Swami Rama the Himalayan Master, part 1

in 1949 a party of big-game hunters following the course of the river Narmada in Central India chanced upon a young man in a state of deep meditation he was surrounded by crocodiles stunned by the sight they took a photograph which was published the next day in a few weeks the man was installed to one of the highest spiritual positions in India this is the extraordinary story of a man who could control the uncontrollable a man of many facets and many rules but above all a man of indomitable faith in the divine nature of humanity ooh the Himalayas are known for being the highest mountains on earth for those living around them this region is also known as they've Bumi the abode of the gods this for many is a crossing place between the sacred and the secular for several millennia men and women of different faiths seeking spiritual awareness have been drawn to the Crystal silence of these mountains it was here in 1925 that Swami Rama was born to a learned Brahmin family of the Pearl Pradesh a northern state of India from the very beginning his life was an unusual one his birth had been foretold by baba ji a great sage of bengal baba ji initiated him into spiritual practices at the age of three often at a young age the boy was raised by the sage in the cave monasteries of the himalayas by the age of eighteen swami rama was trained in various schools of indian philosophy under the guidance of baba ji he underwent rigorous yogic disciplines while at University in Allahabad he invariably amazed his professors by his power of concentration and his spiritual wisdom we traveled extensively along the path of the Himalayas teaching Hindu and Buddhist scriptures in various monasteries at 21 he journeyed to Tibet to meet with his Grandmaster and to further his knowledge of yogic practices in spite of deep knowledge of the scriptures and great expertise of yogic techniques his master was aware that the young adept had yet to acquire dispassion and non-attachment he instructed Swami Rama to travel the country and to undertake periods of intense meditation it was at this stage that Swami Rama was cited by hunters the picture they took of him meditating amongst crocodiles came to the attention of dr. kuch khatti the Shankar Acharya Calvi Pithom who was looking for a successor he sent scholars to observe this young virtually unknown adept shortly thereafter Swami Rama was installed to the position of Shankar Acharya one of the most regarded spiritual positions of the country he was 24 renamed Sadashiv para P the young Shankaracharya lost little time in introducing significant social religious reforms he permitted the entry of Untouchables into temples and abolished the age-old custom of day passes women who were often forced to live in temples to serve priests in the name of God but Selassie Bharathi was not content his position required him to lead a ritualistic and ostentatious life for a free spirit a man of truth and a man of silence it was increasingly stifling with little time to meditate he was teaching others what he himself could not practice three years later leaving the pomp and grandeur behind he simply walked away back with his master in the Himalayas Swami Rama spent many years intensifying his meditation as he would recall later in his life these mountains are so calm and serene that one is led to a spontaneous state of silence those residing in these mountains naturally become meditators following the instructions of his master for 11 months he lived in complete isolation in a cave with a tiny opening his food was left outside he cleanse his body through vigorous yogic techniques of prior 11 months later he emerged a man with a purpose with determination to serve humanity and to build a bridge between science and spirituality Swami Rama began his task by studying Weston philosophy and psychology at universities in Bangalore prior ganbara nasi he completed a degree of doctor of homeopathic medicine and surgery at Darbhanga he then traveled to Europe where he continued his studies at several universities including Oxford he worked for a while as a medical consultant in London and assisted in parapsychological research in Moscow he returned to India in 1966 and established a clinic and an ashram and Rishikesh on the banks of the Ganges two years later he journeyed to Japan he met with the spiritual head of sucio Maha Kali Reverend o codicil much to his surprise when Swami Rama was introduced to him oka this and instantly embraced him and said I have been waiting for you I hope you will help me learn the secret teachings of the Himalayan masters Swami Rama stayed in Japan for six months and taught various spiritual groups in Tokyo and Osaka from Japan he embarked upon another long journey this time to the United States of America upon his arrival he was invited by dr. Elmer Greene to the manager foundation at toppika Kansas dr. Greene was working on a project investigating the voluntary control of involuntary States Swami Rama was to be the subject the general scientific consensus at that time was that the human mind was capable of controlling only those bodily functions that lay in the realm of consciousness Swami Rama was to prove them wrong the experiments revealed astonishing results Swami Rama demonstrated extraordinary control over his brain heart circulatory and nervous systems he commanded his brain to produce theta and delta waves on-demand delta waves are associated with deep sleep yet he accurately recalled all that transpired in the room during that period he produced different temperatures on adjacent areas of the palm of his hand a 10 degree difference by dilating one artery and constricting the other he raised his heartbeat to 300 beats a minute creating a condition known as atrial flutter which stops the heart from pumping blood he held it for 17 seconds time enough to kill a man in another demonstration using mental power alone he caused a 14-inch knitting needle mounted on a shaft 5 feet away to spin Swami Rama was the first yogi to subject himself to modern scientific investigations his demonstrations undoubtedly took the scientific community and others by storm you're saying then that all of us have the capacity to control what we have heretofore thought of as the involuntary features of our body right but there are two sets of muscles one is called voluntary and another is involuntary system so far people think that involuntary system is not under our concepts control but that's not true our involuntary system can be controlled your cities including our breathing yeah can I control my breathing without thinking about it no the experiments he participated in helped revolutionize scientific thinking regarding the relationship between body and mind previously thought to be limited to voluntary processes reports of these demonstrations were documented in numerous leading scientific journals of the time owing to mounting interest Swami Rama embarked upon a series of lectures he explained that his work was based on a simple fact body mind soul and breath are interconnected Yoga is a spiritual science that helps awaken one to the deeper dimensions of being one thus achieves complete control who are physical biochemical biological and psychological functions he explained that power over the autonomic nervous system lies in the proper method of breathing the first step was to observe one's breath his simple explanations to complex phenomena combined with his humility won him many admirers people from different walks of life regarded him as their teacher

Channel: SRCindia

Views: 642,254

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Keywords: Swami Rama, yoga, biofeedback, himalayan institute, india, HIHT, meditation, mind body control

Id: S1sZNbRH2N8

Length: 11min 40sec (700 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 14 2012