Why should i study Vedanta?

Why should i study advaita vedanta! The doors will be opened on the answers of your question,

In religious platform, suitable sastra or thinking is not available in Vedanta or Bharatheeya Dharma for uniting against other religions. So, the study of vedanta in many cases ends in starting point or middle way.
Bharatheeya or Vedanta Cinta framed not to unite and show the physical strength. That is the first defect of this system! Defect means in today's circumstances. Its greatness is also that in yesterday’s life.
Vedanta believes that persons or all living things emerging particularly (Vishishya) from the same origin. So, when a life emerges from the specious, its journey is purely alone. All dharma and adharma are happening from person, not social.
Bharatheeya cinta emerged, sustained and developed on these views and its experiments.
But, in today's world is growing through societies and unity. These ideas are western by origin. The idea of organised growth is western and it was introduced to India by Pujya Swami Vivekananda. Organisations and organised works attracted Swami ji when he was in west. In his Bharata Paryatana(Tour across India) he asserted the importance of organisations and He started Ramakrishna Math for populating the messages of Shri Ramakrishna.

Many of short term plans he introduced has no permanent means. He himself told this. He asked youths to built iron muscles and veins of steel to fight against poverty and education. He asked youth to eat meat, if no other economical food is available to them. Now what we are seeing as sanatana dharma is his product and we never heard about organisations before Vivekananda.

But the seeds of organisations are not Bharatheeya( As I said before, Swamiji himself introduced it as a temporary means) and it was in the jeans of western people. For Bharateeya society, nothing is there to grow with unity and strength; nothing to agree with others. Because human unites and joins based on his three worlds, ie; Jagrat, Swapna, Sushupti only. In ancient laungauge, “Indriya janitha anubhava ulpanna stula sareera tadatmya abyasam; is called Jagrat. This is a technical word. Don’t panic on technical word, because, to study a science, technical words are very important and modern man is familiar with technical words. But these technical words are digestible for those who are interested in the subject! Others may blink on it.

What we are seeing after the birth to till day is not depends on subject.There is “Devata” (Intelligence) is hiding in all subjects. In same way there is a devata in us to attract the devata in each subject- This is Bharatiya Chinta. These interactions between these two devatas are secret and exclusive (Ekantam). This causes persons are different in nature. Eyes are physical, ears are physical, subjects are physical- these are the teachings of modern education, and then why persons are differs in a same subject or object. One kills a human, another human arresting him, his lawyer is a human, his opponent lawyer is human, the Judge is a human; but all are different. Am I correct? How they differ? In fact, this difference alone exists. Here no cap for all. So, the continues Karma, in ancients language, the intelligence of 84, 000, 00 different births in different species are hiding in us. Which memory or intelligence working now is depends on the unity of intelligences of the subject that sees are hears by the person at that time.

Depends on this two actions are happening in all life, ie; Ragam (Attraction) and Dwesham( Repulsion). When raga emerges, it ends as Dwesha in period of time. Same way Dwesha ends with Raga in time frame. Based on this, two Yogas are framed by our ancient Rishis. One is “Anukoola yogam and other is “Samramba Yoagam”. Most acceptable one is Samramba Yogam”. “You will become, what you hate most” If you created a hatred on a subject or a man for a long time, intelligences(Deavata) of your limbs, mouth, ear, eyes all will be getting synchronised with that hatred object and starts mimicking the hatred part of that subject. Based on this for a human, depends on the seeing subjects, its shape, its chemical structure, its source, its formations- They called it as “Paramandalis”, if we divides a matter, we know its atom, electron, proton etc type of structures. In Sanskrit, it is like Poonchika, anu, dwanu, thrasarenu etc/ when it divides further, dhananu, rinanu, krishnanu, sarganu and its goes on. So, each physical thing has its structures and chemical sub-divisions. This study of physical matters is called “Samramba Yoga”. Based on this, Bharathiya rishis has defined the soul as the universe of what he sees, hear, and touches and the by product of his words and mind. If you start the study of Bharathiya literatures, it will take one thousand years to complete. All these are purely physical, not internal or Antar yoga, all is Bhahiranga Yoga. Study of this literature is purely on the wish of a person only. Today’s world is not deals study on persons wish. When Kingdoms are in power, they encouraged the study as per the wish. People involved in the rulings of Kingdoms. In democracy, people are not involved in ruling. In your home, your son gets involvement because he gets the fees from his father directly and the study progressing. This time he feels debt to his family. This makes him to support his father or mother or of whole the family without any request or order. This is because of the money they paid for him and it’s guilty like feeling arises in him. He feels that they are suffering because of his study. He may start watering for plants, cleans vehicles, ironing the dresses as a return or he will takes part of the household works to help them. That payment makes him responsible in family as he feels debt to father. This is the basic of human- universe relationship. This can be called as “Pitru irnam” debt to parents. This debt remembers his growth from semen.

