Latest / Sri Aurobindo Studies / Necessary Conditions for the Transformation of the Physical Body

Transcript

Necessary Conditions for the Transformation of the Physical Body · Sri Aurobindo Studies

• 0:00
  When the body experiences an influx of energy from whatever
• 0:05
  source, it frequently finds that it cannot hold that energy and
• 0:10
  must find a release for it. This may be expressed as some
• 0:14
  form of twitching or moving of the limbs, nervous drumming with
• 0:18
  the fingers, uncontrolled activity of the facial muscles
• 0:22
  or an urge to get up and do something, or in some cases
• 0:27
  expression of an ecstatic dancing.
• 0:30
  In some people this turns into a type of restlessness and they
• 0:35
  undertake physical labor or challenge the body through
• 0:39
  extreme sports or dissipate the energy in sex or other forms of
• 0:44
  physical release. If they cannot hold the energy,
• 0:48
  they may also resort to use of alcohol, drugs such as sedatives
• 0:53
  or sleeping aids, or dissipating enervating activities to shunt
• 0:58
  off the excess energy or at least temporarily overpower its
• 1:03
  action in the body. The challenge for the yogic
• 1:07
  practitioner is to develop the power to receive, accumulate and
• 1:12
  hold the force as it descends and enters the mind, life
• 1:17
  energy, nervous system and the physical body.
• 1:22
  The more this power to hold the force is developed, the greater
• 1:25
  the power that can be channelled and utilized effectively.
• 1:31
  The developments associated with Hatha Yoga are, for example, one
• 1:35
  method that can be utilized to train the body to hold more
• 1:38
  energy with a dynamic poise and control.
• 1:42
  Pranayam utilizes techniques to purify and strengthen the nerve
• 1:47
  channels. Raja Yoga works to bring
• 1:50
  calmness and a force of stillness to the mind.
• 1:54
  Each of these techniques can be part of a training action
• 1:57
  undertaken to expand the receiving and holding power for
• 2:01
  the higher energies. Although it must be noted that
• 2:05
  there are other methods that can be equally or even more
• 2:09
  effective without the time and effort needed to perfect the
• 2:13
  practice of Hatha yoga or pranayam, for instance.
• 2:18
  This can be done by a conscious opening of the psychic
• 2:21
  aspiration and consecration to the higher force as it descends,
• 2:26
  which can then allow that force to work and modify the body,
• 2:31
  life, energy and mind to meet its requirements.
• 2:35
  Practitioners who successfully undertake this approach
• 2:39
  frequently report a sense of wideness in their awareness far
• 2:44
  exceeding the normal restriction of active awareness to the
• 2:47
  limits of the physical body or its immediate vital envelope.
• 2:53
  The Vedic Rishis describe their experience of the action of the
• 2:56
  Force through the expression Satyam, Rutam, Brihat, the
• 3:02
  Truth, the Right, the vast. The more the consciousness is
• 3:07
  able to exceed its limits and bounds of the physical body, the
• 3:12
  greater the experience of the vastness that is unbounded
• 3:16
  condition of the Universal Creation.
• 3:19
  In their presence the atmosphere was calm, still and immensely
• 3:25
  powerful. Sri Orovindo was recognized to
• 3:30
  have created such a presence around himself.
• 3:33
  The experience was palpable for those who came within the range
• 3:37
  of his physical presence. The Mother indicated that when
• 3:41
  she approached Pondicherry, she experienced Srioro Bindo's
• 3:46
  presence some 2 miles from shore.
• 3:49
  The peace that radiated from his being was experienced as solid
• 3:53
  and pervasive by those who reported on their interactions
• 3:57
  with Him. Srioro Bindo notes quote
• 4:03
  Wideness and calmness are the foundation of the yogic
• 4:06
  consciousness and the best condition for inner growth and
• 4:09
  experience. If a wide column can be
• 4:13
  established in the physical consciousness, occupying and
• 4:17
  filling the very body and all its cells, that can become the
• 4:21
  basis for its transformation. In fact, without this wideness
• 4:26
  and calmness, the transformation is hardly possible.
• 4:31
  End Quote Reference Sri Robindo, Bases of Yoga, Chapter 1, Calm,
• 4:39
  Peace and Equality, pages 19 to 20.