Saturday, August 10, 2019

Spiritual Journey with Kundalini Yoga



Kundalini Yoga is a path of devotion surrendering to the divine within bringing about change in our attitude and moral behaviour.  It is an spiritual journey in the quest for good health, happiness and wisdom for living a divine life. 
The aim is to have a positive state of mind and develop wholesome spiritual perspective.  The goal is to live in perfect harmony within, with others and nature.  The ultimate goal is to know one’s own true nature.
Kundalini Yoga enables us to equip with knowledge and skill for the journey from ignorance to wisdom, from discord to harmony and from suffering to happiness.
Along the journey, our ego consciousness attains self-realization and dissolves in divine consciousness, losing its personal identity as ‘I’, and become one with the universal cosmic consciousness. 
The three basic principles of Kundalini Yoga are: (1) We ourselves are responsible for our state of being, (2) Within us we have the ability to free ourselves from the sorrow of life, and (3) Lasting happiness is found in union of the ego consciousness, the divine consciousness, and the universal cosmic consciousness.
Kundalini Yoga declares that those who do not go in deep within go with nothing when life comes to an end.
It believes that all elements of happiness are in us and we can transform all negativity that exists in us into divinity.
Kundalini Yoga is a physical, mental and spiritual discipline.  It embraces the Ashtanga Yoga, the Eightfold Yoga of Patanjali in its entirety and adds onto it the specifics of its own dimensions.
The first two steps of Patanjali’s Eightfold Yoga including (1) Yama -self-control and discipline, and (2) Niyama -self regulation, are considered granted.
The next two steps, the (1) Asana -toning physical health for spiritual wellbeing, and (2) Pranayama –integrating mind and body by concentrating on inflow and out flow of Prana –breath, are selectively practiced.
Asana that calms and relaxes the mind, and project the energy where it ought to go are emphasized.
Pranayama, which enhances the vitality of body and agility of mind to have one pointed concentration and un-distracted focus on a subject of concentration, is eminently practiced.  With Pranayama we develop calm mind eliminating stress and anxiety.
The next three steps; (1) Pratyahara -restraint, internalization of consciousness through withdrawal of senses from the sense objects, (2) Dharana –focused concentration holding mind to one thought or object, and (3) Dhyana –meditation, contemplation, and complete absorption in merit fields are considered fundamental. 
The last eighth step, the Samadhi -the enlightened existence living in bliss too is considered granted. 
In addition to Eightfold Yoga of Patanjali, the Kundalini Yoga embraces three unique practices: (1) Prana-Apana, (2) Mudra, and (3) Mantra.
The positive balance of Prana -the air we breathe in and the food we eat, and Apana -the energy that cleanses our body and given back to the nature determines our physical and mental wellbeing.  It is with the positive balance of Prana and Apana, our consciousness manifest.
The understanding of Prana-Apana beyond its textual meaning helps us to take care of our food habit, nutrition and environment.
Kundalini Yoga requires us to follow good food habits, eating not only nutritious food but also the food that prevents diseases enhancing the immune system of our body, prolong longevity, and keep our surrounding environment clean and serene.
Mudra –the gesture of hands.  It is believed that gesture of hands could guide energy flow and have spontaneous impact on our brain.  In Kundalini Yoga the practitioners talk to body and mind with the gestures of their hands. 
Mantra is the secret sound, words or syllables.  It is believed that by chanting secret Mantra the practitioners could elevate their consciousness through its meaning and the sound itself.
Visualization is a unique practice and it is the key for doing meditation while practicing Kundalini Yoga.
The unique meditation tool of Kundalini Yoga is the ‘astral body’, which is considered the instrument to attain divinity. 
Along the spine of the visualised astral body, seven psychic centres called Chakra are present, one above the other in definite hierarchical order. Every Chakra is an awareness level. One may very well visualize them in the form of secret stair case from step 1 to 7 and one needs to start from 1 to reach 7 going up one stair at a time.
The seven Chakras represent the seven levels of our consciousness.  Metaphorically the seven Chakras are the seven steps to enlightenment.  The seven Chakras are the seven levels of awareness where our mind and spirit interacts.
Through the seven Chakras, three Nadi –the spiritual channels; Ida, Pingala and Sushumna passes through.  In these Nadi our consciousness flows rising from the Muladhara Chakra at the base.
Ida means comfort.  Ida Nadi is characterised by passive introverted female nature.  It controls mental processes and manages emotions.  It gives strength to our soul and body.
Pingala Nadi is characterised by extrovert male nature.  Ida and Pingala crisscross at each Chakra and become one at sixth Chakra, the Ajna Chakra.
Ida and Pingala Nadi actually represent duality of existence we live with.  
 
