By contracting the perineum, the downward moving

apana vayu is forced to go upward. This is called Moola

Bandha by the yogis.
This is the beginning of Mahamudra.

It is Moola Bandha, the complete thing. Apana rises, Nada is

experienced, and they are united with bindu. First prana and apana
unite and then they form the union with Nada, which unites the mind
with the body. And these three (prana, apana, and Nada) form the
union with bindu.
This is the description of Samadhi. After the union, you don’t
have to wait for anything else to happen.
............

When Jalandhara Bandha is done by contracting the throat,

the nectar does not fall into the gastric fire and prana is not
agitated.
This is Jalandhara Bandha, in which you need to tie up the
nerves which come down from the brain and go through the neck, as
taught by the Guru. You have to press your chin firmly over the
heart so that the liquid which is dropping from the brain or the moon
is stopped, and instead of going into the stomach it is directed
towards the heart. Again, Khechari Mudra is the most important
ingredient for performing Jalandhara Bandha successfully.
 By strongly contracting the throat, the two nadis are
stopped, and the sixteen adharas are locked.
Sixteen adharas are the sixteen nerve control points which
control the whole nervous system of the body. Their main junction is
the Vishuddhi Chakra in the throat – a chakra with sixteen petals. By
this, the activity in the left and right hemispheres of the brain is
stopped.
............

Sitting in Baddha Padmasana, the yogi should inhale through the

left nostril, drink the vayu and hold the breath to full capacity, and
then exhale through the right nostril. Then, inhaling through the
right nostril, gradually drinking the vayu and retaining it, he should
perform kumbhaka as before and then exhale completely through the
left nostril.

Sit in Baddha Padmasana and do Khechari. Put your chin down. Now
close your right nostril from inside the nasal cavity with the tongue and inhale
from the left nostril. Then close your left nostril from inside with your tongue
and exhale from the right nostril. When you are doing Baddha Padmasana it
sorts of squeezes your Sushumna, especially near Anahata Chakra. Without
Baddha Padmasana and Khechari, Nadi Shodhan is not possible. It also opens
your lungs and your abdomen in a certain way to start a very special reaction
of intestines. Opening the lungs enables you to use its full capacity while
breathing, so you can fill up your lungs as well as abdomen with vayu and are
able to do Nadi Shodhan.

Inhale and drink vayu with the same nostril through which the
exhalation was done, and hold the breath to maximum capacity, and
exhale through the other nostril slowly, but not forcibly.

There is a difference between inhaling and drinking the vayu. Drinking

means you inhale and swallow the air only then it goes inside your stomach;
otherwise it remains only in your lungs. Normally pure air never enters your
intestines. There’s only the reaction of digestive acid with the food, which
leads to the development of different types of gases. By doing this pranayama,
pure air goes inside your intestine and it starts to absorb the air and send it to
the different muscles and different organs and nerves; it gets distributed
everywhere – to every cell and every nadi. This is a technique of digesting the
air. There is no need to exhale; the air remains inside and gets absorbed by the
intestines. When the intestine is full of pure air which you inhale in a certain
drinking way by Ida, a different effect takes place, and by Pingala, another
effect takes place.

These explanations concern the chemical processes which take place

during the breath retention. By simply swallowing the air it is not possible to
digest it – air will go out from the stomach by belching or through intestine.
But when the person is not breathing and is able to retain the air inside his
body, all the processes of digestion – from salivation to absorption – improve.
A longer kumbhaka creates a stronger process of air digestion.

We know that the human body is created by five elements and we also
observe that their distribution is not equal. Earth element is about 29%, Water
element is about 71%, with a very small percentage of Vayu and Fire elements
and just a trace of Akash element. With a very advanced practice of yoga,
Vayu element begins to increase first, and with mudras – Fire element begins
to increase. This especially happens with Moola Bandha. And by establishing
oneself in nada (the un-struck cosmic sound), Akash element becomes
proportional to the other four. In the body of a perfect yogi all five elements
are present in equal proportion of 20% each. This is the sign of immortality.

When you drink the air from the right nostril, you do not drink all the
vayu – you drink some of it and some goes into the lungs which you exhale
from the left nostril. And when you drink the air from the left nostril, it has a
different memory and quality; it again goes into the stomach and creates a mix
of Ida and Pingala air. All of this is done in Baddha Padmasana, with Khechari
Mudra. If one does it sitting in Baddha Padmasana but without doing
Khechari, the actual effect cannot be achieved.

