Himalayan Yoga Academy

Education & research Foundation

A Complete Guide to Singing Bowl

What is a singing bowl?

The singing bowl is a simple but powerful tool for relaxation and meditation. The bowl creates a resonant vibration that can be soothing and calming, promoting a sense of inner peace. Used regularly, singing bowls can help to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. They can also promote better sleep, improved circulation, and increased energy.

Singing bowls were used as a form of meditation and prayer in ancient times. They are also thought to have been used to attract good luck and positive energy.

What is the history of singing bowls?

The history of singing bowls goes back thousands of years. The first singing bowls were made from animal bones or shells. They were used as musical instruments and to communicate with the spirit world. Later, people started making singing bowls out of metal. They used them to heal people and to communicate with the spiritual world.

How do singing bowls work?

Singing bowls are a type of Tibetan Buddhist chakra meditation tool. They are typically made of bronze and have a series of small holes in the bottom. The user sings or chants into the bowl while using their fingers to tap the holes rhythmically. The vibrations cause the metal to vibrate and produce harmonic sounds.

The chakra meditation technique of singing bowls is said to help clear your mind and increase your awareness. The sounds of the bowls can also help to promote relaxation and peace.

What are the benefits of using a singing bowl?

There are many benefits of using a singing bowl, including:

  • Relaxation: The sound of a singing bowl can help to relax the mind and body, and is often used as a form of meditation.
  • Stress relief: The calming effects of a singing bowl can help to reduce stress and anxiety.
  • Pain relief: The vibrations of a singing bowl can help to ease pain and tension in the body. Improved circulation: The vibrations of a singing bowl can help to improve circulation and promote healing.
  • Improved sleep: The relaxing effects of a singing bowl can help to improve sleep quality.
  • Positive energy: The positive vibrations of a singing bowl can help to create a sense of well-being and peace.

What are some precautions to take when using a singing bowl?

When it comes to singing bowl meditation, there are a few things to keep in mind in order to ensure a safe and effective experience. First and foremost, be sure to find a comfortable position in which to sit or lie down. It is also important to make sure that the bowl is placed on a stable surface before beginning to play it.

If you are new to singing bowl meditation, it is best to start with shorter sessions and gradually increase the length of time as you become more comfortable with the practice. It is also important to listen to your body and stop if you feel any discomfort.

In general, singing bowl meditation is considered to be a very safe practice. However, as with any type of meditation, it is always best to check with your doctor before beginning if you have any health concerns.

How can singing bowls be used for meditation?

Singing bowls are a type of musical instrument that can be used for meditation. The bowls are made of metal, and they produce a sound when struck with a mallet. The sound produced by the bowl can be used to focus the mind during meditation.

There are many different ways to use singing bowls for meditation. One way is to strike the bowl and then let the sound fade away. This can help to bring about a state of relaxation. Another way to use the bowl is to strike it and then hold the bowl close to your ear. This allows you to hear the sound of the bowl more clearly and can help to focus your mind.

Singing bowls can be used in conjunction with other meditation techniques. For example, you can use the bowl to help you focus on your breath. The sound of the bowl can help to slow down your breathing and can also help to keep you from becoming distracted.

Yoga Teacher Training and Its Benefits

If you’re interested in becoming a yoga teacher and want to learn from the best in the business, then a yoga teacher training program is the perfect fit for you. During this program, you’ll learn from experienced yoga teachers, who will teach you the foundations of yoga, as well as how to develop your own unique teaching style.

A yoga teacher is someone who helps people connect with their intuition and intuition through their breath. They can also help people connect with their emotions and help them to be more mindful. A yoga teacher is someone who can help you to find your center and to calm your mind. A yoga teacher is someone who can help you to find your own way, and to help you to find your own voice.

At the end of the yoga teacher training program, you’ll be able to offer students a comprehensive yoga program, which will help them achieve their fitness goals and improve their overall well-being. In addition to learning the techniques necessary to become a Certified Yoga Teacher.

