I
would like to express my deepest gratitude and thanks to the Yogacharya
B.K.S.Iyenagar, to a spiritual teacher Omraam and to Ashin Ottama – teacher of
Vipassana meditation; without their unwitting help this method
could not have been created.
I devote a special gratitude to great teacher Osho Rajnish.
Author
This work describes the Practice of Attentive Eating. It is part
of the Practice of Attentive Being. An important part of the Practice of
Attentive Eating is Meditation of Eating. (all these notions are defined
below).
Our
living in the material world, in a 3D space with the Earth’s gravity and the
atmosphere that surrounds us, time running forward and solar energy whose
streams constantly accompany us, this Being is a never-ending series of events
and conditions. Some of them take occur occasionally, other more often
and yet other ones appear cyclically. Some are processes of more or less
continual nature. Some are important, other less so - the trick is to recognize
their hierarchy. Some - we do not even notice. These processes are accompanied
by an exchange of energy: we give it and obtain it. The events that we do not
fully realize or notice are the place of energy loss, a gap through which our
life’s energy escapes.
Some of them are fundamental to our
existence. Our life here devoid of them would be irretrievably lost.
These
include:
-
Gravity,
(or, to be more
precise, our involuntary use of it) which gently allows us to maintain contact
with the surface of the Earth thus protecting us against the emptiness of the
outer space. Without gravity, we would immediately leave the atmosphere and
choke to death unless a few seconds earlier we had died due to exposure to the
frost of zero degree Celvin (-273,15° C);
-
Breathing, which is using the Earths
atmosphere (most often not quite consciously), i.e. a mixture of gases whose
composition corresponds to our
physiological needs;
-
Eating, which is the most basic form of
obtaining energy for the living processes at all levels, (it will be discussed
more detail later on). The awareness of the processes and laws in this area is
even lower than two mentioned before.
We can, therefore, define three
important aspects of our life as related to:
-
Using
our gravity conditions; it is the area of our entire motor physical being, physical movement; ;
-
Breathing,
i.e. using the Earth’s atmosphere,
-
Eating,
i.e. cyclic recharging of our „life’s batteries” with the energy obtained from
the outside, i.e. from meal.
These
three most important aspects of our life that essentially decide about its
continuity are most often performed superficially with tiny involvement of our
consciousness. Whereas all three of them have a “double bottom,” meaning that
their activities reach much further
beyond the purely material layer and include higher “layers” superior to the
abovementioned (i.e. above the mere physiological/ biochemical, emotional,
mental energy, etc.) The conscious arrival at those superior layers is the
essence of the technique that I am going to describe.
Why
is it important for our consciousness to participate in our life activities and
what are the results of its dullness?
Our
life, in its most basic layer, is a constant and ceaseless work at these three
„simple” aspects - it is only from them that our further life’s challenges and
very complex internal and external activities arise. These three kinds of work
can be compared to the working of the foundations of a house that are in
operation from the moment of erecting walls until the final end of the house’s
existence. Their continual work provides the foundation of our residence in
this house. The physical gravity, breathing and eating are such foundations of
our life on Earth.
Leaving the work in these three
areas to chance and habits, i.e. limiting our conscious participation leads to
diminishing the quality and effectiveness of those works.
Definition 1.
Efficiency of the energy obtaining process is
defined by a ratio of the amount of the energy obtained in a process to the
amount of the energy that can be assimilated from that process.
The Practice of Conscious Being is such a way
of being (existence) which increases that efficiency by increasing the amount
of our awareness (a significant role is played by the stream of consciousness,
but this will be discussed later).
The value
of that efficiency quotient in our life is dramatically low - around a few
percent.
Definition 2.
The Practice of Conscious Being is the
intentional work based on meditation-oriented approach (characterized by a maximum
of consciousness):
-
corporeality
and being in gravity,
-
breath
and the entire breathing process,
-
eating
and the entire energy acquisition process required to fulfil the life’s
processes.
Note: All definitions introduced for
this study and their related techniques do not aspire to the status of
universal truths.
The notion of Conscious being of Def. 2 has
been intentionally narrowed. A more universal “Being” includes the matters of
sex, social relations and other important aspects of life.
The Practice of Conscious Eating is a technique
aimed at giving a radical boost to one’s eating efficiency. It is combined with
complete fasting, practicing asanas
and pranayamas as well
as meditation of eating in accordance
with the Omraam’s method – in
10 days sessions: fasting 4-5 first days, Meditation of Eating – last 5 days
and practice of asanas and pranayama – during all 10 days.
All these
components of the Practice of Conscious Eating will be discussed later.
The growth of the eating efficiency that can be
achieved ranges between several and a few dozen percent. The ordinary eating
efficiency quotient amounts to e few percent so the achieved growth is
shockingly huge.
