiyar and Ramalinga Adigal asks that we just follow the trail of the breath. The trail shall end when the breath subsides. Just as the force of water calms down as it travels farther away from its source into the plains and eventually settles into the ocean, "When your thoughts die down or lose their intensity what remains is me", says Agathiyar simplifying the means to an end. As the thoughts hitch on our breath, we are asked to ditch it. As the manam takes a ride on it when the breath subsides the thoughts die with it and vice versa. What remains is the Self, the Atma, and Agathiyan as the inner flame and Spirit. When our thoughts die that is "Summa erupathu" or Stillness. Thoughts are the seeds of action. The thoughts fed with prana result in action. Drop the thoughts and the actions shall seize. As it is the Prana that energizes the astral body, the Prana accumulated within then shall not be lost through the senses and its organs.
Claire Dederer in her book "Poser", Bloomsbury Publishing, 2012, candidly speaks of the moment when she touches the state of stillness or "the seat of little ease."
"Stillness. I was in it now and it was scary. I was incredibly uncomfortable and there was nothing I could do about it. I could not move more quickly or focus on the next transition. there was no task to complete, no clock to watch, no child to cradle, no dinner to make, no mother to call, no sad husband to cheer up, no friend to comfort, no father to lend an ear to, no school to clean, no car to fill with gas, no deadline to meet, no editor to appease. there was nothing I could do to solve this. All I could do was be with it. There was just this discomfort."
How true. It is indeed pretty scary. We have been so used to doing something, anything all the time except when we doze off that taking all this away from us as in sitting still is indeed scary. I too backed off initially from sitting alone to be with myself. It was scary.
We often have wondered how saints perform feats that are magical and deemed impossible. These are referred to as Siddhis. We can understand now reading what Swami Vishnu-Devananda has written. "When prana moves through Ida and Pingala man is bound by time space and causation. However, when the Sushumna operates he is beyond such limitations."
The very idea is to have the prana traverse through the Sushumna and hence the magic happens.