Have you noticed, in modern cities, especially in the so-called Third World, the proliferation of high-rise condominiums and suchlike? Impressive buildings, with ostenatiously wealthy people coming and going in plush vehicles. No one else can enter: security is tight.
Strangely enough, not much distance away, virtually in their shadows, proliferate slums. Shanties, sheds, huts, call them what you will. The very sight of them fills many of us with disgust. The smells ... good heavens. A clear demonstration of the haves and the have-nots. Let us look at how the Hindu society looks at the haves and the have-nots.
The Manu-dictated Hindu society was divided into four parts -- Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Each part had a pre-defined role, so-called attributes and functions, and DEFINITELY could not mingle.
What a hidebound way of looking at human beings. No wonder that today, the so-called lower classes are up in arms against the higher classes, and are clamouring for their place under the sun. And since they constitute the majority of the population -- the bottom of the pyramid, as it is called -- their voice is strident and they are getting somewhere. Not quite at the pace that they might aspire, but there is a definite change.
The catch is that they don't know what to do with their new-found powers, and end up aping the very higher classes against whom they revolted. This is not without precedent, having been acted out in the communist Eastern Bloc, the USSR, China and elsewhere. When power flows to the downtrodden, they end up doing all those very things that they so hate in the upper classes.
How does this square up with spirituality? This is a spiritual blog, right? Why are we talking politics and anthropology? It all ties up. Be patient.
First, let's look at the varna system. Brahmanas had the role of being the spiritual backbone of society. Anything to do with God, they were the guys who performed the rituals, chanted the mantras, did the pujas, looked after the temples... They were also in charge of knowledge: the vedas, the puranas, the sundry other scriptures -- they were the custodians. The lower classes could not aspire to knowledge, to schooling... It was deemed dangerous for them. Hence the concept of Trusteeship.
The next on the rung were the Kshatriyas. The warriors. The rulers. It was their job to run the kingdom, to defend it against invaders, to dole out justice to the masses. The so-called gentile class, they were supposed to be role-models for the society at large.
Then came the vaishyas, the traders, the people who spoke the language of money. Their primary job, their dharma, was the multiplication of wealth. The more wealth they generated, the more would go to the Treasury in the form of taxes, so the kshatriyas and the vaishyas worked in close cooperation.
Last, the shudras. The people who did the labour. The society could not do without them. Indeed, they were the base of the pyramid, its foundation. without it, the structure would collapse. But looking down from the top, the brahmin could not relate to the foundation. There was disconnect. And the king in his throne could not relate to them either, and anyway, the life of a king is a lonely one.
Now, if you have an idea of the chakra system of the body, you would see where this is leading up to. The body has, broadly speaking, four varnas too.
The base of the pyramid -- connected with the bodily functions: survival of the individual. Procreation and survival of the species. The instinct of knowing what to do, and when. These physical attributes are connected with the so-called lower chakras. the mooladhara or basic, the manipura or sex, and the Nabhi or navel. the lower triangle.
Next comes the emotional functions. the concept of the individual. 'I'. I want this, that and the other. I love that person. I hate that person. I want to be the richest person in the world. I want to rule the universe. Broadly called the lower emotions. Then there are the higher emotions. The desire to serve one's family/society, the desire to see people happy (even if only some people). These emotions are connected with two chakras -- the solar plexus, and the heart.
Next, mental functions. creativity. intelligence. understanding. discernment. decision-making. Connected with the throat (vishuddhi) and ajna chakras.
Last, spiritual functions. Connection with god. Intuition. Discernment between right and wrong. Bringing the blessings of god into the entire body. The spiritual preceptor. Chakras -- backhead, forehead and primarily, the crown (lalata, and sahsrara).
Going back to the societal varnas, is there a distinct correlation with the bodily functions? the higher triad = brahman, the ajna and throat to kshatriyas, the heart and solar plexus to the vaishyas and the lower triad to the shudras... There are more chakras involved, but let us not complicate things further.
