Hernia, congested nose and the Divine

Dear Readers, the title may sound bizarre. But as you read you will see the connection between the seemingly incongruent words.It should also be interesting to know that the words in the title represent the events in chronological order. So the end should be Divine! If you have guessed it, then you are right there, but would you not like to know how? The story (sorry, it is my real, personal experience) unfolds thus.

It happened five years ago.

I had shown to three doctors. I thought atleast one would say that surgery was not required. But it was not to be so. Though I tried to argue the possibilities of cure by yoga, medicine or Ayurveda etc, I was told by all the three that surgery was the only solution.

It was not that I was afraid of surgery. It was not that I was shattered. I had just resumed my regimen of physical exercises as of late as I used to be back home by seven. Generally I used to be back only after eight. I had given up doing physical exercises as I could not maintain the routine as my job involved working in shifts. Now of late things had changed. I too was enjoying my exercises. Though I was not slim , I was not too overweight. In fact I was among the fittest among my colleagues. But I wanted to reduce the little tummy.Again , the tummy was visible to me only. But I was keen on reducing it. Now this little dream got shattered as I was diagnosed with hernia and I was advised not to indulge in strenuous exercises till the surgery and after that too.

So there was no point in doing yoga as it was not the remedy. Then I told myself, “So what if I can not do exercises? So what if yoga will not yield results? I will do pranayama”. Resolved thus, I sat in meditative posture , closed my eyes and started doing pranayama. I started inhaling through one nostril, held the breath and exhaled through the other nostril. This I did through both nostrils in turns. However, as luck would have it, my nose was choked. I had a heavy cold and I was having trouble even in normal breathing. So I was not able to enjoy. But I was firm in my resolve. I thought, “Come what may, I would not give up”. Then with disgust and with anger, I inhaled rather violently upto my abdomen, held the breath with vengeance for longer time, perhaps more than double the time I would normally do. I did this vigourous exercise with both nostrils. Slowly my congested nose got clear and became amiable. I started to enjoy. I started to inhale deeper and deeper and was holding the breath longer and longer. After some time a strange thing happened. I was getting a creeping feeling on my spinal chord. Something was ascending towards my crown, the more I willed, the more it grew in intensity, finally it arrived on the crown, and then….. then…….. Lo and behold! I was engulfed with a white light, it was like a white smoke. It lasted for a few seconds. It looked as if I was in a milky ocean, ksheera sagara. I had read the experiences of a yogi, Pandit Gopi Krishna who had narrated as to how he had accidentally activated Kundalini. The descriptions fit my experience. Though his experience had been more intense and at the end he attained some supernatural power which in Sanskrit is called siddhi (or attainment), my experience was quite simpler but apparently I too had touched Kundalini.

Buoyed by this spiritual achievement, I started getting up early in the morning and would do pranayama and eventually lapse into the blissful state I had described.After the first two-three days, I got into the meditative phase just after closing my eyes. I did not have to do even pranayama.

I used to do meditation daily for about three years. I was not thoughtless. During the initial moments in meditation, I used to get thoughts concerning this temporal world, I used to get all those thoughts –office worries, frustrations, anger, jealousy etc. But soon I used to naturally drift into the soulful. I used to get immersed mentally in wonderful surroundings mostly in temples or in Kailash or in the sky, sometimes I would feel as if Lord Vishnu had entered me and grew to an imposing Vishwaroopa. During the course, for two-three seconds, I would experience the white light flooding my crown, the experience that I got on the first day. That was the pinnacle, the acme of my bliss what is called as Ananda in Sanskrit. However,I have to admit that I used to hear feeble sounds of things going around in the material world. It was a Savikalpa Samadhi. If one is totally not aware of all that is going around him, then he is said to be in a state of Nirvikapla Samadhi which is attained by great sages and seers like Swami Vivekanda, Ramana Maharshi etc. Now I have stopped meditation only because I feel that the experience in meditation is only transient. But to really realize GOD, one should have GOD in mind all the time.So now I am trying to take the course of Bhakthi Yoga.

Looking back, I do not have any regret that I had to get operated for hernia. Thanks to my congested nose also. Had not the hernia conspired with my congested nose, I would not have had the divine experience.

-suby

 

Dear rgs,

Thanks Sir, thanks for the first feed back. It was a great feeling which I thought I should share with all. I will cover some of my other experiences too in IL so that the experience are shared.

rgds
suby

 

Dear naras,

Yes, I agree, we should persist. One more thing , I wanted to convey people that by just closing your eyes, you can not experience divine. If you close your eyes you will get lot of thoughts , some may be disturbing you. So better to fill with good thoughts, then naturally with practice , I must say after practice for years, one can get into thoughtless state which is the state of a gnani. Also breathing makes difference.

So pranayama followed by meditation can be tried by all.

-suby