We experience suffering at the level of duality.  It is our own Ego that creates the duality of I and other.  As long as we let Ego to perceive life through the lens of duality we continue to suffer and we experience happiness when we rise above duality. 
When Ida and Pingala merge and become one, we rise above duality and from there on begins the spiritual life having balance in our thought and emotion.
The third Nadi Sushumna runs at the centre rising from Muladhara Chakra at the base and it terminates at Sahasrara Chakra at the top.
Sushumna Nadi has no attributes and it is dormant.  Sushumna Nadi is the absolute state of oneness.  It is Sunyata, the undifferentiated incorporeal state of existence, the ground state of our being.  At Sunyata the mind, body and spirit becomes one and with the split of Sunyata, the Samsara comes to existence.
Sushumna Nadi is activated when Ida and Pingala Nadi are purified, balanced and merged.
Sushumna Nadi is the path to enlightenment and it is potential for our spiritual evolution.
With Sushumna Nadi activated, we attain inner balance which enables us to stay undisturbed by outside circumstances.
Each Chakra has the manifestations of Shiva and Shakti.  Hence in each Chakra there are male and female deities.  The female deities are the generic manifestation of Shakti –the primordial divine power, revered as Goddess in multitudes and have unique names.  Actually the deities are our positive nature. 
To the deities we successively take refuge as we progress from one Chakra to the next.
The practitioners take refuge in deities and seek their support.  Upon taking refuse, the merit fields of the deities are visualised and contemplated, and resonated. 
Along the journey, the deities stop us from falling into wrong way of life and remove obstacles along the virtuous path of Dharma.
We live with a spectrum of consciousness within which Ego –the out flowing sensual instinctive consciousness is dominant.  The Ego dictates our being creating delusion and attachment to sense satisfaction.  It is the fleeting and ephemeral consciousness that causes suffering and ties us to Samsara.
In our being, deep in us there is divine consciousness which is different from ego consciousness.  That divine consciousness is our soul, the Atma, the divine self.
Life in human form is a failure if we do not destroy or transform ego consciousness and live with divine consciousness.
Kundalini Yoga provides us means to control the out flowing ego consciousness, and listen to the eternal vibration created by our soul, the Atma.  The eternal vibration enables us to recognize and realize the divine consciousness deep in us and live with it for goodness and happiness of all.
Kundalini Yoga relies on Kundalini Shakti –the cosmic energy in the form of will power in latent state.  The latent power when awakened enables us to realize the divine consciousness.
The Kundalini Shakti has the power to transform our Ego, and hence transforming and enlightening our Ego is the primary focus of Kundalini Yoga.
Metaphorically the Kundalini Shakti exists as a coiled serpent sleeping at the core of our Ego at Muladhara Chakra.
Kundalini Yoga endeavours for freeing ego consciousness from delusion and attachment to Samsara, establish balance between material world and spiritual world. 
One may call it destroying the Ego and discovering the spiritual being inherently existing within or enlightening the Ego and uniting it with the divine being inherently existing within, the essence remains same.
When the divine consciousness begins to spur in us, we experience physical, emotional and mental purification, shift in values, attitudes and behaviours.
Kundalini Yoga provides a platform for affirmation of the way to living a life with divine nature.
The spiritual journey with Kundalini Yoga starts at Muladhara Chakra at the base, where Ego is dominant with instinctive animal nature.  At this Chakra the Ego wants to create pleasure for itself and avoid pain.  Under the dominance of Ego, we dwell in the world of desires, the very source of suffering.
Along the journey we attain different levels of awakening at each Chakra as we ascend from one Chakra to another above it.
1.      Muladhara Chakra
Muladhara Chakra represents earthly plane, the lowest state of our being. At this level we are instinctive rather than conscious.  Our instinctive mind generates thoughts and emotions for basic survival necessities.
At Muladhara we are dominated by uncontrollable desire overwhelmed by survival instinct; security for livelihood, family wellbeing, the desire for wealth, sense of financial and emotional security, and stability.  These instinctive thoughts are called the knot of Brahma that ties us to Samsara.
The instinct for survival is so dominant that we may live and die endeavouring selfishly to fulfil the sensual desires.
At this Chakra, Kundalini Shakti –the spiritual energy is in latent state.  If we awaken the latent the Kundalini Shakti there arises the feeling for divine life.
We awaken the latent Kundalini Shakti by living an ethical life practicing humility, integrity, nonviolence, freedom from aversion, envy and anger, generosity and selfless services, and self-control.  These disciplines help us in purifying our existence to cope up with circumstance we come across in life.
At this Chakra, we begin our journey with: (1) Manana –critical thinking discerning what is right, (2) Sankalpa –right intent to make positive decisions, (3) Vikalpa –remove doubts and discard false ideas, and (4) Atma Chintan –contemplating on the divine self inherently present deep in us.
The wisdom is to develop practical skills necessary for our physical survival and do our duties with integrity.
The disciplined and ethical life causes our mind to generate thoughts beyond instinctive nature. 
The male deity at Muladhara Chakra is Lord Ganesha, the deity who bestows success and removes obstacles along the path to our destiny.
We take refuge in Lord Ganesha with faith and trust, and pray for success in our endeavour with his blessing. 
The female deity is Dakini, the Goddess of liberation, who enables us to control our sensual desires and protects us from getting lost in the allure of sensual desire.
The presiding deity is Lord Brahma responsible for creation and knowledge.
2       Swadhisthana Chakra
As we emerge from our instinctive state at Muladhara Chakra, we land up in the world of individual material consciousness –the Ego, in Swadhisthana Chakra, which is the seat of ego consciousness.
Our thoughts and emotions are conscious but limited to fulfilment of individual sense gratification.
We are overwhelmed by the urge for personal sense gratification and passion for self-esteem.  We are driven by the feeling of wellness, abundance, pleasure and joy.  The urge is however challenged by the fear factor.  We have urge for self-esteem but we have fear.
