Rivers of Power: Meditation with the Radiance Sutras by Dr. Lorin Roche
It’s a hot afternoon in the desert, at Bhaktifest in Joshua Tree, and my energies are starting to fade. The chanting has been going on around the clock for days and I feel saturated. What sounds good right now is to go jump in a nearby cool salt-water pool. As I get out of hearing range of the festival, I realize the chanting is still going on inside me. And although it is quieter, this internal soundtrack feels powerful. Somehow my atoms are dancing and singing the hymns of praise to the Goddess and the God, Devi and Shiva, Radha and Krishna. It’s the Bollywood of the atoms. Maybe that’s what atoms are – tiny powerful electrical charges dancing in circles, vibrating with ecstatic praise. After swimming, I lie down and fade into something like a nap, but I remain conscious. There is a festival within. And it’s calling me.
In The Radiance Sutras, Shiva sings to Devi, the Goddess:
Rivers of power flowing everywhere.
Fields of magnetism relating everything.
This is your origin. This is your lineage.
The current of creation is right here,
Coursing through subtle channels,
Animating this very form.
Follow the gentle touch of life,
Soft as the footprint of an ant,
As tiny sensations open to vastness.
Power sings as it flows,
Electrifies the organs of sensing,
Becomes liquid light,
Nourishes your entire being.
Celebrate the boundary
Where streams join the sea,
Where body meets infinity.
When the sound of the ancient, gorgeous language of Sanskrit is transcribed into Roman letters, we see:
sarva sroto nibandhena pra?n?a s?akty ordhvaya? s?anaih? |
pipi?la spars?a vela?ya?m prathate paramam? sukham
If we spell out the sounds:
sarva srotah ni-bandhana praana–shakti–oordhvayaa shanaih
pipeela sparsha velaayaam prathate paramam sukham
Looking in the Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary we see a rich spectrum of images.
Sarva – whole, entire, all, everything, all together, completely, in all parts, everywhere.
Srotas – the current or bed of a river, a stream. Rushing water. The channel or current of nutrition in the body. An aperture in the human or animal body. An organ of sense. Lineage, pedigree.
Nibandha – binding, tying, attachment to, intentness on, basis, root, origin, a grant of property, any literary composition or work, song, singing. (Bandha refers to many types of bonding or connection and has a wide semantic field including: a tendon, arranging a sequence of musical sounds, arranging the body during sex.)
Prana – filled, full, the breath of life, respiration, spirit, vitality, vigor, energy, power, poetical inspiration.
Shakti – power, ability, strength, might, effort, energy, capability, skill, effectiveness of a remedy, regal power, the energy or active power of a deity personified as his wife. The power or signification of a word, the creative power of imagination (of a poet).
Urdhva – rising or tending upwards, raised, elevated, erected, erect, upright, high, above, higher.
Sanais – quietly, softly, gently, gradually, alternately.
Pipela – ant.
Sparsha – touching, the sense of touch, contact, the quality of tangibility. Feeling, sensation.
Vela – limit, boundary, end, distance, boundary of sea and land, limit of time, period, season, time of day, opportunity, leisure, tide, flow.
Prath – to spread, extend, unfold, become known or celebrated, to come to light, appear, arise, to occur to the mind, reveal, shine upon, give light to.
Param – far, distant, remote in space, opposite, farther than, beyond, on the other or farther side of, previous in time, former, ancient, past. Later, future, next. Following, succeeding, subsequent. Final, last. The Supreme or Absolute Being, the Universal Soul. The highest point or degree. The wider or more extended meaning of a word.
Sukha – originally applying to chariots “having a good axle-hole,” running swiftly or easily, agreeable, mild, comfortable, happy. Prosperous. Virtuous. In music, a particular m?rchan? or style of music. One of one of the nine Shaktis of Shiva. Pleasure, happiness, joy, delight in.
Practice
There are moments when we awaken to the delightful life force that is always active everywhere – this may happen in the middle of practice, whether it be dancing, singing, asana flow, pranayama (breath techniques), or meditation. Awakenings may come to you by surprise, in the hours or days after practice. When we sense the currents of pranashakti flowing through our bodies, we naturally respond with awe, wonder, and delight. Awe is healing.
In any such awakening, let all your senses drink in the nourishment, for prana is singing as she flows, nurturing everything. Be awake to touch, smell, taste, vision, hearing, both on the outer and obvious levels, and in the realm of tiny, tingling, little sensations.
Power is always flowing everywhere in your body. This is your origin and lineage. You were born this way. When we practice meditation, we don’t have to make energy flow – our practices allow our senses to delight in the flow already present. There is a happiness here that does not depend on anything other than accepting the gift of existence. We are invited to absorb nutrition from prana, sense it, feel the motion, the current of life, and know this is my origin. This is my lineage. This is me.
The stream of the life force can feel like a rushing current or a subtle flow.
A way to practice this is to breathe or chant vigorously, then let go and pay attention to subtle sensations. You could chant out loud for five or fifteen minutes, then sit quietly and listen as the resonances of the chants continue spontaneously in your mind and heart and body, and you are carried into the festival within.
Dr. Lorin Roche began practicing yoga and meditation in 1968 as part of scientific research at the University of California. His first taste of practice was with the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, and it has been a daily love affair ever since. He is the author of Meditation Made Easy and The Radiance Sutras. Lorin and his wife Camille Maurine are authors of Meditation Secrets for Women. Lorin trains meditation teachers and works with individuals to develop meditation practices that go with their nature. Website: lorinroche.com. Facebook: The Radiance Sutras. Twitter @lorinsez, for Sanskrit word of the Day. Join Lorin and Camille to rock the Sutras at Shaktifest in Joshua Tree May 15-17, and at Esalen in Big Sur, June 19-21 with Dave Stringer.
Dr. Lorin Roche began practicing with the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra in 1968 as part of scientific research on the physiology of meditation. He has a PhD from the University of California at Irvine, where his research focused on the language meditators generate to describe their inner experiences. He is the author of The Radiance Sutras and Meditation Made Easy. With his wife, Camille Maurine, he wrote Meditation Secrets for Women. A teacher of meditation for 46 years, Lorin’s approach centers on how to customize the practices to suit one’s individual nature. Lorin leads the Radiance Sutras Meditation Teacher Training, a 200 hour certification program registered with Yoga Alliance. Lorin teaches regularly at the Esalen Institute and around the world.