Dharma Studies
Delving into the ancient yogic texts requires having a strong sense of imagination and a splash—if not more—of suspended disbelief. More than mere philosophy, these texts introduce the reader to a symbolic work in which hangs the delicate veil that separates reality from myth. In fact, many ancient yogic texts and their study depend on the very question of the existence of reality.
The word “enlightenment” is a translation of the German aufklärung, literally “up-clearing.” For scholars, these words (both German and English) are effectively synonymous with the 18th Century, the “Age of Reason.” The metaphor of clarification or aufklärung was used by intellectuals of that time to describe their own project, of clearing away superstition to make room for scientific liberal democracy.
When we do yoga, we move our bodies around, so are working with gesture, tone, and posture, to embed in the bones the understanding that we are one with the underlying principle of Universal Being – Consciousness, (Sat-Chit-Ananda), which yogic sages sometimes call the deathless Self.
Avidya—ignorance—is a deep habit of consciousness, but its one we can shift with intention, practice, and a lot of help from the universe.
Out of Śiva’s Self-awareness and His joy in that experience, manifestation is created—including us as individuals. The power that Śiva uses to do so, kuṇḍalinī śakti, is the descent of the highest pure Consciousness into form. The practice of Kuṇḍalinī Sādhana is our pathway back to that primordial experience of non-separation. In Tantric practice and tradition, the liberation of kuṇḍalinī is the pathway not only to knowing God but to recognizing that we are God. There are three phases of that realization. The progression of Kuṇḍalinī Sādhana entails the arousal, awakening, and liberating of kuṇḍalinī śakti from our limited capacity and identity in order to realize our highest Self.
Ayurveda takes the philosophical outline of Sankhya and applies it to the art of living, stretching its reaches beyond the confines of ascetic practice to the real world of relationship, career, conflict and even technology.
Rare is the yogic text or scripture that does not extoll Om as a method of Self realization. You will find there that Om is sometimes referred to with synonyms, such as “Pranava” – sound of the prana; “Udgita” – uprising song; “Shabda” – primordial word; or “Nada” – subtle sound. These readings indicate that Om itself is a universal teacher of the enlightened state.
The core View of both Trika Shaivism and Dzogchen is that the natural, unconditioned state of alive awareness is available to be directly known and more consciously embodied. This alive awareness has many names: God, Shiva Nature, flowing presence, instant presence, and so on. All of these names are pointing to the the fundament of our existence: omnipresent awareness and energy.
