Sudarshan Kriya With Soham Mantra

[Sat1176]

Was talking with a good friend of mine who is quite into his meditation and takes guidance from the "Art of Living" organisation. Yes I'm have also read the various anti websites regarding this group but I was more interested in his own personal experiences of how he was progressing spiritually. I was not interested in the sales pitch of how I must go and do the course blah blah blah and how it only worked in the presence and Grace of their teacher. He shared a few things with me which I kind of already knew.

They do various pranayam breathing exercises prior to meditation. Bhastrika and Nadi Shodan which is almost like Anulom Vilom pranayam but done very slowly and gently so that there is no noise heard from the breathing. This nadi shodan he said is very important because it helps open the sukhmana channel (i.e. opening of the two airways in both nostrils at the same time) without which, meditation is not possible.

Next he said is the practice of what they called Sudarshan kriya. At first I thought this was like the one taught by Yogi Bhajan of which there are quite a few videos on youtube. This one is about synchronizing the breathing with mantra jaap with of Soham which is recited by the teacher. He said it was done at various speeds which leads to deep cleansing and meditative states.

Out of curiosity I wanted to know more about how this jaap was done, so here is a sample.

Edited April 24, 2014 by Sat1176

[Lucky]

Theres some confusion as to what sudarshan kriya is supposed to be ?

There is the 16 pumps in one breath as per Yogi Bhajan's and this one above as per ravi shankar's art of living.

Bhagat Jaidev mentions the 16 pumps/breath

ਚੰਦ ਸਤ ਭੇਦਿਆ ਨਾਦ ਸਤ ਪੂਰਿਆ ਸੂਰ ਸਤ ਖੋੜਸਾ ਦਤੁ ਕੀਆ ॥
Cẖanḏ saṯ bẖeḏi▫ā nāḏ saṯ pūri▫ā sūr saṯ kẖoṛsā ḏaṯ kī▫ā.
The breath is drawn in through the left nostril; it is held in the central channel of the Sukhmanaa, and exhaled through the right nostril, repeating the Lord's Name sixteen times

Whereas the one above is like waheguru jaap but at different speeds.

The only thing that I noted a little different is that he says to incorporate the breath with mantar vocal..ie bring in vocal 1st and then match breath 2nd.

But I think that most of us when we do waheguru jap, we incorporate the mantar into the breath so that we are not forcing breath too much but saying wahe and guru with every breath in and out.

Then we change speed to a slower breath when trying to go within and more internal with surti, rather than kicking up the pace !

Personally, I find that going at a steady natural pace seems to be more beneficial for longer sessions of jap.

The fast paced breathing above reminded me of 'breath of fire' that I do in yoga.

This rapid pumping and inhalation for about 3 minutes is good for stimulating all the nadis in the body since it comes from the core of your body.

But you can't sustain it too long or keep the dhian on the jap deep enough- It's more of a clutch-gear change activity to help with general mind and body flow.

The 3HO sudarshan kriya reminded me that I had used it previously on occasions to help me focus and settle in.

I'd forgotten about it and it's just that you don't always remember what to try when you do have difficulty keeping dhian on shabad.

I would suggest that you try it and see if it may help any of you with your dhian focus.

Some people find it helps and some people have too much difficulty with the effort of holding breath.

You won't know unless you try

In my opinion, there's no harm in using/trying techniques to stabilize one self with the shabad dhian.

[Sat1176]

Lucky,

What technique do you use to balance your air ways?

[Lucky]

Lucky,

What technique do you use to balance your air ways?

In my experience, the step from saas saas to silent pasanti jap usually balances any slight unevenness.

I never really gave it much thought until I had this encounter some time ago........ I had had a period of about 2 weeks where I just couldn't get in the swing to do even a few minutes of simran no matter when or where i tried.

It was this little setback that made me check my balance one night and that's when I realized that it was quite bad at some ratio of 75:25 or so. That very early morning, I made sure I had a hot steamy shower to help clear airways and then I even lay with head tilted for a few minutes to let gravity drain the blockage (I was desperate !)

I did the alternate nostril breathing and then tried simran.....and to my surprise I was back in to where I wanted to be.

.

Since then, I do tend to keep a little check on it especially on occasions that i may experience some difficulty.

When this happens, I immediately go for the 'Alternate nostril breathing' and this usually corrects it.

At certain times, I have used my mind to focus on the imbalanced side and push it mentally, but this only works if I have done the alternate nostril breath earlier.

I do actually realize the importance of this balance, although I have previously been quite ignorant of such techniques.

A well balanced and co-ordinated gurmukh just needs the shabad to balance everything and take them to Waheguru, but a manmukh like me needs to utilize all available ,to help compensate for the many shortcomings in my vicinity.

I appreciate it's greater significance since I've been trying rom rom. I think this balance becomes of value when the simran is more sukam and subtle.