This can be achieved by improving
the working of the forming centres and leading out the streams of consciousness. This is the main goal of all the inner
development techniques.
Let us imagine that in a garden on a
flower bed next to the summer house there grew a clamp of couch weeds. In order to remove it we
order a bulldozer at an exorbitant price. It comes and removes the clamp of
couch but at the same time removes half of our garden …
This is how wide,
low-quality streams of consciousness work, consuming vast amounts of energy.
They work very imprecisely causing a lot of damage. Our task is to provide it
with a precise “address”-having sufficiently and precisely narrowed the scope
(on a selective basis). The forces that are operating at the ends of those
streams, whether in the social or material world will not have to perform such
arduous and tragically imprecise work. In the case of the clamp of couch, the
work of one hand will be enough.
A
point situated high on the ladder of our structure (the place of our real Ego -
this is quite a simplification but nevertheless required for the purposes of
this study) formes streams of consciousness. Forming it is a part of our
inner work, which happens at any moment of our daily lives. Forming streams of
consciousness should be done in pairs thus attending to two types of work:
-
to
perform something concrete (e.g. in the material dimension – mechanical work –
a cramp of a muscle or a group of muscles)
-
to
relax in the area situated in the area around the part where the first work was
performed.
These two types of streams of
consciousness should be worked out together in pairs. They are to be performed
with maximum precision of separating one from another and at the same time with
maximum proximity. Their joint work is thorough and such co-operation is
required if we are to achieve the quality of this work. If the two overlap,
some of those forces located at their ends will simultaneously be given
contradictory tasks: to relax and to perform a concrete action (e.g. mechanical
work) that puts the examined fragment of life into a state of chaos. The
streams of consciousness that we are setting up should be narrow enough
depending on the needs (well-addressed) and they mustn’t overlap or stick to
one another. They should carry optimum energy and be strong enough.
Let
us take a look at ourselves and examine the quality of streams of consciousness
that we set up. The bulldozer sent to a clamp of couch is an example of
no-quality stream of consciousness (too strong a force and too wide an area of
action) and the thing that reduces the width of our “machine’s blade” is our consciousness.
Apart from the breadth of
operation we should also regulate its power. A big tree that fell
across the road can neither be appropriately handled with a razor blade nor
with an atomic bomb. The best thing to use is a sturdy axe or a chain saw.
The conscious performance of all our life’s activities and the basic ones in
particular, allows us to raise their quality. It raises the quality of life in all its
manifestations, not only in the ones that are currently improved.
For any concrete undertaking to be
successful, you need to:
-
accumulate
appropriate “energy” resources,
-
acquire
the right knowledge, about that undertaking,
-
obtain
sufficient level of focus on the subject of the process realization that undertaking.
Moreover, to make it work, you need
sufficient motivation. It does not
appear on its own and you have to work it out. It is a very important subject
related to the practice of inner development, which has been solved by using
various methods by various schools. They are usually various types of
“sociotechnics” from which the novice should be disentangled after some time.
We see a danger related to the loss of the medium’s constancy.
During the practice of Conscious Eating, a very strong motivation
appears on its own during the preparatory complete fast. Motivation to
penetrate the field of phenomena witch
appear in process of eating. It is especially important during 5 days session
of Meditation of Eating with goes after this short fast. After finishing of
Meditation of Eating and whole session of
Practice Attentive Eating this ability to “be with eating” slowly goes
away when each day tasks force us down in daily life.
The
area of focus during the Practice of Attentive Eating is the process of eating
- it is precisely the Meditation of Eating.
We all perform this activity
“externally” a few times a day; however, due to the lack of appropriate
motivation, the degree of focusing on the “object at work,” i.e. the activity
of eating, is too low for us to become successful, meaning the development of a
high efficiency of energy acquisition. Combined with the lack of quality
knowledge on the above subject, the activity renders the final result that
amounts to the eating efficiency factor at a level of a few percent. It means
that we waste over ninety percent of the energy potential that could be
assimilated a few times a day! Food is an extremely rare and therefore precious
substance. Many living beings usually made a lot effort to create it and even
devoted their lives for that. For this
reason at least, we should have great respect for what appears on our plate and
pose a question why we should waste it so thoughtlessly.
A
very intensive, ”pure” and safe motivation to inner work focused on the
Meditation of Eating is generated by a short-term 4-5 days’ complete fasting
conducted immediately before the Meditation. And that what is using for in that
technique, mainly not for purification and something else (fast cleans but it
is not main acting).
The
practice of improving the quality of the streams of consciousness is the gist
of the Meditation of Eating. Together with a conscious approach to
“corporeality in gravity” and to the process of breathing – they form the core
of the Practice of Conscious Being. All these three elements of Conscious Being
create the same “upward” movement by acting in the same manner brilliantly
complementing one another.
