– Rajen Vakil We’ll continue the topic of the chakras next week. Today, let us focus on some fundamentals. We live in a perpetual state of non-acceptance, without ever realizing it. However, to progress on the path, there are some basic acceptances that we must absorb into our being. Let us study them. The first […]
– Rajen Vakil Once we come to the Anahata, we are at the central point in our chakra system. The heart is the centre of things. There is an expression – ‘get to the heart of the matter’. This is where matter and spirit meet, the lower meets the higher, without meets within. Once centered […]
– Rajen Vakil Let us continue exploring the significance of the Manipura chakra. The Manipura chakra is described as a shining ten-petaled lotus. The petals are dark blue or black, like the color of dark rain clouds. Within the petals is a bright yellow circle in which lies an inverted triangle, signifying the fire element […]
– Rajen Vakil Last week, we delved into the opening of the higher aspects of the Svadhisthana Chakra through the sex act. We will return to this topic sometime in the future. This week, we will examine the Manipura chakra. My guru, Mr. Tavaria, has spoken of two chakras in the solar plexus area – […]
– Rajen Vakil In the second article in the Svadhisthana Chakra series, we noted that the Svadhisthana chakra controls the sex act. Over the past few weeks, I’ve briefly touched upon some aspects of this. Let us now explore it in detail. We must first understand that most people are sexually suppressed. That is, they […]
– Rajen Vakil Let us delve deeper into the symbolic representation of the Svadhisthana Chakra. Last week, we touched upon the significance of two of the objects that the four-armed Vishnu holds in his hands — the shankha or conch shell and the Sudarshan chakra or discus. Let us now take up the objects in […]
– Rajen Vakil Let us continue exploring the deeper meaning behind the symbolic representation of the Svadhisthana Chakra. The author of the Sat-Chakra Nirupana, Purnananda Swami, says that, besides the muladhara, there is another lotus situated inside the Sushumna, at the root of the genitals. This lotus and its petals are vermilion in color. In […]
– Rajen Vakil Let us delve into the world of dreams this week before we go back to speaking about the chakras. Dreams have a significant place in the life of an aspirant. It takes years of dedicated and intense practice in our waking lives to gain the ability to work with our dreams. As […]
– Rajen Vakil Let us deviate from the current series on the chakras to focus on the vagus nerve this week. From the brainstem emerge cranial nerves that pass through the face, mouth and the rest of the body. The vagus nerve is the tenth cranial nerve. Cranial nerves exist in pairs, so there is […]
– Rajen Vakil In the last article, we touched upon the Chandrabhedan Pranayam as an exercise to balance the influence of the Svadhisthana chakra. It also alkalizes the body and keeps it healthy. The ideal time to do the Chandrabhedan Pranayam is right after we wake up. The Svadhisthana chakra rules the reproductive glands and […]
– Rajen Vakil As we have seen, the first chakra Muladhara depicts that we are rooted in life. But life is universal, it has no individuality. In the second chakra, Svadhisthana, the individual self-expresses itself. Sva means the self and sthanam means abode or place. The Svadhisthana is the abode of the self. It is […]
– Rajen Vakil In the last article, we touched briefly upon Kundalini Shakti. Some cosmological background is required here for a deeper understanding. The story goes that Lord Shiva wanted to create the universe, but he didn’t do it himself. Instead, he created Shakti and gave her the task of creating the worlds. Shakti involved […]
– Rajen Vakil Let us continue studying the Muladhara Chakra. We have seen that every element or tattva manifests the form, color and action of its particular vibration. The yellow square within the chakra represents its vibration of the earth element. Yellow is also the color of the adrenal glands. So there is a significant […]
– Rajen Vakil The visual representation of the Muladhara chakra is a lotus with four red petals. As we have already seen, red is the color of passion. The basic adhara or root of life is to maintain continuity. The Muladhara is the adhara chakra and that is why the basic color is red. Red […]
– Rajen Vakil Color: The primary color of Muladhara is red. This is the color connected with our primal needs, such as sleep, eating, drinking, survival and later, sex. Red is the color of raw energy. When we stimulate this area through the Ashwini mudra, we activate our vital energy, which is very helpful when […]
– Rajen Vakil Muladhara, the first chakra, is called the root and basis of existence. Mula means root and adhara, the basis. I must say that I’ve taken some latitude in interpreting the meaning of the word Mula as root. Sage Patanjali says in Sutra 2-13 of the Yogasutra: “So long as the roots (or […]
– Rajen Vakil Last week, we examined how the chakras are minor brains that have multiple connections running through our body-brain system. We saw that in the physical body they are connected to the endocrine glands and certain nerve plexuses, which reveal their location. We also saw that each chakra has an inner sphere — […]
– Rajen Vakil Let us study the chakras. Many writers have talked of more than seven chakras, including my teacher, Mr. Tavaria. However, for our present study and understanding, we will assume there are seven chakras. For information on the chakras, we will refer to three very powerful texts on Hatha Yoga: Gherunda Samhita, the […]
– Rajen Vakil Some years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the London Museum and see the statue of the ancient god Mithra slaying the bull. Let us study the significance of this artifact. Before the advent of Christianity, Mithraism was quite a popular religion. But it couldn’t stand against the tidal wave of […]
– Rajen Vakil Let us study the image of Bala Krishna or the baby Krishna sucking his toe. This symbol of the newly born cosmic child evokes intense emotions and never ceases to amaze me, filled as it is with deep esoteric meaning. In the Shrimad Bhagvad, the scene of the baby Krishna sucking his […]
For students of spirituality, any moment not spent working to rise in consciousness is a moment lost. We fall back into the sleep of identification drifting into the sleep of life. We are often so immersed in the hypnotism of life that we forget our spiritual journey. Mr. Tavaria calls this state drifting. Gurdjieff called […]
