Mysticism
Photograph by Soorya Kaur Khalsa
Sodarshan Chakra Kriya
Sodarshan Chakra Kriya Meditation 
12/12/90 Italy,  8/91 Espanola, NM 
By Yogi Bhajan, PhD 

"Of all the 20 types of yoga, including Kundalini Yoga, this is the highest kriya. This meditation cuts all darkness. It will give you a new start. It is the simplest kriya, but at the same time the hardest. It cuts through all barriers of the neurotic or psychotic inside-nature. When a person is in a very bad state, techniques imposed from the outside will not work. The pressure has to be stimulated from within. Tragedy of life is when subconscious releases garbage into the conscious mind. This kriya invokes the Kundalini to give you the necessary vitality and intuition to combat the negative effects of the subconscious mind."
 


Tune in: Chant the Adi Mantra. Really connect. Do it until you feel calm and present. Repeating it 3 to 5 times is sufficient. 

Although Sodarshan Chakra Kriya stands alone, the way Yogi Bhajan has taught it, you may want to do a warm up series to relax your whole body and to tune into and deepen the breath. You're going to be sitting relatively still for a while and that may take some preparation.

Posture: Sit with a straight spine. 

a) Block off the right nostril with the right thumb. Inhale slowly and deep through the left nostril. Then hold the breath by suspending the action of breathing and lifting the chest slightly. Keep the chin locked in Jalandhara Bhanda (chin lock) while you mentally chant  "Wahe Guru" 16 times, pumping the navel point 3 times with each repetition, once on Wha, once on Hey, and once on Guru - for a total of 48 pumps.

b) Release the right nostril. Place the index finger (pinkie finger can also be used) to block of the left nostril, and exhale slowly and completely through the right nostril. Continue to repeat this sequence of breathing, holding and pumping. 

Eyes: Look at the tip of the nose, eyes 9/10ths closed.

End of Meditation: Inhale, hold 5-10 seconds, exhale. Then stretch your arms up high and shake every part of your body for about 1 min. so that the energy may spread. At this point you can do One Minute Breath or simply do a layout. Breath and be still. Circulate the energy and integrate the experience. Allow the adjustment to take place.

Comments: 
This is one of the greatest meditations you can practice. According to the tantra shastras, it can make you perfect your potential and be a superhuman human. It purifies your past and the subconscious impulses that may block you from fulfilling and balance all the 27 facets of the life and mental projection. And in those 27 total virtues of the world lies the entire universe. So start with 31 min, then after a while do it for 40 minutes, then for 62 min. 

If you do this meditation for 62 minutes to start with, and develop to the point that you can do it 2-1/2 hours a day, 1/10th of the day, it gives you "Nao niddhi athara siddhi"; that is you will get the nine precious virtues and the 18 occult powers. It opens your inner universe to relate, co-create and complete the external universe. At 2-1/2 hours every day, it makes out of you a perfect superman. It purifies, it takes care of the human life and brings together all 27 facets of life and makes a human perfect, saintly, successful and qualified. It gives you the pranic power of health and healing. It establishes inner happiness and a state of flow and ecstasy in life. The kriya never fails. 

To gain these benefits requires different efforts from different people. Each mind has stored up its own pile of negative thought and energy. So each pit is cleaned on its own time and scale. You decide how much time you have and you need to invest in this practice. Treat the practice with reverence and increase your depth, dimensions, caliber and happiness. It gives you a new start against all odds. It saves you when internal pressures have become too great for any external influence or solution. It gives you the ability to stimulate your self from inside.
 

Time Contraints: 
There is no time, no place, no space and no condition attached to this mantra. Each garbage pit has its own time to clear. If you are going to clean your own garbage, you must estimate and clean it as fast as you can, or as slow as you want. You have to decide how much time you have to clean up your garbage pit.  Suggested length for this kriya is 31 minutes or 62 minutes a day. 
 

Note:
This is how the Siri Singh Sahib keeps track of the counting. 
Inhale (blocking the right nostril with the right thumb, other fingers held straight up in the air). And then I hold, and then I count '16' - - how? One. two. three -- counts with the pinkie finger, moving it slightly three times. Four. Five, six -- moves the ring finger three times. Seven, eight, nine -- moves the middle or Saturn finger three times. Ten. eleven, twelve: -- moves the index finger three times Thirteen, fourteen, fifteen -- moves the thumb slightly for three beats. Sixteen -- brings the index finger over to block off the left nostril, as he releases the right thumb from the right nostril. Then Exhale through right nostril. 
You are open to try what works for you.

Additionally, Yogi Bhajan has "suggested" that we follow any Kriya with One Minute Breath: 20 seconds slow inhale, 20 seconds suspending the breath and 20 seconds slowly releasing the breath. Do this for up to 11 minutes. If you have trouble with 20 seconds then do 15 seconds. Don't beat yourself up. This should be a delicious experience where you savor the subtlety of your efforts. This will allow your whole psyche to fully assimilate and digest the Kriya consciously and will help you sustain the effects of your practice. When done, give back to the world, your teacher and to the Infinite through singing the Long Time Sun
Sat Nam,
Dharam Singh
 

Recent Update!!
There has been more than one description of Sodarshan Ckakra Kriya circulating around. Nam Kaur checked with Yogi Bhajan and he clearly confirmed that there is only one version of Sodarshan Chakra Kriya. The correct description is included below.  Here is what our Teacher had to say about it in Gurdwara on Sunday, December 22nd, 2002:

"Now, most powerful and beautiful is Sodarshan Chakra Kriya.  I thought that I have taught for so many years, now people are ready for it.  We didn't start teaching it the first day. For me (I do not know about anyone else) it took 30 years to be able to control my left and right nostrils without holding them with my fingers.  And I still do that sometimes when I feel very weak - I use my hand and fingers.  Somebody can say, "Switching nostrils is not needed since the air coming through the right nostril and the left nostril meets."  We shall not take any responsibility for such wrong practices!   What the hell is one creating? Disturbing the pituitary, the master command gland?  These kinds of jokes will end by themselves, but it will be dangerous for those who practice it wrong.   There is nothing in the teachings which are not clearly stated and which have not worked accurately" 

IKYTA often receives questions from teachers about the science of Kundalini Yoga, asking if it is okay to substitute or delete exercises in a kriya, or teach only one part of a three-part meditation, etc.  We have even been asked if it is okay to teach a Kundalini Yoga meditation in a Hatha Yoga class!  Yogi Bhajan explained that this is not permissible, that Kundalini Yoga should not be mixed with other forms of yoga, and kriyas should not be changed in any way, except to shorten the times of the exercises if desired.  I'll pass on another direct quote from Yogi Bhajan which says it best: 

"The Teachings are the Teachings, and have no one's personality in them.  I never edit them; you should not edit them.  It is a Golden Chain.  My own prayer is that you can perfect what it is, and go with it.  It is a funny thing.  It is a three thousand year old proven path - it's not going to stop.  Why do you want to add or subtract something - to satisfy your ego or convince students?  It is very deceitful on the part of a teacher to teach teachings to please people.  So honestly give people what we have.  Teach like me. Teach exactly as it is.  If you are not going to teach Kundalini Yoga purely, then don't teach it at all. With Kundalini Yoga you are dealing with the life force of the atom.  Don't play with the pranic energy"

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This page last edited on: April. 19, 2009


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