Way of the White Swan, the journey of the jeevhamsa

By Yogiraj Siddhanath

Progress into the inner recesses of the brain

The journey of our soul can be summed up as the cycle of the involution of Consciousness through mind into matter and then its subsequent evolution from matter into mind and Consciousness.

The human soul, in order to complete its cycle of evolution first descends and gets engrossed in the various sheaths of the body, the mental sheath, the emotional sheath, the etheric sheath and finally in the womb the material sheath of flesh and bones. Forgetting its true nature, it gets more and more restricted as in relative sequence by various permutations and combinations of molecules it becomes more and more dense. In this descending arc of involution called the Pravritti Marg, the soul sinks more and more into the material world, garnering the experiences of joy and sorrow, right and wrong, bad and good, garnering experiences in the world of relativity in the material world.

After being buffeted by raag (attractions) and dvesh (repulsions), the joys and miseries of the material world and satisfying the lust for life, the inner-spirit of the soul-swan pushes it towards its own evolution, the Nivritti Marg, the inward path of return. This is the evolutionary path of renunciation and detachment from all worldly pleasures of samsara. Here the soul consciousness begins to withdraw itself from the grosser sheath of matter to the subtler spheres of the mind. Moving to complete its cycle of evolution it ascends, and becomes more and more transparent by yogic and spiritual practices, the flame of its soul expresses more and more of its innate spiritual radiance. The jeevhamsa begins its inner yogic ascent through ever more refined and ever more expanded spheres of consciousness to get to the god-essence, the divine in-dweller that lies at the core of its own Being.

The evolution of the human consciousness is the most comprehensive enterprise ever undertaken by the Yogis, compared to which the greatest of human achievements pale into insignificance. A journey inwards unsurpassed by any journey into outer space.  In the human brain exist the lateral ventricles in the shape of a swan poised in flight, with its wings thrust forward and its head pointing to the back. When a Hamsa Yogi, through yogic meditation and pranayama, activates the kundalini energy, these ventricles in the brain open up. The two petals in the agnya chakra corresponding to the pituitary gland open first. The yogi at this stage experiences hamsa consciousness of being breathed by the Divine in-dweller, the universal prana.

As the yogi further continues and progresses in the hamsa meditation, the third eye opens up in the agnya chakra and the yogi goes into the ecstasy of sarvikalpa consciousness. Then penetrating the star in the third eye the hamsayogi expands into the state of nirvikalpa consciousness, dwelling in the cave of Brahma, the brain’s third ventricle. The evolution of the human consciousness does not stop there. The awareness of the yogi evolves further beyond the I-ness of humanity to settle in the spaces of the lateral swan-like ventricles of the brain. Then in a final push the mighty hamsa, the soul wins its wings to final freedom and liberation. The corona radiata of the brain light up with divine effulgence and the yogi takes flight into cosmic consciousness. Experiencing the total divinity of and beyond creation, gaining the ultimate knowledge of Tat Tvam Asi, the yogi merges into Niranjan Nirvan, the final nirvana of the Kaivalya Samadhi. Having attained the enlightenment of the Buddha and the Christ such beings come back to this world only as an Avatar.

This is where we are going, in spite of ourselves.  Because the whole warp and weft of the cosmic flow, the galactic swirl, the universal swirl is towards Divinity.  And because the whole swirl and sway and swing and rhythm and music of the universe is towards Divinity, we cannot help but flow in that direction.

Within each one of us is this mystic, inconceivable, indescribable silence and love, and the urge to return to this natural state, the Sahaj Samadhi.

“Beyond the gates of death I glide – untied
Into regions sublime – surpassing causation, space and time.
Here Eternal bliss is King by name of Sat Chit Anand,
Whose life is loving Brahmananda.”

Note: This is a reprint of an article published January 4, 2019 in the online publication, The Pioneer.

** Yogiraj will be back in Europe, the U.S. and Canada in the spring and summer of 2019! You can join him now at events in India! Learn more at our Siddhanath Events Page.