Spirituality Studies 9-1 Spring 2023 27 Gábor Pék, Gejza M. Timčák 3.1 Preparation and Protection As human beings, we are continuously affected by our environment, which challenge and test us via a wide range of circumstances we experience in our waking and sleeping states. When one doesn’t have enough power to handle properly a given challenge (e.g., the reaction is emotional) the imprint of such an event will be recorded at the deeper layers of the mind (subconscious/ unconscious). This “imprint” or samskāra is a vibration that one resonated with due to one’s false identification with the mind or body. Until this vibration is demodulated and purified from one’s energy system, one has to face the karmic consequences later on potentially in a more elaborate way. Each of us comes with certain personality traits that shape our way of thinking, “knowledge” (Sa. jñāna), “desires” (Sa. icchā), and “actions” (Sa. kriyā). However, problems arise when these personality traits represented by the distribution of different tattwas are unbalanced and our very attributes are over or underused compared to their normal setups. As mentioned earlier the reason for this lies in the fact that our energy system represented by the purity of our nādīs are conditioned either by our healthy personality or by our environment. The model of Human Design Systems (Ra Uru Hu 2019) mentions nadis that may or may not contain “life force” (Sa. prāna) by design. When there is a full prānic flow in a given nadi, then prāna is consistently emanating out and no environmental influence can affect the practitioner here. However, if a nadi lacks prāna by design, then it exists as a conduit that is to be conditioned by the environment. The problem comes when one resonates with an influence contaminated by the vibration of different talas [3]. Such influences bring long-term toxicity into one’s energy system resulting in, for example, depression, emotional imbalances, diseases and so on. Remedies that handle these problems superficially (e.g., medication) cannot unbound these blockages and only serve as ephemeral painkillers and patches. For this reason, it is highly recommended to start one’s meditation with proper preparations and protection that serve as a shield against such malefic influences at least for the span of one’s practice. Each vibration is a power owned and emitted by a given entity. In the practice of Śrī Chakra Sādhanā as shown in Timčák (2022, 98–152), we use the power of various mantras as well as the contributions of corresponding patrons to neutralize these influences. Others, use the projective power of the Ten Mahāvidyās to protect directions against miscreants. A simple, but efficient approach is to “sit into” the energy system of Sri Yantra that either guarantees all the protections due to the guardian principles embedded into it or into the harmonizing vibrations emitted from its nine levels (Timčák 2017, 16–17). The most efficient way to achieve this is to articulate a sankalpa addressed towards a competent deity (e.g., Tripura Sundari, Paramakasarupi) to build such a shield around one as well as offer the fruits of this protection to Her/Him as suggested above. This way, one is in safe, and a sound environment is created during meditation without blocking karmic influences. 3.2 Sankalpa, Mantra, and the Problem of Breath Synchronization Sankalpa is a mental process, where a wish or goal is defined using only positive description. It should be short and during the mental repetition one could make the embedding more intensive through visualization of the said aim. It is a tool where the unconscious part of the mind accepts the resolution of the person and helps one to achieve the said aim. In modern connotation sankalpa was described by Swami Satyananda (2013, 70). In the following step, it’s worth preparing the mind with a kriyā (e.g., “microcosmic orbiting” as given by Lu 1973, 36), or mantra, before moving forward with more elaborated practices. As in our approach one’s properly chosen deity has full control over one’s “sense of reality” (Sa. jagrat), they can exactly read and write information that one experiences correspondingly. However, one of the key problems with mantra is that it may create a mist in the mind so the sādhakas lose the connection with their environment, which typically ends up in the lack of grounding. What we have to clearly understand is that it is not the mantra itself that counts at the end of the day, but the vibration it creates. Also, in practices suggested by, for example, Gheranda Rishi (Gheranda 2012, 401) mantra is repeated in synchronization with inhalation and exhalation. However, the length of different mantras varies and may make these practices difficult to follow specially if the sādhaka is requested to keep the very same iteration loop along breath cycles. Additionally, the “intellect” (Sa. buddhi) is not self-illuminated, so it cannot focus on multiple things at a time so it will flicker the focus on the mantra, the counting of the mantra and the breath. This may bring advantageous results and turn off the mind for a while,
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