Sun yoga

  The practice described below was brought to the west by Hira Ratan Manek (HRM) in the summer of 2002. Let it be understood that he achieved his results in a very controlled environment under strict Jain principles. In stating that; yes, the sun has enormous power. Yes, you may tap into higher spiritual realms as well as other time and space dimensions. Yes, you can live without food. Please heed the advice that slow and steady wins the race. I do not recommend this practice to anyone. However if you choose to partake be very careful, take your time, be cautious, be or use humble or creating by what you think to use is without or no insanity and document your progress. You can damage your eyes. We are all wired a bit differently; therefore it is impossible to predict how each individual will process the suns brilliant light. And by all means have fun, feel the joy the sun has to offer?if it amuses you to wear a purple wig while sungazing; then by all means, make it a beauty. So the sun is a healing factor with the vitamin d.

HRM´s Practice

  Remember this is only a nine month to a year practice. Once you reach 44 minutes of sungazing you are finished. You will not have the need to stare at the sun any longer, your sungazing is complete. 

  Sungazing is to be practiced standing bare footed on bare earth.


  Without shoes you could stand on sand, gravel, mud, or bare earth. Your bare feet should be in contact with the bare earth. Try to avoid standing on tar, concrete, granite, stone or even on grass (the grass absorbs the solar energy).

  Begin this practice in the open, within ten minutes after sunrise or within a few minutes just before sunset.

  While the sun is low on the horizon the intensity of the rays will be at a minimum. During this time, the sun´s rays are tolerable, and the UV radiation is lower, so the potential of harming your eyes is lower. Use common sense within these parameters, if the sun is too bright and feels as though it may be burning your eyes, don´t stare at it. The best time to learn about your limits is right as the sunrises or a minute or so before it sets.

  According to HRM the sunrise holds more energy, vitamins and minerals then the sunset. Go figure. Personally I love both the sunrise and the sunset, it is a wonderful time of day- energetically it is a beautiful balance of yin and yang. You only need the sunrise or the sunset, both may be a bit much. Be careful and always listen to your body.

  If you choose to get up with the chickens, and try gazing at the rising sun. Stay relaxed and receptive, for greater assimilation of the beneficial aspects of the sun´s rays. Try to become aware of what your body is feeling, how is your mental, emotional and physical state as the sun fills every atom, every electron, and every cell in your body. Feel every tissue filled with the regenerative and healing properties that the sunlight imparts on your body. You may notice an amazing increase in your overall energy as well as a boost of physical stamina and mental clarity. Be aware of how the sunlight actually cleanses and rebuilds the whole of your being, your mind and thoughts, your feelings and your physical body; total rejuvenation. By completely surrendering to the suns greater power, and as the minutes of sungazing increase, the awareness of your energetic being may heighten dramatically.

  To begin: as the sun rises over the horizon simply gaze at the whole glowing ball of light for 10 seconds only. The key is to be relaxed, just like in mediation, let go of all thoughts and become immersed in the moment. Simply, look at it. No stress or strain on the face, facial muscles or eyes. Relax your jaw. Stand at peace, knees bent with your arms at your sides. There is no need to maintain an unblinking, stare. Blink as and when it naturally happens, sort of like watching television. For the first few moments you look into the sun it may be very bright, after about 3-7 seconds of continuous gazing all the brightness should go away and you will be left staring into a magnificent ball of pure white light.

  As you watch the sun rising (or setting), try to imagine that all of the eight octillion atoms in your body are being filled with the pure energy from the sun. Visualize each nuclei of each atom in your body, as a radiating and never ending source of energy, just like the sun.

  You have at your disposal an incredible amount of electricity to make things happen in your world. With the aid of sunlight, you can recharge each cell and atom to its full potential.

  Increase the time you gaze at the sun by a few seconds each day - say by 5 seconds or so per day, until you are comfortable and relaxed with the entire concept of staring into the sun. At this point you can now increase at a constant rate of 10 seconds per day. You may find it helpful to get a watch or a friend to keep tabs on your staring time.

What to Expect

  Sungazing is tool for tapping the potential of your human being, your true self. Some change may occur to reach these peaks; your perceptions may alter circumstances, you may begin to change from the inside out, and as we all know change can be uncomfortable. Nonetheless, when we release our physical and emotional energetic blockages these changes will become trivial relative to the incredible expansiveness of the universe. We are all energetic beings, vibrating at different frequencies, so we should be comfortable with the concept that all of us are different. There may be many different reactions, sensations and experiences; remember, whatever happens to you is perfect. It is yours and yours only. Be positive and open-minded; feel all there is to feel.

