Spiritual Practice. Philosophical Reflection

In most Asian countries a “white person’ walking on the street is pulled to many different directions by people wishing “to cut him into pieces’ wanting from him many things. You will fall apart without axis. You need self-confidence and clear understanding WHAT are you going to do by your own and HOW to realize your projects. Otherwise, you will be overwhelmed by various requests, and you will start to do something different from what you have planned even ten minutes ago. Next, if you were naïve enough, you will find yourself in an unknown place, being surprised why you spent so much money for something that you did not want in the first place. And you will need to waste more money in order to come back to your original place and mental state of an independent person. A similar situation will happen with choosing a spiritual teacher: if you are focused in your central axis, you know directly what you need and you develop in chosen direction. Otherwise, you will be fished by anybody and you will need a long time to remove wrong opinions from your mind. As Socrates said, “If you have eaten something wrong you can save your life by vomiting and purifying your stomach. But if you have digested false knowledge – how can you remove it from your mind?” Axis is the base of your path. Building an axis on the energy structural level you will get the column of your character, and the right way on the spiritual level. After you have formed your axis you will get stability in calm and direction in movement. The axis can be kept by correct proportions of static and dynamic work.

No matter where I am living, when I wake up I start from finding my axis as a focus of attention, rather, than rebuilding the inner lost feeling of it, like in Tai-Chi where you do not separate physical movement from energy flow and mental concentration. If I am staying in a comfortable house with gardens, then I prefer a dynamic movement of circling exercises in order to get my axis back. If I spent the night in airplane or car, sitting in armchair, I restore the feeling of axis only by meditation. It is the principle of contrast: outer calm requires inner dynamic while outer movement requires inner calm. It is useless to do anything without axis – you will not succeed or it will take too much efforts and time. Timing is still working: you involve your personal time into evolving of “axial time’. I will give some simple techniques here, but remember that techniques are not really important and you can exchange them for better techniques of your own creation. If you understand the PRINCIPLE, you can compose many techniques for your own purposes, but if you just learning some particular techniques, they will not really help you except in the case that you repeat them till the degree that you will see how they work in principle. The principle of axis is permanent while techniques vary. Our age of high technology makes even spiritual practice too technical. So, it becomes both non-spiritual and non-practical.

Alignment

The notion of axis is central for most spiritual traditions on structural level. Symbolically, we see cross in Christianity, minaret in Islam. Technically we have axis everywhere: column as the base in Taoism, Tadasana (rock posture) as basic asana in Yoga, standing (concentration on the cross) in the whole night in Christian prayer. In transforming systems, systems that transform the very structure of a human being up to physical level, the vertical axis serves as a direction for rising the Kundalini in Tantra or descending of super-intellect in Integral Yoga. Axis as such is obvious in Sufi circling dance. All these are methods to improve the vertical axis. I described many techniques for building the axis in my books: “Hatha Yoga Practice: Disciple against Wall’ and “Taoist Female Practice: Period of Preparation’. Everything depends on our axis, no matter what tradition you follow, or what practice you perform. Vice versa, no matter what you do and what tradition you belong to, and it is important how good is your axis developed. Namely, axis coordinates your consciousness and connect microcosm with macrocosm. There is no working situation without axis; therefore, mastering of axis is the base, the process, and the achievement in any spiritual practice.

Any tradition includes various practices in standing position as I mentioned above. Taoism is based on “column’ for all dynamic styles (Tai Chi, Ba Gua, Syn Yi) which is precious as a meditative practice by itself. Chinese like the story about a disciple who avoided martial arts preferring to stand in a “column’ for hours, and all others laughed at him. He stood one year, ten years… The master became old and decided to choose another head for the school. The main condition for the candidates was to be good “rooted’ since the head of a monastery must be stable like a rock. So, the master checked all his disciples to know how the improvement of their central axis was. He pushed everyone, and all fell down except the disciple who was standing in a “column’ for years. As result, he became the head of the monastery. You can find many versions of the story with the same essence: the basic principle is the foundation for all practices. Mainly, it is enough as such, if you do it not just externally but following detailed inner principles. When you deal with the vertical axis, the standing position is the most important.

In the sitting position any technique of meditation requires straight spine while the position of your legs can be different. However, in classic meditative asanas, it helps to close your body at the bottom, stopping to lose the energy and cutting downward flowing, therefore, the energy is reoriented upward. These asanas construct a triangle as base of a “pyramid’, where the axis is fixed into the most stable structure. Then you can keep axis automatically. The Lotus posture is an ideal pose for meditation both in Indian and Chinese systems. Energy work needs focus attention to the spine since your axis must be active. Anyway, you can sit on your knees as well – religiously, it is used mostly in prayer and other rituals. Buddhist prostrations start from vertical axis while it is standing in Vajrayana (Tibetan Buddhism) and sitting in Theravada (original Buddhism). In both cases you build axis for doing the prostrations and again come back to the central axis. We will remind this practice while discussing the personal rhythm of the spiritual practice where you add movements like the dynamic Taoist meditation.

