Monday, May 9, 2011

Advice on which direction to sleep

The following text comes from the writings of Paramhansa Yogananda.

Question: What is man’s relation to the earth?

         Answer: Each of us has a living relation to the universe. Our body may be compared to the earth. The rivers are the arteries, the stars are the eyes, vegetation is the hair. The same chemicals of which the earth is composed make up our body. The earth goes through the same processes of life which we go through. Just as we have more water than solids, so the earth has more water than solids. The earth is the biggest cannibal of all, for it not only eats vegetation but flesh as well. It eats up all living things and gives them back again in other forms.

         We have motion; the earth has motion. The earth has life; we have life. We work out a  certain destiny; the earth is working out a certain destiny. The earth has the same pattern as the body. The north and south poles of the earth are comparable to the human spine, and there are seven magnetic centers in the earth corresponding to the seven occult centers in the spine of man. As our body has billions of cells, so the earth is holding billions of tons of molecules and protons of light together.

Tremendous Vibrations

         Our bodies and nervous system are subject to the tremendous vibration of the earth, and also the stars. When we go higher and higher in spirituality, we begin to feel all the forces around us and gradually grow conscious of them. Thus we begin to understand the wonders of creation.

         Our mass thoughts and actions can change conditions in the world. In order to have a harmonious vibration on earth, we must live a pure life.

         Some places have more holy vibrations than others. When too much sin is created on the surface of the earth, it explodes in earthquakes, floods, eruptions, and so on. The vibrations of the earth are upset. The sinful vibrations are finally absorbed by the earth.

Earth Currents

         We should live outdoors as much as possible. We cannot live without air or light or the vibrations of the earth. When we sit on the earth, we receive healing currents.

         In meditation the devotee should not sit directly on the earth because he receives the currents of the earth, which tend to keep his thoughts earthbound. If he sits on  blanket, he will find that his body currents will be cut off from the earth current, and his body will then be free from magnetic disturbances while meditating.

Head towards East

         When lying down, the devotee should have his head toward the East and his feet to the West so that all the currents will go down his body. The impurities then cannot go to the head.

         The head toward the East means wisdom. The head to the South means longevity. The head toward the  North means sickness and even early death, because there are so many cross currents. The head toward the West gives dreams. The head, therefore, should be either to the East or to the South with the feet to the West or to the North. This is important to know.

         The greatest of all sins is ignorance—not to know what lies in our body. What wonderful beings we are! And the Sustainer of this universe is knocking at the gate of our heart, trying to walk in through the portals of silence and make within us a garden of happiness with the roses and blossoms of immortal qualities. If we will only let the Divine Gardener come in, we will see that all the weeds will wither and the Divine Gardener will grow the blossoms of immortality peace, and joy eternal.[1]





[1] From Talks and Articles by Paramhansa Yogananda   Inner Culture, November 1939