B.K.S.Iyengar’s
yoga provides invaluable help in this respect. It is practiced in the form of
asanas and pranayama from the beginning to the end of the Practice of Conscious
Eating, with the appropriate asanas selected to go with the appropriate phase
of fasting as well as progress in the Meditation of Eating. There are no
obstacles to continue this practice of asanas and pranayama on a regular basis
following the completion of the Practice of Conscious Eating.
However,
the intensity of internal work that facilitates the work of the centre where
streams of consciousness are formed during the Practice of Conscious Eating (or
during the Meditation of Eating to be precise) is by far many times greater
than the intensity obtained from the practice of asanas. On the other hand, it
is merely a 10 days’ “impulse,” so combining yoga with Conscious Eating
definitely makes sense.
Conscious Eating is a practice
defined in Def. 3 and it concerns a 10 day’s session. One may attempt to use it
in a normal everyday living by eating consciously. However, it is much
more difficult than regular practice of asanas based on BKS Iyengar’s method.
For the first 10 years it makes more sense to regularly practice Iyengar’s yoga
and combine it with the Practice of Conscious Eating sessions that, which may
gradually and very slowly turn into daily Conscious Eating one day.
The Meditation of Eating is an inner
work focused on absorbing subtle elements contained in food and dealing with
various levels:
-
physical
- coarse master, extensive movement, mechanical work,
-
physiological
(ethereal) - our body’s biochemistry,
-
emotional
(astral),
-
mental
- the brain, abstract thinking and the mind,
-
causal
- streams of events,
-
buddhial
- our system of values, ethics and morality,
-
atmanic
- the essence of religion …
The above division of Reality into energy levels arranged in
a hierarchy is drawn from Omraam’s and Podwodnyj’s work (see collection of
literature at the end).
Contemporary scientific paradigm
that is still applicable was shaped by the Enlightenment towards the end of 18th
century. It divided Art, Science and Religion that have been tightly
interconnected till that time and it should be praised for it. For a time, this
unity stimulated the development of the human race but later the above
mentioned elements started to disturb one another. From the time of the French
Revolution, each of those aspects of human life could develop
independently. Unfortunately, following
a period of much more than 200 years one should note very uneven development of
those three spheres - a huge “triumph” of science (technique). Their harmonious
reunion, which according to Ken Wilber and other contemporary philosophers is a
necessary element required to complete this phase of human development, will
not be an easy task.
Let us
leave the outlined problem to each one of us separately and to the humanity in
its entirety and pass on to a more down to earth subject. Let us define a tool
that we will be using further on in the
study.
Consider a ray of sunlight. It seems
to be a cohesive energy beam. In fact this energy beam has several energy
levels/flours, which we see as colours: the colour of red has the lowest power
frequency and the purple - the highest. The energy of the respective colours
has slightly different physical properties. The inability to separate colours
is called colour blindness.
Much in the same way, the world
around us is not a space of uniform energy. Our life is:
·
the
energy of movement and other type of mechanic work,
·
the energy of biochemical processes in our
body,
·
emotions,
·
thoughts - the mental activities,
·
events,
which come in steams,
·
religious experiences.
All
these energy “layers” are different from one another …. Our task is to learn to
perceive them more carefully. It is not easy and the majority of us who are at
the beginning of their way of inner development are “colour-blind.”
All
ancient philosophical schools showed the world as a hierarchically arranged
structure.
"Yoga
sutras" speak of the following hierarchy of reality levels:
·
coarse-physical
level - anamaya sheath [kosha],
·
subtle-physical
level - pranamaya sheath,
·
emotional
level - manomaya sheath,
·
mental
level - vijnanamaya sheath
According
to theosophers and Omraam (Aivanhov),
Danił Andrejev, Awiessałom, Podwodnyj and others this division can be
further divided into:
·
physical
level,
·
ethereal
level (subtle and physical),
·
astral
level (emotional level),
·
mental
level,
·
causal
level,
·
budhial
level,
·
atmanic
level.
It is the final one that we shall be
resorting to further on in the work while discussing eating within a broader
framework than just its physical aspects, i.e. concerning the nourishment of all the man’s layers.
The
Meditation of Eating Practice is based on subsequent work on the above levels,
following specific instructions that will be mentioned later. The Meditation of
Eating is performed in accordance with the methods described by Omraam (see the
Literature at the end).
The
combination of a relatively short complete lent with a specific practice of
asanas and pranayama based on Iyengar’s method and Omraam’s Meditation of
Eating is powerful, deep and beautiful. It is precisely the Attentive Eating Practice.