We suffer when our thoughts and emotions are out flowing and connected to external corporeal objects and circumstances.  We could live with divine blessing if we renounce grasping and clinging on to sense gratification and focus our attention deep within us.
In life we have the option to choose our thoughts and emotions, and we become what we choose to be.
For living a positive life we should discern correctly and endeavour for making right choice.  In the continuous effort for making right choice, we evolve spiritually in our life.
Prescribed by past Karma and the milieu of family and society in which we grow, shapes our individual default personality.  That default personality generates personal thoughts and attitudes, and dictates us to act, react and interact with others in certain personal manner.
We mould our life according to our mental and intellectual propensities.  The wisdom is to develop the interpersonal relationship skills that are necessary to feel safe and to be loved.
When we direct our attention deep in us we will be able to control our thoughts and emotions, and establish balance between spiritual world and Samsara.
The spiritual being inherently present deep in us pervades when we conquer negative force which continuously attempts to mislead our thoughts and emotions.
We believe the suffering we experience is due to our fate and socio ecosystem we live in.  But the spiritual science looks at from different angle and says that it is our motivation and our relationship with others either makes us happy or causes us to suffer.
We suffer as long as there is conflict in our relation with others.  But when we are in harmony in our relation with others, we experience happiness.
We evolve spiritually with our relation with others.  Hence the key to success is to respect others with humility in all circumstances.
With humility, respect, equanimity, forgiveness, loving kindness and empathy, we develop positive relationship with others.
The negative force which inherently dwells in us is Ego, the out flowing ego consciousness.  The Ego dictates our being and indulges us with greed, aversion, anger, arrogance, envy, jealousy, cruelty, doubt and indolence, and other negative propensities which are the primary causes of suffering.
The Ego itself is not bad.  The positive aspect of Ego is the will to live.  We cannot exist without Ego, because without the will to live and zest for life we cannot exist.  The Ego is only harmful when it degenerates into self-interest and exploitation of others.
For purification of the negative tendencies of Ego, we have to be lifelong mindful and make constant effort to keep them in check.  When we become aware and mindful of negative tendencies, we are able to control negative expressions of Ego and transform its energy to utilise it for positive development.
The presiding deity of this Chakra is Lord Vishnu, who preserves the creation and maintains peace and harmony.  But on flip side Lord Vishnu creates Maya –the delusion and rests at the core of it.  It is Maya which is the cause of suffering.  It drifts our attention away from being pious and divine.
To remove the delusion that causes us to suffer, we should take refuge in Lord Vishnu by living an ethical life devoted to selfless actions, mutual prosperity and harmony.
We should welcome everything in life as it comes as the expression of the will of God.  We should accept what we cannot possibly avoid and endure with love and acquiescence.
The female deity is Rakini, who embodies the duality of ‘I’ and ‘others’.  She enables us to rise above duality.
When we are out of delusion and above duality, we are at balance between the external material world and spiritual world deep in us.  With this positive state of being we ascend to higher levels of consciousness.
The inspiration and motivation at Swadhisthana Chakra comes from the thought and feeling; “I am empowered with positive creative energy.  With respect for others, I strengthen my bond with the deities.  I shall be successful with the focus on my own creative emotion.”
3       Manipura Chakra
Manipura Chakra too is the seat of Ego –the personal identity.  As we graduate from Swadhisthana Chakra with creative impulse, there will be felt need for self confidence.  There will be feeling that I am in competition with others for resources and social standing.  Hence at Manipura Chakra we develop personal qualities of self-confidence, dynamism, and the will for spiritual adventure for which spiritual knowledge and wisdom are essential.
Self-awareness and self-confidence are the essentials we discover at Manipura Chakra.  Until we discover these two essentials within us, we live in constant fear.
As we gain self-confidence, the sense of selfless love and mutual happiness originates in our hearts.  The passion becomes pure selfless love; prejudice and aversion change to respect and understanding; envy and insatiable greed change to goodwill; pride and jealousy change to modesty and generosity; ignorance changes into clarity, and indolence into focussed and concerted effort.
The desired end result of Manipura Chakra is to have matured Ego having a balanced and wholesome nature.  We achieve this result with deep introspection and sincere self-analysis with a desire to focus on our relationship with divinities and on the purpose of our life.
We need healthy Ego and its ability to direct the willpower, the power of desire, to bring about positive change and self-transformation.
The key to success is that we should rise with same vehicle, the Ego, with which you fall down.
For evolving spiritually we must annihilate negativities and have self-esteem with reflecting and echoing the merit fields of the deities with deep conviction.
The positive Ego withstands the temptations of sensual world and directs its energy, the inner urge, to concentrate on merit fields of the deities.
A well developed Manipura –the power of transformation, enables us to make conscious decisions and have clear sense of direction and perseverance.  It generates the feeling for right action and eliminates the fear of failure.
The wisdom is to develop the emotional skills that are necessary to feel good about ourselves in all situations reflecting self-respect.  We should stay calm, concentrated and considerate even in adverse circumstance, and continue to make conscious decisions and do rightful actions.
The presiding deity is Bradha Rudra –the power of annihilation. 
The female deity is Lakini, who guides us to focus on the wellbeing of others.
We purify our existence by practicing generosity, selfless service, loving kindness and compassion, forgiveness, pridelessness, being free from envy, aversion and anger, and renunciation of sense gratification.  With these divine qualities our Ego transforms itself into a wholesome being.
In life our struggle to eliminate evil nature starts at Manipura Chakra.  It is from Manipura Chakra upward unfolds the fields of divinities.