The problem is, these chakras are not independent. They are supposed to be a team. And just like the varnas, the chakras have physical roles in the body, all of them, knowledge that such schools as Pranic Healing and Theosophy have brought into the public domain.
Once we start examining the roles of the chakras, we begin to understand the dangers of knowledge and power, as far as the object of the energy goes. For instance, knowledge of the vedas was shielded from the lower classes. They were not even allowed to chant a simple mantra: it was deemed dangerous for them. Going up the class system, little by little, information would be released to the people, at the appropriate time. In the brahmins, spiritual knowledge was included in the curriculum and the youth were integrated into the system at a very early age.
Looking at this practise from the energy or chakra point of view, it appears that spiritual power is dangerous for the lower chakras. Is that true? How does it work?
It is probably something like this. The energy in a chakra vibrates at a certain frequency. The mooladhara, for instance, vibrates at a frequency that is different -- and lower -- than a higher chakra, say the crown. Something like the different channels on radio.
If a radio-receiver is tuned to a certain frequency, it simply does not 'catch' anything at a higher (or lower) frequency. No problem, life goes on. But then, by external intervention, if a person tries to adjust this receiver, tries to tune it to receive signals of a higher frequency without suitably upgrading the hardware, what happens? Pfffttt. Something blows up. In one word, disaster, right?
Well, that is what happens if one tries to 'inject' spiritual energy into a chakra that is not ready, that has not been sufficiently prepared. or a person who has not been suitably prepared, to chant mantras or to meditate. Boom!
The catch is, the varna system has been linked to birth. You are born a brahmin or shudra, etc. In actual practice, it does not quite work like that. Your actions determine your position on the spiritual ladder. It is connected with the amount of light you have. And that comes from past WORK, spiritual, physical, financial, what have you. Boom. Reincarnation.
But all this work is connected not to the self but to humanity, to creation as a whole. Sacrifice plays a large part in it. Ahem ahem.
If you have not been sufficiently prepared and purified, so says Rishi Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras, the individual who puts his foot on the ladder of spirituality will find that the mire around his feet solidifies, and he gets stuck there. And like Lot's wife in the Bible who turned into a pillar of salt for looking back (signifying emotional/material attachments that pulled her back), or four of the Pandava brothers (and their wife, Draupadi) who dropped dead on their final march to redemption --- for looking back --- the spiritual aspirant cannot proceed any further.
So, in spiritual practice, especially if you are serious about progress, it is important to purify yourself of past baggage. It is this past baggage, the attachment, the "emotional ties" (good and bad, love and hate, joy and grief -- all of them) that prevent our moving on. It's like the ship that's our body has dropped anchor in the ocean of emotions.
There are many techniques for moving on from the past. The most effective one is forgiveness. Identify one person who has caused emotional distress, and forgive him or her from the bottom of your heart, with god as witness. Release them from your bondage (yeah, they're tied down too, unless you let them go) and pray that people you have hurt are able to forgive you and let you move on. Let's put this in words, shall we?
"To XYZ person (or persons), I forgive you for all the hurt and pain you have caused me. I also seek forgiveness for the hurt and pain I have caused others. Blessings of God be with them and with me."
This is your COMPULSORY daily ritual, for the rest of your life. If you want to progress spiritually, that is. Otherwise there is no issue, where you are is fine, you can stay there.
If you do a lot of meditation, or other spiritual practices, without sufficient (and regular) cleansing, what will happen? Why, simply, like Lot's life we mentioned earlier, the negative energies in your system start to crystallise. Before long, you would start to experience physical ailments such as arthritis or stones. The solution is not stopping the practices. Anyone who has practised heavy physical exercises for years and then given up all if it would know what happens: you just grow heavier and heavier, and more and more sluggish. That works on the energy field, too.
The solution is to be slow, systematic and simple. Do purifications every day. Diet, breathing exercises, physical exercises and forgiveness. Do meditation in moderation. Do not try to bluster it out by increasing the dosage to breaking point, because you are not going to fool anybody upstairs. They know how much you can handle, and if you push beyond that, things will happen to make you stop.