Description
of the course of Attentive Eating Practice:
The
course lasts 9-10 days. Half of it is devoted to complete fast, and the other
half is the special form recovery (emerging form the fast i.e. special eating)
known as the Meditation of Eating. Throughout the course asanas and pranayama
in accordance with Iyengar’s method are practised.
The
beginning the Eating Meditation, i.e. exactly the halfway point of the
Attentive Eating Practice is always organised to coincide with the new moon
phase.
The
following are the elements that constitute the course of Attentive Eating
Practice.
The traditional yoga proposes many
purification techniques. Only those available to less experienced yoga novices
will be mentioned—these can be conducted in the course of the fast.
In order to start the fast, you need to
purify the entire alimentary tract. The body excretes the majority of poisonous
substances through the large intestine; therefore one should do one’s best to
achieve complete excretion. This is achieved by means of enema. Rinsing out the large intestine—enema
is an old and tested method for effective cleansing of the large intestine. It
is performed at the beginning and then daily throughout the fast. It is aimed
at getting rid of poisons, deposits and mucus. If we did not take this step, it
would cause the repeated poisoning of the body. At the physical level poisoning
is manifested by migraines, feelings of nausea but not the psychic (astral)
phenomena—bad mood and depression.
Enema is performed daily throughout the
fasting period, between 5-7 A.M. at best, which is the biological time of
intestinal activity. Intestines are at their most active at that time and their
cleansing is the most effective then. It should not be done during menstruation
period (for women) and in case of fear of it.
Uddijána bandha (drawing in the stomach) is not a
purification technique in its broadest meaning. It is bandha—contraction or
valve that needs to be mastered for practicing pranayama. At the same
time it also has an effect on the alimentary tract. It is drawing in the
stomach that pulls up the diaphragm and raises the stomach organs. It improves
blood supply to the intestines and their perystalsis. This bandha has a clearly
activating influence on our psyche. It provides a feeling of freshness and
lightness. Uddijana bandha is conducted during the fasting period (particularly
at the beginning) when we want to empty the bowels towards the end of the
enema.
Jala néti
(clearing one’s nose) is classified as one of the six yoga techniques, in Sanskrit it is
namded šatkarma. It is about rinsing the nose with salty water at the
temperature of the human body. A watering can with a long narrow pipe or a
utensil for drinking mineral water is best suited for this activity.
Dżala néti removes mucus and
impurities from the nose. This technique allows for restoring breathing with
both nostrils and in this way contributes to raising the quality of our health.
It is practised alongside the morning hygiene. Immediately after this néti you
should quickly expel the air from the nose thus removing the remaining water
from nasal cavities.
Jiva mula dhautí (cleaning the tongue) is another šatkarma. It helps remove the
coating that appears on the tongue. The coating contains dead cells and is good
food for various bacteria and other microorganisms. It is notable that during a
period of fasting, when the body purifies itself, the coating is more profuse.
Dhautí is to be performed in the
morning during the morning hygiene. It is easily performed by means of a small
spoon with whose edge we can remove the coating from the basis of the tongue to
its end. The unpleasant feeling of vomiting quickly passes after a few
attempts.
Kapalabhatí is regarded as a pranayama technique.
With a quick and intense exhalation we remove the dust and other impurities
from nasal cavities. We practice it in a squatting position at the beginning of
pranayama.
Prana neti –
accorting to B.K.S Iyengar it is the best purification technique. It use prana
to clean nose and lungs. Can be used anytime and anywhere. Not everybody can
use it.
The
abovementioned purification methods offer good help in putting our body in
order and at the same time they have a refreshing effect on our psyche both on
the downward and upward levels.”
Following the enema, we weigh slightly
less but also our mind becomes lights by depriving us of the negative load.
Following good cleansing of the nose, our mind becomes sharper.
It is a deliberate refraining from
accepting any food. You drink only water. There are also the so-called dry
fasts during which no liquids are drunk. They are dangerous and they require
knowledge, self-knowledge and long and responsible preparatory practice.
Theoretically speaking (although
practical examples do exist!), a complete fast begins by refraining from food
(combined with a special procedure of starting the fasting period) and ends
with death by starvation. It does
not have to be this way (it is possible to transfer to another mode of meeting
one’s energy requirements—absorbing prana directly) but the above scenario of
ending the fast regards the majority of people, which should be born in mind
while familiarising with the theses from further parts of this work.
The period
between the two events (the beginning of the fast and its end due to death by
starvation) is divided into:
·
curative
fast,
·
destructive
fast
Restoration period following the fast is also very important.
Curative fast - is a state of huge metabolic changes (internal organisation of living
processes) in a way that enables safe nourishment of each cell of the human
body and enables removal of metabolism products.
