Travelling

QUESTION: Dhananjay, hi

Thanks very much for your detailed answers.
Dhananjay, what are you thoughts on travelling, some people like to travel, some people have to travel with work. How does travelling affect the brahamacharya yogi? Since the yogi is used to a daily yoga routine, does travelling have any affect on his/her energy levels, what i mean is that the person is used to a place of comfort in terms of doing his/her daily routine [bandh, pranayam and meditation], does travelling spoil that peace etc etc. Is there a fear of loss of vital energy because of travelling, change of place, change of energy field etc etc?

Also, in one of your earlier posts i read about moustache and beard helping in warding off negative energy, can you please elaborate on that?

Thanks very much, you dont know how much I appreciate it, Manish

ANSWER: 1. A Yogi wishing true spiritual progress leading to the state of an Urdhvaretha and finally liberation should to the best extent possible avoid travelling, meeting people, spending time with groups of people and indulging in other external contact. All these should be limited to necessity arising out of work/occupation and never more. Much of his Prana and Ojas get lost through useless talk and useless thoughts sprouting from worldly contact. Contact with people results in draining of transmuted energy without doubt. Travelling unless necessary results in an abrupt change in mental temperament, environment, food, lifestyle and daily schedule. Much fatigue results from continuous travel. There will be very little or no energy left to focus the mind on Yogic practice. This is the lifestyle of a Bhogi (worldly man) and not that of a Yogi (one who is striving for liberation).

This train of thought is endorsed in the 'Hathayogapradipika' written by the noble, self-realized sage Svatmarama, where it is clearly mentioned that once Brahmacharya has become steady and Kundalini is awakened (both go together), the Yogi should settle down in one place and practice till he attains to Yoga (final union). In the Bhagavad-Gita, Chapter 6/Verse 10, Lord Krishna says: " Let the Yogi constantly persevere in keeping the mind steady on me, remaining in solitude, alone, with the mind and body controlled, free from hope and greed." Such a state becomes very difficult for one who travels, relocates often or is fond of company.
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Some information on hair drawn from various credible sources is reproduced below for the benefit of interested readers:-

" Human hair regulates the flow of Solar energy into the system. To let Solar energy flow unhindered into our system, it is necessary to grow hair to its full length and take good care of it. Then, the amount of energy that flows down from the Sahasra chakra (thousand petaled seventh chakra in the brain) increases tremendously. Kundalini is activated by the radiant force in the Anahata chakra (solar-plexus) and moves upward in response to the Solar energy coming down. This balances the body center and maintains total equillibrium. If hair is kept unkempt, let loose, down or uncovered, it becomes electrically imbalanced and the natural process of raising Kundalini gets impeded. Actually, the word hair is so important that the word Kundalini dereives its name from 'Kundala' meaning a coil of hair, also referring to the three and half coiled serpent power. Hair is best kept uncut and at the top of the head in the form of a Rishi knot over the 'Brahmarandhra' or the solar center. This concentrates solar energy into the pineal gland and encourages the awakening and rising of Kundalini shakthi that is necessary for liberation.

Hair is an extension of the nervous system, it can be correctly seen as exteriorized nerves, a type of highly evolved ’feeler’ or ’antennae’ that transmits vast amounts of important information to the brainstem, the limbic system, and the neo-cortex.  Not only does hair in people, including facial hair in men, provide an information highway reaching the brain, hair also emits energy, the electromagnetic energy emitted by the brain into the outer environment. This has been seen in Kirlian photography when a person is photographed with long hair and then re-photographed after hair is cut. When hair is cut, receiving and sending transmissions to and from the environment and cosmos are greatly hampered. This results in numbing-out. The intuitive ability of the person gets greatly diminished. The natural ability of the human system to receive divine vibrations and insights from the cosmos suffer further to cutting hair on the head, beard or any other part of the body. Cutting of hair is a contributing factor to unawareness of environmental distress in local ecosystems. It is also a contributing factor to insensitivity in relationships of all kinds. It contributes to sexual frustration.

