Suryanamaskara, Salutation to the Sun

We meditate in the adorable glory

of the radiant sun.

May he inspire our intelligence.

(Rig Veda)

Yoga postures - asanas - are static, right? As I said before, it is better to hold a position for three breath cycles than to repeat it three times.

There are two notable exceptions: salabasana, the locust, which we will see some other time, and Suryanamaskara, the salutation to the Sun.

Saluting the Sun has a certain 'pagan' ring to it, but doesn't have to. After all, our star is the source of life on Earth. We can pay our respects, our homage, our gratitude to it. Every day, billions are spent on trips to... places in the sun! We can have our little place in the sun at home and daily bathe in its invigorating energy. Naked, if possible.

I am lucky to have a garden for the warmer months and windows facing East for the colder ones, but that isn't strictly necessary.

Suryanamaskara is not a position but a sequence of twelve positions to execute in sync with the breath.

Remember to do every movement as slowly, intentionally, and mindfully as you can. In each position, feel the muscles and ligaments being extended and contracted.

Here is the classic sequence:

1. Pranamasana (Prayer)
Raise your hands to the chest while inhaling, then exhale.

2. Hasta Uttanasana (Raised Arms)

While inhaling, raise your arms over your head and stretch back as far as you can.

3. Padahastasana (Hand to Foot)
Exaling, bend forward until you touch the ground with your hands on either side of your feet. Try keeping your hands there until step 10. If possible, your legs should be straight, which can be difficult at first but will happen with practice.

4. Ashwa Sanchalanasana (The Horse)

While inhaling, extend the right leg backwards as far as you can, bending the left knee and arching your back. The right knee should touch the ground (unlike on the following picture!)

5. Parvatasana (The Mountain)While exhaling, bring the left foot close to the right one, raise the buttocks and lower the head. Your feet should be flat on the ground which, at first, is not easy. Don't worry, and don't over strain your hamstrings: in time it will naturally happen. The head does not need to touch the ground.

6. Ashtanga Namaskara (Salute with Eight Parts)
Still holding your breath out, bring your knees, chest and chin to the ground.

7. Bhujangasana (Cobra)
While inhaling, raise your torso as far as you can first only with your back muscles, in the end with the help of your hands. Tilt your head back.

8. Parvatasana (The Mountain) [=5]

9. Ashwa Sanchalanasana [=4, with reversed legs: bent right knee, left leg back]

10. Padahastasana [=3]

11. Hasta Utthanasana [=2]

12. Pranamasana [=1]

This completes one round of Suryanamaskara. If you have the time, do several rounds: I try to do at least three at dawn. If you are really into it, the tradition sets 108 rounds daily... Don't overdo your practice: the middle way is the way to go - not slack, not self-punishing. Between rounds, rest standing up, with your arms loose by your side, and normalize the breath. In the end, after all the rounds, if possible, do a few minutes of savasana.

Suryanamaskara is an almost complete Hatha Yoga session. You can complete it with a side bend, such as trikonasana, a spinal twist, such as ardha matsyendrasana, and an inverted posture, such as sirshasana. We'll get to that later. But remember: if you are pressed for time, do at least one round of suryanamaskara per day. You'll feel the benefits.

There is one book that describes and analyzes suryanamaskara in great depth: Suryanamaskara, a Technique of Solar Vitalization, by the great Swami Satyananda Saraswati, the closest disciple of Swami Sivananda Saraswati. Highly recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Surya-Namaskara-Technique-Solar-Vitalization/dp/8185787352

Mantra: meditation is not confessional

When we hear the word 'mantra' what comes to mind?

Hare Krishna?

Credit: http://www.krishnayoga.info/radhanath-swami/the-hunger-for-krishna/

Actually

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

is an old Hindu, Vaishnava, mantra, probably dating back to the 15th century CE.

A mantra is just a sentence, heavily loaded with significance, which helps us to concentrate - or meditate. Significance does not equate to linguistic meaning. What is maybe the oldest Sanskrit mantra, Om, cannot be translated.

If we slowly pronounce it A - U - M, lengthening the 'M', it induces a peaceful, insightful state of mind.

Theravada Buddhism doesn't use mantras much. However, some of the forest tradition masters recommend using the word Buddho to help in the beginning stages of concentration: thinking 'Buddh' while inhaling and 'dho' while exhaling.

And this is the key.

We aren't used to watch our breath and soon our mind runs away like a crazy monkey. Associating words with each in and out breath helps us to keep focused.

Ajaan Maha Boowa said that he spent several days repeating Buddho in every waking moment. And he didn't sleep much...

