Kashmir Shaivism, Part 2

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PART 2
The Kashmiri Shaivite Literature is divided into three main divisions: Agama Shastra, Spanda Shastra and Pratyabhijna Shastra.

Agama Sastra includes the works considered of divine inspiration, particularly in the Shaiva Agama literature, including the Shiva Sutras a work of capital importance attributed to the sage Vasgupta or to his disciple Kallata (about 850-900).

This work develops the principles of Shiva Sutras. The main components of Pratyabhijna Shastra are Shiva Drishti, work of Vasuguptas disciple, Somananda and Pratyabhijna Sutra belonging to Utpaladeva (about 900-950).

After this, and parallel to it have developed other spiritual lines, of which we mention Kula and Krama.

Moreover, the Kashmir Shaivism can be understood only if one goes thoroughly through all its facets, because in truth it is said: “The mind is seen as a hierarchic (krama) family of agents (kula), which perceives spontaneously the true Self (pratyabhijna), with a creative power that can be perceived as pulsatory (spanda)”.

Abhinavagupta (about 950-1000) is probably the most prominent figure of the Kashmir Shaivism, as he wrote almost 40 works including Tantraloka, a comprising text on the Agama Shiva philosophy and ritual.

Kashmir Shaivism established as an important philosophical school due to the bright encyclopaedic works wrote by this great sage. The Kashmir Shaivism offers a rich and detailed understanding of the human psychic and a clear and distinct path on Kundalini-siddha-yoga as a path of self-realization.

Along its history, the tradition produced many siddhas, adepts of a remarkable depths and force. It is said that Abhinavagupta himself after finishing his last work on the Pratyabhijna system, entered into Bhairavas cave, next to Mangam locality together with 1200 disciples, just to disappear afterwards with them.

This Shaivite system is intensely monistic. It does not deny the existence of a personal God or of other gods. Nonetheless, it emphasises the practitioners personal meditation and reflexion and on his guidance by a guru (master).

The creation of the world and of the individual soul is explained as abhasa, Shivas quickening outside himself, in his dynamic aspect of Shakti, as as impulse, as vibration named spanda.

As Self of everything, Shiva is immanent and transcendent at the same time, and through his shakti he performs the five actions of creation, preservation, resorbtion, revelation and occultation.

The Kashmir Shaivism is not interested in worshipping a personal God, as it is attracted towards reaching the transcendental state of shivaic consciousness. As an esoteric, contemplative path, the Kashmir Shaivism also embraces jnana (knowledge) and devotion (bhakti).

The spiritual practice, sadhana, leads to the assimilation of the object, the universe, until the Absolute Self (Shiva) is revealed as being one with the universe.

The supreme purpose, freedom from bonds is sustained recognition (pratyabhijna) of the true individual self as being nothing else but Shiva.

There is no sinking of the individual self into God, since essentially they are one. There are three paths (upaya), stages of attaining the supreme consciousness. They are not sequential, but they depend upon the adepts level of evolution.

The first of them is anavopaya, which corresponds to the regular level of adoration, yogic effort and purification through the control of the breath. The second is shaktopaya, the preservation of a constant consciousness focused on Shiva through discrimination.

The third stage is shambhavopaya, in which the adept attains instantaneously the supreme consciousness through his or her unbending will or through the simple fact that the guru indicates the identity between himself or herself and Shiva.

There is also a fourth path, anupaya, “without means”, which consists in a mature recognition of the Self. On this path, nothing needs to be done, attained, or fulfilled, except for remaining in ones own being, which is Shiva.

The realization depends on sadguru, whose grace is the flower that crowns the sadhana (spiritual practice). Despite many renowned masters, the geographic isolation of the Kashmir valley and the late Muslim domination are responsible for its not so spread fame.

Relatively recently, modern scientists have brought to light the scriptures, publishing some of the surviving texts. Swami Lakshman Joo represented the original tradition (parampara).

Today, the various organizations from around the world promulgate the esoteric teachings of Kashmir Shaivism, all over the world. While the formal adepts of the school exist in unknown numbers, the Kashmir Shaivism remains an important influence in India.

Many adepts of the Kashmir Shaivism have left the war-tormented valley to find a new residence in Jammu, New Delhi and other places in northern India. This diaspora of Shaivite learned men serves still at the spreading of the teachings in new areas.

Introduction To Shaivism, Part 2

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PART 2
These branches of the Shaivite tradition have been brilliantly unified and synthesized by the illustrious personality, the greatest man of this system, the sage Abhinavagupta.

