An Exercise in Energy Balance
Control of the prāṇa is also guided through nutrition. Food and air contain a great deal of prāṇa. Prāṇa is transferred from one person to another, from a person to a plant, from a plant to a person. It is the life of the world of form. We should eat types of food that contain a great deal of prāṇa so that we are making prāṇa ourselves. Consider the physical body as a temple, with plumbing and electricity. To maintain this temple, watch what you eat and be conscious of the areas where you flow awareness in the world of thought. The vibration of certain thoughts upsets the nerve system of this physical-body temple. Also, be careful of the people that you mix with, so that their awareness and vibrations do not pull your awareness into unwholesome areas and the vibrations of their aura do not affect your temple. This is extremely important to observe, especially during the first few years of unfoldment.
When we are in ideal surroundings, in the shrine room of our own home, we can balance the passive and active currents of the body—the iḍā and piṅgalā forces. First, do this simple prāṇāyāma. Breathe easily, in and out, in an even rhythm, say, four heartbeats to the inhalation and four heartbeats to the exhalation. This steady rhythm will soon begin to balance the iḍā and piṅgalā.
As the piṅgalā force becomes quieted and regulated, you will hear a ringing about an inch above the right ear. This is the sound of the nerve current of the piṅgalā nāḍī. And as the iḍā force becomes quieted and regulated, you will hear a ringing about an inch above the left ear. This is the nerve sound of the iḍā nāḍī, slightly different from the tone of the piṅgalā nāḍī. The direction of energy flow in the piṅgalā nāḍī is up, whereas the iḍā nāḍī flows downward. When the energy in the two nāḍīs is balanced, a circle is formed, creating a force field in which the sushumṇā nāḍī is regulated.
Now, to bring the sushumṇā force into power, listen to both tones simultaneously. It may take you about five minutes to hear both tones at the same time. Next, follow both tonal vibrations from the ears into the center of the cranium, where they will meet and blend into a slightly different sound, as two notes, say, a “C” and an “E,” blend into a chord. The energy of the nāḍīs is then flowing in a circle, and you will enter the golden yellow light of the sushumṇā current. Play with this light and bask in its radiance, for in it is your bloom. The unfoldment progresses from a golden yellow to a clear white light. Should you see a blue light, know that you are in the piṅgalā current. If you see a pink light, that is the color of the iḍā. Just disregard them and seek for the white light in the tone of the combined currents until finally you do not hear the tone anymore and you burst into the clear white light. Thus you enter savikalpa samādhi—samādhi with seed, or consciousness, which is the culmination of this particular practice of contemplation.
After doing this for a period of time, you will find that you lose interest in the exterior world. It will seem transparent and unreal to you. When this happens, you have to learn to bring your consciousness back through meditation, deliberately into the processes of inner knowing and thought, and back into the exterior world through concentration. It requires a deliberate concentration then to make the exterior world seem real again to you.
Now is the time for devotees who have worked diligently in concentration and meditation and in clearing up personal problems to enjoy their yoga and be happy in their attainments, to enjoy the bliss that is their heritage on Earth.