According to Ayurveda the ancient Hindu medical science, allowing the beard to grow prevents a person from contracting diseases of the throat and of the gums and the respiratory system. While the structure of hair is such that it can trap bacteria, it does not provide any congenial or favourable conditions for their growth and multiplication. On the other hand, shaven skin is one of the best substrata for their survival and multiplication. Shaving, which has to be repeated at least once everyday, invariably results in cuts, some of which are microscopic - and that is all the malignant bacteria and dreaded viruses need to swarm to the interior of our bodies. Just like skin, hair helps to synthesize vitamin D from sunlight. It also helps to supply the Pituitary gland (located in the head) with phosphorous. Phosphorous is an element which is absorbed during meditation by the Pituitary gland. The hair on our body regulates body temperature and our eye lashes, nostril hairs and ear hairs help to keep out fine dust particles. The research carried out with this end in view has highlighted the fact that hair serves as a factory providing Vitamin D for the body. Vitamin D protects a person against many fatal diseases like tuberculosis and is an essential element for the well being and health of bones, teeth and the nervous system.

Hair enhances the ability of a human being to experience God. This can be explained by understanding the workings of electromagnets. An electromagnet consists of an iron rod with a coil of wire wrapped around it. The strength of an electromagnet can be increased by increasing the number of coils. Now in a human being, there are nine visible inlets/outlets (2 nostrils, 2 ear holes, 1 mouth, 2 eyes, 2 below the waistline). And the 10th inlet is located in the head and is invisible. It is called the 'Brahmarandhra' (ending of the Susuhumna naadi) in the crown. This is where we experience the reality of God in Nirbija Samadhi. This can be considered to be the iron rod. Hairs are like coils of wire which amplify spiritual energy in the 10th inlet. A greater quantity of head hair will lead to more coils in the knot and therefore a higher concentration of spiritual energy. Of course, it is possible to experience God without any head hair like Buddhists. However anything that helps us to experience God more easily should be welcomed. Hair is essentially a spiritual technology that makes it easier to connect with God and maintain Brahmacharya by helping effective transmutation. Significant research has also revealed that longer the hair, more the production of Vitamin D through the interaction of Sun's heat on hair. All this shows that keeping hair is very important for one's physical as well as mental well-being. It has also been proved on the basis of experiments that the hair tied in the form of a knot on the top of the head is capable of attracting the maximum heat energy of Sun just as a television antenna has the capacity to hold photo waves from the atmosphere. (According to Tessitas, the ancient Germans also used to tie their long hair into a knot on the top of their heads). This solar energy which is absorbed by the antennae like coils of hair then stimulates the Pineal gland within the brain and helps in the complete and natural awakening of Kundalini Shakthi by percolating into the lower chakras from the Sahasrara chakra. If we take into account the cumulative loss suffered generations after generations further to cutting of bodily hair, it seems certain that trimming of hair is certainly an impediment in the way of realizing the complete scope of the human intellect and connecting to God.

In the religious literature of the world there is much evidence which suggests that God has created humans with great interest. The Jewish and Christian churches also contain evidence to this effect that God created man in his own image and put his own particle as soul within him. On the basis of all this, it can be easily presumed that God did not add anything, including hair, to human body without a definite purpose. Thus, trimming or cutting hair amounts to not only declining the gift given by God but also disfiguring the shape given to man by the Parabrahman (Almighty). This blunder of cutting and disowning hair has not been made by man since the times of Adam, but the same is in practice only since the last century or so.

DEMERITS OF CUTTING BODILY HAIR:

If hairs are not trimmed or cut, their length & growth stops automatically after reaching a certain length. In such a situation, hardly 0.5% of the protein that we take in with our daily diet is spent on their upkeep. On the other hand, cut or trimmed hair consumes much more protein because this has to be spent on the regrowth. Hair is mostly made of protein and the growth of hair draws much protein from the human system. Had hair stopped re-growing after having been trimmed once, there would have been no extra expense of protein. However, keeping in view the multidimensional usefulness and requirement of hair on the human body, God has created within the human body an interesting mechanism to help continuous growth of hair. This mechanism continues being operational till one breaths one's last. Thus, this mechanism goes on spending more protein on the re-growth of hair after a person shaves or trims them. Nature does this so as to not deny a person the varied benefits of hair. It seems modern man is busy in shaving off hair under a sort of false/atheistic culture whereas God is ever involved in their growth. God is serious that we should have hair, for he makes it regrow every day in spite of us shaving, while man is careless and oblivious to its necessity.

