Striking Inner Gold

 

 

"In worldly-minded people, given to enjoyment of sensual and sexual pleasures, this Kundalini power is sleeping because of the absence of any stimulus in the form of spiritual practices, as the power generated through such practices alone awakens that serpent-power, and not any other power derived through the possession of worldly riches and affluence."
(Sri Swami Sivananda)

 

Gold is one of those really cool elements. Its purity is measured in karats. I know of 9, 14, 18 and 24 karat and there may be more. Eighteen karats is 75% pure and twenty-four karats is 100% pure. Gold is made more pure by removing the impurities from it via a process involving intense heat. In the same way the Path towards oneself involves the removing of impurities.

 

On the subtle level these impurities are those understandings that create and uphold your beliefs that there is a you and a not-you, and that these are separate. The greatest of impurities is the belief that the created self-concept and its associations such as ego and individualism is in fact the real Self. Yoga is the heat applied to the self-concept-as-Self illusion. On a Path of Jnana (Knowledge) it starts with the most basic and yet most potent of questions "Who am I?" The continuous investigation into the "I" creates the heat. On a Path of Tantra, in addition to the more intellectual approach of Jnana, the refinement is augmented by living a way of life based on some foundational principles of how to live in the outside world.

 

On the gross, physical level, one of the foundational principles of Tantra (but many other yogas as well) is that of diet. It becomes very important not only what you eat but how you eat as well.  Regarding a yogic diet, my Teacher used to suggest that you eat as often as you can, as little as you can, to chew as well as you can, to eat as slow as you can, and to eat as many colors as you can. It is that simple. From the yogic philosophy on diet we also learn of those foods that are rajasic or passionate, like curries and highly spiced hot foods, sattvic or pure foods like fuits, nuts, grains and veggies, and tamasic or dull food - what one can just call stupid food, which you probably can identify easily. We should stick to eating pure foods as much as we can.

 

For Tantrics, food is the essential starting point in a long chain that links as follows:

 

From the food that you eat, a chyle (via WordWeb: "A milky fluid consisting of lymph and emulsified fats; formed in the small intestine during digestion of ingested fats") is produced by the mix of your chewing and the enzymes in your mouth and intestines. From the very essence of the chyle - the refined bio-energy part thereof - blood is produced.  From the essence of blood muscle is produced. From the essence of muscle, sinew is produced. From the essence of sinew, bone is produced, from the essence of bone, marrow is produced, and from the essence of marrow, reproduction energy is created to form of the sperm and the egg from which we all come. Truly, we have our origin in food and so food plays a vital role in the circle of life.

 

Tantra is all about the energies inside of you. From the essence (the refined energy) of the sperm and the eggs, prana is produced. Prana is Life Force that sustains your being. In Tantra, this energy, sometimes represented by an image of sexual intercourse or as the energy of a coiled serpent at the base of the spine called Kundalini, has two ways of flowing – in or out. Or, speaking more yogicaly, up or down. With orgasm, the flowing out or down, much of the essence leaves the body, which is why it can be so easy to fall asleep afterwards. With the "inner orgasm" usually associated with the bliss in meditation, the prana or Life Force is drawn up into the body along the nadi - psychic energy channels in and near the spine - and is distributed via the chakras to all parts of the body, thus energizing the entire body with psychic energy required for your effort to live and to tread the Path to your Self.

 

By choice you can expend your gold for the temporary pleasure of the body or for the use on your Path to your inner Self. When psychically energized it facilitates the wellbeing of the entire universe and all beings via your then more enlightened state of Being and radiation (vibe), at least for a while. In that state you are a co-worker in the labor of keeping the darkness in the world (and in yourself) at bay.

 

My Friends, we live in both worlds, as I have mentioned so many times, so we really need to take both paths. The point is to not always take only one. The body needs to function according to its natural design which is really and truly totally perfect.  Inhibition of the body should be moderate as always, but the furthering of the spirit should also not be neglected. Only by the use and balance of both the moderate inhibition of the body and the energetic generation of spiritual energy can you refine the gold to pay for your ultimate Journey, which, as you might know already, can be very, very expensive. We can create inner wealth by consuming right food, applying wise moderation, and engaging in the practice of sincere meditation - all together.

 

Namaste.

 

 

More Selected Writings

 

 

Sri Humananda &copy
Dwapara 310 (2010)