One of the great benefits of yoga teacher training is the opportunity to gain knowledge and skills in teaching yoga. There are many different types of yoga and each teacher should have a specific teaching style that is tailored to their students. When you become a yoga teacher, you will be able to share your knowledge and experience with others through classes and workshops. Additionally, you will be able to help people increase their flexibility, strength, and balance.

There are many benefits to taking yoga teacher training. The most obvious benefit is that you will learn how to teach yoga. This is an important skill because it can help you connect with your students and help them to achieve their goals. Another benefit is that you will learn how to manage your own practice. This is important because it will help you to stay on track and avoid burnout. Finally, yoga teacher training can help you to develop a strong network of yoga teachers. This is valuable because it can help you to find new opportunities and connect with other teachers who share your passion for yoga.

The Physiology of Kundalini

Talking about the Physiology of Kundalini, Kundalini energy does not belong to the physical, astral, and mental body and consequently, it cannot be found there. The serpent power belongs to a still higher plane, that is, the causal plane, which is above the concept of object, time, and space. It connects the lowest unconsciousness seat of power at the root center( mooladhara) to the highest center of consciousness at the crown center ( Sahasrara). Illumination takes place when Kundalini shakti( kinetic form of energy) rises to and meets Lord Shiva (a potential form of energy) . It passes through the central nerve Sushumna, which is the physic passage within the spinal column. From the root enter at the base of the spine to the crown center on top of the head there are seven centers of energy called chakras, through which the Kundalini passes. With the passage of Kundalini through the centers of energy, the transformation and transcendence of personality in the aspirant takes place. The most important is the sixth center, called Ajna chakra, also known as the ‘ Third Eye’ and it is the center of command or intuitive knowledge. The Ajna center is internally connected with both the root center and the crown center.

In the words of Swami Satyananda Saraswati:

The serpent power is considered to arise from the unconscious state in mooladhara. This unconscious awareness of man then has to pass through different phases and becomes one with cosmic awareness in the highest realm of existence. The supreme awareness of Shiva is considered to be seated in Sahasrara, the super-conscious or transcendental body at the crown of the head. In the Vedas, as well as the Tantras, this supreme seat is called Hiranyagarbha, the womb of consciousness. It corresponds to the pituitary body, the master gland situated within the brain. For a Kundalini Yogi, the supreme consciousness represents the highest possible manifestation of physical matter in the body. This psychic, supra sensory or transcendental power in man is the ultimate point of human evolution.

A chakra is a vortex of psychic energy which can be visualized as circular movement energy at a particular rate of vibration. Physiologically, chakras are like junctions where the nerves meet, and they are situated on the interior walls of the spinal column. They are like poles of electricity through which electrical wires ( nerves ) run across to supply power at different centers. Through the nerves (Nadis) , prana( vital energy) flows forward and backward.

Kundalini and Chakras :

The first of the chakras is called Muladhara ( root center) which is situated at the pelvic floor and it corresponds to the coccygeal plexus of the nerves. It is at the chakras that consciousness rises above animal nature. Below these chakras, there are supposed to be lower centers of energy going down to the heels, responsible for developing the animal and human qualities of instinct and intellect. The Mooladhara chakra controls the excretory and sexual functions in the body.

The second chakra, called swadistham, lies at the terminal point of the spinal column. It relates to the sacral plexus of nerves and takes care of the unconsciousness in the person.

The third chakra, called Manipura, lies in the spine just at the navel. It is related to the solar plexus and takes care of the digestive, assimilative, and temperature-controlling systems of the body.

The fourth chakra, called Anahata, lies in the vertebral column at the back of the heart near the base and it is at the level of the depression in the sternum. It is related to the cardiac plexus of nerves and takes care of the organs of the body in this region, such as the heart, lungs, diaphragm, etc.

The fifth center, called vishudhhi, is situated in the vertebral column at the level of the throat pit. It is related to the cervical plexus of nerves and takes care of the thyroid complex, upper plate, epiglottis, etc.

