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Indroduction To Siddha Yoga

Countless people living stress-filled lives in big cities and smaller towns around the world constantly look for a panacea that can help them get rid of stress and ailments they suffer when modern medicine is of no help. Others are in earnest search of eternal truth and God. Many of these people take to yoga to reach their intended goals. Their enthusiasm however begins to wane after a short while because most of them soon discover that the daily regimen of yoga workouts isn’t easy to sustain for long; either due to lack of time or irregular hours of work. That apart, various yogic asanas (postures) — twists and contortions of body — aren’t easy to perform for most people. In fact, in most cases it is not advisable to initially perform yogic postures without the watchful eye of a guru or a yoga trainer. Joining a yoga studio could be expensive or impracticable for those who are hard pressed for time. Does this mean that yoga isn’t for ordinary folks, who have neither time nor resources to access systematic yoga training? Ordinarily, the answer would be, “Yes, Yoga isn’t practicable for all.”

However, a highly evolved spiritual master, can make the practice of yoga much simpler and easy to follow and effective for his disciples by using his own spiritual powers. Guru Siyag, being one such Master, helps his disciples avail of the best of yoga benefits through his Siddha Yoga without their having to go through the rigors of training and workouts at home or in the gyms. Under Siddha Yoga, all an interested person is required to do is to get initiated by Guru Siyag, and the rest is easy to follow.

Guru Siyag initiates a seeker as his disciple by giving him/her a mantra — a divine word — to chant silently and shows him/her how to meditate every day. The daily meditation is to be accompanied by chanting of the mantra. The chanting of the mantra becomes automatic when it is repeated constantly over a certain period of time. This however depends directly on the degree of intensity, faith and sincerity with which the chanting is done. In some cases the chanting becomes automatic just over a week while some other cases it takes a fortnight or even a few months. Besides chanting of the Mantra, the disciple is also required to meditate briefly — for about 15 minutes at a time — for instance, in the morning and evening.

As the initiated person begins to progress on the Siddha Yoga path, he/she soon feels stress-free, feels their concentration has improved and thoughts have become more positive. During meditation, many practitioners experience yogic postures and body movements happening automatically. The practitioner can neither start, stop nor control these yogic Kriyas (body movements) willfully. These Kriyas are specifically unique to each practitioner like a custom-made program. This is because the divine force that is at work here through Guru Siyag’s spiritual powers knows exactly which specific postures the practitioner needs to undergo to rid himself of body and mind ailments, and to progress on the spiritual path. The yogic postures under the Siddha Yoga are therefore not standardized nor are they orchestrated willfully like those in a conventional yoga school. An observer watching people participate in group meditation under the Siddha Yoga is often astonished to notice that almost each participant undergoes different yogic postures. Most practitioners also experience a sense of exhilaration and joy during meditation that they had never experienced before. As the Yogic Kriyas happen automatically, Guru Siyag’s Yoga is known as ‘Siddha Yoga’.

A practitioner of Siddha Yoga begins to notice positive and evident changes when he/she has practiced meditation regularly over a period of time. The effect of chronic ailments and diseases begins to wear off to a point where the practitioner feels he/she is completely freed from pain and suffering that have dogged him for years. Siddha Yoga has the same positive impact on people, who are addicted to drugs, alcohol, etc or those, who suffer varying degrees of mental problems such as schizophrenia, Phobias, etc. If healthy, a practitioner progresses faster on the spiritual path, making him/her realize his/her true self and the purpose of why he/she is here on earth, and how he/she can actually realize God. Faith and dedication to Guru Siyag is the key to achieve effective results from the practice of Siddha Yoga. Guru Siyag’s Yoga is open to all irrespective of their color, race, religion, nationality, gender or age.

Philosophy Of Siddha Yoga

Siddha Yoga is based on the philosophy of Yoga as propounded by ancient sage Matsyendra Nath and codified later by another sage Patanjali in a treatise titled 'Yoga Sutra' several thousand years ago. Mythology has it that Matsyendra Nath was the fist human to learn of Yoga from Lord Shiva, who is the embodiment of the eternal supreme consciousness, in the latter’s celestial abode in the Himalayas. The sage was asked to gift the knowledge of Yoga to mankind for its salvation. The knowledge and wisdom contained in Yoga was handed down from ages to ages in the time honored Guru-Shishya (master-disciple) tradition. Guru is therefore an institution in the Yoga tradition, which is central to the practice of Yoga.

