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  • Wisdom for practice
  • Wisdom is applied knowledge
  • Wisdom spreads itself

Wisdom for practice

Wisdom is for practice, not for continuous speaking. If we keep on speaking about the Masters, the Rays, and the Hierarchies, we are only missing our duties for the present.

Wisdom is applied knowledge

Knowledge, when applied becomes wisdom. We gain a lot of knowledge, but it has to be applied in daily life, then it transforms itself into wisdom. Through wisdom we will experience the existence.

Wisdom spreads itself

We need not be anxious to spread the wisdom without working it with ourselves. It is a wrong understanding if one thinks that he can spread wisdom. Wisdom knows how to spread itself. It only needs channels.

The Vertebral Column

The Rod of the Creator

Column of Consciousness

The Eastern wisdom teachings describe how, at the beginning of the creation, Brahma, the Creator, witnessed himself sitting on a lotus in the midst of an unfathomable ocean. He questioned himself, “Where am I and where does this lotus sprout from?” He recognized that there is a source in him that guides him. He wanted to know where it was and he began to move down. He realized that it was endless. He moved up; even there it was endless. Through his movement a vertical line of light was formed.

The lotus is the ever unfolding principle of the content of space. The vertical column of light is described as the stalk of the lotus and is called Brahma Danda, the rod of the Creator. Another name is Brahmarandra, the axis of the visible globe of space. It corresponds to the rotational axis of the earth connecting the North and the South Poles.

Just like the Earth's axis is the centre of the Earth's rotation and has its apex in the North Pole and in the Polar Star, our vertebral column is the axis of the rotation of our lives. The head centre in us corresponds to the North Pole and the base centre at the coccyx corresponds to the South Pole.

Development of the Embryo

During the course of the formation of the body, we have descended as a point of light from the head centre into the spinal column like the Creator has descended into the stalk of the lotus. When we look at the formation of the embryo in the womb, we can understand how the present human form has developed from a spherical shape in earlier cycles of creation. The development of the embryo re-enacts all stages of human development.

The head centre is the first one to form at the time of fertilization. From there develops a small bubble, which condenses into a semi-solid, semi-liquid something. The head is formed from the upper pole, in which the oral cavity and then the cavities for the other sense organs form. Then the vertebral column emerges from a spherical shape.

First, the head with the brain system forms and then the spinal system forms. The axis of the spine begins near the throat centre; the other parts of the body gradually develop around this axis. Thus, we have grown from the head to the feet. It is a very limited understanding to regard this highly complex process as a coincidence and the spine as a mere calcium rod - everything related to building our bodies is done by the subtle intelligences.

In the head, our consciousness is spherical shaped, like a lighted bulb; it descends from the medulla oblongata like an inner column of light. We can visualize it as a globe of light on a luminous staff. The head looks like a big crown in terms of consciousness, and the spinal column looks like a mighty spear resplendent with light. The globe with the spine appears like a mace. It is a symbol that Lord Vishnu carries. This is a symbol for our meditation.

As the body manifests, all the cosmic, solar, and planetary intelligences are also active around this column, from the most subtle world at the top of the head to the base. All the centres emerge from this axis and also the corresponding planes of existence. The seven centres are whirlpools of energy that conduct the seven planes of awareness.

The Column of Consciousness

When doctors make a lumbar puncture with an injection needle, a liquid comes out of the cavity of the spinal column which they call cerebrospinal fluid. However, the ancient yoga scientists explain that it is not a fluid, but a kind of steam which serves as the medium of consciousness. If it is drawn out, it comes out as a liquid, just like water vapour in a rubber tube comes out as water droplets if an injection needle is inserted into the tube. Once the liquid is taken out in a lumbar puncture to conduct tests, it can never be replaced. The person will continue to live the rest of the life with a deficit because the steam in spinal column is the result of all our experiences from the past life.