In the laying position, there is horizontal axis as well. However, it is Yin state, while the spiritual practice requires namely vertical axis. Women can use laying positions since they have horizontal energy structure. Men can use the laying positions in order to improve foundation. All people can choose the laying position for practice when they are tired. Hatha Yoga practice is finishing by Shavasana which is relaxation in the lying position on your back with arms and legs aside of your straight spine as the central axis. Yoga Nidra (conscious sleep) is performed in Shavasana, as a pose for deep meditation, where the whole body is mastered by focus attention, step by step, symmetrically around the axis. The Taoist dynamic meditation is performed in the same posture with some additional movement of arms and legs. Bend arms and legs simultaneously connecting palms and feet but keeping them on the surface; then turn to a side closing elbows and knees; come back to previous position; turn to other side with the same movement; come back to “8” -pose again; stretch you arms and legs; and finally you are in the starting position of Shavasana. This can be better understood in actual practice with the teacher. When you are ready to stand up, first you have to turn to a side as before. The Taoist sleeping meditation needs also straight spine and controlled limbs.

Mastering Axis

In any position, the axis is felt clearer and kept stronger if you add twisting of your whole body around the axis. Standing in the column, you can turn left-right keeping arms down (the palms will create a circle around your hips); arms in the middle horizontally (the palms will create a circle around your chest); finally above head (the palms will create a circle around your high energy channel). Sitting with crossed legs, you can make stronger twist to perform more “closing’ asanas: start from Siddhasana, coming to Ardha-Padmasana and finishing in Padmasana (lotus). It can be comfortable to put your palm on opposite knees at twisting while other palm is going behind your back to opposite hip. Laying on your back you can do a simple asana when you put one foot on opposite knee and put bent knee on the floor to opposite side while turning your head back. The most important thing is to improve straight line from top to foot. All symmetrical asanas must be done on both sides. Dynamic twisting will be a subject of the following chapter about rhythm in movement. Technically, you can deal with my description if you are yoga practitioner since I use well-known poses.

Another similar exercise for mastering of your axis is multiplied turning around the axis. This is the way of dancing Sufis and some African magicians. Moreover, we can find round movement in many temple rituals (bow down to all sides, walking around Stupa in Buddhism or around Altar in Hinduism) and technical practices (walking around in Ba-Gua, radiant steps with coming back to central point in Syn-Yi – both are the Taoist practices). Hatha-Yoga was developed in this aspect by a teacher whom I met in Nepal. He worked out surrounding space by set of Asanas composed in connection with central axis with turning to all possible directions. All these examples make the notion of rhythm very important, since it is not just a position (simple axis) but a particular movement during some time in limited space. Sure, it includes the energy factors which are reflected in emotional states. The emotional axis means equanimity. So, the techniques are useful for energy balancing which is required for spiritual stability in your chosen way. Finally, the spiritual axis is the most important thing. When you have the spiritual axis, you need not any techniques.

The Eastern practices including sitting meditation are well-known in the West nowadays. However, I saw often in different meditation centers some Western practitioners who were ready to break their knees in order to do wishful Lotus posture. So, I pay attention to this point. Lotus is an ideal foundation for central vertical axis in whole body. As all Yogis know, it is performed not bending knees but opening hips and turning of legs. The knee cannot be bent to aside even for a little without being broken or hurt, while the hip can never be broken by opening. Sitting on the floor and stretching legs with some distance in between, you can understand how much you need to turn your hips that, bending your leg naturally, you would find your foot on opposite hip. This is the working area. There are many additional Asanas in Yogic literature. After opening hips, you can also remove energy blocks from your abdomen developing your low chakras and healing emotional problems. Since Lotus stops to lose energy flowing down, when you open hips all freed energy will rise up into your vertical axis stretching your spine and full it with energy for keeping and balancing.

