Urban Sadhu Exploration September 2024
Oṃ sarva-manggala-maanggalyē, shivē sarvaartha-saadhikē sharannyē tryambakē gauri, naaraayanni namōstu tē
Meaning: Om. We salute the three-eyed Divine Mother, Narayani, who brings total auspiciousness and who fulfills the desire for liberation. Realization arises with her blessing. She is the natural world itself. Only through the experiences of life can the soul be perfected. Honor this gift, your life, bow to Mother Nature. – Austin Sanderson
Certain geometric shapes, patterns, and proportions occur in nature over and over, like the formation of crystals into triangles, rectangles, and squares in the mineral kingdom; the graceful curve of a nautilus shell in the animal kingdom; and the starburst patterns found in the center of flowers in the botanical kingdom. It is not only the formation of these patterns in nature that piques the human imagination but their proportions, arrangements, and individual elements they are composed of.
Early Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Indians, Mayans, and many other cultures observed these geometric formulas by paying attention to nature around them. In this mysterious repetition of forms found in the natural world, the ancients saw the essence of the cosmos and the language of the divine, speaking to us through mathematics and geometry. This branch of mystical wisdom is called “sacred geometry.” Throughout history we find its influence not only in art works such as sculpture, painting, and religious architecture but also in music, landscaping, urban planning, dance, and even yoga asana alignment.
One of the earliest sacred geometrical proportion is known as the Golden Ratio, in which the ratio of the whole to the larger part is the same as the ratio of the larger part to the smaller, a:b = b:(a-b). This mathematical system of proportions became the rule for building ancient temples. One ancient Hindu architectural shastra (manual) says: “The universe is present in the temple in the form of proportion.” More notably, today the Golden Ratio is used in many applications, such as cosmetic surgery, simulation software, animation software, art, architecture, sculpture, and anatomy. Atomic physicists, chemists, crystallographers, biologists, botanists, and astronomers have found these same ratios to be the underlying mathematical framework of the universe. The ratios are also present in the human body and mind. The measurement of the human navel to the floor and the top of the head to the navel is the Golden Ratio, and a DNA molecule measures 34 angstroms by 21 angstroms at each full cycle of the double helix spiral.
The great rishis (first yogis) considered the patterns, shapes, and proportions to be divine design. In Hinduism, Vishwakarma is the architect to the Gods, and he designs and builds everything, including the human body. Everything he conceives in the universe is nothing less than a divine reflection of the absolute reality of the spiritual universe. Therefore, the universe is divine, nature is divine, animals are divine, and humans are divine. Yogis recognized that the human mind and body can get misaligned from the divine intention, and they created yoga asana to realign the human mind and body with its divine origin.
Think about why in a yoga class a teacher would teach “yoga asana alignment.” Just as in a Hindu temple, “the universe is present in the human form within its own proportions,” in yoga asana the human body is seen as a temple, a perfect instrument to conduct and channel the divine energy of the universe. If the body and the mind are aligned with the sacred geometry found throughout the universe, then the body becomes a supercharged conductor of that divine energy, a vehicle for enlightenment. When observing the alignment of Adho Mukha Svanasana, if we start from a plank, where hand to hip crease is point A and hip crease to feet is point B, then by lifting the hips into Adho Mukha Svanasana we can see the concepts and ideas of the Golden Ratio. Then we can start to investigate other concepts in Adho Mukha Svanasana, such as the Isosceles Triangle Theorem (Adho Mukha Svanasana is a triangle, and if we drop a plumb line from the bend of the triangle, we should get two Isosceles triangles). The triangle or pyramid is sacred geometry in many cultures across the world, and triangles keep repeating in yoga asana. These two mathematical concepts are not the only theories that can be applied to yoga asana; the concepts are as vast as the universe itself.
Other elements that are part of the yoga class can align with sacred geometry. Music that is harmonious and balanced observes the universal concepts of sacred geometry. We can see this in Vedic mantras, Gregorian chants, African drumming, and in the mathematically balanced music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. When music reflects sacred geometry, the very same ratios are expressed in the transcendental and transformative music that can be spiritually uplifting.
Yoga asanas are focused around achieving harmony and balance – mental and physical, but also harmony and balance with the natural world around us. This includes all the beings we share nature with. This harmony and balance can manifest itself physically through the exploration of sacred geometry in our bodies. When we observe the smaller natural geometric components of the body (floor to navel, navel to the top of the head, for example) we can start to observe the sacred geometry within the patterns of our own consciousness. Yoga asana alignment taught from this point of view is a process; by aligning with these matrices, we can align the body and mind with Cosmic Consciousness. Reminding ourselves that the human body is part of nature can connect us to the mysteries of the universe, both in the body and beyond the body.
Austin Sanderson – Urban Sadhu
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