Siddha Maha Yoga

Man has always dearly searched for two things viz. Happiness and
Knowledge. These are his timeless goals. Any gain made in these two aspects
would contribute to one’s upliftment.

Let us see what tools we ordinarily use in our attempt to achieve

“Happiness” and “Knowledge”.

To gain Happiness we employ the five senses (or the five agents of the
mind) viz. the sense of smell, taste, sight, touch and sound. We have a notion
that anything pleasant or pleasurable to these would result in happiness. There
are several shortcomings in seeking happiness through sense agents.

Firstly, all sense organs always require some or object in order to get an
experience. This inevitably spells dependence on external objects.

Secondly, the experience of such gratification is only temporary, while

what we are looking for is a lasting state. Dependence on external objects would
thus be constant, which is nothing else but slavery.

Thirdly, if an experience is pleasurable to the senses, the senses demand

more of the same experience even in terms of quantity, leading to a constant
state of dissatisfaction.

This is nothing but a wild goose chase. I challenge you to show me one
person on this earth who has lastingly satisfied these five agents of the Mind! In
effect, instead of being a Master, the Mind becomes slave to these agents.
Result? Nothing but sorrow. A whole life and many more lives in future births
could be spent in such futility.

One must at least conclude that in order to experience lasting happiness,

its source has to be free from the five senses.

To gain “Knowledge”, we again rely on these very five Agents of the Mind.
How much knowledge can these agents impart to us?

Take the case of knowledge gained through sense of hearing. If we go to

the market, we can purchase a dog whistle. If this whistle is blown, none of us
would hear it but a dog would certainly perk up its ears. Humans have a limited
frequency range for hearing (20 Hz to 15000 Hz). Imagine the knowledge that is
missed out outside this range!

Same is the case with eye-sight. Below red and above violet frequency,
humans can see nothing. Imagine a situation where only infra-red light is
available. Can we say that just because we cannot see each other in that
frequency, we all cease to exist?

Another serious problem in gaining knowledge through these senses is

that we are able to study through effects only. We have never seen light. We
have only seen its effects as the form aspect of various objects. Have we
experienced or seen Light by itself? Similarly, we sense presence of sound only
through its effects. Do we really know what sound is?

Is not empirical science falling short of true knowledge? Are we not

missing out the “real stuff”?

In sharp contrast, in their quest for Knowledge Yogis of India have always
asked themselves a simple question “What is that by knowing which I will know
all?” The science of Yoga deals in searching for the answer to this question. A
search that would end in true enlightenment or experiential knowledge.

It is a search that makes us retrace the journey of an effect which dwells

at the gross end to its cause which dwells at the subtle end of the cause and
effect spectrum. It begins with the realization that since mind and its capability
defined by the limiting nature of the five senses can deal with only the gross
effects and that too in a very narrow spectrum, we i.e. our consciousness needs
to transcend the mind.

How can one attempt this? The science of Yoga has addressed this
question. It has produced some great souls who attained the twin states of
Absolute Knowledge and eternal Bliss.

We too wish to attain such a state. But where does one begin? The
various kinds of Yoga viz. Karma Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Jnyana Yoga
etc., all lead the practitioner to a point where the sense of “I-ness” has to be
transcended since it is this sense of “I-ness” that limits us to living at the effect
level, rather than at the cause level, thus depriving us of True Knowledge and
True Happiness.

Amidst all the various Yogas, one would naturally be puzzled as to which
Yoga or synthesis of different Yogas is the right one for him. This question is
appropriate as everyone is at a different stage in his evolution. Genetically
different, if one may say so.

Siddha MahaYoga gives a “customized” solution to every individual for this

situation. Not just customized, but “auto-customised”. The crowning aspect of
Siddha Maha Yoga is that the final stumbling block, the ego or the sense of “I-
ness” is taken care of at the very outset.
 In order that the Mind be the master of our thoughts and actions, we first
need to free it from the clutches of the five desire-driven senses. However, this is
easier said than done. It has aptly been said that the human mind is like a
monkey who is drunk and on top of that is bitten by a scorpion!

Our will power can only temporarily control this mind before desires again
drag it away. The situation would resemble a classroom of mischievous students
who are quiet just because the school principal is taking a round.