You can take care of your knees using standing poses like “column’. Long sitting meditation requires strong knees anyway, even if your Lotus is correct. You can improve your knees by walking meditation or other dynamic practices, but a stable standing works better for this purpose. Especially, when you are standing long time in the Taoist “column’ where your knees are bent little bit. Also, you can use Yogic Utkatasana for a stronger effect. Stand up closing your legs; bend your knees as much as possible, as if sitting on an invisible cheer. Close your forearms keeping elbows before chest and hands before face (or stretch your both arms up). This posture requires very strong legs because you must keep straight spine. Of course, this is far from being meditative Asana, but it is very useful for improvement of your body before meditation. If you are able to work out the axis doing this standing posture, it will help you also. In the same way, you can master Lotus posture using some additional Asanas where Lotus as an element is the part of complex structure. But we will not deepen Hatha-Yoga here (see my other books).

Spiritual Pillar

Technically, an axial meditation includes also spreading of your personal sphere up to Supreme Self (Atman=Brahman). You can do some preliminary practices in any centered position (standing, sitting, and lying) while standing is the best option. Here you already start to develop a “volume consciousness’ and the concept of a “volume path’ (see the last chapters). Try to keep axis not only by concentration on the axis itself, but spreading your attention and awareness to a bigger sphere. First, concentrate on the axis, then spread your attention as a circle around, absorbing space but not fixing on any particular objects, images or thoughts within this area. Feel everything equally in your presence. Next, come back to the axis, and again spread your attention to a bigger sphere. Try to move it as far as possible, where your concentration reaches including bigger volume into consciousness which is associated as your own “I”. Finally, you accept the whole universe as “I”. It must be not an idea only, but the real feeling and experience of global consciousness. There is nothing “individual’ in this Self till you come back to your central axis as an axis of the world.

Orientating to the final god-realization in prayer, we can remember a “pillar’, which is the strongest ascetic practice of Christian Fathers. Many years they were standing on a stone as if being its extension, constantly repeating the Jesus prayer and rising to God. Some of them became saints and were canonized by Christian church. Similar extremity was performed by Indian ascetics who were doing “standing sadhana’ many years. They still continue doing similar practices in modern times. For example, a mahant of the Naga-Baba ashram in Varanasi was standing above 10 years before he reached Samadhi and left his body. The case happened in the end of 20-th century. He was the patron of my yoga teacher, and I saw the photos in his home album. Even the image of that saint was still powerful spiritually. It was not only physical practice, while I do not know what type of mantra he used during standing sadhana. Anyway, we see a good example, how the lifelong practice can be done as keeping an axis for total self-realization. Building personal axis, you can reach all your personal goals. But if you surrender an individual axis to the universal axis, then you can keep concentration of holistic evolution in each movement and action.

During my long Asian research I always traveled alone. It was taking risk but getting important factor of self-investigation, namely, the strict attuning of personal rhythm without a need to “follow’ or “carry’ someone. So, any cooperation would force you to deviate from a central axis. Sooner or later, you will need to restore your central axis and attune your personal rhythm. While being disciple, you can simply follow somebody in order to learn some rhythms and feel how they influence your own style of life, slowly attuning your personal rhythm of the spiritual practice. Visiting some group seminars or following a guru is helpful for understanding of the rhythm itself (though it seems that you are studying something different like mantras or asanas). Namely the rhythm will help you in any traditional way as a guiding line to reconstruct your natural organism to the cultural structure. For example, if you choose Buddhism you have the only chance – to become recognized Lama or just stop your development at some ordinary level. In such case, you cannot realize any other structure available in Hinduism or Taoism. You will be fixed in this chosen tradition forever. You can become even Buddha, but you will never become Christ or anybody else. The final goals are different – not the ways only. There are rear cases, when people choose holistic experience, like Ramakrishna, who finally declared that all ways are leading to the same goal, has unique result. I call it Self-realization in comparison with traditional God-realization according to some religious image of particular “god’.

Obviously, second connection of these principles, namely “axis – rhythm’ creates third connection “rhythm – attention’. When we build the axis, we need simple attention as direct concentration. But when we attune our personal rhythm we need complex attention as all-embracive concentration. Such broad attention includes duration of holding complicated content. Next, coordination of the personal rhythm with external rhythms is not natural. They are separated due to description and comparison from each other for completing the whole picture. The holistic attention would be a hearing “music of spheres’ where all rhythms are harmonious, and the individual self is equal to a supreme Self. Usually, we are intended to reach the goal by starting needful changes in our structure. Sure, at the very beginning you cannot hear any “music of spheres’, not being able to coordinate a rhythm of your own actions in order to resonate with the whole universe. However, this setting itself changes the structure of your self-consciousness principally elevating your individual at the level of integrated activity (Karma-Yoga). Everything else is the question of developing attention, and we will discuss it later.

