Shadow Yoga - Chaya Yoga

Preface ld like to begin by paying my respects to all the people I WO h Uh ve been instrumental in t he cult ivation of t he w 0 , h Th ·· II . . t lIigence that flOW5 throug me. IS mle 1gence guides

~eeal0ng the yogic path like a flaming torch, dis pelling the

darkness of igno ra nce. Beyond all ot hers, I bow t o l ord Shiva.

the great God of YogiS and Wanderers o n t he pa t h. I was introduced to the practi ce of yog a at the you ng age

of six by my father. Through his e xam ple I lea rnt all the basic asanas, kriyas and bandhas. His guida nce was patient a nd persistent yet unimposed.later, I stud ied fo r two decades under the firm ha nd and watchful eye of yoga master B.K.5. Iyengar of Pune, lndia.

During this time, I also had t he good fo rt une to T«eive some of the earty wri tings of Sri I Kr ishnarnacharya of Madras (p resent day ( hennai). Among t hese. o ne 5ho rt work has influenced me profoundly: Salutat ions to t he Teacher and the Ete rnal One. It has been th is book mo re than any other t hat has helped me to d ecipher and understa nd the ancie nt ha tha yogic te xts in their fullness And it is this g rowing understa nding t ha t ha s de te r mmed my course over time.

This little book you are now hold ing. Shad ow Yoga. is t he culminatio n of what I have stud ied read a nd practiced t hus far. Its fo urteen chapters have been"wove n toge ther fro m threads drawn from the classical ha tha yoga te xts tha t t he knowledge may become more accessible to t he S i~cere seeker. There is nothing in this book that I ha ve no t test ed and put to use over many years of training. day a nd night .

~hUrilng that t ime I have explored bot h t he well known a nd e esser-known styl , f

ad vantages as well aseth0 . present day yoga . their d" studied other d' I I" elf lsadvantages. , have a lso KathakaH and b~c p tnes: mart ial arts a nd t he ancie nt aratanatya dance forms of southern India. What has be come apparent to . h basis in the prepa t me IS t at there is a common fa ory forms of all of these diSCiplines. Preparatory forms are ess . 1 Unfolding Of the en .ent~a for the learning of and the ..... _·-h ergetlc pTinciples f h . :-"""!I they have bee 0 t e yoga practice. I n (and are still) utilised in the Oller the ages. they ate no

longer found or known about in the popular styles of modem-day yoga. This lack of basic preparatory activity leaves the beginner wide open to confusion, injury and empty promises. Th roug hout the ages, the cultivation of power has always been achieved through very simple and uncomplicated m ovements. The prelude forms of the Shadow School of yoga are not a new invention but a resurrection of what is an age-old method of preparing the body, mind and spirit. The th eoretical information cont ained within th is book is therefore offered t o nou rish the seeds of the divine energy that is hidden deep within the human form; th at it m ay unfold. Shandor Remete Adel aide, 2006

contents hrt 0 KnowlNge 0

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Sh.dowYOga

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Mita ha 'il the Controll~ Intake of Pu re Foods

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The Pl anets and Signs of t he Zodiac and their Influence on the Human Syst ... m

• and theilloca tions

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The Energet IC ("cults of t he MicrocosmiC Systems

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Ma,molS the Vital Junctions (Points)

The Chahils The Ten Vayus (Wmds 01 Motivato's of the Pran,c force)

The Thl.t~n Nadls (Subtle Ene'gy F'~)

9 The Tongue 00

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Asanas the Tools Naull Kllya

P' anayama Mud'il s

L.Jya (Absol ption)

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Prelude5 (Diagrams)

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Asil'las (Phot os)

How to Use th is Book

Glossiu y Blbllog,aphy

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J. Before openin g a discus si on on Shadow Yog a It is import ant

to g ra sp the mean ing hidde n behind the term yoga itself. Yoga Is a spirit ual system tha t deals practica lly wit h the process of enlightenme nt. The fina l goal is t o diffe re nt iate the soul f ro m everything that is nol the soul. The method

of yoga leaches t he individ ual to d iscriminate. o r to see the differences between t hese two th ings. L

This process involves the skillful reduction of fi xed patterns w ithin th e ind ividual that obstruct o r dist ort perception of

reality and so create confusion. If we a TE' constantly mindful of t his end goal. to distinguish the soul from everyth ing that is not t he soul, we will al ways be ab le to choose the correct means for ma king t he ne xt step towards a successful complet ion of the yogic journey.