4       Anahata Chakra
Anahata Chakra is the centre of devotion and transformation.  It is also called Heart Chakra.
It is the seat of Atma –the pure divine self, the soul.
Chandogya Upanishad says: "At the centre of our astral body there is a little shrine.  Within the shrine a lotus blossoms, and within it there resides Atma -our true self.”
Jiva Atma –the Ego, when transformed, will have the glimpse of Atma.  It experiences liberated feeling of joy and there arises the longing for living a divine life.
As Ego sees Atma -the divine self, deep inside emitting joy that resides in selfless action, there arise the desire to live in harmony and equanimity.  The Atma seen by Ego is Shada Shiva, our soul, who is always with us, and manifests in our conscience.
The male deity is Isha –the Ishana Rudra Shiva, who enables us to realize balance and harmony between inside and outside worlds.
The female deity is Kakini.  She transforms human emotion to divine emotion and with her blessing we see imperfections created by our own ignorance.
In the presence of Kakini all fear dies forever.  She unfolds Maya –the illusion created Lord Vishnu and empowers us to discover Lord Vishnu at the fathom of illusion.
With the blessing of Kakini, the connection between Ego and Atma is established through the medium of feeling.  With the connection being established the feeling of unconditional love, compassion, forgiveness, and selflessness begin to spur.
The deepest level of our feeling is the source of love which flows out of wholeness, through what we give unconditionally.
Giving out of generosity unconditionally is the human beings’ ultimate source of receiving divine blessing.
The wisdom is to blend and balance the needs of the Ego with the needs of the Soul.
From this Chakra, the knot of Vishnu, the bondage of emotional attachment, extends below to Manipura Chakra and above to Vishuddha Chakra. 
The knot of Vishnu is self-cherishing individual Ego that is in the quest for personal power, possession and fame.
The instinctive nature of Ego still persists; however, in overall the Ego is in a state of wholesome and has eagerness to find the source of higher state of being.  Instead of being self-centred, the Ego opens up for a balanced state and oneness.
There is a desire for practicing equanimity and harmony and there is a feeling that I am one among my equals.
As our heart is opened for divine love, relationship with others becomes divine.  We feel the pain of others in the same way as our own and it is the keystone of our spiritual journey. 
We feel pains of others when we are able to recognise that our own self is present in every other living being. 
The wisdom is to love every being as much we love ourselves.
The governing law is that with our thought and action we rise and we perish with our own thought and action.  Hence we should always be positive in thought and action.
By practicing Yama and Niyama, the first two limbs of Patanjali’s Eightfold Yoga, we move into deeper stages of Yoga with inner strength and confidence.  It will enable us to cultivate spiritual awareness.
5       Vishuddha Chakra
Vishuddha Chakra is the centre of purification.  In this Chakra we purify our thought, speech and emotion with reflection and retrospection.
With purification we take spiritual rebirth and we go across to the world of divine consciousness.
Both divine and demon exist in the world of our mind –the seat of our thought and emotion.  The divine pulls us towards goodness and light, while demon lures us towards destruction.
The evil can harm us only if it is in our Karma; the cause created by us.  If divinity is resonating in us, the evil cannot harm us even if the seed of suffering is there in us.
Whenever we are struck with ill fate, we should trust that every experience in life has its sense of goodness. 
Every circumstance and situation dissolves in time and disappears.
We should visualise the situation and project it into the future where it no longer exist.  We should trash the past and visualize our future like a light in the darkness.
Our inner world exists in our heart, the world of our feelings.  It is here our past and present consciousness meet and prepares the path for the future.
The pain of unhappiness of our life lives in our heart.  The beautiful positive feelings of love and happiness too live in our heart. 
Because we are unable to let go and renounce our attachment to Samsara, we undergo pleasant and painful experiences.  Both experiences create Karma that ties us to Samsara.
When we visualize the contents of inner space of our heart; all events of life pass through our mind.  We should be gracious and take refuge in divine being deep in us, the Shada Shiva, our soul, who is always with us, in the moments of happiness and misery.
With magnanimity we should release the painful experiences and enjoy the freedom of emancipation.  With trust and faith in the divine being deep in us, we should look into the beautiful future soaked in divinity with confidence.
With purification of body and mind, the material consciousness –the Ego enters the world of Akash, the inner world of purity.  In Akash, Ego comes in contact with pure knowledge and knows that the divine is inside.  It creates an impact and we feel that we are endowed with the energies of Supreme Being.
At this Chakra the communication between outer world ruled by Ego and inner world of divinity deep in us is established.  As the communication becomes flawless, a clear path towards enlightenment is established.
The male deity is the Panchmukhi Shiva, the manifestation of the union of five great elements of nature: earth, water, fire, air and space or sky. 
Panchmukhi Shiva enables us to realize our true nature and reveals us that we were never separated from him.
The female deity is Shakini, who represents knowledge behind ignorance.  She reveals us that knowledge and ignorance co-arises.  Both exist in us, in our mind.  
With ignorance we create Karma and with knowledge we are liberated.
The wisdom is to establish the clarity of purpose of our life and discover the transcendent meaning for our existence.
6       Ajna Chakra
Ajna Chakra is the seat of enlightened mind endowed with supreme intellect, insight, power of discernment and lucidity.  It is also called the Third Eye.
At Ajna Chakra, the duality represented by Ida and Pingala Nadi merges and becomes one. 