  Once you reach about 15-18 minutes (3-4 months) of sungazing many of your mental tensions: irritability, anger, fear, grief, and general personal frustrations may go away. This is just the beginning, but what a beautiful beginning it is. Life could become easier, more comfortable and more enjoyable as you get closer and closer to finding out who you really are. A blissful, euphoric sensation may envelope you. Your energy levels may increase and the benefits of having a routine in conjunction with the earth´s rhythms will begin to have a peaceful affect on your perception of the world.

  It should be important at this point to take careful note of what you are ingesting. What type of foods and drinks. Drugs? Alcohol? It is at this point when the sun´s vibration may really have a chance to benefit your cells. If you happen to be eating and drinking low vibrational items (refined sugars, alcohol, refined wheat, processed goods, drugs ect) you may be self defeating in your efforts. Just a helpful reminder to slow down as much as possible and try to be aware of what items in your life cause you to feel good, bad or indifferent.

  At about 25-30 minutes (6-7 months) of sungazing, your hungers may begin to diminish. How and why you make the choices you make may come forth with remarkable clarity. Your self confidence may begin to increase, as your comfort level with being you is heightened. And yes, your physical hunger for food will also begin to lessen. For anyone sungazing for more then 30 minutes there should be careful consideration of one´s diet. Lighter and lighter foods. Preferably adjusting to soups, broths, juices and teas.

  Between 35 and 40 minutes (9-10 months) of sungazing physical disharmonies, injuries, and diseases may be remedied. Also your hunger for food may begin to substantially diminish. At this point you may also feel awakenings in your charkas as well as possible energy beginning to stir within your kundalini. Each day more energy blockages will be dissolved as you get closer and closer to your higher self. At about 35 minutes your brain reaches its ability to store an energetic charge.

  You have reached the final step, 40 to 44 minutes. Wow. Now you stop sungazing. To continue on can be very detrimental to your eyes. At this time, sungazing is concluded and there is no need to continue the practice any more. During the first three months, the pineal gland is getting activated, and the hypothalamus or pathway to the brain from the eye is getting charged. After that period the solar energy starts reaching your brain and charging it. After this period, the solar energy starts getting stored in each and every cell in your body. When all the cells in the body are purified there is no need to sungaze any more. Now your brain is fully charged, the ability to control your destiny is in your hands.

Tips:


  Tips that were helpful for me. Standing barefooted on bare earth is very important. There seems to be something magical that occurs energetically; the physical grounding with the earth not only helps drain negative energies from the body, but also I feel as though it helps harness the power of the sun into the body more effectively. As I began increasing the time while gazing at the sun (anything over 20 minutes), the benefits where substantially more dramatic the less food I had in me. Particularly noticeable was whether or not I had anything to eat or drink within two hours of sungazing (either before or after). Regarding specific foods, raw foods felt the lightest going through my body. Making sure to eat slowly and thoroughly chew my food was helpful in how effective the suns energy seemed to be able to penetrate into my cells. Staying away from sugars (especially refined sugars) and keeping my blood sugar level low seemed to have a direct relation to how bright the sun appeared. The cleaner my body, blood and cells were the longer I was able to comfortably stare into the sun and allow the suns energy to penetrate deeper and deeper into my being. Getting up everyday and going to the same spot to watch the sunrise (rain or shine) should not be over looked. In any practice the ability to realize results comes with the commitment of incorporating that practice into a daily routine. Be it staring at the sun, practicing yoga or washing the dishes; the discipline of committing to something every day will begin to build an awareness that will trickle into other aspects of life. It is the road not the destination that needs to be given attention. Being aware of the present allows for the opportunity to see, taste and feel the magic of the universe which is always occurring. Peace and happiness is found inside. The appreciation and gratitude when realizing the ability of choice, may give birth to the realization of endless possibilities.

  Stand in the sun, face it, look at it with your eyes closed even, you still get just as much sun from just standing there. If you're trying to do the thing with charging the passages between your eyes and your brain, you can still do that with your eyes closed, and you can probably do it for slightly longer, as long as your eyes are closed, with far less retinal damage (even if you decide on staring for twice as long) and more than likely a similar effect. Some stare at it with eyes closed at the warmest part of the day (You can't even SEE the sun any other time). After awhile they get a pressure in thier third eye and a tiredness, they could sleep outside for 2 hours in the cold: This one person had a headache the rest of the day too, but it felt like something is changing.