So the trick is to imitate the tortoise, not the hare. Plod away, and before you know, you've won the race. Congratulations.
Strangely enough, not much distance away, virtually in their shadows, proliferate slums. Shanties, sheds, huts, call them what you will. The very sight of them fills many of us with disgust. The smells ... good heavens. A clear demonstration of the haves and the have-nots. Let us look at how the Hindu society looks at the haves and the have-nots.
The Manu-dictated Hindu society was divided into four parts -- Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and the Shudras. Each part had a pre-defined role, so-called attributes and functions, and DEFINITELY could not mingle.
What a hidebound way of looking at human beings. No wonder that today, the so-called lower classes are up in arms against the higher classes, and are clamouring for their place under the sun. And since they constitute the majority of the population -- the bottom of the pyramid, as it is called -- their voice is strident and they are getting somewhere. Not quite at the pace that they might aspire, but there is a definite change.
The catch is that they don't know what to do with their new-found powers, and end up aping the very higher classes against whom they revolted. This is not without precedent, having been acted out in the communist Eastern Bloc, the USSR, China and elsewhere. When power flows to the downtrodden, they end up doing all those very things that they so hate in the upper classes.
How does this square up with spirituality? This is a spiritual blog, right? Why are we talking politics and anthropology? It all ties up. Be patient.
First, let's look at the varna system. Brahmanas had the role of being the spiritual backbone of society. Anything to do with God, they were the guys who performed the rituals, chanted the mantras, did the pujas, looked after the temples... They were also in charge of knowledge: the vedas, the puranas, the sundry other scriptures -- they were the custodians. The lower classes could not aspire to knowledge, to schooling... It was deemed dangerous for them. Hence the concept of Trusteeship.
The next on the rung were the Kshatriyas. The warriors. The rulers. It was their job to run the kingdom, to defend it against invaders, to dole out justice to the masses. The so-called gentile class, they were supposed to be role-models for the society at large.
Then came the vaishyas, the traders, the people who spoke the language of money. Their primary job, their dharma, was the multiplication of wealth. The more wealth they generated, the more would go to the Treasury in the form of taxes, so the kshatriyas and the vaishyas worked in close cooperation.
Last, the shudras. The people who did the labour. The society could not do without them. Indeed, they were the base of the pyramid, its foundation. without it, the structure would collapse. But looking down from the top, the brahmin could not relate to the foundation. There was disconnect. And the king in his throne could not relate to them either, and anyway, the life of a king is a lonely one.
Now, if you have an idea of the chakra system of the body, you would see where this is leading up to. The body has, broadly speaking, four varnas too.
The base of the pyramid -- connected with the bodily functions: survival of the individual. Procreation and survival of the species. The instinct of knowing what to do, and when. These physical attributes are connected with the so-called lower chakras. the mooladhara or basic, the manipura or sex, and the Nabhi or navel. the lower triangle.
Next comes the emotional functions. the concept of the individual. 'I'. I want this, that and the other. I love that person. I hate that person. I want to be the richest person in the world. I want to rule the universe. Broadly called the lower emotions. Then there are the higher emotions. The desire to serve one's family/society, the desire to see people happy (even if only some people). These emotions are connected with two chakras -- the solar plexus, and the heart.
Next, mental functions. creativity. intelligence. understanding. discernment. decision-making. Connected with the throat (vishuddhi) and ajna chakras.
Last, spiritual functions. Connection with god. Intuition. Discernment between right and wrong. Bringing the blessings of god into the entire body. The spiritual preceptor. Chakras -- backhead, forehead and primarily, the crown (lalata, and sahsrara).
Going back to the societal varnas, is there a distinct correlation with the bodily functions? the higher triad = brahman, the ajna and throat to kshatriyas, the heart and solar plexus to the vaishyas and the lower triad to the shudras... There are more chakras involved, but let us not complicate things further.
The problem is, these chakras are not independent. They are supposed to be a team. And just like the varnas, the chakras have physical roles in the body, all of them, knowledge that such schools as Pranic Healing and Theosophy have brought into the public domain.