– Rajen Vakil Each process of life, every act, whether it is physical or mental, requires energy. Therefore, as students of spirituality, we must understand the right use of energy. We have four lower centers, each working with energy. Each center gives us the capacity to enjoy life in different ways. The intellectual center allows […]
– Rajen Vakil Today, I would like to share something that may seem absolutely farfetched. But instead of stating it directly, I will flashback to a conversation I had with Mr. Tavaria many years ago. Mr. Tavaria was very keen to take me to Gaumukha, the point in the Himalayas where the river Ganga begins […]
– Rajen Vakil What do we mean when we use the word ‘mind’? We live under the illusion that we have only one mind, which consists of our thoughts (intellect). However, the mind is used for all the functions below: The capacity to think (thoughts) The capacity to feel (feelings) The capacity to move The […]
– Rajen Vakil Today, let us study the four states of human consciousness and their relationship to different kinds or levels of attention. This is not a simple exercise, but it is an important one, given how many things—large and small—pull at our attention right now, causing us distraction and stress. By examining our consciousness […]
– Rajen Vakil Daydreaming can be defined as a kind of mind wandering, indulging in make-believe fantasies that usually just glorify ourselves. Many studies have been conducted on daydreaming, and the results have been quite similar. According to one study, nearly 47% of people spend a considerable amount of time daydreaming. Studies have also shown […]
– Rajen Vakil I met Mr. Tavaria in 1988. For the past thirty-two years, I have been studying his writings to further my understanding of what he is telling us. Let us examine correlations between Mr. Tavaria’s writings and Gurdjieff literature. Gurdjieff’s science is rooted in the digestion of 3 kinds of food, which stems […]
– Rajen Vakil Today is the seventh day of the brighter half of the month of Vaisakha. This is the day the River Ganga descended to earth from the heavens. The story of the descent of Ganga begins from the king of the Ikshvaku dynasty called Sagar. King Sagar did penance for the birth of […]
– Rajen Vakil Buddha Purnima is the night of the full moon, when Gautama Siddhartha attained enlightenment. He became the Buddha then and began to preach his sermons, which included details of the four noble truths. This is the beautiful story of his enlightenment. Six years earlier, Gautama had left his home in the middle […]
– Rajen Vakil Lord Shiva is worshipped in two ways: as a form (in a statue), and as the formless (in a linga). Thus, the Shivalinga is the mark of the formless Shiva. Linga means the mark, the smallest mark of Shiva, beyond which is the formless. Shiva is the ‘kalyankari’ tatva, that is, he […]
– Rajen Vakil Humans possess three fundamental faculties: consciousness, attention, and will. Throughout the centuries, from philosophers to yogis to scientists, everyone has tried to define consciousness. Yet, consciousness still remains one of the most esoteric and mystical aspects of our lives. According to the dictionary, consciousness refers to something that allows us to become […]
– Rajen Vakil The theory we hear so often is that humans evolved from the apes. But we must still ask ourselves the question, Have we really evolved? Though our physical forms have evolved, if we could look into our minds, we would that see we are still not very different from a monkey, chattering […]
– Rajen Vakil Since it was Mother’s Day recently, I thought I would scribble a few notes on the subject of Mother. There is the physical mother and there is the eternal Mother. Before birth, the soul seeks both a mother and a father in order to enter the physical realm. The physical mother gives […]
– Rajen Vakil Lord Shiva is worshipped in two ways: as a form (in a statue), and as the formless (in a linga). Thus, the Shivalinga is the mark of the formless Shiva. Linga means the mark, the smallest mark of Shiva, beyond which is the formless. Shiva is the ‘kalyankari’ tatva, that is, he […]
– Rajen Vakil Buddha Purnima is the night of the full moon, when Gautama Siddhartha attained enlightenment. He became the Buddha then and began to preach his sermons, which included details of the four noble truths. This is the beautiful story of his enlightenment. Six years earlier, Gautama had left his home in the middle […]
– Rajen Vakil Today is the seventh day of the brighter half of the month of Vaisakha. This is the day the River Ganga descended to earth from the heavens. The story of the descent of Ganga begins from the king of the Ikshvaku dynasty called Sagar. King Sagar did penance for the birth of […]
– Rajen Vakil I met Mr. Tavaria in 1988. For the past thirty-two years, I have been studying his writings to further my understanding of what he is telling us. Let us examine correlations between Mr. Tavaria’s writings and Gurdjieff literature. Gurdjieff’s science is rooted in the digestion of 3 kinds of food, which stems […]
– Rajen Vakil Daydreaming can be defined as a kind of mind wandering, indulging in make-believe fantasies that usually just glorify ourselves. Many studies have been conducted on daydreaming, and the results have been quite similar. According to one study, nearly 47% of people spend a considerable amount of time daydreaming. Studies have also shown […]
– Rajen Vakil Today, let us study the four states of human consciousness and their relationship to different kinds or levels of attention. This is not a simple exercise, but it is an important one, given how many things—large and small—pull at our attention right now, causing us distraction and stress. By examining our consciousness […]
– Rajen Vakil What do we mean when we use the word ‘mind’? We live under the illusion that we have only one mind, which consists of our thoughts (intellect). However, the mind is used for all the functions below: The capacity to think (thoughts) The capacity to feel (feelings) The capacity to move The […]
– Rajen Vakil Like many people right now, I’ve been reading so many different messages and bits of information floating around about the Coronavirus. One fact that struck me was that for the virus to survive, the pH value of the blood must be between 5.5 and 8.5. Normal blood is slightly alkaline and generally […]