His most important work, Tantraloka, is written in verse and unifies all apparent differences between the Kashmir Shaivism branches or schools, offering a coherent and complete vision of the system. Realizing the difficulty of such a work, Abhinavagupta also wrote a resume, in prose, named Tantrasara (“The Supreme Essence of Tantra“).

Abhinavagupta is said to have been a manifestation of Shiva. Even today he is accepted as one of the greatest Hindu philosophers and aestheticians.

Although India has had quite an impressive number of aestheticians, Abhinavagupta remains unique through his brilliant synthesis of all the visions and theories of the Kashmir Shaivism, offering them a broader, vaster perspective.

Abhinavagupta was born in 950 AD and lived until the XI-th century. It is said that at one point he left with a large group of his disciples in a cave to meditate, and that he never returned, as he translated into another dimension.

Ksemaraja continued Abhinavagupta’s work and he was also Abhinavagupta’s most important disciple.

Then, gradually, the secret tradition of the Kashmir Shaivism became extinct in this area. It flourished a little bit in the south of India, 300 years later, where there were several great sages: Jayaratha, who condensed Tantraloka, and the visionary Bhattanarayana, the author of the poem Stavacintamani (The Mysterious Sanctuary Of The Precious Gem Of The Divine Love).

Finally, the last to continue this famous and spiritual lineage of the Kashmir Shaivism was Swami Brahmacharin Lakshman (Lakshmanji), who lived until 1992.

From certain respects, the Kashmir Shaivism is very closely related to authentic Christianity. In the Kashmir Shaivism, as in Christianity the accent is laid on the divine grace (the Holy Spirit of Christianity) and on the awakening of the heart.

There are testimonies according to which Jesus was in Kashmir from the age of 12 until he turned 30. There are documents discovered in Kashmir that testify to this fact. Nonetheless, there is a striking resemblance between several aspects of the authentic Christian tradition and the Kashmir Shaivism.

The Kashmir Shaivism also has important Tantric influences. Here, just as in Tantrism, we find the idea that all things are mysteriously and closely interconnected, as in a holographic model of the universe.

Thus, the whole universe is envisaged as a gigantic net of virtual resonances that are established between each point (atom) of the universe and all the other points (atoms).

Knowing in-depth one single aspect (atom) of the universe, we are then able to know the entire universe, because all is resonance. At this stage, resonance is a concept more and more debated, of a growing importance in our contemporary culture and science.

In yoga, the contribution of the yoga teacher Gregorian Bivolaru is essential because he introduced for the first time the present concept of resonance in yoga, which allows us to acced to a superior level of knowledge and a very precise and clear structuring of the entire yogic system, as well as of the Shivaism system.

History and Tradition In Shaivism

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Motto:
“The game of the universe’s birth and disappearing is an act of the Supreme Being’s will, which is above the substance (pradhana) or soul (purusha), above manifested (vyakta), unmanifested (avyakta), or time (kala).

The time of the Supreme being is with no beginning and no end, the time and the absorption of the universes is never ending.

In the moment of absorption there is no day, no night, no space, no earth, no obscurity, no darkness, no light, nothing beyond the Being Itself, nothing beyond the perceptions of the senses and the thought.” (Vishnu Purana, I, 18-23)

Shaivism, tradition of the old dravidiens, has remained a folk tradition along the centuries. Shaivism goes through eras, and temporal cicles.

The metaphysical, cosmological and ritualistic conceptions it presents have been kept by the wandering hermits, named with great disrespect yati (wanderers), vratya (people outside any caste) or ajivika (beggars) by the invading Arians.

Shaivism is not an unique, hierarchic system. It involves several traditions, great or small. In its largest sense, shaivism is life itself.

According to the millenary Purana tradition, the destruction of the humankind can occur only when its reason of being is overcome, when the people have become perverted through the mingling of races and when the tradition of the occult knowledge can no longer find a recipient to be received and transmitted further on as a spiritual heritage.

To the degree to which certain people will know how to reverse the tendencies of the modern world, rediscovering the ways of life and thought that are in accordance with their true nature, the apparently inevitable term can be delayed or at least several people can escape the cataclysm and be an active part in the formation of the future humankind and the new golden age that is supposed to come after the next planetary cataclysm, as the shaivism writings indicate.

Consequently, it is useful for any person to try and “isolate” himself or herself from the low temptations of this world and to find again the values and virtues in which the esoteric teaching has preserved the genuine rules and principles.

