Article by Rajesh Sahay
Practice of Vihangam Yoga meditationAs we know, the mind and the different organs of the body are themselves inert. The force of consciousness in the soul activates the mind and through it the various organs. In the waking state, this force flows out into the phenomenal worlds and gives us the knowledge of the world. The five sensory organs, the eyes, ears, nose, palate and skin as well as the five organs of action, the hands, the legs, the organs of speech, excretion and generation are all activated by the mind and so are the three internal organs intellect, chitta or memory cell and ego. Once the mind is fixed, its outward flow can be controlled consciously.According to the Rishis or ancient philosopher scientists of India, a perfect knowledge of all existence, inert as well as conscious, can be achieved when one has acquired the divine eye of pure consciousness after its dissociation from all the physical attachments such as, the mind, intellect, the Pranas or life force and the body. Hence the force of consciousness has to be channelized inwards willfully towards its origin. On the inward journey of the consciousness towards its origin in the mind has first to be restrained so that it may not be able to dissipate our force of consciousness.While we are awake the mind is situated before the eyes most of the time. So to control the mind, dissipation of the beams of consciousness oozing out through both the eyes have to be united at a point where they can converge into one ray. The spiritual scientists of the east and west have therefore stressed the prime necessity of this practice. “The light of the body is the eye. If therefore thin eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light” says -St. Mathew in the Bible (6:2). Swarveda (1/4/30) says, “Combine first the light of consciousness of the two eyes into a single ray, then thou shall be able to move up and there is no other way.” The benefits that one gets by this practice are manifold. The mind is calmed and is freed from all types of tensions and anxieties. One gets the vision of the colours of the five basic elements of nature, the earth, water, fire, air and space. The breath becomes slower, thereby increasing longevity. The practitioner becomes a happier man with greater enthusiasm for work.Once the mind is controlled with its outward flow through different organs, it is taken to a point in the forehead which is the tri junction of the three channels – the Ingla Nadi (passing through left nostril), the Pingla Nadi (through the right nostril)- and the Susbumna Nadi in the centre. Swami Sadafal Deoji says in his Swarveda (6/2) that “at this tri junction flows the water of divine knowledge, which purifies the mind of its dotages and bestows glazing serenity to it.” In the Bible St. John has described this experience in the following words: “And they shall see his face and his name shall be in their forehead. And there shall be no night there and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light.” (Revelation 22:4 and 5). There are many pleasant experiences at this second level on the journey of consciousness. The mind is pacified and moves deeper inwards. The yogi hears a resounding sound like ‘Om’ and sees a soothing and pleasing light. He feels peaceful and starts getting a vision of the inner world. His mind is elevated to a much higher level than that of an average human being and becomes capable of achieving many divine powers.After perfection at this level, the consciousness is taken to a point at the top of the head called the Brahma Randra or the Tenth Gate. This is the gate through which the soul enters the human body. St. John in his Revelations has mentioned the experiences of this gate as follows: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock, if any man bear my voice and open the door, I shall come unto him and will sup with him and be with me” (Revelation 3:20). In Swarveda (6/2), Swami Sadafal Deo says: “A deep concentration at the tenth gate, has awakened the consciousness from the slumber.” He further says, “The Tenth Gate is very secret. It is the gateway to the bliss of Madhumati or Brahma Vidya (the science of knowledge of Brahma). Without the grace of Sadguru, none can cross this gate and get the illumination of the Akshara Brahma.” By concentration at this level, full control and subjugation of the mind and life force (Pranas) is achieved. The body, Pranas and mind are joined together. As we move on in this direction, we go on dissociating out consciousness from the body, Pranas and mind.After opening the gate, the consciousness is pulled up at a particular distance from the crown of the head by the Master of the science, the Sadguru, where the mind and Pranas dissolve in their origin, the Akshara Brahma. Here the soul’s consciousness is separated from its physical chaff. It is the Akshara Brahma, which controls the creation and dissolution