Yoga is considered an integral tool of the vast body of Vedic (Hindu) literature that covers the whole gamut of Indian spirituality. The 'Yoga Sutra', containing just 195 aphorisms, lucidly elucidates the eight stages of the 'Ashtang' (eight-fold) Yoga, which a seeker passes through as he progresses along the spiritual path.

Yoga is immensely beneficial in curing bodily and mental diseases and restoring and harmonizing the psycho- physical balance in a human body. However, using it for this purpose alone is to leave out its sole aim — liberating the seeker from the bondage of Karmas (actions), which tie him down to the perennial cycle of life and death. Yogic philosophy recognizes the subtle link between the human body and the cosmic Supramental Consciousness, which is responsible for the body's very creation. A potent force lies dormant at the base of the spinal column in every human body. Because it is coiled around the base of the spinal column in three and a half spirals, the ancient sages called it ‘Kundalini’, the coiled one (like a snake). ‘Kundalini’ is considered the feminine divine, ‘Shakti’, which, according to Vedic scriptures, is the very cosmic energy force responsible for the manifestation of the physical/material world.

Since ‘Kundalini’ is the cosmic energy that originates from the Supramental Consciousness, it is an omniscient force, which enables the Yoga practitioner to realize his true self. Once this self-realization is achieved, the Yoga practitioner is led to Moksha, the final liberation from worldly existence and its attendant miseries.

There is a close link between ‘Kundalini’ and an intricate network of 72,000 ‘Nadis’, vein-like structures that exists in the whole of the human body. Three of these ‘Nadis’ are like arterial ways that spiral upwards from the base of the spinal column all the way to the roof the brain, called ‘Sahasrahara’. The middle artery, also considered the major pathway, is known as ‘Sushumana’. The other two arteries on either side of ‘Sushmana’ are called ‘Ida’ and ‘Pingala’. Six ‘Chakras’ and three ‘Granthis’ — consciousness centers or cosmic energy hubs are located vertically above one another at brief intervals in ‘Sushmana’.

This entire network of ‘Nadis’, ‘Chakras’ and ‘Granthis’ exists, in another dimension not known to science, in so subtle a form that no high-tech laboratory gadgets can ever detect its presence. However, when ‘Kundalini’ is awakened through chanting of divine mantra and meditation, it rises through ‘Sushmana’ to reach ‘Sahasrahara’, its final destination where it’s Master — ‘Param Shiva’ — the eternal supramental consciousness resides. As it spirals upwards through ‘Sushmana’, ‘Kundalini’ energizes the whole network of ‘Nadis’ and pierces the ‘Chakras’ one by one. The awakened ‘Kundalini’ gets connected directly to the Supramental Consciousness through the ‘Sushumana’ pathway. As a result of this, every pore and cell in the human body is purified and purged of its bodily and mental afflictions, making the Yoga practitioner energized and ready for the onward spiritual journey. The outward manifestations of this cleansing process are Yogic ‘Kriyas’ or involuntary body movements that occur during Siddha Yoga meditation. Swaying from side to side, rapid movement of the head, clapping and uncoordinated movement of hands are some of the most typical of these ‘Kriyas’.

To an untrained or uninitiated observer, these may look bizarre or even alarming. But they are neither abnormal nor do they cause any bodily harm. ‘Kundalini’, being an all-knowing energy force, is aware of which body part or organ is in acute need of healing or cleansing. So, the ‘Kundalini’ makes the practitioner perform ‘Kriyas’ that are specific to his needs. With this cleansing, the practitioner is cured of all kinds of chronic and even terminal diseases such as HIV, AIDS, cancer, arthritis etc., and genetic disorders like hemophilia, mental afflictions too are completely cured and stress is completely relieved.

Also, the piercing of different consciousness centers equips the practitioner with Siddhis (powers) such as increased intuition, the ability to see unlimited past and future and perceive the existence of worlds beyond the physical one that we live in. When the ‘Kundalini’ reaches ‘Sahasrahara’, the practitioner’s spiritual journey is complete as it is here that he realizes his true self. This realization releases him from the bondage of Karmas, which is the root cause of all human miseries. It is also here that the seeker realizes that he is himself the Brahman, the eternal Supramental Consciousness, the state which also known as Moksha.

The Vedic scriptures acknowledge the interplay of ‘Brahman’, the formless, limitless, eternal and never-changing Supramental Consciousness on one hand and its manifestation as the consciousness in the ever-changing material world. The consciousness in the material world, which impacts all animate and inanimate objects, is made up of a combination of three ‘Gunas’ (qualities) — ‘Sattva’ (lighted, pure, intelligent and positive), ‘Rajas’ (passionate and energetic) and ‘Tamas’ (negative, dark, dull and inert).