After these writings (agama), our survival as a species depends only on the rediscovery of the moral religious and social conceptions of the Shaivism, in the light of truth.

The shaivism teachings are the germs of the golden era of the humankind-to-be. Just the same, a whole series of spiritual lineages come to life after a long time of slumber.

Mahayana Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism got to reincorporate various philosophical, ritualistic and even erotic aspects of Shaivism, and thus it become again to a certain degree part of the ancestral tradition.

Thus, it offers an alternative path. During the first centuries of the Christian era, the mystical, eliberating Christianity of the early Gnostics gradually transformed into a dogmatic, so-called puritan religion, which gradually went astray from Jesus teachings, just as in India for example dogmatic Vishnuism gradually took the place of the authentic Shaivism.

The recent appearance of numerous texts of the Gnosis, which are very close in sense and meaning to the Shaivite conceptions and to the Gospels the Church declared apocryphal constitutes a fortunate prediction for the future.

What actually happened, on a deeper level was simply the replacement of the so-called religions of acceptance with the so-called religions of denial, in this case denial and acceptance referring to the human vision on the universe and on life.

Unlike the rest of the spiritual lineages, Tantrism – in which Shaivism is a peak – and to a certain extent Taoism were paths that always asserted: “Everything (the universe) is Divine Consciousness”.

Our present age has certain indications according to which we have reasons to believe that there is a return to the Shaivite and Dyonisical values. This fact may announce a spiritual “escape” from the brutal end of Kali Yuga.

One of the most important phenomena of our age is the reunion of scientific research and cosmological theory, an effort to understand the nature of the world in which there is a continuity between the physical, metaphysical and spiritual levels and is opposed to the dogmatism of the religions inspired by Arihat.

The end of Kali Yuga is a time particularly auspicious to seeking the genuine science.

“Certain people will attain wisdom in a short time, because the merits obtained in one year of Treta Yuga can be obtained in one day of Kali Yuga” (Shiva Purana, 5.1., 40-40).

“At the end of Kali Yuga, the god Shiva will manifest Himself to re-establish the just path in a secret and concealed form.” (Linga Purana 1.40.12)

The gate leading on the path of wisdom is opening. Will people have the right discernment and the courage to become involved and to slow down the time?

The Cycles of Humanity According to Shaivism

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According to a theory named in Shaivism determinism (niyati), the development of the universe and galaxies as well as that of the species and individuals is determined through temporal cycles.

The civilizations are born and become extinct in accordance with ineluctable rhythms. This is why, most of the times, we can understand the history of humanity only in report with the length of the cycles that determine the life on earth.

The first study of the creation is that of the void, the recipient we could call eternity, because here there is no measure, no length, no before or after.

There is only the Primordial Energy, which, through vibratory waves with direction and length will give birth to the rhythms through which the perception will create the dimension of time, the measure of space and in the same time the structures of matter.

This is why in the Hindu iconography the creation of the world is represented symbolically as produced by the rhythms of Shiva‘s tambourine and through His dance.

For a person, the perception of time is determined by his or her vital rhythms, influenced in their turn by the movement of the sun, moon, and earth, which determine the length of the cycles, years, nights and days.

As perceived by the human being time corresponds to a purely relative length of time, involving a center of perception (the person in question) in a particular world, which is the terrestrial world itself.

Because of this, the “human” time is the only unity of measure that is accessible and understandable to us. Rapported to it, we may estimate the time of the universe, which is, from the perspective of the creative principle only the dream of a day, just as the time of certain atomical universes represents to us only fractions of time.

The laws that govern the development and decline of the universe in its entirety are the same with those that govern each of its parts. This is the reason why we are able to establish a relationship between the time of the universal body of the universal Man, Purusha, and the time of the human being, who is an image, a small-scale model, a reflection of Purusha.

The life of a person is not shorter or longer than that of a God or of the universe. Its length is different only relative terms, as the value of time is given only in rapport with a particular system.

As Linga Purana (writing in which we find precise calculations of the lengths of time of the various cycles) indicates, from Kashta (literally blinking, approximately 1.5 sec) until the length of the universe itself, “Brahma‘s life” or the universe’s life is divided into one thousand great cycles, named Maha-Yuga or the Great Year.

The Maha-Yuga during which the human being appears and then disappears is divided in more than 71 cycles, of Manvantara (approximately 1000 years). Manvantara represents the cycle of a Manu, who gives birth and governs humanity.

