The Yoga rules

By Joseph Van Moorleghem

Mainstream pop culture is filled with references to Yoga, albeit indirect or involuntary ones. Aside from a hugely popular group in the eighties that had a number one hit with a song titled "every breath you take" or love songs that mention the word "breathless", these terms flirt with a cosmic truth that is little known.

The British occupation of India also produced unexpected results. Amazed by the prowess of yogis, scientists wrote reports on what they were able to see during experiments which could be contenders for MTVs' extreme culture, where young people perform the craziest experiments in front of cameras just for kicks.

How about this yogi who agreed to perform the breathlessness trick? A report states that a yogi allowed himself to be buried alive for a period of seven days. After swallowing his tongue, plugging all orifices of his body with cotton and covering his eyes, the yogi went into a state of trance and shut down all body functions.

The casket in which he lay was closed and then buried under six feet of sand. After seven days, it was unearthed and opened. A little less than ten minutes later, the yogi sat up, casually unplugged ears, nostrils and mouth, pulled his tongue out of his throat and took his first breath in seven days. Is this possible? Is it even true?

On both counts, it is. Yogis can perform feats that normal individuals would consider extremely dangerous, even fatal. That is because they have not only abandoned all forms of materialism, but also conquered the ego. When a person does this, maya is dissolved and one lives in a perpetual state of blissful harmony with creation.

This has consequences. One of them being that one acquires total mastery on the physical plane, which means that actions are always perfect, therefore freed of karma. It would be wise for everyone to remember that the bodies we inhabit are graciously provided by mother earth and do not belong to us. It is the reason why, after leaving the body, the body is returned to her.

Strictly speaking, our bodies need no nourishment, as they can be sustained on prana alone. The Saint who never ate, Therese Neumann, proved this. The same goes for breathing. When we go into a perfect trance and commune with creation, our breath becomes still, the need for continuous fresh oxygen diminishes, the breathing reflex disappears and we are "breathless".

Masters in a state of continual "samahdi" are breathless. When one is in samahdi, one realises the meaning of the phrase "the Word made flesh", the bond between Mother Earth and the individual is dissolved and death is conquered.

Joe is webmaster for mahasaya.com and yogi4u.com where he pursues his passion for spiritual work, self-growth and self-realization. He is happy to make available his experience and 30 years of intense personal research, meditations and in-depth questioning around the three subjects mentioned here above and strives to create a network of like minded adepts. You can post on his two sites, either http://mahasaya.com or the blog at http://www.yogi4u.com and he looks forward to your contributions.