The Ego being enlightened dissolves in Atma –the divine consciousness, metaphorically in the Sushumna Nadi -Sunyata.  Hence Ego no longer exists.
At this state Atma, devoid of Ego realizes its original nature being pure and fully enlightened. 
In our ordinary life, Ego governs our thought, emotion and action.  It causes attraction and aversion, distorts the sense of veracity and create disharmony.
Ego is a false self we live with.  With a false self we live a false life.  True self of ours is deep in us.  When we let go the creations of Ego, we live a true life with true self.
When Ego no longer exists, Atma –the divine consciousness becomes one with Param Atma –the universal cosmic consciousness.  At the moment when Atma is becoming one with Param Atma, the divine sound OM, the sound of creation vibrates naturally.
As Ego loses its identity, our mind becomes calm, free from duality and dictate of Ego.  There will be continual flow of divine perception, and the divine self prevails in all our thoughts, speech and action.
When Ego that perceives life through the lens of duality no longer exists, there arises the sense of harmony, loving kindness and compassion.
Atma void of duality generates vibrations which establish connection with Sahasrara Chakra –the cosmos of divinity.  The connection provides the power of positive thinking creating positive thoughts, emotions and harmony.
Ajna Chakra has three aspects: (1) Sunyata -emptiness, (2) Citta –consciousness, and (3) Ananda –bliss.
Sunyata –the absence of duality:  It is the undifferentiated state of being.  Sunyata alone is absolute without attributes.  It is unchanging, steadfast and absolute state of oneness.  At Sunyata, there exists unity and oneness, only one and no second entity.  At Sunyata there is complete concord and harmony, free from doubt and discord.
Citta –Consciousness:  With pure consciousness, we gain the knowledge of ‘I know who I am’.  With it we understand truth with clarity and certainty.  When we know the truth, we know the purpose of life and life becomes Chaitanya –conscious existence. 
Ananda –bliss: When Atma, upon attaining its original purity being free from Ego, becomes one with Param Atma -the Supreme Being, the bliss –Sat Citta Ananda, is experienced.
To be free from Ego one must let go and renounce what is transitory.  Only with renunciation, one will be able to extinguish the wishes and desires which produce Karma that ties us to Samsara.
We should let go all negative thoughts and emotions as they are the source of suffering.  For good one must, with courage, endeavour to change that ought to be changed.
We should let go the past.  The beautiful journey of today can only begins when we let go of yesterday.  Unless we let go things of past and devote on the present, we cannot move forward.
Visualising the symbol and sound of OM is the Guru Mantra emerging naturally from Sunyata.  Visualise and focus attention on Guru Mantra until there are no personal wishes and desires.  Persevere with intense intent for harmony and balance between the material world and spiritual world.
Every one of us is responsible for our own life.  If we live our life consciously with love and devotion, it is certain that we will live a harmonious life blissfully.
The presiding deity of this Chakra is Ardhanarishwara, the divine union of Shiva and Shakti.  It is in this form of Ardhanarishwara we admit that Shiva and Shakti are one.  When Shiva and Shakti are in divine union, Shiva becomes Param Shiva, the highest state of Shiva. 
Metaphorically, our soul, the Atma is Ardhanarishwara, who is neither male nor female.
The female deity is Hakini with six heads of which the attributes are: thought control, undivided attention, perfect concentration, super-conscious concentration, unobstructed meditation, and enlightenment.
Hakini enables us to untie the knot of Rudra which is present in this Chakra.  The knot of Rudra is the emotional attachment for Siddhi –perfection.  This emotional attachment potentially misleads us, drifting away from doing rightful duties.
As the knot of Rudra is untied, the desire is subdued, the mind is under control and the duality no longer exists.
The desire to perform action still exists, but no new Karma is created.  All actions are done for wellbeing of others in full harmony, equanimity and selflessness.
Those who are able to ascend to Ajna Chakra embody virtues and righteousness.  They are able to adapt to any situation accepting things as they are.  They do not attaché happiness to material things and remains in perfect equanimity and peace at heart.
They actualize the sense of meaningfully making difference in the world. 
7       Sahasrara Chakra
Sahasrara Chakra is the seat of Shiva, the seat of pure consciousness.
At Sahasrara Chakra, Kundalini Shakti in the form of Kameshwari, the one who fulfils the desire, unites with Shiva, in the form of Kameshwara, the lord of the desire principle.
When the one who fulfils the desire and desire principle become one, all the seeds of Karma are destroyed.  All attributes, names and forms are transformed into divine light and all knowledge converges into divine sound OM.  The only desire that exists is to experience the divine.
When Kundalini Shakti unites with Shiva, all feelings, emotions and desires are dissolved in Sunya Mandala and Sat-Citta-Ananda, the bliss of being pure consciousness and mind completely stops at non-dual present with pure awareness.  Hence one is untouched by pleasure and pain, honours and humiliations.
One who attains this state lives with unconsciously conscious state of mind and no longer subjected to cycle of birth and death.  There is no activity of mind because the knowledge, knower, and known all become one.
Ultimately, Shiva becomes the uncreated creator of the Cosmos, the Purusha -pure consciousness, the embodiment of Ananda -bliss.
No Karma touches Purusha as all impurities in the ambit of Purusha burns out.  From the Purusha eternally emanates purity, clarity, love and truth.
There will be no subject and object, as the apparent dualities are merged into one: life in death, peace in pain, freedom in bondage.
One who has attained this highest state of consciousness lives a life in divine form.
To reach this state of being, there is no short cut and one cannot leap frog either.  One must walk the spiritual path steadily, with faith, trust and full devotion.
ON NAMAH SHIVAYA



Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Seeds Supply in Bhutan: Limiting Factors


INTRODUCTION
Meeting farmers demand for best seeds of popular varieties at the right time or place during planting season is crucial for increasing production and achieving food security.  This is only possible when national seed program and private sector seed enterprises are complementing each others in a right regulatory and institutional arrangement. 

Seed relatively constitutes a smaller portion of overall investment of farmers for crop production.  Hence high quality seed is the most easily adopted technology by the farmers to enhance productivity and maximize return from all other inputs, including labor. 

In modern agriculture, seed is more than something that germinates and reproduce.  What farmers want is seed that guarantees higher productivity and greater economic return. 
High quality seeds carry genetic potential for higher crop yield.  They have higher level of tolerance to  stress conditions and insect pests, and resistance to diseases.  When seeds of low quality are made available to the farmers, the farmers do not see the advantage of buying new seeds.  This answers the question as why farmers want to use their own seeds.  This is a typical representation of underdeveloped agriculture where  the seed quality is low. 

 In the past when hybrid seeds were not there the policy of seed self-sufficiency was pursued.  The import of seeds was discouraged by levying 50% Custom Duty on import of seeds from third countries.  Seed import from India only was allowed and there was neither Custom Duty nor Sales Tax on seeds of Indian origin.  

However, since 1980s hybrid seed in cases of popular vegetables began to dominate the choice of the farmers.  The international seed companies began to dominate the supply of hybrid seeds particularly of vegetables, even in India. 

Farmers in Bhutan who grow vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, or broccoli for selling in the market for earning money use hybrid seeds imported from third countries.  They want best quality hybrid seeds because they want to maximize their earning from the limited land they have.  

The 50% Custom Duty on seeds imported from third country is making the hybrid seeds highly expensive.  Farmers having no choice have to buy the expensive hybrid seeds.  The time and situation have changed but not the policy.  This is indeed a very important issue that the new seed policy should consider removing the antiquated policy of levying 50% Custom Duty on import of hybrid seeds from third countries.