The sixth chakra, called ajna, is related to the pineal gland and is situated above the spinal column in the midline of the brain. It is the center of the command and takes care of all the functions of one`s life. In particular, it controls the sexual activity in a person.

Between the sixth and seventh chakra, there is an additional chakra, called Bindu ( point), situated at the top back of the head, where the Hindus normally leave a tuft of hair. It takes care of the optic system and is the center wherefrom Amrit ( nectar) emanates on awakening and is responsible for the rejenuvation of the whole body system. It is internally connected to the vishuddhi chakra and two centers are believed to be activated simultaneously.

The seventh chakra, called Sahasrara, lies at the top of the head and is related to the pituitary gland which is supposed to take care of all the glands and systems of the terminal point of the journey of Kundalini shakti.

The Awakening of Kundalini

Kundalini is a dormant energy. There is a set of three nerves called ida, pingala and sushumna, which connect the  base of the spine to the brain. When Kundalini Energy awakens, it rises through the  central nerve sushumna to the brain, which causes an explosion in the brain, since the dormant or sleeping areas begin to blossom like flowers. It represents the future consciousness of humanity. All the happenings in the spiritual life and all outstanding works in any walk of life, such as poetry, painting writing, music, war, science, art, philosophy etc. are all related to the awakening of Kundalini Energy. It is the creative energy, the energy of self-expression.

The awakening of Kundalini in the body causes a transformation and transcendence in one’s life. There are visions of God and Higher or subtler realms of existence, an awakening of supramental faculties, and a dawning of creative intelligence. There is a change in the mind, priorities, and attachments. After Awakening of Kundalini An integration of the karmas begins to take place. The cells in the body are changed completely and a process of rejuvenation begins. The voice, the smell of the body, and hormonal secretions undergo a change. A speeding –up of physical , mental , emotional and spiritual evolution takes place. “Once the great Shakti awakens man is no longer a gross physical body operating with a lower mind and low-voltage prana ( quantum cosmic energy). Instead, every cell of his body is charged with the high-voltage prana of Kundalini. And when total awakening occurs, man becomes a junior god, an embodiment of divinity.”

As the first symptoms of an awakened Kundalini Energy, some people experience violent shaking of different parts of the body, such as a car shudders when starting. Aspirants also feels pleasure of a spiritual kind and the brain becomes hot and heavy as if under intoxication, an experience never undergone before. Six symptoms which come into manifestation are – a feeling of blissful pleasure, trembling of the whole body, a newborn power, intoxication, sleep and merger of consciousness. In fact, one could experience one or several of the eighteen symptoms listed, for example, in Dev-Atma Shakti.

6 Yoga Poses for Constipation

Yoga is not only about the exercises and asana. And also It`s not  about relaxing music and deep stretches rather it is a lifestyle which you can follow for your overall health. Yoga can help you get relief from the anxiety, depression, and stress and also reduce inflammation. The more you stress, the more you suffer from constipation, gas and tummy troubles. Also they are side effects of your unbalanced and unhealthy lifestyle. Your poor eating styles, choices and busy schedule also the common causes of today’s world constipation, gas and stomach troubles. Maybe you are also the one suffering from unhealthy bowel movements. No need to worry about, Yoga can help you relief.

Yoga is the complete management system that can give you relief you from constipation. It is also the natural way to manage constipation. The stretching and contracting muscles and also compression and massaging of certain positions helps to improve the flow of blood and oxygen which helps on overall with your bowel movements. You can also increase your water intake.  Also make sure you try including yoga in your daily practice.

How Yoga for Constipation

Yoga alleviates constipation in two ways:

1. It manages stress

Stress can distress your gut and make your muscles tense. That can make your constipation worse. So, Yoga can help manage your stress response. And it can improve the functioning of your regular bowel movements. Even meditating or breathing deeply can help move things along.

2. It gives your digestive system a massage

Yoga asana like twisting poses, inversions, and forward folds can also help your digestive system. These poses massage your digestive organ that helps to increase the flow of blood and oxygen delivery. They also help in peristalsis movement which encourages stools to move freely through the system.