Once we start examining the roles of the chakras, we begin to understand the dangers of knowledge and power, as far as the object of the energy goes. For instance, knowledge of the vedas was shielded from the lower classes. They were not even allowed to chant a simple mantra: it was deemed dangerous for them. Going up the class system, little by little, information would be released to the people, at the appropriate time. In the brahmins, spiritual knowledge was included in the curriculum and the youth were integrated into the system at a very early age.
Looking at this practise from the energy or chakra point of view, it appears that spiritual power is dangerous for the lower chakras. Is that true? How does it work?
It is probably something like this. The energy in a chakra vibrates at a certain frequency. The mooladhara, for instance, vibrates at a frequency that is different -- and lower -- than a higher chakra, say the crown. Something like the different channels on radio.
If a radio-receiver is tuned to a certain frequency, it simply does not 'catch' anything at a higher (or lower) frequency. No problem, life goes on. But then, by external intervention, if a person tries to adjust this receiver, tries to tune it to receive signals of a higher frequency without suitably upgrading the hardware, what happens? Pfffttt. Something blows up. In one word, disaster, right?
Well, that is what happens if one tries to 'inject' spiritual energy into a chakra that is not ready, that has not been sufficiently prepared. or a person who has not been suitably prepared, to chant mantras or to meditate. Boom!
The catch is, the varna system has been linked to birth. You are born a brahmin or shudra, etc. In actual practice, it does not quite work like that. Your actions determine your position on the spiritual ladder. It is connected with the amount of light you have. And that comes from past WORK, spiritual, physical, financial, what have you. Boom. Reincarnation.
But all this work is connected not to the self but to humanity, to creation as a whole. Sacrifice plays a large part in it. Ahem ahem.
If you have not been sufficiently prepared and purified, so says Rishi Patanjali in his Yoga Sutras, the individual who puts his foot on the ladder of spirituality will find that the mire around his feet solidifies, and he gets stuck there. And like Lot's wife in the Bible who turned into a pillar of salt for looking back (signifying emotional/material attachments that pulled her back), or four of the Pandava brothers (and their wife, Draupadi) who dropped dead on their final march to redemption --- for looking back --- the spiritual aspirant cannot proceed any further.
So, in spiritual practice, especially if you are serious about progress, it is important to purify yourself of past baggage. It is this past baggage, the attachment, the "emotional ties" (good and bad, love and hate, joy and grief -- all of them) that prevent our moving on. It's like the ship that's our body has dropped anchor in the ocean of emotions.
There are many techniques for moving on from the past. The most effective one is forgiveness. Identify one person who has caused emotional distress, and forgive him or her from the bottom of your heart, with god as witness. Release them from your bondage (yeah, they're tied down too, unless you let them go) and pray that people you have hurt are able to forgive you and let you move on. Let's put this in words, shall we?
"To XYZ person (or persons), I forgive you for all the hurt and pain you have caused me. I also seek forgiveness for the hurt and pain I have caused others. Blessings of God be with them and with me."
This is your COMPULSORY daily ritual, for the rest of your life. If you want to progress spiritually, that is. Otherwise there is no issue, where you are is fine, you can stay there.
If you do a lot of meditation, or other spiritual practices, without sufficient (and regular) cleansing, what will happen? Why, simply, like Lot's life we mentioned earlier, the negative energies in your system start to crystallise. Before long, you would start to experience physical ailments such as arthritis or stones. The solution is not stopping the practices. Anyone who has practised heavy physical exercises for years and then given up all if it would know what happens: you just grow heavier and heavier, and more and more sluggish. That works on the energy field, too.
The solution is to be slow, systematic and simple. Do purifications every day. Diet, breathing exercises, physical exercises and forgiveness. Do meditation in moderation. Do not try to bluster it out by increasing the dosage to breaking point, because you are not going to fool anybody upstairs. They know how much you can handle, and if you push beyond that, things will happen to make you stop.
So the trick is to imitate the tortoise, not the hare. Plod away, and before you know, you've won the race. Congratulations.
Picture of slums in Brazil, courtesy Wikimedia.org
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