Part 2 - Research on Yoganidrā Technique of Svāmī Satyānanda

[Full title: Research on Yoganidrā Technique of Paramahaṃsa Svāmī Satyānanda Sarasvati, Founder, Bihar School of Yoga]

The aspect of nidrā (conventionally known as sleep) has been dealt by Patañjali as one of the five vṛttis (modifications of the mind).

abhāvapratyayālambanā vṛttirnidrā || 1.10 ||

We observe that of the three distinct and fundamental states of human consciousness i.e. a) Wakeful State (jāgṛati), b) Deep Sleeping State (suṣupti) and c) Dream State (svapna), the first one is perhaps the most understood whereas the remaining two have been relatively less understood and therefore have been matter of research interest. Modern researchers have been able to determine many of the psycho-physiological functions and characteristics of sleep. The fourth level of consciousness turīya state is associated with higher level of evolution of consciousness usually attainable by yogīs. Each of these states has been corelated with distinct patterns of electrical activity in the brain.

This is summarized in table 1 below^[1] .

Stage	State of Consciousness	Psychological Dimension	Brainwave Pattern	Realm of Experience
1	Awake	Conscious mind	Beta (13-20 cps)	Sensory awareness, external knowledge.
	Dream	Subconscious mind	Theta (4-7 cps)	Release of Emotions, suppressed fears and desires
3	Deep Sleep	Unconscious mind	Delta (0-4cps)	Awakening of instincts and primitive drives
4	Turīya/ Yoganidrā	Superconscious mind, Hypnogogic borderline between awake and sleep	Alpha (8-12 cps)	Deep relaxation, visionary states, conscious dreaming,

Patañjali has termed nidrā (sleep) as vṛtti where there is total absence of ‘experience’. In the wakeful and dream state the experiences are through the sense organs. That is why one experiences the emotions of love, fear etc. even during the dream state and are acknowledged through intense pleasure or of sweating of the body organs respectively.

Deep Sleep is a natural and regularly occurring condition of generalized rest and relaxation of the body and mind. Sleep however differs from wakeful and dream state in that it is characterized by the absence of conscious thought, sensation or movement. We can say that it is naturally occurring form of pratyāhāra (sense withdrawal). The person in Sleep state is completely detached from sense perceptions and thus cannot recollect happenings during this state after he wakes up. The only aspect that is recollected is that ‘there is nothing that can be recollected’ Scientifically speaking, the brain wave patterns during the Wakeful and dream state are quite similar and are completely different from the brain wave patters observed in the sleep state.

There is some similarity in sleep state and samādhi state. In both these states, there is absence of external stimuli. There are no perceptions happening through sense organs. The only difference in these two states is the ‘awareness’. In sleep state there is no awareness, whereas samādhi state is full of ‘awareness’.

Svāmī Satyananda says that,

In the sleep state there is predominance of tamas and this can be characterized by ‘extra-sensorial’ awareness. When the consciousness disassociates itself from both the sensory organs and motor organs, contact between the sensory/motor cortex of the brain and the external world is gradually lost. As this occurs, consciousness is progressively withdrawn and redirected internally towards its source.^[2]

During this period, the sense modalities are disengaged systematically in a fixed sequence as the awareness is internally directed towards the deeper levels of the mind. The sense of smell (olfaction) is the first sense to disengage. As per tantraśāstra, this corresponds to mūlādhāracakra and the Earth tattva. It is followed by taste (gestation), corresponding to svādhiṣṭhānacakra and the water tattva. After taste, visual capacity, which is the tanmātrā of maṇipuracakra disengages. Thereafter the touch sensation corresponding to anāhatacakra and air element and finally hearing sensation corresponding to viśuddhicakra and space element also disengages.

Patañjali has also advocated meditation on sleep as a means of cittaprasādana or purification of the mind stuff.

svapnanidrājñānālambanaṃ vā || 1.38 ||

Patañjalisays that the knowledge obtained in dreams and sleep can be used to purify the mind.

There can be extra sensorial knowledge obtained during the dream state is now well known. There have been instances of scientists discovering scientific phenomenon in their dreams, the problems of which they could not derive solutions during intense thinking and efforts in the wakeful state. For example, Scientist August Kekule^[3] was unsuccessfully trying to formulate the atomic structure of Benzene molecule. He eventually found it during the state of day dreaming. On similar lines many a yogīs have gained extra sensorial knowledge and have used it for cittaprasādana.Patañjali says that there is absence of experience during deep sleep. However, the puruṣa who is the experiencer (seer) is still awake even during the sleep and it is possible to cognize this puruṣa during deep sleep. This state, which is a borderline state of consciousness between suṣupti (deep sleep) and turīya (super consciousness) is termed as yoganidrā by Svāmī Satyānanda Sarasvatī, the Founder of Bihar School of Yoga and the inventor of yoganidrā practice. He explains^[4] difference between the waking State and dreaming State as -there is an important band of awareness and experience which is known as ‘Hypnogogic State’ This is a transient state and usually does not last more than a few minutes. This state is characterized by alpha waves (7-12 cps). It is accompanied by deep and progressive relaxation and release of muscular and postural tensions throughout the physical body, and by loss of awareness of the external environment. As the waking state of reality dissolves, the dreaming state of experience replaces it. Yoganidrā occurs at this threshold of sense consciousness and sleep consciousness. It is entered by learning to extend the duration of the short hypnogogic state which precedes normal sleep. In yoganidrā, the brain is introverted, while maintaining a degree of external awareness by listening to and mentally following a series of instructions.