Aren't the Lord's Prayer and the Hail Mary mantras, especially when concatenated in a rosary? The four largest religions in the world, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism, all use prayer beads.

If, like me, you have trouble concentrating, especially at the beginning of a meditation session, use a mantra. Only two conditions: it must be meaningful to your heart and it must have an even number of syllables (or just one - OM) so that you can sync it with your breath.

Some of the mantras that I use are

OM

BUDDHO

OM NAMO BUDDHAYA

OM MANI PADME HUM

OM NAMAH SHIVAYA

So, why not

MARY

or

YAHWEH

or

ALLAH

?

Samatha meditation and vipassana meditation

Two methods of Buddhist meditation

Phra Ajan Jerapunyo, Abbot of Watkungtaphao, meditating in Sirikit Dam, Thailand. Wikimedia Commons.

If you read about it, you'll find endless discussions among learned monks.
Essentially, the issue boils down to three attitudes:
 - You can attain enlightenment by samatha (serenity) meditation alone.
 - You can attain enlightenment by vipassana (insight) meditation alone.
 - You need both.

Let's see the problem with a little more detail.

Samatha meditation

This is what I tried to introduce in a previous post. You calm your mind's ripples by focusing on a single very well defined meditation subject, like breath, blue, water, or the Buddha - there are forty of them. When a sensory input or a thought arrives, you mindfully return to your meditation subject.

If you can still your mind enough, you are now practicing samadhi. Further along, sometimes you get a sign (nimitta) - colors, shapes, sounds, scents - which shows you are entering jhana (Pali for the Sanscrit dhyana). Some say you can enter jhana without the nimitta appearing first. There are four jhana states, or levels, which can be followed by four formless attainments, in a progression from grosser to more refined forms of consciousness.

Simple suttas blog. Pt. 2 Is Jhana Really Necessary (hint: yes)

The Buddha said that His enlightenment occurred after attaining all four jhanas and then the four formless states. At His death bed, He walked through the four jhanas in direct, then reverse, then direct order again, and He died in what is called His Parinibbana (state beyond nirvana, or nirvana in death).

Many modern meditation masters, such as the Pa Auk Sayadaw or Ajahn Brahm, consider that jhana is the way to nibbana (nirvana).

Don't overthink this. Keep on with mindfulness of breathing, for all your life if need be.

Vipassana meditation

Vipassana is more analytical. You are trying to get insight into the nature of all phenomena as impermanent, suffering, and selfless (anicca, dukkha, anatta).

Anicca-dukkha-anatta, by Michael Bond.

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/anicca-dukkha-anatta-michael-bond.html

So, when a sensory input or a thought arrives at your mind, you watch it with detachment and see it arise, stay for a while and go away. I mentioned this earlier relating to the pain that - always! - happens after some time of sitting meditation.

Vipassana meditation is spread worldwide today, thanks to the work of a lay master, S. N. Goenka, a pupil of another layman, Sayagyi U Ba Khin (once accountant general of Burma), who learned vipassana meditation with Webu Sayadaw, a monk who was regarded as enlightened. All three were Burmese so, in a way, the modern Vipassana Movement was born in Burma.

So, what should I do?

A polemic took place between the Burmese Mahasi Sayadaw and the Sri Lankan monk Soma Thera, in the late 1950s. The Sayadaw defended that nibbana is attainable by 'dry insight' - vipassana alone - and the other monk defended the necessity of samadhi. There is an account of this polemic in Satipatthana Vipassana: Criticisms and Replies. Dry.

Mahasi Sayadaw. http://www.mahasiusa.org/sayadaw.html

If you google "vipassana meditation" you get 733,000 hits, while "jhana meditation" gets you 129,000. On the other hand, if you search "vipassana" and "jhana" in accesstoinsight.org you get 155 and 368 hits, respectively. This shows that, while vipassana, maybe because it seems easier, has a much wider global following, the Dhamma texts, on the other hand, have much more samatha references.

My experience tells me that you cannot have the necessary concentration to observe the transient nature of all phenomena without previous samatha practice. If you take a vipassana 10-days course from the Goenka 'school', you'll find that the first two days are dedicated to samatha meditation. You should, by the way.

"Serenity and insight are the two great wings of Buddhist meditation. They each have a special role to play in the path to Awakening. While some modern approaches seek to marginalize serenity in favor of ‘dry’ insight, the Buddha’s own discourses place serenity right at the center of the path" in A Swift Pair of Messengers by Bhante Sujato (the messengers are samatha and vipassana.)

Anyway...

Don't overthink this. Keep on with mindfulness of breathing.