Each Manvantara is again divided into 4 ages, or Yuga-s, presenting a gradual decline of spiritual values, in the favor of material progress. Each such age or Yuga is preceded by a period of rising, and is followed by a setting.

These periods of transition (amsha) from the beginning and end of a Yuga last one tenth of the entire period of a Yuga, whose relative lengths are as follows: 4 (Krita Yuga), 3 (Treta Yuga), 2 (Dvapara Yuga), 1 (Kali Yuga) (cf. Linga Purana, 1.4., 3-6).

The first age, Krita Yuga, is the time of divine knowledge and wisom, corresponding to the golden age from Hesiod writings. Then follows Treta Yuga, or the age of the 3 ritual fires, the age of rites, and also of sedentary, agrarian and urban civilization.

The third age, Dvapara Yuga is the age of doubt, which gives birth to contestatary religions and philosophies. The human being loses the sense of the divine reality and becomes distant from the natural law. Then comes the fourth age, Kali Yuga, the decline period of the contemporary humanity, whose dawn we are living at this time.

The work Linga Purana, having as system of reference the human years, manages to present with amazing exactness the dates regarding the present Manvantara. According to the Hindu calendar, if we consider the beginning of Kali Yuga in year 3012 BC and making the necessary calculations, the dawn of Kali Yuga lasts 504.6 years and begins with year 1936 AD.

Thus, we live during the dawns of the age of spiritual decadence, Kali Yuga. These times began, as we mentioned already in 1936 and will end in 2442. According to the Shaivite tradition, since the earth began to be inhabited there were several civilizations living here.

Each of them had their moment of glory, of developing the science and technique and of knowledge. According to this work, we are part of the seventh humankind. Shiva Purana transmits to us, across the millennium the circumstances in which the preceding civilization ended.

This story is a message that we will have to consider with utmost seriousness, in order to learn from the mistakes of our forefathers and in order to avoid making the same mistakes that lead to their destruction.

Shaivism – Legends about the Future, Part 1

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Going over Shiva Purana, this highly important text of the Kashmir Shaivism we find the amazing story of the civilization that preceded us, a story about the past life of our generation.

Here are stated with crystal clarity two catastrophes: one that caused the end of the Assures’ civilization (over 60000 years ago) and one that lead to the destruction of the cities of Indus by the Arien invaders.

This event, which occurred with more than 2000 years BC, marked the beginning of Kali Yuga, the age of decline of humanity, from which we are also a part.

Shiva Purana gives us indications about the conditions that lead to the decline of a generation of humanity at the end of each cycle. Therefore, one should look upon the story of the Assures not only as a reflection of the past but also as a prophecy of a possible future.

There is an obvious parallelism between the events, religious conceptions, ideologies, social and moral theories that caused the destruction of the Assures and those that characterize our societies.

The history of the Assures also tells us how we can prevent the disaster from happening, through our moral and social convictions and ideas. This history, if properly understood and applies, may allow many of us to cross safely the cataclysm and to be a part of the golden age of the humanity.

THE LEGEND OF THE ASSURES’ END
The Assures, people with a great level of civilization, presented in the scripture as fervent worshippers of Shiva and His symbol, the linga have created and built three undefeatable citadels, with the help of the architect Maya.

These citadels were as follows: one, on Earth, made of copper, the second between earth and heaven, made of silver, and the third in the heaven, made of gold. Here, as in other traditions, we encounter the symbolism of the macrocosmic body, present in all the three essential universes: material, subtle and divine.

Shiva Purana tells that the Assures were powerful people, with dark, long, curly hair, heroic, learned in the art of war, religious, open at heart and owners of a knowledge that included the use of solar energy and solar light for various purposes. They lived in their wonderful citadels, without caring much about the rest of the world. (cf. Rudra Samhita (1), 5.1., 10-78).

Shiva, principle of Time, the only measure of Space, is the only God that had the power of destruction and transformation. Therefore, He is the one the Gods turned to when they wanted to annihilate Assures and their wonderful citadels.

The Arien gods sought Shiva’s favors in order to be able to destroy the Assure citadels. Yet, Shiva, the God of the just and righteous, could not let Himself be dragged into this dispute.

“The Assures, He said, are without sin and are my respectful worshippers. I could destroy them only if they turned their back to me. Thus, the Arien gods went to Vishnu and He said: “you cannot destroy these citadels unless you obtain the help of the Master Shiva” the Arien gods organized then a great sacrifice in Shiva’s honor.