To solve the problem effectively, we must find a superior and an intelligent

force that is available to us throughout our life, to which we could hand over the
mind along with all its disturbing contents!

This Superior and Intelligent force is our Prana Shakti or the living energy.
In our wild goose chase of satisfying the senses we have forgotten this Supreme
Intelligence that is not only present in every transient creation but is also its
cause.

Friends, take yourselves to the time when you were in your mother’s
womb. Did you ask for two eyes and two ears? No. Did you ask for one nose and
one mouth? Or two hands and two legs? No. It is that very intelligent force viz.
Prana Shakti that caused your body to take its form and shape, caused your
mind to be formed, caused the first heartbeat and your first breath. It will continue
to cause your breathing till death.

Yoga recognises breathing as the most important Prana-caused life

process. Let us see why.

The trinity of Mind, Prana and Veerya (reproductory fluid) are held
together in an inter-controlled triangle. In other words, if any one of the three is
controlled, the other two are automatically controlled. Of these three, Prana is the
easiest to control as we have one of its manifest aspects, viz. breathing as
voluntarily and willfully controllable, at least partially.

Thus in Hatha Yoga, through various controlled-breathing practices,

commonly known as Pranayam, the Prana is controlled and stilled. Over time, by
proxy, the mind too is stilled and readies for one-pointed ness.

Siddha Maha Yoga goes further back and integrates one more aspect of
the Creational Matrix into practice. It humbly recognizes that Nature i.e. Prakriti
Shakti, which functions of its own volition as Prana Shakti in giving shape, form
and also mind, to the human foetus in the mother’s womb becomes dormant just
at birth as She has finished Her work till that point. Yogis named this dormant
Shakti as “Kundalini Shakti”
 After birth, as per the Law of Cause and Effect (better known as Karma),
the ordinary person has to live out some or all of the past Karma in this life-span.

For this, the ordinary person is born with a certain constitution, driven by
subtle energy centres or “Chakras” which are “preset” for that person. The
person who realizes the laboriousness of actually living out all Karma begins on
the path of Yoga.

Had Kundalini Shakti not become dormant, She would have continued her
natural work of transforming us into Pure Consciousness in the rhythmic triad of
Matter-Energy-Consciousness. Hence the wise of Yoga practitioners simply aim
to have their dormant Kundalini Shakti awakened.

Siddha Maha Yoga is that Yoga in which, during daily Sa~dhana, all one
has to do is to allow this awakened Shakti to work on us through Her own
Cosmic Intelligence. Being the Mother of all Intelligence, She is allowed to freely
traverse through our entire being and over time, bring about all the necessary
corrections within us at cause level.

Dear friends, in physical science, first we have to understand theory and

then we move to its practice and application. Yoga, however, is a practical
science, by the practice of which, the theory will reveal itself to the practitioner.

We could begin by learning to hand over our mind, at least for a few
minutes everyday, to this Mother Prana Shakti. Hatha Yoga Pradeepika has this
Yoga Aphorism as a firm guide:

II Indriyanam Mano Natho; Mano Nathas Tu Marutah II

II Marutasya Layo Natho; Sa Layo Nadam Ashritah II

II Senses are lorded by the Mind; Mind is lorded by the Breath II

II Breath is lorded by divine rhythm; Such a rhythm rests in Divine Sound II

Aspiring Siddha Yoga Sa~dhakas could thus make a start by using the
steps outlined below:

1. Spread a small wool-mat on the floor and place a cotton cloth over
it. On this, sit comfortably cross-legged, keeping the body loose
and relaxed to the maximum.
2. Close the eyes and be a calm witness to your naturally happening
breathing process.
3. As soon as the eyes are closed, feel a current (Prana shakti) rising
from the base of the spine to the top of the brain.
4. Practise this for five minutes or more.
 In Siddha Maha Yoga, one does not have to exert the will to “do
something”. In fact, quite contrarily, one has to be just an indifferent witness to
one’s natural breathing.

If the above mentioned preparatory practice is done regularly, one will

surely experience many positive changes. It will awaken one’s wish to find the
right guide on this path. If one obtains the Grace of Guru then from there on, the
Will and Intelligence of the “Prana-Shakti”, in due course, will cause to remove all
the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual imbalances within you.