Insight:

  Needless to say there is much to gain, and much to learn, from the suns direct energy entering through the eyes. Yes, living without the need for food, walking on water or levitating are all impressive feats; however does it bring anyone any closer to knowing themselves or ultimately to happiness and freedom? While the past few years of my life have been enlightening in many ways, I am convinced that the fanatical pursuit of any of these obsessions literally is a guarantee of slowing one´s development. Perhaps understanding why we are driven to make the choices we make is a giant step in self awareness. Processing, moving through and understanding the emotional blocks or imbalances that create certain choices is a quantum leap in finding our true self. While I will be the first one (ok, maybe not the first) to say that I was guilty of obsessing with the ´right or wrong´ way to live or be, sungazing has certainly helped me become more aware of my actions and reactions. In the journal section of this web site I have shared some of my observations about sungazing in relation to my body mind and spirit. Remember that we are all wired a bit differently, so each and every bodies experience will prove to be a bit different. The only way to know is to try. One sure way to truly experience life is to live, get out there and do it.

  And, for those interested there is an impressive group of folks from around the globe sharing their sungazing experiences at sungazing@yahoogroups.com.

  "...When you can continue staring at the sun for ten minutes, the sun will seem to disappear. The inside of the sun will appear as blue sky surrounded by a ring of light, it will sometimes appear as two suns, sometimes rotating clockwise or anticlockwise. As your concentration develops and you can gaze at the sun for longer, you will be able to see a ´black spot´ in the middle of the sun. Sometimes this black spot will be bigger, at other times smaller. After practice, the black spot will remained fixed in one place. Suddenly, from this black hole, seven colours will emerge and move around the sun, sometimes clockwise, sometimes anti-clockwise. As your concentration increases, a powerful beam of light will come from the sun towards your body. In the beginning this beam of light will not touch the body, it will come towards you and then retreat back to the sun. Eventually, as your concentration improves, this light will touch your body and you will attain complete thoughtless condition. This is the start of the pratyaharam stage, and indicates the beginning of Sunyoga experience.

  After being touched by this light, a vibration will start from the heart, allowing us to control three negativities; shame, hatred and fear. With regular practice this vibration will increase and you will be able to gain control over four more negativities; anger, greed, narrow attraction, ego & jealousy. As the vibration increases you will be able to control sexual desire and lust. At this point, the pratyaharam stage is complete.

  The next step, as the inner vibration increases and extends from the muladhara chakra at the base of the spine to the sahasradhara chakra at the top of the head, the sadhak will experience sahaja samadhi during which he will be able to see a bright light, inside of which there will be a beautiful structure. This is the atmadarsanam stage, the ´who am I´ stage, the sadaguru stage, the mukha stage. At that time the sadhak will feel, ´I know him but i have never seen´ because it has always been within... our sagunabramha structure. This marks the completion of the dhyana stage.

  As the inner vibration develops, we´ll discover that there are two more chakras, one above the head called the ultra chakra and one below the head called the ultra balance chakra. At this point, we will be able to hear a sound, which some people call AUM, others have called AMEN, while others have called it ALAM. This is the dharana stage. At this point we can receive divine messages from the universe.

  The final stage is nirvikalpa samadhi, at which point a further two chakras are discovered, one above the ultra chakra called the cosmos chakra, and one below the ultra balance chakra called the cosmos balance chakra. Our mental force will be more than gravitational force, our soul will leave the body and unite with the supreme soul.

The Thirteen Stages of Sunyoga:

  1. Conquer all material desires (sexuality, anger, greed, narrow-mindedness, ego & jealousy, contact shame, hatred and fear)
  2. Develop Divine Energy
  3. Atma Darsanam - Discovery of Atma (or soul)
  4. Samadhi - Enlightenment
  5. Conquer hunger
  6. Conquer thirst
  7. Conquer diseases
  8. Paramahansa - Adjusting the mind to all situations
  9. Having no enemies - all enemies will be friends (including animals)
  10. Longetivity (this happens when the body´s vibration becomes the same as the environment´s)
  11. The body´s vibration and earth´s vibration will be equal
  12. The body´s vibration and sun´s vibration will be equal
  13. The body´s vibration and the vibration of the Universe (Supreme Soul) vibration will be equal."
By
Unknown & Hira Ratan Manek (HRM)

Edited by:
Skyhawk