Daily yoga in your schedule can result in regular, healthy bowel movements.

Below are some yoga poses that can help your digestive tract get back into balanced and healthy flow.

  • Vajrasana- Thunderbolt Pose 

This is also known as “Thunderbolt Pose”. To begin, kneel on your yoga mat. Make sure your knees and toes are touching and your heels apart. Sit in the gap between your heels with a straight back and hands on your lap. Hold this pose for few seconds or minutes.

This asana obstructs the blood flow to the legs and thighs and increases it in our stomach area, thus improving our bowel movement.

  • Balasana- Child`s Pose

In this pose, kneel and sit on your knees. Lean forward, keeping your buttocks on your heels, and rest your forehead on the floor. Place your hands in front of you. Hold here and inhale and exhale for a few seconds or few minutes. Focus towards any areas of discomfort. And breathe into them to relieve any tension.

It also contracts the organs and increases blood flow.

  • Adho Mukha Svanasana- Downward facing Dog / Parvatasana

It is a great way to deal with constipation. It compresses your gut, stimulates blood flow to your abdominal areas and relaxes them.

Get down on all your fours. Start on the floor with your hands-shoulder width apart, with your shoulders above your wrists. Lift your knees, while exhaling, tuck your toes against your mat, and extend your legs and arms while pushing your pelvis into the air.  You should be creating A shape with your body. Hold and release.

  • Pavanamuktasana- Wind-Relieving Pose

This pose is perfect cure for constipation which helps in digestion and releasing gas.

Lie on your back. Bend your raised legs at the knees. With your hands, grasp the parts of your legs right below the knees. Pull your knees back towards your head. Now, lift your head off the floor and move it forward until your forehead touches your knees. Maintain the postures for few seconds then release.

  • Udrhva Mukha Svanasana- Cobra Pose

Cobra pose is the relaxation pose for all exercises performed on the stomach. It improves blood and oxygen circulation throughout the pelvis and spinal regions which helps indigestion.

Lie down on your abdomen with your heels closer and toes pointed out. Put your palms side of your chest. Lift your head slightly. Gently curl your neck back. Press your palms into the floor. And gently uplift your upper body off the mat.

  • Matsyasana Twist- Half Spinal Twist Pose

This is great for your digestive system. The spinal twist increases blood flow which increases circulation and cellular detoxification.

You can start by sitting with your legs stretched out, keeping the feet together and your spine erect. Bend your right leg and place your right foot on the ground. Make sure it s on the outside of your left leg. Ideally, it should be near your left knee. Then, Bend your left leg and place it under or close to your right buttocks. Place your left hand or elbow on or over your right knee. Gently twist to face over your right shoulder. Hold this pose for a few breaths. Focus on any areas of discomfort. Breathe deeply to relieve the tension. Then switch another side.

7 Reasons to join a Yoga Teacher Training in Nepal

Yoga Teacher Training in Nepal Course can assist you with widening your social, mental, and philosophical information. This preparation permits you to upgrade your yoga showing abilities and furthermore illuminates yourself on how to go more in the yogic pathway. Yoga authentication courses permit you to expand your number of endorsements, which adds to the fervor. What else would we be able to anticipate? Investigate the rundown underneath.

Reasons to join a Yoga Teacher Training in Nepal

Make and Explore New Friends

Like some other classes, consider yoga meetings as a method for meeting individuals with various thoughts, encounters, and characters. Think about what happens when you get along with others who share your inclinations and go to a yoga meeting together. Yoga meetings can go about as an instant mentor for interfacing your work and individual lives in a commonly helpful long-haul association. Meeting new individuals to expand your viewpoints and associate is useful and pleasant.

Investigate New Adventure

Yoga is a pragmatic field that permits you to see the world according to a new viewpoint. A domain of logical basics examines coordination, adaptability, perseverance, and energy life systems, in addition to other things. Yoga thoughts in light of normal regulations and practices are blended in, carrying you to be aware of contemplations, chakras, Sanskrit vibrational dialects, pranayama, and different subjects. You should concentrate on the foundation of yoga, why rehearsing yoga is as yet applicable now, where it started, the main gathering to rehearse it, etc, to fulfill your interest and feeling of experience.