From the fire emerged numerous malefic and armed spirits (Bhuta). Although these spirits were all directed to the citadels, they did not manage to harm any of them.

Vishnu explained this new defeat thus: “as long as they worship Shiva, and His mysterious symbol, the phallus, all their desires are fulfilled and the vedic religion is threatened. You have to make things so as they denigrate Shiva, the only God who protects them, and the only God who can destroy them.” (cf. Rudra Samhita, 5.3., 30-50.)

The Law of Resonance, Part 5

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THE ABSOLUTE
In order to understand the nature of the Absolute and of the relative aspects of the Real, we will make an analogy, which must not be taken literally, since the Absolute is indefinable.

Let’s imagine an endless and extremely deep Ocean. The surface of the water is so peaceful and calm that is almost invisible. This is the reference, the basis of all comparisons.

Let’s imagine now that on the surface of the ocean suddenly appear waves which create vibrations. These vibrations make the almost invisible surface of the water to become visible.

Analogically, when a vibration is produced into the Absolute, It becomes manifest, visible. We call this ‘relative reality’.

The thing that must not be forgotten is that the ocean is the unifying element which penetrates and harmonizes all relative realities. This is why the Ocean can be called Absolute Existence or Pure Consciousness.

We can produce waves at the surface, but the more profound levels will never be disturbed. They will forever be in a state of peace (calm).

We can say that big and noisy waves (low frequency) correspond to the lower levels of relative reality, and the fine and quick ripples (high frequency) correspond to the higher levels of manifestation.

If we will ask a quantum physicist what is an electron made of, he will answer that an electron is a pattern of waves who vibrate at a certain frequency which determines its energy.

But if we will ask the physicist WHAT is that which vibrates, he will answer ‘nobody knows’. Using the analogy with the ocean, we can say that the electron is a wave on the surface of the ocean.

This wave vibrates in comparison with the deep, still levels of the Pure Consciousness. Therefore we will be able to answer to the question WHAT vibrates in an electron by saying that a unit of pure consciousness vibrates there.

When we understand that Reality is made of two aspects: one is the bottom of the ocean and the other is the surface which vibrates, we realize that spirit and matter emerge from the same fundamental essence.

The solid matter is expressed as the big, slow waves at the surface of the ocean (low frequency, big amplitude)(which is a more restricted manifestation of the consciousness), whereas the mind, for example, is like a very fine and quick ripple (high frequency, small amplitude)(which is a more intense and free manifestation of consciousness).

THE DIVINE CREATIVE POTENTIAL

Going deeper into this analogy, we can define the Absolute as being an infinitely delicate vibration of practically zero amplitude and infinite frequency.

In this situation, we have a perfectly calm surface which contains a tremendous energy. We call this energy ‘creative potential’.

This very powerful and extremely refined energy is also endowed with wisdom, which confers to every system an aptitude of auto-organization (can function as a whole).

The more reduced the amplitude, the higher the energy (frequency) and the closer the peaks of the vibratory wave. When the vibrations become so fast and the peaks are so close as to become identified with each other, a ‘quasi-static’ state is attained, in which the movement remains potential.

Then the energy of the system becomes infinite. Therefore, the Absolute is a state in which the opposites (peak and valley) become one. Thus, movement and rest fuse into one.

The Absolute crowns the hierarchy of the relative realities, being in the same time their source. In his transcendent “form”, the Absolute is a potential dynamism, whereas once manifested he becomes the source and foundation of the entire Universe, from the physical matter to the most subtle realities.

PART 4   |   PART 5

The Law of Resonance, Part 3

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We can continue and visualize the same phenomenon in three dimensions. Let’s say we have a glass cube full of a certain liquid in which tiny particles are in uniform suspension (see fig.3).



By making all six sides of the cube vibrate simultaneously, we will notice that the particles in suspension will accumulate in certain areas (nodes) giving birth to symmetrical 3D shapes. This looks very much alike to the structure of a crystal.

In this case we created a system of 3D stationary waves. We can say that these stationary waves are in fact the sound of that 3D structure (this shows that there is a direct link between form and sound). The stationary waves created order in an substance that had no definite form (it was amorphous).

When a vibration energizes a substance, it will produce certain zones of ‘fullness’ and of ’emptiness’, in other words zones which have the nature of a particle (nodes) and zones that have the nature of a wave (energetic field). This complementarity wave-particle is a fundamental duality of the whole manifestation.