A student attends the class. He is studying not because of he attended the class or the teacher taught him! It’s a chemical relation of the teacher and student makes him studied. The student gets the ideas not only from the words of the teacher, he gets the ideas from the combinations of Devatas(Intelligence) of  the student and the teacher. The dialog between the minds makes a good student taught without teaching. To expand the common sense of the student to grasp what teacher meaning in the mind, this need a good relationship between teacher and the student. This happens only in the understanding or attraction of the devatas in a teacher and a student. Here also there is a debt to teacher, so the student making him to higher intelligence as responsible. Our universities are opposite to this idea. Lord Curzon introduced the University bill against most popular “Gurukula system” of India. That time Congress kept an unpardonable silence on this move. Only Sister Nivedita agitated against the bill and call it destruction of world class Indian Educational system.

The Science of Breath.

The Sanskrit word pranayama is usually translated as "the science of breath," but this is a limited interpretation. Pranayama literally means "the ayama ( expansion or manifestation) of prana (expansion or manifestation) of  ( pra: first unit; na: energy ). Prana is the vital energy of the universe. According to one of the schools of Indian philosophy, the whole universe was projected out of akasha ( space ) through the energy of prana. Akasha is the infinite, all-encompassing material of the universe- cosmic energy. All the diverse forms of this universe are sustained by it. Pranayama is the science which knowldge related to the control of prana. One who has learned to control prana has learned to control all the energies of this universe- physical and mental. He has also learned to control his body and mind.

The mind stands like a wall between us and reality. When the student comes in touch with the finer forces called prana he can learn to control his mind, for it is tightly fastened to prana like a kite to a string. When the string is held skillfully, the kite, which wants to fly here and there, is controlled and flies in the direction desired. All yogic breathing exercises, advanced or basic, enable the student to control his mind by understanding prana. Thus, the science of breath helps the student to bring prana  under control in order to attain the higher rungs of the spirituality. He who has controlled his breath and prana has also controlled his mind. He who has controlled his mind has also controlled his breath.

All aspects and principles that constitute the universe, or macrocosm, are combined in all the microcosmic forms that constitute the universe, just as the mighty ocean is completely represented in a single, small drop of water from that ocean. The human body is sustained by the same prana that sustain the universe, and it is through the manifestation of prana that all body functions are possible and coordinated.

According to the ancient manuals of yoga, the cosmic forces of prana in the human body is recognized and subdivided on the basis of the ten functions it performs. Of the ten pranas, there are five major and five minor ones. The major pranas are udana, prana, samana, apana, and vyana. Although the word prana is applied to all ten pranas, one of the five major pranas has also been given the name prana for reasons which will soon become clear.

Udana rules the region of the body above the larynx and governs the use of our special senses. Prana rules the region between the larynx and the base of the heart. It governs speech and the vocal apparatus as well as the respiratory system and the muscles associated with it. Samana rules the region between the heart the heart and naval and governs all the metabolic activity involved in digestion. Apana has its abode below the navel and governs the functions of the kidneys, colon, rectum, bladder and genitals. Vyana pervades the whole body and governs the relaxation and contractions of all muscles, voluntary and involuntary, as well as the movement of the joints and the structures  around them.