Re-energizing Energy

Some yoga class meetings can be utilized to loosen up from pressure or whatever else that is harming your contemplations. Consider contemplation parcels that expect you to be centered around a particular subject or coordination preparing that expects you to be engaged to flawlessly do an errand. Do you suppose yoga classes are a type of aberrant treatment? Indeed, it could act as one that holds your psychological state in line and reestablishes it to a superior state. Post yoga illustrations will assist you with feeling like the best form of yourself as you study to improve as a teacher.

Upgrade your Yoga Teaching Skills

Taking a yoga educator instructional class opens you to the act of educating in another manner. To be a superior educator, you’ll require an assortment of capacities, including public talking capacity, certainty, the capacity to peruse a group of people and decipher input, unmistakable and discernible voice and tone, remaining grounded in yourself paying little mind to outside conditions, honing the expertise of trusting your instinct, and talking from the heart. These abilities, too as numerous others, can be learned through Yoga instructors preparing and applied to different parts of life. These capacities are imbued in the craft of educating.

Getting Time and Patience

Contingent upon your degree of involvement in yoga, it takes more time to consummate the practices and standards. As your body goes through adjustments of inside to external arrangement and reconditioning, they put your body and psyche under serious scrutiny of persistence. Taking this excursion will affect your mental well-being and in general prosperity. As some time in the distant past understudy of time and persistence, would upgrade your showing abilities and develop both on and off the yoga stage.

Enlarge your Knowledge

Yoga illustrations will urge you to learn and understand more about yourself than just your actual self, including your third and intuitions. Whatever otherworldly practices you have now, there’s a solid chance they’ll be developed because of your preparation. Yoga Sutras, chantings, contemplation, and different expressions are utilized to portray the wizardry of this.

Upgrade your Yoga

You put your body to a few mental and actual wellness preparing while you ace the essentials and abilities. Involving Yoga preparing strategies to set up your body for injury-inclined situations is smart. You’ll be greatly improved and prepared to move through existence without being injured, on account of your upgraded body mindfulness.

Conclusion :

You appreciate yoga; study it by signing up for yoga teacher courses that will expand your perspectives, permit you to test your capacities, and answer your inquiries. Subsequent to finishing instructor preparation, you can frequently expand on your experience and show others the advantages of this training. Besides, there are no words to enough make sense of the magnificence of the experience and its capacity to change your life.

So, Join now for amazing yoga teacher-training experiences in Nepal with Himalayan Yoga Academy. We will provide you with the best yoga teacher training in Nepal experien ces.In Nepal, everything will support you in becoming a better version of yourself. Yoga teacher Training in Nepal will not only teach you some asanas but teaches you a way of life to enjoy your life in every nook and corner and in every up and down. You will be a yoga teacher not for other people but for yourself who guides you in every way.

Samkhya & Yoga

Both Samkhya and yoga aim at reserving the process of awareness which at present is identified with the senses and the external objects. That awareness has to be disassociated from the objects and redirected internally to experience our spiritual nature. That experience of Purusha, the pure consciousness, may be termed as Samadhi, mokshya, nirvana, self-realization or union with the higher self. However the problem is that we identify with the sensory objects that give us pleasure. We condition ourselves to think that we are not able to live without these objects, and this is the beginning of attachment asakti. The association of the mind and senses with an external object creates attachment. Attachment is a strong magnetic force which holds the mind down to the experiences of the pleasure that  we are searching for  through  our  senses . The time comes when we suddenly find that all of the attachments in life serve no purpose, because one day we have to leave them.

In yoga, that experiences is known as abhinivesha, the fear of disconnection. The moment we realize that we are going to be disconnected form out kith and kin, society and family, body and mind, and that we, as we know ourselves to be , will cease to exist, fear arises. Abhinivesha is mentioned in Patanjali`s yoga Sutras and is often translated as the fear of death, but it is more than that; it is the fear of disconnection.

