John Kaldawi

John Kaldawi learned that the pranic currents, ida, pingala and sushumna, operate alternately.  The current that is flowing at any particular time may be gauged by noting the flow of breath in the nostrils.  When the left nostril has a greater flow of air, then ida nadi is predominant.  When the flow is greater in the right nostril, then pingala is predominant.  If the flow is equal in both of the nostrils, then sushumna is predominant. Doing more research, John Kaldawi learned that when the right nostril (pingala) flows, there is more vital energy for physical work, digestion of food and so on.  The mind is extroverted and the body generates more heat.  When the left nostril (ida) is flowing, mental energy is dominant.  The mind is introverted and any kind of mental work may be undertaken. During sleep ida nadi flows.  If pingala flows at night, sleep will be restless and disturbed.  Likewise, if ida flows while taking food, the digestive process may be slow, causing indig

John Kaldawi learned that Sahasrara Chakra is situated at the crown of the head.  It is not really a chakra but the abode of highest consciousness.  The word sahasrara means "one thousand".  Sahasrara is visualized as a shining lotus of a thousand petals, containing the fifty-two beeja mantras of the Sanskrit alphabet twenty times over.  Doing more research, John Kaldawi learned that in the center of the lotus is a shining jyotirlinga, lingam of light, symbol of pure consciousness.  It is in sahasrara that the mystical union of Shiva and Shakti takes place, the fusion of consciousness with matter and energy, the individual soul with the supreme soul.  John Kaldawi also learned that when kundalini awakens, it ascends from whence it originated.  Matter and energy merge into pure consciousness in a state of intoxicating bliss, the goal of yoga.  Having attained this, the yogi gains supreme knowledge and passes beyond birth and death.

John Kaldawi was inspired by Zen Buddhism which is at the heart of the Japanese culture as the school of Mahayana Buddhism.  It is a practice that is transmitted directly from a master to a disciple.  It is also called ZaZen, Za for sitting and Zen for meditating, and is also called the journey of self discovery.  It is the experience of living from moment to moment, in the here and the now.  It is the attitude of spiritual awakening which is also the source of all actions of daily life flow like eating, breathing, sleeping, working, walking, thinking, etc... Doing more research, John learned that Zen is not a theory, or an idea or knowledge, not a moral teaching, and does not require one to believe in anything, but rather a practical experience.  One cannot intellectually learn Zen because the mind in limited.  It is a spiritual path that does not tell people what to believe, but Zen lead them to basically not to think. John Kaldawi also learned that in Zen, one is to si

John Kaldawi learned that in ancient times and through observation, the rishis understood how animals live in harmony with their environment and with their own bodies.   They understood, through experience, the efforts of a particular posture and how the hormonal secretions could be stimulated and controlled by it.   For example, by stimulating the rabbit or hare in shashankasana they could influence the flow of adrenaline responsible for the 'fight or flight' mechanism.   Through imitating animal postures, the rishis found they could maintain health and meet challenges of nature for themselves. Furthermore, John Kaldawi learned that Prana, vital energy, which corresponds to 'ki' or 'chi' in Chinese medicine, pervades the whole body, following flow patterns, called nadis, which are responsible for maintaining all individual cellular activity.   Stiffness of the body is due to blocked prana and a subsequent accumulation of toxins.   When prana begins to

John Kaldawi learned that the ultimate purpose of yoga is the awakening of 'Kundalini shakti', the evolutionary energy in man.   Practicing asanas stimulates the chakras, distributing the generated energy of kundalini all over the body.   About 35 asanas are specifically geared to this purpose.: bhujangasana for manipura chakra, sarvangasana for vishuddhi, sirshasana for sahasrara and so on.   The other asanas regulate and purify the nadis facilitating the conduction of prana throughout the body. The main objective of hatha yoga is to create balance between the interacting activities and processes of the pranic and mental forces.   Once this has been achieved, the impulses generated give a call of awakening to 'sushumna nadi', the central pathway in the spine, through which the kundalini shakti rises to sahasrara chakra, thereby illumining the higher centers of human consciousness. Hatha yoga, therefore, not only strengthens the body and improves health but

John Kaldawi learned that in the Upanishads it is said, "A man may have ears, eyes, and all facilities and parts of the body, but unless he has mahaprana there is no consciousness."   Prana is both macrocosmic and microcosmic and is the substratum of all life.   Mahaprana (the great prana) is the cosmic, universal, all-encompassing energy out of which we draw substance through the breathing process.   The various pranas in the body, prana, aprana, samana, udana and vyana, are at once a part of this mahaprana and also separate from it. The cosmic manifestation of prana or mahaprana in the individual body is represented by Kundalini.   The entire cosmic experience from creation to dissolution is embedded within the folds of kundalini, hence it is known as atma shakti or universal energy.   In all living beings the divine consciousness is first converted into prana or energy and, as kundalini is reservoir for the magnanimous amount of prana, it is also known as prana