Sattva is the force of equilibrium. Sattva translates in quality as good and harmony, and happiness and light. Rajas is the force of kinesis. Rajas translates in quality as struggle and effort, passion and action. Tamas is the force of inconscience and intertia. Tamas translates in quality as obscurity, incapacity and inaction.

All the creatures, including humans, possess these Gunas. However, no existence is cast in the single mould of any of these three modes of the cosmic force. All the three qualities are present in everyone and everywhere. There is a constant combining and separating of the shifting relations of these qualities. They constantly struggle to influence or dominate each other. This is the reason why no person is consistently good or bad; intelligent or dull; active or lethargic.

When ‘Satvic’ quality in dominant in a person, it propels him toward seeking greater consciousness so that he could free himself from Karmic bondage and return to the Supramental Consciousness to which he originally belongs. Domination by either ‘Rajasic’ or ‘Tamasic’ quality leads the person onto an unending cycle of pleasure and pain and life and death. The practice of Siddha Yoga leads to the ascent of ‘Satvic’ qualities and eventual progress to Moksha, the final spiritual liberation.

Each person has certain tendencies, called Vrittis that guide his overall behavior. Tendencies are in turned influenced by the three gunas of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas. Each of these Gunas can be elevated or suppressed through the practice of Yoga, according to The Geeta and ‘Yoga Sutras’ by ancient sage Patanjali. Lord Krishna tells his chosen disciple Arjuna in the epic Mahabharata that elevation of Sattva Guna and suppression of Rajas and Tamas Gunas through meditation can help the practitioner develop and strengthen Sattvic or pure tendencies while suppressing Rajasic and Tamsic tendencies so that he/she can gain lasting health and true higher knowledge and self-realization.

According to Vedic scriptures, only a Siddha Guru, an empowered spiritual master, with an altruistic aim can bring about a positive change in human Gunas and Vrittis by initiating a spiritual seeker into Yoga. Since Sattva is a force of equilibrium that ushers in true wisdom, its elevation on mass scale can transform the entire mankind by eliminating conflicts and discords, and bind the whole humanity together with peace and harmony.

How To Practice Siddha Yoga

A person who has formally become Guru Siyag’s disciple through a Diskha program is required to practice the Siddha Yoga regularly, preferably daily. The daily practice includes constant and silent chanting of divine mantra and a 15 minute meditation session. The chanting of the mantra can be done at all times of the day and while performing various activities: while working, studying, driving, in the bathroom etc.

A practitioner can meditate at home or any other place he/she finds suitable for meditation. For a beginner, a quiet spot where meditation is not likely to be interrupted would be ideal. He/she should meditate daily in the early in the morning and evening or at any time that is suitable or convenient. Meditation should be accompanied by silent chanting of mantra. Since meditation is to be done with closed eyes, beginners usually worry about overshooting the 15-minute time-limit and delaying their daily routine. However, they should know that Siddha Yoga works with a divine help, which ensures that the meditation lasts only until the time limit mentally set by the practitioner before commencing meditation. So no need to set up an alarm-clock here.

Chanting of the ‘Mantra’ is the key to successful practice of Siddha Yoga. Meditation helps in relieving stress, stabilizing and focusing mind on the divine form of Guru Siyag for concentration, and turning the gaze inwards for introspection. So meditation creates the supportive mental condition for the Mantra to work. It is the Mantra which acts as a trigger to awaken the sleeping ‘Kundalini’, the divine cosmic force, in the practitioner’s body. The awakened ‘Kundalini Force’ gradually cleanses the body, mind and soul of the practitioner, and puts him on the path of highest spiritual transformation.

Beginners also worry about being able to sustain the efforts to chant the Mantra. However, they should know that sincere and concerted efforts for this purpose are needed only for a short while. The chanting of Mantra becomes automatic when it is repeated continuously over a certain period of time. This however depends directly on the degree of intensity, faith and sincerity with which the chanting is done. In some cases the chanting becomes automatic just over a week while some other cases it takes a fortnight or even few months. The practitioner is strongly advised not to give up if he/she finds the progress to be slow. He/she will eventually catch up.

Siddha Yoga is very simple to practice for anyone who is interested in it. No previous knowledge or experience of yoga is necessary; no special tools, aids, dress code and/or the presence of a yoga instructor are required; no rituals are required to be performed.

No practitioner of Siddha Yoga is required to give up his religious belief or change his life-style and dietary habits. All that is required of a practitioner is complete faith and devotion to Guru Siyag to achieve good health and spiritual progress.