If we look carefully at waves in a pond, we observe that even though water moves up and down in a wave, it (water) does not advance (it stays in the same place).

This becomes even more clear if there is a little piece of wood floating on the water: the wood moves up and down, but does not go anywhere. In other words, a wave can travel long distances, but water stays where it was before.

Therefore we can say that a wave is a perturbation (disturbance) that propagates through a medium. The medium though does NOT advance in the direction of the disturbance.

A wave is something that can travel from one place to another without being a material particle or a flux of particles.

THE VIBRATORY LEVELS OF THE UNIVERSE
Waves manifest in all phenomena of the Universe, from the everyday noises, whose frequencies are from a few cycles/second to tens of thousands of cycles/second, to the radio waves, whose frequencies are between 500 and 15,000 million cycles/second, to the cosmic radiations, whose frequencies are over 1 followed by 22 zeroes cycles/second!

The mental and psychic waves have even greater frequencies, but the nature of these vibratory processes is similar. Their frequencies depend on the quality and refinement of our thoughts and feelings (for example the frequency of a feeling of love is much higher than the frequency of a feeling of sadness).

According to Dr. Arnaud, a french scientist, all vibrations of the physical world are between almost zero and 1 followed by 22 zeroes cycles/second. This represents the lower octave of the Universe (physical world).

According to the same scientist, the vibrations of the astral and mental world are between 12 followed by 32 zeroes and 96 followed by 39 zeroes cycles/second! In the eastern tradition it is known that these frequencies continue to rise as we access higher levels of manifestation.

VIBRATIONS IN THE LIVING MATTER
How are these vibrations behaving in the living matter? Do we have receivers for each gamut of vibrations? Do we / can we perceive all vibrations?

The vibratory energies are classified according to a scale of vibratory levels described by their frequency of vibration. The frequency defines the quality (type) of the energy. The amplitude defines the quantity of the energy.

The vibratory frequencies are dependent on the inherent (intrinsic – existing as an essential constituent or characteristic) properties of the emitter or receiver. Thus, for example, the vibratory frequencies received by the ear are between 16 and 20,000 cycles/second.

The eye receives vibrations between 1 followed by 14 zeroes and 1 followed by 15 zeroes cycles/second, etc. In this way, every sense organ functions and can interpret only certain determined frequencies.

The range of perception of the five senses is extremely limited compared to the whole range of the frequencies in the Universe. Besides the five sense organs, the human being has also other senses (receivers of vibratory energy), which most of the time are latent (dormant)(for example, clairvoyance), but which can be awakened through appropriate training.

PART 4   |   PART 5

The Law of Resonance, Part 4

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THE ‘QUANTITATIVE’ AND ‘QUALITATIVE’ ELEMENTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
In vibratory terms, consciousness is the aptitude of a system to respond to stimuli (information). This system can be complex (for example a human being) or very simple (for example a cell).

If we will hit an atom with a ray of energy, the atom will respond in a certain way. When we stop this stimulus, the atom comes back to its initial state. This response is a manifestation of the consciousness of the atom.

The same experiment can be done with a cell, an animal or a human being. Of course, the higher developed systems will react in a more complex way than the more primitive systems. The more a system is complex, the more he will have a broader gamut of responses.

Since the human being is an epitome of the Universe, the number of possible responses increases enormously. We will say that the number of possible responses represents the ‘quantitative’ aspect of consciousness.

Maybe to some this will seem artificial, because most people associate the idea of consciousness with living beings only. This happens because of our limitation and ignorance.

We restrict the meaning of the term ‘living being’ only to those beings that can reproduce themselves. An intelligent person can see that this vision is totally arbitrary, because what we are doing is to project our own behaviour to other systems and judge them according to our ‘standards’.

According to those ‘standards’, atoms, for example, are not alive, just because they do not exist and behave like us!

The eastern wisdom defined thousands of years ago the concept of spanda (vibration or flashing forth of the Divine Consciousness), as being the fundament of the entire manifestation of the Universe.

In this vision, consciousness is everywhere, even in the most insignificant particle of matter. In other words, the whole matter contains consciousness (therefore, life) in various proportions.

The power who is hiding in various degrees the consciousness of everything that exists is called maya, the veil of illusion. This degree of the presence of consciousness represents the ‘qualitative’ aspect of consciousness, and this aspect is expressed by the frequency of vibration.

The ancient eastern sages, as a result of their personal experimentation at the deepest levels of consciousness, structured the human being and the Universe in seven octaves of vibration (corresponding to the seven chakra-s). These levels express precisely the quality of consciousness.