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In the t hird verse of the Hatha Yoga Pradipika. Svatm a rama Yogendra states, "For those who are deluded by the mu lti plicity of views and are ignorant of Ra ja Yoga, 511at ma ra ma compassionately puts fo rth the lesson of Hatha Pradipika." Reflection on the hidden meaning of t his verse relleals that what is being offered here is a form of skillfu l means. This conSists of the necessary equipment. instructions fo r it s use and a d~cript lon of what is to be atta ined from that use. Hatha yoga is the eqUipment; avadhuta y oga (a sceticism) is the skillful use of the equipment. while raja yoga Is the fru it obt ained from th at use. These three t oget he r constitute maha yoga. Unless these t hree are lIiewed as parts of one whole they lose their mea ning . . Asana. knya. pranayama, mudra.yantra. mantra and laya a re all types of equipment. The right tool applied at the appropriat e ti me in a skillful manne r is Hatha-avadhuta y oga. which is th e m anifesta tion of the yama s (restraints) and niya mas (observances). Skillful activity is unobstructed. non -harmful behaviour. wh ic h b ri ngs about t he me rging oflhe t wo opposing energ ies of th e sun (ha) and moon (tha). This is raja yoga or siddha (attained) yoga. The moon IS t he shadow body of the sun. yet it reflect s t he life ~upport ing light of this st a r. 5hadow Yoga (Chay a Yoga) IS a synonym of hat ha yoga th at em phaSises this t ruth.

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H~tha-avadh~ta yoga is t he ~eginnlng of th e path. while raja yoga. or slddha yoga is the goal. When this is ach ieved,

t he indiVIdual no longer pract ices but lilies accordin g to the one umversal Tru th t hat binds all. The noose or reins (pasha) represent s t he body of laws that governs the va rious ~Iement~ ~f matter and living beings in creat io n. Pashupati IS th~ shining herdsman wh o, throug h pati (m astery). has risen above pashu (animalist ic existence).

C The Sha dow School is built Upon t h investigating the shadow and its

'. ese pnnClples. By

" yog a IS the reversal of the mSOurce .. Smce an" f twe. COme to r19"1. must sta rt w ith the shadows By (O~- es :llon of life. one them, we can d issolve them. When th~nfi9~t~~~~rSland moon comes Int o con tact with obj ect s h d

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Acco rding to one of the fo refat he rs t~ Ows aTe crea ted. Pra bhudeva , "the a ppea rance of th is bo!Y ~:i~i' AlI~ma

layers of frozen shadows."

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These shadows aTe seven in numbe r· the shad f. ' . IJWOjO)', the hd s a ow 0 fh t e m tellect. the shadow of t he mund". . d th . . r h ... m in e power p rmclp e, t e gross structure. the lustre of the . skin and the sha dow on the ground. Each shadow is a blockage of light. By considering the list of shadows

given here one can see how different people are stuck on different planes. Some are Joy-hunters; some are power mongers, while others are intellectuals and so on. There is nothing wrong with any of these kinds of behaviour. but by themselves they lead nowhe re. However. if th ~e shadows are correctly investigated with an open mind, then they can fuel the journey to enlightenment.

9 The Siva Svarodaya. an ancient tant rika text on the life breath (svara). contains a short chapter entitled Yoga Of the Shadow Man. It describes how to observe one's own shadow and recognise the many symptoms hidden within It. Verse 382 states: ~I f the shadow does not have any head the man will die within a period of one month. if it does not have any thigh he wi1f die within eight days. etc."

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In Cha raka Samhitha, section Indriya sthana. chapter seven. the follOWing interpretation of the shadow and lustre is given; ~If there is any deformity observed in ~y pa rt~ in t he shadow of the person in moonlight, sunl!ght, the hght • of a lamp. water or mirror he should be conSidered a ghOSt. These references reveal how the shadows can be used as diag nostic tools to ascertain where we are at any given moment. It should be borne in mi nd however. that the shadows hidden in the deeper recesses require correspondingly much closer observation .

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The process of enlight~nment is a dynamiC evolving ac~ivity, and not a fixed state of attachment, as many conceive It t~ be The practice of yoga requires an open, flUId a nd.senslt mind which should not be confused with an e.motl0nal mind' Although many present day styles descn ~e . b th fluid and flowing, the fOCU Sing on any themselves as 0 lack of openness and weT.based one quality or attribute conceals a very fluidity. whethe~ it be fl owing S1:~~Od~~~~~::tes that the or alignment.orlented, the very

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, _.. wi'h one asped of the practice, This . "of t echniques or movements or POUlts leads to excess Jlle u~results in an unnecessary waste 0 f tIme . of adjustmen"h" mple x and attractIVe . appearance 0f sue h and energy. Th' co styles conceals a lack of rootS. mind lSlnau a. ~

Hath a yoga is a system of selfcultivation by which the individual free s him selffrom t he burden of the world and its bondage. Ai This cannot be achieved t hrough superficial work. One must begin at the root and grow slowly, grow with patie nce and grow through persistencf'. Boredom is overcome by paying

keen attention to the actiVity.

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The early te xts on hathayoga all agree on the nine most important asanas, namely bhekasana, bhujangasana.

mandukasana. kurmasana, mayurasana, bhadrc;gana. 5iddh(lsana, baddha padmasana a nd kukkutasana These

nine asanas aTe the seeds for all the innumerable possibilities that are availa ble to any individual who possesses the ne