The vertebral column is not simply a bone structure of vertebrae. As humans, we have the core of our existence in the hollow tube within the spine. The whole channel is filled with the light of consciousness, in the interior of which the Master consciousness exists. As I AM, we are this pillar of consciousness; we live in it and move up and down. From the head to the base centre, a current of energy flows through the cerebrospinal system like a waterfall of light and awareness. The current of energy flows more easily when the spine is upright, although we can also enter the inner awareness while lying down. Yoga exercises greatly help to keep the spine supple, so that there is no physical and mental solidification. An elastic back can absorb and circulate the vital forces much better.

The vertebral column is on the back of the body. The background consciousness is in our back. When we relate to it, it leads us so we can act properly. But when we lose the connection, we make mistakes. We have a vertical spine that the animal does not have. If we only live in the outer world, we move horizontally into objectivity like an animal. We can also move vertically into the inner world and establish a relationship with the divine through the higher centres.

We have come out of the column to be active in objectivity, and we have lost the connection to the inner world. The key to re-entering is respiration and sound. When we contemplate on the respiration, we gradually withdraw into the pulsation; there we can perceive a humming sound, the OM. This leads us into the inner of the heart centre, from where we can enter the spinal system through an opening. Through this entrance we get into the inner temple, the royal chamber. We see the column of light downward and upward here and meet with the subtle pulsation.

By consciously moving from the head to the lowest tip, we slowly become familiar with the subjective side. We thus develop the Antahkarana Sarira, i.e., the inner senses and the inner mind. Although we have an objective body around the column, objectivity ceases to exist for us until we wish to return to the outside. When we contemplate how the universal energy enters into us through the head and flows through the system, we can coordinate all the energies in our body. All that relates to us and to the cosmos will gradually reveal to us.

The column of light is also called the rod of initiation or the rod of power. This rod of initiation is also in us, but it is dormant. Moses symbolically holds in his hand the staff he received from the Lord. The energy of his column of consciousness transmits itself to the rod and fulfils the works of God. It is a creeping serpent when the rod is held horizontally; when it is held vertically, it becomes a winged rod with the coils of the serpent. This is the Kundalini or the serpent power which moves upward through the central column in a spiralic manner. The column of consciousness is the Brahmarandra which contains the Sushumna.

Energy Lines

The yogic anatomy knows countless immaterial energies in the body called Nadis which express through the physical plexuses of nerves. The main lines are Ida, Pingala and Sushumna. The Ida current vibrates along the left side of the spine; it causes materialisation and is called Chandra Nadi, lunar Nadi. The Pingala current vibrates along the right side; it causes spiritualisation and is called Surya Nadi, solar Nadi. The Sushumna forms the middle stream that vibrates in the centre of the spine and is also called Agni Nadi, the Nadi of Fire. It is the balancing force of consciousness. For contemplation Ida may be meditated in yellow colour, Pingala in honey-yellow colour and Sushumna in sky-blue colour.

In the innermost of the Sushumna there is the current called Chitrini, a radiant force line of consciousness, surrounded by different layers of the Sushumna. It can be visualized as a radiant force line of electric blue. It is the most sublime part of our self, the essential energy of Atman as awareness and light. The basic colour of Atman is blue; it appears in different centres as different colours like a rainbow. The purpose of all yoga practice and discipleship is to enable the manifestation of this flowing consciousness of Chitrini. It allows all the glands to secrete properly, and all centres to develop into lotuses, thus leading man to perfection.

When a person becomes a perfect being, the vertebral column is completely filled by the luminosity of his being. He discovers that the column of consciousness is no more adequate for him. It breaks because it cannot bear so much illumination. That is how he liberates himself from the denser bodies and permeates into the air. Consequently, when he is invoked, his presence can be felt. His name becomes a sound-key, and the moment the sound-key is uttered, the disciple feels the presence of the Master. This is the story of a man turning into a Master.

Sources used: K.P. Kumar: The Teacher. Notes from seminars. Dr. E. Krishnamacharya: Overseas Messages 2. The World Teacher Trust - Dhanishta, Visakhapatnam, India.