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The Significance of 108 – Why Is It So Important?

5/2/2015

According to the Surya Siddhanta, an ancient Indian astronomical work, the sunlight moves at a speed of 2,202 yojanas in 0.5 nimisha. One yojana is nine miles. 2,202 yojanas amount to 19,818 miles. One nimisha is equal to 16/75 of a second. Half a nimisha amounts to 8/75 of a second, which is 0.106666 seconds.

A speed of 19,818 miles in 0.10666 seconds equals 185,793 miles per second. This is approximately in line with the modern calculations, according to which the speed of light is 186,282 miles per second.

The numbers in brief : -

There are 2202 yojanas in 0.5 nimisha.
1 yojana = 9 miles
1 nimisha = seconds
2202 yojana in 0.5 nimisha = 2202 x 9 miles in 0.5 x (16/75) seconds
= 19,818 miles in 0.10666 seconds
= 185,793 miles/second

Modern science has arrived at this number with great difficulty and all kinds of instruments, while a few thousand years ago, they got this number by simple observation of how the human system and the solar system function together.

The distances between the Sun and the Earth, the distances between the Moon and the Earth, the way the planet rotates and the impact it has – all these things have been looked at with great care. The diameter of the Sun multiplied by 108 equals the distance between Sun and Earth, and the diameter of the Moon multiplied by 108 equals the distance between Earth and Moon. The diameter of the Sun is 108 times the diameter of the Earth.

That is why we have 108 beads in a mala.

The most important thing is the deep connection between the making of time and the making of the human body. The planet is approximately round and it has a slightly tilted orbit. As it travels, as it spins, it forms a circle.

Today we know it takes 25,920 years to complete this cycle. This tilt mainly happens because of the gravitational pull of the moon over the earth. And that many years are called one cycle of yugas. Each of these cycles has eight yugas.

There are 4 yugas: Kali, Dwapara, Treta and Krita yuga. Each of these occurs twice per 25920-year cycle.

Earth and man

Back to one cycle of axial procession – 25,920 divided by 60 (which is also the number of heart beats per minute if you are healthy) – comes to 432. Four hundred thirty two is a number that comes up in various cultures – the Norse culture, the ancient Jewish culture, the Egyptian culture, the Mesopotamian culture, and very much in the Indian culture here.

Why 432 ? If you are in good health and in good condition, your heart beats about 60 times per minute, which is 3600 per hour, and 3600 x 24 equals 86,400 heartbeats per day. If you divide 864 by 2, again you have 432.

Only if you are riding the time, you will live an extraordinary life, which is what a human being and the human brain are designed for.

If you are healthy, you take about 15 breaths per minute. If you have done lots of sadhana, it could be only 12.

15 breaths per minute means 900 breaths per hour and 21,600 per day. 216 multiplied by 2 becomes 432 again. If you take the circumference of the earth – there is something called a nautical mile which is the real mile in the sense that it has something to do with the way the planet is. The other units of measurement were created for ease of calculation.

We know there are 360° in a circle. Likewise, there are 360° upon the planet, and each degree is divided into 60 minutes. One of these minutes accounts for one nautical mile. That means the circumference of the earth at the equator is 21,600 nautical miles – that is also how many breaths you take per day. That means the planet is spinning on time and you are doing well. If the planet was not spinning on time, it would be no good at all for us. If you are not in tune with it, it is also no good for you.

Time is not a concept that we invented – time is deep-rooted in the system, in the very way we are made. When we go into Mahabharat, there is so much talk about the yugas and how they function.

Let’s look at the impact of time in human life from a different context. This is not something that someone thought up – this is a phenomenal and profound science. Yoga has always been deeply involved with this. It is just that we don’t believe in propounding theories about it. By practice, we try to attune the body to the times and spaces of creation, because without being in tune with them, you do not get very far. If you are not riding the time, you will live a mediocre life – probably a suffering life. Only if you are riding the time, you will live an extraordinary life, which is what a human being and the human brain are designed for.

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Colors and Their Role in our Life – Why sage wear different color robes ?

5/2/2015

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How is color significant for human consciousness as such, or for any kind of spiritual process ? It is significant in the sense that the color that we reflect will naturally add to the aura that we carry. People on the ascetic path don’t want to wear anything because they don’t want to add anything new to themselves. They just want to work with what they have. They don’t want to take on anything more.

What is color, first of all ?

The color of any substance is not because of what it is, it is what it rejects or what it gives away or reflects. Something looks red not because it is red, but because it holds back everything that white light contains and reflects red. So red does not mean it is red. Red means it is not red! Whatever you give away, that will be your quality in the world also.

The meaning of the color RED

If we walk in the forest, it is all green but there will be one spot of red – somewhere one red flower blossoming – that draws our attention because in our perception, red is the most vibrant of all the colors. All other colors may be pretty and nice but red is vibrant.

Many things which are significant to us are red. Red is the color of our blood for example. In human consciousness, colors have a big impact upon how we feel, and red creates maximum vibrance. Anything exuberant means red.

Among the deities that we create, the feminine forms are the most exuberant. Linga Bhairavi’s color is red because she gives away red. Devi signifies that vibrance. Her energy is absolute vibrance and exuberance. Because of that, Devi is red – not because she is red, because she is not red !

The meaning of the color BLUE

Blue is the color of all-inclusiveness. We see in the existence, anything that is vast and beyond our perception generally tends to be blue, whether it is the ocean or the sky. Anything which is larger than our perception tends to be blue because blue is the basis of all-inclusiveness. It is based on this that so many gods in India are shown as blue-skinned. Shiva has a blue skin, Krishna has a blue skin, Rama has a blue skin. It is not that their skin was blue. They were referred to as blue gods because they had a blue aura.