A system has also an activity of energetic exchange with its surrounding world (metabolism). This activity shows the intensity and range of the energetic exchanges between a system and its environment.

If this energetic activity does not extend over a certain range of frequencies, the reality corresponding to those frequencies ‘does not exist’ for that system!

Therefore there is in nature a spectre of relative realities for every category of system that manifests a certain level of consciousness. We can understand now that even a stone has its own consciousness, therefore its own relative reality.

The beings from the superior levels of the Universe can interact with their surroundings to a much greater extent than can beings from lower levels. As we rise to a superior level of existence, the magnitude of the reality experienced and our freedom grows exponentially.

PART 4   |   PART 5

The Law of Resonance, Part 1

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by Dinu Roman

THE HIDDEN KEY OF ALL THE KEYS OF THE MANIFESTATION OF THE UNIVERSE
For the western mind, the language of yoga and other spiritual paths is many times difficult to decipher: the symbols and metaphors are a jungle where both initiates and (mostly) uninitiated ones are lost.

The hidden key that opens all these secrets and lost meanings is Resonance. Resonance is very easy to understand for the western mind, so much centred on the scientific approach of reality.

In the light of Resonance, all metaphors and symbols immediately start to make sense, becoming in the same time a genuine door toward invisible realities.

DEFINITION
The Law of Resonance has a relational character, i.e. expresses the way in which two or more apparently different things or phenomena selectively communicate (are linked), being integrated into an unitary Whole.

The links which unite all things in the Universe (physical objects, mental processes, psychic phenomena, spiritual levels, in other words everything manifested) have as basis the process of Resonance.

The fundamental secret of yoga practice is to create and maintain a process of resonance, in other words a process of initiating and amplifying a vibratory response (a link) in a receiving system that is attuned to an emitting system.

It is very important to understand that resonance starts only when the frequency of the two systems (the receiving and the emitting) are very close or identical.

In yoga, the process of resonance is created and maintained mainly by permanently focused attentiveness (effortless mental concentration).

During resonance, the cosmic frequencies (vibratory energies) that are continually emitted as cosmic waves by interstellar centres, galaxies or planets can be received by the correspondent foci of the human subtle body in the same way that a radio set can be tuned to different radio frequencies.

During resonance, a transfer of subtle energy takes place, from the emitting source to the receiver. The received energy brings with it all the characteristics of the source, on multiple levels (physical patterns, specific energy, feelings, inner states, information, ideas, etc).

YOGA AND RESONANCE
What has yoga to do with resonance? Here’s what: all yoga techniques (asanas, pranayama, meditation, etc.) are accurate modalities to create resonance with certain cosmic energies that are specific for that particular technique.

The type of energy that a certain technique resonates with is revealed by a guru (and who knows that information through direct experience is a true guru!) when he gives initiation into that technique.

In other words, through the practice of a certain asana, for example, the yogin creates a link between his own microcosm, vibrating now on a certain energy (corresponding to that asana), and the macrocosmic source of that energy (or the cosmic correspondent of that asana).

Through this link (or resonance), the energy from the cosmic source is ‘poured’ into the practitioner’s microcosm. The more that asana is effortlessly maintained with the necessary mental concentration, the more that type of energy is accumulated into his being.

This is the reason all truly advanced yogin-s maintain asana-s, or meditate, or do pranayama, etc., for hours at a time (NOT recommended to beginners!).

Therefore, yoga puts at our disposal not only an instrument for self knowledge, but also a large spectrum of tools to develop those areas of our being that are less developed, so that we become whole, complete beings.

In the light of the Law of Resonance and due to their similitude, the phenomena, ideas, feelings, objects, energies, etc., are in agreement (consonance, concord), vibrate in unison (identity), evoke (summon) each other selectively through action at a distance.

In classical physics, resonance is well known in mechanics, acoustics, electromagnetism. This phenomenon though characterizes the entire manifestation of the Universe.

The basis of existence of resonance is the energetic and vibratory substratum of the Universe. Therefore, a first step in deeply understanding resonance is to ponder upon the fact that all physical, mental and spiritual phenomena are rooted into (are a result of) (develop from) a Unique Eternal Reality.

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The Law of Resonance, Part 2

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THE VIBRATORY MOVEMENTS OF THE UNIVERSE
Just like the esoteric Eastern tradition of spirituality, modern physics does not conceive matter as being passive, inert, static, but as being in a continuous vibratory movement.