Join the hands together with your tongue in Khechari. Strike the hip-like
structure of the front part of your brain very softly. By doing this the vayu
leaves the left and right hemispheres of the brain and goes into the middle and
the yogi becomes conscious of the Void.

In Kriya Yoga this technique is called Nabhi Kriya. It has three

variations. The practice of this technique is done from the second level of
Nabhi Kriya.

Trataka erases all eye diseases, fatigue and laziness, and also closes the
doorway that creates these problems. This is a preparation for mastering
Khechari Mudra and Shambhavi. When a yogi sits in Khechari and looks up
between the eyebrows or in front of the nose, a very fine point of very bright
light appears. The yogi should concentrate on that with an absolutely peaceful
mind till tears begin to flow from his eyes. This is known as Trataka.

The body is considered as earthly and has a soul (Jivatman) inside. It

makes sense that the Earth must also have a soul, which, from our level of
development, can be considered as the Supreme Soul (Paramatman). When a
yogi is in Samadhi, his soul and the greater soul of Earth form a union. Now
the yogi becomes the knower of all.

This is why the great yogi Swatmarama said earlier that Raja Yoga is
the only way to make the Earth happy. The one, who is evolved enough to
unite his awakened consciousness with the consciousness of Earth, knows
everything. It is very easy to observe that all the sciences and subjects are, in a
way, a study to understand Mother Earth’s nature and to understand all the
events taking place on her surface from multiple angles. However, a highly
advanced yogi leaves all these subjects behind and merges his awakened
consciousness with the supreme consciousness of Mother Earth herself.

Mahashakti means the Conscious Void. After forming the union with the
consciousness of Earth, the yogi starts becoming aware of the great Void,
which is also conscious. Making the conscious mind unconscious means
the death of the mind.

As long as Ida and Pingala are active, the effect of time will always be
there. One grows old and eventually dies. A yogi, who can successfully open
Sushumna or the middle path and is able to take the vayu and hold it in there,
can overcome old age and may avoid death as well. As long as the vayu flows
in Sushumna, time can have no effect on the yogi.

...........

There are two causes which limit the mind to only 2% of its full
potential – desire and vayu. By controlling the vayu successfully, the
conscious mind is made unconscious and the yogi goes beyond all desires.
With controlled vayu, subconscious mind is awakened. The yogi, who has
evolved to this level, realizes that by controlling the subconscious mind, vayu
can also be controlled.

When the yogi begins to experience the Void and realizes that the Void
is also conscious, his awakened consciousness no longer needs any support to
be.

............

The whole world is just a thought. The whole world comes

into being just by thought and the play of the mind is

created by thought. By going beyond the mind, which is

 made up of constructed thoughts, peace will definitely be

attained.

Piercing of the three knots – Brahma Granthi, Vishnu Granthi, and

Rudra Granthi – is the main goal of Kriya Yoga. Now the great yogi
Swatmarama begins to describe the process. It is only in Hatha Yoga Pradipika
that we find a detailed step-by-step description of how to do it.

Only Hatha Karma (the process of Hatha Yoga) leads to the knowledge
of Raja Yoga.

Yogi Swatmarama, who wrote this book, says: "In my opinion,

concentration or dhyana between the eyebrows leads to Unmani (Samadhi)
soon. This is the best method for attaining Raja Yoga even for those who
are not so wise. The Laya attained through the nada gives an immediate
experience."

All the teachings or all the processes of Hatha Yoga and Laya Yoga are
stepping stones or means to attain Raja Yoga (Samadhi). One who attains Raja
Yoga wins over death. There is an ever-increasing bliss in the heart of the
great yogi who remains in Samadhi through the exploration of nada

After merging with the nada, the yogi realizes the source from where
the nada is emanating. After realizing the consciousness of the Void through
the nada and reaching the source, a new chapter begins. The yogi, after
reaching the source of the nada, begins to be aware of the consciousness of the
Time or the true nature of Shiva. This level of development is reached only
by the grace of the Guru and only by the direct grace of Shiva. There is
no other way.

Shakti is Void and Shiva is Time. They are so merged together that it is
impossible to draw a line between them – from where the Void ends and the
Time begins. Only by becoming conscious of the Void by exploring the nada
and reaching its source, the yogi becomes conscious of Time that is Shiva
Himself.
 Whether there is liberation or no liberation, there is

extreme satisfaction. That bliss arising from the Laya is

Raja Yoga.