After comprehensive research, scientists have reached the conclusion that hairs stop growing after having achieved the level of optimum growth. They remain alive for two to six years. They play an active role during this period and then getting weak, fall off as we comb them. This is called the death of hair. There is no use keeping dead hair. However, keeping in view the utmost importance of hair for the human being, nature is ever ready to replenish these dead hair by sprouting new ones in their place. The importance of hair can also be gauged from the fact that the operation of replacing dead hair with new ones starts immediately and forcefully so that body does not suffer because of their lack. This shows that new and healthy hair on the head and beard of a man is of paramount importance to life. That is why God has created such a wonderful mechanism as a result of which a person continues to be bestowed with healthy hair for long years of his/her life. The fact that hair grows rapidly even after regular trimming and cutting implies that God does not approve of the human action of shaving or trimming hair. The very act goes against nature and going against nature has severe repurcussions.

"Hair is the pranic antenna. It is energy, pure protein. Our hair fashions might be just a trend, but if we investigate, we may find that we have been depriving ourselves of one of the most valuable sources of energy for human vitality and spiritual growth”-- Yogi Bhajan

"Each part of the body including hair has a highly sensitive work to perform for the survival and well being of the body as a whole. The body has a reason for every part of itself." -- C. Young

God has given you one face, and you make yourselves another -- Shakespeare
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For this reason, ancient Yogis and Rishis never cut hair but let it grow to its natural length. This helped them achieve multi-fold benefits. In all ancient cultures of the world, cutting of hair is frowned upon. The trend of cutting bodily hair took momentum only nearing the end of the 19th century. From the Yogic point of view it is well known from the scriptures that the natural growth of a beard and mustache helps cover the 'Chandra Dwara' (lunar center) of a man located in his chin. This center in the tip of his lower jaw is the spot through which people and especially women connect with the man. In the presence of a beard, this spot is fully covered and this regulates the Pranic energy one gives out while interacting with others or when others see him. Only the required amount of energy is given out in the presence of the beard.

In the absence of a beard, a man with a clean shaven jawline is unprotected and ungoverned in terms of his Prana (vital energy). His lunar center is fully exposed. This results in the loss of much Ojas, Tejas and Prana when he interacts with people, especially with women. Interaction here doesn't merely refer to talk but also sight. A man without a beard, with a clean shaven jawline becomes vulnerable and susceptible to the feminine energy given out by a woman. This then draws his masculine energy from the lunar center and he becomes defenseless in protecting himself from being dominated and subjugated by her feminine charms which are an effect of Maya (illusion). He has a high chance of being mesmerized and stupefied by her female energy. It has been observed that Yogis with a full grown beard and hair have a much lesser chance of losing their calmness, poise and steadiness on the appearance of a woman in the emotional sense. Thus it becomes a worthy tool towards the practice of Brahmacharya by acting as a shield that prevents the loss of Ojas, Tejas and Prana. A woman with sexual intentions cannot easily draw Ojas from the man with a beard.

To begin with, those who shave can stop the activity and grow a small stubble which can then gradually be let to grow as one comes to terms with the concept.

ॐ तत् सत्
(That Supreme being is the absolute truth)

[an error occurred while processing this directive]---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Dhananjay, hi

Once again, thanks very much for the detailed answer.

If one were to let hair grow unabated then it becomes difficult to carry on working in the so called 'professional environment' for example. How does one balance that? After all one has to sustain himself/herself and family by earning a livelihood.
Also if one has a serious dandruff problem and has cut hair to get rid of that problem then what does one do for that?
Once you let your hair grow, can one use an anti dandruff cream for example or any kind of oil etc?
When you say Rishi knot, do you mean the shikha? I am presuming not but just want to confirm. A lot of brahmins [rather most the brahmins in the past] used to shave off the entire head and keep the shikha? any special reason for doing that? I do know there will be logic behind it for sure but does keeping a shikha, do what keeping full grown hair and then tying a rishi knot, does?
Dhananjay, apologies for asking so many questions, I am just trying to find the right balance for people who are engaged in worldly activities like working in an office for example and are serious about god realisation at the same time.
Also, thanks for your insights on travelling, they are helpful.

Thanks once again, Manish