A conservative seed policy is effectively restricting the supply of high quality hybrid seeds by the private sector.  The policy reform should be guided by the goal of increasing productivity and production for achieving self-sufficiency and export of fresh vegetables.  The reform should call for a level playing field for the participation of private sector in seed business.   

The seed policy should recognize and exploit the strength of private seed enterprises on delivering best hybrid seeds on time.  It is on this strength the private seed enterprises thrive.
The private seed enterprises can do on-farm testing much more efficiently and  translate farmers’ perception into business opportunity much faster.

Indeed the weakness of national seed program is hidden in its strength for doing all on seed by itself.  Very crucial areas on which the national seed program should exert far more seriously have not received due attention. 

The maintenance breeding for producing high quality basic and foundation seeds of food crops and non-hybrid varieties of vegetables should receive special attention.  It should also produce the seeds of minor crops which have been neglected or forgotten.   The national seed program should focus on seeds of food crops and non-hybrid vegetable seeds which by nature strike commercial scale only with large scale operation due to which the private sector do not come forward.

Considering the changing climate a reality and the recurrence of disasters the national seed program should be considering national seed security more seriously.  

The country has embarked on the path of organic agriculture and it requires organic seeds.  It is high time that the seed policy should set direction for national seed program to start producing organic seeds grown in certified organic soil using inputs (fertilizers and pesticides) allowed for organic agriculture. 

With seed trade being globalized, it is no longer possible to pursue a seed policy isolation.  The trans-border movement of seed is necessary and it is inevitable.  It calls for harmonizing seed policy with that of other countries.
The seed policy at one hand must ensure protection of traditional varieties and land races and on the other hand it should facilitate import, exchange or share seeds.  It is so justified that no country in the world has all the plant genetic resources it needs.

The national traditional crop varieties and endemic land races must be protected and use them in developing modern varieties and exchange or share with others under the principle of reciprocity but outside the patent right regime.
The national seed policy should strengthen link between public sector national seed program and local private sector seed enterprise and the policy reform must come to a conclusion giving private sector an opportunity to participate in trading business on hybrid vegetables seeds.  

If hybrid seeds are to be subsidized the private sector too  should receive the subsidy grant.

The national seed program is civil service organization and it is executed by civil servants.  In no country the civil servants do the trading job of buying and selling hybrid seeds of international seed companies. 

With highest wisdom, the private sector should be allowed do the trading business on hybrid seeds of vegetables which are commercial in nature.

CONSTRAINTS
Unequal Level Playing Field 

In the present situation, 50% Custom Duty is levied to the seeds imported from third countries.  The national seed program imports hybrid seeds from third country and sells to the farmers.  But it also receives subsidy grant from the Government.  It sells the hybrid seeds at ex-country purchase price as it meets all its expenses including Custom Duty paid by it with the subsidy grant money.  The agriculture extension program purchases the hybrid seeds from national seed program and provides to farmers free of cost under various promotional and other support activities.  It leaves no room for private seed enterprises for doing seed business.

The national seed program enjoys three kinds of Government support: (i) subsidy grant given by the Government annually to national seed program, (ii) sales commission to sales agents paid by Dzongkhag Administration, and (iii) transport subsidy disbursed by Department of Agriculture.  These supports creates big disadvantage to local private seed enterprises.  
The local private seed enterprises have to add  50% Custom Duty levied on seed import and other operating cost and profit margin to the purchase cost of the seed. It creates a huge difference between the price of national seeds program and of private seed enterprise for the same seed from same source.  Hence private seed enterprises cannot do business in hybrid seeds of vegetables imported fro third countries.  

Buying and selling is a typical business which should be in the domain of private sector.  The national seed program being the Government institution should not be doing a trading job which private sector can handle more efficiently.

The policy reform should consider removing the 50% Custom Duty on imports of seeds from third countries.  The Custom Duty (import tax) levied on seeds is indeed paid by the farmers which in the present situation the Government is paying to the Government on behalf of the farmers.  
Subsidizing hybrid vegetables seed which by nature is a commercial product is not a good proposition.  In fact such subsidy should be provided for producing organic seeds and producing high quality seeds of food crops. 
In situation where the Government does all, there is little space for private sector participation.

The seed industry of a country is considered good only when the national seed program and private seed enterprises are operating harmoniously exploiting each others’ advantage. 
The seed policy should not only support national seed program in the public sector but also the local private seed enterprises and the community initiatives at local level. 
It is extremely important that there must be a well balanced level playing field for the realizing a win-win situation for both national seed program and private sector seed enterprises.
The private sector seed enterprises have the strength in supplying seeds of commercial in nature, and B2B engagement for accessing new seeds particularly from international seed companies. 
 
 Release of New Varieties
In Bhutan neither national research nor national seed program, or private seed companies have ability to breed new high yielding varieties, leave aside hybrids which are also tolerant to stress condition and resistant to pests and diseases.    Hence, accessing new varieties and hybrids from national seed program of other countries and international seed companies is inevitable. 