The fear of disconnection arises because we are tamasic by nature. Tamas has to be understood in the right perspective. Tamas is not bad or negative things; it is a conditioned state of existence. For example, a lump of clay can be shaped into a pot. Once it takes that form it is identified as a pot and not a lump of clay can be shaped into a pot. Once it takes that form it is identified as a pot and not a lump of clay. The experience of identifying ourselves with our conditioned nature, and the inability to extricate the awareness from that limited nature is known as tamas. The quality of tamas express itself throughout life in the form of different psychological, social and religious conditionings. Tamas creates the belief patterns which we have to struggle to change, overcome or transcend as we develop.

Tamas itself is  not negatice, but negativity is an expression of this conditioning when change is  rejected. Aggressive reaction to change is identified as a negative outcome of the tamasic conditioning. The principles of Samkhya and yoga aim at understanding how we are conditioned. Because we are in tamas as long we are in this body, and cannot live without tamas, we need to understand the components of life and existence which interact with each other and thale us through the various conditionings.  Samkhya and Yoga give us an understanding of this process, and help to free us  from the impressions created by the conditioning of tamas, rajas, and sattwa are known as samskaras. Or, to put it another way, samskaras are an expression of the unconditioned state of tamas, rajas, and sattwa.

Understanding of Samkhya

We have to work through the samskaras in pratyahara and dharana meditation to be experiencing the higher levels of consciousness. In this process, yoga is the practical aspect and Samkhya is the theoretical aspect. Yoga is influenced by Samkhya. Sage Patanjali, who codified the system of raja yoga, is also considered to be an exponent of the Samkhya tradition. In the past, there were eighteen schools of Samkhya.

Just as yoga is popular today, Samkhya was once a popular system because it gave an understanding of how we become conditioned and how we free ourselves from that conditioning.

Samkhya gives us an understanding of how the senses work, how the mental states interact with the senses and of the nature, interplay and attributes of the gunas at an individual and cosmic level. It gives an understanding of the relationship between the mind, ego, and higher intellect. Samkhya gives an understanding of the manifest, vyakta and the unmanifest, avyakta, demensions, and how as human beings our consciousness and mind interact in these various dimensions.

Some time ago, the scientists discovered that the entire universe is comprised of only 5% white matter and the remaining 95% is black matter. So , from the scientific point of view, the universe is created of white matter and black matter. This is what yoga and Samkhya have been talking about, but in different terminology. The black matter that they talk about in different terminology. The black matter that they about in science is the moola prakriti, the primordial energy, the primordial source in which everything is fused, like a seed. The seed has the possibility of developing into a tree, but if you look at the seed, you cannot see the leaves, the wood, the flowers, and fruits, although the potential exists.

The potential inherent in the seed is actualized when the conditions are right. In order to actualize when the condition are right. In order to actualize  the potential of the seed, you have to plant it at the right time. If you provide water, compost and protection, the potential of  the seed will be seen as a small sprout, which will eventually grow into a big tree. But the inherent potential of the seed will not manifest unless the condition are right. In the same way, the moola prakriti, or the dark matter, contains Prakriti, the potential of creation and individual identity, as well as Purusha, the unified awareness or God. Everything is within it. The 5% of white matter is the ever- expanding manifest universe, the created aspect that we experience through our instruments, body, senses, mind and ego.

This understanding is important because it creates awareness of another dimension of existence beyond the body. The material body is only one expression of the total life; the insects, reptiles, birds, and mammals all have bodies. All these different life forms are expressions of that cosmic force known as moola prakriti , the primal energy, interacting in this world and taking different forms. When the form is dissolved, the association with the objective world is severed. Then the consciousness becomes free to experience another dimension of life, to express itself in another dimension of existence, and this is known as evolution.

