The Energization Exercises 1
The Energization Exercises 1
The Energization Exercises 1
by Rambhakta
about doing the rechargers) until we’re ready, with inner knowing,
Samurai.
And that’s the kicker, isn’t it? Are the rechargers better
than not doing them in the first place? No glamorous movies have
rechargers. Swamiji stood on the front steps, while the guests stood
the world how they really should be done. I had a mental image of
to?
evening when I stood out in the yard of the house where I was
living in Los Altos and decided to see how many days in a row I
I was shelling out $40 a month to sleep on the bare concrete floor
VW Bug. But hey, don’t feel sorry for me – it was a Los Altos
beforehand. When I wrote out the last check, I asked an artistic girl
at the Runner’s World office to draw flowers and cute animals all
over it.
we all really don’t want to hear about because our life is perfectly
Or is it?
Okay, to hell with it. It’s hopeless. I’m going to scrap the
David Ogilvy said, nothing works like a demo. Ready? Okay. Here
goes.
Swamiji’s statement.
published five sports magazines. One day, the editor of the martial
centered man, had battled the prison authorities for months to let
him have permission to put on the expo. Hey, those animals were
California day.
When we arrived, our friend the prison guard asked us to
of panic.
group of muscles at a time, shifting the energy from one part of the
learned.
waiting martial artists and began pushing energy into one muscle
right upper thigh, calf, neck, left forearm, stomach, abdomen, etc.
peace.
The guards inside the prison gate were scary – it was just
attempt at the prison in which Jackson, three guards, and two other
eyes.
As we filed through the gates and across the huge inner
good. I’ve done them twice a day for exactly 40 years as of today,
with four or five days when I did them just once, preceded by the
force myself to get off my arse and get started. I actually like doing
away from the source of the bother for a few minutes and do some
will turn you into a Zen Buddhist martial arts master – one of those
Yojimbo guys who goes around slicing off other people’s ears with
Well, maybe after you’ve done them for a little while. But
with you here, but as you read, please keep in mind that it helps if
feels like.
warrior, if you please – I mean, restrained is the big idea. And the
rechargers, done regularly, will give you a healthy taste for that
social annoyances that God has strewn this world with to teach us
didn’t last long. It was clear that, at this point in our lives – I was
almost sixty, Ishani was in her late forties – God was going to get
about it.
absolute hell. God was swinging a baseball bat, and He wasn’t just
aiming for the wall, but for the cornfield beyond. And like a
gentleman, I accept most of the blame for our troubles – why not,
really? – it was mostly my fault. Hate to admit it, but women are
relationships.
and me, it seemed to work well for me if I would get in the truck
and go out and drive in the hills for an hour and a half, chanting
to feel open and harmonized from the prayers and chanting, I told
her, I knew that I could reliably come home and that my restored
the situation.
Asha thought for moment – I could see that she was turning
inward and asking Swamiji what to say. And then, in a very low
crackling in the air. The storm was brewing and darkness was near.
The solution was this. I found that help was always close at
But it was the answer. It was in fact the lesson that I’m
relationships on the spiritual path are seldom easy; ours has been
one of the best, for the liberating lessons it has brought us.
Okay, that’s all I’ll say about that. And what made it
possible, at least in my case, was the fact that I had done the
think the rechargers are about the martial arts, let me tell you, they
are. They bring benefits that are very practical in all kinds of
and self-offering are called for, whether it’s going into a very scary
partner.
practices there.
morning and in the evening as the sun went down and do the
work and just afterward, when the world seemed fresh and nature
was happy – the quiet transition times when birds did their
made me feel part of nature to do them then. After all, I was doing
and relax our whole body while inhaling deeply with a double-
double-exhalation (“huh-huuuuuuuh”).
lot easier if you begin the double-breathing aspect first, before you
and only then start tensing a split second later – you’ll find that it’s
When you tense the body, start with the buttocks. I don’t know
why this works, perhaps because it’s the “middle” of the body? But
muscles since we use them all the time – for walking, standing,
whole body.
Don’t step too hard on the gas pedal all at once – make it a
moment before you start the next round. Make the intervals
inwardness and peace that comes when you relax, as the energy
flows back within. “Tense with will, relax and feel.” – Paramhansa
Yogananda
at the Bay. I’d walked a considerable distance and felt a need to get
– that is, not shallow wimpy breaths but great full heaves of air, in
relaxing. And then on the last exhale and relaxation I felt the
energy drain out of my limbs and outer body, like a small stream,
me.
frequent visits to Ananda Village I would take the bus from Palo
hippie health food store in Nevada City and ask for a piece of
cardboard on which I would write “Ananda,” then I’d hike out to
Retreat.
case. When I arrived at the Village I was unable to find a ride and
decided to walk the last five miles to the retreat. When I got there
after the long bus ride and hike, I was toast, kaputt, finito, and
okay.
what did I have to lose? – if they worked, fine, and if not I would
the end I felt renewed, restored, awake and able to meditate for two
was due to his blessing that I was able to sit motionless and
without significant pain for the full eight hours. It was unusual, as
I’d spent three years paralyzed from the chest down in my early
spine, due I suspect, to the severed nerves and damage from the
and friendships. But something more was needed, and that’s when
I got sick.
I’m a student of bronchitis, as I have the chronic kind. But
this was very different from the usual three days of malaise and
coughing. I got not a wink of sleep for the first three nights and
could only nap fitfully for ten minutes at a time during the day.
table with a laser printer. I stood, feeling very wobbly and ill, like a
shaky old man, leaning against the printer and waiting for the right
to do the rechargers.
“I’ve done these exercises every day for over thirty years,”
she said, “and as a result I know beyond question that this body is
with God.
Yoga, and the rechargers, and proper diet, etc., we can come closer
all energy comes from God and is God’s, including the energy that
wouldn’t have had the experience of God doing them through me.
exercises – erratically for the first eight years, and every day for
through which God could give me this experience. Will I skip them
Standard Stuff
God, if we do them with the right motives and in the right spirit.
them.
order given, with closed eyes and with calm concentration at the
spiritual eye.
outside the process and say, “Well, I’m doing this because it’s
good for me and I’ll get such-and-such result.” But you’ll get
time won’t give you the best results. The exercises work
pray with the body instead of with the mind. When you do them in
exercises will give you the vision of your body as energy, as light,
path.
power and spiritual awakening in the forehead, and thus hasten the
plant a new habit in the brain. Here are some suggestions to help
in front of a window.
If I’m practicing outdoors, the earth becomes packed
Do them with intense zeal, and the habit will form much
faster. Let’s face it, 10-15 minutes of all-out effort twice a day
won’t kill you. In fact, you’ll get great satisfaction from giving
selfish terms, but with the understanding that the fastest way to get
pleasing Master.
will rise up within you as you practice; sometimes the energy will
you don’t get those experiences, enjoy the exercises just because
they remind you, like chanting does, to turn your attention inward
great they are; no one will try to sell you on their worth.
stand here and inspire you with the things I say, but I can’t
the deepest desires of your heart. Realize that they can help you
see how very few people who were following Master’s teachings