The rhythms of these movements are determined, among other things, by the atomic, nuclear and molecular structures. Therefore both science and spirituality converge toward the idea that the Universe is dynamic, being in a continuous movement of oscillation.

Nature is not in a static, but in a dynamic equilibrium. Here is what a Taoist text says about this matter:

“The silence in silence is not the true Silence. Only when there is calmness in movement, the spiritual rhythm [vibration] which penetrates the Sky and the Earth is born.”

Therefore everything is vibration. Here is what the scientists say about the subject:

“Everything is vibration. Everything is movement. The Void [Primordial Substratum] fluctuates, according to certain laws, between Existence and Non-existence. The quanta [a small, indivisible unit of energy] born as a result of the vibratory movement of the void, are ‘virtual’, i.e. they do not materialize into real particles that can be observed. They need a certain mass and energy in order to have material existence.”

The whole Universe is made of lots of things and phenomena, from the smallest atoms to the greatest galaxies. Their common element is that they are all moving. WHY everything is moving is a question to which modern science has no answer.

Modern science has however made some progress in explaining HOW things move. Modern (quantum) physics states the existence of FOUR FORCES (assuming as a hypothesis the necessary existence of a FIFTH FORCE which unifies the first four).

This theory is a rediscovery of the eastern theory of the five tattva-s (or subtle principles – ‘earth’, ‘water’, ‘fire’, ‘air’, ‘ether’). According to physics, the four forces who act in the Universe are: the ‘strong’ and the ‘weak’ forces (who keep atoms together), the force of gravity (who describes the movement of bigger material bodies) and the electromagnetic force (such as light). All these four forces have something in common: they all move in ‘waves’.

Therefore the waves represent the basic movement of the Universe. Even though this subject may seem complicated, its basic principles are very simple. Once these principles are clearly understood, we can make progress in understanding the physical characteristics of resonance and harmony.

A WAVE – ‘SOMETHING’ THAT MOVES
The propagation of light, for example, is sometimes explained as a flux of particles (photons – a quantum of electromagnetic energy) moving through space. But certain experiments produced results that cannot be explained if we consider that light is just a flux of particles. The fundamental element here is that even in these cases light nevertheless moves through space.

Searching for a more comprehensive model, at least in the case of light propagation, we can ask ourselves if there is also something else, besides particles, who can move from one place to another. The answer is yes, there is. If we throw a stone into a pond, we can see it: A WAVE.

As it was said above, just like in the Eastern doctrines, in modern physics there are already theoretical models that show that the entire Universe has vibration as its essential nature and that a certain modulated vibration can describe (build) a whole Universe.

For understanding easier this principle, let’s analize a one-dimensional vibration. Let’s suppose that we have a chord placed between two fixed points (fig.1a).

If we stretch the chord at its middle point and then let it go, the chord will start to oscillate and it will produce two symmetrical curves.

If we stretch the chord at a quarter of its length and then let it go, the chord will start to oscillate and it will produce the effect shown in fig.1b.


 

This effect is called stationary (or standing) wave. Standing waves manifest only when the chord is acted upon at distances that divide its wavelength in integer parts. In fig. 1a, the length of the support is half a wavelength (therefore, nodes are identical with the two fixed points).

In fig. 1b the length of the support is one wavelength. We notice in fig.1b that the point N is static and remains so during the whole oscillation of the chord. This point is called a node. Nodes are points that do not move along a chord in stationary vibration.

Let’s suppose now that we have a thin metal plate that we fix on one side like in fig.2. We will spread on this sheet of metal a uniform and very thin layer of fine sand. Then, with a fiddlestick we touch one of the free sides until a sound is produced.


 

As a result of the sound, the plate of metal will start to vibrate. We will notice then that the layer of sand will make certain shapes that are symmetrical. This shape is a result of the stationary waves created in the sheet of metal as a result of its vibration.

This is a bidimensional replica of the previous experiment. In this case, the sand accumulates in those areas where the metal plate does not vibrate (nodes) – in other words, the sand particles will accumulate in the points with the lowest energy.

Therefore, the stationary waves divide the metal plate in an integer number of wavelengths. The dimensions of the metal plate are important in creating these stationary waves and therefore the nodes with low energy.

When a certain structure enters in resonance (which means that at that time that structure vibrates on a certain frequency that is specific to that structure only and which can be maintained with least effort) this process of resonance will immediately produce stationary waves.

 

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