During the practice of yoganidrā, periodic bursts of alpha waves are interspersed between alternating periods of beta and theta predominance. Thus, the consciousness is poised on the borderline between wakefulness and sleep for an extended period of time fluctuating cyclically between extroversion and introversion. By remaining aware and alert in the alpha predominant state between these two, a profound experience of total relaxation is achieved. It is a doorway to higher states of consciousness.

The ultimate outcome of yoganidrā is total harmony and integration between all levels of consciousness. One who perfects the yoganidrā technique, transcends the three initial states of awareness, entering into fourth unitive state beyond individual consciousness -a merging with the universal consciousness. In spiritual terms we can term it as ‘liberation’ or ‘God realization’ but in yogic terms, we can say that it is total mind in operation.

Normally, we live in solely within the restricted domain of the conscious mind. We are unaware of the deeper needs, capacities and attributes of our mind. As such we are unable to tap into vast resources of knowledge residing within us. We are unable to understand all levels of human consciousness. This is the root cause of our misery. Yoganidrā is a means of contacting the source of self-knowledge and inspiration lying within us. This is termed as cittaprasādana by Patañjali.

Experimental evidence of the existence of the fourth state of consciousness, which is unified and transcendental, whose portal lies in the yoganidrā state was first recorded at the Menninger Foundation, USA in 1977.^[5]

Under the direction of Dr. Elmer Green, Svāmī Rāma, an Indian Yogī who progressively relaxed his entire physical, mental and emotional structure in yoganidrā, while his brain wave patterns were recorded by EEG under laboratory conditions. Svāmī Rāma demonstrated the capacity to entervarious states of consciousness at will, evidenced by remarkable changes in the electrical activity of his brain.

During the experiment in the laboratory, Svāmī Rāma first entered into yoganidrā, producing 70% alpha wave discharge for a predetermined 5 minutes, simply by imagining a blue sky with occasional drifting of white clouds. Next, he entered a stage of dreaming sleep accompanied by slower theta waves for subsequent five minutes. He described this state as noisy and unpleasant. He attained it by ‘stilling the conscious mind and bringing forth the subconscious. In this state, he had the internal experience of desires, ambitions, memories and past images in archetypal form arising sequentially from the subconscious and unconscious with a rush, each archetype occupying his whole awareness.

Lastly, Svāmī Rāma entered the state of (unconscious) deep sleep, as verified by the pattern of slow rhythm delta waves. He remained perfectly aware throughout the experiment period which was evidenced by his recollection of various events and questions that were asked of him during the deep delta wave sleep, while his body slept snoring quietly. Such remarkable mastery over fluctuating patterns of consciousness had not previously been demonstrated under strict laboratory conditions. The capacity to remain consciously aware while producing delta waves and experiencing deep sleep is one of the indications of the superconscious state (turīya). This is the ultimate state of yoganidrā in which the conventional barriers between waking, dreaming and deep sleep are removed, revealing simultaneous operation of conscious, subconscious and unconscious mind. The result is a single enlightened state of consciousness and a perfectly integrated and relaxed personality.

Svāmī Satyānanda further explains the state of super consciousness.^[6] This state is now recognized and defined as a physiological reality. Now research in parapsychology, psi phenomena and psychotronics is providing experimental evidence that ‘the universal mind’, a single underlying matrix of consciousness, does in fact exist.

The superconscious or universal mind is realized progressively as the barriers separating the three distinct forms of awareness are removed by practices such as yoganidrā or meditation. The individual mind is then illumined, revealing the entire superconscious dimension. This process of illumination of the total mind is the real meaning of liberation, selfrealization, mokṣa or samādhi as Patañjali espouses.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Satyananda Saraswati-Svāmī, Yoganidrā, Yoga Publications Trust, Bihar, 1998, p.171

[2]:

Satyananda Saraswati-Svāmī, op. cit., p.169

[3]:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_Kekul%C3%A9,15 Sept,2017

[4]:

Satyananda Saraswati-Svāmī, op. cit., p.172

[5]:

Green E.E., <>, ‘ The Varieties of Healing Experience-Exploring Psychic Phenomena in Healing ’, Academy of Parapsychology and Medicine, Stanford University, 1971

[6]:

Satyananda Saraswati-Svāmī, op. cit., p.177-78