NOTE: Those persons, who for some reason cannot attend the Siddha Yoga initiation programs, can practice Siddha Yoga at home. Read more about this meditation technique in ‘Siddha Yoga Meditation Technique’.

How Siddha Yoga Works

According to ancient Indian scriptures called Vedas, human body is a gross form of the divine Absolute whom we call God by various names. The feminine half of the Absolute is known as Shakti, a potent cosmic energy force. This force lies dormant in human body at the base of the spinal column. It lies coiled around the spinal base in three and half spirals like a sleeping coiled snake. It is therefore known as ‘Kundalini’, the coiled one.

Within human body exists on a subtle plane a network of Nadis / veins, connected to six Chakras or energy hubs, placed at regular intervals above one another from the base of the spinal column up to the Thyroid Gland in the throat. These Chakras exist in a vertical nerve called Sushmana which runs parallel to the spinal column and rises right up to the crown of the head. The tip of this crown is known as Sahasrahara, which is the dwelling of God.

If and when Kundalini is awakened, she surges upward to meet her lord in Sahasrahara. During her journey upward, she passes through each of the six Chakras along the way, which in turn activate and electrify the entire network of Nadis. This entire structure of Chakras and Nadis, vibrating and pulsating with the cosmic energy force, purifies each and every pore and cell in the body, resulting in internal cleansing and healing of ailments and diseases. With the piercing of each Chakra by rising Kundalini, the person experiencing this amazing play of the cosmic force, begins to develop special spiritual powers called Siddhis. These Siddhis enable him to look into the past and future events, but above all help him to understand the true nature of his own self, and to realize God. The self-realization takes place when the feminine divine meets her male counterpart after completing her upward journey.

However, Kundalini cannot be awakened by merely reading yoga books or by following a yoga trainer’s instructions. The very central purpose of Yoga is to promote spiritual evolution of human race. Therefore, only a spiritual master like Guru Siyag, who has attained the highest level of spiritual consciousness himself, can awaken the dormant Kundalini force.

Guru Siyag awakens the seeker’s Kundalini by initiating him/her into Siddha Yoga as his disciple through a process called Shaktipat. During initiation, known as Diksha in yogic terms, Shakti, the feminine divine, is activated through a Mantra, a Divine Word, given by Guru Siyag. Mantra represents the primal sound through which the universe is believed have come into existence.

The disciple is required to repeat the mantra silently all the time (without moving his tongue just as one reads a book silently without moving the tongue and lips) while carrying on his routine chores. The Mantra acts as a trigger that prods the sleeping ‘Kundalini’ awake and then sends it surging upwards.

The silent repetition of the mantra is called Naam Jap. After continuous chanting of the mantra for over a fortnight or a month, the disciple doesn’t have to make an effort to chant; the chanting happens automatically on its own whether he/she is awake or sleeping. This state is known as ‘Ajapajap’ (roughly translated as involuntary chanting). When chanting of Mantra is accompanied by regular meditation, preferably for 15 minutes each, early in the morning and evening, it slowly unleashes a wave of ‘Ananda’ (bliss), which is so soothing that the disciple feels he/she is on a high, and doesn’t want to come out of it. Indian saints have described this state of Ananda as intoxication without drugs. The Ananda brought on by the Mantra and mediation is incomparable to the calming effect of any addictive drug because it (Ananda) doesn’t depend on any external inducement and lasts forever. This is the reason why a disciple initiated into Siddha Yoga by a Siddha (Empowered) Guru is freed from drug- addiction completely and irrevocably.

A unique aspect of Siddha Yoga is that a spiritual seeker need not necessarily have theoretical knowledge of Yoga system or Vedic philosophy to be Guru Siyag’s disciple. All a seeker needs is an intense desire and willingness to submit himself to Guru Siyag to qualify for his blessings and guidance.

The term ‘Automatic’ denotes another most unique aspect of Siddha Yoga. Once a person becomes Guru Siyag’s disciple — through Diksha or by practicing the Siddha Yoga meditation with Gurudev’s photograph, without being initiated — both get connected spiritually on a subtle plane. Even if time and distance separate them, the spiritual connection remains strong and subtle. Through his unique spiritual power, Guru Siyag maintains a benevolent watch over each of his disciples for his wellbeing, no matter if the disciple happens to be living in a far-off place in India or half way across the world in a different time zone. Thus Guru Siyag leads the disciple to self-realization or realization of God safely through the human existence, which is full of pitfalls, sorrows and attachments. However, this divine realization can be achieved only through complete surrender to the Guru; it cannot be gained through the use of money, manipulation, stealth, deception or intimidation.