The energy of prana is subtle in form. Its most external manifestation is the breath, and of the five major pranas in one human body, prana is the energy that governs the breath. It  is through the control of respiration that the yogi proceeds to control the other subtle energies of prana, which may explain the use of the same word for the universal energy as well as for the specific prana governing respiration. The importance of this specific prana in allowing us access to the subtler energies of the cosmic prana is also seen in the fact that what we call death results from the cessation of respiration.

The sequence in which one proceeds from control of the breath to control of the cosmic energy is clearly illustrated in the following story that Swami Vivekananda tells in his book on raja yoga.

There once was a King's minister fell into disgrace and was imprisoned at the top of a tall tower. The minister asked his faithful wife to come to the tower when darkness had fallen, and to bring with her a long rope, some stout twine, string, silken thread, a beetle,  and some honey. Though bewildered by his strange request, the good wife did as he bade her. The minister then asked his wife to tie the silken thread to the beetle, to smear some honey on its horns, and then to set it on the tower wall with its head pointed towards the top of the tower. The beetle, enticed onward by the sweet smell of the  honey, slowly made its way to the top of the tower, pulling the silken thread behind it.The minister took hold of the silken thread and then asked his wife to tie the string to the other end of the silken thread. Using the silken thread, he drew up the string. In like manner, he used the string to draw up the stout twain, and the twine to draw up the rope. Then he descended to freedom, using the rope.

In our body the breath is like the silken thread, enabling us to skilfully grasp the string of the nerve impulses; from this we grasp the stout twine of our thoughts, and finally we grasp the rope of prana, thus gaining our ultimate freedom.

Pranayama and the Nervous System.

In order to understand the science of pranayama it is necessary to consider the nature of the nervous system, for this system coordinates the functions of all the other systems in the body. It is subdivided into the central and autonomic nervous systems. The central nervous system consists of the brain, twelve pair of cranial nerves, the spinal cord and thirty-one pair of spinal nerves. The cranial and spinal nerves spread throughout the body, forming a network of nerve fibers. Efferent, or motor nerve fibers, carry nerve impulses from the brain and spinal cord outward to the nerve endings, and afferent, or sensory nerve fibers, carry nerve impulses from the nerve endings inward to the brain and spinal cord.

To illustrate the functions of the afferent and different fibers, consider the case of stubbing your toe. The nerve ending at the toe send nerve impulses along the afferent fibers to the spinal cord and brain. The brain interprets these impulses as pain and reacts by sending motor impulses along the efferent fibers outward to the hands, enabling them to reach out and soothe the injured toe.

Patanjali, the sage who codified yoga science around 200 B.C., explains that the control of prana is the regulation of inhalation and exhalation. This is accomplished by eliminating the pause between inhalation and exhalation, or by expanding the pause by retention. Then by regulating the motion of lungs, the heart and vagus nerve are controlled. The autonomic nervous system regulates processes in our body which are not normally under our voluntary control, such as secretion by digestive organs, the beating of heart, and movement of the lungs. The science of pranayama is thus intimately connected with the autonomic nervous system and brings its functions under conscious control through the functioning of the lungs. Though the act of respiration is for the most part involuntary control in this area is easily achieved , for the depth, duration and frequency of respiration can be consciously modulated quite readily. It is for this reason that control of the breath constitutes an obvious starting point towards attainment of control over the functioning of the autonomic nervous system.