Nourishment (providing proteins for
construction purposes as well as carbohydrates and fats for energy,
microelements for reconstructing the composition of electrolytes) is continued
but it goes about in a completely different way than before. The consumption of
accumulated energy resources takes place, the fat tissue and “self-eating” of
the organism’s protein structure in reverse order to the its importance to the
organism’s functioning. Hence the name - curative
fast - since it brings demolishes damaged or faulty parts of the body’s
structure and does so in a safe way.
When the process crosses a certain
critical threshold, i.e. when the organs that are important to the functioning
of the entire structure are stripped (the nervous system, liver, heart,
kidneys) which usually takes place following about 40 days of fasting, then the
curative fast turns into a destructive
fast that lasts quite short (2-3 days) and ends in death or (if we
begin reconstruction) with unfavourable changes that are difficult to reverse.
This is
not the right place for detailed descriptions of the method of conducting the
complete fast in a safe way (lasting while the fast remains curative in
nature). However, it is worth mentioning that for the safe passage of the
complete fast (as well as short fasts) one should conduct various cleaning
procedures of clearing the intestine, tongue, skin (particularly the sexual
organs, armpits) by taking showers and sunbathing as well as practicing
appropriate psychic and physical exercises (ideally, the appropriate asanas and
pranayama).
The period of reconstruction is an even more precarious period following
fasting, when eating is resumed. In order to avoid complications one should
definitely observe the appropriate method of emerging from the fast. Any
deviations from the method can be dangerous - including death.
There are a few classical methods of
emerging from the fast. Meditation of Eating is different of them. But the
basic is similar and it will be described in more detail below.
Although the complete purification
caused by internal nourishment finishes only after around 40 days of fasting,
it is possible to conduct shorter fasts.
It is worth knowing that the phase
of curative fast (when the organism
switches to internal nourishment) does not happen immediately after the
provision of food from the outside is terminated. A certain “temporal inertia“
takes place which lasts between 1 up to 10 days. Following a few introductory
fasts (short ones) this “inertia” becomes shorter but one day is achieved
following a sizeable number of short preparatory fasts.
What happens while we fast?
While fasting, in literature also referred to as curative
starving (nota bene: the name is misleading as the feeling of hunger disappears
right at the beginning and it is absent in further stages of the fast), our
organism switches to internal (endogenic)
nourishment. This means that our living needs are met out of our own
internal reserves of fat, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and other
elements. In this way, the organism gets rid of redundant resources of fat,
various salts as well as old, ill protein structures, infection foci, surplus
of liquids. A self-healing force is set in motion; the organism excretes
deposits and toxins more intensely. The body becomes cleansed and its organs
and functions regenerate.
We do not intend to deal
with this subject of various types of fasting in detail as the aim of all the
versions of fasting remains the same: cleansing and healing the organism.
Generally, one may tell that the longer the fast (without entering the
destructive phase!) and the more consistent (i.e. complete fast), the deeper
the healing power operates on our organism.
Regarding the length of the curative
fasting period, we can distinguish:
24-hours’
fast when the alimentary tract can get some rest,
short fasts (up to 3 days),
which are sufficient to purify the digestive system,
fasts up to 7 days, which
purify all bodily fluids,
fasts up to 14 days, which
purify soft tissues and tendons,
fasts over 14 days, when
purification reaches the level of bone tissues, reconstruction of injured bodily functions thus curing the
majority of illnesses.
From the point of view of the method
applied, we can distinguish:
Classic fasts - fast and
reconstruction,
Cascading fasts - combined fast with repeated periods of fast
and reconstruction,
Dispensed fasts - a repeated string of a week of fasting
followed by a week of reconstruction
Generally speaking, we can
distinguish the following methods of conducing fasting:
a
complete fast,
a complete dry fast,
a partial fast.
A complete fast means that during the period we have defined, we refrain form any type
of food and only provide the organism with water. We drink 2-3 litres daily (if
we feel like it). Directly before the beginning of the fast and later in the
course of it, we conduct purification of the alimentary tract - at the outset
we take a laxative and enema.
In the course of the
fast, we only apply enema. In this way our organism will switch to endogenic
nourishment more easily and we shall get rid of migraines and other unpleasant
states that often accompany the beginning of the fast. Some curative fasting
schools recommend the so called urine fasting. It is based on drinking water
and urine while fasting; massages with old or vaporized urine and urine enemas.
In such a therapy urine is used for its peculiar curative properties. The
composition, properties and curative operation of urine is described in detail
in Ms Partykova’s (M.D.) book entitled “Urynoterapie a nemoci” (unavailable in
Polish language version).
Urine fasts are also recommended by
the so-called Russioan school. (Małachow, Tombak)
According to some experts, the notion of
complete fast assumes finishing it following the complete cleansing of the
organism (cleansing of the tongue), which occurs following around 40 days of
fasting.
