Tag: spiritual yoga practice

Idol seems like a personification of pure awareness that’s conscious. It’s worshipped because it’s far superior to our limited consciousness. In amusement parks like rock gardens, various objects are also personified, but not worshipped — and that’s why, although we may feel bliss or amusement there, we don’t develop reverence or honor toward them. They don’t invoke that deep transformative respect in the intellect which leads toward spiritual evolution.
In this sense, everything is living if we keep all-pervading pure awareness in mind. It’s amazing that this pure awareness is fully satisfied with itself — forever. But attaining that inner state of pure self-satisfied awareness is not easy; it’s impossible without Kevala Kumbhaka — the spontaneous stilling of breath. Am I right?
People claiming to have attained Nirvikalpa Samadhi without Kevala Kumbhaka or stillness of breath are utterly lying — because even science doesn’t allow this. No breath-stopping means no mind-stopping, and if the mind hasn’t stopped, then pure awareness hasn’t truly dawned. Therefore, if someone like Ramana Maharshi attained Nirvikalpa without breath cessation, then it was either for a transient period or partial — but fully entering Nirvikalpa without breath stasis is impossible. Am I right?
It is a psychological fact — what we revere, honor, and love by heart, we become like that. So worshipping idols helps one become pure existence — like that which the idol represents. This is the same as the Law of Attraction. You attract what you focus on, align with, and love. In deep worship or contemplation, that which you love transforms you. Children loving their toys should be yogis in this sense — probably they get the bliss of pure existence by such innocent absorption.
It is largely true that Kevala Kumbhaka is not just a procedure — it’s a sign of nondual absorption. However, there may still be some technical methods to reach it directly to some level. In my experience, when a pranic tension builds up in the body — mainly in the head — after deep yoga exercises, simply sitting silently at the end of it leads to Kevala Kumbhaka. Those who rush into worldly activities immediately after yoga, without still sitting, unknowingly dissipate the very energy they’ve just awakened. Instead of allowing it to crystallize into Kevala Kumbhaka and blossom into pure self-awareness, they divert it outward — spending it on action, thought, and distraction. True yoga bears fruit only when movement ends and silence is honored. In that still sitting, the awakened energy turns inward and reveals itself as pure existence. But for this, one needs to rise at 4 am, because at least three hours are needed for all of this — including the final silent sitting.
Still, a persistent issue disturbs this: cough in the throat. It interferes with Kevala Kumbhaka intermittently. Especially when there’s Ayurvedic kapha or mucus — not necessarily thick, but it feels choking during Kevala Kumbhaka. There’s a repeated reflex to swallow it, even though it’s hardly sticky — and this reflex disturbs the inner stillness.
I eat three hours before bed in the evening. Can I eat rice then? Once, during weekly Bhagavatam Satsang in a cold hilly area, I used to eat two times — light vrata meals during the day and an early evening meal. The food was just normal — rice, sweets, pulses, vegetables — made commonly, but I took it lightly, with fewer spices. And I never felt kapha or mucus in day sadhana. In fact, I found sadhana during those days to be quite effective.
What can I conclude from that? That even in a cold, kapha-prone environment, when the food is simple, taken early, and in the right mindset — especially with vrata bhava (vow-consciousness) — there is no mucus buildup. There’s no interference with Kevala Kumbhaka, and inner absorption happens more effortlessly. That experience confirmed for me that timing, lightness, and mental purity are far more important than whether the food was traditionally ‘mucus-forming’. Even simple rice and sweet dishes didn’t harm sadhana when taken in moderation, in devotion, and with awareness.