The autonomic nervous system is subdivided into the sympathetic  and parasympathetic systems. As these names indicate, these two subsystems work in seeming opposition to each other, yet the net result is harmonious regulation.The parasympathetic system, for instance, slows down the heart while the sympathetic system accelerates it, and between these two opposing actions the heart rate is regulated. The sympathetic nervous system consists mainly of two vertical rows of ganglia, or nerve cell clusters, arranged on either side of the spinal column. Branches from these ganglia-ted cords spread out to different glands and viscera in the thorax and abdomen, forming integrated plexuses with nerve branches of the parasympathetic system. The main part of this system is the tenth cranial nerve, also called the vagus, or "wandering", nerve which is connected with the hind brain and travels toward along the spinal cord through neck, chest and abdomen, sending out branches to form various plexuses with the sympathetic system. It ends in a plexus which is connected to the solar plexus, but is also connected with the lower plexuses through filaments.

There are only two known ways of gaining conscious control over the involuntary nervous system. One is by systematically practicing breathing exercises and preparing oneself for understanding the various vehicles and channels of prana. But first the student should learn to regulate the motion of the lungs so that heart function is regulated. Then the right vagus nerve is brought under conscious control, and the portion of the mind that coordinates with the involuntary system becomes accessible to him. There is no such thing as an involuntary system if the student learns to regulate the motion of lungs. For by doing so, a vast portion of that system is brought under his voluntary control.

The other way of gaining control over the autonomic nervous system is through will power. The more the mind is dissipated, the more the will is scattered. When the mind is made one-pointed, the willpower is strengthened, and with the help of the willpower the autonomic nervous system functions the way we want it to.

Modern scientists gives importance to breathing exercises only from the viewpoint of oxygen intake. Their concern is with the absorption of oxygen in large enough quantities to vitalize the nervous system. But the science of breath, this is minor consideration.  More detailed knowledge and experience is needed to study the finer forces of life than the mere intake of oxygen and output of carbon dioxide. The ancient manuals of yoga anatomy, for instance, describe a network of several thousand nadis (subtle channels) through which the currents of prana flow, energizing and sustaining all parts of the body as well as the several thousand nadis.

According to some manuals the number of nadis is 72,000 (others mentions 350,000). Fourteen are more important than the others, but the most important among these are six: ida, pingala, sushamna, brahmani, chitrani, and vijnani. Among these six, three are the most important: pingala(surya), which flows through the right nostril; ida (chandra) which flows through the left nostril; and sushamna, which is a moment when both nostrils flow freely without any obstruction. Expansion of that moment is called sandhya. For meditation, the application of sushamna is of prime importance, for after applying sushamna, the meditator cannot be disturbed by noise or other disturbances from the external world., nor by the bubbles of thought arising from the unconsciousness during meditation. 

All three of the major nadis originate at the base of the spine and travel upward. The sushamna nadi is centrally located and travel along the spinal canal. At the level of the larynx it divides into an anterior and a posterior portion, both of which terminates in the brahmarandra ( cavity of Brahma), which corresponds to the ventricular cavity in the physical body. The ida and pingala nadis also travel upward along the spinal column, but they crisscross each other and the sushamna before terminating in the left and right nostrils, respectively.

The junction where the ida, pingala and sushamna nadis meet along the spinal column are called chakra (wheels). Just as the spokes of a wheel radiate outwards from a central hub, so do the other nadis radiates outward from the chakras to other parts of the body. There are seven principle chakras; the muladhara chakra at the base of the spine at the level of the pelvic plexus in the physical body, the swadhishtana chakra at the level of the hypo gastric plexus, the vishuddha chakra at the level of the pharyngeal plexus, the anahata chakra at the level of the nasociliary plexus, and the sahasrara chakra at the top of the head. The anterior portion of the sushamna passes through the ajna chakra, and the posterior portion passes behind the skull, the two portions uniting in the brahmarandra.

I think the above details may be helpful to  the reader .Prana and its process on human body and its effect and cause that can be monitored and altered by will. I have used guidance for this writing from Swami Rama, who taught me the idea of "Anandalahari" of Aadi Sankaracharya.

Kindly read this article one or two times. Pranayama is a science, so many technical words can be a hurdle for some who reads any Indian Science. So refer Google or any dictionary for proper understanding.

Best Wishes and Happy New Year- 2018.

I bow the divinity in You.