Complete dry fast means that the routine of drinking liquids is also excluded. It is a
very hard method which should be conducted under supervision of an experienced
specialist. Resigning from drinking causes fast dehydration of the organism and
fast decomposition of fat. The body’s tissues take water away from various
microorganisms that are present in the body, which quickly removes various
infections. The blood is thickened. The intercellular fluid gets into the
bloodstream, which pulls deposits from the intercellular environment and leads
to purification. At the same time, the kidneys, bowels and heart are burdened.
Partial fast - more commonly known as “diet,” relieves the organism of toxic
substances, creates possibilities for the alimentary tract as well as the
entire nervous system to get some rest. If practised for a long time, it leads
to losing weight and its regenerative activity is deeper. The fast, which is
referred to here, is the fast combined with drinking fresh fruit juice.
Are long fasts completely safe for all people?
The contemporary experts on fasts quote a series of contraindications to
applying long complete fasts: the first half of the pregnancy and lactation
period for women, advanced stage of tuberculosis, malignant tumours and
malignant blood diseases, extensive diseases of the connective tissue as well
as psychic and neurological diseases - all diseases when the patient is
immobilized or when their mind is dulled, extensive suppurating processes of
internal organs (abscesses, gangrene and some other)
Yet another approach is presented by
Ajurvada - the ancient Indian medicine. It divides the human population into
three parts dominated by three qualities: kapha, pita and vata. Without
elaborating the subject, according to Ajurveda only kapha people can safely
undergo long fasting. Short fasts are available to everyone.
Bo Yin Ra - a German spiritual
teacher who lived in the first half of 20th century had yet another opinion on
the subject that took into account what is of greatest interest to us – a
level of human development. Fasts are
good for those few who are towards the end of this road, directly before
Liberation. For those in the middle of the way, long fast is dangerous due to
the possibility of “astral attack” on a (sensitive) man internally opened as a
result of a long fast. As Bo Yin Ra used to say, while fasting the likelihood
of meeting a “lemur,” an astral predator, is high. The teacher had a lot
experience in conducting long fasts.
Asanas and pranayama
The contemporary man, particularly a
city-dweller, is like a puppet attached to a rope. It is the civilization and
is possibilities that raised him above the ground and hung him in the air.
“Suspended” living offers an illusion of freedom and liberties but, in fact, it
is their contradiction. The man may move about his legs at will, he may even
get a sense of moving about, but in the end he constantly remains at the place
designated by the rope, totally dependant on the forces that wield the other
end. The way to obtaining freedom of movement is to “get down to earth.” It
does not have to be pleasant and without problems; however, it is the basic
condition for obtaining the real freedom, a freedom to independently choose
one’s direction for further way of life. Therefore, the “hanging” man has to
tasks facing him: “getting down to earth” and (only then) choosing one’s way of
life. Honestly, there are few techniques of inner development that offer the
realisation of the first task. The civilisation has developed at a frantic pace
only in recent years while the majority of good schools (those Buddhist, Hindu
or our European ones) were established long ago. The offer concrete directions
to follow but when it comes to “getting down to earth” it gets worse. One of
the few methods is the practice of asanas and pranayama taught by B.K.S.
Iyengar. It is recommended to everyone, also as a complementary technique, at
the same time recommending contact with a really good teacher.
The
work at stake is to regularly stretch selected muscle or a group of muscles
over the limit of their normal resilience. This stretching is simply performed
inside the body; it is the major feature of yoga postures which differentiates
asana from all bodily activities. Yoga postures deliberately introduce the
muscles into a peculiar position that is different from the regular movement
while doing sports, walking, working or resting.
From
the physiological point of view, movement is achieved by the muscles fixed to
the skeleton and their propensity to contract and elongate (thanks to
resilience and relaxation). By stretching we strongly arouse our nervous
receptors, which trigger a whole series of reactions.
If stretched to its extreme, the muscle is
drenched of blood whereas if returned to its starting length, the blood
vesicles inside the muscle are quickly filled with fresh, oxygen-rich blood. In
order to stretch the muscles, one needs to relax all joints and increase the
spinal flexibility. The whole groups of asanas are designated to increase the
mobility of joints and spine.
The basics of this method of work
with the body are used in the Attentive Eating Practice. Together with fasting,
they are two major channels preparing the man for the Meditation of Eating. We
practice 5 hours a day including 0.5-1 hour of pranayama. While gradually entering
more deeply into the fast, the standing postures are limited with preference
being given to the opportunities afforded by the fast, i.e. very deep entry
into the respective aspects of work in asanas. Iyengar’s yoga is called
“furniture yoga” by its critics due to the fact that in practice many props are
used, e.g. small stools, mats straps and blankets, belts etc. During the
practice discussed even more help is used in practising asanas. The
Padangusthasana cycle with long straps performs a special role. The mothod was
developed by the author. The reverse positions are of particular importance
during the fast—Sirsasana and Sarvangasana (if possible in cycles) perform the
role of high energy pumps.