of the universe through its all-pervading vibratory sound. The Brahma appears in the beginning of creation and gives motion to the dormant fundamental particles of nature or Prakriti to combine and form different shapes. This fourth stage on the conscious journey makes soul’s consciousness free and it is then bathed in the brilliant light of the Akshara Brahma, which did not manifest because of the Soul’s association with the physical appendages. This Akshara Brahma is the creator, the preserver and the annihilator of the universe through its all-pervading vibratory sound. The Bible mentions it as “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of creation of God.” (Revelation 3: 14). Maharshi Swami Sadafal Deoji describes in Swarveda (1/2/33) thus: “The vibration is in the Akshara Brahma which causes revolution of the creation. The Akshara appears in the beginning of the creation.”In some schools of yoga, concentration and medication, are practiced on certain sounds, which are produced when consciousness reaches a particular point. The concentrations on the various chakras in the body are associated with the utterances, of different Mantras or code words. Similarly the code word for different sounds produced when the life force (Pranas) reaches various points in the head are repeated by the aspirants and there ends their meditation. These audible sound are Niranjan, Om, Soham, Shakti and Rarankar which are heard when the consciousness reaches the tip of nose, the Trikuti, the Bhanwar Gupha, a spot between the Gupha and the top of the head and lastly he Brahma Randra or the tenth gate respectively. As the practitioner’s consciousness reaches the head region, he also hears the Anahat sounds of varying characters, which some schools consider to be the ultimate post of the spiritual journey. In fact these sounds are only heard on the way to the Akshara Brahma and the journey stops short of the tenth gate. A Vihangam Yogi has to go beyond the tenth gate into the zone of Akshara Brahma, which is the fourth stage of the journey. The Bible also mentions about this as follows: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the word was God.”With the continued practice at this level of Akshara Brahma a practitioner gets the inner divine eye with which he goes to the fifth stage where he sees the all pervading consciousness, the Supreme Brahma, God, Allah, Jehovah or Ahuja of different religious cults. The yogi perceives a brilliant yet soothing light and sound, which submerges the soul in bliss indescribable. A perfect knowledge of everything comes to him who has fixed his consciousness at this fifth and the highest level. We all know that all knowledge and power of action belongs to the soul alone and not to its inert associations. Its conscious power is very much reduced when it flows through the physical sheaths. When this conscious flow is totally separated from the inert physical impediments the capacity to know or act becomes infinitely large and this is what is expressed as superhuman powers in varying degrees in yogis at different levels of the play of consciousness. This journey of consciousness from the gross physical level up to the Para Brahma (Supreme Being) has been explicitly mentioned in the Vedas (Atharva Veda 4/3/14) as “From the earth I ascend to the horizon, from the horizon to the lighted space, from the lighted space through subtle hole to the conscious space (Cbidakash) and from there to the Supreme Light.” About the experiences, of the highest level St. John says (Revelation 14:2) “And I heard a voice of a great thunder and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.” Similarly a mantra from Sama Veda (6/l/5) says “I am bearing the powerful nectarine sound like that of torrential rainfall on all sides. The light of thunder is moving very fast over my head.” Maharshi Sadafal Deoji writes in his Swarveda (1/3/14) “The lotus has bloomed forth, the inner sky is thundering and roaring raining nectar all around. The conscious peacock is dancing in the secret zone of its play.”Thus we see that like any scientific investigation the results of this science of consciousness have been found to be similar whenever they have been performed correctly, whether in pre-historic ages or modem times. But there is a fundamental difference between the two sciences. In the physical science, the observation is objective whereas in this spiritual science of consciousness or what we call Para Vidya or Vihangam Yoga, it is subjective. In the first case it is external while in the latter it is internal of consciousness can be learnt and practiced. This science of consciousness can be learnt and practiced with the help of a Sadguru as has been done since the Vedic ages. This art has been handed down from the Eternal Sadguru who has been mentioned in the Vedas as Sukrit Deo, Atri, Jyoti, Amanava Purusha, Sant and Doot. Atharva Veda (10/4/8/32) mentions about