There is another aspect to this. In terms of one’s evolution, there are various hues that one’s aura can take. If we make the Agna very important in our sadhana, then orange will be the dominant color. That is the color of renunciation and kriya. If someone has a pure white aura, that means this is a pure being. Such a person’s presence will be fantastic, but he will not be so action-oriented.

When someone attains to their highest but chooses to be active in the world, his aura will always be electric blue. Anyone who was dynamic was blue. It is this type of aura which allows us to function in the world in a way that other people think is superhuman.

The meaning of the color ORANGE

Why people who walk the spiritual path choose orange as their color, at least in India, is because orange suggests so many things. When a person is moving towards Agna, it can be very visibly noticed that the color of Agna is orange. It is organically and naturally so. If you go into certain meditations, you will clearly see that Agna is orange or saffron. The color is not actually saffron, it is ochre.

The Agna chakra is the chakra of knowing or enlightenment, and is known as the third eye.

There are 114 chakras in the body. Two of these do not ascribe to any color because they are not physical in nature. The rest of the 112 chakras ascribe to some color. Anything that is physical in the existence naturally reflects light. Once it reflects light, it will have color in our perception. People who are on the path where the whole process is about enlightenment and opening up that dimension of perception referred to as the third eye, will always seek ochre because they want to radiate that color.

If we have become transparent, if what is behind us is red, we turn red too. If what is behind us is blue, we turn blue too. Wherever we are, we become a part of that, but nothing sticks to us.

Normally, a person who switches to orange drops everything that was old – his name, his identity, his family, his looks, his everything – and shifts into a different life. That means he is making a new beginning, a new sun has risen in his life.

A certain realization has come where he is willing to shed everything and walk into another dimension of life or another possibility. It also suggests gnana and vision. Either a person has developed or he wants to develop a new vision, that’s why he is going into it. For both people it is good to wear orange.

Orange is also a symbolism. When the sun rises in the morning, it is orange. We wear this color to indicate that a new light has come into our life and a new rising has happened within us. A new sun is beginning to rise within us. Another aspect is, when the fruit matures, it becomes orange. Orange is a symbol of maturity. When a person has attained to a certain level of maturity or ripening, he uses this color.

The meaning of the color WHITE

White or aatvarang means the eighth color. There are seven colors; white is the eighth color. This eighth color or aatvarang means that dimension of life which is beyond. White is not really a color. When there is no color, only white is there. It is the absence of color that makes it white. At the same time, white is all-inclusive. The white light that we see contains all of the seven colors. We can refract those colors and separate all seven of them.

White has a good impact on us. Especially when we live in a tropical country, white is the best color to wear. It is comfortable weather-wise. Traditionally, a person who wears orange cuts himself off from family and social situations. The one who chooses white walks the spiritual path, but is still involved in the other aspects of life. Those who are on a path where they don’t want to gather anything will wear white. Their sadhana is mild, but they are on the spiritual path, but they are involved with various aspects of life, they don’t want to gather life around them. They want to be participating in life but they don’t want to gather anything, such people will choose to wear white.

The meaning of the color YELLOW

In the Buddhist tradition, monks, who graduated to what Budhha called arhats, wore ochre robes. The rest wore yellow robes because the process that Budhha gave to the initial stage of Buddhist monks was a very rudimentary process. He chose this process for them because it did not need any preparation. He wanted to cause a wave of awareness. That means he didn’t stay in any town for too long. He was continuously moving from village to village and town to town. There was no time to prepare people for any kind of practice, so he gave them a very rudimentary process. But still he was converting them into monks. He was fixing their life but not giving them enough preparatory steps, so he told them to wear the yellow robe because yellow is the color of the Muladhara chakra. The most basic chakra in the body is Muladhara. He wanted them to be stable.

Such a process is taught when we are charting out a spiritual path for a few lifetimes. That tradition still continues in the Buddhist way of life. They keep coming back and coming back to do more work because the process is of stabilization, not of realization. So he told them to wear yellow robes.

The meaning of the color BLACK

If we are in a certain space which is powerfully energized and you want to imbibe, black is good. Black does not give out anything, it absorbs everything. If we wear black and go to a good space, we will absorb that. But if we wear black and go to a bad space, you will absorb that.

So, not everyone is qualified to wear black. If we continuously remain in black clothing and expose ourselves to a variety of situations, we will notice that our energies will fluctuate and it sucks out all the emotion from us and gets our mind into very volatile, imbalanced states. It makes us into a silent suffering. We will suffer in such a way that we cannot even find expression to our suffering.

But if we wear black in a situation which is very vibrant and positive, we will absorb a tremendous amount of energy, which is good for us. Black should be worn only if we are ensured of the quality of the space.

Vairagya

We may have heard the word “vairagya“. “Raga,” means color. “Vai” means beyond. “Vairag,” means beyond color. If we have become transparent, if what is behind us is red, we turn red too. If what is behind us is blue, we turn blue too. If what is behind us is yellow, we turn yellow too. We are unprejudiced. Wherever we are, we become a part of that, but nothing sticks to us. Only if we are like this, only if we are in a state of Vairag, then we will dare to explore all dimensions of life when we live here.

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The Significance of 108 – Why Is It So Important?

Colors and Their Role in our Life – Why sage wear different color robes ?

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