The course of pranayama is taken at
a faster pace due to its possibilities as well as needs, to be able to use it
during the reconstruction period following the Fast. The following tehchniques
are practiced: Ujayji, Kapalaphati, Viloma I and II, Chandra Bhedana, Surja
Bhedana, Nadi Sodhana.
The final phase of the Attentive
Eating Practice (following the fast) resumes the intense practice of asanas.
The Meditation of
Eating
The Meditation of Eating is
conducted following 4-5 days of preparatory complete fast; it is conducted by continuing
the practice of asanas and pranayama. Basically, a part of it is present in
special eating sessions conducted in the spontaneous quiet in accordance with
the inner work method provided by Omraam leading to assimilating prana
components of food from the layers described above.
It starts with drinking whey, then –
another day, fruit juice (at first
diluted with water), then small amounts of raw fruit, then vegetables and
finally vegetables that have been subjected to thermal processing (cooking).
The water used for drinking and diluting juice is the Pi-water (structured
water if available), whey (also if possible) and alkaline mineral water.
The place where the elements higher
than physical are assimilated is not the stomach but the oral cavity. It
is here that the human subtle stomach lies
and fast shovelling of food through the oral cavity, talking and performing
other activities while eating leads to constant undernourishment of the higher
layers (bodies) of the human being.
Similar to eating - the subtle
lungs are not in the place of our physical lungs but in the nasal cavity.
Breathing through the mouth we limit the act of breathing to the exchange of
gas and resign from assimilating prana,
the process that takes place near the estuary of ida and pingala - the main
channels of prana that are ended in the area of nasal cavities. Any
long-lasting breathing through the mouth (even in the form of its preference)
can have very serious consequences to the body’s total energy and its immunity
system. Therefore, the patency (the
condition of being passable) of the nose should be taken care of by using
jalaneti techniques and by paying attention to breathing through the nose. This
will not be discussed in detail right now.
Generally, one may say that the humans obtain their energy necessary for
their living needs from:
- direct prana resources received at birth
(there are not too many of them)
- from food that contains:
Physical level components,
Ethereal
level components,
Astral
level components,
Mental
level components,
Causal
level components,
Buddhial
level components,
Atmanic
level components.
- obtaining energy from other than food sources
that are not generally available (gifts, findings and
energy theft),
- from direct energy sources (prana) that are
freely available - the Earth and the Sun.
When the man tastes the possibility
of fulfilling his energy needs by means of other than physical energy channel
(not through the traditional eating), he may show a tendency to “take a
shortcut” that is feeding like a vampire. It is worth realising that this
problem refers to all the people, not only the participants of this fast. The
work on this tendency should be one of the more important aspects of the inner
development practice after realising the possibilities of feeding with prana,
even at such an early stage as assimilating prana from food. This should be
made known to all the novices fo all the internal development schools.
Let us now pass on to a more
detailed subject - nourishment of
the human higher bodies by means of the alimentary tract, as described by
Omraam.
He uses the above division into a
series of subtle bodies. In order to develop the fullness of the humanity, the
man should nourish all his bodies. How
to eat is far more important than
what to eat.
First of all, one should be focused
while eating, appreciate the uniqueness and rarity of this form of the matter
which we have in the mouth and by doing so, have great respect for it. One
should remain silent, refrain from talking and maintain a comfortable, easy and
relatively immobile posture while eating. The spine is straight.
The subtler than the physical food
components are assimilated by the tongue.
Its higher and lower side is equipped with points through which pranas of
various levels can permeate into our bodies. The ability to open these channels
is called “meditation” of eating.
In order to nourish the physical body in an optimal way
is to refrain from eating meat and to chew the food well - long enough for the
food to become liquid and find its own way to the oesophagus. The physical
eating components well-known to science are assimilated in the duodenum and
small intestine.
It is mainly at the physical level that universities and institutions
dealing with food are located (sometimes they are interested in a narrow
section of the ethereal level such as the scent).
For an ethereal body breathing should be addend. Hence, while eating one should
interrupt it from time to time and breathe deeply to light up the flame of
internal combustion processes (which is the process of life). This burning will
allow the ethereal body to assimilate the subtle components from food. In order
to open ethereal valves located on and under the tongue, the best way is to
find the tast of the portion of food that is currently chewed. The best
possible development of the ethereal body, the bearer fo livelihood, memory and
sensitivity, lies in the human interest.