Bhutanese farmers have benefited with the introduced maize variety Suwan-1, a CYMMIT maize variety which has been released as Yangtsepa.  It carries genes of 36 land races of different countries.  Similarly the rice variety IR 64, an IRRI variety introduced into the country carries genes of land races of different countries. 
From technical point of view, it is necessary to cultivate wide range of varieties to have low level of pest occurrences and frequency of pest outbreak, and to have higher degree of stability against crop failure.
But the restrictive policy and release procedure have staggered the chances of having more varieties giving an array of choices to the farmers.  As a result we have only a limited number of hybrid varieties of commercial vegetable crops.
Making it difficult for introducing even the hybrids successfully grown in similar environment across the borders discourages private sector and slow down the process for reaching best seeds to the farmers. 
The national seed program can obtain improved varieties in the public domain of other countries, while private sector seed enterprises can effectively obtain improved varieties from international private seed companies.
The seed policy therefore should ease out import of samples of new hybrids for testing and release for which simple procedures and single window facility should be provided. 
Sample seeds import can be easily restricted by limiting the quantity of import.  For instance, if only 100 gram seeds for small seeded vegetables (e.g. cabbage) and 500 gram for large seeded vegetables (e.g Beans and peas) is allowed as samples, the sale of unreleased hybrids cannot take place.   In doing so, the amount of seed samples itself prohibits direct entry of non released varieties into the market.
Further the private seed enterprises could be allowed to carry out testing of new varieties and present the test result for getting them released.  Condition could be imposed on test methods and procedure for proposing new varieties for release.  This would certainly lessen the burden of national research or national seed program.
OTHER AREAS FOR CONSIDERATION 

 Access to Public Varieties
The seed policy should have provision to allow private seed companies to obtain foundation seeds from national seed program to produce and sale certified seeds at local level.
The maintenance breeding was rightly started under national seed program which should be its one of the primary mandates and it should be strengthened.     
When the foundation seeds are not having high genetic purity and quality of certified seed will be low.  Unless, the farmers see the advantage of buying fresh seeds from the national seed program they prefer to use their own seeds.  This is why the seed replacement rate in Bhutan is low which means the quality of seed being made available is of low quality.
The national seed program should strengthen its maintenance breeding work and share the job of producing certified seeds of OP varieties with the private seed enterprises.  
  
Access to Facilities and Services
When the size of local seed market is small and the international market is dominated by advanced hybrids, and highly competitive, the local private sector seed enterprises will not make high capital investment for having seed processing facility. 
The national seed program does have the seed processing facilities which are not used to its full capacity.
The national seed program should let local private seed enterprises to use facilities for seed drying, cleaning and grading, and packaging at cost basis.
The seed policy should justify the Government to support for having good seed processing, packaging and storage facility with the national seed program for its own use and as well as for letting local private seed enterprises to use the facility.

Professionalizing the Sales and Supplies
In the country supply and sales of  medicines and other pharmaceutical products are done done be trained medical professionals and license is granted to such person only who are considered eligible. 
In contrast, the seeds, fertilizers and Butachlor (herbicides) are retailed by everybody who have no clue about what is being sold or supplied.  This is an issue of recognizing the technical nature of agriculture. 
It is time now that issuance of new licenses for selling of agricultural inputs are issued to person with agricultural background or necessarily require employing persons with agricultural background.  It is necessary to provide better services and technical advice to the farmers along with the inputs.
To the existing sellers it is important that basic training is regularly provided and also require them to employ persons having training in agriculture if necessary. 

Movement of Seeds beyond Border
The movement of seed beyond border is hindered by a lack of harmonized seed laws, policies, rules and institutional arrangements.
Bhutan signed the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992.  Under CBD, the instrument of Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) was put in place for conserving, using and benefit sharing from the use of genetic resources.
To ease ABS, Bonn Guidelines was adopted in 1999.  Further the Nagoya Protocol came into effect in 2014.   Besides the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is effective since 2004. 

The two legal tools of ABS are PIC (Prior Informed Consent) and MAT (Mutually Agreed Term). 
Within the framework of ABS, initiative for ‘Seeds without Borders’, has been undertaken for accessing seeds and genetic materials from cooperating countries.  

Through these legal channels we can access genetic materials of our interest.  But we need both institutional and legal capacity in the country.  

Hence not only for benefiting from others but also for safeguarding our own genetic resources, the seed policy should support for building institutional and legal capacity in the country.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
The seed policy should create space for (FDI) involving local investors to ensure continuity of the commercial relationships through joint venture. 
The foreign investors coming forward for FDI, as seen in all other sectors, ties up with private sector.  The 100% owned FDI are not in the interest of private sector development of the country. 
Hence letting local private seed companies to gain strength, capacity building and competence remain a key factor for attracting FDI in seed sector. 

24th June 2019