Personal Rhythm

The human life is mystic due to resonance between both personal and universal rhythms. Slowly, you can develop feeling when to start and to finish this or that practices, when to stay in mountains or at beach, when to meet some teachers or practitioners, how long to wait and how fast to do something. Synchronization is associated with real resonance without trying to change everything according to opinion of others, no matter, how “great gurus’ they are… Tuning personal rhythm becomes faster, if you avoid any “help’ at the outset without allowing anybody to stay between you and God (like Sri Aurobindo, for instance). This is an ideal solution, if you are strong enough. You are really strong, if you are taking universal position, since the tremendous power of Universe belongs to Supreme Self, and you are united with it. Then all needful meetings immediately happen by miracle and communications never cause troubles but improve balance. This is common structure for many traditional practices (such as building axis) with rhythmic movement.

Keeping axis and rhythm, while moving here-and-there, is obvious in Christianity and Integral Yoga (comparable with Vipassana walking meditation). In my youth, I stayed in Valaam monastery where I liked to walk along alley of a “lonely monk’, as locals called it on the island. Two lines of high trees were at the border of old cemetery; and the lines were so near, that only one person could walk in the middle, almost touching trees by his shoulders. The monk recited Jesus prayer many years, walking in the alley until his death, and I did the same. Interesting, a force of resonance kept me within the alley, and it became very difficult to stop practice and to go out of it. While the ends of the alley were open, some invisible force turned me back and I walked another round again and again. So strange action continued until deep night as probably the monk did previously. Coming back to village from cemetery, I could notice briefly how people were afraid of my appearance in darkness. A similar practice was done by Sri Aurobindo (the founder of Integral Yoga in XX century) who walked eight hours per day in his own room from wall to wall. It was not an “alley’, but he shoveled a path through the floor as a channel while walking constantly. Instead of rising to God (symbolized by trees), he downloaded super-intellect into his physical body (symbolized by geometry of his closed house). In both cases, the methodology included similar rhythmic movement and keeping axis. We can find some other examples in both Zen and Vipassana walking meditations.

Let us find a personal rhythm during walking meditation in Vipassana practice. Thai forest monasteries support this tradition many centuries, choosing it from four meditative postures given by Buddha (walking, standing, sitting, and lying). According to Achaan Nyanadhammo, at first visit to a monastery, the Vipassana master checked its paths for walking meditation. If paths were good worn, he accepted it as a good sign. There were amazing examples of practitioners. For instance, one monk practiced walking meditation on the top edge of monastery wall stepping carefully at high level as if balancing on a rope in the circus. Some Thai monks walked 10—15 hours per day covering about 20 km, even though they did it slowly. Achaan Singtong walked on the same path so long that he created a tunnel down to the ground. Achaan Dtun walked day and night not coming inside his hut even for sleep. He just lay down on the path and continued to walk again after awakening. Literary, he lived in the way. Since Westerners accept meditation mostly as sitting practice, these facts seem to be unusual.

As for length and speed, both parameters depend on your personal rhythm only! After he got liberation in Bodhgaya, Buddha used path as long as his 17 steps. The sacred path is a place of worshiping until now. Later some wandering monks used longer path about 30 steps, while several masters recommended for beginners to start from 15 steps. When you have too long path, your thinking becomes intensive and chaotic. Achaan Chah recommended natural walking, namely, not very fast and not very slowly. Anyway, it is easier to start from slow walking win order to notice all sensations and to develop your concentration. But some phlegmatic people need fast walking, otherwise, they “sleep’ in the way. Interesting, total concentration during walking will make it slower till full stop. Then you can proceed to standing meditation, next to sitting meditation, and finally to lying meditation. Vice versa, when you can keep attention on the chosen object in sitting position, you can try to extend concentration during walking. The task is more difficult, but it allows getting perfect concentration. Anyway, meditation is a control of thinking, which must be done independently from any position of your body in the space.

External Rhythms

When you realize your personal rhythm, you become very sensitive to any external rhythms, since you still cannot know the way of stars and destiny of people, at least till some degree. You need important ability to turn aside softly from your central axis keeping self-awareness and coming back to your central axis again without any contradictions. There is easy Taoist technique developing rhythm, namely, “pendulum’ in position sitting on your knees. You decline from your central axis forward and come back to vertical position again. Try to find your own rhythm! Some duration of such practice is very important since one-two movements will give nothing. More complicated version requires position sitting on your buttocks, stretching your legs forward, little bending your knees and joining your feet. Start rotation, slightly fixing three positions: decline forward (palms on ankles); move to left side (palms on shanks); decline backward (palms on knees); move to right side (palms on shanks); decline forward (palm on ankles). Then start circling to opposite direction. Spine is straight while declining from central axis without bending corpus. You can keep permanent concentration on axis only while your physical body is circling around it.