Bondage and Liberation

There are three form of suffering, due to which an idea arises in Purusha that it is bound. Whenever the three gunas are active,there is disharmony, and dealing with disharmony cause struggle.This conflict and suffering has been divided into three categories of : adhibhautika, adhyatmika and adhidaivika. The first kind of pain stems from, material causes, the second from personal, inner causes, and the third from cosmic or divine influences. More Bondage and Liberation.

When purusha, being the conscious nature, identifies with the three classifications of suffering, it appears bound. Prakriti is the cause of all sufferings, but does not identify with them, because prakriti does not have consciousness. We interact with pains and pleasures of the world according to inherited or innate predispotions, bhavas, and end up either further entangled in karma and detached from it.

Dharmena     gamanamoordhvam     gamanamadhastaadbhavatyadharmena;

Jnaanena     chaapavarago      viparyayaadishyate     bandhah.

Through the predisposition towards virtuous nature (dharma) one ascends to higher planes of existence; through inappropriate or vicious behaviour (adharma) one descends to lower planes. Through knowledge comes release and by its reverse (i.e avidya or ignorance) one become bound.

When Purusha is freed from the influences of mahat (buddhi), ahamkara and manas, it is chetana, pure consciousness. However, when Purusha comes into contact with Prakriti, it forgets its own nature. Due to its ignorance, Purusha identifies with intellect, ego and mind, and begins to believe it is not different from the experiences it has in the realm of Prakriti. This association of Purusha with Prakriti causes bondage through false identification. It is like reacting to a dream. While dreaming that somebody is chasing you with the gun, you experience fear and anxiety. But upon awakening, you realize it was just a dream. The nature of purusha is totally conscious, which can be related to the state of wakefulness. However, when Purusha interacts with Prakriti, the consciousness becomes dissipated.

While sitting alone in a room, you become introspective, absorbed in your thoughts and nature, but when somebody walks in, and you come out of that state. You look at the other person and start communicating, forgetting about yourself. The same thing happens with Purusha. While person is independent, it is perfectly at peace with itself. But when Prakriti comes before Purusha, it begins to interact with prakriti. At that time, the awareness is dissipated. Interaction and then identification begins due to association with Prakriti. Purusha loses its self-consciousness and begins to observe and react to the nature of Prakriti. Because of this loss of awareness and self- identification, Purusha thinks, “ I am the bhokta, the enjoyer” and begins to identify personally with the experiences of buddhi, manas and ahamkara, which are manifestations of Prakriti.

The  subtle ( sukshma) body , and the body born of mother  and father, together with the objects made of the gross elements , are specific. Of these, the subtle body is constant, and continues to exist from one life to the next, whereas the gross body born of parents perishes. There in Purusha experiences suffering brought about by old age and death on account of non- cessation of the subtle body ( linga ) . Therefore, pain is the very nature of things.

At this point, Purusha becomes a witness to the experience of pain, pleasure, and indifference, due to indentification with the effects of Prakriti and its trigunatmika nature. The natural and inherent consciousness of Purusha recedes further from awareness as Purusha identifies with the dance of Prakriti. That identity gives rise to the feeling of bondage. “I am limited, I am confined, I am only seeing, knowing, under-standing , and experiencing what is  being shown to me by Prakriti.”Due to the influence of the  three Gunas Purusha experiences bondage, and the ability to discriminate is lost. Now, the question arises as to why Purusha, being conscious, is affected by the role that Prakriti plays. This can be answered in the following way.

Parents become happy when their children do something positive and constructive , and unhappy when they do something destructive or negative. Although the parents are different to their offspring, they respond to the activities of their children because of an emotional relationship or connection. Similarly, a relationship exists between Purusha and Prakriti, and therefore Purusha is not able to separate its own role from the role of Prakriti and begins to think, “I am not different to the intelligence which guides Prakriti,” In this way, Purusha becomes totally identified with buddhi and forgets that buddhi ( mahat) is the product of Prakriti. This wrong identification or lack of discrimination is the cause of bondage. It is similar to parents identifying with the suffering of their child. Although the parents are not suffering, still they sit beside the child`s bed, knowing they cannot do anything to alleviate the suffering.