The astral body feeds on emotions, i.e. elements that are composed from even more
subtle than ethereal particles. In order to enter such a level one should
develop a positive attitude towards the food one eats. One should develop a
liking of it. Lingering on the feeling of sympathy for the food that is being eaten,
the man prepares the astral body to assimilate the astral scheme elements from
the food. If the astral body assimilates these components, the possibility of
rousing the higher feelings will occur: love towards the world, the state of
happiness, quiet and Harmony with Nature.
Mental body
The
man who wants to enter this level tries to examine the food concerning any
aspects: where it comes from, what it contains, what are its properties, what
beings worked on it - the subtle and the physical ones: farmers, transporting
agents and traders. The human mind is involved in this rumination and
assimilates even more subtle elements than those on the astral scheme. It
permeates the sense of life and the world.
People
tend to think that it is enough to read, learn and think to develop one’s
intellect. These are the necessary but insufficient things. The mental body
should be nourished while eating and then it will become stable and capable of
withstanding burdens for a long time.
Apart
form the above bodies, the man has even more spiritual bodies: causal, budhial and atmanic. Working on
these levels while eating, the man starts to realise that there are other
needs, other joys of the higher order and the greatest opportunities will open
up before him.
It is
worth attempting another look at food form the point of view of the ladder of
inner development. This may throw a new light on the problem of diversity and
mutual exclusion of “healthy” diets.
The
apocryphal “Gospel of Peace” and other sources give the following natural
hierarchy of those diets:
·
The
lowest position is occupied by the meat-vegetable-flour-milk-fruit diet of
omnivores.
·
Superior
to it is the diet of
lactic-flour-fruit-vegetable diet without meat,
·
Still
superior are fruit-vegetable-nuts diets excluding milk and cheese,
·
Still
superior is limiting the intense thermal processing or even its total exclusion
Heating the food up to 37° Celsius is possible
·
Still
superior is only fruit—fruitarians,
·
Still
superior are only fruit juices,
·
And
still superior is only pure prana “diet”
It is worth realizing that even
though there is a relationship between the above diets and the inner
development level of the man that observes them, they do not determine the
level in any direct way. One may express a belief that under certain
circumstances, a very high level of inner development does not have to be
related to vegetarianism.
Assuming that if you follow a
„superior” diet, you are automatically raised to a superior level is very
dangerous and leads to serious health problems. At some point of our growth, we
should learn the above hierarchy of diets but most definitely it should be
underlined that transferring to a superior level does not lead through taking
up a diet to which we have probably not yet grown up. Such a diet may help us
get stable at a given level but we ourselves have to rise to such a level by
performing the particular technique of inner development (the one that is
appropriate right here and now), which is necessary.
Let us analyze the practical
application of the Attentive Eating Practice again, the techniques that allow
safe and fast achievement of the level of sensitivity enabling us to assimilate
prana contained in food.
As we already know, it consists of:
- Specifically conducted short (4-5 days’) complete fast,
- Specific practice of asanas and pranayama,
- Reconstruction following the fasting period, conducted as the
Meditation of Eating in accordance
with Omraam’s method (Aivanhov).
The technique discussed has been
applied since 1996 in group work (Polish-Czech-Belorus-Rus). The majority of
its participant achieved development (despite many differences at the
beginning) in the course of the practice, the ability to focus allows for
joining the Meditation of Eating independently.
It is worth realising that during
the „meditation of eating” you follow the way „down” on the ladder of the
nourishment hierarchy and at the top of it you obtain prana directly from the
Sun. The discussed practice does not start from highest level even though the
fast refers to the state of nourishment with prana and one step below - by
assimilating prana from diluted juices.
All the participants claimed in
unison that passing to another, “lower” level of Meditation (represented by a
“lower” diet) was related to overcoming a certain barrier, an unwillingness of
breaking the joy of remaining on a given level longer (e.g. with juices while
transferring to fruit). The practice participants together with the leader were
forced to follow the assumed schedule due to external causal conditions (i.e.
to finish at an indicated time so as to be able to return to the “normal”
life).
Therefore, the Meditation of Eating
differs from the methods of reconstruction that follow a complete fast. Thanks
to opening higher than insofar available energy levels, fast qualitative
changes occur in the entire organism, new opportunities arise, the window of
perception opens. Learning how to fly we do not have to maintain the tenacious
grip on the Driving Code.
In a way, the Attentive Eating
Practice is a method allowing for safe journey up the diet hierarchy ladder but
also on the inner development ladder in general.
Generally speaking, this is a
practice of discovering great joy and beauty from the simplest things on earth.
Leszek Mioduchowski Lublin 2005
Selected
Bibliography of books that significantly contributed towards establishing the
Attentive Eating Practice: