MEDITATION ON THE SELF

Exercise 1. Sit on the heels with palms down on the thighs (la-lb). Flex the spine forward and back rhyLh­ mically. Begin the Breath of Fire. The spine will move slower than the breath, keeping an even pace. Con­ centrate at the brow point. Conti­ nue for 3 minutes, then inhale, hold, and relax the breath.
Exercise 2. Immediately bring the hands over the head, the arms hugging the ears and the palms flatla together (2a-2b). Begin SAT KRIYA, rhythmically pulling the navel in as you say SAT, relaxing it as you say NAM. Continue for 3 minutes, then inhale, hold the breath and apply mulabandha. Exhale, hold the breath out and again apply mula­ bandha. Relax.
Exercise 3. Sit in Easy Pose. Place the palms on the knees and alternately lift the shoulders in a smooth moderately-paced rhythm. Do Breath of Fire for 3 minutes (3).

EX8rcise 4. Immediately sit in Easy Pose and meditate deeply. Feel the energy flow up along the spine. Let the light shine from your head to guide you in the path of Truth. Meditate on your past. Meditate on your present. Who are you? Meditate on your future. What do you have to accomplish? You are created by the Creator to express Himself. Meditate deeply for 6 minutes.
ExerciseS. Repeat exercises I4 through 4 with no rest between exercises.
COMMENTS:
The mind is given to you to use in self-expansion. But you do not channel it or capture it. It runs wild on old thought patterns and habits. If you cannot have the mind when you need it, it is useless. The function of mind is not just to spew out random thoughts! It is to fashion etheric elements into forms of energy that manifest through the earthly elements. A projected imagination that is guided is a fundamental power and gift of mankind.
In this simple series, you raise the Kundalini energy enough to purify and calm the mind. Then you direct the mind in medi­ tation to become aware of your identity and how you have guided it. You use the mind for self-observation, not just fantasy.
Besides being excellent training for the mind, this kriya helps improve poor digestion and channelizes over-abundant sexual energy. In a few minutes the mind can come under channelization. This is one of the beauties of Kundalini Yoga. Instead of dealing with thoughts only with other thoughts, it uses exercises that auto­ matically bring the mind into a more agreeable state. This saves years of meditation time. The body is your finite identity. The mind is a bridge to your infinite identity which is even beyond the soul. But the mind alone has a difficult time since it lacks the clarity of identity given by the body. When you manipulate the body identity by exercises, then a clear message of guidance is given to the mind. It is not the mind that runs the body. It is actually you. The mind is another part of you. Using these two to communicate with and integrate your many parts is the science of kriya and a basis of Kundalini Yoga.